#also i feel like leon would have gone into a different field of work in this au

[gigi-does-art]

So I heard that capcom originally had ideas to make Leon the son of Oswell Spencer but later scrapped those ideas. And once i heard about that, i made this au and ran with it.

[labrxnth]

Misery Loves Company pt 4 (Leon Kennedy x Reader series)

Part 3: Ticking Clocks and Revelation

Parts: 1 2 3

CW: body image issues, SMUT, insecurity

WC: 7338 (oops my hand slipped)

Summary: (Y/n) and Leon's dinner date is finally here

Tag list: @makimakimi

A/N: Hey all, I just wanted to say thank you for your patience over my health crisis the past week. I told you you'd get fed after it settled and I keep my promises.

The clock on the wall couldn’t have gone any slower. It felt like the ticking of it was mocking her, the face sticking its tongue out, chiding her. (Y/n) had gone over everything multiple times, so naturally she was pacing around her apartment. The heat in her apartment was suffocating when it was usually welcoming. Her carpet scraped her feet instead of feeling plush. The candles felt like they were going to catch fire, like her throat was, enveloping her being in terrifying flames. 

It had been too long since she had gone on a date. Unlike most of her coworkers, she wasn’t a fan of the drunken hook-ups that sparked rumors around the office. (Y/n)’s approach to dating was a little traditional, she would admit, but she was a poet when it came to love. She wanted a partner who she could sing songs of for years to come. Someone that she could easily see nature reflected in and vice versa. Someone she would find in paintings that artists slaved over, crafting the definition of beauty. 

She had stomped on the hope that anyone would see her that way.   

She stared at herself in the mirror, picking apart her appearance. Maybe her hair was too messy or too neat, her (h/c) hair was down and fell on her shoulders. Was it weird that she was wearing her hair differently than normal? Should she put it up in the normal ponytail that she had at work? 

Her eyes trailed out to the outfit she was wearing. It was much different than anyone had seen her in. Usually, Leon caught her in her work attire, no matter if it was at a bar or not. The clay coloured tank top showed a little bit much of her (s/c) cleavage, but again, these were her usual clothes outside of the office. The cream colored shrug that she had on was crocheted and sit high on her arms. She had necklaces upon necklaces making sure that they matched the earthy colors that she already had on. Her dusty rose colored patchwork skirt was probably going to be the biggest shock. 

Over the past few years, (y/n) had started to embrace her femininity. She realized that she didn’t have to act like a stereotypical man to be respected or to kick their asses. While that didn’t just mean that she started wearing skirts, it presented itself in that way sometimes. She was returning to the girl who loved to run in fields barefoot, picking flowers for her family. Her femininity made her happy, she just felt like she had to strip it away to be taken seriously. 

Now she was a badass STRATCOM agent that also picked flowers and wore skirts. 

Speaking of, she had spent some time after work at the flower shop. A while ago, (y/n) read an article that talked about how the first flowers some men receive were at their funeral. The rest of that day was spent in tears over how awful she thought that was. She couldn’t help but think of her partner. Had anyone ever given him flowers? Had anyone ever told him he was pretty? Maybe he was used to the rough side of love: passion, hunger, and desire. Maybe he was used to being seen as masculine, forced to fit in the box that men were often put in. She wondered if Leon ever had someone to just hold him through his emotions, a safe space for him. 

Her thoughts moved to a woman in a red dress, one that he had talked about many times. The way he talked about her made (y/n) think she was “the one that got away”. Was she ever there for him in the ways (y/n) was thinking about? 

Maybe in the back of her mind, she thought that he had just made a move on her because he knew Ada was unattainable. 

First she was thinking of the bouquet she bought for Leon, now she was spiraling, thinking that she wasn’t good enough. Her self-sabotaging nature didn’t just stop at work, it reared its ugly ass head every corner that she turned. It was seen in every significant other eventually breaking up with her, it was seen in not being allowed to go with Leon to Spain. 

Major Sierra was being a bitch earlier today, but his words still cut deep like the training knives he had them use. Her fingers ghosted the spot Leon punched, where a brutal maroon bruise was forming under her tank top. It reminded her of her failures, whether on the field or in her mind. 

This inadequacy was a plague that she couldn’t heal, even with leeches. 

The clock on the wall couldn’t have gone any slower. It felt like the ticking of it was mocking her, the face sticking its tongue out, chiding her.  

She sat down on her purple velvet couch, head in her hands. Maybe this was a mistake, she felt like mentally she was so far behind Leon. It was a win when she would go an hour without thinking something negative about herself, he exuded confidence. She pushed herself to the point of coughing up blood for recognition without it, he naturally turned heads when he walked in the door. 

Of course, (y/n) knew that Leon had his problems, but confidence seemed like it wasn’t one of them. The clock on the wall couldn’t have gone any slower. It felt like the ticking of it was mocking her, the face sticking its tongue out, chiding her.

A familiar meowing brought her back to reality. In front of her stood her long, fuzzy friend, knowing she needed a nonhuman buddy. 

“Hey, Ginge,” (Y/n) said to her calico cat, taking solace in her big yellow-green eyes. Ginger jumped up to join her on the couch, curling into her side. (Y/n) ran her fingers lightly through Ginger’s fur, using every stroke to pace her breathing. Eventually the thoughts died as easily as any plant she tried to mother. “Leon’s coming over again, this time behave,” She said to the cat. 

The slow clock on the wall instead of chiding her this time, welcomed a memory. 

“You becoming a crazy cat lady now?” Leon’s lips tugged into a smirk. 

“So what? I’m lonely,” (Y/n) said, looking at cat toys in the supermarket. Her fingers grazed against a bunch of colorful labels, trying to find the best toy for her new buddy. “And you haven't even met Ginger yet. Don’t speak ill of someone you haven’t met.”

“You haven’t even met Ginger yet,” Leon emphasized. 

“Which is why my best friend is here to meet my new best friend,” (Y/n) said simply. 

Leon chuckled, his laughter sounding like honey to her ears. “If I’m your best friend, you are lonely.” He teased. 

“Exactly! I thought you’d be all for this,” She replied defensively. 

“I’d rather go looking for people at bars with you. My experience with women could help you,” He said. 

“Hell no, keep your trash opinions to yourself, Kennedy.” 

“Suit yourself.” He said and went back to watching her eye the toys. 

The memory flashed to later that night of Ginger biting Leon’s hand and him whining about it the entire car ride home. 

Her attention got pulled back to reality when she heard a few knocks on her door. 

“Coming!” She said, almost jumping off the couch. Ginger’s eyes followed her like a shadow. The ticking of the clock echoed her heartbeat, it roaring in her ears. 

She opened the door to see Leon with two pizza boxes and a shopping bag full of beer and liquor. Seeing how he cleaned up a little bit took her off edge. He was wearing a beige leather jacket with fur on the collar and sleeve ends and a faded dad rock band t-shirt tucked into dark pants with a clean belt. 

(Y/n) noticed after looking at his outfit, seemingly running her eyes up and down him, that he was doing the same to her. 

“Uh, come in,” She said and opened the door more. Leon stepped in quickly, closing the door with his foot as soon as he walked in. He placed the pizza boxes down on the counter and opened the bag, placing the alcohol and liquor on the counter as well. 

“One freaky pizza for one freaky woman,” He said and tossed the bag in her hallway closet. 

“Thanks,” (Y/n) said and looked around the room. She was forgetting something…. She knew she was forgetting something. Ah! The flowers! 

She quickly walked over to the bouquet of dried flowers and hid it behind her back. Walking up to him, grinning almost evilly, she locked eyes with him. 

“I don’t like that look,” Leon said, removing his shoes at the door.

“Do you trust me?” She asked.

“Jesus, not this again,” He grumbled. “I hate it when you do this.”

“Just close your eyes and stick your hands out,” (Y/n) said. 

“Fine….” Leon sighed. He closed his eyes and held his hands out. She placed the bouquet in his hands and watched as he slowly opened his eyes. His face was confused as he looked at the flowers. “Flowers.” He said matter of factly. 

“I read an article that a lot of men get their first flowers at their funeral. I didn’t want one of them to be you,” She said, studying his reaction. 

His gaze softened as he processed what she said. “Yeah, I think these are the first flowers I’ve ever gotten,” He said in understanding. 

“They’re dried too, so you can’t kill them,” (Y/n) said and stuck her tongue out at him.

“Where should I put them until I leave?” Leon asked. She took them from him and put them in a flower pot. 

“Don’t make me remind you later tonight,” She said. 

“Later tonight?” Leon asked, raising an eyebrow at him. Her eyes cluelessly met his. 

“Yeah, when you leave,” She said flatly. 

“Oh,” He replied, seeming a little saddened. 

“Actually, with the alcohol you brought, you should probably stay the night. Lord knows with your record that you don’t need to add alcohol to your driving.” She said, inspecting the bottles of Fireball and Vodka. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Leon’s eyes light up a bit. She also swore that she could’ve seen him staring her up and down. Her brain told her to not focus on that and just read the label on the whiskey for the 10th time. 

Ginger jumped up on the counter and started sniffing the pizza boxes. (Y/n) stared at her, expecting her to tear up the box. 

“If you try to eat that, I’m giving you to the actual crazy cat lady one floor down,” She said to the cat. Ginger stared her her, seemingly understanding her, and made her way over to Leon. She sat down on the counter in front of him, tail flicking. 

“Hey, Ginge,” Leon said and started scratching her behind the ears. Her eyes slowly closed and opened, staring at him. 

“You two have come a long way,” (Y/n) said teasingly and pulled out two glasses. 

“Not my fault she bit me,”

“Yes it absolutely was,” She replied, recalling the night. 

The two of them chuckled together for a minute and stood in silence. 

“So…. that’s a nice jacket,” (Y/n) said looking at the leather. 

“Yeah, I made the mistake of bringing my own jacket with me to Spain. One of the Ganados bastards stole it and wore it as they attacked me. I made STRATCOM reimburse me.” Leon said. 

“The bastard,” She echoed. 

“Don’t worry, I shot him,” Leon said, accepting the glass she held out for him. 

“He had it coming,” (Y/n) said. She poured a couple of Fireball shots into her glass and heard Leon whistle. Her eyes snapped up to him. 

“Drinking shots out of a dinner glass? Without measuring them? Maybe Hunnigan was right, I need to check in on you more.” He said, a slight bit of concern for her in his voice. 

“I don’t have shot glasses, what do you want from me?” She replied. She reached under the counter and grabbed two plastic plates, putting them on the counter. After a few seconds of them locking eyes, she sighed. “What? Leon S. Kennedy can afford real plates?” She asked. 

“Yes I can, and I know that you can too. We pretty much have the same paycheck,” He replied simply, his eyes flickering between her eyes and the plates. 

“Pizza is pizza no matter what it arrives on,” She said. 

“That’s the god given truth,” Leon said and opened the boxes. He gently put Ginger on the ground and started dealing out the slices. 

(Y/n) grabbed the box of her pizza and brought it over to the couch. Leon raised his eyebrow and followed suit. 

“What?” She could feel his eyes peering into the back of her head, almost searching for something. 

“You know, they say that orphanage kids don’t have manners because we aren’t taught them. I thought that was true until I met you,” He said teasingly. 

“Don’t tell me you always have dinner at the table,” 

“It gets everywhere if you don’t,”

“Maybe if you eat like a pig, oh wait, weren’t you going to be one? No wonder why.” She gave him intense side eye with a grin tugging on her lips. 

“Yeah well, you also work for the government now,” Leon started. “That means, you’re a poser. God forbid the punk community you like so much finds out you work for the privatized American government’s military.”

(Y/n) stared at him in horror, almost dropping the slice of pizza she had in her hand. “Take it back,” She said. He gave her a shit eating grin back. “Take it back or I’ll wring your neck.”

“Is that a threat?”

“A promise,” (Y/n) said. 

“If you can get to me, I’ll gladly let you,” Leon said smugly. 

“I can down you on the mats, don’t forget it, Kennedy,” She replied and stuffed the slice of pizza in her mouth. 

After about 20 minutes of the back and forth banter, (Y/n) stood up to put her pizza box in the fridge; she gestured for Leon to hand her his and he did. Walking over to the fridge she could tell he was still staring at her. 

“Working for STRATCOM pretty much means you have eyes in the back of your head, I can feel you staring at me,” She said and closed the fridge door. 

“I’m just lost in thought,” He replied. 

“About what?” She grabbed the glasses on the counter filled with alcohol and brought them over to the couch. 

“About how this feels like every other time I’ve come here,” He said, staring into her eyes and taking the glass from her.

“What’s so bad about that?” (Y/n) asked him, keeping her eyes locked on his. 

“This is a date, (y/n),” Leon said. “Did I not make that clear?” 

She broke the gaze, looking at the whiskey in her glass. “Oh,” She said. In her peripheral, she could see Leon still staring at her. He put his drink down on the side table and quickly did the same with hers.

He lifted her chin up so that she was looking in his eyes again. The distance between them closed, until he was inches away from her face. So close, yet so far. (Y/n) was ready for him to kiss her, why did he stop? He looked like he was fighting with himself, asking the same question in his own mind. 

His blue eyes tore into hers, searching for an answer to a question unasked. “What’s going on with you?” He finally asked. “You’ve always been striving to be the best at work, but it’s gotten worse the past three weeks.” 

“It’s nothing,”

“It’s nothing?” The two of them said together, (y/n) stating and Leon asking. Even by partner standards, Leon was always able to read her like a book and make her feel like she couldn’t hide anything from him. 

She sighed and felt his hand move away from her chin. Maybe the person that she thought was building walls wasn’t the person staring back at her. But like he did, she was willing to take a hammer to the wall she built up, trying to keep herself safe. “I just…. I feel like I’m not good enough for anything,” She said and looked around the room. 

“Why?” He asked.

“What happened three weeks ago?” (Y/n) asked redundantly, staring back at him. Her eyes drifted down to his jacket as a hint. 

Leon ran his hands through his hair and sighed, his brows furrowing together. “I tried to bring you with me, I begged them,” Leon said. 

“I’m not mad at you, I’m mad at myself,” She replied. “Obviously I wasn’t good enough for them to think of sending me.” She stared at the cushion below her through her glass that she had picked back up. 

“Uh-uh. You are not going to spiral into self doubt again. I thought we worked on this,” He put his hand on her cheek, caressing it. 

She melted into his touch. Most people thought that his demeanor is cold, unsuspecting, but she knew that he was like a blue flame; an intense warmth, desperate to help others. (Y/n) was Icarus’s wings, longing to succeed; Leon was the sun, melting her down until she was vulnerable. 

“(Y/n), talk to me. I thought that you were doing better. You told me that you were doing better.” He said, making her look into his eyes. The same eyes where his blue flame of a soul was kept. Those eyes could make the hairs on the back of her neck stand up whether it was on an assignment, on the training mats, or in a bar. Now, they were a gentle kind of heat, the one that you crave after being in the cold for so long. 

Searching in his eyes, she could tell that she had been wrong about her partner all these years. Yes, there was hesitation and mixed feelings towards her, but he was always him with her. She was truly the one that had built the brick wall between them that she so pictured him placing brick by brick. Even the act of picking back up the glass had been to put a safety in between them. Just like he had torn down his side, she needed to tear down hers.

“I just want to be seen,” She said, trying to hold back tears. “My whole life has felt like I’ve been trying to prove that I deserve to exist.” She was clinging onto the glass in her hands like it was an anchor in an oncoming tsunami. “It’s been bad lately because I’ve built this wall between us since you got the call for the assignment. And I just feel worse and worse about it because you just had, like, the shittiest thing happen to you since Raccoon City, but I’m here spiraling in my self-doubt and pity.” 

Leon leaned forward on the couch, his eyes still trying to unpack the verbal dam that she just opened up. He took her glass and put it down again, almost asking her if she was going to keep putting things between them. Just like in her office, (Y/n) could feel the energy sparking between them, like flint and steel trying to light a fuel line that wasn’t producing any fuel.  

He took his jacket off, placing it on the back of the sofa, moving slowly like she would bolt anytime he made too sudden of a movement. As opposed to that, his arms quickly wrapped around her, bringing her close to him. 

Not only did he pull her into an embrace, he took his jacket off to make it skin to skin. To make it personal and intimate. To make it human. 

Once her brain processed the information, the tears she was holding back fell. He held her, comfortably yet securely, for a couple minutes, letting her silently cry into him. 

After the tears stopped, he pulled (y/n) back slightly so they could see each others’ faces. His next three words shocked her to her very being, feeling like a shock to her body and mind. 

“I see you,” He said. 

And just like that, any semblance of the wall between them was beaten down. She sat there, her brain once again trying to do mental gymnastics to pick up on what he said. 

“You’re good enough for me,” His voice cut through to her heart again.

(Y/n) sat there for a good second, still reeling from what he was saying to her. She was too spaced out to realize his expression change from concern to something she couldn’t track. No, it wasn’t that she couldn’t track it, it was just that no one had looked at her like this before. 

No one had truly looked at her with sadness, empathy, and love all at once.  

His calloused fingers wiped the tears away and her mind shot to other thoughts feeling them against her skin- 

Her eyes widened and she mentally kicked herself as her brain was trying to get her to indulge on how she thought those same long strong fingers would feel in other places. 

“(Y/n)?” Leon asked, calling her back to reality. She thanked whatever higher power was watching right now. 

Her eyelids dropped back down to normal, but it was too long for Leon not to notice her change. He noticed her pupils dilating, her eyes widening. How her breathing hitched just slightly, being too quiet for a normal person to pick up on. How in his peripheral the tank top she was wearing was tighter around hardening nipples- 

Leon swallowed hard, trying to not make the situation awkward. Suddenly, his jeans felt a little more cramped than he would’ve liked them to; he was hoping that the night would go like this, but he wasn’t about to make a move on her until she was in a good mental space. 

Without second thought, (y/n) draped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss. Instead of the tender, questioning kiss, from her office, this kiss knew what it wanted. It clawed at each of them, demanding more, the heat between them building up instantly. 

She went to pull off her sweater, Leon’s hands grabbing hers. They pulled away from the kiss and his eyes stared into his, hungrier than he was standing across from her on the training mats; the look gave her a shiver down her spine. 

“Do you want this?” He asked clearly, his voice low and dark. 

“Yes,” (Y/n) said, still breathless from the kiss. 

“Tell me what you want,” He said slowly, his eyes changing from staring at her through his eyebrows to looking down at her, towards his cheeks. 

“God, I want you to fuck me, Leon Kennedy.” She replied, her eyes dripping with want, no need for the man in front of her. 

He swiftly put one hand on the back of the couch and one on the arm rest, caging her between his arms. His lips her on hers again, this kiss even more ferocious than the one before. 

Leon’s teeth were biting at her lower lip, asking her to open wide. (Y/n) opened her mouth slightly and felt his tongue force his way in, opening her mouth more. His tongue devoured the inside of her mouth, discontent with the speed and intensity wanting more. 

(Y/n) had to pull away for a breath, a string of spit connecting him until it was broken by distance. Leon’s lips were suddenly on her neck, wanting contact at all times. His kisses felt like they were ravenging her; stripping away her very being, not satisfied until her skin was peeled back, revealing her insides. 

(Y/n)’s breath hitched and she moaned, her eyes suddenly widening and the back of her hand covering her mouth. A blush devoured her face like Leon’s lips were her neck. His eyes darted up to hers when he heard the slight sound and he grabbed her wrist. 

“Fuck, you’re not hiding that from me,” He growled against her neck, pulling her hand away from her mouth. 

He focused on the spot that brought her sound, going harsher on it, pleading her body to make the same sound. To his excitement, a moan came from the back of her throat, Leon being able to feel it through her neck. The vibrations seemed to travel down his own body and straight to his dick. Earlier when his pants were slightly uncomfortable and cramped was nothing compared to now. It took all of his self restraint to not rip both of their clothes off and fuck her until she was howling; the thought of it didn’t help his quickly growing erection. 

He pulled her sweater off of her shoulders, the action creating goosebumps on (y/n)’s skin. Her own hands were trying to get his shirt off, but his lips refused to leave her neck. Leon’s lips dug deeper in her, teeth biting marks and his tongue calming them down immediately. 

He pulled away after making a few bruises and straddled her, reaching down to cross both his arms and lift his shirt off. 

The small act of him doing this made (y/n)’s brain restart. The way his hands roughly grasped the fabric, his forearms and biceps flexing as they crossed each other was like seeing a statue carved out of pure marble. His ashy blonde hair fell with gravity, looking like how it did when he reached down to pick up his knife. His eyes that were usually bright blue, calculating yet kind, were dark; his pupils were blown with lust and desire. If he looked like a statue taking off his shirt then he looked like a replica of a greek god when it was off. And (y/n) was more than ready to be his worshiper. 

“You really do have a staring problem,” He said smugly, a smirk pulling at his puffy pink lips, his usual demeanor coming back for a second. 

“Can’t help it when I have such a good subject to look at,” She replied. 

His face shifted back to the hungry and desperate stare. Starting at her earlobe, Leon traced two fingers along her jawline, stopping under her chin, pulling it up to meet his eyes again. (Y/n) thought her heart was going to give out at the action. She felt herself throb around nothing, a slight wetness starting to pool in her underwear.

“Be a good girl and tell me what you want again,” He said grinning, his eyes undressing her.   

She couldn’t stop a “Holy shit,” from leaving her mouth. Her breathing picked up, feeling like she was a goner. 

Leon chuckled. “Someone likes praise,” He mused and sprawled his hand around her neck, lightly ghosting it. “Use your words, Baby,” His voice sounded full, dark, like she had never heard it before. The wetness pooling in her underwear felt like it was dripping down her thigh now. She had equated Leon to the sun and herself to Icarus’ wings, now she was feeling that reality; her body was turning into putty in his hands and he had only touched her face and neck. 

She knew she would’ve folded if he asked her to, but this was going faster than she thought. 

“I want you to fuck me,” (Y/n) said again, truly being lost in her words and the situation. 

“Alright, I’m gonna tell you the plan,” He kept his light grip on her neck and the steel look of hunger. (Y/n) could have sworn he was looking at her like a man who hadn’t eaten in weeks was looking at a buffet. “First, I’m going to make you cum on my fingers, then my mouth, then a couple times on my dick.” He ran his other hand through his hair, looking down at her through his eyelashes. 

(Y/n) thought her heart was going to stop before, she could’ve sworn it did for about 5 seconds when those words dripped out of Leon’s mouth. She felt a pang in her chest, her blood ran cold. 

She knew she was fucked, and she couldn’t have been happier. 

“I’ve never came more than once,” She said sheepishly, her breath still hitching. 

“God damn, I should’ve done this earlier then,” He huffed. He moved off of her to kneel in between her knees; his arms pulled her so she was completely flat on the couch. The sudden movement made her wince and yelp from the injury on her stomach. His eyes met hers, recognizing the sounds as pain and not pleasure. “You okay?” He asked sternly. 

(Y/n) nodded, but he didn’t take it as an answer. He pulled her tank top up to reveal the maroon and yellow bruise, hissing when he saw it. 

“I was going to fuck you until you became part of the couch,” He said, his voice having a hint of disappointment. 

“I’m fine, it doesn't hurt too much,” She lied. 

His eyes met hers in a cold stare. “I know how much power I put into that, it definitely does hurt,” he replied coldly. 

“I can ignore it,” (y/n) replied, not wanting to get rid of the feeling in the room that had sprouted from the kiss. 

He watched her for a second, like a predator watches their prey right before they pounce. “Fine,” He sighed. “If it gets too much, make sure you tell me to stop.”

“I’d be crazy to miss an opportunity to get fucked into oblivion by you,”

“God, the things that you do to me,” He said before sliding her skirt down to reveal her very soaked underwear. “My point,” he added, looking at how wet she was already, his dick twitching in his jeans. His fingers flung her skirt completely off of her legs, immediately going to the fabric she was still wearing. She bit her bottom lip as he teased her folds, thumb lightly pushing on her clit, just enough that she could feel the pressure. Her eyes squeezed shut and eyebrows furrowed, trying to not cum on him from just that. 

His eyes trailed up her body to her face and his blood froze. Seeing her all flustered with her eyes squeezed shut, eyebrows knit, and lips slightly apart to breathe was driving him fucking insane. “Fuck this,” He said and ripped her underwear off her legs. 

His middle finger slid into her pussy, quickly making sure she was ready, then slipping in his ring finger. 

(Y/n) moaned at the sudden friction in her. Her back arched as he curled his fingers, hitting spots that she didn't know existed. He licked his thumb and swiped at her clit, finding it almost immediately and sending her nerves into overdrive. His fingers slid in and out of her at a fairly moderate pace, Leon being scared of going too hard at first. 

He wanted so bad to kiss her again, but he couldn’t stop looking at how even just his fingers affected her. The hand around (y/n)’s neck lightly pressed in, him searching her eyes for any sign of dislike. Instead, he felt her pussy start to clench around him and saw her lip starting to tremble. He sped his fingers up, wanting her to be shaking as she came all over his fingers. Her back arched more and he sped up, thumb abusing her clit. (Y/n) felt her body start to shake and involuntarily grabbed the wrist that was almost in her. Leon was too strong and kept going, pushing an orgasm out of her. The pleasure that hit her was like a wave smacking a flood wall.  

She moaned loudly and felt her pussy throb around his fingers, heat following it.

Once she came down from it, her eyes opened to meet Leon’s. He brought his fingers up to his mouth, sucking on them, keeping eye contact. 

“Taste so good,” He said lowly. He took the time to unbuckle his pants, throwing them to the floor. (Y/n)’s eyes widened at the side of his outline in his boxers. She had heard him complaining about having to wear athletic cups during training before, but now she knew why. Her eyes went back to him licking his fingers. After he was done, he pushed her towards the arm rest to give himself room. Letting go of her neck, he dropped onto his stomach and looked at her. 

“Keep your eyes on me,” He said. (Y/n) nodded and looked at him as he wrapped his arms around her thighs. He pulled her into his mouth, tongue lapping at her clit. His calculating eyes never left hers. She grabbed onto the couch to ground herself, but it wasn’t sufficing, her hands grabbed onto his hair, lightly pulling at it. 

He whimpered, sending shivers down her spine and felt her pussy start to clench again from the vibration. His whimper sounded like heaven to her; the blush on his face making (y/n) move her hips to ride his face. 

Leon pulled her even closer to his face, tongue fucking her while his nose hit her clit. 

“Fuck, Leon,” she moaned his name and that was the breaking point for him. 

He pulled away suddenly and looked at her, heavily breathing. “You’re making me break my promise,” He growled. 

“What?” (Y/n) asked, dazed. 

“I can’t wait, guess you’ll just have to cum on my dick three times instead of two,” He said, pulling down his boxers and throwing them on the ground. (Y/n) watched as his dick sprung out of them; if she didn’t have self control, she’d be drooling. Earlier she had equated him to a Greek god, the more she saw of him only further proved her point. His tip was red and leaking pre-cum already, his breath hitched when he noticed her staring. 

Leon grabbed (y/n), flipping her over so that she was stomach down on the couch; how fast and seamless he did it took her breath away. He pulled her up so that her back was to his chest and she was sitting on his thighs. All she could feel was the warmth of his body spreading to her.

“Sorry, got a little too excited,” His breath was low and hot in her ear. His fingers ghosted the bruise on her stomach. 

“Don’t stop,” (y/n) pleaded.

“Fuck,” Leon replied, his voice desperate for her. He slightly lifted her up, easing her onto his dick. They both moaned, sounding like a choir of pleasure. (Y/n) leaned her head back on his shoulder and bit her lip as he bottomed out. They stayed melted in this moment for a few seconds, both not wanting to let go of it. Slowly Leon started pulling himself out, his eyes squeezing shut at the feeling and hip lips ghosting words that he couldn’t form; he didn’t have to say anything for (y/n) to know what he wanted to. 

Like a cord being snapped, Leon set an excruciating pace. He put two of his fingers in her mouth, nonverbally telling her to lick them; she did so and he pulled them out, circling them around her clit. His other hand took her tank top off and cupped her breast, to physically support her and to emotionally support himself. At her neck, he went to leaving kisses and bitemarks, wanting everyone to know that she was his.

(Y/n)’s thighs involuntarily tightened, feeling another climax. Leon felt her tighten around his dick and he moaned; he detached his mouth from her neck and the hand that was on her breast moved under her chin. He pulled her chin up so she was looking behind herself and into his eyes. 

“Cum for me,” He commanded. 

As if on cue, her body sent her through another orgasm. Her pussy convulsed around Leon’s dick and her fingers dug into his hips behind her. (Y/n) moaned as her back arched, screaming his name like it was a song made for a lover. And in a way, it was. Her eyes started to close as she was riding out her climax, but Leon’s hand wrapped around her neck, slightly pushing in. 

“Keep your eyes on me (y/n),” He demanded. She was expecting to open her eyes to see him stoic, staring down at her like he always did when he downed her on the training mats. Instead, when she opened them, she saw that he was as much of a mess as she was. His bangs were sticking to his forehead from sweat, his eyes were fixed on her and his pupils were blown wide from desire. His cheeks had blush all over them, his eyebrows were raised, and his lip was starting to quiver. 

The sight of him looking at her like she meant as much as he meant to her was enough to send her into another orgasm. As her body convulsed again, moans escaped her lips like every orgasm was the first one She saw a vein popping out of Leon’s neck and his jaw set, something 

that she knew meant he was trying his fucking best to focus. 

His pace became quicker, hungrier, as his dick slammed into her almost stretching out her cervix. (Y/n)’s thighs shook as overstimulation washed over her; she could hear and feel everything five times more than she had before. She felt the muscles on his thighs tighten and relax with each violent thrust, she felt his arms hot around her as the hand that was abusing her clit moved to above her bruise. She could feel every sweat drop on either of their bodies, and she could feel her insides getting shredded, she could hear her guts getting rearranged; (y/n) was pretty sure she died and went to heaven. 

Leon moved desperately as he could feel his own climax coming. It was taking all of his strength he built up over the past 6 years to not cum as soon as she first pulsed around his dick; she felt better than anything he could have imagined, and better than he had imagined her being. 

(Y/n) heard him starting to moan and whimper as he was getting close. His thrusts were trying to swallow her very being, One of her hands moved to the hair on the back of his neck and he pulled her closer, flush against his chest. Leon moaned her name in her ear like it was a word only he knew. His dick twitching in her while hitting spots that she thought were impossible, his moans that were music to her ears, and her overstimulation were sending her into another high. The only sounds that came out of her mouth were yelps, moans, and whimpers as her whole body became hot. 

“Fuck, (y/n) I’m gonna-” His voice broke. 

With one final thrust, she could feel him twitching inside of her; spilling his cum and painting her pussy walls white. He rode out his climax and it sent her into another screaming one. Their moans filled the room together, a harmony of pleasure and love. Leon slowed his thrusting down, stopping once they were both down from their climax. 

The hand that was on her neck moved to be with the other one, wrapped around her waist. He kissed her shoulder and gently pulled her off of him. (Y/n) fell into the couch, turning over so her back would be on the cushions. Leon rubbed her thighs and smiled gently down at her. Getting up, he went to get a towel from the hallway closet.

He sat down on the couch and gingerly wiped her off. “You okay?” He asked, his eyes floating to hers that were still dazed. 

“Mmmh, yeah,” She said slowly and lazily. Her body felt like it was done sprinting a marathon. 

“I’ll go get you some water,” Leon chuckled, cleaning himself off. He went to the fridge and grabbed a water bottle, bringing it back to (y/n). “Your bruise still okay?”

“At this point I wouldn’t care if it hurt,” She said, voice hoarse. Sitting up, she grabbed the water that Leon was holding out to her and drank. His hand gently went to her neck as she drank and his eyes never let hers. 

(Y/n) never had someone look at her like how Leon had this entire night or even just in this moment. For some reason, this felt more intimate than the back breaking sex they just had. She wished that she could bottle up this moment and keep it to look at because she recognized the look in his eyes. He could sing songs of her for years to come. He could easily see nature reflected in her and vice versa. He could find her in paintings that artists slaved over, crafting the definition of beauty. 

She finally found someone that reflected the love she gave out. 

“I’m guessing I’m not sleeping on the couch?” Leon asked, still looking at her like she was the love that musicians wrote about. 

“Absolutely not,” She replied, handing him the bottle that had half of its water still in it. He took a few sips and put it on the side table. They sat together in silence, looking at each other, taking in each other’s beauty. Yes, they were sweaty and yes their hair was everywhere, but they were each others’ works of art and that’s what made them the most beautiful people in the world. 

“I’m going to carry you to bed, okay?” He asked. 

“‘Kay,” (Y/n) replied. 

Leon stood up and picked her up, carrying her bridal style to her cushiony bed. “Sorry it was on the couch,” He mumbled under his breath. 

“We’ll just have to save it for another time then,” She replied and chuckled. Her back gently hit the mattress and she wanted to instantly fall asleep. 

“Do you want to sleep with clothes on or off?” Leon asked. “I’ll grab our clothes from the living room.”

“I’m too tired to put my clothes on, you’re fine,” (Y/n) said, pulling the covers down. Leon got in and instantly wrapped his arms around her waist, careful to not touch her bruise. She pulled the covers over them and nestled into his chest, smiling up at him. They stayed wrapped in each other, without talking for a couple of minutes.

“If Ginger didn’t hate me before, she does now,” Leon said and chuckled. 

“Huh?” (Y/n) looked up at him. “What do you mean?” 

“I think we just traumatized her,” 

“Don’t worry, she tries to fuck the neighborhood stray every weekend, it’s payback.” (Y/n) said.

“I guess you and her have that in common,” Leon smirked. 

“I can still set up the pull out couch,” 

“I take it back,” He replied. 

(Y/n) didn’t know when they stopped talking. The night was peaceful and sleep lulled her to accept it, the clock that usually chided her following suit. (Y/n) also didn’t know when she fell asleep to the sound of Leon’s heartbeat and his rhythmic breathing. 

[imjeralee]

Wallflower: Chapter 18 - “ba-woon”

Raihan x F!Reader

Disclaimer: Do not own Pokemon

Summary: You’re an unassuming Pokemon breeder who works at the nursery in the Wild Area and he’s Raihan, the fearsome gym leader of Hammerlocke who has more than a million followers. You don’t want anything to do with him but he’s…persistent.

Rating: Mature/Explicit

Warnings: Lemon, smut, violence, language.

Extra note: this chapter is messed up tbh.

ba-woon ... ...

Some time ago, Galar.

What a fucking mess.

Rose's party was a complete disaster. She honestly thinks everything in Galar is so messed up and backwards, compared to Unova anyway. She can't wait to leave and return to Nimbasa City - she doesn't remember enjoying Galar, and don't think she ever will.

And now she's visiting someone in prison. Never in a million years would Raihan's ex-girlfriend imagine that she would step one foot here.

It's Raihan's stalker, whom she knew about when she was still dating Raihan but never really bothered to do anything about nor take any action, because she believed the stalker was just a harmless fangirl. The stalker had now reached out to her online, regarding something to do with Raihan and his current girlfriend. Something that would ruin them both.

Naturally, being his ex-girlfriend, she was very intrigued but not entirely believing. To conceal her identity, she comes in wearing sunglasses and a large sunhat and baggy clothes, terrified that someone would recognise her. As if she would risk wanting to be seen here; the number of followers would rapidly go down the drain.

She goes to the counter and gives the name, informing the attendant that she's here to see an inmate. Then she's shown to the visitor's room and she sits down in the empty booth, waiting.

Soon, a girl in a jumpsuit arrives; she's very young and average. One would wonder what she did to land herself in a place like this but one can't judge a book by its cover. Once the girl in the jumpsuits seats herself down, she picks up the phone receiver and instructs the ex to do the same.

"How did you even get my contact details?" She barks. Truthfully, she would've ignored the message.

"I used to work in Macro Cosmos."

"And what's the thing you wanted to tell me about?" Raihan's ex adds, crossing her arms. This better be good, it better be worth her time.

The stalker says, "I still have a copy. It's the last one. Banette helped me hide it before they came. It's the video I took of Raihan and that girl he's with, when they were in the hotel room. I'll tell you where it is."

Raihan's ex raises a brow in response. "....Excuse me?" She says, clearly not impressed. "Are you serious? That's the reason why you called me here? So....what? What exactly am I supposed to do with it? Why are you even telling me this?"

"Because you could do anything." The girl says, "You could do anything with it. As long as it's in your hands."

...

Present, Johto.

You go through the rest of the form: it says you have the right to cancel at any time and there is fine print which Looker encourages you to read, with one paragraph in particular that dictates something called a 'Faller'. What that means exactly, you're not sure but Looker explains.

"Fallers are individuals who have passed through Ultra Wormholes." He says, "This is probably a bit too much information for you at the moment so I won’t indulge too much right now. The existence of Wormholes isn't exactly top secret information. There was an incident in Alola not too long ago where a couple of Wormholes opened up and several Ultra Beasts slipped through and it became headline news. Myself and my superior - who is also a Faller - were handling this case. However, let's not jump to conclusions right now. We could just proceed with the Hypnosis session first, see how it goes and then take it from there."

"Um...okay."

"Have you had any out-of-body experiences before?" He says. It's so blunt and to the point, you can only nod.

"Yeah, during Rose's party." You reply, "We were trying to stop Team Rocket and Eli in the energy plant, Leon and I closed the generator and then something happened and I was in this weird place where I saw Giratina."

Looker soaks it all in. "I see. That would be the Distortion World."

"Yeah."

He doesn't ask you anything else nor does he want to take up more of your time any longer so he leaves you and Raihan with more documents to read over once you're home and also to give you some time to discuss with mom and Glenn. Should you want to go ahead, you must sign and return the form to him. He gives you his number so you can contact him when ready. Then he thanks you for your time and departs; you will see him soon, probably when you return to Galar. You put away the remaining documents Looker enclosed with the folder into your backpack.

For a few seconds or so, you and Raihan merely stare at each other as you sit in your booth until you bite down on your lip, brows furrowing. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"You can't seem to catch a break?" Raihan suggests.

"Exactly!" You exclaim, "Where is all this coming from? Fallers, Ultra Wormholes? What's next? I've just about had it."

Getting up from your seats, you promptly leave the cafe and head towards the direction of the Dragon's Den, following the tourist signs once you pass Blackthorn Gym. It's pretty easy to get to regardless and there are plenty of gift shops around which you will tour with Raihan later.

"I trust Looker; you'll be in good hands." Raihan reassures you with a smile as you hold hands along the way. "You've nothing to worry about. Do you want to go back and talk to your family about it?"

You shake your head, "No, no, it's okay, we're already here; let's just head to the Dragon's Den."

It's best not to think about it any longer...plus the caffeine is kicking in so you feel renewed with energy.

Raihan gives your hand a tight squeeze and together, you arrive at the giant lake which must be crossed in order to reach the den - you take Lapras' pokeball and release the ferry Pokemon into the water. You scramble onto Lapras' back and Raihan climbs on after you, glancing right and left. "Ready?"

"Yep."

You pat Lapras gently and she begins gliding over the water and towards the large cave up ahead. Along the way, you see Magikarps swimming in the tranquil lake below and a few Woopers slinking around. The weather is perfect - it’s not cold but not too hot either - and the breeze is gentle and cool.

"We really should do this more often." Raihan mutters, and you agree with a smile.

Once you arrive, Raihan hops off Lapras and helps you down; you recall mom's pokemon and begin the trek over the harsh and rocky path with the dragon tamer into the cave. The den used to be off-limits - they would only let people who earned the Rising badge to enter but now they allow tourists and visitors. It looks different too, mainly due to the inclusion of two newly built paths leading inside, spiralling left and right - the lake outside narrows into a deep stream but you're aware it leads to a further, massive lake inside the den itself where all the Dratini and Dragonairs are. It's dark and damp and you and Raihan pass a shrine that stands in the middle of the water where an elderly man dressed in traditional garb is praying.

You excitedly point to a small Dratini that is draped around the old man's neck, snoozing. It's so adorable! You can't wait - you want to catch a Dratini badly. Raihan grins and you both up your speed without further ado, heading into the den and occasionally being challenged by trainers and defeating them along the way until you reach the opening. It's a massive cave with rocky walls that stretch up high and wide and the only source of light are the scattered torches which the dragon elders have lit up for trainers and visitors alike.

It's a lot busier inside, with a few Ace Trainers and Dragon Tamers inside with their dragon pokemon. A tamer flies around on his Dragonite, ducking and diving over sharp rocks, controlling it's speed and momentum, whilst an Ace Trainer trains her Dragonair in the water with a whistle and some strange device. Meanwhile, a pool to the left reveals a small group of wild Dratini snoozing over the rocks whilst another shakes itself under the waterfall, enjoying the rush of water.

Raihan abruptly clamps a hand over his chest in reaction to the most beautiful sight that is taking place before his very eyes.

"Are you okay?" You ask, though you don't think he is. You feel he has died and gone to heaven.  

Raihan turns to you, a wide grin appearing on his face. "I'm fine," He exclaims happily, "Let's go."

Fumbling for your pokemon, you both release your dragon pokemon by tossing your capsules into the air and an extravagant display of lights subsequently follows; the pokemon appear before you, emitting loud growls and waving their tails, wings and claws. Raihan takes a headcount whilst you do the same - he's brought Duraludon, Flygon, Goodra, Turtonator, Axew and Bagon. You count Chompy, Salamence, Haxorus, Dreepy and Deino, whom you have taken along on Raihan's behalf. Goomy and Applin are the only pokemon not present but never mind; you have quite a lot on your plate already.

"Alright! Everyone's here!" You cheer. It's a Dragon Pokemon Field Trip!

"Let's take a group photo first." Raihan says eagerly, and Rotom comes flying out just in time.

"Bzzz, I got ya covered, champ! On the count of three?"

"Thanks, Rotom!"

Everyone proceeds to move into position a short distance away from Rotom, though much allocation is needed. All the large pokemon move to stand behind yourself and Raihan; though Raihan's height forces him to kneel on one leg beside you, clutching Axew and Deino in his arms whilst you sit with Bagon and Dreepy nestles on your shoulder.

"One...two...three...Everyone zzay 'GROOOOOOOOWL'!!!" Rotom yells, and all the pokemon unleashes the fiercest growls they can muster that the walls tremble and shake and Rotom snaps away. “Yay! Good job everyone!”

Rotom returns to you both so you can check out the photos and you both peer at the screen, swiping through at least five. There's one where Rotom caught all the pokemon growling and their jaws are open. There's one with Garchomp, Goodra and Duraludon waving their arms in the air. Wow, these photos look amazing! Except from the one where you blinked. Damn.

The itinerary for today is simple - Raihan will carry out the training and you will follow up with an examination. Raihan's provided you with his Pokemon's previous assessments, so you can use them to compare.

Therefore, the next thing you do is take all the pokemon to the dragon shrine first so they can soak up all the powerful dragon energy in the den. Your group bumbles behind you, the dragon pokemon looking up and around in awe. No doubt, they are experiencing some special feels for this place. Chompy, Salamence and Haxorus are the only pokemon familiar with this place since you've brought them here before. Once you reach the shrine, you tell Raihan this is where trainers and their pokemon pray for strength and courage in battle and also to pay their respects.

There's a way to do it, so you prompt Raihan to follow your lead - you take some loose cash from your pockets and drop it into the offering box and Raihan does the same. Then you bow deeply twice, clap your hands twice, bow deeply once more and take a few steps backwards.

You clasp your hands together and close your eyes in prayer and everyone follows you. Your group grows silent as you pray; you're pretty sure Chompy and Haxorus are praying for a nice meal at the end of this whilst Salamence is probably praying for more opportunities to fly.

"That'll do. Let's go." You say, when they are finished.

The training promptly begins; you're hoping to spend half a day here and hopefully catch a Dratini at the same time if possible. You find a good spot where there's enough space for all the pokemon to move and run around - and Raihan begins with a warm up and here is where you see a different side to your dragon tamer boyfriend - this must be what he is like when he is at Hammerlocke stadium.

You see him instructing the pokemon fluidly and with the sophistication of a seasoned professional drill sergeant (but he doesn't bark orders no, he's the opposite; he's highly encouraging and gentle) and you watch as your pokemon immerse themselves fully into the experience, though the smaller pokemon are struggling slightly.

You watch as the pokemon begin doing some laps around the den whilst some do sits up and push ups. Raihan observes with Rotom hovering beside him and taking photos and videos, whilst you go to help the smaller pokemon with lighter workouts. To finish up, Raihan pairs the pokemon and let them battle each other but not to the brink where they are knocked out. There's no winner or loser. Your EV trained pokemon fight each other, with Haxorus, Salamence and Garchomp engaging in a three-way battle. Raihan passes each team, making assessments.

When it's your turn to take over, you become nervous because no-one's really watched you on the job before so with Raihan grinning in one corner actually makes you anxious. Nevertheless, you pull yourself together and begin the check up, pulling out your tools which include a stethoscope, ophthalmoscope and otoscope. They look highly technical but these are the three main tools you utilise and they’re easy to use. You get the pokemon to line up and begin the examination one by one which only takes two to three minutes per Pokemon. You hastily scribble down some notes in your pad which you will look at in more detail when you get home.

When it's getting late and the pokemon have gone through a tough day of training, you return them all after feeding them and giving them treats for all their hard work and finally, Raihan turns to you. "We still got a Dratini to catch."

You're kind of beat but you nod, hopping off the rock you were sitting on. "Let's do this."

Since you spotted wild Dratini lounging in the pond near the entrance, you head over to see two of the shed skin pokemon basking over the rocks. Raihan is quick to approach, releasing Goodra. One of the Dratini rears its head up, ready to fight, whilst the other begins to squirm away. Oh no, it's trying to run away! Without thinking twice, you throw Lapras' capsule because she's roughly the same level as these Dratini and would fare a better chance compared to your EV trained pokemon who would destroy it in one move. Raihan commands Goodra to use Dragon Breath and then throws an Ultra Ball at the severely weakened pokemon.

"Lapras, use Ice Beam!" You yell, and the wild Dratini is smacked with a blast of ice which hits it's belly. Aha, now's your chance! You pull out a spare Ultra Ball, tossing it at the pokemon.

Raihan's ultra ball wiggles three times and clicks shut with the green light, indicating Dratini has been successfully captured - however, yours wiggles twice and then abruptly explodes in a burst of bright light. Dratini reappears, blinks for a brief second then promptly dives underwater, having successfully run away.

"Motherfurret!" You shout with frustration before you can help yourself, "Not again!"

Raihan picks up his caught pokemon and returns to your side.

You look up at him with a sigh. "....Guess it isn't meant to be." You mumble dejectedly.

"Take mine." He says, attempting to press the capsule into your hand for your taking.

You shake your head at once. "No, it's fine, Rai. You caught it."

"But I want you to keep it."

"Nooooo."

"I'll catch another one."

You cross your arms, unwilling to accept. "It's fine, I can get one from the Gamecorner in Goldenrod."

He gives you a testing look but you nod firmly. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Alright...." Raihan slips the capsule into his bag but you feel he isn't convinced.

...

You leave the den to grab dinner, opting to have a nice meal at a restaurant in Goldenrod which Raihan chose because he looked it up and it's received raving reviews online and five stars. Then you and Raihan do some shopping at the Department Store although Raihan is more into this than you are. Generally, Goldenrod is quite pricey and it has designers you have not heard of and can't really afford but to Raihan, you swear he has died and gone to heaven again. 

You trail after him, watching him as he goes through racks and shelves and aisles filled to the brim with clothes, shoes and accessories. Occasionally, he'll pull something out and ask you for your opinion. Sometimes you split up so you can buy some gear and treats for your pokemon before you regroup with him.

It's interesting shopping with a guy; Raihan has good fashion sense because he picks out staple items and then he also pulls out items which are in season and are sure to last for a long time. He also picks out some interesting items which are a variety of colours and it makes you think who on earth could pull it off but you're sure Raihan can since he's so tall and skinny and can make anything look good. 

His total bill comes to a six figure number, which has your eyes bulging to the size of plates but apparently, that's nothing to him. Then he nonchalantly asks you if you want anything but you politely decline.

When you wait for Raihan to finish paying, you're looking through photos on Rotom which you took when you were training at the den and you're wondering what's taking him so long until a pair of hands suddenly clamp over your eyes and you squeak in fright until the hands lower from your eyes and you see Raihan who presses a deep kiss on your cheek. Phew, you breathe a sigh of relief.

He has a wide smile playing on his lips. "Hold your arms out."

"What is it?" You lift your arms as requested and he brings out a pink plushie from behind his back and plops it into your hands. Your eyes grow wide - it's a Skitty doll. You look at him, then at the doll with your mouth agape. "...For me?"

"It reminded me of you."

You gush, clutching it firmly to your chest. "It's so cute!! Thanks!"

His grin widens. "I knew you'd like it."

You go on tiptoe and Raihan takes this as a cue to lean forwards and your lips meet.

With the Skitty doll and many bags hanging off your arms, you head to the Gamecorner next, playing a few games such as UFO catcher and Whack-a-Drilbur and you take a quick look at the prize station but seeing various pokemon up for sale as prizes turns you off and you're not sure whether to get the Dratini; instead, you decide to call it a day and go back to Ecruteak. You had wanted to pay Glenn a visit but maybe tomorrow when you have more free time. Besides, you want to discuss with mom about the meeting with Looker. It's actually been on your mind all day. You managed to push it to the depths of your mind somehow, unwilling for it to ruin your day.

When you arrive home, mom is already preparing dinner and when you open the door to the lounge, you see Glenn sitting on one of the plushy cushions whilst the TV blares on in the background.

"Glenn, you're here!"

"Yeah," He greets you casually; there's a pink goo slithering over his head and shoulders - it's a Ditto. "How was the Dragon's Den?"

"It was really good."

"Awesome. Did you guys catch a Dratini?"

"Raihan did but I didn't...and er...I'm glad you're here, I need to talk to you and mom."

"Hm? About what?"

Firstly, you need to put your shopping away so you head to your room to get changed into comfier clothes and return to the lounge with Raihan; Glenn recalls Ditto and you pull out the folder Looker had given you and you ask him to take a look.

"A detective has asked me if I can help him with a case."

Glenn blinks blankly. "That's so random."

"We know him. He helped us before." You mutter, and Glenn takes the folder off you and sticks his hand inside, pulling out a few files. He chooses one to read and has a quick skim through until his brows furrow slightly; you and Raihan glance at each other from the corner of your eyes and you don't think this bodes too well.

However, the lounge door slides opens and mom enters with Blissey. "Phew! Almost done. Dinner's nearly ready."

"Hey mom, take a look at this." Glenn says, handing her the paper.

"What is it?" Mom plops herself beside Glenn and dons her reading glasses, scanning the paper. She's smiling but you watch as the smile slowly disappears. It grows silent as they both read the contents. Raihan reaches for your hand and holds you tightly, threading your fingers together and after a short while, mom settles the file down and turns to you. "So this detective named Looker is working on a case regarding a missing child....and he thinks you're the missing child?"

"Yeah."

"And he wants you to undergo Hypnosis in order to confirm the theory, to extract memories..." Glenn mutters, rubbing his chin. He continues reading the file out loud: "A Hypnosis session is used to extract missing memories and concise testimony from the subject. Usually the subject is an individual who suffers from retrograde or psychogenic amnesia. Subjects will undergo a session in an effort to recall their missing memories under the guidance of a trained professional and a Hypno allocated by the Bureau. The session can last up to three to five hours maximum, depending on the severity of the amnesia."

Mom looks at the photograph of the couple and the little girl next. "This is the missing child, right? You don't look anything like her at all." She says.

Glenn pulls out another file except there's a few photos that were lodged within and they drop out and over the table. "Whoa, that's a Buzzwole." He points out, as he picks up the photo of the beefy red bug. He moves to a second photo and raises a brow, "Huh, don't think I've seen this one before..."

"I think that's a Xurkitree, dear."

"I've never seen anything like it." Glenn puts down the photos and begins reading the next file: "Operation f....um, faller, spelled with blanks in between...interesting, Operation Faller is the top secret - haha, not so top secret now - Operation Faller is the top secret operation conducted by the Bureau in an effort to identify, track down and locate fallers, individuals who have passed through Ultra Wormholes; the operation came into existence after the Alola incident where Ultra Wormholes opened and several entities known as Ultra Beasts entered Alola."

Glenn abruptly stops.

"Um...what exactly am I reading or looking for here?" He says, confused.

"It's the Alola incident, dear, it made headlines a while ago - the existence of parallel worlds." Mom says. "Remember?"

"Oh, yeah! People went mental! Er...this is getting weird...they even said they found a world where pokemon don't even exist! Can you believe that?" Glenn mutters before he moves onto the next file. It's a file that's got your name on it. "Subject was discovered in Ilex Forest with blunt force head trauma. Subject could not recall her identity, where she came from or how old she was at that time.... That sounds like retrograde or psychogenic amnesia to me."

You bite down on your bottom lip; this is making you uncomfortable...

He flips to the next page. "Drifloon. Subject was found with a Drifloon - Drifloon are not native to Johto, or Ilex Forest so it was theoreticized to have been responsible for subject's accident but no proof has been found. Drifloon is known to have spirited people away, in particular, children. The expression 'spirit away' is used to refer to the mysterious disappearance or death of a person, or humans who have been abducted to the spirit world. The term is loosely utilised in Drifloon's pokedex entry - for this case, the balloon Pokemon may have transported subject either to a new region... or a parallel dimension, or Ultra Space."

Glenn stops again and looks at you like a Stantler caught in headlights.

Gulping, he continues. "...The pokemon was allowed to stay with subject after displaying no malicious intent towards subject. Instead, pokemon demonstrated protective behaviour over subject and listened to subject's commands."

You force out a weak laugh. "It wasn't Driffie. It can't be, it's not. He wouldn't...he wouldn't do that to me. This is ridiculous and if I was...whatever, I'd remember for sure."

The lounge goes silent as all eyes fall on you.

Mom nods and says, "There was no proof, dear. Driffie is harmless. And you love Driffie."

"Yeah." You mutter weakly as you absent-mindedly squeeze Raihan's hand under the table.

Glenn puts down the documents and lets out a quiet groan, rubbing his temples. ".....Basically, there's three things going on here: number one, Looker wants you to remember your missing memories to find out if you're the missing child of the case he's working on. Two, he wants to find out if there's the possibility of you being a Faller and three, the file says that Driffie could've been the one responsible for your accident."

You don't like the direction where this is going to at all. "I don't care; I have you and mom and Raihan and it won't change anything; I'm perfectly happy where I am."

"What are you gonna do, sis?"

"....I dunno."

"It's okay, dear, I think you should go ahead and sign it. There's no harm in wanting to help someone out and finding out more about yourself." Mom replies; she moves to stand, bringing you into a tight hug and pecking you on the cheek. "You'll still be my daughter and we'll still be your family."

...

After dinner, Glenn and mom ask if you're okay again but you lie and tell them you're fine. They reassure you that you're doing the right thing for yourself and whatever happens, they'll still be there for you. Whilst Raihan remains in the lounge to chat with mom and Glenn, you decided to take a bath but when you see the full moon hanging in the night sky, you end up sitting outside in the back porch with the folder; you didn't want to look at it any longer but since you still had some documents to go through for yourself, curiosity killed the Delcatty so you grab it and take out the contents again. Indeed, the folder contains a myriad of documents about Fallers and photos of Ultra Beasts and Ultra Wormholes. But it's then you come across Driffie's file and you hesitate.

Nausea overwhelms you. Driffie....no way. It can't be. You put the folder down, then pull out Driffie's capsule and release him; he emerges in a brief burst of red light in the garden.

"Flooo...." He blinks, letting out a gentle wheeze.

You can't bring yourself to ask. Hell, how are you supposed to ask? Did you spirit me away? Did you take me away from my family? Did you try to kill me? Did you try to hurt me...did you want to hurt me?

Didn't Allister once say to you...

”It wants to say... ‘I’m sorry’.”

Oh shit. Oh fuck. It can't be...

"Hey, um....Driffie?"

He looks at you, tilting his head curiously. "Floo...?"

"Was it....was it you?"

Again, he merely tilts his head to the side.

You sigh loudly. Oh Arceus, how could you think Driffie would do this to you? He is your sweet Drifloon who you've had since....ever. He's never hurt you. "Never mind. Forget it. I'm sorry, Driffie."

"Floo..." He floats over and nestles on top of your head, wrapping his arms around you just as the rest of your capsules suddenly burst open at once and all your Pokemon appear - Espie, Poliwag, Metagross, Salamence, Chompy, Haxorus, Dreepy and Tyranitar. The smaller pokemon jump into your lap whilst Dreepy slinks over your shoulders.

Your stare, blinking blankly as your pokemon begin to idly gather round and sit around you with what little space there is. Tyranitar and Haxorus sit beside you on the porch and Chompy and Metagross move to sit in front of you - Metagross has to tuck his legs in - whilst Salamence curls behind you, propping you up. You glance at each and every one of them before you smile at them warmly. You know the reason why they've appeared - they can sense your sorrow and fear.

"Did you guys hear what happened?"

Metagross turns to you and nods. Chompy growls and so does Haxorus and Salamence. Espie purrs loudly. Exhaling shakily, you watch as she puts her paw over your hand and Poliwag puts his tail over her paw. Your Pokemon look up at you and you smile at them.

"You got my back, right?"

Everyone nods.

You feel the corner of your eyes prickling with tears and you quickly dab at your eyes, hoping they hadn't seen. You've had them since they were babies - or at least since they were very young - and you took them under your wing, fed them, trained them. They're strong all because of you. You need to remind yourself about that more often and also give yourself more credit. As much as you were there for your pokemon, they are here for you, too. With those thoughts in mind, you watch your pokemon settle themselves around you protectively and you reach over, patting them fondly.

"Thanks, everyone." You utter under your breath. "Thank you for being there for me."

Metagross emits a low screech whilst Salamence, Tyranitar, Chompy and Haxorus growl loudly in response. Your smile grows wider as you pat them again. Espie purrs and Dreepy and Poliwag rub their cheeks against yours.

"If anything happens to me....I....oh, I don't know, I never thought about it."

Your pokemon look at you in bewilderment but you don't follow up. They sit with you, staring up at the moon until a while later, you hear the door to the lounge opening and Raihan passes you on the porch; you and your pokemon all turn to him and he freezes.

"Hm?" He exchanges glances between you and your pokemon and grins, "What's up? What are you doing? I thought you were sleeping."

You shake your head as you pat the space beside you, "Wanna join us?"

"Sure." He says, and he manages to squeeze himself beside you and Haxorus. Your pokemon don't mind, and Raihan reaches for you automatically with his arms out and you put down the documents. Espie and Poliwag hop off your lap and jump on top of Metagross' head so you can climb into Raihan's awaiting lap where he wraps his arms around you firmly and you rest your chin on his shoulder, closing your eyes. He envelopes you all over with his warmth, his arms holding you securely. "...You'll be okay, princess." Raihan mutters, pressing his lips against the curve of your cheek.

"Looker has really bad timing." You reply, as he peppers you with kisses. It's true, you feel the entire vacation is ruined because of this. You don't blame him but you kind of wish you hadn't met up. "I don't mind helping out but I don't know what I'll find out."

Raihan tightens his grip on you, stroking your hair affectionately and tucking some loose strands behind your ear with his long fingers. "I'll still be here. And if you are a 'faller', that's kinda cool." He says, and you chuckle under your breath. "Don't worry. I'll protect you. The Great Raihan will protect his princess, always."

You chuckle louder until you gradually dissolve into silence where you are just holding onto him and sitting in his lap.

"Have you decided what to do?"

"...Yeah. I'm gonna sign it."

"You sure?"

You nod. "I'll just...give it a shot. There's no harm, I guess. But I wish I could catch a break though...I'm really tired."

"I know you are, princess."

Leaning against him, you close your eyes and give him an affectionate squeeze.

"...You're the best thing to happen to me." You mutter quietly and he emits a gentle sigh, wrapping his arms even firmly around you.

"I know."

You can't help but smile and as you pull away from him, he grins and leans forwards, your lips pressing briefly before you throw your arms around him again. Raihan hugs you close, rubbing small, soothing circles on your back whilst you rest your cheek against his shoulder until you glance over and pick up a photo, inspecting it. It's a white jellyfish creature and the longer you stare at it, the more it looks familiar to you.

You feel like you've seen it before.

...

Days later.

Life returns to normal, or what is defined as normal in your books.

You leave Johto, return to work and so does Raihan. Your new boss is difficult to get along with; she's far more strict and doesn't seem to get your sarcasm or humour. You don't seem to be able to build up the same rapport you had with your previous boss. Your days are often spent in silence but you reckon work is just work and it cannot be helped. Not everyone likes their jobs - such as your friend, for example. You're left wondering when your next holiday is because your trip to Johto has now come to an end; the days had flown by just like that and it was over way too soon, way too quick.

And when you returned to your cottage in Ballonlea, you realised you've become way more accustomed to Galar than you had thought but after the meeting with Looker, things seem....different now.

You've told Raihan that you've already set up a time and date for the hypnosis session with Looker and although he says he wants to come with you, it will clash with his work so you tell him you can do this on your own.

Emitting a gentle sigh under your breath, you get ready, heading to Hammerlocke police station where you ask for Looker at the counter and a few minutes later, he emerges from a room and into the waiting area to retrieve you.

"Thanks for coming." Looker says, as you hand him the signed form.

"No problem."

"Are you ready?"

"Yep."

And you follow him into a small room with a sign that says 'Interrogation Room 2'....as if that wasn't intimidating enough. He closes the door behind you and it grows quiet as he sits at the desk, scribbling something down on the notepad in front of him. There's a hypnotherapy chair in the corner and a Hypno sits on its haunches on a stool, looking at you with its beady eyes. You stare at it in return, feeling slightly nauseous.

"Have a seat." Looker mutters, gesturing to the chair. "And grab a drink if you want."

You head over to the chair before you glance at the water machine nearby so you help yourself to a drink by reaching over and filling up a plastic cup, downing a few sips. It's silent in the room except from Looker's pen squeaking over the paper, the clock ticking on the wall and Hypno's shallow breathing as it stares at you relentlessly.

Looker finally finishes writing his notes and averts his attention to a case he's kept propped up against the desk, lifting it up. Unclipping it, he pulls out several strange devices which he lays carefully on the desk, then he pulls out a tape recorder from a cupboard underneath the desk which he also neatly sets on the table.

"Put this on." He hands you one of the weird contraptions, which is a bracelet that resembles a Dynamax band.

"What is this?" You ask, as you strap it on, pulling the fabric and tugging it around the width of your wrist and pushing the snap fasten into place.

"It's to read your energy levels during the hypnosis session." Looker mutters, "It works similar to a polygraph."

You didn't quite understand and Looker continues setting up some random machinery around you.

"Are you ready?" He says, when he's finished.

"Yeah." You put down the cup on the table provided beside you and take a deep breath.

Looker nods stiffly and pulls his seat over to you, dragging it on its wheels. "Let's begin. Lie down, please. Come on, Hypno. We're starting now."

As you lie over the chair properly, Looker presses on the tape recorder and he says out loud that he's recording 'Subject Sixteen, Initial Hypnotherapy Session'. Hypno moves in front of you with a shiny white pendant that dangles from his claws. Looker instructs you to tell him your name, age, where you come from and your occupation, which you do.

"When you're under," Looker adds, "Focus on the sound of my voice: I'll be guiding you along the way. I'll ask you to describe what you see and I'll tell you what to do next. I want you to remember that there is nothing there that will hurt you so you do not have to be scared. However, should you feel threatened, you can stop the session and we'll bring you back. Just tell us to stop."

You nod weakly. "Understood."

"Good. Let's begin then."

Glancing at Hypno, Looker nods and it begins swinging the pendant in front of your eyes in a smooth fashion.

“I want you to think about your childhood,” Looker says, “We’ll start from there.”

”S-sure.”

You honestly wonder how this will work.

Hypnosis?

You've seen hypnosis work on a pokemon but not on a human...

You keep your eyes trained on the pendulum.

Nothing so far.

It goes right.

Then goes left.

And back again.

Your eyes follow the motion, back and forth...

Back...

...and forth...

You're still in the room with Looker.

You're still...conscious.

Is this supposed to work?

How does it work?

The pendulum keeps swinging, Hypno keeps its eyes on you. It's mouth moves, whispering.

Left.

Right.

Left.

Right.

Opening your eyes, you sit up.

Wait.

When did you even close your eyes?

Where the hell are you?

"What do you see?"

It's Looker's voice.

You glance around.

You're...in a field.

A field full of beautiful flowers of red, blue and yellow...

The Wild Area?

No, it's...it's not. It's not the Wild Area. It's not even... Galar. Your gut just tells you it's not Galar.

"What do you hear?"

You hear giggling. Laughter. Voices.

They sound happy.

"Where's it coming from?"

You spot a small group up ahead and you wade through the field of flowers towards the source. A short distance away, you can see the woods. They're dark and foreboding.

"Who is it?"

Heading over, you see a couple sitting together on a red and white checkered picnic blanket surrounded by an abundance of food and a hamper whilst a little girl stares at a Butterfree fluttering around her. You realise you cannot see their faces; a messy, gaping black scribble erases any distinguishable feature.

Confused, you begin to step backwards.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't...I can't see their faces." You reply, swallowing down.

"Can you go closer?"

"I think so."

The couple are too busy getting the food ready to notice that the child gets up, having spotted something in the woods.

"Ba-woon." She says.

"What?"

"Ba-woon." The little girl says again.

Their voices are an echo.

Suddenly, a small swarm of Beedrill comes, attracted by the food - noticeably, the sticky jam sandwiches. The couple stand up to fend them off. They don't notice the child leaving the picnic mat, wandering further and further towards the woods.

There's something there.

"Ba-woon." The little girl says, giggling.

She stops in front of a small and cute, purple pokemon. Having lured her to the woods, it begins to float further inside.

"Ba-woon, come back! Where are you going?"

It reaches for her and takes her hand and in a split second, just like that, they both disappear into nothingness.

Gone.

[stillchaoticlogic]

Stumbling: Chapter 4

Pairing: Raihan X Reader X Leon

Your life hadn’t gone exactly as you planned…

Which is why when an old rival walks into the coffee shop you work at he gives you an offer you just can’t refuse. Finally, a chance at the League. Suddenly you are thrust into the spot light and a world you thought you had left behind. Dreams aren’t always what they are cracked up to be though, especially when you find yourself the tangled up with the champion and a certain gym leader.

Has all your dreams come true?

Or is this your worst nightmare?

Read the First Chapter Here!

Read the Second Chapter Here!

Read the Third Chapter Here!

**Masterlist Coming Soon!**

The Journey Begins!

The next morning you end up running around Motostoke attempting to get everything you need. The last of your savings is spent on a Flash phone and luckily your able to get the Pokedex on there along with a map of the region and all your trainer and Pokemon information. You then head to the center and stock up on medical equipment and pokeballs before going to the department store and getting a set of camping gear. 

“How?” you ask as you gaze down at your pack which is already bursting at the seams. 

“That’s a little full…” you yelp not expecting anyone to be standing behind you. 

You whip around and are met with sight of Sonia and Nessa. 

“Oh hey!” you exclaim as you smile at the duo. 

“Getting ready to head out?” asks Nessa with a small smile. 

“Yeah… I had to stock up on some things before I left but this seems excessive…”

“I’ll help you sort through your pack! But first, how do you feel about lunch to catch up?”

“That would be great but….”

“It’s on me! That equipment is expensive!”

“No! Sonia I can’t let you do that!” 

“It’s okay! I want to catch up! You can just get mine next time OR after you take Leon for all he’s worth. That prize money is nothing to shake a stick at!”

“Alright deal…”

“Well if she wasn’t… I was… I heard you took care of some asshole pokemon abuser yesterday and that deserves a free lunch at the least!” says Nessa. 

“Oh! Yeah… I guess the guys told you about that?”

“Nope! You’re all over the news and social media. Everyone is talking about the gym challenger who saved a Jangmo-o!”

“What? Really? Why?”

They laugh before each wrapping an arm through one of yours.

 “Because your badass babe!” exclaims Nessa.

“Yeah! All the leaders and media outlets now have their eyes on you! You’re going to dominate this competition!” Sonia interjects. 

Despite not having seen Sonia in years, time just simply got away from the two of you, and having never met Nessa before, the three of you sit down like old friends at the local cafe. 

“So you’re going to have to tell me what happened…” Sonia starts after you all get your food. 

“With what?”

“All of this! You just disappeared! And now out of the blue Leon is endorsing you in the League! What happened?!”

“Well… I couldn’t find a sponsor…”

“That makes no sense… you were one of the best!”

“That’s what Leon said… no one was looking for what I had to offer I guess. I also got some bullshit reasoning too. I wasn’t pretty, cute, sweet or sexy enough. I was too smart… I didn’t have the right look… You name it, they said it… I tried for several years, the last one when I was eighteen… At that point I had someone tell me I was too old…”

“Seriously?” huffs out Nessa in anger. 

“Yep...So I moved to a small town that I could afford rent in and got a job at a cafe. That’s where Leon found me. He got lost and ended up at the cafe to get out of a storm. A week later I had a letter of endorsement.”

“I’m glad you’re finally getting your chance.”

“Thanks… I just hope he didn’t put his faith in me for no reason.”

“Oh stop that! You’re amazing. You’ve always been amazing. You’re going to kill this competition,” Sonia exclaims as she looks you in the eyes. 

“Thanks Sonia…”

“Of course! Besides at least you have a direction… I feel like a magikarp out of water sometimes…”

“Aren’t you working with your grandma?”

“Yeah… but I’m not sure if it’s what I want…”

“Why is that?”

“It’s overwhelming sometimes… plus that’s a pretty big pair of shoes to fill…”

“Ehh… you’re doing great! You’re just too hard on yourself,” argues Nessa. 

“She does great work, she just gets stressed out sometimes, mostly for no reason…”

“Oh hush!” Sonia exclaims in embarrassment at her friends praise. 

The three of you end up chatting for the next hour before you all say your goodbyes. 

“I can’t wait to see you at my gym! Go crush Milo for me girl!” Nessa yells as they watch you head down the steps into the Wild Area. 

“Oh don’t worry! He’s mine!” you yell back with a laugh. The lunch having significantly lifted your spirits and they helped you go through your pack, making it much lighter than before. 

“Oh boy…” you mutter as you gaze around the vast area before you. With a sigh you head off into the wild in search of your first new team member.

“Now… If I was a Bounsweet...where would I be hiding?” You gaze around the field before heading into the tall grass. You had never seen so many different types of pokemon in one place. Serenity took over most of the battling and after many run ins with several different types of pokemon that aren’t the one you’re looking for you find a...combee?”

You gaze in abject excitement at the honey bee pokemon with the little red dot. “A female combee…” you mutter as you approach her. She continues to buzz around a flower and you know that after the beating that Serenity has taken today you couldn’t risk sending her out. Gazing down at the only other pokemon you currently have with you, you pull it from your belt. 

“Davine!” you call as she pops out and looks up at you, “I have a favor to ask of you…”

Her Amber eyes are large and full of uncertainty, “Can you help me catch that combee?”

She gazes over at the pokemon idly hovering over a flower before she hesitantly nods. 

“Alright! Can you use headbutt on her?”

Nodding the tiny dragon approaches the combee, who doesn’t look perturbed in the least, in fact she looked more interested than anything. Gliding over she buzzes around Davine’s head and it’s almost amusing when Davine panics and just boops her on the head instead of using headbutt. The combee blinks in surprise before it almost looks as if she laughs before gently booping Davine back. The dragon flinches back but opens her eyes slowly as the bee just buzzes around her laughing as if she wants to play. 

“Whelp…this is my life now…” you say in exasperation as you pull a pokeball out of your pack and throw it at the combee. It shakes a few times before the red dot turns green and you pick it up from the ground. Letting the tiny bee out she blinks up at you in slight confusion before happily buzzing around your head. 

“Yeah… You’re going to be a great addition to the team,” you say with a laugh as the bee lands on your head. 

“We’re going to have to work on your confidence… but good job!” you say as you hand Davine a berry to eat. She gazes up at you in confused awe before hesitantly taking the treat from you. Holding up another berry you hold it while the bee, who has gotten quite comfortable on your head, nibbles on the berry. Calling out Serenity you hand her a berry as well and introduce her to the newest member of  your team. 

“This is...hmm… we’re going to have to figure out a name for you…” you say indicating the tiny bee before you. She just buzzes happily around investigating her new friends. The three seem to have interesting personalities, but you think they will get along. Serenity is pretty calm, if not stubborn, whereas Davine is timid, but you have a feeling that there is so much more to her. Jangmo-o are proud by nature and you can’t wait to bring her confidence in herself back. The newest member of your party, your little combee, is cheerful but very curious. You have a feeling she’s going to get herself into a lot of trouble. 

The sun is setting on the wild area when you find a little alcove of rocks away from the wild pokemon roaming as well shelter from the wind. Glaring down at your tent you heave a sigh and pull out the instructions.

“I should have been trying to figure this out an hour ago… I’m going to lose light!” you grumble as you begin struggling with the tent. 

“Hold this,” you say as you hand Serenity one of the poles for the tent, “I thought they said it was a pop up!” 

“Need some help?” questions a voice from behind you. “Ouch! Hey!”

You let out a scream of surprise as you whip around to face the dragon gym leader now doubled over in pain. Davine looking somewhere between terrified and remorseful after her surprise assault on him. 

You can’t hold it in and start to laugh, “Are you okay?” you ask between fits of laughter.

“Are you really laughing at me after your pokemon just attacked me?!” he exclaims, but the smile on his face says he isn’t mad. 

“You scared her! And me! You deserve what you get!” you exclaim as you walk over to Davine and pick her up. You press her into your chest and gently run your fingers over her head to soothe her. 

“Tell her you're okay, she’s upset that she hurt you,” you say indicating the baby dragon in your arms. 

He just smiles down at her, “You didn’t hurt me, I’ve gotten accidently hit by my friends way too many times for that to even leave a scratch! I know you didn’t mean it.” He takes her gently from your arms and holds her to his chest. He begins to scratch her under her chin and before you know it, she has relaxed against him. 

“Is that a Drager Tamer trick?” you ask as you regard the two. 

“I can’t reveal all my secrets but yeah that’s one of them. Think of dragons like giant cats.”

“Huh… good to know… How did you find me by the way?”

“Nessa said that she saw you off into the wild area, and I decided I wanted to head to the Lake of Outrage to pick up a new partner. Then I decided to see if I could find you...besides I’m not Leon you know? I know how to find my way around.”

You just laugh at his explanation, “So does that mean you know how to set up a tent?”

“So you think you’re going to beat me and you can’t even set up a tent?” he teases. 

“Beating you and setting up a tent are two different life skills, do not mock me!”

He laughs at your explanation before he puts Davine down and walks over to you. 

“Come on, I’m teaching you how to put up a tent, but you cook dinner alright?”

“Demanding aren’t we?”

“Oh come on! If you cook for me, I get to rub it in Leon’s face that you did! Besides I bet you’re amazing,” he says with a wink. 

“Fine… teach me how to set up the tent and I’ll cook you dinner.”

Raihan walks over to the tent, putting a couple of poles in the corresponding pockets and then just pulls. The tent springs up practically on it’s own and you can only sit and stare with an open mouth. 

“That was so easy…”

“Yep…” he says with a shit eating grin. 

You just huff before you grab the pot out of your bag and set it on the makeshift fire pit you’ve already got set up. He just laughs at your annoyance before he calls his team out consisting of Flygon, Goodra and Duraludon. 

“Don’t forget my boys okay?” he says as he walks over to you and bumping into your side as you sort through all your ingredients. Holding up a pack of sausage, “How do you like spicy food?”

“Love it!” he says with a smile.

You just nod as you watch Davine scurry over to you and hide near you, she’s watching the dragon’s carefully. 

“Why don’t you go say ‘hi?’” you ask gazing down at the tiny dragon.

She clinks her scales together nervously as she regards them. 

“Okay, that’s fine… you can when you are ready.”

She ends up staying glued to your side while you work, whereas combee and Serenity walked up to Goodra and they seemed to be fast friends. 

“So how did today go? I see you caught a combee?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t your conventional catch, but I think she’ll make a great addition.”

“So you want a Vespiquen?”

“She’ll be super helpful against Milo since I may or may not be able to find a fire type.”

“Vulpix are pretty common around here…”

“I’ve always wanted a ninetails! They are so majestic!” you say with a laugh. 

“You would look good with one too. I can just see you posing for some magazine, Ninetails looking all haughty!”

You laugh as you think about being in a magazine, “Yeah...we’ll see… I’m trying to find a bounsweet so I can start training her up to take on Nessa.”

“Thought about Kabu yet? He’s tough when you’re first getting started.”

“I’ll figure something out…”

“Yeah you will!”

You raise your brow as you watch Davine walk towards the other pokemon. Goodra notices her first and approaches slowly, obviously happy she wanted to join in. He cooed at her softly and slowly she joins the others. 

“She’ll be okay…” he says noticing the way you watched the interaction. 

You turn and gaze at him, “I know… I just can’t help but worry…” you mutter as you add the chopped ingredients and put the rice on to cook. 

“Dragon’s are resilient, she’s going to bounce back, all she needs is you, princess,” he says as he winks at you. 

 “Are we really back to the princess stuff?” you ask as you try to hide your smile. 

He shrugs, “What’s so wrong with wanting to call you princess? After all, there’s going to come a time when you are.”

“When I’m what?”

“My princess,” he says with a lazy grin. 

You roll your eyes and throw a berry at him, “Chop that up for me will you, Romeo?”

“See you already have a pet name for me too! It’s like we’re meant to be!”

He laughs as you throw another berry at him, “That one tooo!”

“Alright! Alright! So violent! Looks like you like things a little rough… I-”

“Raihan!” you interrupt him and he just bursts out laughing, but helps you chop up the berries anyway. 

“I thought you were going to make me dinner… Here I am helping you…”

“You want to eat tonight or not? Then chop the vegetables!” you ask as you add the sausage into pot and start stirring it. 

“Yes Ma’am! I love it when you take charge,” he growls out. 

You huff, but take the berries that’s he’s chopped and endeavor to hide your blush as you add them to the pot. 

You glance up at him and he’s watching you with a lazy smile, “Hey…” he muttered suddenly. 

“Yes?” you ask softly. 

“You made it through your first day.”

You smile at the thought, “I did…”

“Come on Princess… Let’s eat,” he says as he grabs plates and bowls out of his own pack and helps you divy up the food for the pokemon as well as yourselves. 

“Damn this might be the best curry I’ve ever had!” he exclaims as he takes his first bite. 

“You’re exaggerating it’s not that great!”

“What are you talking about? This is the best!”

You laugh quietly and thank him as you dig in yourself. You have to admit it’s really good and your pokemon seem to be enjoying it as well. You notice that Davine seems to be sticking pretty close to Goodra as the dragon chatters to it happily. 

“So you’re looking for a Bounsweet?”

“Yeah! I spent all day today looking for one, but had no luck…”

“They are usually in the Rolling Fields, check there tomorrow and I’m sure you’ll find one! Maybe even a vulpix!.”

“Thanks Raihan…”

“Yeah no problem...let me know if you need help finding another type-”

“No- I mean… thank you for that as well, but I mean, thank you for being here tonight. I can hardly believe I’m here, but it’s nice to not be alone out here.”

He chuckles, “No problem… do you want me to camp out here with you tonight? I can sleep out here if you don’t feel comfortable sharing the tent.”

“I don’t want to hold you up…”

“It’ll be fun! Like when I was on my journey, except now I get to play the hero if something happens.”

You shake your head and laugh at him, “thanks, and you can sleep in the tent if you want, it’s cold out here and I trust you.”

“Whatever you say princess…” he says with a smile.

Notes:

I hope you all like this chapter! I chose the nickname @narees17​ entered! I thought it fit so well! But thank you for everyone who submitted! Now we need to name the combee! Tell me your thoughts! Also if you would like to be tagged send me an ask! I love hearing from you all!

Taglist: @ichigokage​

[starrynite7114]

things you never knew: four

A/N: Good afternoon! It’s been quite some time since I last posted! I’ve been trying to write multiple things so that I can have somewhat of a set schedule, but that is not working out for me. I’m really excited to bring the next chapter for this story. Things are picking up, hopefully you all will enjoy the ride!

Thank you for all the likes, comments and follows! It is really great to see those notifications!

Also, if you would like to be added on the tagged list for this particular story or just in general, please leave a comment or message me! I’m making my way through my requests, so hopefully I’ll have those up soon!

TYNK: Characters one : two : three

Word count: 6714

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Credit to original gif creator!

Ailee watched as Angel walked out of the office of the scrapyard, making his way back to the clubhouse. The screens in front of her gave her access to all the cameras surrounding the Romero Brothers Scrapyard. It’s been three years since she left and it didn’t even look like anything changed. She saw Coco at the picnic table, eating some McDonald’s while Gilly sat next to him, reading some newspaper. 

“You know you could go see them.” Olivia sat beside her. It always amazed her how Ailee never flinched when she came behind her. Ailee also has never thrown a weapon towards her, which she was also marveled by and thankful for. She had skills, but she wouldn’t be able to outdo Ailee when it came to weapons specialization, thanks to Theo’s rigorous training if she could even call it that.

“Too much time has passed.” Ailee always had dreams of going back to Santo Padre, coming back to Angel, but she knew too much time had passed. He never replied to her letters. No emails, no text messages, no calls. She could have reached out to him, and she tried, but no reply ever came.

Maybe it was the clean break he wanted. 

She could be exhausting at times, she understood. 

Everyone always left her. 

No one ever stayed for her. 

Anyone who did stay, it was due to her worth for their cause, never just for her. 

“He asks about you all the time.” Olivia knew the internal struggle that Ailee was having, how much she wished to be back in Santo Padre. Where her nightmares were kept at bay. It was insane for Olivia how attached Angel and Ailee were to one another. They were one another’s life line. They were both a shell of what they used to be and it was quite apparent. 

“Did you ever ask him about the letters?”

“He never received them.”

What a lie.

“Of course not.” Ailee exited the surveillance, all of the screens turning black.

“I know how this looks, but come on Lee, Angel would never do that to you.” Olivia felt helpless at times. Sometimes, she didn’t recognize Ailee and it frightened her. The way she was able to turn off emotions as she did, it was eerie. Whenever she went on an assignment, no matter the length, Ailee turned into someone different. The way her eyes appeared blank, the way she moved and killed with such ease, she turned into the one thing she feared. 

But she no longer cared.

Her family took everything away from her, with the exception of her brother’s. But they were guilty as Theo and Jin. They stood at the side and let it happen. Olivia always tried to keep Ailee grounded, and the only time she broke out of her stupor was when she was with Melody. 

The one thing she had to keep whatever part of her soul that was still around. Alexander definitely helped as well, but she didn’t know how much more Ailee could take. There were times that she wanted to tell Angel where Ailee was, that she wasn’t in jail. The guilt ate him up and she could see that. 

“Ailee, you’ve given so much to Maquina, maybe it’s time for you to step back. Go home.”

The intercom sounded, the tone of xylophone being played rang through the compound. 

‘Hudson Elite please make your way to Conference Room A. Hudson Elite please make your way to Conference a Room A.’

Ailee and Olivia looked at one another. Ailee picked up her guns, slipping then behind her onto the gun holster. 

“I don’t have a home.”

Angel walked into Templo, surprised to see John and Vince Rivera. After the revelation three days ago, the last thing he wanted was to see Ailee’s brothers. He wanted to fucking see Ailee, but everytime he passed by, her dipshit dildo was always there. As much as he wanted to speak to Ailee, he knew his temper wouldn’t be able to take having that prick there. 

Alexander Leon. 

What a stupid ass fucking name.

Once everyone was there, John and Vince flanked either side of Bishop. He knew this could be a mistake, if Angel and Creeper knew how much he knew, how involved he was in this whole ordeal with Ailee, it would change a few things. He didn’t expect them to understand, but he did what he had to do for his family.

The Mayans looked at the folder in front of their seats, before eyeing the two curiously. John and Vince weren’t even sure why they were willing to share all this information with the Mayans, but they figured it was about time. Keeping them in the dark was never their wish however, they didn’t want to argue with Jin. He always reasoned with them that this was what Ailee needed, to be with her family. Keeping her in Santo Padre would provoke Theo to make a move and it would further upset her if the Mayans were hurt. 

They went with that reasoning, but they saw the changes in Ailee and it was hardly ideal. While Melody helped reel her in, they didn’t want to take any chances. If Theo was at the border, they needed help from outside resources to try and control the situation before it got out of hand. Hopefully, they wouldn’t even need to worry about any trouble. 

Hopefully, Theo was still in Eastern Europe. 

“Thank you for letting us come to your,” John paused, trying to find the appropriate words to describe Templo, “private sanctuary.”

They all looked at him and he shrugged. “Sue me, this isn’t exactly a conference room.” That earned him a few chuckles. Angel eyed Ailee’s brothers curiously, harboring some ill feelings towards them due to their cold shoulder towards him as well. He reached out to them, to ask what happened to Ailee, but they never returned his calls or anything.

They could go fuck themselves.

Her whole family, with the exception of Creeper could absolutely fuck themselves. 

Creeper made his way in, arm in a sling due to the incident that occurred during their run to Vegas. Vince eyed his cousin curiously, slightly chuckling. 

“Creep, do we even want to know what happened?” Vince questioned. 

“Got shot at primo, not much of a story.” Creeper shrugged. “So, you want to tell us what is going on?”

“Please open your folders gentlemen.” John instructed. “In front of you are Hudson Elite’s members, a team that is considered as the best of the best in Maquina. The team is led by Ailee and her second in command, Janine. The other team members are Andrew, Oscar and someone you all know well, Olivia. You may be wondering why we are disclosing such high profiled information to you all. Simple, we have a possible threat at the border and we may be in need of your assistance.” 

The Mayans men went through the folder, Ailee had light brown hair in her picture, her eyes appeared darker, but her eyes held no emotions. All the members had no smiles on their faces and what caught their eyes were Olivia. Her usual bubbly, perky smile was long gone. They looked like mug shots. 

“The fuck, it is Liv.” Gilly lifted her picture and sure enough, it was Olivia. 

Angel cussed under his breath, unsure of how to break it to his younger brother that Olivia was a part of some underground organization. But he figured he should speak to Olivia first since she would most likely want to be the one to tell Ezekiel. 

Everything was just so fucked up.

“Wait, Olivia is part of Maquina?” Bishop didn’t know that Olivia was part of Maquina. Her job was always ambiguous and he never pushed her, but to see it in front of him, things made sense. She was elusive as Ailee, but he knew she wasn’t a field agent. She didn’t have the scars, the blank stare that most killers had. 

It didn’t escape the members that Bishop knew the name of the organization. But too much information was being thrown at them for it to even register. 

“Olivia is Ailee’s IT specialist, she also heads our IT department at Maquina.” Vince answered. 

“Wait, what threat? What the fuck is a Maquina?” Coco was confused. He heard of rumors of a secret government agency that was recruiting while he was in the Marines, but he thought that everyone was losing their mind since war could do that to you. Ailee’s record was what bugged him. Two hundred and fifty-three confirmed kills. Her second in command, Janine had one hundred and seventy-five confirmed kills. He studied each of their profiles and they were stone cold killers with the exception of Olivia. No confirmed kills under her, but her accolades spoke for themselves.

But none of the Mayans could believe it.

Ailee, the sweet young girl that was attached to Angel’s hip. The one who would bring them food every once in a while since she knew they were lazy and rarely cooked. The one who would tend to their wounds whenever they came home wounded. They always knew there was something off with Ailee’s family, but this was just ridiculous. 

An underground organization?

This was too much like those Hollywood films.

“Maquina is a government agency that is not known to the public cause we technically do not exist. We’re a loophole to diplomacy. Our assignments or actions do not require congress approval. A council is made up of unbiased individuals that are able to put politics and personal preferences aside for the better of the common good.” John explained.

“With the common good being whatever benefited the US and their allies.” Vince added.

John shot his brother a look who held up his hands. “Point being, we try to keep the balance of power in the world to prevent unnecessary wars. Our agents are handpicked from the CIA, FBI, and various other law enforcement agencies.”

“Or you bore and bred them.” Angel added. 

Vince and John looked at Angel, not surprised by his comment. Bishop just shook his head, knowing his resident hothead always took Ailee’s involvement into account. 

“What does this have to do with anything?” Gilly studied their records and the members of just Ailee’s team looked serious enough. Their accolades spoke for themselves, but none of them could believe Ailee’s. 

Two hundred and fifty-three confirmed kills.

“You wanted to know if Ailee was in jail and the answer was, she wasn’t. Uncle Jin offered her a position in Maquina in exchange for her freedom.” Vince explained. 

“And you let your sister sell her soul?” Angel scoffed.

“Well, we weren’t the ones who stupidly placed illegal weapons and drugs in her coffee shop.” Vince retorted. 

Bishop gave Angel a look. “Don’t get up.” The authority in his voice kept Angel in his seat. 

“Look, we’re not here to argue about why my sister is where she is now, you had questions, we have answers. If we’re going to strike up a temporary partnership, we figured that it would be best to be as honest as we can be.” John knew of Angel’s temper. It was what marveled him about Ailee’s attraction to Angel. She was always cool, calm, collected, hardly rattled. But Angel was her opposite and he figured that opposites attract. 

“Your uncle bailed her out, he must have wanted something in return, besides becoming a part of this organization.” Riz shuffled through the files. 

“You turned her into the perfect killer.” Hank commented, shaking his head. He himself was recruited by Jin, but he declined, wanting to stay a part of the Mayans. Jin liked his brutality and that he had no qualms when it came to killing people.

It was one of the qualities Maquina sought after. The more skewed your moral compass was, the better. 

John and Vince didn’t like the comment Hank made, but they essentially did. They didn’t make any effort to stop their uncle nor were they able to save her from Theo. At times, they felt that they failed Ailee, but when they would see how she was with Melody, they had hoped that the old Ailee was still there. The old Ailee who was frightened by the dark and always ran to their rooms when the lights would cut off. The old Ailee who would hold their hand whenever there was a needle near her. The old Ailee who would sleep on their beds when she had a nightmare and just wanted her big brothers to protect her. 

“My uncle offered her immunity if she chose to join Maquina. Ailee made her choice on her own accord, she’s an adult.” John ignored Hank’s comments. It was better to not answer, because they didn’t have anything to say about that. Cause they did. They really turned her into a perfect killer. 

“You mean he twisted her arm.” Taza knew of the situation and the way he saw it, Jin made sure that Ailee had no other choice. Relive her nightmare with Theo, rot in prison, or join Maquina. Though, he was certain she chose to rot in prison. “What were the terms?”

“Uncle Jin offered Ailee to come to Maquina, and he would get all of her charges dropped. In exchange, she would work for Maquina for x amount of years.” John didn’t need to disclose every detail of Ailee’s deal with Jin. “My uncle didn’t want Theo to sink his claws into her as he’s done before.” 

“Thought Theo was a non-factor.” Bishop chimed in. 

“He is, but we didn’t want to take our chances. If he utilized Ailee as he intended to do so, then it presents trouble for a few people.” 

“You make Lee sound like she’s the terminator.” Coco scoffed, still in disbelief that Ailee had this many kills. “This could be fabricated.” 

“Could be, but I’m sure you’ll encounter this side of her soon. Seeing is believing.” Vince shrugged. “My sister has photographic memory, just like your brother.” Vince looked over at Angel. “Theo wanted Ailee to infiltrate certain weapons companies and to memorize their blueprints for certain weapons, so that he could eliminate the competition.” 

“You expect us to believe this?” Riz wasn’t sure what to make out of this, much like his brother’s they were in disbelief. In a world where government agencies seem to be on one side and the so called bad guys were on the other side, seeing the gray area was a bit unnerving. 

“Well, this is quite an elaborate scheme, don’t you think?” John sighed. “Is there anything else?”

“You staged her prison release.” Creeper stated. He felt like an idiot for not connecting it earlier. He wasn’t exactly familiar with the details of Maquina, but he knew a few things from his conversations with John and Vince. He also may have eavesdropped on Jin and his brother William when they would talk about certain missions. All he knew, they had connections and if they wanted to do so, Ailee’s record could be erased with ease. 

Hell, all of their records could be erased.

“Yes, Uncle Jin thought it would be a good idea to have her officially be released.” Vince never understood why the Mayans had to be kept in the dark. They didn’t need to know about Maquina, but they should have at least been told that Ailee was released all those years ago.

“What did he do to her?” Angel chimed in, pushing his anger the best he could. He had to get information from Ailee’s brothers, he had to play it cool. They had answers and he wanted them. 

John and Vince knew that Angel was asking about Theo and not Jin. 

“Those six months, I don’t know what happened, but when she came back, she was different. The scars, the broken arm, how jumpy she became, and the nightmares.” He looked up at them. He knew they knew about the nightmares because he spoke to them often about it. She would thrash in bed, getting this frightened look in her eyes as she would push him away. It became so often that Angel figured out how to calm her down so she would see him and not whatever vicious nightmare she was having. “What the fuck did he do to her?” 

“We don’t know the full details, just that he wanted to,” John paused, closing his eyes as he recalled finding his sister with an inch of her life. It was haunting and it still haunted him to this day. The way Theo left her barely breathing, it angered them so. She was lying in a pool of her own blood in a daze. They weren’t sure if her body was in shock or this was how badly Theo broke her. “He wanted to perfect Ailee, that’s all she would tell us.”

“What is the threat you may need help with?” Bishop questioned. As much as he wanted to go down memory lane and discuss just how much Ailee changed, he wanted the two men to get to the point.

“Theo Kane has been making noise in Mexico, providing weapons for certain cartels. The American government wants us to get rid of Theo before he acquires any power that would make him a threat. Ailee has been assigned to investigate Theo’s possible connections in Mexico. We figured that you can help Ailee by giving her access to your tunnels.” Vince explained. “In the event he does have connections in Mexico, she would need to make it across the border inconspicuously.” 

“He was such a small player and from my understanding, he’s not allowed on US soil.” Bishop wasn’t sure what the play here was, they had no reason to be in Santo Padre over a hunch. He knew what kind of damage Maquina could cause and that was the last thing he needed with the cartel and everything else going on. 

“And that he is however, if you make the right connection, you can become a big player quite quickly. Theo has somehow convinced some European governments that he’s not as psychotic as his father, but that’s all a hoax.” John let out a frustrated sigh. He should have taken care of his half-brother when he killed his father. It was two birds with one stone, but the council was very adamant that the son should not pay for his father’s sins. 

But he should have paid since he was going to continue his father’s legacy.

Theo’s father was once a well respected weapons manufacturer that had huge government contracts due to the efficiency and accuracy of his weapons of destroying its target and the high kill rate. But governments did not like to share their weaponry with their enemies and Theo’s father became far too confident in his invisibility and made a mistake. He sold weapons to the Russian army, which made him an enemy. And he may have also been involved in an assassination attempt on a European royal. 

Regardless, Theo’s father was excommunicated and the kill order went out that had to be carried out by Maquina. 

John was the one to take on the assignment. 

And he killed Theo’s father. 

“So that’s all you need? The use of the tunnels?” Bishop knew there must be something else, it seemed too simple.

“Yes, just the tunnels, we can handle everything else.” John looked at Vince. “Ailee will be sniffing around, but she seems adamant that she has no plans on meeting with any of you, or involving you. Ailee was brought here to protect you all as well.”

“What? Protect us?” Hank scoffed at the idea. “Why would we need her protection?” None of them could let the idea sink in that she was this government agent that was right under their nose. That she killed more people than all of them combined. 

“If Theo is here, he’ll target you all first due to your connection with Ailee. Uncle Jin wants to assure that no collateral damage will occur due to Theo’s obsession with our sister. He knows how to twist our sister.” 

“And how is that?” Riz questioned.

“Angel, his move is going to be Angel.” Creeper sighed. “How did you all let this happen? You never wanted Ailee to become a part of Maquina. That you weren’t going to let your parents despicable actions dictate her life?” Creeper knew how much the three Rivera’s hated what their parents pushed them to be. Killing wasn’t for everyone, and they adapted for survival. 

“We didn’t, but Uncle Jin reasoned that it was best for Ailee. That we shouldn’t let her talents go to waste.” John felt like an idiot for using that reasoning since he himself never believed in it. 

“Killing people is a talent?” Angel had enough of her brother’s bullshit. They hardly answered anything and left them with more questions. “You two are just like your uncle, just like Theo, you always tried to dictate Ailee’s life instead of thinking of what was best for her.”

“And what was best for her Ignacio? To live in Santo Padre with you, happily ever after?” Vince clicked his tongue, his disapproval evident. “We always liked you for our sister, but at the end of the day, much like you recognized that Ezekiel’s future was outside of Santo Padre, so was hers.” 

“No, it was never about me. It was what she wanted, she wanted to stay in Santo Padre, I didn’t want her to stay either, I recognized that too, but Ailee wanted to stay here and if that’s what she wanted, that was fine with me. Because unlike you mother fuckers, I actually love her.”

John caught Vince when he rushed towards Angel. “Fuck you Reyes! You don’t know half the shit we’ve done for our sister!” John held his younger brother back, as Angel remained seated, chuckling at his words. 

“Settle down,” John pushed Vince back, narrowing his eyes at his younger brother. “Control yourself.” John faced the Mayans again. “Look, Theo was coming for her too. He visited her often during those two weeks, risking the ban that was thrusted upon him by the US government. He was trying to butter her up, apologize for his actions towards her all those years ago.” John remembered when he ran into Theo outside of the prison. He greeted him warmly, thanked him for killing his father. It was eerie, but he knew there was something hidden there. “Theo or Uncle Jin would have never let her rot in jail, so she picked the lesser of two evils as she put it. She would never want to go back to Theo after what happened.”

“So he did twist her arm.” Taza chuckled, shaking his head. 

“The guy who is attached to your sister, who is he?” Gilly questioned, knowing any of Angel’s questions would cause the tension in the room to increase.

“A childhood friend of hers.” Vince kept it simple, he wanted to get the fuck out of here. Angel was getting on his last nerve since he was fucking right. They did this to Ailee and it was always her choice to stay here. 

“Not her boyfriend?” Gilly continued.

“No, my sister doesn’t do relationships, but believe me, he’s been trying his best to make it happen.” Vince threw a smug look towards Angel. “Guess you’re not the only option she has.”

“Fuck you.” 

“Alright, alright, we will let you discuss whether or not you’ll let Ailee use the tunnels. We’ll give you 500K a week for the inconvenience.” 

“500 thousand dollars to use tunnels?” Bishop looked at John like he was insane. 

“You’re doing us a favor, we take good care of people who help us.” John shrugged. “It was nice seeing you all gentlemen, hope you’ll stop by my sister’s coffee shop.”

With that said, John and Vince walked out, leaving the Mayans to discuss what their next step would be.

==============

Olivia sighed as she took off her glasses, rubbing her eyes. She’s been working on some freelance work since Maquina was quite stable in Europe right now. She finished programming this new app for a Netherlands based company regarding facial recognition. Finishing up the schematics, she sent it over for further development. She wasn’t heading the team and she much preferred it that way.

The coffee shop was now fully functioning, the grand opening was two days ago. She was surprised how many people came to the grand opening, but she figured they remembered Ailee when she was here a few years back. The knock on her door made her look at the clock as it was nearing midnight. EZ had a key to her place and so did Ailee, so it couldn’t be them. Getting the gun she had hidden at a secret compartment in the kitchen, the other two were in her room and bathroom, she made her way to the door. She looked through the peephole and it was Emily Galindo. Sliding the gun at the waistband of her jeans at the back, she opened the door.

“Emily, what are you doing here?” Emily walked past her. She looked distraught. Before she could close the door, someone cleared her throat. She looked back and it was Miguel. “Sorry Miguel.”

“No offense taken,” he gave her a tight smile, following his wife inside. 

“Please, sit down.” Olivia instructed them to sit on the couches. “What has brought you two here?”

“We need your help.” Emily immediately replied. She closed her eyes, Miguel placing a hand over hers. 

“We apologize for coming at such a late hour.” Miguel placed his hand on Emily's obvious distraught in her demeanor made Olivia antsy. She knew Emily due to EZ and Miguel due to a few freelance work she did for him. “As my wife said, we need your help with finding our son. We know of your ability with technology and hoped that you might be able to help us locate our son.”

Olivia heard of their son’s disappearance even though Miguel worked hard to keep it on the low. But then again, Maquina kept an eye on everything. They were sure Miguel’s son’s kidnapping would cause an uproar, so they were monitoring the situation. 

“Your son has been taken?” Olivia tried her best to pretend that she had no knowledge of what was going on. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Yes, we were hoping you could use a software program you have to use the CCTV cameras to try and locate him.” Miguel suggested.

Olivia nodded her head. “My computer here wouldn’t be able to do it, but I can do it first thing in the morning when I get to my office.” She offered. 

“Yes, of course, we understand. Any help is greatly appreciated. If it is any help, it seems the rebel group Los Olvidados took my son.” Miguel was doing all the talking as Emily appeared to be in a daze. 

Olivia cussed in her head, knowing that this presented trouble. Ailee used the rebel group as a connection to Theo, but even Olivia knew that wasn’t possible. She implanted all the leads to get Maquina in Santo Padre in order to keep Melody protected.

“That definitely helps, thank you.” Emily mustered up a smile. 

Before anyone else could speak, her door opened and EZ walked in, face hardened by Miguel’s guards up front. They all stood up upon seeing EZ’s arrival. Emily’s eyebrows furrowed, but she wasn’t surprised that EZ was staying with Olivia, of course he was. 

“Ezekiel,” Miguel greeted. “We will be taking our leave, thank you again Olivia.” 

Ezekiel moved out of the way, his eyes trained on Olivia, not even moving once towards the Galindo’s. Once they were outside, EZ closed the door, leaving him and Olivia in the apartment.

“What the fuck was that?” EZ questioned.

“Is Cristobal safe?” She asked him, knowing of his newfound connections with the rebels. 

EZ sighed. “Yes, fuck, they asked you for help?”

“It won’t be difficult for me to track them down EZ.” Olivia warned him. “Tell Angel to talk to his girlfriend.”

“You know he’s not interested in Adelita, it’s a pure business relationship.” EZ knew his brother was still hung up on Ailee. No matter how hard his brother tried to move on, he held onto Ailee. Sure, he’s slept around, but he never became involved in another relationship. 

“Of course,” Oivia nodded her head. “I’m just saying, warn her, it’s not hard to track them as much as they would like to think so.”

“How can you even do this?” EZ somewhat understood what Olivia did for a living. She was a tech genius, that was one thing he knew for sure. Beyond that? He couldn’t really tell you. She always told him she did freelance work all over the world, making software and apps for various companies. Yet, she stayed in Santo Padre. Her apartment was beautiful, but he knew she could live in a five bedroom home with the works if she wanted to do so. 

When he was in Stockton, Olivia stayed nearby, living there till two years ago, when she moved back down to Santo Padre. It was good to see Olivia every day. She would tell him how she just visited Ailee and she would catch him up on her day. Truth be told, it was the only reason he was able to stay sane. Her daily visit was the dose of reality he needed. 

“It’s not difficult Ezekiel. There are plenty of CCTV cameras around Mexico and along the border.” Olivia shrugged. “And I know how to access phone and computer cameras. It’s not very difficult.”

“For you, but for mere mortals as myself, that sounds like a pain in the ass.” EZ sat on her couch, Olivia following suit. She sat beside him, placing her legs on his lap. 

“How was it today?”

“He burned a man and his kid alive.” EZ sighed. “It’s like Angel doesn’t care that this woman took Emily’s kid.”

“Give your brother credit, he cares, but he must trust her to know she won’t harm the kid.” Olivia leaned her side against the couch, her head enjoying the soft comfort of the couch. “It’s not ideal, but this is how you get powerful men like Miguel Galindo’s attention.” Olivia has seen it before, some ended well, others, not so much. This was a power play by the rebels, to show them that they weren’t as untouchable as they liked to believe. Rattle the foundation, so to speak. Again, Olivia had seen it before, it was a technique Maquina used quite often. “Is it more personal just cause it’s Emily’s kid?”

“Don’t go there, I can respect the fact she’s married.”

“Can you?” Olivia didn’t want to push EZ, but she doesn’t actually believe that EZ was over Emily. It has been eight years and it’s not like Emily made any effort to visit EZ after he pushed her way. She couldn’t blame her, but at the same time, she was married now, it was time to move on. She knew how Emily could be, manipulation was a woman’s game, she knew it wouldn’t be long before she came knocking on EZ’s door to request for his assistance. 

“Liv, you know it’s done.” EZ knew why he held on to Emily, it was a part of his past that he’s had a hard time letting go of. He was trying, especially with Emily being married to Miguel, but it was hard. She was his first love, she went through an abortion alone and he would always be angry at the circumstances of the situation that didn’t let him have a child. He understood her choice, but it didn’t make it hurt any less. 

“I’m just saying, I won’t judge, I’ve been there.” 

EZ paused, looking over at Olivia. “You’ve been here? You’ve had your first love?”

“Not my first love, but I’ve had an ex that was difficult for me to let go of.” Olivia turned the television on. 

EZ was slightly irritated at how nonchalant Olivia was being with the information she just dropped. Before he could make a comment, Olivia’s phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and immediately swung her legs so she could stand up. 

“Ciao!” She greeted whoever was on the phone. 

Olivia walked away from EZ, leaving him the television remote. He could hear her in the kitchen, giggling and speaking to whoever the fuck she was speaking to at the middle of the night in Italian. The phone call lasted for an hour, which further annoyed EZ. She shouldn’t be talking to anyone this fucking late. Who the fuck was up this late besides psychopaths? She spoke Italian the whole time so it wasn’t like he could eavesdrop.  

"I didn't know you can speak Italian." EZ commented when Olivia sat back next to him.

"I can speak seven languages, Ezekiel. You know this." Olivia furrowed her eyebrows at his words. He sounded upset and she wasn't exactly sure as to why he was. "You would like Leo, he's really nice and hilarious. He's just like Alex, except he doesn't have the weight of a crime organization on his shoulders."

Olivia has disclosed to EZ about the Leon’s. She was friends with them along with Ailee. At times, she would tag along with Ailee to Europe, which annoyed EZ since that meant he was stuck with Angel the whole summer. 

"You mean Lee's Dildo?" And now EZ didn't feel bad referring to him as such since Leo sounded like a fucking tool.

"Wow, calm down their Angel." Olivia teased. "I've told you about Leo before, remember, my ex from Italy?"

"You're what now?” EZ wasn’t an idiot, he knew Olivia had ex-boyfriends, but she never referred to Jamie as her boyfriend. For a few years, she didn’t visit him every day and would come by every month or so. It annoyed EZ, but he couldn’t exactly be upset at her, she had  a life to live as well. But she rarely spoke to him about the guys she dated, except for this one guy Leo. Again, she never referred to him as her boyfriend, but she mentioned him frequently. 

“My ex-boyfriend, I’ve told you about him before.” Olivia was certain she did, it would be hard not to since she was with Leo for almost four years. At the end, their relationship didn’t pan out since she refused to move to Madrid. 

“You’ve never referred to him as your boyfriend.”

“Yes, I did,” Olivia paused, thinking for a moment. “Oh, maybe I didn’t, I just figured you would put two and two together. Anyway, he’s coming into town since he has a few things for Alexander to sign.” 

“Wait, what does he have to do with Lee’s dildo?”

“He’s Alex’s younger brother.”

EZ chuckled and nodded his head. Who would have thought that a Leon would be a thorn to his side? It’s not like he had feelings for Olivia, but this prick seemed to be a waste of time for Olivia. They broke up, they should cut off all communications, there was no reason for Olivia to speak to him. 

“Sounds like a prick to me.” EZ shrugged. 

“What makes him sound like a prick?” Olivia questioned him, curious to his rationale. 

“He’s Alexander’s brother, I’m sure it runs in the family.”

Olivia laughed. “Ezekiel Reyes, are you jealous?” EZ has never met Alexander and the only information he knew about Alexander was through Angel. 

The Reyes men were so territorial. 

“Jealous? Pfft,” EZ scoffed. “Jealous? Don’t be ridiculous. I'm just saying, if you two broke up, why be so, chummy?”

“Chummy? What are you fifty?” Olivia laughed harder. “Wow, you are jealous.” She wiped the tears in her eyes brought on by the laughter. “It’s okay baby Reyes, you’re still the apple of my eye.” She pinched his cheeks, EZ playfully pushing her hand away. 

“Stop, you’re being obnoxious.”

Olivia hugged EZ from the side, resting her head on his chest. EZ wrapped an arm around her middle, pulling her closer. “It’s always been me and you, nothing is going to change that.”

“Yeah, not even your Italian dildo.” 

Olivia laughed once again. She missed moments like this with EZ. She was happy that he was out. 

Even if it added to her debt with Jin Rivera, she didn’t care. EZ was out of prison and he was going to remain that way. 

==============

Angel walked in his apartment, still in disbelief at Galindo’s antics towards that innocent ice cream man and his child. He’s had his fair share of killing people, but that was too much. He completely believed in Adelita’s cause but at times, he felt that she didn’t care for the consequences of her actions or she didn’t think of what could happen. He was one to talk since he didn’t think of his actions as well, but he knew better than to fucking kidnap a cartel boss’ kid.

He plopped down the cough, jumping up when the light suddenly turned on in the kitchen. His gun was immediately out, but he lowered it when he saw Vince.

“Do you ever clean?” He moved his gun towards the other voice, who was John, who just walked out of the bathroom. 

“What the fuck are you two doing here?” Angel placed his gun on his table. The last thing he wanted to do was talk to Ailee’s brothers. 

“Hostile environment.” Vince chuckled, coming out of the kitchen with three beers.

“What is this? Social hour? Fuck you two.” Angel was still letting the information sink in that Ailee was a government agent, who fucking kills people for a living. He wasn’t judging her, but this was his Ailee. The one who couldn’t even fucking hold a gun. This couldn’t be true.

“Angel, we come in peace, if anything, we’ve come bearing gifts.” John sat down on his armchair, thanking Vince for the beer. “We held this information for you since we felt it would benefit you the most.”

Vince places a folder on the table, sliding it towards Angel. “You hungry?” He questioned his brother.

“I am quite starved.” 

“I ordered pizza.” 

Angel wanted to shoot these motherfuckers with how casual they were acting around him. He opened the folder and again there was Ailee’s profile, much like the one Creeper had the other day. He flipped the pages and stopped at a hospital record. 

“Acute miscarriage,” Angel read out loud, the diagnosis sinking in. “No, no, this isn’t possible. She wasn’t, she,” Angel took a deep breath. “Please tell me this isn’t fucking real.”

John and Vince realize their mistake. Angel didn’t even know she was pregnant. They couldn’t rewind their actions now and they felt like idiots. Ailee was not going to be pleased.

“Fuck Angel, you didn’t know?” John looked at Vince who took out his phone, trying to find a way out of this one.

“Does it fucking look like I did?” Angel continued to browse through the documents. The birth certificate was what threw him out of a loop. “What’s this? She had a miscarriage.”

“Um, fuck.” John closed his eyes, running his hand over his short hair. “Ailee was pregnant with twins, and Theo gave her this drug that induces miscarriages. It induced one, and the other fetus hung on. She gave birth to a baby girl, Melody.”

“Melody was born with congenital hearing loss due to the chemicals in that drug. We made a cover story that she was adopted to throw Theo off.” Vince added. “If he knew that Melody was yours, he would harm her due to his hatred for you.”

Angel couldn’t hear anything else after that. Theo killed one of his children and Ailee kept his daughter from him. 

Angry was not even the right word how incredibly furious he was. He didn’t give a fuck if Ailee’s dildo was around, she had some explaining to do and she couldn’t talk her way out of that one. 

[leo-gold-hotchner]

The Sinner -1

Hi, I just decided to write a series. Any issues please let me know! I’m no expert in this field so many things may be wrong and different from real-life even if I googled it a lot. Also the plot was written many years ago when I was in high school so it may have plot holes... Back then it has original characters, but I decided to mix it with Criminal Minds  

Criminal Minds BAU x Reader

I tried my best to write the reader gender neutral, but I’m not sure I’m succeeding it. The reader isn’t explicitly showed in part 1, and the reader’s partner is a male.

Warning: Explicit description of blood, death, mutilation etc.

Word Count: 2300-ish

“You will always be fond of me. I represent to you all the sins you never had the courage to commit.” – Oscar Wilde 

 The figure stood straight, watching people coming by. In the middle of night, where the moon watched them, the figure simulated the plan once again before starting everything.

1st Day 

“Where were you last night?” JJ asked Prentiss directly. 

 In the midst of working, Reid and Morgan perked their ears to hear the conversation between the women. They all went to a pub to relax last night, even Hotch tagged along with them. But not Prentiss. She decided to ditch them for something, and JJ was determined to find out because Prentiss promised she’d be there with them on that afternoon. 

 “I just wanted to rest?” The brunette looked JJ rather apologetically. “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t go with you guys last night, but I really was tired.” Prentiss sighed deeply as the blonde gave her a pointed look. 

Before Prentiss could reply Hotch exited his office and told his team to meet at the conference room. The team leader watched the team bickering friendly and Garcia walked quickly with an iPad in her hands to the conference room. Then he knocked Rossi’s office and the men walked together to the conference room. 

Two photos of a dead woman and man showed on the screen. Garcia tried her best not to look at the horrible photos. Both of their eyes were closed, but the dried black blood told their eyes were gouged out with something. Their clothes were torn, and middle torsos were terribly mutilated. ‘Luxuria’ was written on their middle torsos. Their both hands were nearly blackened as if burned for a long time. 

 “Two bodies were found in Philadelphia, the first victim, the body of Erica Smith was found on 5th November and James Olson was found on 13th November. They were both prostitutes and their bodies were found at the secluded areas. They were never reported missing, because they were known to be gone from the radar for a month or so.” Garcia informed the team as they read through the report. “The PPD thinks this is done by a serial killer.” The team looked at each other, agreeing this unique signature may be a start of a new serial murders in the city. 

“The autopsy thinks Smith was killed around 31st October. But Olson’s body was found just after a day. So, 2 weeks of cooling off period.” Morgan tapped the screen of the iPad, sympathising how much the victims suffered before the UnSub finally ends their pain by killing them. 

“The UnSub will kill again soon,” Rossi leaned against the table. He’s been doing this job his whole lifetime, but looking at those victims always left him with grim feeling. 

“Let’s go,” Hotch nodded to the team. 

 They were heading to see the leading detective and the captain, while discussing about the murders. 

 “Luxuria has many meanings,” Reid started, “and ‘lust’ is one of the meanings. In Catholic, lust is listed on the Seven Deadly Sins and punished by fire and brimstone.” Reid explained nonchalantly, but his hand was rubbing the sobriety coin in his pocket unconsciously to ease anxiety. 

“That’s why the UnSub mutilated the victims’ genitals and hands with fire?” Prentiss scowled. “Another use of religion for their pleasure,” she muttered. 

Suddenly his time with Tobias Hankel flashed in his head and closed his eyes tightly, Reid stopped at the track. 

“You alright?” Prentiss asked with genuine concern. 

“Yeah, it’s alright.” Reid stuttered a bit, nodding to the older woman and the others who glanced back at him. Knowing he said ‘it’s alright’, not ‘I’m alright’. “It’s okay, really,” he said determinedly when he saw Morgan and JJ were about to say something. 

 As the team welcomed by a middle-aged man, several agents recognised the detective from a few years ago. The man aged, but he still had his sharp eyes of a professional detective. 

“Detective Santangelo,” Hotch greeted the detective. 

“Agent Hotchner,” he shook the agent’s firm hand. “Actually, it’s lieutenant now,” Santangelo gave the tall man a mild smile, though not sounding bragging about being promoted. 

“Congratulations, Lieutenant.” Hotch nodded in acknowledgement. “You’ve met Agents Jareau, Morgan, and Reid. These are SSA Rossi and Prentiss.” 

“No Agent Gideon?” Santangelo gave the BAU leader a surprised look. 

“He wanted to take a break.” Hotch replied shortly, not elaborating further, and the lieutenant nodded. 

“Captain was called out, so I’ll show the room.” 

The BAU entered a spacious room where everything was prepared for the team. The files related to the case were already stacked on the table neatly, the city map was pinned on the board and the white board standing tall beside the board. The team started to unpack their bags to prepare investigation. 

“Rossi and Prentiss, go to the first crime scene, Morgan and JJ, the second crime scene. Reid and I’ll go to M.E.” Hotch ordered his team. 

Before the team could exit the room, several knocks came from the outside. JJ opened the door where a tall, lean man standing at the doorway. 

“Hi, I’m Detective Leon Lee. I had to check on other case so I couldn’t welcome you guys,” the man smiled apologetically. “I’m leading the case for now.” He told the team and the team shook his hand. 

“You only have one guy assigned to this case?” Morgan asked curiously as he thought at least a couple of detectives would investigate the case. 

“Ah...” Lee’s face turned painful and the team knew what happened. They knew what the pain lingering in the detective’s eyes meant. Loss of a friend, teammate, and family. In this field the team and the partner are family. 

“Sorry for your loss,” JJ told the detective, the others giving him a knowing look with empathy. 

“No matter, he knew what he was doing was dangerous.” Lee sighed deeply, but soon smiled lightly. “If you need any help, just tell me. I heard you were great from the Lieutenant back then.” 

“Thank you, I’m sure we’ll need your help soon,” Hotch nodded. 

Rossi and Prentiss looked around the narrow alley, the alley was sure secluded. 

“I think it’s lucky it only took less than a week to find the body.” Prentiss sighed as she observed the blocked end. “I don’t think many will ever come here.” 

The small alley was in between two buildings, and no windows on the sides of both buildings. A large dumpster could barely fit in the narrow alley. 

“The UnSub knows the area very well.” Rossi observed the buildings. “A homeless found the body in a dumpster. He found the body because he saw her arm.” 

“He must have a good eye to spot the arm in the dark.” The female agent opened the dumpster with a gloved hand. The dumpster was new, the old one probably was taken to the forensic lab to examine. 

“There’s nothing,” Rossi said, “we should talk to the homeless. But, do we know where he is?” 

“We have his name, sure we can find him.” Prentiss rolled her eyes good heartedly towards her mentor and he chuckled. 

JJ and Morgan arrived at the second crime scene where the yellow police line was still intact, but no one was guarding it. 

“You think they forgot to remove it?” JJ asked her teammate. 

 “Maybe,” Morgan held the police line for JJ, “ladies first.” JJ laughed lightly as she shook her head. 

The second crime scene happened at the surprisingly clean alley. No single graffiti was drawn on the sides of the walls. 

“No light,” JJ looked around the alley, “it’s probably dark here at night.” 

“Kids found the body near the end of the alley,” Morgan walked where only clean site welcomed him. “The report says there were not much of blood.” 

“With that amount of torture, the UnSub may have a solitude life. Or has access to drugs and have knowledge of chemical to sedate the victims not to scream for help.” JJ frowned. “But why here? Unlike the first victim, the second victim was found the next day.” Morgan shrugged. 

“We don’t know that for now. Let’s go see the kids who found the body.” 

 When Hotch and Reid entered the cold M.E. lab, the examiner was talking on the phone. He didn’t notice the agents just entered his lab. 

“I don’t think Nick wants that,” the examiner sighed over the phone. Although he finally sensed the others’ presence, he held his hand to give him a minute and Hotch just nodded. “I have to go now, but just don’t do any hasty, okay? Everyone’s just worried about you.” The man shoved his phone in his pocket. “I’m sorry about that,” he said to the other two men while washing his hands before wearing plastic gloves. “I’m Tommy Bear, what can I do for you guys.” 

“I’m SSA Hotchner, and this is Doctor Reid. We’re from the FBI to investigate the two murders with a word carved on their bodies.” Hotch and Reid showed their FBI credentials. 

“Yes, that.” Dr. Bear opened the two morgues to reveal the victims. “You need to catch one hell of a guy, that’s for sure. I’ve worked here for sometimes, but never seen like this before.” He moved as Reid observed the bodies. “Their eyes were plucked out when they were still alive, just like when their genitals were burned. They were tortured horribly.” 

“What was the cause of their deaths?” Hotch asked. 

“Heart attack for the first victim, and blood loss for the second victim. Their cause of deaths is ultimately the same, however. They were tortured in a same manner, and I think their nails were pulled out first, then eyes, and burning their genitals.” 

“The burns are only on their genitals and hands?” Reid asked. 

“Yeah. Also, toxicology suggests they were drugged by chloroform before they died.” 

“The UnSub may have used the chemical to knock out the victims. But chloroform doesn’t knock out a person easily, why would the UnSub used that?” Reid asked Hotch. 

“Either the UnSub used that knowledge from media, or the UnSub wanted to be look like helping an intoxicated friend to avoid suspicion when abducting the victims. What about the word carved on their middle torso?” 

“I think the word is carved with a kitchen knife where you can see every day. It was carved post-mortem.”

“Using daily equipment, dumping bodies to not give hints, preying easy targets. The UnSub is prepared for forensic countermeasure.”

When the team finally met again at the conference room in the PD, the Sun was already set, and the Moon was shining over the city. 

“What do we know?” Hotch asked the team. 

“The UnSub knows the area very well, no local would know the first crime scene even exists.” Prentiss said as she leaned back. 

“The witness didn’t see anything when he found the body,” Rossi added. “He said he was searching through the garbage when he found the victim’s body under the piles of the bags.” 

“Rossi and I also went to other girls to ask about the Erica, but they didn’t know her very well. We could only get Erica was highly payed by her clients, and I quote, ‘she’s an expensive call-girl.’” 

“The second crime scene was also secluded, no light at night. But teenagers reported the body to the police, apparently some kids come to that alley to smoke. They thought no graffiti wouldn’t attract the authority but never thought a killer would dump a body there.” 

“So, the UnSub was trying to hide the body, but after it was found the UnSub didn’t even try to hide the second murder?” JJ said. 

“It’s possible the UnSub thinks it’s useless to hid the body after the first victim. But the UnSub may be was buying time between the first and second murders.” Hotch frowned. 

“Buying time might be right,” Reid interjected. “The UnSub wrote a message on the bodies.” The young man turned to the white board, a marker in his hand. 

“Luxuria.” Morgan said and Reid wrote the word on the white board. 

“Yes, it usually means ‘lust’ in Latin. The UnSub knew sooner or later the bodies would’ve been discovered. The UnSub’s motive can be anything right now, but the UnSub is telling us something. We need to find out what ‘lust’ means to this UnSub.” Reid circled ‘lust’ in red. “Their genitals were burned when they were still alive,” the team turned grim, “but their hands were burned after they were dead. As I said this afternoon, in Catholic lust is punished by fire eternally. Maybe the UnSub wanted to punish them for ‘lust’ and burned their hands after their deaths so they could still be burned in Hell.” 

“This may be done by a delusional person, thinking he is cleaning the world by punishing the sinners.” Morgan suggested. 

“Possibly, we know for sure the UnSub is omnivore,” Prentiss shrugged. “A black woman and a white man, only connection between the victims are they were prostitutes.” 

“Maybe Penelope has something,” JJ called the technical analyst via speaker phone. “You’re on speaker, Garcia.” 

“I thought all of you forgot about me!” Garcia whined over the phone. 

“Never, baby girl,” Morgan grinned. “Did you find anything that connects the victims?” 

“Nothing, nada, nuh-uh,” Garcia sighed. “They don’t use e-mails at all for their work, and their phone records are only to their closed families. And their closed families didn’t know the victims were working as prostitutes.” Feeling bad for the families who received the death of their loved ones. They were still shocked and never stopped crying when Garcia called them. 

“We need their clients’ details,” Hotch sighed. This reminded him the Megan Kane case, although Kane was posing as a prostitute to kill the clients. “Garcia, could you look for more tomorrow?” It was already late, Hotch looked at his watch. “Let’s wrap up for today. I’m sure everyone’s hungry too,” Hotch gathered the spread files. “Have some rest.” 

“I have a bad feeling about this case,” Rossi muttered. 

[excorcismic]

     ❛ i’m tryna get out , find a subtle way out . not to cross myself out , not to                          d i s a p p e a r . ❜

                                                                   ❛ LEON !! HELP !! ❜                                                                                   playlist . plotting call . listen as you read !

the mirrors surrounding you did as they were meant to, reflecting back a spitting image of LUKE PASQUALINO  -  but it’s clear something is wrong from the moment that a vision of TAKING A BLONDE-HAIRED GIRL HOME ON A JETSKI strikes you.  perhaps it was a passing daydream in the frenzy of the funhouse. you reassure yourself  -  you’re LEON S. KENNEDY ! ,  a TWENTY-NINE YEAR-OLD NURSE ( FORMER PARAMEDIC ) whose virtue lies in your + HONESTY & + SELFLESSNESS , although you’ve been told that you tend to be quite - DEJECTED & - ALOOF ,  and you’re associated with  by those around you.  suddenly,  however,  you’ve found A RACCOON CITY BADGE on your person - was that always there? from the moment you leave the funhouse,  memories from your life in RESIDENT EVIL have begun to return - leaving whoever you had been before in the mirror’s reflection behind you.  you can almost hear NEW WAYS by DAUGHTER following in your wake. ( he/him &  demimale )

                        this is the story of a very kind man .

I . IN THE DARKNESS , I WILL MEET MY CREATORS . . .

alucard , pennsylvania . leon s. kennedy is born in the back of a 1970 toyota hatchback to a father & mother who don’t love each other but try to make it work since they’re all each other has .

. . . needless to say , it’s very early in his life that ‘making it work’ doesn’t actually work out for them , and his mother moves out and his father moves in with his parents . leon is taken with the latter - seeing his mom on the weekends .

it’s a pretty okay life ; he’s raised more by his grandparents than his actual parents , but he’s always clothed , fed , and raised to be polite . he spends his childhood looking up to superheroes and playing with their toys because he was told it’s good to be a good person , and superheroes are good because they protect other good people . and it’s ingrained into his head from a young age that’s what he wants to do . 

he’s a good kid . always will be a good kid . but there are times when he tries not to be .

wide-eyed and innocent to the world around him , he starts out a goody-goody in high school that grows into more of a rebel and a hellraiser by the time he’s a junior . leon s. kennedy is a good student , but often plays hooky - smokes cigarettes - almost got caught with liquor & weed behind the outdoor bleachers . a few times he’s reported to his grandparents and when they ask him why he tells them he just wants to try everything . he never wants anyone to get hurt , he just wants to have fun .

but . . . it’s two more years of this behavior before leon’s grandparents tell him if his act doesn’t clean up , he’ll be kicked out . and he listens , throwing away a future of hedonism and hell-raising in favor of medical school . because he never liked going to the doctor’s as a kid , but he always felt safe when someone in scrubs would greet him with a smile and tell him what they’d be doing for his appointment .

he goes into medical school to be the hero he always wanted to be . 

 II . AND THEY WILL ALL AGREE THAT I’M A SUFFOCATOR . . .

leon s. kennedy devotes himself to his studies and graduates with double degrees in both nursing & emergency medical services . he starts off in the thick of it ; multiple days of loud noises , scenarios he’d never wish to be in - but lives are saved and he’s praised as a hero for the way he takes initiative . 

but of course , the newfound passion he’s found in caring for others does not stop at his field . no . because there is cordelia , and the moment he first locks eyes with her he has to make sure he’s alright with the way his heart skips a beat .

because she is beautiful . she is beautiful & different than him in the best possible ways and he finds it a miracle somehow she agrees to see him let alone marry him a while later . he considers himself the happiest man in the world since every morning he wakes up & first mistakes the form next to him for an angel - before realizing that is a real woman and she so happens to be his wife . 

of course , life moves on . and leon is devoted to his wife & his job but the latter and the sights seen can wear and tear on the conscious , the spirit . and with sudden news & sudden tragedy a rift is torn between him and the most important person in the world to him ; leon can’t help but feel his own world has stopped moving but the rest of life drags him along and he can’t take it .

home is not happy - home is not what it was before . home was the joy in her eyes & the warmth of her smile & the sound of her laugh but those don’t seem to come around much anymore . and he blames himself , and he only concludes perhaps he is the reason for all of her pain . . . so in an effort to free both her and himself , leon s. kennedy files for divorce & cordelia kennedy signs .

he packs up his bags and moves back up to his grandparents’ home - they’ve long flown to florida for retirement and leave their baby bird their nest . but the world feels empty and his ring finger grows cold now that there’s nothing upon it . 

he is alone . he tells himself it’s for the best . but he’s alone , and because he needs to take care of himself he switches to regular hospital nursing as opposed to emergency medical care .

III . OH LOVE . . . I’M SORRY IF I SMOTHERED YOU .

it has been a few years ; yes , time heals wounds , and leon has gotten used to the fact he’s living by himself - but there’s still a part of him that will be sad about what has ended . what could have been something much longer if maybe things turned out differently or he did something to fix it - even though he knows there was nothing in his power . but he’s fine .

his patients & the people he cares for are the reason he wakes up every day - he’s starting to drink & smoke again to perhaps provide soothing comfort when things get bad but he also knows he needs to focus on his own health as well .

living alone is lonely . but it doesn’t make him cold or callous ; maybe just a bit distant and reluctant to speak too much to new people , but those that gravitate towards him , he takes them in and offers his help . 

he makes an effort to try and make things brighter , to move on . goes out to drink , goes on dates ( bi icon ) - sees people , leaves the house . and it does help , even though most of the time , leon’s a bit more resigned to himself and nowhere near as talkative as he was years ago .

and even though he’s stepped away from the fast-paced environment of a paramedic , those he’s helped in the past and now remind him that he is still a good man and still a hero to those who’ve received his help .

the days can be hard ; but it’s okay . he'll take it one day at a time .

                                   i need new ways . . . to waste my time .

there is a man . a very kind man , but he’s been to hell and back & when leon looks into the mirrors , he sees eyes that have witnessed the apocalypse and then some . because raccoon city is gone & so are the people who lived in it . leon pulls away from the glass with the intense feeling of loss and the badge he finds later on feels heavy in his pockets . but . . . he’s alright . and hopefully , so is the man on the other side , as most heroes don’t end up happy but . . . leon can only feel that’s what he’d seen . 

[lover-of-midnight]

Difference - chapter 3

ating:

Mature

Archive Warning

Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Category:

M/M

Fandom:

Merlin (TV)

Relationships:

Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)

Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)

Leon & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)

Leon & Merlin (Merlin)

Gaius & Merlin (Merlin)

Characters:

Merlin (Merlin)

Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)

Uther Pendragon (Merlin)

Gaius (Merlin)

Balinor (Merlin)

Hunith (Merlin)

Nimueh (Merlin)

Igraine Pendragon

Additional Tags:

Hurt/Comfort

Emotional Hurt

Angst

Fluff

Soul-mates AU

magical arthur

Protective Merlin (Merlin)

Hurt Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)

Child Abuse

Insecure Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)

touch-starved Arthur Pendragon

First and third POV Arthur Pendragon

Second and fourth chapter POV Merlin

Then combined chapters

Strangers to Friends to Lovers

Self-Harm

Suicidal Thoughts

Camelot's original heir is coming back

Arthur Knows About Merlin's Magic (Merlin)

Alternate Universe - Magic

Other Additional Tags to Be Added

Language:English

Arthur slumped against his desk, his homework was forgotten for a moment. He signed tiredly. He walked to the window.

There was a shadow of a doubt in his eyes as he watched children playing, women talking. Men shouting to get people to the market.

He scratched at his arm, he wished the buzz would go away the itch for his magic to get out. He could still remember ten years ago when Uther had found out about his magic.

Since that day he forced it down, trying to forget the fact that he could feel it move under his skin searching for a way out.

Arthur jumped slightly when there was a knock on the door. “Enter.” His voice was almost dead.

Gaius pressed the door open his eyes were worried. “Sire?” His voice was loud in the quiet room. Arthur sank into himself slightly.

“Don’t call me that please.” His eyes showed the plea clear.

“Arthur are you alright?” Gaius glanced to the door before he looked at the prince again.

So many years had gone by, in the beginning, Gaius had tried to help Arthur master his magic, but the fear he had developed for Uther had made him press his magic down.

Blocking it from forming and begin an aid to Arthur. In the end, it also started to make Arthur ill, his magic needed to be realised but since he didn’t. He started to struggle to sleep, concentration was a problem for him.

When Uther had a query about it, Gaius had simply told him a lie, if he had known that it was of magic that made Arthur ill he would have a breakdown again.

“No. Uther wants me to lead the men to a druid camp.” He didn’t bother to say anything else, they both know that by the end of the night the whole camp would be destroyed.

“I can’t do it, Gaius, I can’t just go and kill them, they are like me.” The last part came out almost hysterically.

Gaius pulled Arthur into his arms but when he jumped back Gaius could only look at him with worry in his eyes.

“What did he do?” Gaius knows Arthur and that he would have stood up against Uther.

Arthur glanced to the floor, his hands balled into fists. He bit the inside of his lip. “Whipping.” His voice could barely be heard.

“Let me see, child.” Gaius kept his voice gentle even if he wanted to blow up in anger.

Arthur could only shake his head, he didn’t want anyone to see the scars, how much of a disappointment he was.

“Arthur it could get infected. Let me see please.” Gaius made sure to softened his voice slightly. How many more times would he need to do this.

Barley fifteen and he already had more scars than most soldiers. It took a few tries from Gaius before Arthur worked with him.

Arthur hissed slightly when the bandages pulled away from the wound. He could hear Gaius mumbling something under his breath but he didn’t bother to try and figure out what he said.

“What happened here?” Gaius looked at the bruises around Arthur’s hips. Some of them were new and some were already turning yellow.

He could see Arthur tensing up. “It doesn’t matter.” Arthur’s voice was thick and broke slightly.

“It does matter Arthur.” Gaius walked around Arthur to look him in the eyes. All he could see was despair, someone who was let down.

There was wild desperation in Arthur’s eyes. “It doesn’t matter, nothing to be done of it.” Arthur bit his lip to keep himself from screaming, this wasn’t Gaius fault, he only wanted to help.

Gaius could only nod, he would leave pain medication and a salve for him. When Arthur was ready he would hopefully come and talk about it.

“All right Arthur, if you need an ear you know where to find me,” Gaius said as Arthur went to lay down on the bed.

His body was trembling with pent up anger and hate for the situation. He wished that he could fight back be a better person but there is nothing he can do at the moment. Hopefully soon Uther would meet the other world but Arthur knows unless it is a murder he wouldn’t go so easily.

Gaius cleaned the wounds before he put on a salve to keep infection out and then he bandages them with clean linen.

“Come to me tonight that I can redo them please Arthur.” Gaius wished that he could pull him into a hug but Arthur didn’t allow contact since he was around nine.

“I will Gaius.” Arthur’s voice was small. Gaius could only nod, as he left just before he reached the door he stilled.

“Thank you.” There was a softness to Arthur’s voice Gaius didn’t like, he sounded like the dead and Gaius wished that he could do something to change that for him.

“Of course child.” Gaius gave Arthur an encouraging smile before he left.

Arthur felt like a part of himself was slowly dying. He didn’t know how much more he would be able to take.

Every since Uther had made it clear that he didn’t care about his son, the other noble-teens would try and hurt him for being born into the royal family.

He walked to the mirror, his eyes darted to the bruising on his hips, there were more on his thighs and legs.

They had thought it would be a fun game to try and make him scream, they had known he wouldn’t be able to go to Uther with it, so they got away. He sat down heavily on the floor.

Sometimes he wished that he could only stay in his room and never leave. What does it matter that he would one day be King?

It would be better to just go and work in the fields in some village than suffer through with this bullshit.

Arthur felt tears burning at his eyes. He still had a lot of work to be done, but at the moment he just wanted to leave for a while.

And that is exactly what he did, he didn’t tell the guards at his door where he was going. He didn’t bother to leave a note.

Arthur kept his eyes on the ground as he walked to the stables, he was glad that he was still in his training clothes, so hopefully, William would allow him to work with him in the fields today.

The mare snorted when he walked to her, Arthur grimaced as he got her ready, it wasn’t far to go but he hoped that it would help him clear his head somewhat.

“Let’s go girl.” If there was anyone that could have heard his voice they would have been worried for the young one sounded dead.

With a light tap the horse started to move, Arthur allowed her to gallop, the wind was slightly cold as it sliced into his face but it gave him the courage to gather his strengths.

Camelot soon becomes a blur behind him. Arthur tried to ignore the pain in his back and bum. It wasn’t worth it to think about it.

After riding for two hours he walked into the small village, it was nothing more than a few huts and an inn.

It was one of the closeth villages to Camelot but the earth was harder to work and for the most part, it didn’t look like there was anything that really grew there. But the people work hard and they were happy.

Arthur slid off the mare, he grimaced at the movement and for a moment he had to stop and take a breath.

A sound made him spun around. For a moment it felt like his vision was going to go black but he pushed it away. He wanted to be here and he wasn’t going to allow his body to just give in on him.

“Arthur, we didn’t expect to see you so soon again.” The man’s face was covered in dirt but his green eyes shined with friendliness.

“William.” Arthur greeted the man, he was sometimes surprised that the man could be so big as he was but Arthur suspected that it came with the territory of being a woodworker.

“What are you doing here son?” William led the way to a small hut a little bit further down the road.

“Just needed to get out for a while. I was wondering if you maybe have some work for me?” Arthur kept his voice light.

William was silent for a while when Arthur had turned up the first time two years ago he was close to falling off his horse. It took a few days before Arthur had regained enough of his strength to talk and soon thereafter the guards had shown up searching for the prince.

He had fled from Uther the first time he was whipped, without taking care of the wounds he had gone for his horse, letting her go wherever she wanted.

“You can come and help me in the woods. Maria is working in the fields today.” William glanced to where a young woman was busy to get the earth ready to plant seeds.

Arthur was silent as they walked to the woods surrounding the village. The people had a saying that you could only take what you need and when a tree was done you needed to plant two in his stead.

William handed Arthur a dull axe, he watched silently as Arthur sharpened the blade before he got to work.

It looked like the work was distracting Arthur from whatever demons were tormenting him.

Too soon late afternoon was on them.

“Come and rest a little bit, I am assuming you are going home soon?” William asked as they carried the last wood to the hut.

Arthur glanced at the sun. “Unfortunately.” William gave him a worried look but there is nothing they can do for him even if he fitted in with the village people.

Maria gave Arthur a small cup of goat milk, her eyes were a warm brown, her brown hair in a plait behind her head.

“Thank you, Maria.” Arthur gave her a friendly smile. He knows when she gets married that the person would be one lucky man.

After an hour Arthur was forced to greet them, he could feel some of the wounds had reopened through the day but he didn’t care. His mind felt clearer and he hoped that he would have a chance to do this soon again.

[absolute-yeet]

Wooloo fields - Hop x reader

This one-shot is also on my Wattpad account @ tales_of_darkness_

Cinderace ended the battle with a straight shot of pyro ball to Hop's Gigantamaxed corviknight. Hope had his back towards me. I couldn't see his face. I didn't want to.

I never should have gone after the champion position. I knew Hop wanted it. It was one of the only things he ever talked about. I only went on this journey to spend more time with Hop and then he roped me in with his star-struck champion talk. The champion life didn't even sound that great. Leon barely had time for family and friends and was quite frankly...daft. But maybe that last part wasn't a direct cause of him being the champion. Or maybe it was.

Hop was just like Leon. The way he got into battle, (attempting) throwing the ball, and even the way he smiled. They looked the same too. He was a spitting image of Leon. That is probably one reason I like him. He's got Leon's charm without actually being Leon.

I could see him punch the air to his side in frustration. He turned around to face me with soft eyes. My heart was pounding in my ears. The crowds roaring faintly behind it.

"Ugh! Gutted! You always did best me...", he said slowly. Everything seemed to move outside of time. The way Hop's eyes fluttered and the way he reached his hand up to shake mine. It was all too real. I stared at his hand, paralyzed by just crushing his dream. He didn't seem phased though, maybe it was just me? His golden eyes met mine as I looked up to him. I could feel the frown on my face. He gave me his charming smile with his eyes closed and I reached up to shake his hand. I may have held it a little too long. He squeezed my hand and let go of it. We both walked off of the pitch in silence, the furrow in my brow growing deeper.

Why did this feel so bad? I should be grateful for getting this far. But I just felt guilty. There was no reason to be...I worked hard for this. Hop was fidgeting with the Dynamax bracelet on his right arm. "That was a great battle mate! Next time I'll beat you. I swear as your rival...", a big smile spread across his face but he kept fiddling with his bracelet. He quickly looked back down at it and started shuffling his feet.

"I'm so sorry Hop...", I began. He looked up at me with a shocked expression. "Don't be sorry Y/n! You deserve this. You beat me fair and square.", his smile faltered a little bit but he tried to pull the corners of his lips up. His red started to slit and I knew what was coming. He turned around quickly.

I didn't want him to cry. I don't like seeing him hurt but it was also nice he could be vulnerable around me. We would never hold back from each other, that's what made us such good friends and rivals.

A shaky breath escaped his lips but he didn't cry loudly. You wouldn't even know unless you were me. I stepped closer to him and wrapped my arms around his torso. He tightly weaves his fingers through mine while they were resting in his stomach. He was holding onto them like it was the last thing he had. I leaned my head on his back and tried to send comfort telepathically. He shook a little bit but eventually stopped his silent crying.

"I'm sorry I'm being such a wuss. I know I'll have chances to beat you or Lee in the future. It's not like this is my last shot and...I'm really happy for you Y/n. I really really am. I'm just also sad I didn't make it.", he turned to face me, still letting me hug him and wiped away some stray tears from his face. A big smile spread across it again. "But you're amazing Y/n! If anyone's going to beat my brother it's going to be you!", he bent down slightly and tightly hugged me, pulling me up into the air. I squeaked, I wasn't expecting that.

I smiled. I think he'll be okay, friends support each other even in the hardest of times and never let envy get in the way. We stood smiling at each other for a moment. I am so close to his face. Only in my wildest dreams would I lean in- "Finally made the moves there Hop?", a deeper voice cut through our moment. Hope practically jumps 10 feet away from me and I put my hands behind my back quickly.

"Lee?! What are you doing back here?!", Hop huffed st his brother. "I'm here to congratulate Y/n on the amazing win! I was practically on the edge of my seat the whole time! It was fantastic!", Leon went on and on about his favorite parts of the battle but I wasn't listening. I was staring at Hop. The cute expressions he made when talking to certain people were one thing I had picked up on all of these years. He rolled his eyes a few times at Leon and often did, even though he loved him. I was thankful he always had such positive expressions around me. I could never think of a time Hop was anything but...perfect. And Leon asked Hop if he finally what?! Does that mean Hop...like me too? I could feel the blood rushing to my face. I have to calm down and stop reading into this before someone noticed.

"Y/n?", Leon waved his hand in front of my face. I quickly snapped it down in self-defense. Leon put his hands up in surrender. "Oops.", I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. "Just a reaction?", I tried to defend myself. Don't interrupt my personal thoughts, Leon! "Right...well, I'll see you back on the pitch soon Y/n! Don't wait up!", he pranced out of the room, cape swishing behind him.

Hop turned and looked at me, his face was dusted with pink. He cleared his throat and looked st his shoes.

"Listen, mate, there's something I wanna tell you but I gotta wait until after your battle. You shouldn't have any distractions ya know? Will you come to see me?", he smiled at me. I beamed and nodded my head excitedly. He first bumped the air and ran over to where his normal clothes were hanging. He started to strip out of the league uniform.

"Ah! Hop! What are you doing?!", I shielded my eyes. I wish I didn't though, I definitely want to see all of that-

"Oops! Sorry, mate. I'm just so excited to see your battle.", he quickly covered his chest with his shirt and walked over to me, my handsome still covering my eyes. I could feel his warmth near me. He grabbed my shoulders from behind and guided me over to the door.

"Go on and heal your team and I'll be out soon. I'll be cheering for ya! Probably...my mom might yell at me if I don't publicly cheer for Lee...but in my mind, it will definitely be for you.", and with that, he shoved me out of the locker room and into the lobby.

~~~

He battle with Leon was scary. I had trained hard before coming to face him because I had no idea what to expect with his team. He delivered on tricky moves and frustrating blows, but I slivered harder. And I prevailed. I could hear Hop screaming for me from the seats and even once glanced over to see his grandma smacking the back of his head. He rubbed it while shooting me a thumbs up. He helped get rid of all the jitters I had coming to see Leon. My Pokémon helped too, they're the sweetest.

Leon had a completely different reaction from Hop after loosing. He didn't seem upset at all actually. I think Leon was done with being the champion and wanted someone new to step up. He has other things he wanted to do for his life and there were so many things he could do to still accomplish his goal of wanting to make Galar stronger. And he could finally get rid of his branded cape.

He enthusiastically shook my hand as the crowd cheered ferociously behind us. "Thanks for an amazing battle, Y/n! I'm sure you'll set s new path for Galar. Oh man what's my new slogan gonna be...", he seemed to lock into some sort of daze wondering what he was going to say now. That'll keep him up at night if Raihan already doesn't.

We walked off the pitch together and I changed out of my uniform into my other clothes. I was going straight to the boutique after this and buying something hot. Watch out Hop, I'm coming for you today.

I tried to slip out of the arena unnoticed by people but a few got in my path. Thankfully it was all warm greetings and congratulations but I was really only looking for one person. Hop. I wanted to know where we were going so I could plan my sexy outfit accordingly.

I was almost at the front door when a warm hand grabbed my arm. I looked over to see the one and only Hop. He gave me his award-winning smile and pulled me out the doors.

"Thank goodness. I felt like I could barely breathe in there.", we made our way down the steps of Wyndon Stadium. He laughed.

"It is pretty stuffy in there, but it will be out here soon too once people start leaving.", he pulled me over to a Corviknight taxi and opened the door for me to get inside.

"After you, your majesty.", he bowed with his hand still on the door handle. I giggled.

"Where are we going, Hop? I kind of need to go shopping.", I shrugged.

"Shopping?! Why do you need to go shopping?", he wondered innocently. "Is it to get a new champion look? Please don't wear a cape like Leon Y/n...", he groaned. I laughed. "You can do that later right?!", he looked at me with pleading eyes. I sighed.

"Actually I wanted to get a new outfit for our hang out. Something a little nicer?", I gestured down at the same old same old. He laughed and swatted the air in front of him.

"Why do you need to do that Y/n? You always look great!", he beamed at me. I rigidly said thank you and popped into the Corviknight taxi with a growing blush on my face. He was just too sweet sometimes.

~~~

The way to the mystery destination was filled with Hop singing as loudly as he could to the latest Pokévision videos and me doubled over in my seat laughing. The poor taxi driver just wants to do his service to the world...he never asked for this. And that was the best part. I never got tired of Hop's enthusiastic personality and I never will. I joined him in singing and we finally made it to the location.

We both hopped out and Hop paid the driver. What a gentleman. "I hope you gave him a tip for all that singing...", I trailed off.

"Pfft, no way! That was PART of the payment. A ride and a show. What more could you ever ask for?", he said excitedly. Oh gosh, he was serious. I couldn't help but laugh at his silliness. You couldn't even tell his dreams had just been slightly crushed. He seemed as happy as can be. He then turned away with...a blush? Maybe that's just wishful thinking. Or maybe not.

I shuffled a little closer to Hop and rested my hand on his shoulder. He let out a little peep and faced me. Our faces are inches apart, a smirk growing on my face with nervousness growing on his.

"What are we doing out here's for hmm?", I hummed, still locking eyes with him. He tried to form a smile but it just ended up being a really awkward teeth show. I decided to lean back and let the poor boy function. He cleared his throat and went back to his normal facade.

"Well, this is the Wooloo fields and I brought you here because...", his throat seemed to tighten. I smiled at him reassuringly. He breathed in a breath of confidence and smacked the side of his head like he did when he was about to battle. Also like Leon did, thanks for ruining this perfect moment with your Leon obsession Hop-

He breathed in again and gave me a soft smile. He took my hands in his. "You know how Wooloo was my first Pokémon? Wooloo was the first friend I ever had and then you came along. Wooloo means so much to me and...so do you. That's why I took you out here. So I could have the two things I love the most in the same place...", he continued smiling at me. I probably had a very strange expression on my face. All of the confidence drained from his face and squeezed my hands tightly. "And it's totally okay if you don't feel the same way Y/n. I mean I'm okay with us just being friends too but I really like you and- ah gosh why would you want to be with someone like me anyway?", he turned away from me a little bit and started facepalming.

I didn't know what to do first. I wanted to grab him and tell him I felt the exact same way but I also wanted to squeeze the living daylights out of him too. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and he stiffened, and then relaxed. He gazed into my eyes and a sense of calm washed over us. I was smiling so hard that my face started to hurt.

"Hop, I love you too.", I buried my face into his neck and he ran his hands down my back.

"You're spectacular Y/n..." he mumbled into my ear.

"Says you.", I pulled my hand back and rested my forehead against his. The smile on his face was almost bigger than mine. We couldn't help but stay like this, holding each other and just enjoying each other's presence. His eyes are beautiful. They showed even brighter gold in the sun.

~~~

As the sun set, Hop planted a soft kiss on my cheek and grabbed my hand. "Let's go back to my house and celebrate, yeah? I'll even show you my barbecuing skills...", he tried to flex with one arm, one of his eyes closing while he tried to muster strength. I squeezed his hand and laughed at him.

"Hop, we all know I'm going to be the one to cook in this relationship.", I shook my head Arnold him with a smile. He couldn't cook to save his life. It always burned or turned out bitter. He never knew what berries went with each other when we went camping. Never.

"Yeah, you're right. But I'm inspired to be a better cook for you. Maybe you can...teach me?"., he asked curiously.

"Absolutely, I can't be with someone who doesn't know flavor.", I smiled at him. He laughed. I planted one long-lasting kiss on the corner of his mouth. I could tell he wanted more, but for now, this will have to do. Desire is more fun to build up, after all. I put my head in the crook of his neck. His head rested on mine as we walk hand in hand, back to his place.

[chilly-me-softly]

Sad Eyes • Chapter 6

Chapter 1    Chapter 4 Chapter 2    Chapter 5 Chapter 3 

Tag: @emwritesfootball @alexajanecollins

Ben returns to an empty house, no one will be back for an hour, and he heads straight to the laundry room to empty the duffel bag of his dirty clothes.

Some of Leon's clean clothes are folded on the washing machine and he decides to help his wife by going to put them back, the week just passed had been full of things to do and then help never hurts. He puts everything on the bed, going to open the closet and putting everything carefully in its place. His gaze is captured almost immediately by a blanket that he knows very well, it's the blanket with the logo of the team that he had picked up for the newborn Leon. It was the first gift he had ever given him, Leon used to carry it around with him all the time. If he didn't have that blanket there would be no way to put him to sleep - so much so that he had to buy a spare one just in case. Then he grew up, and that piece of cloth was no longer needed. It didn't cover him like it used to, and it ended up in the closet. Ben folded it again and put it where it was. It's still got his scent anyway.

He goes downstairs and it's as if something called him to the garden, a ball is standing still in the middle of it. He smiles thinking that before he left Leon had made a couple of kicks, he continued to play in their garden despite the fact that the season is over and he's officially done with football.

"Ben!" the boy turns his head to the voice, finding his wife looking at him scolding him, but also amused.

"Mommy's here! Say hi to mommy" Ben waves to her and Leon copies him smiling, sticking his tongue out and narrowing his eyes slightly.

"Don't you think it's a bit early? He only took his first steps yesterday" she teases him as she approaches the two of them.

"What harm could it possibly do him" Ben shrugs, placing the ball a few inches away from the child again. "Let's show Mommy what we've learned" and still holding on to Ben, Leon takes two little steps forward before stopping and extending his right foot by slightly rolling the ball in front of him.

The baby's screams fill the air as Ben takes him in his arms and kisses him, "He'll be the best striker ever"

Ben sighs, that house has so many memories and lately there are days when he doesn't stop to think about everything. The day before, he was sitting around having breakfast, looking at the spot where Leon used to eat in his high chair until a couple of years ago. He had thought about how the first few minutes standing there were always a tragedy because he wanted to move, but then he saw the green bowl with the food and calmed down instantly.

"Oh so you're hungry" Leon claps his hands on the table, red in the face, trying to reach the plate but his little body is secured by the seatbelt.

"Okay okay, here we go" Ben puts the plate in front of him and stops those little hands from sinking into the dinner that night: mashed potatoes and peas. The fork is just something he uses to make noise on the table.

"Fork. Otherwise no food" Leon screams something but Ben raises an eyebrow, sitting in front of him. "Come on, buddy. It's not that hard"

With the fork in one hand and not interrupting eye contact, Leon slowly stretches the other one in the dish by taking a pea and bringing it to his mouth. Ben opens his mouth wide, turning towards you, who are laughing and enjoying the scene on the other side of the room, while the little one finds the whole thing very funny.

He had earned the teasing of his baby because 'Daddy's still sleeping' while he had repeatedly passed his hand in front of his face giggling, without getting any sign from him.

Memories always brought a smile to his face, despite the melancholy of times gone by. He missed taking care of a small child, the toothless smiles, the full belly sighs, all the first times. And sometimes he would want to go back and tell himself not to do this or not to do that, but he wouldn't get where he is now, he wouldn't realize what he knows now. Everything happens for a reason and nobody is perfect. Many first times it's not only about little children but also about parents, and he really hopes that his child can always find a way to forgive him, that he can forgive himself.

He takes the phone out of his pocket when it rings, signalling a text, and smiles as he reads the familiar 'we're coming back x'. There's a picture attached, a selfie of the two of them sticking out their tongues, he waits every day for that, by now he has a full folder on his phone.

"Daddy!" little Leon runs immediately into his arms as soon as he steps into the house, and Ben holds him tight to himself, one hand in his still slightly damp hair.

"You've got to start drying your hair properly, or you're going to catch a cold" he reminds him placing him on his legs, ready to hear the story of his day.

"I know, but the coach held me back today" he says, and Ben can hear the excitement in his little voice.

He still has to get used to it, but slowly he's working on it. After the football season was over, it didn't take long for Leon to start getting bored being at home all the time. Often Ben would take him to the field or around town but he missed that activity to let off steam. And then one day, his aunt had taken him to the pool with her where she works and something inside him had snapped.

He had seen all those people training in the water, the different styles and he had fun cheering someone on. Then they allowed him to play a bit in the water, put on some goggles and he asked the girl if she could take him with her again sometime.

Leon had felt the curiosity born inside him, asking questions and listening to how many medals an athlete had won, or what he was planning for the Olympics, or that he had started swimming just when he was about his age.

No one had ever seen him so excited about anything before. He couldn't wait to get to the facility, almost dragging his mother out the door because he didn't want to be late. And selfishly Ben, for the first few periods, couldn't help but think 'why? Why couldn't he show this interest in football?'

And he kicked himself right afterwards but it was still hard for him all that. He thought it didn't hurt so much to get the news, but then the fact that he had even started another sport hit him like a slap in the face. It was at that moment, when happily the child had begged him to sign up for swimming, that he realized he had expectations for his baby boy.

The days following that revelation had been perhaps the most painful for him, but strangely enough, the cure and the disease had been the same. If seeing his child move away from football had made him feel as if a pin had been trapped in his heart, that same pin had been removed seeing happiness in his child's eyes.

Because in the end that was all that mattered, his happiness, and he had to step aside and let him live his life. Always proud of him and always by his side, because he's his daddy and this would never change.

 Chapter 7

[thisispurpleyam]

Surreptitious Candor part 4

A beautiful lounge singer and Napoleon Solo cross paths during U.N.C.L.E.’s mission in New York. 

Napoleon Solo x WOC oc

I thought that this fic would only need 4 parts, but apparently it calls for two more...

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Playlist

*****

Knocking out and tying up the owner of the invitation was much simpler than Gaby and Illya expected. The man was the personification of nervous, awkward, and clumsy. He tripped over his own feet and started sobbing immediately after Illya kicked his door down. When Gaby suddenly appeared behind him, the poor guy just couldn’t take it and passed out. They finished the job quietly and swiftly before their oblivious victim’s neighbors noticed something was amiss. Shortly after, they set off to the rendezvous point the team had agreed on. 

At the soiree, Napoleon was blending in with the crowd perfectly, being the usual charmer he was. Amalia and Bernard didn’t even recognize him, as he had anticipated. So, when they paused to ask him who he was, he flawlessly delivered his story of being Alan Sinclair, the only child of the late Mr. and Mrs Sinclair. Everything else would have gone smoothly if it wasn’t for the gossip filling the room unnecessarily dragging out his job.

“Leon?” he heard a familiar voice call out to him, distracting him from his thoughts. 

He turned around and faced the singer whom he had recently become very well acquainted with. “Ah, Eula. Fancy seeing you here.” 

“After last night, who would have thought we’d run into each other again so soon?” she responded with a suggestive smirk. 

Napoleon knowingly smiled back, taking pride in the secret only they had the privilege of knowing. He took her hand in his and kissed her gloved knuckles. “Fate has its ways.” 

“I thought you didn’t like to dance, though?” Eula slyly asked, making a point of darting her eyes toward the dance floor. 

“I suppose I could make an exception for a certain chanteuse again, considering how well my night ended the last time I did,” he replied with a wink, taking the lead and joining the pairs swaying to the music. 

As the two of them moved in time with the song, it dawned on Eula how much time she had been spending with Napoleon. She preferred to be detached from people, being the independent and self-sufficient woman she was. Every involvement she ever had with a man, and they were very few and far between, only lasted a night. All of them, she either met at the lounge or worked with during one of her side jobs before she became a regular at the diner. She seldom let things get far as breakfast. Yet here she was, in her highest heels and most expensive dress, dancing with the devilishly handsome spy and enjoying his company for the fourth night in a row. 

“Alan,” Amalia Fernsby called out. “I see you’ve gotten comfortable enough to partake in the festivities.”

“Mrs. Fernsby,” Napoleon greeted as he pulled away from Eula, noticing her expression sour the moment they heard Amalia’s voice. He pretended to not notice and settled for an arm around her waist instead. “I couldn’t possibly say no to such a lovely dance partner.”

Amalia turned her focus to the singer and remarked, “you never told us the two of you know each other.”

“I prefer to keep our conversations on a need-to-know basis,” Eula responded curtly, flashing an artificial smile to emphasize her point. 

Bernard sensed the tension and stepped in, “I’m really glad you and Alan Sinclair are getting along well, though. His mother really meant a lot to our family. She was a wonderful tutor to you, and we’ll forever be in debt.” 

“She absolutely was. Maybe you could come over for dinner sometime, Alan,” Amalia excitedly added. “How your mother didn’t talk much about you, I will never understand. If I had a son as handsome as you, I would-“

“Mother,” Eula sternly cut in. “Let’s not make our guest uncomfortable, shall we?”

Before the conversation could get any further, their assistant came to inform Bernard and Amalia that their presence was requested by an important guest. 

Napoleon waited for any woman’s reaction whenever they realized a man had been dishonest with them. He anticipated Eula’s rage or tears, but neither came. Instead, she took her parents’ absence as an opportunity to get away from the crowd. 

“Let’s get out of here,” she said as she grabbed him and pulled him to an empty hallway, leading him to the fire exit door. She looked both ways to make sure the area was clear before dragging him inside the stairwell. 

Napoleon lazily raised both of his hands and offered Eula a sheepish grin, “Alright. You got me.” 

“Relax, Alan,” she said in sarcasm and leaned her back against the door. “I’m trying to help you.” 

Napoleon incredulously eyed the brunette. “You are?”

“Yes! So you better listen carefully before anybody notices anything out of the ordinary,” she responded all in one breath. 

Still doubtful, Napoleon inquired, “but why? Considering you just found out I used you and lied to you, the last thing you should be feeling is generosity.”

Eula rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Leon, I knew. From the moment we first met, I knew you weren’t who you presented yourself to be.”

“Alright, humor me then,” he challenged. “What do you know about me?” 

“First of all,” she started, taking steps closer to him and meeting his piercing gaze, “I know that you’re a conman. You always don designer suits that only the upper class of New York can afford, yet your hands are way too rough to belong to a man of wealth. Hell, even your car is more expensive than any I’ve driven before. As far as I know, no man can get that rich off physical labor alone. Hands like yours could only mean being heavily exposed to either field work or combat. My suspicions were proven right when I saw your scars last night. I’ve had my fair share of men, and I think I can tell the difference between a puny heir with no backbone and someone who had to do whatever he can to survive.” 

Napoleon could only look at her in wonder. None of the women he had been with were as observant. They usually swooned over the smallest things and bought whatever persona he sold to them. 

“I also know that you’re a thief. A good one, I might add, who would have gotten away with stealing my bracelet if I didn’t know the contents of my jewelry box like the back of my hand. After all, how can my bracelet disappear after I first spoke with you and suddenly turn up in my jewelry box after you spent the night?”

Napoleon snickered. “A good thief probably shouldn’t return items they’ve stolen.”

“Even if you hadn’t given it back, I still would have figured you out,” Eula confidently retorted. 

“Oh really? Why’s that?”

“Simple. You’re not at all the type of man to stick around. You’re the type who leaves after you’ve had your fun. And if the object of your desire doesn’t take you up on your offer right away, you move on to your next conquest. With me, you actually waited for three days and even visited the diner despite barely knowing me. What other reason would you have to stay other than the fact that you’d already figured out who I really was?”

Napoleon hated to admit it, but he was impressed. The CIA and U.N.C.L.E. had done a good job covering up his criminal record, yet Eula was able to glean that much information simply by paying attention. She might not have figured out the exact circumstances, but she got pretty damn close. “You’re perceptive, I’ll give you that.”

“Alright, then. My turn to ask now. How did you find out I was a Fernsby?”

“Your bracelet,” he answered nonchalantly. 

“My bracelet?” Eula asked in puzzlement. “But it’s a unique design that never reached the market.” 

“Precisely. At first I considered it was a knockoff brand, seeing as it had an emblem vaguely similar to the Fernsbys’ trademark logo, but the quality was way too high to be that cheap. Then I found out that in every photograph taken of the Fernsby women from different generations, each had that bracelet in common. I gathered that it was a jewelry unique to every woman in the family.”

Eula shook her head and scoffed. “I knew I should have thrown that stupid thing away. It never did quite fit me right.” 

“But there’s just one thing I couldn’t quite figure out.”

“And that is?”

“Every single Fernsby woman of the last three generations have their photographs in the paper, except for you.”

“I don’t really like to associate with my family. That’s the whole reason why I left the day I turned 18. I’ve been working at the lounge since then and even took up graveyard shifts at the diner.”

“So that’s why you’re helping me? Because you hate your family?” 

“Don’t mock me,” she firmly told him. “They’re not as ‘glamorous’ as they make people think. I may not know the exact details, but I was groomed to be the company’s heir and trained to understand the ins and outs. I know they’ve been caught up in human trafficking and drug dealing of some sort. I can’t exactly report them to the cops because even they can be bought by our family name alone. The money from the business my ancestors started deserves to be put to better use.”

“And you think I won’t misuse the money?” he sarcastically asked. 

“I think, you’re not doing this heist completely out of selfish reasons.”

“What makes you say that?”

“When you left the diner, I saw what you did to that young news boy. I saw how you bought all of the papers he had left just so he could go home. I also know that on the evening we met, when it was a really slow night at the lounge, it was you who tipped every single server on duty. Leon, you’re not as terrible of a person as you seem to think.”

“You’re trusting me way too much, Eula” Napoleon warned her. 

“Well, I’d rather trust you than my manipulative and controlling parents. At least I know you’re capable of helping people on your own free will. They only do it for show.” 

“If you hate them so much, why’d you come to the soiree?” he questioned. 

“Because it’s part of the deal,” Eula bit back. “I promised I’d show up to every stupid gathering they’d hold in exchange for them getting their ‘henchmen’ off my back. It doesn’t guarantee my safety from the tabloids, but it’s worth a try…”

Napoleon wordlessly studied the brunette. All the years he spent in his trade taught him to recognize dishonesty, and Eula showed no sign of it. “Fine,” he gave in. “When do we start?”

“We? I can’t go with you. I go on stage in a few minutes. You’ll be on your own, so you have to pay close attention to everything I tell you.” 

“Alright, what do I have to do?” 

Eula looked around the fire exit staircase to make sure no one could overhear and hurriedly instructed, “go into the janitor’s closet at the end of the hall. The wall on the left side of the door is hollow and has a hidden elevator behind it. You’ll need this,” she took off her bracelet and handed it to Napoleon, “because the emblem on the pendant unlocks the elevator doors.”

“Ah, so this ‘stupid thing’ has a use after all,” Napoleon teased.

She let out a dry laugh and answered, “yes, but I won’t be needing it anymore, so you can keep it. The elevator takes you to the most restricted area of the building. When you get there, you’ll see a steel door with a passcode. I would tell you the code, but they change it every 12 hours. You get past that, and then there’s a safe you gotta crack.”

“Lucky for you, safe cracking is a part of my skill set. But I suppose you already knew that otherwise you wouldn’t be telling me all this.”

“I didn’t really know. But considering the magnitude of this larceny, I just figured.”

“Hmm, fair enough. 

“Best be on your way before people start to miss you,” Eula ordered him. “Oh, and the password for unlocking the steel door from the inside is ‘awanggan.’ It’s Tagalog for infinity.” 

“Listen, Eula,” Napoleon began hesitantly, “I’m sorry for-”

“It’s okay,” she interjected with a genuine smile and joked, “I always knew you weren’t a ‘coffee and breakfast in the morning’ kind of guy from the get go.”

Napoleon began to make his way to the door until he paused in his tracks and turned back around. He caught her off guard by pulling her in and capturing her lips with his. After she got past her initial surprise, she eagerly responded almost immediately; each of them moving with an amount of aggression to ensure neither would easily forget the physical memory of the experience. He gave her bottom lip a soft bite before slowly pulling away.

 “Don’t miss me too much,” he smugly teased. 

“Whatever you say, Leon. Now hurry!” 

[blaster-aichi]

Cardfight!! Vanguard Extra Story IF 14 things

links lead to images posted on discord because this post is already far too absurdly long, have too many thoughts, what a rollercoaster ride this was

Shuka’s opening a gateway into the past beneath herself and Emi indicted Link Joker Gate flashbacks because of its appearance

If it wasn’t demonstrated prior to this episode, it’s apparent how Aichi is far more malicious than any incarnation of past (i.e. his soldiers ready to maim or straight up murder Emi and Shuka , having Kai-kun abducted; whether either was 100% intended to occur the way they did is anyone’s guess)

Miwa as a Sanctuary Knight: there’s two points to this          — it’s an astonishing turn as he was part of the Mates during Legion Mate — the season which many people have acknowledged the parallels to — but working beneath Aichi turns that on its head as well as the implication that Aichi’s force was concentrated around the Miyaji Cardfight Club, as well as giving a fifth member to his faction in similar vein to Kourin of Legion Mate.         — it splits up the Kai/Miwa/Ibuki trio down the same lines as Ultra Rare; Suiko and Ibuki being firmly aligned with Emi while Kourin and Miwa fall under Aichi’s command. Rekka and Kai-kun would serve as unaccounted for, though it’s more clear-cut in his case, as Rekka made her appearance and her allegiance known at the same time as Kourin entered the fray, as well as already fighting on the side of restoring the timeline to its proper state before Suiko was pulled into activity.         — and it was foreshadowed right before our eyes when they announced IF 14 would be centred around Kai-kun.

"Whenever I hear the name "Toshiki Kai”, for some reason, I get chills”. It’s a strange statement with his behaviour later in the episode, seeming to recognize and feign friendliness with Ibuki and Kai-kun. The only possibility can think of for this line is Miwa, like Aichi and Emi (and the rest of the Sanctuary Knights), is his Outside World self pulled into IF World and his memories tampered with, he might be privy enough to his relationship with the other two for the sake of his act when meeting with them.

Kai-kun hugging Ibuki with no restraint. Rena down. Fuck that’s so soft.

9 years of being dead or arseholes who abandoned their child, we get Mama and Papa and the whole family is adorable! Mama Kai and Shizuka would get along so well, they’re two peas in a pod aaaaa        — Toshi also pointed how out the Kai family love of curry persists to this day and god bless.

me last night on call with Courtney: “There has to be a reason why Aichi hates Vanguard specifically just because of not meeting Kai-kun. It wouldn’t be any more significant than literally anything else. Hey, Aichi, why not hate rock music instead or something?” Kai-kun’s room: this kid loves rock, how dare you

Said room also makes it feel like the show is saying Vanguard/Aichi ruined Kai-kun’s life as opposed to, you know, his parents abandoning him. Bushi no—

It took just his name. That was it.

The static within the audio around Aichi is a neat touch when there feels to be a theme of glitching in the ED and it isn’t as though either reality is “wrong”, just distorted.

Just how they go about instilling memories of Aichi in comparison to Legion Mate is fascinating. In Legion Mate, the Mates were able to cleanly remember as their fights progressed and able to accept that Aichi existed prior to the season; we don’t know the extent of the changes to their lives as a result of his disappearance, but here is a different story. Kai-kun’s entire life has been altered as a result of the distortion and he isn’t able to simply see Aichi in his memories and realize that someone is missing from his past, and it takes a toll on him for these conflicting memories from another life to present themselves to him.

One has to wonder what Shizuka is going through in regards to Aichi vanishing, but also what Kai-kun’s parents must think if they were to investigate the commotion coming from his room suddenly to see him and everyone else gone and the disarray left from just how they left.

IF being the seemingly most lighthearted season with the darkest cliffhanger (topping even Link Joker and Legion Mate, because nothing comes to mind that could honestly match this), even if we know they would never dare kill off Kai-kun but the insinuation for the characters that he could be dead is chilling, particularly when they consist of his childhood friends, young girls and the root being a boy seeking him out, whose intentions around it we don't know and whom we've seen destablize (albeit in another continuity) when it comes to Kai-kun, so imagine the ramification and what it could do to his state of mind (or Ibuki, Miwa, Emi and Shuka’s, for that matter)  if they really did play with the idea of killing him off.

Horizontal Oath

God bless this ED, it’s so good

There’s a lot in here about the clashing realities around Kai-kun and it’s nice to know the season isn’t overlooking the incredibly weighted implications of putting him in this position.

The fire spurning to life, while a nice nod to his usual choice of Kagero an its absence in his current life, could also be representative that, while he has many hobbies in his IF life, Vanguard is where his passion truly lies above all, as he grips it and contemplates the people who should be around him.

Emi, Ibuki and Miwa occupying the same spots in the frames they exist in is a neat choice.

Kai rushing towards the light/Blaster Blade only for the card to vanish as his fingers nears it screams of midpoint Legion Mate where the Mates finally got a glimpse of Aichi, to hear his own request that they give up. As the preview shows them in the same location, it’s possible 15 will serve as the first, failed attempt to bring Aichi back to his senses and force the group to pick themselves up and try again in the same way the Leon episodes served in Legion Mate, signified by the repeated animation usage when Kai-kun runs towards Blaster Blade a second time.

The price Kai-kun is going to pay is not being overlooked. To restore the timeline, it’s apparent that he’ll have to sacrifice his IF life and parents, inflicting unto him the anguish of his original Manga/Reboot continuity life and the hardships that came with it  The darkness that emanates from his younger self and the glimpses of that original life as he kneels demonstrates that, while he might accept that outcome, it’s not about to be an easy task, understandable.       — Initially had suspected from the preview for 14 that this issue might be raised with him and he would reject erasing everything he knows and have to be brought around to the idea, but the ED actually refutes this, as he faces everything head-on.       — In doing so, it speaks to his character and the strength to allow this incredibly high price, as by relinquishing everything he knows, he’s able to regain the friends he made through Vanguard even with the knowledge of the pain and strife that he’ll endure and allow Emi to have her family back, even at the cost of his own.       — Additionally, as the shot closes in on him and he yells/roars, it appears he could be in pain from having to surrender this version of himself and his life; but ultimately does so as he fades while Dragonic Overlord becomes the more dominant face, signifying his reclaiming his Vanguard and his original life.

This resolve to allow the timeline to be returned to its rightful state also comes through beneath the starry sky that corrects itself, with Kai-kun standing at the back of Emi’s group, the only one of them fated to disappear by setting things right. Though the camera continues on past him, towards the light that grows brighter and consumes everything — perhaps a symbol of the corrected timeline taking hold — he doesn’t so much as glance back, but looks ahead to the sky, even with the reality that he and his world will be no more.

[2012 Fanguard voice] Bench-chan lives on.

Numerous people in YouTube comments remarked that Horizontal Oath amplifies the Legion Mate atmosphere and its emphasis on Kai-kun whilst doing so is notable. As that was his journey to bring Aichi back and the current is Emi’s, the shift in tone with this new ED and new arc incorporating him heavily is a nice reflection of that when the OP remains the same.      — There is an implication, though, that Emi might start to fall back from the protagonist role, as she appears far more passive in the ED while Kai-kun stands front and centre. When the two of them and Shuka are standing in a field, Emi’s feet are surrounded by shade, and when looking to the sun, she stands on the edge of the formation, seeming far more distant. At the same time, Shuka is on the other side, both of the group as a whole and Kai-kun specifically, with her back to the others. Her guilt has been an enormous factor since the truth of her actions came to light and how they weigh on her, but this feels as though her attention shifting away from Emi and towards Kai-kun as a means of atoning for her mistake.     — Going to be hopeful that they can balance what Aichi means to Emi and Kai-kun in similar vein to Kai-kun and Naoki of Legion Mate, so that they both share an equal part in the fight going forward.

IF 15

Thank goodness, we’re getting answers about Aichi, Takuto and the Sanctuary Knights, let’s go.

Aichi pointing a sword at Ibuki and (Kourin) opening up a fissure beneath the both of them — and right in front of Kai-kun — is a stark contrast to the Aichi(s) we’ve known until now, as how he was seen by Kai-kun was something of great importance to him, but depending on the context of the scene, it’s apparent that this version of him gives no fucks about anything of the sort.

Something that’s been on my mind within the last week is that, aside from the scene in the forest when he was acting seemingly normal, Aichi’s right eye is never detailed beneath his visor, or even when he overrode Majesty Lord (typically, his hair doesn’t completely conceal his eye while in a unit). The theories that came to mind were heterochromia, like Voidkuto, a permanent Psyqualia glow or it’s completely blank in typical possession/brainwashed fashion (or some sort of visual cue pertaining to the fact that a great deal is off about him) but by putting on the airs of normality, he was able to mask it as a normal eye when meeting with Shuka.

[apricops]

@discoursedrome​ said: you gotta liveblog about this, it's from before the bingewatching era so I'm very curious to hear you speedrun the entire narrative arc of the series

Unfortunately I have already made it to season 4, specifically we just watched the episode Something Blue. I’ll do a mental dump of things thus far, spoiler warnings for basically the first half of the show. Feel free to ask me my thoughts on anything not covered below.

Season 4 specifically:

There’s something very Bugs Bunny-ish about Spike. It’s like, y’know how some demons are like “I exude an aura that saps the energy from people around me or makes everyone near me run in terror”? It’s like Spike has an aura where if you’re near him you now have to play along with the joke, whatever that joke may be. I hated him when he was introduced but I also see in retrospect how his initial success was key to making him the bumbling comic villain, by having him actually fall from power.

Starting with season 4, you can tell the costume designers were happy that they didn’t have to pretend like Alyson Hannigan was frumpy and unattractive. I honestly didn’t recognize her for a second because she was just dressed like a normal person instead of bright pink overalls or whatever.

Before we watched Pangs, Aria said “this episode might be a little uncomfortable” and I was assuming it was because there was going to be graphic footage of eyeballs getting split open or something, but no, it was just a very bungling and ham-handed attempt to go “so, Native Americans, right?” where the only onscreen Native Americans are bloodthirsty spirits.

Very glad that Angel is gone-ish. Even knowing nothing about Buffy beforehand, the first time he came back felt so obviously “whoops, fans love him so let’s bring him back” and he generally didn’t do much after that besides breathe heavily and tell people they don’t understand.

Funny thing about TV depictions of college #1: the professors teaching entry-level classes are always hard-asses when from my experience and the experiences of everyone I’d talk to, you’d have to literally walk into class snorting meth before the professor would gently ask you to put the pipe away.

Funny thing about TV depictions of college #2: the writers clearly only having an entry-level understanding of any given topic. The show will be like “omg she’s revolutionizing the field of psychology, she’s the best psychology-knower on the planet” and then they’ll show her class and she’s like “so, fucken... basic Freudian bullshit, am I right?”

Riley when geared up looks so much like a live-action version of Leon Kennedy.

The very obvious gap in the opening credits where Cordelia was supposed to be. Where it’s like “Starring Sarah Michelle Gellar! Alyson Hannigan! ................ Nicholas Brendon!”

More general thoughts:

This is gonna sound very @kontextmaschine​ esque but wow does this show reflect that sort of... repressed nerdboy sexuality where it’s all like “ha ha what if this demon lady had contrived plot-related reasons to tempt you with her demon boobs” and “what if there were strong/threatening female villains who sexually assaulted you (but joke’s on them, we’re just indulging our submissive fantasies).” There’s something... a bit tacky about it.

Unfortunately it also works on me sometimes because evil Willow did things to me.

I can definitely tell how it would be so different waiting week after week to see the various twists and turns, and how Buffy changed the game.

Very variable quality of fight scenes. In season 4 specifically it seems like they discovered wires and there’s a lot of times where the character vaults up really high and spins around and then delivers a very flaccid kick. With seasons 1 and 2 it felt like Buffy just did the same three kicks from different angles. The fight in the mayor’s office was my favorite thus far because it had the whole usage of props and the environment and wasn’t just two people throwing each other into the wall.

Speaking of which, and I know it’s one of those “it has to be that way for TV” things but it’s just funny how everyone’s skill and ability varies wildly depending on the demands of the plot. When Buffy’s fighting some unimportant villain of the week she can hit a fly from 30 paces but when she’s fighting a recurring villain she’s all “ohh no I am unable to defeat this person who is right in front of me, just talking,” like fuckin just throw a stake at him!

Late 90s CGI, oof.

Late 90s slang, oof.

Speaking of the mayor, he’s been the best villain thus far, though from what I’ve heard that’s not exactly a hot take.

The unfortunate implications of how every character who’s not straight and white is either clearly evil or dead by the end of the season.

Having autism makes watching TV weird. I mention this because of a conversation I had with my gf that went roughly like this:

gf: “Wait, do you not get how Anya’s supposed to be like, violating social norms all the time and that’s why people don’t like her?”

me: “What do you mean?”

gf: “Like right there, she didn’t knock before entering. That’s why Giles was all “vOv?” with her.”

me: “But it”s a TV show. It’s a Joss Whedon show. It’s like how nobody ever says “goodbye” during a phone call, you’re not expected to, you just enter the frame and say your one-liner. Half the time they’re being quippy while classmates around them are actively dying.”

So I guess I don’t recognize the line between “this social norm is violated because it’s more convenient for TV” and “this social norm is violated because the character violates social norms.”

Anyway, it’s a good fun show, which feels like a thing you aren’t supposed to admit to on social media.

[kirinda-ondo]

So I have some thoughts and feelings about Vishnal Rune Factory

I am aware that approximately two other people besides me care about this, but literally when has it ever stopped me from rambling at length

So basically, I love Vishnal from Rune Factory 4. Like, a lot. I never commit to anyone in farm sims but boy howdy, he managed to hit literally all the criteria I have to be considered a Favorite Character™. He did it so well, in fact, he’s earned a spot alongside characters like Cobalt or Lydia. But like those characters, while there are people who like him, I feel as though he doesn’t get enough credit. The complaints I’ve seen tend to be that he’s boring and that he has the worst proposal event. Hell, one of the first few results from googling him is a thread asking if he’s supposed to be a joke character. While I can see where this sentiment might come from, I’d like to explain the appeal in a lot of the things people find fault in him for (at least for me), and maybe offer a bit of a different perspective, I guess.

If I had to guess where a lot of these problems that people have with him come from, it’s probably the fact that he doesn’t have a lot of lore behind him. To be honest, Vishnal doesn’t really have a whole lot of plot significance. He doesn’t have any direct connection to the capitol of Norad like Arthur or Kiel (via his sister Forte), he’s got nothing to do with the Sechs empire like Doug, and he’s not a guardian like Dylas and Leon. Vishnal, despite working in a castle and serving Ventuswill (who we shall henceforth refer to as Venti), a literal dragon god, is an everyman by comparison. He’s just a guy trying to do his job the best he can.

Similarly, he also doesn’t have a whole lot of mystery or drama behind him either. With pretty much every other bachelor, there’s usually some kind of dark secret from their past that comes up and has to be dealt with, either through the main plot or through their proposal events. To just give you an idea of the kind of things we’re dealing with here, let’s do a rundown.

Doug’s entire tribe was killed by Sechs soldiers, but the empire fed him propaganda to make him believe that Venti was responsible so that he would work undercover for them in order to kill her and take the Rune Spheres.

Arthur was an illegitimate child of Norad’s king and believes that his mother hated him so much she had to take off her glasses so that she didn’t have to look at him, causing him to have severe trust issues (as well as a glasses fetish? Have fun with that, Freud).

Kiel (and by extension, his sister) is trapped in a well-meaning, but incredibly fucked up family dynamic that forced him to be incredibly sheltered while Forte took on the duties of a knight in a heavily male dominated society to protect him. However, since both of their parents are dead, they have no idea that they’re allowed to free themselves and become their own people.

Dylas sacrificed himself to become a guardian, fusing with a monster in order to act as a living life support to help keep Venti alive, but when he’s finally free, he’s hundreds of years into the future, where everything he knows is gone. It’s also implied that before he became a guardian, he was suicidal.

Leon, like Dylas, also sacrificed himself to become a guardian and was flung far into the future. However, he also has the added guilt of believing he left his childhood friend to live the rest of her life emotionally stunted because when he was younger, he made a promise to marry her if she stopped crying so much, but didn’t take it seriously as she did, and couldn’t have kept it even if he did.

Meanwhile, Vishnal has had an utterly average life. In order to help people, he wanted to become a doctor like his father, but felt he wasn’t smart enough, so when he met a butler named Sebastian, he was so impressed he decided to become a butler himself. Though he was worried his father wouldn’t approve of this way of helping people, he was ultimately supportive, helping him train and, through a friend’s connections, getting him to Selphia to work under Volkanon.

Vishnal is basically Clark from Connecticut in terms of how average he is by comparison. However, I wouldn’t say this is a bad thing. Even dealing with one of these traumatic backstories is a lot, let alone trying to harem them all (and don’t even get me started on the main plot’s drama). A lot of the resolutions to these character arcs are followed up by a proposal, and maybe it’s just my age and personal experiences (or the fact that I’m aroace), but when that happens, I don’t get the feeling of “YES, TAKE ME NOW!” I just think “…You literally just found out the thing that’s been screwing you up your entire life was a giant misunderstanding. I get that you’re happy but like, maybe take some time to sort yourself out? See a therapist maybe???”

But Vishnal, for all of his faults (of which there are many and I will get to that later), generally has his shit together. I respect that and find it a breath of fresh air compared to the cavalcade of angst in everyone else’s lives. Not to say that he doesn’t have any problems at all, because then that would be boring, but they tend to be more focused in the present, and are a bit more grounded in reality and less… spectacular. But like I said, we’ll get to that.

What he lacks in terms of dramatic backstory, he makes up for in personality. He’s very… intense, to put it mildly. While not completely hyper, he’s very high energy and it doesn’t take much to get him psyched up. He’s the type of person to put at least 110% effort in everything he does, and nearly everything he does goes towards his goal of becoming the world’s best butler. Unfortunately, as a result, he’s considered one-note. Now, I’m not going to sit here and say he doesn’t talk about butler things all the time, because he absolutely does, but for me, as someone who also tends to get super into things and talk about them endlessly (hence this entire ramble), I find him pretty endearing, if not a tad relatable in that regard. However, for all his single-mindedness, he is still a decently multifaceted character.

Probably the most important thing to note here is that he is a very good person, like “too good for this sinful earth” kind of good. He has a natural drive to help others and doesn’t have a mean word to say about anyone (though even he engages in the ultimate Selphian pastime of Teasing Doug™ on occasion). He’s also honest to a fault. It’s incredibly easy to tell if he’s trying to cover something up because he’s usually pretty much an open book and wears his heart on his sleeve. He seems to expect others to be the same way, as he has a bad habit of taking what people say at face value even if they’ve repeatedly shown not to be trustworthy. This often leads him to be the butt of many a joke or the victim of scams. Other times, lighthearted teasing falls flat as he takes it seriously and winds up getting his feelings hurt. But ever the optimist, he doesn’t let setbacks get him down for long.

He very much believes in the power of hard work overcoming any obstacle, and it seems in his mind, literally anything is possible if you train hard enough, and he’s constantly trying to prepare himself to master every possible scenario, from protecting important secrets by staying silent to becoming invincible to the common cold by constantly being soaked with water. It generally winds up doing him more harm than good, and even Doug worries about him a little bit because Vishnal will do pretty much anything if you tell him it’s special training (though this does not even remotely stop Doug from having a field day with it). Were this not a very “anime” kind of game, it would honestly be amazing if he hadn’t died from any of his training attempts.

Though it may come across as though he has no idea what is actually possible for a human to achieve, he actually seems to have quite a few hangups about his own limitations. He has a massive perfectionist complex and is incredibly hard on himself. He tends to beat himself up quite a bit when he makes mistakes (I mean the man looks utterly devastated every time he screws up lunch) and outright warns the player (who we shall henceforth refer to as Frey) that he may cause her trouble. However, he’s not quite as terrible as he might imply. While he is gullible and very much a klutz, he’s got a wide variety of skills and knowledge he rarely gives himself credit for. For instance, he’s not exactly street smart by any stretch of the imagination, but he’s well-read to a degree that he can actually read things from Arthur’s library (which says a lot because Arthur is a colossal nerd), and he’s knowledgeable on a number of subjects from farming to geography. On the lake date (when it’s not summer), you have the option to ask him more about the kind of training he would do, and he rattles off a list of insane skills (I.e. making tea so good as to become its own singularity…singularitea, if you will) like it’s no big deal. Mind you, given what someone like Volkanon is capable of, that may just be par for the course as far as butlers go in this universe, but for your average person, that’s honestly impressive, if not a bit terrifying.

His confidence (or lack thereof), however, tends to reflect in the quality of his work. In a small example, every so often, he offers Frey his attempt at curry rice. It’s hot garbage, but if she tells him it’s good, he admits he wasn’t very confident in it. However, we see in his prerequisite event (which is a much more overt example) that when he’s more confident in himself, he’s not only able to make actual food, but is downright hypercompetent in his job. For context, he is conned into buying an overpriced statue that, according to blacksmith and Professional Vishnal Scammer™ Bado, will allegedly make him an expert overnight. Wholly believing in this thing, he’s suddenly amazing… until he accidentally knocks it over and breaks it. Utterly devastated and unconvinced that his improved performance came from within, he’s suddenly infinitely worse than he was when he started. Things of course balance themselves out, but we come away realizing that if he had as much self-confidence as he did pure determination, he could easily reach a point where he’d be absolutely unstoppable.

We also see this lack of confidence manifest itself in regards to Frey. If she pursues a relationship, we get quite a bit of evidence that he doesn’t think he’s good enough for her. Before he formally asks her out, he lists all the things he does wrong; all the ways he’s a novice, essentially warning her of what she may have to deal with. However, if Frey’s conquered the RNG and made it this far, then it’s safe to say that she’s prepared to take the risk. On the airship date, he outright says once he becomes an expert, he’ll finally be the perfect man for her. Even during his own damn proposal event, he tells her he’s unreliable. This is incredibly far from the case, as even if he doesn’t really know what he’s doing, he’s doing everything he can to make this work. He works himself even harder to maximize his time with her, he buys (phony) charms from Bado to keep them together, he asks other bachelors for advice (as poor is it may be at times), he literally asks the entire town for date spot reviews, as well as just straight up reading up on how to be the best possible boyfriend.

Eventually, should the RNG gods be smiling, this brings us to the proposal event. Now, one might imagine that this event might follow the thread we’ve been building up here into him learning maybe not to beat himself up so much or becoming a little more self-confident, but no. While this sort of thing happens for a number of other bachelors/bachelorettes, where their prerequisite events foreshadow what’s to come in their proposal events, that isn’t quite the case here. While that development does occur to a degree, it’s a bit more subtle and is not really the focus of this event.

His proposal event instead mainly forces him to consider his priorities. So for some context, a butler judge has come, and if Vishnal does well, he may finally earn his first star and be one step closer to being the ultimate butler. In fact, his abilities are already recognized as worthy of the title, but there’s just once teensy little problem. You see, in butlerdom, your master and your partner being one in the same is a bit of a taboo. Dating your boss creates a whole host of problems, after all; not just for you, but your reputation. And so this is where the conundrum comes in. We already know he’s incredibly dedicated to this career choice to the point that if he doesn’t succeed, he will literally die trying, but he’s now just as dedicated to Frey. Being that this is a proposal event though, you pretty much already know how this is going to end, but just hear me out.

This is currently the biggest decision he’s ever made in his life, and is essentially the emotional equivalent of having to choose between losing your right hand or your left. He obviously doesn’t want to throw away years of hard work, but he’s also not the type to just leave someone behind in pursuit of his own interests. Frey ultimately saves him from waffling back and forth about it forever by breaking things off so he can pursue his dreams, but literally no one is happy with this. Even the judge feels bad and he’s the one who started it. But with this little problem out of the way, Vishnal is free to accept his new rank. Except he doesn’t. After a dramatic, heartfelt speech pointing out that this actually puts him in a better position to serve Frey, and how reputations shouldn’t matter more than protecting the person you’re entrusted to, he whisks her away and proposes. Before she can properly answer though, he’s called back to the castle. In the end, the judge is moved by his dedication, and so Vishnal can now have his cake and eat it too. Short, sweet, and to the point.

It’s probably about half the length of the other bachelors’ events, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad. It’s actually a pretty nice contrast between the other proposals. Leon, Arthur, and Kiel have the common thread of having to sort out baggage from their past before they decide to marry. Doug and Dylas, while their events are more lighthearted, are a bit more focused on a lack of communication and resulting misunderstandings that come from trying to surprise Frey with a ring. However, because Vishnal’s life isn’t a veritable conga line of angst and trauma, his obstacle to marriage is entirely in the present, and because he’s so open about his feelings, he and Frey actually have a chance to sit down and discuss where to go from here, so there’s no communication issues. Plus, his situation, while a bit dramatically handled because anime, is actually kind of relatable. Having to choose between a career and a relationship is a situation that happens to a pretty good number of people, and it’s rarely an easy decision. It’s a logical conflict for such a work focused character.

While it doesn’t really overtly follow up on the initial thread that seemed to have been laid out of him learning to be more confident in himself, the transition is definitely there, at least in regards to Frey. It’s just not quite as spelled out in events. Even in his proposal, he’s still self-deprecating, but it’s a far cry from the absolute list of faults he gave initially asking her out. Not to mention, it absolutely takes a whole lot of courage to one, choose love over your life’s dream, and two, to do it in the incredibly dramatic and utterly obliterating manner that he did. The relationship also changes some post-marriage. Post-marriage Vishnal is a much different beast than pre-marriage Vishnal. As we’ve discussed, in the dating phase, he’s a lot less sure of how boyfriend things work, and resorts to asking others for advice and outright studying. Now that he’s married, he’s less reliant on others and is much more forward. He actually tends to be the one to initiate romantic gestures, from goodnight kisses to using his own sappy lines as opposed to borrowing them from Leon, among other things. Truly a far cry from the days where he would agonize over whether or not to even hold Frey’s hand. Sadly, while date dialogue doesn’t really change (with the exception of the room date, where he literally states he’s past being shy and awkward), there’s definitely a more visible shift in the focus of his other dialogue from being even good enough for Frey to being more protective. Jury’s still out on how much this development has affected his work performance, as there’s no real new mentions of it after the fact (though after marriage he is finally capable of making edible curry rice…sometimes!), but at least some degree of his self-esteem is improving.

So basically, to summarize, Vishnal isn’t a bad character. He’s just handled differently than the other bachelors. He’s a bit more grounded in reality as far as his backstory and conflicts are concerned. His development also tends to happen outside of his events rather than being the feature, making it a bit more subtle, and thus a bit harder to spot from a glance, but it’s there. For as much fun as he is as a character, I admit he’s definitely very tame compared to the other bachelor options, even despite the localizers’ attempts to make him spicier, so he’s not for everyone. I can see why others might prefer someone a little more exciting or mysterious, like Leon (who seems to be like, god tier as far as RF4 bachelors go), but I hope I’ve at least adequately explained why Vishnal might be appealing to some and has more merit than just a joke character. After all, vanilla is a flavor too, and plenty of people like that.

Anyhoo, thanks for coming to my TED talk.

[ask-art-student-prussia]

Creativity and Dreams: An Essay by Leon Rekjavik

A few things ticked me off with what the “professional-writer” anon wrote, namely the undermining of artists, the act of crushing dreams and just the fact ‘you can’t do this anymore because I’m saying your not talented/ qualified enough’. Whilst this mean writer-rant was directed at Mun, I feel that a lot of the things this person said has generally offended and angered a lot of people. The way this person went around the subject was hardly professional, and if I had to be honest, unhelpful. Whilst Mun has shown no interest in taking writing professionally, say if she had. This ask would completely crush her, and leave her with no advice that could’ve pointed her in the right direction.

So I’m going to do something I’ve not done… for over a year now. An essay-like piece, that covers; why writing and art are hardly that different, why such an interest is allowed to be taken up by anyone at any level, the idea of creativity, what a dream is and why it isn’t necessarily as impossible as it looks, and why you can do anything.

Writing is not something talent based, it’s an art form and a way of expression- something that comes straight from the soul. Writing a description about a setting is no different from painting it, and creating a character in your written piece is no different from sketching one. Both writer and artist are two sides of the same coin, and practically go hand in hand with one another- so for an anon to differentiate the two, to create a border, a thick black line, with “you writing folk” is quite shocking and unbelievable.

Writing is a difficult profession to have, understandably. The market is competitive, and everyone wants their fantasy universe out on a shelf for someone to read. Sure, some of these pieces are good, others not so good, but everyone has the right to try, to improve, and to learn.

And that’s not just with having writing as a profession! Believe it or not, this can be a very lovely hobby to have, dear anon. You can have private little works, some you share with friends, or on a social media platform entirely for free. You don’t need to make writing a career just do it.

No one should take away the right to creativity- it has no bounds, no rules, no restrictions… and that’s what makes it so brilliant. Why do people love sandbox games? Because you can do anything in them, and the same principles apply with creativity- writing, drawing, composing, designing, flowers arranging, embroidery, cooking… the list really goes on.

I appreciate warning younger teens and kids that perhaps some dreams and desires can sometimes transport into a crazy utopia where everything is always right, nothing is ever wrong, what we pursued was great and we’re doing fantastic because of it… but that’s why it is called a dream. Dreams are our fantasies, what we wish a thousand times over to happen, to get. But weirdly enough, fantasies do sometimes become realities.

Quick story.

When my Grandfather was just a boy, he came from a family where no one had gone into higher education like university even once in their lives. Most had done a little bit of school, incomplete often, and that was pretty much it. They quickly went and joined the farming business, and that’s it, never trying to do anything different.

Then comes my Grandfather.

He went to school, and he didn’t want to become a farmer like everyone else. So, he tried, he worked hard, and did his best. He had a dream, to become someone, to be somebody.

His family discouraged him from thinking big, he never listened. He’d read his textbooks late into the night, from the moonlight. There were blackouts frequently at the time period he lived, so they didn’t always have electricity to rely on.

A few decades later, he became a renowned physician, a loving and respectful husband, a good father and an inspiration to many. He became somebody, like he always wanted to, and he was able to help provide for his family, and ensure all of his children had the opportunity to do something with their lives.

He did die, unfortunately very young, but not really. Everyone in my household knows for a fact he’s not really dead. Decades after his death, people still remembered him, for his kindness, his achievements, his hardworking nature. With how often people talked so much about him, you’d think he was still here, beaming brightly, telling great jokes, still having that loving look in his russet eyes.

With the amount of lives he saved, he didn’t just leave as somebody, but as a hero.

Sorry if that was a bit long, but this is living proof, that if you have a dream, it can still become a reality. If you put enough effort in it, anything is possible, and I don’t care about the amount of cheese that statement has, because it’s true.

You can become an amazing artist, a praised author, a masterful cook, a wicked mathematician, a brave fireman, ANYONE.

You don’t need anyone’s stamp of approval to do it. Everyone starts small, not everyone’s perfect, but with a little polish and hard work, you can reach those dreams.

Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something!

-leonrekjavik

P.S

I can’t believe I just spent nearly an hour writing this… But dreams and creativity are really important, so I guess it was an hour well spent!

Sorry if there were any mistakes, I didn’t really proofread it very well, haha.

mun starts speaking here:

hhHoly shit dude im literally speechless. okay i look up to leon so much everyone please read this!! also ive grown up my entire life in this field, i know what ive signed up for and im willing to take the risk. and yeah, hobbies are important to have, and writing and art isnt an exclusive club for people who “do it right”. youll just be that asshole standing in front of a painting looking at it and telling other people staring at it that theyre not doing it right. 

fuckin enjoy yourselves. 

[kh-akira]

KH-OC Week: Happily Ever After

Last day and this prompt is a really sweet one @khoc-week I thought a while on how I should write this and in the end I decided to make a diary like entry from Akira, a Secret Report if you will.

“It has been a year now, since Xehanort and his 13 Darknesses were defeated. Kinda hard to believe it’s been just a year. Everything is so peaceful now. The reconstruction of Radiant Garden is as good as completed and soon we can start making everything look pretty. 

Ilana has already worked out plans for setting up the new gardens and what flower hast to be planted where. She really has a field day with it. Speaking of Ilana, somehow the residents of Radiant Garden got this crazy idea of naming her the new Queen, since she is related to Ansem and helped in the fight. Neither I nor her were that excited about this suggestion.  But Ilana came up with another option: A council. A group of selected people will get a set of duties and important decisions will be made together. Ilana wants me to be in charge of security and law...not very different from what I have done before, just more official. The other council candidates are Leon, Aerith and Merlin. All members of the RGRC and the people seem to be happy with this.

Xehanort might be gone, but the Heartless are still, even tho their numbers have become very low and they avoid strongly defended worlds like ours. The Keyblade wielders returned to their homeworlds, but are now and then on patrol on other worlds, checking in on their friends there. Since I can’t come with him so often anymore, due to my new duties, Lea always goes with Roxas and Xion on patrols. Those two still happen to call him Axel, but he doesn’t seem to mind and they becoming better in memorizing it. It’s adorable to see how he takes care of them. They are still very inept with some things. Oh and the questions they ask! There main source of advice is of course is Lea, but they would also come to me and ask. (And I’m sure it’s because Lea told them to do so.)

The other former Organization members also have adapted themselves to this new, normal and regular life. Dilan and Aeleus are again guards of the castle and by our new rules are reporting to me now. Aeleus seems to have no problem with it, but Dilan wasn’t very enthusiastic. He will survive it. After a long discussion Ilana convinced me to let Even and Ienzo back into their laboratories and let them do researches that should benefit our world and the fight against the darkness. I still have an eye on them, but when Ilana started with her talk about second chances, I had to agree, since she also promised to check on them frequently. (Sidenote: Ienzo requests Ilana’s opinion a lot and that boy actually smiles when she praises him. I don’t like that.)

Isa is...well it’s still a work in progress, since it has been just a few months when he was restored and we found him. I thought Lea had it hard with his guilt over his Nobody-time, but Isa is even worse. He did much crueler things after all, even when it was under Xehanort’s influence. Lea and I worry about him. Isa was never a big talker, but these days he just speaks the words necessary to go through the day, helping out where he can and just like Lea did back then with Kairi, apologizes to Roxas, Xion and Lea whenever he meets them. The kids have forgiven him by now, I think that will help Isa in his process.

It is a very peaceful time and everyone is enjoying it. Hopefully  this peace will hold on for a while. I just have this feeling that the next bad guy lingers around the corner to spoil the day.”

With a sigh, Akira closed her notebook she had just written in and closed her eyes, while leaning back.

It had been a good idea to write down a few things, made the head clear.

She sat outside in Ilana’s garden, under her favorite tree and enjoyed the evening sun.

After a while she senses that someone stood near-by, but didn’t came near and just watched her. 

A few moments she stayed silent, but then spoke up with a smile, eyes still closed.

“You plan on standing there all evening?”

“Just enjoyin’ the view, that’s all,” a very familiar voice said nonchalant, which made her chuckle.

 Then the person came closer and when they stood next to her, Akira opened her eyes and looked up into Lea’s smiling face.

“Hey there, sunshine,” he whispered sweetly, sitting down besides her and giving her a quick kiss to her temple as greeting. Her answer was a hum.

“Hey. How was the trip to Montressor?” she asked him, while leaning against his side, causing him to put his arm around her shoulder, to pull her closer.

“Ah, nothing exciting. Trashed a few Heartless, no big deal. But Roxas and Xion got to test out Jim’s newest solar surfer. Man, those two had the time of their life.” 

“They still have all limps I hope,” Akira asked, raising an eyebrow. Lea waved her worry away.

“‘Curse, Xion is a quick learner and Roxas knows how to ride a skateboard. Same thing.”

“Yeah, just that you fly in the air at such a high speed that you’ll break all your bones when you crash down.”

“Now, don’t be such a worrywart,” he said, giving her shoulder a little jolt.

“Ha, as if you hadn’t had heartattacks, every timethey made a risky stunt,” Akira teased him with a grin. 

For seconds, Lea looked at her a bit miffed, before he quietly admitted: “Not every time.”

“See, I know it,” she said, sticking her tongue out and poking his side. 

Lea let out a played offended sound and poked her back, resulting in them tousling and laughing for a few moments, before they calmed down again.

“How was your day? Wrote down something important?” he then asked and nodded to the notebook that laid in the grass besides Akira.

“Uneventful. Just wrote down some random stuff, to get it out of my head,” she explained, which Lea acknowledged with a hum. 

He then yawned, stretching his arms over his head and leaning back against the tree with closed eyes. Akira watched this amused.

“Thought you hadn’t such a stressful day.”

“Stress or no stress, taking a nap is never wrong,” he muttered and grinned cheekily with one eye open at her.

Akira rolled her eyes at that. “Yeah, but please do the nap at home. Don’t wanna carry you all the way.”

Now Lea opened both eyes and looked with such a faked sweet smile at her, that she had to hold herself back from rolling her eyes again.

“Oh, but you’re such a strong woman. Surely that would be easy as pie for you.”

For a long moment, they starred at each other. Lea still with his faked smile and Akira dead serious.

Then she spoke up: “I would drag your face through the dirt, if I have to carry you.”

Lea had to snort at that: “Ohman, your love for me is really overwhelming.”

“Glad you think so,” Akira grinned and after giving him a quick peck on the cheek, she grabbed her notebook and stood up. “So, you better get your ass up or you have to sleep outside.”

“You know, it’s still my house,” Lea said, raising an eyebrow, slowly getting up.

“Not when I’m there first.” Akira winked at him and without another word she suddenly started to run.

“Hey! That’s not fair!” he yelled and started running too, trying to catch up to the laughing Akira.