#and considering how much little miss rowdy over loves fighting i can very much see them horsing around like that

[ratatatastic]

because lombo admitted he does in fact asks tough teammates for fighting tips and scrums with them.. that does in fact open the can of worms that its very possible hes asked mikksy (despite the fact that mikksy isnt too aggresive he does very much get into his fair share of fights) to fight him and im going to be very normal about that possibility thanks for asking

[tobiosmilktea]

ahh omg requests are opened !! can i request atsumu, iwa, kenma, and tsukki angst to fluff kinda thing where they get into a big fight and the boys blow up on the reader but make up at the end? pls make me cry but also go “💘🥺”,, thank you so much !!!

- 🧋

kiss and make up with atsumu, iwaizumi, kenma, and tsukishima

— m. atsumu

being with atsumu,, it’s no surprise that you two occasionally get into a few arguments here and there

they honestly range from the tiniest little, insignificant things from what to get for dinner to whether or not pineapple belongs on pizza aka things most people probably wouldn’t even bat an eye at

you were used to it considering how atsumu is, but his personality is what you liked most about him with how he’s constantly having you on your feet —never knowing what he’ll do next

they’re quiet funny at the end of the day and that back and forth banter is just another way you two show how much you care about each other

with that being said, no matter what you two are arguing about, it’s always lighthearted and not so serious

that’s why it honestly took you by surprise how atsumu’s typically nonchalant and teasing nature whenever you guys “argue” over something was something you’ve never seen before

very rarely did you ever see this man get incredibly angry and you’ve even seen all of his games where things weren’t going right

and perhaps that’s where the root of this argument started in the first place

dating a famous division 1 volleyball player who is well loved and respected, it’s hard being able to spend the proper time with him when he’s constantly travelling or getting recognized whenever you two are out on a date

you weren’t exactly complaining about this problem to atsumu after he came back from a tiresome and strenuous day of practice as you knew that it was going to be like this when you two first met

if anything, it was just a concern you voiced out that you obviously weren’t expecting him to solve with a snap of his fingers

“and what the fuck do you want me to do about it, (y/n)?” he snapped at you, venom coated his words like tar

you looked at him with widened eyes as a mixture of confusion and utter offense melted upon your expression

atsumu was notorious for using foul language on a daily basis, but never had he ever swore at you and it’s safe to say you like to keep that same energy with him

you scoffed at him, still a bit dumbfounded, “i’m not expecting you to fix anything over night, i was just saying.”

“as if i already didn’t know how hard it is to find time to spend together.”

“so, are you just treating me like an idiot now?”

it was late, you were tired just as much as atsumu was and you certainly weren’t in the mood to argue with him anymore

before you could even let him answer, you walked away from him and entered your bedroom withy a slammed door

you hated going to bed angry, but there honestly wasn’t anymore moral within you to even continue whatever leftover conversation between you and atsumu

perhaps giving time for something this to simmer until the morning would be enough to make sure your fatigue wasn’t blurring your thoughts knowing how dangerous misunderstandings can be

a few minutes later, atsumu enters the room, eyes scanning over your figure beneath the sheets as your breathing subsided

he thought you were fast asleep, but your mind was still awake and racing with the worse case scenarios. it made it so much more difficult now that atsumu laid beside you

he would wrap his arms around you, “i’m sorry, i shouldn’t have yelled at you.” whispering in a hushed, muffled voice. you could feel the way his lips pecked at you shoulder then up to your temple

you weren’t sure if he knew you were awake or not as you swore he could’ve heard your heart pounding

without uttering another word, you turn towards him, burying your head into the crook of his neck

you were just glad his warmth was still here

— i. hajime

you believe one of your biggest flexes within your relationship with iwa is that you two rarely argue or get into childish fights

sure, there were disagreements here and there, but most of them were minuscule decisions on what outfit to where that day or what restaurant you two wanted to eat at. most of which would be decided with a harmless game of rock, paper, scissors or nose goes lmao

other than constantly bickering with oikawa, iwaizumi isn’t really the type to get into shouting contests with you unlike with his best friend (most of which is started by oikawa anyway)

because of this, you weren’t really expecting to get into a fight with your boyfriend, and yet, it wasn’t like you weren’t used to him doing so

at the end of the day, you always ended up being the moderator of iwaizumi and oikawa’s loud back and forth banter if things got too rowdy

so never in a million years were you expecting oikawa to be taking your place at this very moment

poor dude doesn’t know what to do

he’s used to third wheeling you and iwa being all lovey dovey, but now that you two were in the midst of a midafternoon shouting contest, he’s completely dumbfounded

oikawa couldn’t help but feel bad for you as technically the whole reason why you and iwaizumi were arguing in the first place was because of him

long story short, iwa was sick and tired of oikawa flirting with you all the time despite only doing it to tease him

you were well aware of this as well, playing along with oikawa’s flirts just to tease your boyfriend

you didn’t see any harm in it as you made it very clear the moment you confessed to iwaizumi that you liked him and not his best friend (who you more or less saw as a brother over anything)

“listen, i’m sorry i was only playing around.” you apologize, throat already aching from the amount of stress you had already put on it

“if you were only playing around, then you wouldn’t be flirting with him everyday!” spat iwaizumi as he flickering a harsh look to oikawa who backed a good six feet away from you two (social distancing king lmao)

you honestly didn’t know what to say as a lump formed in your throat, rendering you speechless. granted, he had a point, but how couldn’t he overlook the way you only had eyes for him? the way you would “flirt” with oikawa they always tended to be backhanded, the way you would always kiss iwa after each of oikawa’s attempts to flirt, or how you would constantly remind him how much you loved him

it hurt slightly knowing how it was all overlooked by harmless teases

regardless,, it had to stop

before you could  apologize once more and say you’ll stop, iwaizumi huffs, “just say that you wanted him the entire time and not me.” before walking away entirely

your eyes widened, turning over towards a distanced oikawa who had the same look of surprise before motioning a hand towards your boyfriend, “well, go after him!”

with missing a beat, you ran down the block to catch up to iwaizumi, spreading your arms and throwing it around him as you bury your face into his back

“i’m sorry, i shouldn’t have done that.” your voice muffled into his uniform shirt, “i only like you, iwa, you have to believe me.”

your hands that were firmly clasped together to prevent him from breaking out of your embrace was slowly pulled apart by iwaizumi, feeling his entire body turn to face towards you

“idiot,” he muses with that same embrace

— k. kenma

i don’t think argument are common between you and kenma

he’s probably too preoccupied with playing video games or sleeping to even bother starting a fight over mindless disagreements

you were glad that you didn’t have to deal with such burdens of fighting with your significant other, but at the same time, you believed that small disagreements in relationships showed just how much you cared for the other

it showed how they were looking out for you if you were to ever make a terrible decision, and yet kenma would only bat an eye at you and shrug whenever you ask him for advice

in the end, you’d end up fucking something up or get hurt

or whenever you’d ask your boyfriend what he thinks about a specific outfit, he barely spare your a glance before uttering the words, “yeah, looks great babe.”

it sounded almost crazy to say, but sometimes you wished for you and kenma to get into arguments sometimes

not ones so serious it would lead to a significant gap within your relationship, but rather the ones the led for you guys to communicate more

besides, it’s not like you guys communicate a lot in the first place

you first brought up this concern when you came over to his apartment to which he was (surprise surprise) still playing video games

you didn’t mind about his hobbies as that’s what he liked most, but sometimes you just wished he would give you the proper attention for once

“hey,” you’d call out to him in the dark room, shaking a plastic bag in your hand in the hopes it would capture his attention, “i bought takoyaki!”

and to your low expectations, kenma simply hums as he clicks rapidly at his keyboard

your brows furrow as you pondered to yourself, what will get his attention?

“i also brought my boyfriend with me!” you lied just to see if his expression would even change

and what do ya know, it doesn’t. it’s the same focused deadpan on his computer screen, “no you didn’t, your boyfriends right here?”

you were at the end of your rope

“then why doesn’t my boyfriend come over here and act like it?” you hissed, “last time i checked, boyfriends get excited whenever they see their significant other and not over genshin characters.”

now that was a bite to kenma’s ego as he finally pulled his eyes away from the screen and towards you. “what?” he says, confused.

“do you even like me anymore?”

kenma scoffs almost dumbfounded, “of course i do, how could you say that?”

“because i experience it everyday, kenma.” you confess, fighting to keep your heavy gaze onto your boyfriend as he approaches you. “every time i come by i always see you at your desk in front of your computer. you never greet me first and unless i verbally say something, you probably won’t even notice that i’m here.” you voice broke slightly

“i-i’m sorry, (y/n)—”

“do you ever stop and think of the fact that the only times we see each other if from me visiting you? if i were just to stop one day i’d figure we wouldn’t even have a relationship in the first place.” you sigh as you shook your head, “you probably wouldn’t even notice, anyway.”

almost immediately does kenma wrap his arms around you in a tight embrace, almost as if he feared that you would disappear if he were to let go in the slightest

he places a kiss on your forehead before resting his own against yours, “i don’t ever want to hear those words come from you every again, (y/n). i’m so so sorry, i’ll promise to be better.”

you melted within his embrace, feigning a smile from appearing as you quickly give him a peck before remembering that the bag of food you bought was still in your hand

“let’s start by eating before the food gets cold.”

— t. kei

unlike the rest of the previously mentioned boys, arguments are pretty common between you and tsukishima considering his nature

he’s constantly teasing and making fun of you, but all of which were just jokes not meant to be taken seriously and you were well aware of this too

it’s probably the main reason why tsuki found himself so enamored with you as you constantly matched his energy 

you two were shockingly similar with your humor and your smugness, but the main differences between the two of you was you academics

it’s not surprise how tsukishima is always at the top of his class while you’re always at the bottom of it

considering this, the majority of your dates during the week with him are usually study dates or normal dates that end with the two of  you either at the library or each other’s houses studying material for the following day’s test

it was clear that in order to date each other, you both had to have patience

you weren’t exactly the fastest learner and you easily got distracted with things around you that you’re honestly surprised that tsukishima’s nonexistent patience was still up and active

besides, he loved you. he had to understand your difficulties as most of the time you can’t help it, but at the same time his personality was like treading on broken glass

usually he had enough patience to last an entire two hour study session with you, but today was oddly different

nothing was going right with tsukishima’s day and he just got absolutely annoyed with every little thing from a person bumping into him in the halls to a stain on his uniform that you could barely even notice

right now, this was the tenth time he found you tuning him out and daydreaming

his knuckled turned alabaster from the pressure of squeezing his mechanical pencil. he huffed, trying to calm himself down as he rubbed his aching temples

“(y/n), were you even listening to what i was—”

“do you think giraffes know where other giraffes are from?” you interrupted him with another one of your mindless tangents, “like considering how the pattern of a giraffe’s fur depends on what regent they’re from, do you think a giraffe from southern africa could tell if another if from western africa—”

tsukishima was at his limit, “can’t you just shut the fuck up and focus for five minutes, (y/n)?” he shouts at you, “i swear, you wouldn’t be failing if you just listened for once.”

he huffs out in annoyance, completely ignoring the way the brightness in your expression fell into a frown

you weren’t mad as you honestly couldn’t blame him. having learning difficulties and a short attention span was burdening you boyfriend so much that he isn’t even obligated to be doing this for you

he was sacrificing his time tutoring you and you’re just wasting it

“i’m sorry i can’t learn as easily as you,” you mutter softly, picking up your things quickly

tsukishima gives you a look of confusion, “w-where are you going?”

“thanks for all your help, but i can’t keep wasting your time like this.” you say as you zipped up your backpack and left

the next day you walked to school alone. usually you would be walking with tsukishima and yamaguchi, but it seemed like even tadashi wasn’t there to wait outside your house either

you weren’t able to hide your melancholy as you entered your classroom, slightly glad that tsukishima and yamaguchi weren’t here yet to see your expression

it allowed you time to pull yourself together, and yet, that time alone was cut short as the two walked in

you briefly flicker them a look fast enough that they don’t notice, but long enough for you to see yamaguchi patting his best friend on the back with encouragement

tsukishima had something in his hands, but you were too far away to construe them

you looked back down to your desk, fiddling with you pencil and pretending as if you were thinking about what to write next

it was then did footsteps approach, arriving right next to you with a presence so unwavering

you gulped, hoping that it wasn’t who you thought it was as you looked it

of course it just had to be that one lanky boy with glasses and messy blond hair to be standing by your side

he was holding a stuffed giraffe and a small white box with string neatly tied around it

“i’m sorry for blowing up on you,” he bursts out his apology, “i know you have a hard time and i should’ve remembered that you can’t help it.”

he places the giraffe plushy and box onto your desk

“it’s an masai giraffe since i remembered you liking their unique fur pattern and i also got you strawberry short cake this morning before they ran out that’s why i wasn’t there to walk you to school.” tsukishima continues explaining, “i just hope you’re not angry with me.”

you felt a smile creeping up to your lips as you shook your head, “i could never.”

[dinosaurtsukki]

[ the same eyes as you ]

prequel to ‘it’s good to be home’ (read here)

pairing: tsukishima kei x f!reader

word count: 1.5k words

contains: slight angst, tsukishima is a FATHER

anon: henlo can you do one with tsukishima where he breaks up with reader and the reader just found out she's pregnant with his child, and then time skips he saw the reader with a child and he's like shookt and you can do whatever you want after that shhsahagag that's all i got. Sorryy if that's too weird.

a/n: omg YES PREGNANT!READER BUT MAKE IT ANGST !! i’ve been so excited to write this one and ngl it’s a bit short but i hope you like it !!

months ago, you would have never thought you’d be hiding a positive pregnancy test from tsukishima. in fact, he would be the first person you would show it to. in your mind, you could still see the way his eyes would light up despite the nervous quiver of his mouth at finding he was going to be a father. 

but after the fight you two just had, after hearing tsukishima say the words that put a period on your relationship, you kept the information firmly to yourself. you didn’t care if the child in your belly was also tsukishima’s. he said he no longer wanted you in his life and so, you were going to walk out of it. 

maybe months ago, you thought he would make a good father. 

“so, are you going to have the baby?” your friend asked. you decided to move into her place after leaving the apartment you and tsukishima once shared. you bit your lip, placing a hand over your belly, trying to imagine another beating heart inside of you. 

as much as you wanted to, you still couldn’t bring yourself to completely hate tsukishima kei. you wished things to go back to the way they were, that you would open your eyes in the morning and find his arm wrapped around you again or hear him mumbling an apology in your ear and a ‘don’t go’ that you were more than happy to oblige to.

you couldn’t bring yourself to let go of this baby and you were willing enough to raise them, even if tsukishima was no longer in the picture. 

...

tsukishima would rather die than admit that he quite liked it when he had to tour for school field trips. of course, he hated it when kids were rowdy but he found that they weren’t as annoying as adults said they would be. most of the time, tsukishima found that they were interested enough about the museum exhibits to be silent and pay attention. 

and most of all, tsukishima loved the funny questions that they would ask. his favorite one from the tour he just did earlier was when this young girl asked if it was possible that dinosaurs were furry or had hair since the fossils didn’t exactly said that they wouldn’t.

‘you sure are going places,’ tsukishima laughed to himself, shaking his head as he left the floor for another tour guide to take over with a fossil-digging activity. tsukishima suddenly remembered that at one point, he did consider having kids.

except, the person he wanted to start a family with was long gone. 

tsukishima was still filled with regret for saying those things to you years ago. after you left, the realization that the apartment, that was now technically his, was too empty. the bathroom didn’t have its usual amount of your skincare and hair products. the kitchen cupboards didn’t have your favorite cereal and tea. and the bed. it didn’t smell like you anymore. tsukishima actually stopped sleeping there for a week because it felt so wrong

he had half a mind to call you up and ask you back but you also changed your contact info, much to his surprise. and when he finally did get ahold of your number, tsukishima couldn’t press ‘call.’ 

after everything he said to you, would you really want to come back?

tsukishima did try to move on, tried to open himself up more to new relationships and meeting new people. but in the end, things never quite worked out. and tsukishima would always know that you were the one that got away.

‘no point in dwelling in the past,’ tsukishima reminded himself as he entered the museum cafe to get some lunch, which was funny because that’s exactly when the past caught up to him.

right when he sat at his table was when you sat at yours and when you looked up across the two tables between the two of you, your eyes landed on your ex-boyfriend.

“tsukishima kei,” you involuntarily said aloud.

“y/n,” you heard him say in reply. his eyes widened as he took in the sight of you. the fact that you were older was a given, but he couldn’t deny that you looked well. especially since the last time he saw you was when you were leaving his apartment.

“well,” you felt a wry smile tug at your lips. “look at you.”

you couldn’t put a pin exactly on how you were feeling. maybe years ago you would have turned away at the sight of him. but you had raised a whole child by yourself without his help. at this point, there wasn’t anything you were afraid of facing head.

“yeah,” tsukishima swallowed. “how have you been?” 

you had a feeling that tsukishima was drifting in and out of his comfort zone at this point so you knew you had to take some control. and with that, you decided to sit at his table.

“quite alright, actually,” you smiled. “got a job and a house and all that fun adult stuff,” you chuckled. with a pang, tsukishima realized you were playing on an inside joke between you two. he remembered that day you two went shopping for apartment furniture, laughing at the fact that you two were now ‘finally becoming adults because we bought a dishrack now’.

“ah, same here,” tsukishima nodded.

“you work here?” you asked, gesturing vaguely at the museum.

“yeah, curating and doing tours,” tsukishima said. he knew very well that he wasn’t being conversational but that’s because he wouldn’t be able to control himself. years ago, you left because he hurt you and he wanted you back for so long. and now, you were right here in front of him.

and then, you decided to finally drop the bomb.

"when i left, i was pregnant,” you said. tsukishima felt his world go cold as he stared at you in disbelief.

“did you...?”

“i kept it, her, actually,” you laughed before falling silent and looking softly at your child’s father. “...she has your eyes.”

as if on cue, a young girl ran into the cafe and into your arms. “mommy!” she exclaimed. tsukishima watched with wide eyes, recognizing the little girl as the one who asked the funny question about dinosaurs earlier during the tour. aside from his eyes, tsukishima could see that her hair was just a darker shade of blonde than his. but her smile, that was yours.

“hey, honey. how was the tour?” you smiled, fixing the ribbon on her hair that had come loose.

“it was great! there was this really big triceratops skeleton that was even bigger than you and then we had a fossil digging activity and i dug up a lot of them!” your daughter continued to chatter. over her head, you had a clear view of the look on tsukishima’s face. his mouth hung slightly open and other than the rise and fall of his shoulders, you couldn’t tell if he was breathing. his eyes looked close to watering.

“oh, it’s mr. tour guide man!” your daughter grinned, turning around to face tsukishima who looked like a deer in the headlights now. “mommy, do you know him?” 

“he’s... an old friend,” you said, patting your daughter’s hair. “now, why don’t you run along first? mommy’s only going to talk for a few minutes,” you smiled.

“grown-up talk?” your daughter wrinkled her nose.

“yes, grown-up talk,” you chuckled. your daughter hopped off your lap, waved a little goodbye at the man she didn’t know was her father, and ran off.

“i... i have a daughter?” tsukishima whispered, watching her leave. “why didn’t you tell me?”

“i don’t think it would have fixed anything, between us, i mean,” you sighed.

“but, i could have at least known,” tsukishima said. “i... all this time...” he sighed and hung his head, finally opening about what he wanted to say.

“i wanted to reach out to you, to get you back.” 

“why didn’t you?” you asked. “all this time, i thought you wanted nothing to do with me.” 

“i guess we’re even,” tsukishima chuckled mirthlessly. “but, i hurt you more. you had to raise her by yourself, didn’t you?” 

“pretty much,” you pursed your lips, remembering those first few months when you definitely needed someone around.

tsukishima swallowed. he had no right to ask for this, not after everything he’s done or rather, failed to do. but he wanted to at least let you know that he wanted this. “can i be there, for the rest of her life? for the rest of your life?” 

“not going to lie, i’ve been having a hard time letting people in after we broke up,” you said. “but... i have missed you, tsukishima kei.” 

it felt as if a huge weight was lifted off tsukishima’s chest. he didn’t deserve this second chance, but now that he had that, he wasn’t going to let that go.

“we could start small,” he offered. “i could come see you guys once a week if you like.” 

“that sounds good,” you nodded. “she’s a lot like you, you know? one hell of a smart mouth,” you chuckled. 

“i better brace myself then,” tsukishima laughed, genuinely now. “what’s her name?” 

“hikari,” you smiled. 

“hikari,” tsukishima nodded, looking out the window of the cafe and watching hikari, his daughter, laughing with her friends in the museum lobby. “she has your smile, y/n.” 

▸ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ◂

taglist (still open to anyone who wants in!): @montys-chaos​ @miyumtwins​ @strawberriimilkshake​ @pocubo​ @sugawara-sweetheart @akaashisbabydoll @laure-chan​ @therainroguefanfiction​ @atetiffdoesart @stephdaninja @oikaw-ugh​ @charliefredb​ @dramaqueenweeb1469 @tremblinghearts @applepienation @doodleniella @haikyuu-my-love @waitforitillwritemywayout @kattykurr @tpwkatsumu

[prof-peach]

Out of all of the pokemon you have taken care of, which one do you think it was the hardest to deal with? Be cuz they were in a pretty bad shape, or just personality wise?

We get rumbunctious and rowdy Pokemon all the time, our works nature brings them to us probably more than any other issue, outside of grass Pokemon care and management. Anger and nervousness is something we have a good hold of here, and try to help iron out of various species. I do a lot of that work, and on occasion, Grey will do the odd water type with these problems, as I tend to shy away from those. For the most part, they are short stint stays, a couple months, to a couple years helping them to rewire their anger into a more productive feeling or energy. That being said, there’s alwasy the odd Pokemon who comes our way who’s just a step above the rest. So here’s some stories of the ones who have had to stay with us, for their temperament and behaviour.

On the north side of the island, we house the biggest, meanest Pokemon, and the individuals who are very timid and nervous around people. We do this to ensure they have space to live undisturbed in peace, but also to protect guests and visitors from being eaten, crushed, blasted, or otherwise harmed. Some of the northern residents are difficult yes, but most are just stroppy or uncomfortable with the majority of humans, but there are a handful that are actively engaged in harming or hunting people.

One such Pokemon is a rather nasty tempered Drampa, he came to us about five or so years ago now, kindly donated by being abandoned on our shores, it’s original trainer leaving the ball and hopping on a boat without alerting us, or letting the individual know. We figured it would be possible to rehome it, they’re usually a rather reasonable Pokemon to handle, considering their typing. We were wrong. This Pokemon when let out of the ball, went on a monsterous rampage for four days, destroying forests, toppling buildings, blasting holes in the mountain to try to burrow away, and picking fights with anything it’s size or bigger, often causing great harm to others. The island didn’t rest for that entire time, most Pokemon cowering from it, bigger species trying to halt them, all in vain. It took an entire troop of grass Pokemon using sleep powder to knock it out, the Drampa moved about so fast, one single grass type didn’t stand a chance to produce enough spores in time. It took a lot of work but we knocked the old boy out, and got a good look at him. His body was riddled with arthritis, not medicated, he would thrash about and cause himself so much pain and discomfort. He had overgrown nails, the feet hidden in the fur they have around their torso, often overlooked, and it’s ability to fly was limited because of its general condition and state. We began helping it, medicating it’s aislments, aiding it’s inflamed joints, but it never really calmed down, so now it chills out alone on the coast of the north side, left well alone, it doesn’t even like the company of other Pokemon.

We’ve done our best to interact with it, to socialise it, to generally get it use to people enough to do medical checks, but it’s still very resistant. We have decided that after two years of hard work, and it being tolerant to me, at least to check it’s health and wellbeing, that it’s best to let it live it’s life unbothered. Many would push a Pokemon to be a perfect social being, but we don’t believe it’s necessary for happiness. Some species are happy to be away from others, I wouldn’t push a human to be social, I know how awful that can be, so we didn’t force the individual to be around others either. It’s not that it’s unhappy, we spot it from time to time sitting on the rocks by the ocean, humming to itself, and the small pidgey and tailow that come by don’t bother it, and even give mild brief conversation. He seems ok, the medicine given means he’s in less pain, despite still having stiffness, and in the winter we’ve built him a unique space, rocky cover much like a cave, just above a Macargo hide where they lay eggs. The heat from those Pokemon keep its cave very hot, and help in the cold to ease the joint aches. The two species have different entrances, making sure they never meet within the hide at any point. There’s a good slab of rock dividing them, so it’s not an issue, and saves us having to pipe hot water over that far for him. He eats well, has a few items he’s kept from the labs, a toy sentret, and a large red ball, and generally is in a good place to live out his life in peace now.

Another difficult member would be a particularly timid Slazzle, gifted to us by a police member who had confiscated it from a rather mean individual close to her home town, they had been hurting the poor Pokemon, forcing it to produce an insane amount of poison liquid, throwing water on the poor thing every time it tried to ignite to retaliate, generally abusing the poor thing for its life, apparently it had been locked away since it was a young unevolved Pokemon. They’d been harvesting the poisons from the Slazzle and dropping it into various water sources to try to control the local Pokemon population, as they blamed the wild ones for the state of their land, and diminished crops yield from their allotment. Jokes on them, that water poisoning affected them too, and their garden died very quickly, and made the man quite sick through consumption of the crops he grew there. The slazzle is still very skittish, will hide at any given moment, we’ve seen her ignite an entire building in one move, and then bolt away through the flames to lose our line of sight. She managed to stay hidden for two weeks on the island, before we caught sight of her again. Generally she’s just a case fo neglect but we have been working with her now for a long while, 3 ish years, and her temperament is at least manageable amongst our staff. We have found her others of her kind to help her settle, and she’s become good friends with a Wartortle who came from the same area, they bond over memories of the place, and seem very happy in each others company.

We’ve found ways to keep her grounded, but she never goes near people when we have open days, slinks off through the big fence to the north side, and waits out the visiting hours until night. They’re not usually nocturnal but she likes the night, and spends her time looking about, foraging and feeding in the later hours. If you’re quiet you can catch her moving around the forests and the base of the mountains here, talking with the occasional individual, she seems to enjoy Murkrow too, their company seems to keep her quite social, as they usually move in large flocks here. She may never be rehomed, but for now we try to socialise her, we don’t battle her, and she has a very calm and peaceful nook to go to when she’s having a rough time. We make sure to provide support where possible, and though she’s a little skittish she’s somewhat happy to have myself and Grey, even Pari take a look at any wounds or scrapes she may gain while living here. She’s become trusting enough to come to us if we call, and who knows, maybe someone will come our way who she takes an interest in. There’s hope for her yet, we have however become quite fond of her, and she’s part of the furniture now. It may end up that she never leaves, and lives her life in peace here, surrounded by people and Pokemon who love her. Her panic makes her very difficult to pass to another trainer, and she’s prone to spitting up huge quantities of toxic liquid when spooked, and bolts at a slight bang or rumble.

One I have kept back for a number of reasons, is a rather mean tempered Aerodactyl. Normally we get Pokemon sent to us, but this one I ended up finding myself, some circus had her chained up in a box hardly big enough to turn around in, an attraction to the masses as they travelled through the area. The leader of that troop was particularly awful, treating Pokemon as commodities, items to be bought and sold, used as toys in his big performances. Boiled my blood. We called her Zeplin, and after 12 years she has still got a nasty temper on her, when not focused on a task. Her condition when we first found her was quite something, tattered wings, unable to fly straight at all, and she was littered with cuts and bruises, not in good health. Val has melted the chains that bound her, and the lock in her cage, and she just went, like a bat out of hell, flew off, blasting the tent that hid her quarters, burning a lot of the circus as she went. Little did I know, my foot was in one of the chain links, and I got dragged off with her, the ground, Val, all my other team mates, falling from my pocket, or being left on the floor where we had once been standing. She flew, and kept going, not aware I was still attached, you could see her wings were having a hard time catching the breeze, littered with holes and tears, she went for about two hours, I nearly froze that high up, trying to get a good grip on what chain was left so I didn’t come falling from that height. We came to a very sudden crash landing, she hadn’t had much chance to practice the whole take off - land thing from the feel of it, we both ate dirt, and she became very aware that I was there all of a sudden.

I had about three seconds while she assessed my presence, to get out of the chain, and dive behind a rock that gave me cover from an almighty blast of energy, chipping away bits, catching my arm a little. Trust me when I say, it’s terrifying coming face to face with something that stands a fair few meters taller than you, with more teeth and claws than you’re comfortable with dealing with, with none of your Pokemon, no weaponry, no real plan or cover other than a rock. How she didn’t eat me, I don’t know. Perhaps she knew it was me that let her go, maybe she just ran out of energy, but for whatever reason, she made a few bits and tail lashes at me, missed the lot, and gave up, turning to stomp off into the forests around us. She was still shackled with heavy irons, one on the neck, two on the legs, and was in serious condition, so I did the stupid thing and followed her, tried to sneak my way behind, though every now and then she would look towards me, and try to focus on my form in the dark of night now. It was a few days, she had stalked some prey, fed, and was starting to ooze from some wounds. Though the circus was unkind, they were providing her with medication that stopped further infections occurring, perhaps a scarred beast of great size drew more punters, maybe they were just making sure she survived to make them money, I still don’t know.

I hunted herbs, dug out roots with rocks, used river water, and common berries and managed to fashion some kind of salve, nothing amazing, especially back at that age, but it would work, I knew it would because I used it on my own wounds first. Just had to convince her it was a good thing to let me get close. Not an easy task. We physically brawled, she was clearly spent, not able to use any attacks, just thrashing about, I managed to trip her with the chains still attached to her legs, and once downed, you can jump on the head of these Pokemon to keep the jaws shut, just long enough to lather the wounds you can reach, then bolt fast. It was a small act, but she took off running again. With some wounds sort of cared for, I followed again, fishing for dinner, forraging roots to chew on. It wasn’t much but it kept me going, then one night, where I had climbed to a crook of a large tree, using my jacket to tie myself in for a nights sleep, I was awoken by loud rustling, thudding of feet, and a mighty huff.

Below where I sat, the Pokemon had returned, being no doubt well aware of my presence, following the smell of human, she had noticed the salve do a good job on the wounds I managed to reach, but the ones I couldn’t get near had become far worse, red, inflamed and weeping terribly, no doubt hurting and itching. I’d seen her rubbing her sides in the day, itching gasinst rocks and trees, smearing blood and ooze along her path as she trudged. So here we were, alone in the woods, I veeeeery carefully climbed down, staying in cover as much as possible, and over the space of an hour or two, she let me come out into the open, teeth bared yeah, but she hadn’t attacked, and other than a very uncomfortable, low growl, she allowed me to creep closer, some more of that salve made more for my own wounds than hers, being sniffed at, she licked it too, but wasn’t happy with the taste, very bitter, and I was cautiously optimistic, allowed to help her heal the rest of the cuts she had acquired from her old home. So we began our....I want to say friendship but that wasn’t it, it was a collaboration to survive.

We had landed somewhere far from others, I missed my team, and she had never experienced anything outside of the cage, and so we banded together, tentatively. We caught dinner as a team, and climbed for fruits, foraged for berries, reapplying what loose form of medicine I managed to make, before coming to some kind of comfortable companionship together. A week passed, wandering without a clue where we were, before a path was found, she seemed to want to avoid it, and while I wasn’t keen on people much either, it was impossible not to want to find my team again. They needed me, and I needed them. If they had been found, a police officer or the likes may have sent them to my original professor, waiting to be called from the PC system again, but knowing Val, she had grabbed the balls, my things, and bolted to hide, waiting for my return. In desperation I tried to explain this to the Aerodactyl, who had not experienced a trainers care before, and seemed reluctant to return.

It was only upon mentioning revenge, to burn the circus to the ground, that I regained her attention, and we came to a slow agreement to get aid, gather items, and return to where she had been released from. She waited in the forest while I went to town, checking my PC space to see if my team had been handed in, which they had! It was lucky, I was reunited with Val (vulpix), Booker (teddiursa), and Potato (bulbasaur) who I took back, and returned to the woods with.

We had to get some revenge, and in turn we devised a plan to free the Pokemon first, sneak in and pick the locks, melt the chains and gates, and then finally, let the aerodactyl do her thing once the vulnerable individuals were loose. I did my best to hold back my own personal rage, and simply aid the demise of a group who were awful towards Pokemon through this one big flying type. I wint go into details but no one perished in the fire, they were arrested and charged for unsafe work conditions, and abuse towards Pokemon, not to mention false advertising, having no worker’s Compensation in pace for injury, which many staff complained of, and several incidents of sexual harassment in the work place that were brought to light.

Once one started to talk, the others all joined in, and the fire was put down to unsafe working conditions and a lack of health and safety. From what I heard, the whole circus worth of Pokemon were rehomed, helped and generally lived much better lives after that. However now we had one very mistrusting angry Aerodactyl on our hands, a Pokemon I had not worked with before, who had seemingly become quite tolerant of me, but would snap at just about anyone who clocked eyes with her. So I kind of just kept her, no ball, not for a fair few years, we both didn’t think it was important. She was nursed back to health, and we had to go through a lot of training together, she bit booker once quite badly, but we’ve all put that in the past, and have worked on it together.

She is still testing, she won’t be ridden by anyone else, she doesn’t care for other Pokemon much, crowds will spook her, she doesn’t like when people talk with raised voices or hostile tones, and gets real irritable if you come at her in any kind of way that isn’t open handed, calm and slowly. She’s now a very capable flier, wings healed up, spending her first half of life locked up made her long for the open sky, so now we take time together to go off and ride winds when work is slow, and she’s helped in many ways to make the island functional, by moving logs, clearing paths, helping lift building materials around, and generally being there for me when I’m full of rage, which is actually annoyingly often. We’re anger buddies hah, kind of get on the same level with it. She’s become so much part of my family, and I feel like i’m part of hers now too, so I doubt she’d be rehomed, but should she find somewhere she would rather be, we wouldn’t stop her going. She is difficult, angry, snappy, tempermental, difficult, won’t be touched by strangers, likes to fight, but I’d not change her, she’s our testing monster, who we love and adore.

Went off a bit, but I figured why not, I know her, and can write more about her life and story than the others.

[edie-baby]

Les Fleurs du Mal Chapter 2 | Pierre Gasly

Summary: Sava Dvorakova had big dreams for Formula One. An opportunity of a lifetime comes around, so she takes it and runs. She proved just about everyone wrong, and is awarded a very controversial seat on the F1 grid. There’s smiles and grins, hugs and kisses, love and laughter. There’s tears and sobs, fights and break ups. There’s evil where you least expect it, hidden in the garden of eden. The Flowers of Evil.

Warnings: a lot of swearing, shitty parents (they’re a recurring theme), sexism, i ignored a lot of actual f1 rules because i couldn’t be bothered writing it into the story tbh, yuki is fcking adorable, a lot of smut eventually, like a lot.

Sava woke up on Friday with no intention of getting out of bed before noon. And then realised that she wasn’t in her bed, it was a hotel room. The memories and realities of her current situation made her head spin, and with a shit eating grin on her face, she jumped out of bed and into the shower. Feeling as though she should stay on brand, Sava pulled on a white pleated skirt and tucked the oversized Carlin shirt into the waistband. She braided her hair while it was still a little wet, knowing it would be easier than the kerfuffle she had yesterday trying to walk, carry a helmet, and braid at the same time. Combat boots, a phone, and paddock pass later and Sava was leaving the hotel room to meet Amelia in the cafeteria-like space on the ground floor to have breakfast and chat about the agenda for the day before they headed to the track.

Unbeknownst to Sava, a number of the F1 drivers were staying at the same hotel, and when she stepped into the room, eyes focused on finding other Carlin shirts, many heads turned her way. Obviously, news about a girl in a Carlin race suit with pink hair had spread into the formula one paddock quite quickly. Sava gave up on trying to find her assistant when she had no luck, preferring to make her way to the coffee bench to make herself a very sweet black coffee over ice. While the coffee began brewing, she turned her back to the bench, taking another look out over the crowds of people at tables to try and find her friends again, only to see that 75% of the room was already looking at her, and those that weren’t were whispering to the people that were. The poor girl looked like a deer in the headlights, and apparently one man couldn’t see her like that, as he stood from his table and walked toward her. He was still metres away and Sava was already having to strain her neck to look up at him.

“Hi, I’m sorry to bombard you like this while you’re already quite overwhelmed. But I can tell you’re a bit lost. Would you like to come and sit with me until you find your team?” The man asked, his accent was distinctly French, and Sava kicked herself for not instantly recognising the man as Esteban Ocon.

“Oh my, yes please! This is my first time outside of karting, let alone in the actual F2 paddock, so I’m so lost and don’t know anyone.” Sava giggled, finishing up making her super sweet coffee and following Esteban’s stride toward a table of black and yellow clad people, along with the unmistakable grin of Daniel Ricciardo.

“I’m Esteban, by the way. I think I heard your name was Dvarokova?” The Frenchman questioned after a few beats of silence, realising that the 5’1 woman couldn’t walk as quickly as he.

“Ah, Dvorakova. Don’t worry about messing up the pronunciation, I misspell it sometimes. My name is Sava, but pretty much everyone calls me Bunny.” Sava replied with a giggle at the butchering of her surname. She couldn’t blame anyone, it was a hard enough name to most Eastern Europeans, she couldn’t even imagine how some of the nationalities in the paddock would pronounce it.

“Bunny. That’s quite cute.” Esteban mused, and they finally reached the rowdy table of Renault employees.

“Guys, this is Bunny. She’s going to sit with us cause she’s new and can’t find anyone from Carlin.” Esteban introduced, and a round of wolf whistles sounded as she threw up a peace sign, then took the seat next to Esteban, across from Daniel.

“Hi, I’m Danny. You’re such a little cutie.” Daniel introduced, leaning his arm over to poke at Sava’s cheeks that immediately heated up in a flaming blush. Another round of oohs and ahs went through the table and Sava giggled again.

“Pipe down, I’m only 17.” In immediate reaction to her statement, Daniel threw his hands up in surrender, his eyes connecting with a few guys nearby who all laughed at his expression.

“Way to make a man feel like a pedo.” Daniel mumbled, and more chuckles reverberated around the group who heard. The team all spoke to Sava with interest and respect, something she didn’t expect she would be getting before she had even gotten into a car. After about fifteen minutes, she spotted Yuki walking through the door with Amelia, and excused herself quickly, exchanging fist bumps with everyone she passed along the Renault table. When she got to the end, she met Yuki and Amelia with surprised looks on their faces before the three found a small table by the window to finally sit down and eat.

“How ready are you Bunny?” Yuki asked later on that morning while the two pulled their race suits up and made final preparations. Sava looked over at him nervously as she tucked her pink braids into the suit.

“Considering I’ve only ever driven a go-kart or a Hyundai I-20, I’m shitting myself. But I’m confident enough in my karting ability to do well-enough here. How about you? Amelia told me you have a seat at Alpha Tauri next season, are you still nervous about these races or are you a cool guy about it?” Sava hit back, smiling at her first friend in serious motorsport, who she could tell she would miss if she made it into F2 next year like Dr Marko had suggested.

“I still want to do well so that they don’t think they’ve made a mistake. But I’m not as nervous as I was when I didn’t know if I’d have a seat.” The Japanese man replied, and pulled on his balaclava, Sava following shortly after. They made eye contact, their mouths obscured by the fabric, and burst out laughing. Amelia guided Sava away so that she could get her helmet on and have one final chat with the engineer she would be hearing in her ears for the weekend. Yuki ran over just before Sava jumped in the car and slapped the top of her helmet, just like her uncle Sebastian had done before every race and she smiled the biggest she probably ever has. With a quick hug to Yuki and another scolding glance from Amelia, Sava climbed into her car for her first ever free practice in a single seater.

“Radio check.” Sava spoke, her voice wobbling slightly as she felt the rumble of the car beneath her.

“Confirm, Bunny. Hop to it.” Her engineer, Marcus, stated with amusement in his voice. Sava audibly laughed as she stepped on the accelerator, rolling out of the garage when she got the signal. Driving through the pitlane was surreal, and Sava knew she’d be feeling that a lot throughout the weekend. She ran two warm-up laps, getting acquainted with the car and testing the responsiveness of the brakes and the throttle. Once her tyres were at the right temperature, she got a radio message to give it hell, and so she did.

It was complete radio silence in the Carlin garage as everyone, including Yuki, sat and watched the rookie on her first hot-lap. She got a purple first sector, green second sector, and purple third sector, putting herself at the very top of the timing tower. While the practice session had only been active for around eight minutes, she had already beat two other drivers who had put in preliminary hot laps. Marcus relayed the time to Sava, and when she asked for the fastest time out of a qualifying session from the year prior, she groaned in frustration.

“Can I run a few more out laps and get comfortable with the responsiveness? I know I can do better.” Sava pleaded, and Marcus quickly agreed. If she thought she could get a better time than the one she had already given them, then hell they’d let her run all day. After four out-laps, she was brought in for a quick refuel and to look over the data of her hot-lap in comparison to Yuki’s. He was braking later, but Sava was getting better acceleration out of the corners. She knew now just how good the brakes were and considering she was known throughout the European karting scene for braking extremely late, she knew she could get better times, and maybe knock a few tenths off her entire lap. By the time she was finished looking at the data, everyone on the grid had put in multiple flying laps, and she was confident that whatever she pulled out now would be a decent comparison of her speed to the rest of the grid. With two more out-laps to get her tyres and brakes at the perfect temperature, she was off again.

Purple first sector, purple second sector, purple third sector.

As her name flew up the timing table, the Carlin garage waited with baited breath, to finally see Sava Dvorakova land at P1, four tenths quicker than the next fastest, Juri Vips.

“No fucking way.” Amelia mumbled, her eyes trained on the initials of the girl she had been following around for the past two days. Similar reactions were happening over in the Renault garage, many of the team who spoke with the girl earlier that morning tuned in to catch the first performance.

Qualifying later that day followed a very similar pattern. Finishing P2 behind Juri Vips, their times separated by one one-thousandth of a second. The real test was to see if the Czech could keep up the pace in their sprint and feature races over the next two days.

Those boys had hell to pay, and sure as shit, Sava was gonna come collect.

[mysterytickingegos]

At Least We Have Us

Pairing(s): Darkiplier x Platonic!reader

Genre: Angsty with a fluffy end.

Word Count: 1,771

Summary: Strange things happened to those who didn’t leave that dreadful manor in time, and you were one of those people. Becoming something not quite human took some time to get used to, but at least you weren’t alone.

Anonymous Request: Platonic Dark with a soft Y/N that's basically very motherly of him despite being much younger? She cares a lot about him and looks up to him. Maybe she's his assistant and also experienced the events of WKM and Dark basically adopted her after that? Post-WKM please! I need Dark being a wise and over protective big brother rn Thank youuuu

Authors Note: I loved working on this one! It was a fun concept, thank you so much for the request!

Want to read more?

[Image Description: A gif of Mark from a vlog video giving a thumbs up to the camera, it has been edited to be gray with Darkipliers afterimages and colors, red and blue.]

Dark...That was such a strange name to call him, at first.

Damien had been a family friend. He was your neighbor, and your best friend’s uncle. When you were a teenager he was a respected member of the local government, a man who hid away in a study and worked far too hard. Eventually with enough pushing from Ophelia, he was your boss, having given you an internship in city hall that Elli really didn’t want. You considered him a friend. Maybe not a close friend, but he was someone you trusted and respected and he would say the same about you.

You jogged up the stairs to the office, dodging past people while muttering quick apologies to anyone who had something to say about it. When you got there, you heard the laughter of your friend through the door and cracked it open. Ophelia was desperately trying to catch her breath between giggles, of course because Damien was telling another story about your completely sophisticated soon-to-be DA. He was surprisingly relaxed, leaning back on his desk and talking with his hands quite a bit.

“But of course, that doesn’t stop them, they run down the street- Oh, Y/n please come in. You’ll want to hear this.” He gestured to the empty chair beside Elli, but when you didn’t move from the doorway, both their faces fell. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” You tilted your head at them, not realizing how you looked, pale and out of breath. “Damien, they’re done counting. You won.”

He was in shock for a few moments, only standing up a bit straighter as he processed your words. “I won? I’m...?”

“You’re going to be the Mayor.” Ophelia finished for him, just before all three of you started laughing and cheering and jumping around.

In many conversations there were moments where you would catch a glimpse of the person you used to know, and in the beginning you would get a heavy heart. You weren’t ready to let him go, to accept that he was somebody else now. Perhaps that’s because it would mean accepting you were somebody else, too.

None of the guests from that damned party left the manor the same.

You heard it so clearly, a stranger’s voice coaxing you up the stairs, quietly whispering your name over and over as you slipped away from the rowdy party. You were practically hypnotized, not thinking about who it could possibly be or their intentions as they lead you to a room that sent chills down your spine the moment you opened the door. It was a room filled with trinkets of the occult, books with terrifying symbols, and scribbles of a mad man on papers scattered all over.

“You’re not supposed to be in here.” You heard a growl from a new voice, just behind you. The person shoved you inside the room and slammed the door as you hit the ground. “In fact, I could’ve sworn this was going to be hidden from all of you.”

You stood up as quickly as you could, turning to see the host of the party scowling at you. “I wasn’t...I was just looking for Elli.” You said quickly, brushing off your clothes.

“The same Elli that told you she was going to lay down for the night a couple of hours ago?” He stepped closer, slowly, ominously.

You thought back to that conversation, spoken quietly, just the two of you on the staircase while everyone else was still playing poker. “How could you even know about that?”

Mark grinned at you, sinister and cold. He gestured around the room, to the books and trinkets. “Things aren’t as they seem here, Y/n. Ever since Celine...left me here, the things in this house had opened my mind to things I never could’ve imagined.” A short laugh bubbled out of him. “I can do anything.”

“You’ve gone mad.” You whispered, backing away. You’d heard bits and pieces of the Iplier drama from Damien, having vented his concerns to you over cups of coffee during work since the day you got your invitations. But you knew now that he had no idea.

“Perhaps they were trying to do the same for you, but I’ve come too far for some kid to screw it all up now.” He turned on his feet and left the room, shutting the door behind him. You rushed over to it, trying to twist the knob before he got a chance to lock it. But it was far too late. You banged on the door and screamed for help until your voice went hoarse, but the room had in fact been hidden away. You were surrounded by taunting spirits in a room that nobody existed, for what felt like weeks. You could feel them gnawing away at bits and pieces of you after that, an itchy feeling under your heart, changing you. Truly, time had been warped, and only one day had passed before you were found by someone who was now immune to the houses secrets and cloaks. And he didn’t say anything, but clearly something had happened to you too.

Funny thing about living forever? (Or at least as long as you have,) It’s not that great, in fact it’s actually very lonely. The world changes around you, and you don’t change that much at all. You often have to leave, not wanting the attention of being the same age after living or working somewhere for 20 or 30 years. Or you get too attached to somebody and you know you will lose them, now or later.

But you weren’t alone. Despite his anger towards Mark, how badly he wanted revenge, Dark kept very close to you. Especially after he learned what happened to his niece, he was going to keep you safe above all else. Mark learned that the hard way when he tried to silence you too, only to find an empty house and a rather cheeky note.

“Catch me if you can.”

Another funny thing, you didn’t even know the power that you had when you first wrote that. As far as you knew you were a normal girl waiting out the storm. But eventually waiting got pretty tiresome.

“How could you be so foolish?” Dark called after you as you both stormed back into the house.

“Oh come on, it wasn’t that big a deal.” You huffed, tossing your jacket away.

His image faltered and glitched at what you said. “Not a big deal? You have the gift of longevity, you are NOT impervious to bullets!”

You flopped down into the armchair, crossing your arms. “We don’t know that yet.”

“You sprained your ankle tripping on air last month, I think it’s safe to say.” For a moment you could’ve sworn he smiled. If it wasn’t at your expense, you might’ve been happy. “You wonder why I hover,”

“Someone had to step in and do something.”

“Why did it have to be you?!”

“Because!” You twisted around in the chair to face him, fighting back tears. “I’m bored! I’m sick of living like a hermit! I’m tired of these stupid towns in the middle of nowhere and never having any friends...it’s been almost a century Dark, I don’t know how much longer I can do this.”

He pierced his lips, having to look away from you before he got emotional himself. “So this is your plan? Play hero until you run out of luck?”

“Or we can stop hiding. We can try and live our lives, instead of just surviving. I mean, what's the point if we’re completely miserable?”

“And what about him?”

“To hell with Mark, what about you?” Your voice was softer now. “I can work, and shop and be neighborly. But you...you’ve been stuck in the shadows, holding onto your hate all this time. Maybe you don’t believe it after everything that’s happened, but you deserve better.”

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “What then? Where do you want to go?”

“How about we go home?”

‘Home’ was California, LA specifically. Sure, you could’ve gone back to your hometown but you were both part of a rather famous local mystery and you agreed it was for the best to stay away.

The sun had set a little bit ago and the streets were only illuminated by signs and street lights, that was the only way he’d agree to go out into the city with you, in the dark. Fair enough, he didn’t want to attract attention to himself. Luckily, you’d made some good friends in the last few months, friends like Mike.

“Ah, bonjour!” Mike greeted cheerfully as you and Dark approached the window, before ducking into his shop to get you both a bowl of ice cream. “I was wondering if you were going to show up.”

You nudged Dark over to one of the tables and leaned in the window. “I didn’t mean for it to take so long, thanks for keeping the shop open late for us.”

“Don’t mention it. I actually have a cousin with really bad anxiety, so I get it.” He passed you two bowls with a smile.

Dark squinted at you when you came back to the table. ‘Anxiety?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t have anxiety.”

“You’re right, I should’ve told him the truth. You and your sister possessed your best friend in the 1920′s to escape a place called the upside down, but sometimes you drag bits and pieces of it into the real world and that would probably scare the locals in broad daylight.” You didn’t miss a beat in your little rant, scooping some ice cream into your mouth as soon as you were done.

He chuckled and shook his head at you. “I’m supposed to be the one lecturing you on being subtle.”

“Hey, I’m the one who’s been covering for us the past 91 years. It’s your turn to follow my lead.” You said matter-of-factly, pointing your spoon at him, before you dove back into your bowl. You missed the ‘fair-enough’ nod he gave you and the pride written all over his face, another glimpse of someone you used to know. “You know, maybe you should bring you-know-who here someday.”

His eyes went wide and he shook your words off just a little too quickly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“So you don’t have a thing for his new friend that you’re watching out for?”

“Stop it. Stop it right now.”

“Fine,” You put your hands up in mock surrender, “But you know I’m right.”

[rpmemesbyarat]

RP meme from "Chapter Two: The Kithain" in Changeling: The Dreaming (20th anniversary edition) Part One of Two

"Humans define themselves by more than just species. They identify with certain races and cultures, separate themselves by generation or ideology, and express individuality while simultaneously looking for ways to connect with others like them. How they look, who they love, where they live, what they believe — these are all building blocks of identity."

"This desperate aversion to moving on does have its own consequences."

"Though the wisdom to temper the idea is sometimes there, the sheer excitement can sweep anyone off their feet quickly enough to disregard it."

"While these impulses aren’t usually much of a problem, it’s easy to forget that not every dream is a sweet one — nightmares can come to life, too."

"Every teddy bear protector is there to fight something,

after all."

"These things can be distracting at any age, especially for someone working in a dreary office or in a highly repetitive job."

"With little care for consequences or thinking through the details, they don’t consider the harm that will come to others, intentionally or unintentionally, in their pursuits."

"While they don’t have an inherently negative outlook, they are more likely to put their personal interests over those of others."

"Becoming jaded and unwilling to take risks is the death of childhood."

"Something may captivate them for a time, but once all the mystery is gone from it, they’ll just as easily drop one pursuit for another that still has questions to answer."

"Wonder lies in the discovery of a new species or an unexplored biome, and beauty in chemical bonds or lines of code."

"Repetition can quickly become a rut, and make even the most wondrous work commonplace and mundane."

"Whether they fight to preserve or subvert the ruling class as it stands, they all long to make their mark in one way or another."

"Even when caught, they are unlikely apologize for their actions, and instead have a dozen ways to justify them."

"Some enjoy collecting art and creating galleries to inspire others, or amass vast libraries of literature or music to the same purpose."

"They have an innate knack of deciphering relationships and picking up “overheard” tidbits of information."

"They explore the world with wonder in their eyes and will talk to anyone who will sit still long enough to listen and put up with the incessant questions."

"Their reputation for being consummate craftspeople is well learned."

"This does not apply to a sworn enemy."

"Rowdy fools, the lot of them."

"Rowdy fools, the lot of them. Still, they can be quite entertaining. . .so long as you keep them from breaking the china."

"They make wonderful guests and tell the most delightful tales, but they never stay for long."

"Pay heed to their stories and you may learn something."

"Their obsessions tend to make them boring conversationalists."

"Never leave them alone in a room if you want to be able to find anything afterward."

"They are quite entertaining at parties, but never stick around to help clean up."

"Foul mouthed and rude beasties, they are."

"Be careful how much wine you offer them. They can become quite. . . err. . .enthusiastic."

"No place on land, no friendship, and not even love can hold them."

"A selkie’s heart belongs to the sea and to the sea they will always return."

"They still understand the old ways but they do not always understand our ways."

"Things have changed and they are going to need to learn to adapt."

"It seems that they value little other than honor and duty."

"They are strong, yes, but they are more than simple brutes."

"They don’t lie outright, but they do love to tell a tall tale, often embellishing the story for the sake of humor or to build excitement."

"A good donnybrook clears the air, breaks the tension, and reveals hidden passions and personality traits."

"Nothing wrong with cutting loose a bit now and then!"

"Don’t leave them alone with your prize possessions; you’ll never know what’ll come up missing."

"They don’t understand limits — their own or anyone else’s."

"What a bunch of bullies!"

"Don’t underestimate them."

"Graceful, beautiful, mysterious, and always just beyond reach."

"They stayed by us and fought. That’s worth something."

"What we do today will live long after us, carried in the stories told by our children and our children’s children."

"Nothing new to learn here."

"Anger and foul language doesn’t make for a very good tale."

"There’s joy to be found in their revels, but take care!"

"They think themselves the kings and queens of this world, but they’ve never walked its many paths."

"How can they rule what they don’t understand and have never really valued?"

" I’ve heard it said that the real hero is the one who stays."

"I know I know. . .I’ve worked on the damned thing all week and it’s still not right."

"Maybe if you stop breathing down my neck, or better yet, just leave me the fuck alone and I’ll get it done."

"When they are forced to have social contact they are eminently sarcastic with everyone around them, and blazingly critical of anyone in charge."

"Artists, builders, crafters, and even writers all know the torment of “knowing” that their work is not good enough, that it will never be understood."

"People are mercurial, have feelings that can be easily hurt, and once broken they cannot be repaired in the same way as a tool or device."

"They are willing to take chances in order to come up with the newest and most fantastic design, often resulting in catastrophic (and sometimes humorous) failures."

"Rather than seeking the newest and most innovative designs, they have a deep desire for perfection — which, much to their chagrin, they can never attain."

"Sometimes all it takes is a kick and a few harsh words to scare a machine into working again."

"They’re fast, so they’re either cheap or good, too. You don’t get all three."

"Drunks and power tools don’t mix."

"Sorry, was that insensitive? Bite me."

"They just don’t know when to shut up."

"Sometimes they have something important to say, but you have to sift through the meandering drivel to find anything useful."

"Unruly and reckless children."

"Useless furballs!"

"Dangerous folk, but sometimes useful, especially if you want to dispose of some unwanted evid. . .err. . .garbage."

"Hedonistic freaks, the lot of ‘em."

"Don’t fall in love with one."

"Damn dusty in here."

"They think they’re hot stuff, but they don’t understand this world and its workings as we do."

"They want to rule, and who are we to say no."

"They pay well and I’ll happily take their commissions."

"Buncha creepy a-holes, if you ask me."

"Skulking around, up to no good, I’m sure of it."

"They are the strongest and toughest of us all, but their hearts can be surprisingly tender."

"I don’t know how it found its way into my pocket. Of course you can have it back. . .unless you don’t need it right now. I’d be happy to hang onto it for you until you do."

"I can’t imagine being tied down like that."

"We’ll wander many paths together, but in the end, they are who they are, and we never really are anything quite that specific."

"What is truth, but something we all agree upon? So, if we all agree upon a lie, isn’t it then truth?"

"Anything they say is likely to be peppered with lies, half-truths, and misinformation."

"Humans have always dreamed of a better, more carefree life."

"Lazy and reckless. And they keep all of the cake to themselves!"

"Drunken reprobates, every last one of them."

"Not exactly the most even tempered folks. Playing pranks on them can be a lot of fun though."

"It must be wonderful to always be at the center of every political intrigue."

"They start the shit that we have to finish."

"Just don’t get them started on how they’re royalty or some crap."

"You want to pound back a drink or wild out on the town, they’re the place to be."

"Mmm, seafood."

"You’d think such pretty folks would be easy to intimidate, but make that mistake and you’ll bite off more than even you can chew."

"Those nearby may experience a brief frisson of pure lust."

"How can such a simple life be a truly satisfying one?"

"A fight’s only as good as the kissing and making up after."

"So sweet and innocent. Cover their eyes before they see something naughty."

"Their passions are too dark and frightening."

"Someone so beautiful should never want for passion."

"I will return. . .one day. . .I promise."

"The sea gives and the sea takes away."

"A person’s secrets should be their own."

"Sharks that walk on two legs. Trust them at your own peril."

"They too are gifted with great beauty, but they wield their allure like a weapon."

"You think nobility a privilege, and you envy and resent us for it, but you cannot see that it is also a burden few would truly wish to bear."

"They must learn that respect must first be given in order to be received."

"Tremendously useful and occasionally even trustworthy, but beware what you allow them to slip into their pockets. You may never see it again."

"Who are these strange creatures?"

"What they know is invaluable, but can you really be certain they are sharing their knowledge with you alone?"

[petewentztiddies]

The Laws Of Attraction | Chapter Three - Ain’t No Sunshine

prev chapter | ao3

Today was Steve and Peggy’s (hopefully) last interview with the twins. Peggy couldn’t help it; but she was, admittedly, drawn to watching Steve’s hands. They were just so...big, and veiny, and frankly, it was oddly fascinating. 

They were supposed to be talking to the twins. Instead, Peggy was drawn to something that literally didn’t matter at all. 

And yet, his hands were so pretty.

“Carter, you have anything to add?” Steve asks, hands moving to grip his pen. 

Peggy mentally kicks hersef for not listening instead of staring at Steve Rogers’ fucking hands. “No, I think you covered that quite well,” Peggy replies smoothly, clasping her hands together on the table. 

If anyone noticed, they didn’t say anything.  

Peggy clears her throat, gathering her thoughts. “I do have a separate question for you two, though, if you will...”

Hearing rustling in her room, eight-year-old Wanda wakes up fearfully. She knees Pietro to wake him up too.

Someone is rifling through one of their drawers, and the sound of moving coins can be heard.

Pietro grabs the flashlight on the nightstand, shining it at the figure.

"...Mama?" Wanda asks, her voice shaky.

"Wanda, Pietro, go back to sleep. I just needed to borrow some cash." Their mother’s usually soft, dulcet voice was tremulous and wavering.

"You...you said we could save the money, Mama. You said we could keep it this time." Pietro says in disbelief. She said they could save up their money to buy another bed instead of having to share one. 

Their mother sits on the edge of their shared bed. "Listen, listen. I know...I know what I said. But if I don't get this money, some very bad things will happen to you two. I need you to make sure all the doors and windows are locked. Don't go outside, and there's enough food around the house to last you two at least a week."

"Mama," Wanda cries. "Please don't leave us again. Please!" 

"I have to, I have to." She whispers, giving them both a kiss and a brief hug. "You'll be okay, I promise. I know you two can be brave for me." 

Pietro blinks furiously while Wanda clings on to her mother's arm. "Don't leave, please, please!" Wanda sobs.

Their mother wrenches herself from Wanda's grip, stuffing Pietro and Wanda's money in a Ziploc bag.

"W-when will you be back?" Pietro asks shakily, tears running down his face. "You said you wouldn't l-leave us again, Mama!" 

Their mother runs a hand through her tangled brunette hair. "I don't know, Honey. I'll call as soon as I can, okay? I promise." She gives them a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes. "Be good, I love you." She says as she shuts their door hurriedly. 

"No!" Wanda howls, rushing out of bed, Pietro in tow. "Mama, please!" She nearly trips on the dirty hallway rug. By the time Pietro helps her up, their mother is out the door already. The twins climb up to the back of the couch, looking out the window and watching their mother get in her car. 

She looks at them sympathetically before putting the car in reverse and leaving.

And just like that, she was gone.

---

After work, Angie had convinced Peggy to go to a relatively new steakhouse in the area with her. Peggy wasn’t much a fan of that type of food but she was so hungry and exhausted she could probably eat an entire cow.

“I dunno, I might get the chicken burger,” Angie sighs contemplatively. “What about you, English?” 

Peggy shrugs, reading through the menu for what felt like the thousandth time to find something that sounded appealing at the moment - similar to checking the refrigerator over and over to see if you missed anything appetizing. “The names of some of these are so nondescript. What even is a “Rowdy Rod” sandwich supposed to be?” Peggy asks.

Angie snorts. “It’s supposedly a classic. I’m too scared to try it, though.” She flips the page of the menu, “Ooh, they have a rib-wich.” 

“You should get it. It’d be like a McRib, but actually good.” Peggy replies, taking a sip of her rum and coke.

Angie’s mouth goes agape. “You did not just call the McRib bad!” she exclaims, as if Peggy just insulted her entire family.

“I stand firmly by the idea that the McRib is overrated.” Peggy shrugs unapologetically.

“Peggy, we might have to stop being friends over this.” Angie says gravely, though the grin on her face betrays any credibility she might’ve had.

“We live together, Angie. We see each other every day.”

The two remain silent for another minute or two after that. Peggy was strongly considering getting a steak - or perhaps something else filling and heavy; she was starving. 

Angie’s voice pulls Peggy out of her musings. “Hey…! Speaking of working together, guess who just walked in?”

Peggy looks up from her menu, and who does she see but Steve. Fucking. Rogers. 

And oh god, now they were sharing eye contact. She prays he would pretend to not know her and hang back with his two other friends (who happened to be another fellow attorney, she believed his last name was Dugan, the other one was his associate, Bucky). Instead, he excuses himself as he starts walking toward Peggy and Angie’s table.

Let’s go to that steakhouse, Angie had said. It’ll be fun, she said.

“Hiya!” Angie says before Steve can say anything to Peggy. “You must be Steve Rogers, I’ve heard so much about you.” she says, shaking his hand with a forced enthusiasm. 

“Nice to meet you, Angie. I’ve heard a bit about you, too.” 

“Steve, tell me, when can I connect with your associate? I need his number for business purposes.” Little did Steve know, Angie only wanted his number for purely selfish reasons. 

Steve chuckles, stuffing both of his hands in his pockets. “Feel free to go ask him. He needs to get better at keeping contacts, anyway.” 

Angie quickly excuses herself, subtly winking at Peggy whilst Steve’s back is turned. 

Peggy fights the urge to roll her eyes. This was going to be a very, very, long night. She takes a long swig of her rum and coke.

“Mind if I sit?”

Peggy shrugs. “Considering Angie has run off on me, feel free.”  

There was something...refreshing, to see Steve not at work, in a casual setting. Admittedly, he looked more...natural, so to speak, in a business suit, but seeing him in jeans and a brown leather jacket was certainly not unwelcome, either. 

“You ever been here before?” “What?” 

“This restaurant. Have you ever eaten here?” he clarifies.

Peggy shakes her head. “No. I have no idea what to get,” she laughs lightly. “Angie said this place had really good reviews on Google, and frankly, I was tired of takeout.”

Steve nods. “Same here. It’s takeout all the time at my place. It gets real old real fast.” 

Peggy doesn’t have much else to say. She merely lets herself take in this entire situation, absentmindedly mouthing the lyrics to the music playing.

Signed with a home tattoo

"Happy birthday to you" was created for you

“You like Duran Duran?” Steve asks, right as she notices he’s tapping his foot. So, he likes one of Peggy’s favorite bands - how interesting.

“Don’t insult me, Rogers. Of course I like Duran Duran.”

Might take a little crime to come undone

Now we'll try to stay blind to the hope and fear outside

“Fair enough,” Steve replies. “Do you think your friend will be coming back?”

“With as long as she’s taking? She’ll probably be eating with them,” Peggy jokes. 

Steve laughs at that. “Well, I was just asking because, hey, opportunity arises. I think it’d be good for us to get to know each other outside of work.” 

Peggy leans forward, gazing at him intently. Her elbows are on the table now, but she doesn’t quite care. “If that’s the case, why didn’t you ask me beforehand?” she asks with a quirk of her eyebrow.

Words, playing me deja vu

Like a radio tune, I swear I've heard before

“Didn’t think you’d say yeah,” Steve replies, and there’s almost something akin to a challenge in there.

“Oh, really?” she asks.

Lost, in a snow filled sky

We'll make it alright to come undone

“Well, would you say no?” Steve asks.

Peggy purses her lips. He was entirely correct in this situation - she probably would have found an excuse to not be around him post- work hours. 

However, Peggy would rather die than letting Steve know he was correct. “I guess you’ll never know, will you?” She replies playfully, taking another sip of her drink. 

“Well, you know how I’ll figure it out?” He asks, leaning in closer.

“Pray tell.” Peggy responds. This ought to be good.

“Let’s go to lunch tomorrow. My treat.” He says.

Steve Rogers, One. Peggy Carter, Zero. Peggy had to admit that was fairly smooth. “I’d be an idiot to turn down a free lunch, Rogers. You should know I expect lobster, though,” Peggy half-jokes (she definitely wouldn’t be opposed to having lobster).

Steve laughs at that. “Fine, fine, Carter. I suppose I won’t get away with taking you to Sbarro or something. How does City Vineyard sound?” 

“I’m not opposed,” Peggy replies. “Meet you there at one?” 

Steve smiles. “See you there, Carter.” She was honestly surprised he didn’t say It’s a date. 

---

thanks to @notanotherpeggycarterblog for beta-ing!

[miikrokkosmos]

A Long Work Day: Namjoon x Reader

wc: 1.5 k

genre: fluff, college!joon, librarian!reader

a request from me, to me. just some fun hcs relevant to my life rn.

a/n: hello friends. back on my namjoon bs. (jk I never got off it I was just absent im sorry). anyway this is largely self-indulgent considering I just recently started grad school on top of a new full time job and am lonely and DEAD, but if anyone else out there enjoys this too I would be endlessly happy! feel free to send in requests for any member!

_______________________________________________________________________

·      Working full time was on top of your homework was draining, to say the least

·      Maybe more than ever you were grateful to have Joon in your life for the support and encouragement and much-needed warmth he brought into your life. Especially after long days of working at the big library you were staffed at full of rowdy students that had to be shushed and more than one person who would fight you on overdue book fees and the like

·      Needless to say you spent any downtime at work dreaming about when you’d close for the night and get to go home to your love (ew cheesy but true)

·      Or even better were the rare occasions he’d have time between his own work or class schedule to drop by to surprise you with your favourite warm drink or, just as healing, your favourite warm smile

·      Today was one of those days you were just longing to be home with him the most. But he unfortunately would not be getting home until after you today, as it was his evening class day

·      You were having terrible cramps, it was storming out and you had gotten completely soaked on the way in, leaving you cold all throughout your shift, and to top it all off, your least favourite grouchy male supervisor was leading today

·      To top it all off, you couldn’t stop stressing about how behind you were getting in homework

·      When you had about an hour left to your shift, thinking you weren’t gonna make it, the most beautiful sight you’ve ever seen walked into the library, aka the kim namjoon walking in in all of his oversized, cuddly cardigan glory, umbrella in one hand and starbucks in the other

·      “I thought you had class tonight??” you asked, taking your favourite warm drink from his hands with almost tearful gratitude

·      “it got canceled. And I know you weren’t feeling your best even before you started your long shift today, so I figured maybe a little pick-me-up was in order”

·      “are you referring to yourself as the pick-me-up, or the coffee?” you joked, trying to hide the fact you were almost crying at work bc you were so happy to see your boyfriend and the fact that his first instinct when he got some much-deserved free time was to visit you Lwith your favourite coffee Lin a storm halfway through the night L((((

·      those dimples

·      truly something to never, ever get tired of

·      “I’ll let you be the judge of that one, honey”

·      you beamed up at him for maybe a second too long for his heart to handle, causing him to lean down to peck your lips only for your supervisor to loudly clear his throat behind you the second your lips made contact

·      you didn’t bother to look back at your boss, knowing you’d only be met with judging eyes and possibly a lecture you were not emotionally or physically prepared to deal with right now

·      “no PDA at work rule, remember?” you sweetly say to namjoon, hoping he’ll understand you don’t want to get in trouble with your supervisor tonight of all times

·      he innocently smiles back at you, his pupils dilating a little more only as he leans in to your ear to quickly whisper that “we’ll just have to make up for the lost time later” before pulling away again

·      he decided to do his homework at a desk nearby for your last hour. Needless to say you did more “people watching” than anything until your shift was over

·      a little over an hour later and you could swear you’ve never been happier to get home

·      namjoon offers to reheat the leftover fried rice you made the day before while you go get washed up and got your laundry and such ready for your morning shift the next day ://

·      you still have a chill from being wet all day so when you come out in your pajama set, still shivering, joon immediately takes his cardigan off and drapes it over you which you are very very okay with

·      most days, if your schedules lined up to have supper together you’d talk about the events of the day, but sometimes one or both of you was just a little too tired. Or a little too down. To discuss it all. And there was an unspoken agreement between you two to never push the other if they weren’t ready or up to discussing it all

·      that was you today

·      you were both good at just being a presence and silent encouragement to the other when need be

·      that was namjoon for you tonight

·      offering you bites of his food if he noticed you slowing in taking your own bites

·      gently massaging your scalp with his free hand while you ate in comfortable silence together

·      eventually you missed his voice and wanted to hear it even if you didn’t have much to conversationally offer at the moment

·      “it was a long day, joon”

·      his eyes opened slightly more at you with both sympathy and love

·      seeing youre done eating, he moves your chair closer with one hand so he can bring your body into his side and wrap an arm around you, encouraging you to rest your head under his chin. Which you happily oblige

·      “I know, baby.”

·      “I don’t want to use extra energy to go through it all right now. It was just rough. You made it a lot better though.”

·      You could feel him smile at that last part. Oof your heart

·      “and I don’t need you to. I’m sorry it was rough. But that’s okay, you know? There’ll be a lot of better day. And probably a few worse ones. But I’ll be here through them all. And I know you’re more than capable to handle any kind of day thrown at you.”

·      You smush your cheek up against his bicep cradling you, playing with the rings on his fingers. Wow his hands were so much bigger than yours. Something else you never really get tired of thinking about. His big, strong, protective hands. Anyway –

·      “thanks for the coffee, joon”

·      “you don’t need to thank me for –“

·      “and…everything else. Thanks for being the best part of my life.”

·      It was his turn now to lean down over your shoulder and hide his face in the crook of your neck

·      “I’ve got a lot of love to give you, baby girl.”

·      You turned around in his grasp to look him in the eye, straddling him on the uncomfortable dining room chair

·      “I know you do. And I, you, my love.”

·      You leaned up to sweetly and gently kiss his lips, thankfully for much longer than he managed to slip through in the library earlier

·      A minute or so later you patted his cheek

·      “as much as I love spending every minute possible with you, I am crampy and tired and have an opening shift in the morning, unfortunately”

·      he helps you up by holding your waist as he stands

·      “I’ll go get painkillers and a hot water bottle”

·      you edge forward to wrap him in a tight hug, your head on his chest

·      without saying anything you walk off to the bathroom to get ready for bed, leaving him to chuckle at you as he finds your hot water bottle, hoping he can blame the redness on his cheeks from the steam of the hot tap water filling the room

·      he doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to your cuteness but he’s very very okay with that

·      you climbed into the extra cozy comforter and sheets, willing to stay awake until your joon was able to join you

·      moments later he appeared in the doorway, gently laying the water bottle on your lower abdomen and bringing the covers up to your chin for you

·      after cleaning himself up he effortlessly threw his shirt off and changed into gym shorts before climbing under the covers and cuddling up to your side, careful to not jostle you or the water bottle pressed against you

·      you gently reached over and began stroking the back of his head, leaning down to place a quiet kiss on his forehead

·      “thank you for taking care of me, joon” you squeaked out, barely above a whisper

·      he took your free hand (please don’t ever stop playing with his hair omg) and brought it to his lips, leaving a gentle kiss to it

·      “thank you for being the best part of MY life, baby girl. Now get some sleep. I’ll make you coffee in the morning.”

·      You eventually wrapped up in each other in a way that was comfortable enough while keeping the hot water bottle in place and woke up still in each other’s arms, and you were both very, very, very okay with that

[shotos-kettle]

Hunger

The usually bustling guild hall of Fairy Tail has been unusually quiet this morning, a strange aura has settled amongst the rowdy members of this guild and it's set everyone on edge. Though one member is bustling around completely unphased on this dreary morning.

"Oh, master good morning!" A gentle smile fell over Mira's lips as she set a mug of ale in front of the guild master, a light hearted chuckle left her as the elder grumbled as he cast his eyes out to the members of his family.  "Master... Natsu is missing today as well, shouldn't we send for someone?..." she asked softly, her words catching the ears of the quick witted celestial wizard. 

"Wait, what do you mean Natsu is missing??" Lucy piped up as she slid over and looked between the two. "Mira, you act as if this is normal but Natsu is always here!"

Makarov shook his head as he set his now empty mug down on the bar. "Nonsense, is just like the last time he just needs time to come back."  The words held a heavy weight in each of their hearts, Mira knew what was going on, as well as Makarov. But Lucy, someone who considered Natsu to never really have problems to show other than his past with Igneel, she was beyond worried. 

Without a word Lucy stood and started heading out of the guildhall, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. "Lucy, I know you're worried, we all are. Natsu can handle himself, you know that, we all do. That's why we give him his space when he needs it. " Lucy shook her head and turned to face Mira, a serious look on her face. "No! Everyone of you is an idiot! Haven't you learned anything from him?!"

"Wasn't he the one who helped every single one of you no matter the cost? So what if he's gone, what if he's hurt? What if he's been kidnapped?!" Lucy turned back and continued making her way out of the guild hall. "I'm going to find him,  and whether any of you want to help or not that's your problem. He's your friend isn't he? Shouldn't you at least show him you care enough to find him?" With a huff the doors slammed shut, leaving everyone in utter shock

"That girl, I wonder if she will ever realize her own feelings for that boy." Cana sighed as she set down a card and shook her head. "She's hopeless…" Her words pulled a giggle from Lisanna who just smiled and nodded. "She doesn't even realize he's in love with her either. But I'm happy for him, he finally has someone who captured his heart the way he did mine all those years ago."

Cana laughed and patted Lisanna on the top of her head. "I'm glad you're happy for him Lisanna."

-~-

On the streets of Magnolia Lucy was headstrong in her mission to find her missing fiery haired friend, there were tears pricking at the corner of her eyes as she thought about how everyone in the guild hall had just sat around like nothing was wrong, as if any minute Natsu would just burst through the doors and start picking a fight with grey.  "Idiots." she mumbled to herself, wiping the tears away from her eyes as she shook her head. 

"Where is he… Where would he even go?" She mumbled, looking around to see if she could see Happy floating around in the sky anywhere. "No. he wouldn't be with Happy, though she hadn't seen Happy either.  maybe it was best to go home and change before heading out to look for him. She didn't feel right about any of this, there was something wrong, she could feel it deep within her heart. 

As she stepped inside her apartment and dropped her bag by the door her eyes turned to the opened bathroom door. "Huh? Didn't I close that when I left this morning?..." making her way over she took note of the fine sheen covering the surfaces, and a very familiar scarf that laid draped over the showerhead. "N-Natsu??" She called out, but gained no response. No… he wasn't here. "Why did he leave his scarf?" She whispered as she picked the cloth up and stared down at it, biting her lip in worry. "Where are you?..." she mumbled to the scarf, as if it would lead her to Natsu.

There was no way that would happen and she knew it. She felt heavy, her mind was filled with worrisome thoughts of what could have happened to Natsu, now that she knew he had been by her apartment she knew he was at least around,  but why her place? She couldn't figure it out. 

She wrapped the scarf around her neck as she placed herself on her bed, curling up for a moment to try and clear her mind. There were too many thoughts running through her mind, and just the thought of having something that belonged to Natsu here to know he was still around somehow calmed her racing thoughts. "Natsu… please come back to me." Her words drifted as she slipped into unconsciousness, her head nestled against the scarf. 

It was only till hours after the sun had gone down that Lucy finally awoke to a tap on her window, a groggy whine left her lips as she sat up, the scarf slipping off her neck as the sound of rain thundered against the roof. Another tap, she turned her head and immediately gasped, scrambling to unlock the window.

A completely drenched, shirtless Nastu climbed into the apartment, his eyes cast down to his feet. "Natsu! You're completely soaked, where have you been?!" Lucy was quick to run to her bathroom and grab a towel and a pair of shorts that she kept for Natsu for occasions where he stayed the night after long missions away. 

She came back and draped the towel over Natsu's head, gently trying to dry his hair the best she could.  "Look at you… Always getting into these kinds of situations, what am i going to do with you huh?" She asked softly, but still gained no reply from the pink haired male in front of her.  "Seriously, you're always getting into trouble, you're gonna end up actually getting sick one of these days!"

"Sorry.." Natsu finally replied, his voice sounded so tired, as if he hadn't slept in days, he finally lifted his head, there was an unreadable darkness held in his normally bright eyes. "I just needed to be alone for a bit." He whispered as his eyes locked with Lucy's, a small smile formed on his lips as he reached out and pulled the blonde against his chest.

"N-natsu! Hey you're still soaking wet let me go!" Lucy whined as she struggled a little to get out of Natsu's grasp, but the trembling arms around her waist made her stop all movement. "Natsu?..." she asked softly, frowning as she pressed her hands flat against his chest and pushed herself back to look at him. He was shaking, but he didn't seem cold. "Come on.. you n-need to get warmed up." She whispered softly, trying to pull him off the floor.

Thankfully he followed her lead as she pulled him into the bathroom and over to her tub. "Come on, you need a bath, I'm sure you haven't bathed in a bit have you Natsu?" He shook his head and slipped his shoes off standing with a sigh as the towel slipped from his head. "Can you stay?" He asked as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"W-what?" Lucy's eyes widened as he started to take his shorts off, her cheeks turning a bright crimson while she turned away from him. "Why do you want me to stay while you take a bath that's just weird."  From behind her the water turned on, a small laugh came from the pink haired male as he slipped into the tub as it filled.

"I just want you to be close." Lucy turned slightly to look at Natsu, her cheeks still simmering as she huffed and sat down on the side of the tub, still facing away from him. "Where were you anyway? You've been gone for days Natsu.." she muttered as she leaned to the side, just so she could get a glimpse of his face. 

"I was in the mountains… I needed time to clear my head, it's just something that happens around this time of year, I can't really help it." He leaned back in the tub as the hot water slowly filled, nearly up to his knees now. He tipped his head back and let it rest on the rim of the tub, chewing on his bottom lip. "I'm sorry if I worried you Luce."  He sat up once again, this time reaching out to take hold of the blonde by her hips. "But I figured it out, what I've been craving all these years now."

Lucy's eyes widened as she was suddenly pulled down into the tub, her clothes becoming soaked through. "W-wait! Natsu hold on let me go!" Natsu's arms snaked around her waist, pulling her against his chest as she twisted around on top of him, her legs now framing his and her skirt conveniently covering his crotch. "W-what are you doing?"

Sitting up in the tub with Lucy on his lap, his eyes darkened further. "Don't you get it Luce? Every fight we've been in together you've been my reason to keep fighting." He whispered as he buried his face in her neck, his fangs throbbed as he pulled her against his chest firmly. "It's you Luce, all I need is you." A trail of hungry kisses were trailed over the expanse of her neck, Natsu's hands slowly slipped under her top.

"Wait! Natsu please,I-I don't understand.." Lucy whimpered as his warm hands grasped her breasts, her heart was pounding as heat flooded through her veins. He... needed her? Did he really mean that in the way he was showing? Or was it something more? Her eyes widened as a warm tongue dragged its way up the length of her neck, causing her eyes to roll back as a soft moan slipped from her lips. There was no way that Natsu felt that way about her… was there? Everything he was doing showed that he did but, when had it started?

"Luce…" Natsu whispered as he nibbled along her neck slowly, his hands squeezed her soft breasts as he slowly leaned back in the tub once again, taking her with him. "Let me have you, please I need it."

Something clicked within her, tears pricked at the corners of her eyes as everything fell together. He loved her, all this time that he had been protecting her,  it was out of pure unadulterated love, and now everything in him had hit it's boiling point. "Natsu…" A whimper left her as  she cupped the back of his neck and pulled him into a kiss that was filled with so much overwhelming passion. Her fingers tangled into his hair, the hands that were on her breasts now worked to rid her of her top.

She could feel it, pressing up against her panty clad core. It was thick and hard, and she didn't know if it was even going to fit just by how it felt against her. "Please…"  Her fingers tugged at his hair as his lips and tongue traced a searing path down over her neck and chest before capturing a nipple as he ass but tore off her bra with a single claw.

It was becoming more and more difficult to hold back, but he didn't want to hurt her. However the heat within him was rising yet again something he thought had been finally over, he could feel it. His eyes shifting into a slit like shape. He grabbed Lucy by her supple thighs as he stood and carried her out of the bathroom and to the bed, tossing her down on it unceremoniously. 

His eyes stared down at her with a primal hunger held in them, his knees hit the edge of the bed as she spread her thighs, his hands pressed against them as his teeth shredded her skirt. "Hey! That was my favorite skir-" The air caught in her throat as a moan was ripped out of her as a searing how tongue licked a dangerously slow path up her inner thigh before dipping under her panties so Natsu could get a taste of her. "Nat-su~" She cried out as his claw pressed against her thighs. 

"Take them off before I rip them off Lucy…" 

Her eyes widened at the gravely tone and she obliged, lifting her hips so she could push the offending cloth down over her thighs, wiggling out of them as Natsu manhandled her into a new position. Her knees now hooked over his shoulders as he dived right in, using his elbows to keep her hips steady and lifted off the bed. He licked, sucked and scraped his teeth over her folds like he was a starved child who finally got his first meal in a week. 

Lucy's fingers curled in the sheets, her lead thrown back as that delicious wet heat plunged into her core. She didn't know if she could take much more of this treatment, she knew Natsu was always a rough handed brute but she never expected him to be the same during times like these.  "Please, Natsu not so rough I-Im still a-" her train of thought was halted when Natsu lifted his head to finally meet her eyes.

"I know." Her eyes widened as she finally took in his full appearance, her breath catching in her throat. Dragon like eyes and scales that covered half of his once soft skin and toned muscle, his nails now transformed into claws. "Natsu.. what's going on?"  

"Luce…" Natsu crawled over the blonde laid out on the bed, settling between her thighs.  "I told you, you're all I need, every inch of you. It's always been you. I could feel it, you were destined to be my mate from the moment I set eyes on you." He licked his lips, pressing her thighs apart further with his knees as he lifted her hips, letting the backs of her thighs rest against the tops of his own thighs. "Let me have you."

Mate? What did he mean by that? What was going on with him? Lucy didn't know what to do, her thighs trembled against his searing bips, the skirt that was still wrapped so delicately around her was bunched up over their hips, his cock pressing against her drenched core as it twitched and throbbed. It then hit her, everything made sense as she stared into his eyes, he was in heat. "N-natsu..."  A whimper left her lips as she tipped her head back into the sheets below her, presenting her neck to the dragon slayer whose eyes widened as a low rumbling sound emanated from the deepest depth of his chest. 

Natsu dove in, pressing wet, sloppy bites and open mouthed kisses over the expanse of Lucy's bared neck, she was presenting herself to him, she wanted him to have her. His hips rutted against hers, the moans drawn from her lips sent shivers of pride and arousal down his spine. He pulled his hips back just enough to slide the head of his leaking member against her folds, his hands gripping tight on her hips. A growl left him as he tried to press into her but it proved to be a more difficult task then he had hoped. His length slid down, brushing over her asshole and the movement earned a loud gasp. "N-No not there!" Lucy wailed as she tried to press her thighs together.

Natsu forcefully turned her over, using a hand to press her head down into the mattress, a flash of lightning illuminated the room for a second, shining off the scales that littered over Natsu's body. Even in this state he looked absolutely gorgeous,  and as Lucy locked eyes with Natsu's she perked her ass up, knees far enough apart to give him as much access as he wanted. "That's a good girl… " The words weren't what turned her on, no it was the tone in which they were said, lust dripped off each of them. "Natsu, take me! Make me yours! Please I've wanted it for so lo- a-ah! Nat-su!" 

The Dragon slayer snapped his hips forward, burying himself into that tight heat till he was balls deep, the head of his cock nestled against her cervix. His free hand pressed against the curve of Lucy's back as he lost himself in a brutal pace, balls slapping against the blonde's clit with every harsh thrust. "Fuck Lucy you're so tight." The words were strained, his teeth clenched as the hand on the curve of Lucy's back started to sear a handprint into her skin, the heat of it pulling a loud moan from her lips. "Natsu that hurts-" she cried out, but the hand only changed its position, coming to rest on the back of her neck. 

With this new position he could lean into his thrusts, putting more power than before into each and every movement. The sounds of her pants, moan and garbled words were slowly drowned out by his own pants and growls, his fangs only growing sharper with each time she clenched around him. He could smell it, the sweet scent of her juices flooding around his cock as her legs trembled. He hissed as the wet heat around his throbbing length only grew tighter, and it only pushed him to pound faster, the sheets underneath them were beyond soaked, Lucy's cries of pleasure had turned into whimpers and broken gasps as she trembled under his control and she knew he was far from done.

The scales had creeped up over his neck and onto one side of his face, the tips of his ears pointed from the transformation. His need to mark her only intensified as she lazily tried to keep her own hips up for him, his teeth scraped over the junction of Lucy's shoulder, kissing and  biting at the spot where her pulse was the strongest. As his hips began to falter and twitch his fangs pressed into her skin, digging deep as their magics seeped together.

Lucy's eyes snapped open as brown irises melted into black and gold,  slits forming to match the dragon slayers for a moment before the blonde lost consciousness the moment Natsu buried himself deep inside his mate and filled her with his semen, a wave of magic running through the nerves of both dragon slayer and celestial mage and the life long bong was formed between them. The heat slowly began to die down within the dragon slayer, his eyes fluttering shut as he dislodged his fangs from the blonde beneath him,  hear pulse slow, signaling he hadn't killed her,  which was a relief to the pink haired male he had gone a little overboard while in his lust induced heat.

"I love you Luce… I just hope when you wake up tomorrow you'll accept me." He whispered as he slowly pulled out of the blonde, gulping as he watched his own semen drip out of her core. He better get her cleaned up…

-☆-

The next morning went better than Natsu had expected, when he was shaken awake by his blonde mate the sun was already high in the sky and he had to calm her down so she wouldn't go limping out into the street half naked. Which also led him to being forced to go to the guild hall wearing a fresh pair of shorts and only his scarf to cover his chest. When he burst through the door calling out for their master the whole guild went silent for three seconds before exploding once again, this time with questions and punches thrown at the dragon slayer for disappearing without a word. 

"Alright everyone calm down!"

Makarov's voice boomed through the noisy guild hall, effectively shutting the lot of them up. "You have something to discuss Natsu?" He asked, referring to Natsu's obvious intent on speaking with him.  "Oh yeah! I just wanted to say Luce won't be coming to the guild hall for a few days." There was a long silence that fell over the guild hall before Laxuspushed himself from the table and stalked over to the fire dragon, taking a firm grip on Natsu's scarf, lifting him about a foot in the air. The silence was eating away at the guild members, tension rising in the air. They knew Laxus and Natsu had long been rivals so they knew what was about to go down.

However, Laxus's scowl turned into a sly grin as he caught a whiff of Lucy's scent from Natsu. "You slu fucking dog! Natsu you finally fucking did it!" His voice roared and echoed through the hall, setting the pink haired male back on his feet to clap him firmly on his back. "I knew you had it in you fire breath! Just please tell me you didn't actually eat her yeah?"

Natsu paused and blushed bright red as he remembered back to the night before when he was tucking Lucy in against him, the littering of bruises, bite mark and hickeys that covered her. "Oh fuck. I'll see you guys later! I gotta go!" He cried out as he took off back towards Lucy's apartment. 

Once Natsu was gone Cana looked over at Laxus suspiciously. "What do you mean he finally did it? Why are you so concerned about whether he ate her or not he knows the difference between food and friend ya know!"  Gajeel roared with laughter as he swiped Cana's mug from her hands to down the contents. "He means he bedded her finally. He's been in heat for the last week but a few days ago he made me chain him up in  that ice cave on mout, hakobe so he wouldn't hurt her. Guess the chains didn't hold him for long."

As her cheeks turned bright red she looked back towards the doors of the guild hall. "You mean… That idiot actually knows how to think with his dick instead of his brain??" She paused and held her face in her palms. "But i doubt he even knows what protection is. Oh no Lucy what have you gone and done?.."

[feverwritingandtextposts]

Your Rengoku fic was soo soooooo good?! I was blushing and smiling so much!! Is it okay to request Sanemi being nervous to ask reader on a date too in modern AU? He asks Kanae for advice and reader misunderstood his intentions and thought she never had a chance with him. He does eventually ask the home economics teacher after some encouragement from Kanae 🤭 cute, slightly angsty miscommunication! Sanemi is too cute hehe. If not I understand, thank you!

I loved your request lmao! I was caught up for a few days wondering what would be the best way to write it. I hope you like it! Tell me if you do, also still tell me if you don’t LOL.

If you like my work, please support me on ko-fi!

This was also posted on AO3 here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21781480

 ————————————————————————————

Miscommunication

Not for the first time, you were thankful of how large Himejima was.

He blocked out everything, the light, the doorway, Shinazugawa’s glare…

Peering cautiously past Himejima’s bulk, you met the sharp eyes of the Math teacher. You flickered your gaze back to the table immediately, trying to desperately act as if you never noticed him staring.

In your defence, you never thought he’d get this angry over it. You only ate one of his strawberry daifuku, and that was only because he’d been complaining about having to eat them at all! A generous student’s mother had given him an entire bag full of them; you didn’t think he’d miss one.

Slowly, you lean back in your chair slinking fully into Himejima’s shadow and out of Shinazugawa’s line of sight. You had to stretch out your hands awkwardly to mark papers at this angle, but its worth it to stop feeling that burning glare on your skin.

From over the other side of the room, you could hear Shinazugawa’s chair scrape as he moved, and all of a sudden, you felt that piercing gaze on you again.

Did he re-position himself… Just to glare at you?

You were so fucked.

                                                        —

“You should try a peace offering,” came Tomioka’s mild suggestion. At your silence, he tries again. “It worked for me,” he says, half shrugging.

You remember a specific instance where Tomioka had tried this very method to stop Shinazugawa’s angry tirade during a particularly tense teacher’s meeting (hereby referred to by traumatised witnesses as ‘The Incident’). The two of them had ended up in an all out brawl, the bear shaped cupcake Tomioka had offered ending up half squished under his sneakers, with the other half smeared all over Shinazugawa’s tight tailored trousers.

Probably sensing what you were thinking of, Tomioka opened his mouth again, perhaps to defend his suggestion before he was smoothly cut off by Kanae.

“He’s got a point!” she says, clapping her hands together in excitement. “After all, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach! You should make him something.”

You frown at her.

She goes on, pointedly ignoring your deep frown of disapproval. “How about ohagi? I’m sure you know how to make some, you’re the Home Economics teacher after all.”

You frown even harder. “Kanae-san, he’ll kill me.”

She smiles, and there’s something mysterious that twinkles behind her eyes that scares you. “He won’t if it tastes nice.”

                                                          —

Perhaps for better or worse, you take up their suggestions. You don’t have any better ideas anyway.

You spent a lonely afternoon working on your sweets in the empty Home Economics classroom, crafting your ohagi. You’d never admit it, but you took Kanae’s words seriously. If you were sure of anything, it was your cooking skills. You could’ve been a chef if you weren’t so intent on teaching rowdy children the finer art of home cooked cuisine.

If Shinazugawa didn’t like your ohagi your heart might never survive the insult.

At Kanae’s encouragement the next day, you began your long walk to find Shinazugawa, with all the heavy countenance of a soldier off to war.

You find him brisk walking through the third year’s corridor, probably on his way back to the staff room for lunch. He looked as hard to approach as ever, face set in stony contemplation, arm raised to prop his file up on his shoulder, biceps bulging through his tight shirt.

Hesitantly, you call after him, the nicely wrapped bag of ohagi clutched tightly in your clammy hands. To your surprise, he stops immediately, head swinging to you so fast he might have gotten whiplash.

“What?” he asks, eyes wide and intense, burning right through you. Uncomfortable by the full force of his attention, you felt the heat rise to your cheeks, and you break eye contact. Lowering your gaze, you are instead greeted by a full view of his scarred pectorals, courtesy of the ever open shirt. You raise your gaze back to his face immediately, not wanting to be caught staring.

“Um,” you begin, holding out the packet of food, feeling for all intents and purposes like a blushing schoolgirl talking to her crush. Thank god all of the students had already left for the cafeteria. “This is for you.”

He takes it, eyes widening as he examines the treats through the see-through plastic packaging. He’s unusually quiet. “Sorry for eating your daifuku,"you grind out, and his eyes snap back to you.

His face twists, eyebrow cocked. "You ate my daifuku?” he asks, confusion laced in his voice.

“You didn’t realise?” you ask, incredulous.

Shinazugawa scowls in response. “Why would I care if you ate it? You can have the entire bag if you want.”

“Then, why are you angry with me?" 

At that, Shinazugawa splutters, and you watch as his cheeks tinge with colour.

"I’m not mad at you,” he snaps, eyebrows furrowed angrily at you.

Pursing your lips, you decide to let that one go. Shinazugawa continues to glare at you for a moment longer, before blurting out a harsh “whatever,” and stalking off.

You stand in the empty hallway, dumbfounded. He didn’t even thank you for the food! But then again, he did say he wasn’t angry at you so… You’ll still consider this a win.

Shinazugawa doesn’t speak another word to you for the rest of the day, but the heated glares stop as well so you won’t complain.

                                                            —

The next morning has you breathing easier. No longer did you feel Shinazugawa’s fevered gaze trained on your back. No longer did you risk catching his eye in a crowd, far too intense for a mere glance. No longer did he force himself into the seat in front of you at lunch and glare at you instead of eating his food.

It was actually feeling far too peaceful for you. Like a fire doused with water, the sudden change in Shinazugawa’s attitude left you feeling surprisingly dour.

You barely even see him anymore, a startling change from when he seemed to be everywhere you looked. If you didn’t know better, yo’d think he was avoiding you.

The thought made you a little bit sad.

You didn’t mean to create a rift with him. You just wanted to be friends! Maybe. Even you didn’t know what you wanted. You wanted to get along with your colleague, you wanted it to be more than just long looks from the other side of the room, more than just wordless glares. You wanted to know just what his problem with you was.

The more you thought about it, the angrier you got.

Stupid Shinazugawa, with his stupid hair, and his stupid handsome face, and perfect abs and-

Whatever. It’s not like you cared anyway.

That’s exactly what you tell a very bored Tomioka at lunch that day, as he chews dismally through a mouthful of rice.

“Hm,” is all he says to your ranting, and continues shoveling rice into his face. Rengoku also ignores your griping, likely not even hearing you over his own exclamations of “Delicious!” as he steadily makes his way through his fifth bowl of ramen. You guys were the only ones at the teacher’s table with Uzui holed up in the infirmary nursing burnt fingers from his latest explosion attempt, Himejima spending the lunch hour counseling (reprimanding) some of the problem kids, and the rest scattered somewhere or another.

You wished that Kanae were here to vent to. No sooner did you think that did the lady herself walk into the cafeteria, deep in conversation with a pensive looking Shinazugawa. Walking towards the table, Kanae catches your eye and sends a quick smile your way, never once stopping whatever it was she was telling the Math teacher. You hear Shinazugawa click his tongue in annoyance at her as they drew close. Spotting you and Tomioka, he gives the latter a particularly withering glare, and glances away quickly when you meet his eye. Not breaking stride, he stalks past the teacher’s table, to sit in-between a surprised Genya and an absolutely horror struck Zenitsu.

Inwardly, you offer the boy your condolences.

Kanae gives you a knowing smile as she takes her seat beside you, leisurely unpacking her homemade bento.

“So how did it go?” she asks finally, offering you a piece of her tamagoyaki.

“Terrible,” you reply grumpily, accepting the egg and immediately shoving it in your mouth. “He hates me even more now.”

Kanae hums thoughtfully in reply. “I don’t think he hates you.”

You deadpan her a look. “He hasn’t said a word to me all day. He won’t even look at me.” At that Kanae snickers, trying and failing to hide her smile behind her chopsticks. You raise an eyebrow at her questioningly.

“You seem surprisingly upset at that! After all that you’ve complained about being looked at too much before,” she says in-between bouts of tinkling laughter.

You can’t help the immediate flush at her words. “I wasn’t being looked at! I was being glared at!”

“Uh huh,” she agrees teasingly, pretty pink eyes alight with amusement. Feeling the heat creep up your neck at the implication, you turn away from her with a huff.

Your reaction just served to amuse her more, and she pats your back consolingly. After her laughter dies down, she speaks again, voice gentle. “If you want him to speak to you, why don’t you try talking to him first?”

You fight the childish need to pout. “No way. He can hate me if he wants, I don’t care.”

Behind your back, Kanae and Tomioka share a tired look.

Your dismal mood carried on throughout the day, even inciting the concern of some of your more perceptive students (mainly Tanjiro). You sigh as you set your stack of collected homework on your desk, drained from your own whirlwind of emotions the last few days. You’ll tackle it tomorrow.

You’re so wrapped up in yourself that it takes you a while to notice that you’re the last person left in the staff room. With a single glance to the dark skies outside, you rummage through your bag and desk for your umbrella.

You can’t find it, probably having left it to dry out on your balcony the night before. Silently ruing your own forgetfulness, you resolved to just make a dash for it with your windbreaker as a makeshift cover. Luckily it was late enough that most if not all of the students were already home and wouldn’t bear witness to their teacher fighting the rain.

Pulling open the door, you step out and knock promptly into something hard in the darkened hallway. Before you can draw back with a shriek, the something speaks. “You’re still here?” the voice asks, and you peer through the dim lighting to see Shinazugawa staring down at you.

“Yeah I had some.. Stuff to do,” you mumble, taking a step back from him. “Why are you still here?”

Shinazugawa’s eyes, no less intense than before, searches you for a second before he glances away again. “Its raining. Do you have an umbrella?” he says finally, choosing apparently, to completely gloss over your question.

You shake your head in response, wondering why he was suddenly talking to you. He cocked his head sharply, a universal sign for follow me. Turning, he ambles down the hallway calling out a casual, “you can share mine,” as he goes.

Your pride begged you to protest, but the larger, traitorous part of you willed yourself to go along with it, following him down the dim empty hallways to the school entrance. You say nothing on your way down, the strange awkward tension of the situation settling into your bones and keeping you from looking at him. Ever so often you feel his burning gaze settle on you, but he glances away just as quickly.

As it turns out, Shinazugawa’s umbrella wasn’t that big. It wasn’t tiny, but it certainly wasn’t big enough for the two of you to share without one of you getting wet. The man himself shoots you a pointed look and you take it as a hint not to mention that.

Pressed against his arm, you tried desperately not to think about how your fingertips brushed against his as you two walked, squeezed awkwardly under the umbrella.

The sun would have barely gone down at this time, but it was so dark out it might as well have been night. It was also ridiculously cold out, a fact that you only realised now that you had a warm body tucked against you. As the rain came down heavier, you felt a shiver rack through you, and you involuntarily press yourself into the warmth of Shinazugawa’s arm.

You feel him stiffen, and realising that, you try to move away, getting your shoulder immediately soaked through with rain. Shinazugawa clicks his tongue in annoyance, wrapping his arm around you and drawing you in close. “You’re gonna get wet, idiot,” he muttered, but there was no heat behind his words. Instead, all the world’s heat seemed to be concentrated in his arm, wrapped tightly around you, comfortably warm.

Your face was burning. Utterly gobsmacked by the situation, you couldn’t bring yourself to say a word, hell, you couldn’t even look at him right now. The rain was thankfully loud enough to drown out the beating of your own heart as you two made your way down to the station, half cuddled into his side. You were pretty sure his arm was getting wet from how it was shielding you from the rain, but Shinazugawa didn’t say a word, so you didn’t either.

The station was as busy as ever, filled with bedraggled people running for their trains. Shinazugawa dropped his arm from you the minute you two were under the station’s shelter. Wordlessly, he began folding the umbrella. Somehow you felt that if you spoke now, it would break the strange tension that has followed you two since leaving the school. And for some reason, you didn’t want that to happen. So you stand, watching as he folds his umbrella, slowly, and he stands, feeling your eyes on him, close enough for him to smell the shampoo off your hair.

Shinazugawa breaks the silence first.

“Wanna get something to eat?” he asks, tossing his bag over his shoulder and giving you a great view of his rolling biceps.

“What?” you reply, intelligently.

“Eat. Let’s go eat,” he says, beckoning you to follow him as he makes his way over to one of the small hole in the wall eateries that line the inside of the station. Not wanting to turn down this rare show of friendliness, and even less wanting to part from him, you follow along.

The two of you squeeze into the tiny plastic benches of a damp smelling Mcdonalds. Seated in front of you, the chairs were close enough that your knees bumped against Shinazugawa’s, but that wasn’t what you were focused on. Shinazugawa was smiling.

He looked like he was trying to hide it too, propping his elbow up on the backrest and resting his hand oh so causally against his mouth. You never thought he’d like Mcdonalds this much.

“What do you wanna get?” Shinazugawa asked, “I’m buying.”

“Uhh,” you scan the menu quickly, before telling him your order. You were more than a little flustered with the sudden 180 in your relationship with this man. He went from angry, to ignoring you, to walking with you in the rain, to now treating you to food? He felt like a hurricane and you can’t catch up.

Distantly, you thought about what Kanae said about “talking”.

Shinazugawa sets down the tray of greasy fries and burgers with a clack, startling you out of your reverie. He motions for you to take one, still looking far too pleased about being stuffed into a plastic seat with damp clothes and a tray full of fried food. He’s got a lovely, pleasant smile on, and its a jarring difference from his usual irritable glowers and sinister smirks. It makes him look gentle.

You help yourself to the food, and spurred on by Shinazugawa’s content expression, you decided to bite the bullet. “So, why did you come back to the staff room?”

The effect is instantaneous. Shinazugawa chokes on his burger, nearly upsetting his soda as he tries to wash it down. You stare, unsure weather to laugh or be genuinely concerned. His face is red now, and you’re not sure if its because of the choking, or whatever possibly embarrassing thing he’s about to say.

“I came back because Kochou told me you were probably still around,” he muttered, eyebrows furrowing as if daring you to contest what he says.

Confused, you point at yourself. “Me? Why me?”

“Because you don’t have an umbrella, idiot.”

“How did you know I didn’t have an umbrella?”

“Because it always sticks out at the end of your tiny ass bag, and I didn’t see it there toda-” Shinazugawa cuts himself off, eyes widening in the realisation that he had maybe said too much.  

“Wow, you’re really perceptive Shinazugawa-san,” you say, somewhat awestruck. Shingazugawa flushes an even darker red, the colour of his burning cheeks vibrant against his pale hair. You can’t help but smile at the display. “Thank you,” you say honestly, “you’re a really nice person. I can’t imagine anyone else coming all the way back to the office just to help their colleague.”

Shinazugawa gawks at you, the embarrassment on his face shifting to something nearing incredulity. “You-” he begins, voice halting as if he’s trying to reign in his emotions. “You’re such a fucking idiot.”

You draw back, offended. And just when you thought you guys were finally getting along. “Excuse me?”

“Yeah, you’re an idiot,” Shinazugawa says, his voice growing louder with agitation with every word. “You think I’d go all the way back there for just anybody? You think I’m just trying to be nice?”

You leant back as far as you could in the tiny seat, very confused about Shinazugawa’s mounting anger, and very uncomfortable about the stares the two of you were getting. “Uh… Weren’t you…?”

“No!” he snarls, slapping a hand to his forehead.

“Oh. Uh, then why-”

“I LIKE YOU, YOU IDIOT,” Shinazugawa snaps, slamming his hand down on the table, with a resounding smack.

Ok now, everyone was staring.

Oh my god.

Shinazugawa hides his face in his hand, either from embarrassment, exasperation, or a mixture of both. Hesitantly, you reach towards him to pat his arm for comfort. He grabs your hand, lightning fast, before you could touch him, and the sudden warmth of his touch makes you jump. “You thought I hated you? Why? What the fuck did I do wrong? Kanae was all like ’maybe you’re being too intense’ so I tried to stop looking at you so much, but then you looked sad anyway so fuck Kanae’s advice and-” You reach out and set a hand over his mouth, effectively stopping him to the disappointed murmurs from the gossip hungry Mcdonalds customers, cuing in onto your drama.

In any case, you didn’t think your heart could take any more of these sudden revelations. You were sure your face was just as red as his, or even more so. “I’m sorry,” you whisper, voice wavering. “I totally didn’t realise. Guess I really am an idiot huh?”

Shinazugawa’s eyes widened. Peeling your hand gently away from his mouth, he shook his head ferociously. “No, you’re not. Don’t- You’re not an idiot. You’re just too fucking dense about this kind of stuff.” His grip on your hand tightened to a comforting squeeze. “But I like that about you anyway.”

“Wha- you do?”

“Yeah. I like a lot of things about you.”

“Really?”

“You’re a really fucking good cook too.”

You blush even harder at that, unable to stop the smug smile on your face. You knew no one could resist your ohagi! Shinazugawa gives an endeared, lopsided smile at your expression.

“Make that for me again sometime.”

“Oh, sure!” you say, smiling back at him. To your surprise, he rolls his eyes.

“Don’t make them if you, ya know, don’t wanna or something,” he says softly, and you catch what he means for once.

“Hey! I don’t make ohagi for just anybody you know!”

                                                           —

Shinazugawa continues to hold your hand as the two of you leave the Mcdonalds, and you let him, the two of you blushing and smiling like misbehaving teenagers.

Behind you, someone wolf whistles at the two of you, and someone else cheers, probably having sat through the entire of the two of your very vocal confession scene.

At that Sanemi whips around, teeth bared and ready to fight whichever poor soul it was. Urgently, you tug on his hand, hoping to prevent a McMassacre.  Surprisingly, he allows you to lead him out obediently, but he still keeps turning back to shoot the other customers death glares as he goes.  

You sigh to yourself, unable to stop the amused smile creeping up on your face. Just what did you get yourself into?

[rainydaydream-gal18]

Commander Cody x Reader: Apart - Part 1

[Author’s Note:  Y’all, I’m telling you right now that I sat down to write a Hobbit fanfiction, and then I suddenly started writing this.  That’ll happen when I listen to music, it’ll just give me this ideas that I can’t get out of my head.

Anyways, warnings because this one is a tad angsty, and it involves a creepy stranger (but as always, nothing graphic).

I wanted to capture this scenario in a much shorter fic, but I couldn’t seem to cut any of this down.  So, consider this Part 1 of 2.  Enjoy!

   It was a lively evening. The cantina was packed. Droids rolled around with trays of drinks, dodging rowdy customers here and there. One group of soldiers were belting out song lyrics while people around them observed in amusement.  Other tables were simply talking and laughing.

   You stood frozen at the doorway.  Was this really a good idea?  Going to 79’s on a night like this meant you might see him.  Then again, you only really saw 501st soldiers there at the moment.  Dismissing your earlier caution, you went inside.

   Being a technician in this war meant meeting a lot of soldiers.  Most of your jobs landed you with the 501st and the 212th. There were a few instances you were needed in the heat of battle for immediate repairs.  That’s when you met him.  He was just a Commander checking your progress on one of the radars one day, and the two of you hit it off.  It was only after an incident many months later involving you being taken hostage by Separatist droids did you both make known your feelings for each other.  But now, that was all in the past...

   “Hey, _______!”  

   You turned at the sound of your name, spotting two soldiers easily recognizable by their tattoos and hair.  One waved you over.

   “Kix, Jesse,” you greeted with a smile, claiming the empty seat at their table.  “You have no idea how glad I am to see you.”

   “Glad to see you too,” Kix nudged you.  “Want a drink?”

   “Just a little something,” you replied.  Finding yourself in a few dicey and even dangerous situations taught you to always be on your guard, so you never liked to have more than one drink.

   “‘A little something’ coming right up,” Jesse replied, and he placed an order with a droid nearby.  You relaxed a bit in your seat, glad to have found some friends in the crowd to hang out with.  However, you still couldn’t fight the feeling that somehow you’d see the one person you really shouldn’t see.

   “Is everything okay?” Jesse asked. “You look uneasy.”

   “Truth be told, I’m trying to avoid a certain someone.”

   The medic and the soldier tensed up, concerned.  Jesse glanced around.  “Is there someone bothering you?  Because we can take care of them, no problem.”

   “Is it Fives?��  Kix guessed.  “Because I’ve told him a million times to stop with the flirting and jokes.”

   You nearly laughed, recalling a time Fives ended up tripping while trying to flirt.  He was always doing silly stuff like that around you to lighten the mood when things got tough.  “No, no! He’s fine.  It’s, um, more complicated than that.” 

   “What do you mean?” Jesse inquired.  By now, the droid had returned to the table with your drink.  You sipped it, debating on whether you should mention anything.

   “Wait,” Kix raised a brow knowingly.  “Is it who I think it is?”

   Your eyes met his.  

   “Oh my goodness, it is.” 

   Jesse’s brows furrowed.  “Wait, what?  Am I missing something here?”

   You managed a smile at your medic friend.  “I’m impressed, Kix.  You actually managed to keep my secret even from your best friend.”  Then you looked back at Jesse and took a deep breath.  “Cody and I were...a couple.”

   Jesse’s eyes went wide before he nodded in understanding.  “Ohhh, so that’s what this is about?”

   “Oh, so Kix did tell you already.”  You rolled your eyes at Kix, and he gave a guilty shrug.  

   “He’s our friend,” he defended.  “He wasn’t going to tell anyone.”

   “Yeah, even after hearing that you guys were splits-ville, I didn’t say a word,” Jesse pointed out bluntly.  Both you and Kix gave him looks.  “Oh, sorry.  Not helping.”

   “Anyway,” you shook your head.  “Cody broke it off with me.”

   “That’s one thing I don’t get,” Jesse cut in.  “How did that happen?”

   “Well, he said it was fun for a while, all the secrecy and stuff, but that he wasn’t interested anymore.  He said he was tired of ‘the game,’ but I didn’t understand…  Never once did I get the impression that he wasn’t serious about us.  Not once did he give indication that it was just for fun.  I thought he cared for me like I cared for him.”

   “All due respect to my superior, but what a nerf herder.”

   “Jesse,” Kix pinched the bridge of his nose.  

   “What?  I said with ‘all due respect.’  Besides, how many times do guys like us find something real like that?  He’s a bantha-brain for throwing it away.”

   “My goal isn’t to talk bad about him; I just don’t want to see him tonight.  It’s only been a few weeks.”

   “Don’t want to see him, eh?” Jesse grimaced.  “In that case, don’t look now.”

   Your brows shot up in disbelief.  “What?”

   “He’s behind you,” Kix affirmed.  “Just act natural.  I don’t think he sees you.”

   “I can’t believe this.  You’d think with how often he was away on duty so many times that it’d be easier to avoid him now that we’re broken up.  So, what’s he doing?”

   Kix sipped his drink, acting casual.  “He’s with Rex.  They’re probably catching up.”  

   “Oh,” Jesse mumbled.  “He’s looking this way now.”

   “Great,” you muttered.  “I shouldn’t have come here.  This is embarrassing.”

   “Just act like you’re having fun.  Better yet, actually have fun,” Kix advised.  “Kick back, finish your drink, and find a dance partner.”

   “Dance partner, huh?” A man said suddenly. He clearly wasn’t a Republic soldier. He had white hair and dark eyes that stared back into yours; a smirk played on his lips.  “How about I be your dance partner for the evening?”

   Without thinking, you blurted, “sure.  I’ll meet you out there.”

   His smirk grew.  “Don’t be long.”  As soon as he walked away, your friends looked at you in surprise.

   “Him?” Jesse asked in disbelief.  “I’ve seen a lot of shady characters, but he is by far the shadiest.  Terrible ladies man. He’s here all the time trying to pick up women.”

   You stood up.  “It’ll be fine. It’s just a dance, after all.”

   “Pretty sure he’s not very respectful towards women either!” he called after you, though you didn’t hear over the music.  He turned to his other friend. “She’s going to get hurt.”

   “She is hurt,” Kix exhaled loudly.  “That’s why she’s doing this.  I’m telling you right now, if that guy even speaks to her inappropriately, he’s going to regret it.”

   “Looks like you might not be the only one who’ll make him regret it,” Jesse muttered.

   “Huh?”  Kix glanced over to see Cody staring down the strange man as you approached.

- - - - - - - - 

   “What is she doing?” Cody muttered, watching you walk to the dance floor with a stranger across the cantina.  “He’s got to be the shadiest character here.  Why is she even talking to him?”

   Rex sipped his drink.  “Are you sure you’re not just feeling...jealous?”

   “Well of course I am.  I love her.”

   “To be fair,” the captain ventured.  “You did break things off with her.  Even if it was for her protection, you didn’t exactly tell her that.”

   “How could I?”  Cody replied, finally tearing his eyes from you and the stranger to look at the Captain.  “She would never have listened to me.  With me out on the front lines- always away and always at risk of getting killed- how could I keep putting her through that?  Would you ever do that to someone?”

   “Cody, you’re a good man and a good soldier, but you’re being dramatic,” Rex stated.  “If I were you and found someone who cared about me like that, I’d never let go.”  He finished off his drink, and gave his comrade a pat on the shoulder before leaving him with that thought.

   “Dramatic,” Cody echoed to himself.  “Very funny, Rex.”  He took note of the two troopers you had been sitting with before, Kix and Jesse, who were talking amongst themselves at this point.  They both locked eyes with him briefly before quickly looking in different directions.

- - - - - - - - - 

   Meanwhile, you hadn’t thought twice about dancing with the stranger at first until you approached him on the floor. This was suddenly starting to feel like a bad idea. 

   “Hey there.”  His smirk made your skin crawl.  “Looking for me?”

   You forced a smile. “Um, yeah.”

   He started moving to the music. “The name’s Rylar.”

   “________.”

   Fortunately, the upbeat music meant you could dance near him without him wrapping his arms around you or anything odd.  Still, each time you happened to meet his stare, your anxiety about the situation grew.  He was attractive at first glance, but up close his face seemed long and thin, pale skin contrasting greatly with the dark abysses that were his eyes.  Glancing over your shoulder, you locked eyes with the person you wished to be dancing with.

Part 2

[cat-x-riceball]

I love all the fruits basket pairings. I want to give my thoughts on every couple and how well they compliment each other. There's obviously going to be manga spoilers.

Let's start with my favourite couple. I do like all of them, though. These are not my rankings.

Kyo & Tohru: They are just meant to be. As everyone frequently says, Tohru is good for anyone. Because Tohru is just wife material - she knows cooking, likes household chores, isn't selfish and self-centered, cherishes and genuinely cares about the people around her, and extremely loyal to the one person she loves. Whereas, Kyo is the one most suited to her. While everyone, including Kyo, got help from Tohru, Kyo was the one who was by her side whenever she needed someone the most. He helped her get over the facts with her dad and made her realize that her dad wasn't the villain. Despite knowing he would turn into a cat, he hugged her, wrapped up in blankets. Oh boy, that was hot. Not only that, they both emotionally support each other. Their characters might be different but they have a lot similarities, and persons like them would probably get along really well in real life. They do domestic work together. They are both morning persons. They both can cook. They are good listeners. They get flustered a lot and are shy. Oh, my gosh! I really need to stop ranting. I will keep on going about Kyoru. So guys, all in all, Kyoru is a perfect couple.

Haru & Rin: The iconic gothic couple. Gosh, their dressing style is fab. I read somewhere in the extra of the author of furuba that Hatsuharu picked up these kind of fashion sense from Rin, before that he used to dress up like Kyo - like wear hoodies, t-shirts and sneakers. That's how much Rin influenced him. On the other hand, Rin started liking accessories made by Haru. I love their influence on each other. Plus, Rin and Haru would do anything for each other. Haru is a natural kind and gentle person, except when he goes Black. Whereas, Rin has a very sharp tongue, but still cares about Haru the most. Rin is probably the best to keep Haru in check since he is a space cadet, god knows what he thinks all the time. On the contrary, Haru is the best to be by Rin's side. As everyone Rin had in her life thought of her as a burden, Haru genuinely cares about her and is stubborn to not her go - that is the exact thing Rin needed. Not to mention, Haru is the type to donate everything to others and Rin is the type to not share anything. Therefore, they balance each other out perfectly.

Yuki & Machi: A messy, sweet couple. They are both so unhygienic, it's hilarious. They compliment each other perfectly. One has a sassy mouth, and another has a sharp tongue. God bless their child! Their understanding is very cool, too. Machi is one of those very few people who saw through Yuki - his loneliness and insecurities. We can see in chapter 136 that Machi is someone who gets insecure with her boyfriend but doesn't try to show it, which is very normal. I mean, if my boyfriend was that good-looking and charming, I probably would handcuff him with myself. On the other hand, the way Yuki expresses his love for Machi is so adorable. When he broke that perfect box of chalk for Machi, I was triumphed with delight. Not to mention, Mogeta is a bridge between their love. I love these two together.

Hiro & Kisa: Young love is beautiful - as long as Akito doesn't interfere. Hiro is a complete jerk, no arguments about that. But I love his personality completely flips when Kisa is there. I laughed my head off in the scene where Momiji texted Hiro for coming to the summer getaway and Hiro was bad-mouthing it, but as soon as Kisa said she wanted to go, he agreed almost immediately. Kisa is a sweet angel; she needs someone like Hiro who would fulfill her needs without getting bothered about it. As we have seen, Hiro is very caring for those he loves - his little sister, mom and Rin. Although, Hiro and Kisa might have some fights occasionally since Hiro has a trash mouth, he crosses the line sometimes. But in the end, they both will apologize for the mistakes and solve it.

Hatori & Mayu: Spring comes when snow melts. Kana is definitely someone who Hatori will never forget, neither will he replace her with Mayu. Mayu has created her own special place in his heart, she warmed his frozen heart once again in her own way. At first, I just wanted someone to love Hatori, no matter who it was - because that guy deserves all the love in the world. But Mayu is perfect for him. She can deal with almost any situation given that she is a high school teacher. Plus, she can understand people well as she deals with problematic children all the time - Kyo, Momiji and Haru. She definitely will understand Hatori and is qualified to be by his side. What to say about Hatori? He's already perfect. I'm glad that Mayu's unrequitable love become true and Hatori's empty heart was once again occupied.

Kureno & Arisa: Age is just a number. I admit their age gap is kinda weird, but its pretty common in the place I live in. I don't really mind as long as there is true love. They fell in love quiet earlier than others, it was fast-paced. It was a mutual love at first sight. Who doesn't love that? If I were to find any similarities between these two, I find nothing too spectacular - they are both dedicated people. Arisa is kinda rowdy, not feminine. On the other hand, Kureno is calm, quiet and the type to go along with anything. Arisa doesn't put up with anything, and Kureno put up with Akito - the worse person to be with. I think their relationship would go really well because Kureno has handled Akito's temper-tantrums for years, so he definitely can deal with Arisa. Also, Arisa would go well with him since he is basically a Tohru to her. They have their dynamics, but in the end, love wins.

Ritsu & Mitchan: When you add two negatives, it becomes positive. Both of them were pretty down towards themselves and were prone to commit suicide. But now having each other in their lives, I'm pretty sure, the thought of dying rarely crosses their minds. As Tohru said, the world doesn't need anybody, it's the people who need each other. They both give reasons to each other to live, that's why they are well-suited. Ritsu and Mitchan are both chaotic, it's ridiculous to watch their panicked reaction in sync. They are pretty shy as well. It's pretty cute. We didn't get to see much of them in the manga and anime so far, I hope we learn how their relationship went. I'm sure they will grow to be more confident.

Shigure & Akito: Jealousy is both love and hate at the same time - that's the exact case with these two. They both hated each other for jealousy because they loved each other - also called complicated relationship problem. I think the method Shigure used to get Akito back was pretty harsh and vengeful, but it serves Akito right for treating the other zodiacs so horribly like they were toys. The thing that bothers me most is - Shigure loved Akito even before seeing her. Its pretty messed up if you ask me. But I'm glad, at the end of the series, they both solved their issues and became dedicated to each other, instead of playing around. But Shigure, you seriously need to stop flirting with other females, otherwise I won't be surprised if Akito divorces you or pushes you off the second floor.

Ayame & Mine: The nonsensical duo. Someone who can handle Ayame is god-tier, trust me. As we all know, Ayame lives in his own little, fantasy world. I'm very curious to know - how did someone like Ayame fell in love? How did he even notice Mine when all he looks at is himself? We will never know. But as long as there is someone out there who can love him, it's all fine. Mine is pretty level-headed and just as crazy as him. She can go along with his crazy, nonsensical ideas. Plus, they are both into creating things. What could be better than having the same interests as your partner? You will never lack a topic to talk about. And it seems Ayame is pretty understanding of Mine. Not to mention, when Ayame told Mine that he was born into this world to love her, I screamed with tears rolling down my eyes - that chapter was emotional as fuck, alright? All in all, I love these crazy duo.

Kazuma & Hanajima: I can't imagine this ship sailing. I love them both individually. I do not ship them. I can't picture Hana-chan as Kyo's mother when Kyo is probably older than her - although it would be hilarious to see them as mother-son duo. If you connect the dots, Tohru would be her daughter-in-law. Hanajima would be triumphed about that. We still don't know how Shisho feels about it. He probably would never marry, considering that might hurt Kyo's fragile heart or so he thinks. But who knows? I love them both as individuals. Hana-chan is gothic fab, and Kazuma is the best fucking dad in the whole series. But if the author wants them together, I won't actually hate it. It's okay, I suppose. As you all know, age is just a number and jail is just a room.

That's it for all the ships. Have I missed any? Do tell me.

I feel bad for Momiji and Kagura. We didn't get to know about their respective partners in the original manga. That's what happens when you fall in love with the main two protagonist 🤦🏻‍♀️

I don't really care much about Kagura because I know she will found someone suitable - I do pity that guy. He would get beaten to death everyday like Kyo.

Momiji needs to find someone who will appreciate his angelic heart and treasure him. I hope he finds someone even better than Tohru - someone better than Tohru might be impossible as she is one of a kind - at least, someone who loves him truly.

[one-leaf-grimoire]

“a deer in the crosshairs” (1/??)

Welcome! I love pain! That’s why I’m publishing the first two chapters of my long-awaited Grey Deer fic right now. Enjoy, and please give me some feedback through inbox/comments, I really need it so I know what I need to improve. Thanks!

Synopsis: After a traumatic attack, a member of the Grey Deer realizes that someone on her own squad is out to get her. Out of all the people she considers her friends and comrades, two of them committed a brutal crime, leaving her in a paranoid, frightened state. Why would they do this? Why her? What is going to happen now? Among all the fear, she knows there's at least one person she can trust: her very own Vice Captain, Julius.

The Clover Kingdom is known for its balmy summers, temperate falls, and forgiving winters. I just so happened to be born in the dead center of one of those winters, on the coldest, most unforgiving night of that year. It wasn't like that made a difference, though. My mother was warm and well-cared for within our large house, heated by mountains of blankets and a crackling fireplace. She was the daughter of a wealthy landlord, and my father was born into nobility. We had it about as good as it could get.

When I was five years old, my parents took me to visit the castle for the first time. I had no idea what was going on, but it was fun to dress up in a frilly dress and be doted on by servants. We met an important-looking man and his family, which included a boy maybe 4 or 5 years older than I am. He had dark hair slicked back into a little bun, and two cold grey eyes that I could never bring myself to look into very deeply. 

"So, did you like Prince Lawrence?" my mother asked me on the way home, palpable excitement in her voice. I just nodded a little as I sucked on a lollipop my father gave me to keep me occupied. The truth was, I had said maybe 2 words to the boy before avoiding him the entire time. However, my mother was pleased. "Good! It's very important that the two of you get along."

I didn't know it at the time, but as far as nobles went, we were on thin ice. My mother's once-wealthy father went out of business shortly before his death, and my father's family told him he was a disgrace for marrying into an unstable financial situation. I don't blame them for choosing the one viable way out of their situation... even if that solution ended up being none other than little ol' me. 

What was the solution, you ask?

I was to marry into the Kira family.

Lawrence Kira was a distant cousin of the king, but he was close enough to royalty that it would have us set for life. Back then, I didn't really care. It was decided long before I started to care. I was supposed to marry him when I turned 18, but that plan was postponed when I let my friend Alice convince me to take the Magic Knights Exam. I didn't really know what to expect, but my magic is as potent as it gets, despite being a "cut-rate noble," as some people called us. Lucky for me, a few captains raised their hands, and I chose the one I knew was the best.

And so, seven years later, here I am, celebrating the coming of the new year with the Grey Deer.

"Hey, you, refill my mug, will'ya!?"

I quickly push away the empty mug that's shoved into my face. "Ah, no, I'm not your servant, Nigel," I tell the boy. "I'm older than you, anyway!"

Nigel sticks out his tongue but doesn't push the subject, mostly because he's barely conscious right now as it is. Everyone's been drinking all night, but Nigel obviously doesn't hold his beer so well.

"Aww, we got a little baby, don't we!" Two of the older knights, Margery and Wren, walk over to flank the boy, who looks between them a few times. "You're 20 aren't you? I could down 20 beers in a row when I was 16!" Margery cackles cruelly. She's a beautiful woman who's usually nicer than this, but tonight seems to be making her rowdy.

"Margery, be nice," I scold lightly, being careful not to sound impertinent. She's several ranks above me, after all. However, the liquid courage is going straight to my head. "Not everyone was an alcoholic at 16!"

Wren's bloodshot eyes widen while Margery's face contorts into an over-exaggerated expression of rage. "Are you trying to insult me?!" she screeches, grabbing the collar of my cloak. I know better than to resist as she pulls me so close that she practically spits on me. "Another word, and I'll shove a thousand pearls up your little-"

"Ooh, you're gonna fight?" a booming voice calls. We both look over to see none other than Captain Hervey himself addressing us from the head of the table, sipping wine from a goblet. He's a tall man with blonde hair that spirals up in three big spikes, and a goatee that he never stops toying with. He's got a rather boorish personality, and can be accidentally mean without realizing it. It's not his fault; he's just really good an unintentionally hurting people's feelings. "Everyone, the showdown is finally happening!"

A few people hoot and holler at the announcement. We're a squad of sixteen people, yet we make this room feel like it's thronged with a huge crowd. The Grey Deer are known for their efficiency and elegance in battle, but when we're drunk we resemble the Crimson Lion Kings very closely. Sixteen people, yet not everyone is here. My friend Alice is off on patrol by herself tonight and visiting her elderly mother, so she isn't here to join in with the festivities. So, we're fifteen members tonight...

Wait. There's only 14 people here. Who's missing, other than Alice?

"Are you even listening to me?!"

I'm shaken (literally) from my thoughts by Margery and snap back to attention. "I'm your senior, and I'll fight you right now to prove it!"

"Ah! Actually, I'd rather not!" I hold up my hands to plead with her. "I don't want to use my magic inside!"

Margery practically growls like a feral animal. "Then... let's go outside!"

"Are you crazy? It's snowing cats and dogs out there," Giles, a knight who's my age and joined at the same time as me, observes. Out of the trio of me, Alice, and Giles, he's usually the more logical one. "Just settle it some other time."

It's not worth pursuing any longer, so Margery finally lets me go. "You're on thin fucking ice-" she warns me before returning to her seat. I sigh and shake my head. She's not going to remember any of this tomorrow morning anyway.

Giles sighs and takes another bite of his food. There's more than usual tonight, since it's a rare holiday and all. "How much longer until midnight?"

"Another hour." Elia, my roommate, yawns a little, gazing over at me from across the table with tired eyes. "I don't think I'm going to last that long."

"You have to! It's New Years!" Nigel insists, giggling as if he just told us the funniest joke the world has ever heard (news flash: he has not done such a thing). "It's the only time of year we can slack off like this."

"Ooh, that reminds me..." I wince before looking back up at the head of the table. The seven senior knights and the captain reserve that section for themselves, then the intermediate knights like myself get the middle section. At the opposite end is the "kids area," for all the junior knights. We have four of them right now, two of them being brand new recruits. "Captain, do we have to work tomorrow?"

"Ah... I guess you have to." There's a loud groan from all parts of the table at this news, and Hervey slams his goblet on the table loudly. "BUT! You didn't let me finish!" he roars. "You don't have to get up until 10, how's that?!" He smirks to himself as we all agree, of course. 

"Hey... let's do a game..." Nigel slurs, resting his chin on his elbow. "I'm bored."

"Fine. What game?" Giles actually looks pretty excited for once, and catches the attention of me and Elia.

Nigel grins and straightens up, holding up his hand with all five fingers up. "Never have I ever... made eyes at Vice Captain Malota."

"Oh, ewww!" We look over to see Wren wrinkling his nose. "No offense, but she has a stick up her butt all the time." Malota is a little older, but she's still pretty, with long blonde hair and icy blue eyes. Her face is very angular like a vulture, but... a sexy vulture. But Wren is right; she's a very capable woman, but she has a weird personality.

"... you got me." Giles blushes behind his glasses and puts a finger down. Both Nigel and Wren giggle at him. "Stop it! I'm sure you're crushing on someone here!"

"Me? I would never stoop that low," Wren shoots back. "Okay, okay, I got one... never have I ever broken a bone!" 

Everyone whines at the question, because of course that's happened to everyone. Everyone but Wren, apparently. He gloats to himself as we're all forced to lower a finger. "Who's next?"

"I'll go!" Elia pipes up, which is a little surprising because she's never the one to put herself out there. "Never have I ever..." She grins evilly. "Had SEX."

"oh, EW!" All the boys chorus at once, going red in the face at the sheer audacity. "Of ALL the immature things you could have said!" Wren objects, but puts a finger down anyway (not gonna lie... I'm kind of surprised to hear that he isn't still a virgin at 25 years old). Elia just giggles and looks pointedly at the rest of us. Nigel shrugs and puts a finger down, Giles blushes and keeps his up, and I, too, am forced to put it down, which throws Wren into outrage once again. "WHAT?! YOU? Y-You had, you did the-"

"Yes, obviously," I snap, wishing we could just get to the next question already. "What's the big deal?"

"Aren't you engaged?" Giles asks curiously.

"First of all, that's none of your business, second of all..." I cross my arms. "Yes, I'm engaged... who do you think I did it with, dummy?"

A collective "oh" moves through our group. "That makes sense, I guess..." Wren shakes his head and sticks his tongue out at me. "Whore!"

"Shut up."

"OI! I just realized something!" Our attentions are pulled back to the head of the table, where Hervey is scowling at the empty seat to his right. "Julius... he went out for air two hours ago and still hasn't come back!!"

"What, you think he died or something?" Wren asks, shaking his head. "He's probably just got tired of us."

"Unacceptable! It's almost midnight, and my new vice captain isn't even here!?" Hervey growls. "Someone go out and get him... YOU!" I jump with fear as he points a hairy finger right at me. "Go get him! Actually, lure him in with a warm drink! It can't be fun being out in the blizzard all alone!"

I want to ask why me, but when the captain tells you to do something, you do it. So, reluctantly, I stand up and walk off into the kitchen, letting the sounds of the party get muffled by the door. The counters are strewn with empty bottles and kegs, with only a few full ones left. The only warm drink available right now are the dregs of the mulled wine from the pot, so I carefully scoop some out into a mug. It feels good as I clutch it in my hands and steel myself for the trip outside.

Julius was made vice captain just a couple days ago, chosen to serve next to Hervey and Malota. His personality is 100 times more bearable than either of them, but there's no denying that everyone in the squad is just a tad bit... scared of him. He's been around since I first joined, but we never really talked or ended up doing missions together until recently. In terms of ability, he's leaps and bounds ahead of everyone. But at the same time, he's not really close to anyone. Julius is the type of guy who gets along with everyone on the squad, no matter how volatile their personalities seem to be, but his only real friend seems to be the senior knight Elger, who keeps to himself as well. Sometimes, it feels like he just... operates on a completely different plane of reality than the rest of us.

Giles was right, it is snowing like it's never snowed before. I think briefly about the stories my parents told me about my own birth, how the wind rattled the windows and blanketed the earth in snow. I wonder if there's a baby being born somewhere tonight, under those same conditions. 

The wind blows my cape around, and my uniform does little to shelter my body from the freezing fingers of the cold. My teeth are chattering and the only warmth comes from the mug in my hands. If I don't see him in five minutes, I'm drinking this myself! I think bitterly to myself, trudging around the perimeter of our base. It's not even easy to see, with the dim light of the moon shadowed by gales of snow. Maybe Julius didn't even go outside? Maybe he went back to his room because he was tired? That's what I would have done. 

In one last attempt to find him, I call out his name. "Julius! Julius!?"

There's no way he can hear me, I think, shaking my head a little. Admittedly, I'm pretty eager to get back inside. If he's actually out here, he can take care of himself-

"Hello? Who's there?"

Shit. I let out a sigh before turning back around, and finally spot a figure walking towards me in the dark. Tall, blonde, handsome, with a smile that puts everyone around him at ease. Sure enough, it's Julius, who looks largely unaffected by the blizzard around him, albeit confused as to why I ventured out to find him. "What brings you out here on this lovely evening?"

"Ha ha, very funny." I'm not really in the mood for a cheeky joke right now. "We noticed you were gone, so I brought something out to warm you up." I hold out the mug, a look of pleasant surprise crossing his face. "Why're you out here all alone, anyway?"

"Oh? Thank you! I was feeling a bit chilly, anyway," Julius thanks me with a kind smile as he takes the mug. A bit chilly!? It's freezing! "I was... I don't know. I guess I just felt like taking a walk, and forgot about the party." He takes a sip of the drink, his eyes glancing over at the warm light pouring from the base's windows.

"You forgot?" I repeat, wondering what he was really thinking. "Well, I was told to bring you back inside, it's almost midnight, you know. I don't really feel like going back empty-handed."

"Is it?" Julius peers down at me and lets out a soft laugh, which I don't really appreciate. "I'm sorry to disappoint... but I think I'll stay out a bit longer. Don't worry about me..." For the first time, his smile fades, and something pools in his eyes as he looks away into the darkness.

"I have... a lot to think about."

I like to think that I'm a very observant person. My magic is illusion magic, which gives me the power to conjure images and scenes within the minds of others. But to effectively fight an enemy, I have to be able to glean information about them just from the surface. The way they move, the way they fight, the way they talk... but most importantly, I have to look into their eyes. Only then can I see their souls, and then I know how I can beat them. 

Julius, a powerful, dependable man, is still just like everyone else. And the moment I search him for the first time, I can tell that something is wrong. Not only that, but he has the distinct look of someone in mourning. A lot to think about? I wonder if it was a family member... or maybe a friend. Either way, it's probably best to leave him alone. I'm sure he'll find peace somehow.

"You don't have to stay out here, you know." I snap out of my thoughts to see that he's talking to me again, his smile returned. "I'll be okay."

"...are you sure?" I know it's not my place to push the subject, but for some reason I feel a bit worried about him. Me? Worried about him? It was strange, but true. I know I should leave, but part of me feels like I need to stay. "I-I mean, I don't know, I wasn't having much fun anyways," I correct myself, looking away and crossing my arms. "And I told you, I'm not going back empty handed. If you're out here because something's troubling you... then maybe you should get it off your chest, feel better, then come back inside!"

...

Did those words really just come out of my mouth?! I'm talking to the vice captain! Jeez, and I sounded so demanding too, of all the insensitive things I could have said! What should I do? Run back inside? No... I'll run into the forest. Maybe I'll even freeze to death, or get eaten by a wild animal! It would be better than this embarrassment. Oh god, now what-

"My, you could really tell all that from just looking at me? It's amazing how magic can hone other skills... alright then. If you're fine with the cold, let's walk."

... oh? I'm not in trouble? Miraculously, Julius even looks slightly amused as he gestures at me, frozen in place in the snow. "Come on! I'm not going to bite."

"...alright." I shake my head a little before trudging up to his side. Maybe I should have just gone inside when I had the chance. Now I'm stuck out here... I glance over at Julius to see that he has a more neutral expression as we walk, his eyes fixed on the snowy path ahead. "So... what's been going on?"

Julius lets out one breath, letting it fog in the air in front of him. "A friend of mine died... to put it simply."

That's what I thought, I think to myself. "I'm sorry to hear that. It was recent?"

"Yeah... well, about a month ago." Julius shakes his head a little, the wound obviously still fresh in his heart. "He was a magic knight, too, in the Purple Orcas."

I didn't know anyone from the other squads, so it's surprising to hear that Julius had a friend from the Purple Orcas. "... I'm sure he was a great magic knight, if you were friends with him."

That catches Julius's attention for a split second, and I notice his lips try to twitch back into a smile. "Oh? That's quite the compliment." He gives me a pointed look which I quickly avoid. "But yeah, he was probably the best magic knight I've ever met."

He slows to a stop, letting out another long sigh. "Look, the storm is clearing a little."

Indeed, the snow wasn't swirling around as violently as before, and the wind doesn't sting at my skin. In fact, we could see a couple stars in the sky, their light piercing through. 

"...I guess life is just cruel. It takes away the best people and leaves the rest of us to kill each other."

The sentiment is startling to hear, especially from such a mild-mannered man. It's a sign that, for the past month, Julius has been silently suffering, waiting for his peace to come.

Life is cruel... but our fates aren't absolute. I know that better than anyone. I'm in the process of destroying my fate, after all.

I don't really know what to say to that, and Julius quickly picks up on the growing awkwardness. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come off as angry at you-" He looks over at me and cuts himself off. "You okay? You're practically turning blue!"

"H-Huh?" To my horror, I barely feel my lips as I talk. I look down to see that the hands I've been hugging close to my body are shaking violently, and going numb as well. Shit! I didn't realize how cold I was getting, maybe I should-

"Here." I look up to see Julius starting to pull his cloak over his head. "Put this on, it's still warm from my body."

Still warm from my body.

I draw in a startled gasp and step away three times quickly, stuttering out something incomprehensible. "Ah- uh- n-no thanks! It's ab-bout time I g-g-go inside anyway!"

At least my face is warm now. Julius realizes his mistake and opens his mouth awkwardly, retracting his offer. "Oh... sorry, I didn't mean-"

"No, no, it's fine!" I manage to compose myself and give him a shaky thumbs up. "Are you coming in or not?"

"I think I'll stay out a little longer." He relaxes and even gives me a smile after he pulls the cloak back on. "You were right... I feel a little better."

Well, at least this trip into the blizzard wasn't all for nothing. "I'm glad to hear it... See you later."

With that, I turn away and head back inside to join the others as they countdown into the new year, while Julius stays out to weather the storm just a little bit longer.

...

Read chapter two on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26319412/chapters/64089274#workskin

[trash-muse]

Flashback: A Long Trail of Ashes

WHO: John Constantine and Asmodel @dark-musngs​ WHAT: Flashback - July 2000 - First meeting between a punk ass magician and a not-yet-corrupted angel.

There was a sudden burst of music and drunken revelry as the side door of a London pub opened and a lean eighteen year old man exited with a swagger in his boot clad step.  The summer air was warm and sticky and not at all ideal for wearing tight purple jeans and a leather jacket, but that didn’t stop the young man dressing like a rejected 70s punk aesthetic.

“Constantine!”

John Constantine whirled around, flashing a devilish grin. “Evening lads,” he greeted the four men that approached him, demeanor calm to the point of arrogance. “Nice night for a stroll, yeah?”

“Sod off, Constantine.” The leader of the men shuffled forward, asserting dominance. “You have some nerve showing your face ‘round here. Especially after what you did.”

“And what did I apparently do?” John continued, the other man’s temper clearly ready to boil over as John’s flippant question added fuel to the fire.

“You cheated!” The man got into John’s personal space, shoving him hard into the solid brick wall of the pub. “You used your little magic tricks to win and now you’re gonna pay.”

“Not my fault you were daft enough to bet your house. I should be thanking you, the bed is very comfortable.” John replied, riling the other man up further. Really he should be doing the opposite, trying to soothe the man’s ire and make an escape. But it seemed John was itching for some kind of action and if that action was an uneven fight in an alley then so be it.

The man swung at him, his closed fist missing as John weaseled his way out. One of the others then lunged for him and John swung back, fist connecting with jaw. It didn’t take much for a scrappy brawl to break out. Four to one, odds not in John’s favour. However, the young magician did put up a good fight, proving he was a nasty piece of work as he had claimed to be so many times before.

There was no way he could win though. Arms pinned behind his back by two of the blokes, John braced himself as the leader went to punch his head in. But the hit never landed. White light filled the little alleyway and when John opened his eyes again, the other men were gone.

“What the…?” John rose to his feet from his knees, looking around flabbergasted. Had he been hit that hard he blacked out? John questioned himself, bringing a hand to his forehead and quickly withdrew it again, hissing in pain from a split eyebrow.

Suddenly movement caught his attention and John curiously moved toward it. “Hey!” He called out, realising the silhouette up ahead was actually a person. “Hey… who are you? Did you cause that light?”

---

You’re not supposed to get involved…

Asmodel found herself repeating that phrase over and over again as she kept watch over the troublesome human. She had griped for days when she had received the assignment - a task usually given to a much lower rank of angel. Like a guardian or heaven forbid, a cherub. Cheery winged balls of energy. It was a warning for sure but for what she wasn’t sure. After Lucifer’s fall, heaven remained on high alert of any defecting angels, even to the point where they seemed a bit overly paranoid.

So the assignment had grown more interesting as the boy and the trouble he attracted grew. He probably stocked up all his close calls and last minute victories as coincidences, but it was busy work for the all-powerful angel keeping an eye on him. Heaven deemed him worthy of something, if not just to piss of hell, so she simply followed orders to keep him alive. Bare minimum of course, but alive all the same.

….except when he’s about to die in a common alleyway brawl!

Az cursed under her breath as she quickly had to step in, her presence lighting up the alleyway instantly. Thankfully there weren’t any other humans besides the three and John, so as the light died down she quickly stepped into the shadows so to blend into the surroundings. She wasn’t quite counting on Constantine to call her out though. Pausing where she was, she slowly turned to face the mess of a human. “Light?” she held up a small flashlight in her hand. “You mean this?”

---

John jogged slightly to catch up, boot clad feet clunking heavily against the old stone street in the alley. A lazy smile crawled across his features as he was finally able to make out the woman’s appearance. “Yeah, light.” He repeated himself, eyes drifting down to the apparent source of light she held, a chuckle erupting from his lips. “Ah… right… must have meant that.”

Of course, John didn’t believe that for one second. There was no way the little flashlight could light up the whole alley the way it did. But John wasn’t going to call his savior a liar. That would just be rude.

“Anyway, love, while completely unnecessary, I do appreciate the assistance. So, thank you.” He spoke in a polite but rather dismissive tone, figuring the woman probably had better places to be.

---

Az cursed under her breath as she heard him coming up behind her, not taking her off-handed explanation as a sign that she wasn’t interested in further conversation. She pocketed the phone and glanced over to him as she felt his eyes on her. Cheeky as always.

“Unnecessary?” she repeated in amusement they fell into step. “If I’m not mistaken, you were about to have your ass handed to you.” Her dark eyes flickered over to him before with a subtle smirk.

---

“I had it under control,” John bit back, tone slightly defensive. He didn’t know what he would have done but he would have thought of something. He always thought of something.

The sass of the young woman was refreshing and her accent rather intriguing - definitely not local. Although, to be fair, neither was he. But he was willing to bet he was a lot closer to home than she was.

“But let’s not get into it, yeah?” John retreated on the pending bickering before it could even kick off. “So, my avenging angel, you got a name? Always like to know the name of someone before I buy them a drink.”

---

“I’d hate to see what it looks like when you don’t have it under control.” Az smirked as he tried to save face, as if she hadn’t seen him plenty of times failing to have similar moments under control. She paused as he invited her out for a drink. Always the sweet talker - if only he knew how accurate avenging angel was in this case.

“Azra.” She turned to face him, looking up at him indifferently. “And I don’t drink.”

---

“Never happen.” John smirked in reply, finding it easy to joke around with the young woman. Despite having never met her before, there was an air of familiarity about her. Like they had known each other for years. However, John paid it no mind.

Azra. Not a common name heard in those parts. Fitting for such an intriguing woman.

John had to chuckle at her indifference. “How about something to eat then? There are a few places still open. What do you feel like? Or don’t you do that either?”

---

Az rolled her eyes as he continued to badger her. He didn’t quit. She should have expected this when she interceded, honestly it was what had stopped her from stepping in personally before, but she just couldn’t help herself this time. She sighed, raising a brow as she contemplated just wiping his memory and moving on. It was just such a hassle.

“…I can eat and you don’t seem to be familiar with someone turning you down. So sure, a quick bite won’t hurt.”

---

A cheeky grin responded to Azra’s banter about being unfamiliar with someone turning him down. John was charming, cocky and persistent. All traits the blonde tried to use to his advantage. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn’t. However as Azra continued it was clear John was winning her over.

“It definitely won’t hurt.” John replied, keeping in step with her. “So what do you feel like? There’s a pub down there that does chips but it gets a bit rowdy this time of night.” He nodded in the direction they were headed. “Or we could catch the tube to a little pizza place near King’s Cross. They shut soon but I know the owner, they’ll let us in after closing.”

“Or… if you don’t think it too forward. We can go back to mine and I can make you breakfast for dinner.”

---

Az took a moment to consider the options. More human interaction wasn’t exactly what she had hoped for tonight but it could be safer than more one on one time with his ridiculous self. Although, knowing John, going somewhere rowdy was just asking for trouble and she didn’t want to step in to stop another brawl - once a night was enough without exposing herself.

She raised a brow as she looked up to him skeptically. “Is that what you say to get a girl to go home with you?” It was a good border between sweet and sleezy, so how many times had he offered it in the past? “Fine, breakfast it is.”

---

John waited patiently as Azra mulled over the options. He wouldn’t pressure her into spending more time with him - though he found her intriguing, he did respect the young woman’s boundaries. However, Azra wasn’t saying no.

“Usually I’m the one being invited, not doing the inviting.” John’s apartment wasn’t exactly the most glamorous of venues. It was literally one bed with a small kitchenette and bathroom. Some closets had bigger square footage. But despite not having much room for guests over, it was safe and kept him off the street. “And not always a girl.”

His smile broadened as his offer was accepted. “Good choice,” John said before reaching out a hand to pause her steps forward, guiding Azra to cross the road with him. “What do you usually have for breakfast?”

---

“Of course. A pretty face offers you food and I doubt you say no.” she chuckled because little did he know, but she was well versed in the life of John Constantine. And maybe she should have known better than to agree - after all, she was supposed to be looking on from afar, not interacting with him face to face like this. It was against the guidelines and procedures….so maybe that thrill was why she ended up agreeing.

She followed his directed path, letting him lead despite knowing their intended destination already. “I don’t usually have much time for breakfast, so whatever is available will do.”

---

“Of course not.” John grinned at her chuckle. “Be rude of me if I did.” He did lead quite the colourful life but he also had enough respect for those he was with to not tell everyone about who he was with and what exactly they got up to.

John gave Azra a look of disbelief when she said she didn’t have breakfast, although there was no scolding behind his gaze. “Azra, my dear, you are in for a treat.”

He hopped the stairs up to his apartment building door two at a time and let himself into the old terrace house, holding the door open so Azra may enter first. Directly in front of the entry way was a sharp set of stairs upward - of which, John climbed, moved around the small landing and climbed a further set of stairs.

“It’s not much, but it’s home.” John opened the door to his humble one room apartment. “There’s no sofa, but promise the bed’s clean if you want a seat.”

---

Azra followed him up the steps - all the steps - until they finally reached his little apartment. It was…quaint. Definitely showed that he didn’t spend too much time there. She observed the small space as she entered, looking around with a somewhat critical eye before taking a seat gingerly on the bed as he offered her a seat.

“What’s so important about breakfast?” she asked indifferently, her gaze shifting back to focus on him as he moved about the small kitchen area. She couldn’t stay long but she could play along with this idea of entertaining that he had in mind.

[neocityarchive]

ends | mark lee au (pt 1)

summary | part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4

Word Count: 3.5k

Warnings: none

Chapter Summary: You didn’t have to be reminded that you lost the best thing to ever happen to you, but when a great opportunity came your way, you thought maybe a little risk won’t hurt. 

A/N: i woke up and suddenly this wasnt on my blog lmao im so frustrated. i mightve accidentally deleted it but here it is again.

You looked at your phone to check the time. You have 15 minutes to get to the SM building. Why you’re going back there, you have absolutely no idea.

One of your sunbaes called and asked you to come in, saying they needed the interns’ input on the graphics of the new advertisement material for the recent SM Rookies project. You could have easily said no, but you also are very much aware that SM doesn’t usually do this. It would be crazy to pass an opportunity this big. But that’s not what you’re really worried about.

You stared at your screen until it went black, then pressed on the lock button, illuminating it again. Only a minute has passed since you last checked. You still weren’t used to your generic lockscreen. It’s been a month since you changed it, but it still feels weird not seeing Mark’s cheeky grin everytime your phone lights up.

Stop it, you told yourself.

You don’t know if it’s just in your head or if it’s the fact that you’re anxious and overthinking about the possibility of seeing him again, but the bus seems to be going faster today when you didn’t need it to.

You have no idea if the boys are going to be in the building. You stopped keeping track of the whole group since the break up. You couldn’t bring yourself to watch any of their videos since your ex seems to be in every single one of them.

In an attempt to get distracted, you put your earphones on and your playlist on shuffle, shifting your attention to the busy city life happening outside the bus’ window.

As if the universe didn’t want you happy, the songs coming up the playlist just made everything worse. Yang Da Il’s Sorry started playing and suddenly, you were thrown back to a memory you’ve been trying so hard to suppress lately.

You just got back from a trip to China, two days earlier than what you told everyone. These days, Mark has been really stressed trying to balance his time and energy between the three units. You could tell he was tired despite his efforts not to show it to anyone. You haven’t had a decent conversation in a while. He was always drained, so every phone call would just end up in an argument. If not, he’d be sleeping, or he would say bye even before you could tell him about your day.

It was hectic, so you thought you could pay him a surprise visit to lift some of the stress off his shoulders. After all, it used to work. Used to.

You were already on your way to the conference room where the dreamies were having a meeting but you stopped in your tracks a few feet away from the door.

It was quiet. There wasn’t the usual rowdy noise you could hear even from the elevator, which is very weird considering it’s the dreamies. That’s how you knew they were talking about something serious. A chill went down your spine, finding the whole thing unsettling.

“You should tell her the truth,” you heard Donghyuck’s voice from the hallway.

“I know, though,” Mark replied abruptly.

Your face contorted. You missed the sound of his voice, so much that your chest ached. But that wasn’t what you wanted to hear more about. Tell the truth to who? What truth? Who’s her?

“Just don’t make her wait,” Hyuck said. “She’ll only get hurt.”

Mark sighed. He sounded exhausted, like they’ve been on this topic for quite a while and the flow of the conversation wasn’t going his way.

No one spoke. It was very unusual since they usually just talk over each other, but this time, even a singe drop of water would sound deafening. You found yourself holding your breath.

It didn’t seem like they were talking about work. If it was, they would definitely be louder. You searched your mind of anything or anyone they could be talking about but there wasn’t enough information to make a conclusion. Still, there was something stirring in your chest. You don’t know how to explain it, but it didn’t feel good.

“Mark hyung,” Renjun called, breaking the silence.

“Oh?”

He cleared his throat. “I’m just going to ask the question that is on everyone’s minds right now.”

Silence. It was deafening.

“Do you still love Y/N?”

You blinked. Twice. Thrice. You suddenly felt like all the air had been knocked out of your lungs. Your knees felt week, and your mind was going nuts. This wasn’t what you expected to hear when you came. Not at all.

You started going through the possibilities. Do they know another Y/N? Did you hear Renjun right? Is this some sort of prank??? Do they know you’re listening?

But the silence in the room proves it’s no prank.

You wanted to run, you wanted to scream. You wanted to burst into the room all at once. But your feet stayed glued to the ground. You found yourself waiting for the answer to a question you never thought you’d have to ask.

Do you? you thought.

Your mind wandered to your recent phone calls, your frequent arguments. It happened so often that there has been a part of you that hesitates to call him, afraid you’d fight again. He rarely ever sends goodnight and good morning texts, or even updates about his day anymore. Things have definitely changed between the two of you, but you always thought it was just because he was exhausted from work.

Your breath hitched in your throat. Today was supposed to be a good day. Today was supposed to be the day that would get you your boyfriend back. The day everything would be back to normal. But apparently... not.

“Do you?” Hyuck asked again.

“I don’t know. I’m just...” Mark’s voice trailed off.

You waited.

“...so tired of it.”

You pulled your earphones from your ear and stuffed your phone in your purse in frustration.

Your eyes have started to well up again. You looked up, trying to blink the tears away but it won’t work. No matter how you try to fool yourself and convince yourself you’ve gotten better, all these small moments that lead you back to him proves otherwise.

Part of you always knew things would be like this eventually, that Mark would get tired. He had way too many things on his plate, and you always felt like you should be the least of his problems.

He was always born to be a star. With his talent and passion for what he does, he was bound to take over the world. You knew that meant a lot of sacrifices for him. Living away from his home country, giving up the chance of a normal teenage life, always being within the eyes of the media and fans. You always knew the time would come when the compromise he had to make was our time for each other.

You just never thought it would come to the point where he would give up everything you had after all you’ve been through. Somehow, through all those months of dating him, you had yourself convinced that he loved you enough to not leave you like this. Turns out you were wrong.

“I never imagined I would say this...” you remember him saying, “but I think we should break up.”

It really felt like your world fell apart that day.

You used to be so cynical about how breakups are portrayed in the movies. It’s always so dramatic. The characters always seem like everything have stopped working after the breakup. You used to think it was overboard. But after going through it yourself, you realized maybe the movies were right.

Nothing felt right after that day. Everything seemed so much dimmer, much quieter, much slower. It was like the world forgot how to function properly...

The bus pulled at your stop, breaking your train of thoughts. You got off and walked to the building, taking two steps at a time, afraid of seeing anyone even remotely familiar. Thankfully, you arrived at the 11th floor without any casualty.

The whole thing went by quickly. Your mind was completely preoccupied while working. No traces of Mark, not even on the huge television screens on the walls.

Contrary to what you originally thought, working in SM was actually a fun experience. Aside from the fact you met the love of your life there, the people working with you were really nice. Today, they offered you a job, convincing you to stay. It sounded tempting, good pay, good benefits, but you didn’t know if you could work in a place that holds too much of the past you’re trying to let go of. Maybe not now. You told them you’d think about it.

Before you knew it, the work part was over. You were already back in the elevator, feeling a bit better than you were when you arrived.

The elevator stopped at the 9th floor, revealing a group of people who looked like executives. Upon seeing them, your sunbae grabbed you and the other intern by the arm and pulled you out of the elevator.

“You may go first, Mr. Lee. We’re not in any hurry.” He smiled to them, who nodded politely as they entered the elevator.

“Thank you,” the man who you assumed was Mr. Lee said.

Once the doors closed, your sunbae let out a sigh of relief.

“Are you okay?” you asked. “Who was that?”

“I’m fine.” He nodded. “That was a major stockholder of the company and a bunch of other important people.”

You nodded to yourself, suddenly realizing why the faces looked familiar. You must have seen them in the TV or something.

“Alright you guys. I’m gonna take the stairs. I’m just going down one level anyway. You can wait for the next one here,” your sunbae said.

Just then, the other elevator door opened but it was going up. The other intern went in, saying she forget something upstairs. Just like that, you were alone in the 9th floor.

A sudden realization dawned on you. You didn’t recognize the floor right away since the interior changed a bit, but this was where the recording booths are. This was also where you last saw Mark. As if in a trance, you decided to around to see what else changed within the few months you haven’t been here.

A chill went up your spine as you walked past the lounge beside the recording booth, your mind going back to how easily you got your heart broken the last time you were there.

It was two days after you heard the dreamies’ conversation. You couldn’t bring yourself to see him after that. You called him earlier and asked to meet up, lying that you’ve only just gotten home from China.

He agreed to meet you at the lounge beside the recording booths, saying he can’t leave the studio because the dreamies need him for advice while recording.

So you went there, feeling uneasy. There was no one else around, which was a good thing because you were sure whatever happens, you would cry.

You and Mark haven’t seen each other for weeks, but when he came, there were no kisses. Not even hugs. There was none of the usual excitement and undeniable craving that you both get whenever you see each other after not being able to for a long time. This time, he just sat quietly beside you. You weren’t even surprised.

He looked different. He had makeup on, but you could still tell the circles under his eyes got bigger. He obviously wasn’t doing well. But then again, neither were you. You spent the last two nights sleepless and crying, anxious, wondering what the hell you should do.

Without a word, Mark held out his hand, palm up. It’s something he does when he wants you to hold his hand.

You hesitated, wondering what happens after this, but it didn’t take you much thought. You intertwined your fingers with his anyway. It felt so natural and familiar, and weirdly out of place in the situation. It hurt.

He squeezed your hand gently.

“You okay?” you asked, your voice barely a whisper. If it was any louder than that, you knew it would break.

He nodded weakly.

“You look tired,” you managed to say.

He looked at you for the first time that day, and it took all of your willpower to keep yourself from breaking down.

“Cause I am,” he replied.

“Can I help?”

He shook his head, looking down. He detached his fingers from yours to fix his cap, running his fingers through his hair. You were half expecting for him to hold your hand again, but you weren’t surprised when he didn’t.

“Y/N,” he said.

“Mark,” you replied.

He bit his lip, an anxious habit. “Aren’t you tired?”

“Not really? I had a nap before coming here so–”

“That’s not what I meant.”

You just stared at him.

“Aren’t you tired,” he said again, slower and softer this time, “of this...? Of... us?”

You looked away. You knew this was coming. You just didn’t think it would be this soon. You took a deep breath and tried your hardest not to cry.

“I am,” you said, your voice close to breaking. “But...”

You weren’t sure what to say. It’s true. You are tired. You’re tired of not being able to see him, of not getting a proper conversation out of the small time you have together, of things not being like they were before. You’re so damn tired of it all. But telling him that is like telling him to stop doing his job, to stop doing what he loves. That’s the last thing he needs.

“But?”

You sighed. “I don’t care.”

He shook his head again. “God, this is so hard,” you heard him mutter under his breath before turning to you. “How can you not care that you’re tired? Doesn’t this frustrate you?”

“I can’t just...” your voice broke. You let a deep breath and swallowed, trying to calm yourself. “What do you want me to say? I’m tired, Mark, and yes, it does frustrate me. A lot. But so what if I am? It doesn’t mean I want to give up on us.”

He buried his head in his hands.

You don’t know what you’re still holding on to. It’s like everything that used to be there is disappearing right before your eyes. You’re stalling, but you already know how this ends.

“Y/N,” he said, his eyes meeting yours. “Let’s face it. I’m already losing time for you, and it will only get worse. We never see each other anymore. I can’t even go out of this damn building to spend an hour with you. All we do is argue on the phone, and even when we see each other, we don’t talk properly. How can you still want to stay even after all this?”

You opened your mouth to answer, but nothing came out. Does love really need to have a reason? you thought.

“Look, we barely understand each other anymore. I can’t... I can’t do this.”

Your heart broke. There was no other way to explain it. That’s exactly how it felt. Like something inside your chest just died. It’s like he had stabbed you with a knife, and just when you thought the pain was at its maximum, he still had to twist the blade in your chest.

“I never imagined I would say this,” he said, “but I think we should break up.”

You just sat there, almost motionless if your lips weren’t quivering. If this was a few months ago, he would already have his arms wrapped around you, muttering that it’s going to be fine, that he has your back no matter what. Now, he’s just... there.

You forced yourself to speak. “Just like that?”

He didn’t reply.

You let out an empty laugh, a tear rolling down your cheek simultaneously. “You couldn’t even wait a day and just spend a little more time with me. That’s how much you want this done.”

“No, I—” he tried to speak, but you were already riding the high of your emotions, you just had to let it out.

“I got back from China two days ago,” you said. “I was supposed to surprise you, maybe ask you out for lunch. But when I got here, I overheard your conversation with the guys. I heard you say you were tired of us, but it wasn’t just that. The way you said it...” you let out a shaky breath, your tears now uncontrollable. “God, it hurt to hear. I knew what you were thinking even then, and there was no changing your mind. So I couldn’t bring myself to see you after that because I was so afraid of what you’d say. I had a feeling if we saw each other that day, it would just make things worse. So I spent the last two days thinking what to do, you know how stupid I am.”

“Y/N,” he said softly, but you weren’t done.

“I still hoped I could maybe change your mind. I hoped my gut was wrong, that there was still a chance this could work. But I guess my luck had already ran out. I knew from the moment you walked in and just sat there, not even giving me so much as a hug, that you won’t even try to make things work anymore. So I guess... this is really it.”

“I didn’t... you weren’t supposed to.. I...” He searched for words, but you couldn’t bear to stay and wait for him to change his mind when he clearly won’t.

So you stood up and took something out of your purse. It was an elephant keyring that you got from China, something you bought especially for him. You two have a thing of giving each other tiny souvenirs from the places you went without each other.

Mark stood up too. His eyes were welled with tears, making the situation harder than it already is.

“It’s a lucky charm, supposedly,” you said, handing him the keyring.

He wrapped his fingers around it. A single drop of tear streamed on his cheek. And then another.

“Stop crying. God, at least make it easier for me to leave. This is unfair,” you joked, wiping his tears.

Mark managed to let out a laugh. For some reason, it just broke your hear even more.

You forced a smile. This is the guy you’ve been in love with, longer and harder than you’ve ever been with anyone. You hate the you probably won’t hear his explosive laugh again or watch him get overexcited over the simplest things or hear him randomly sing Frank Ocean under his breath. You hate that you have to let it all go so soon when you never thought you’d ever have to.

“I love you, Mark Lee,” you said, taking a step back. You know he secretly loves it when you say his full name. “And I sincerely hope you’ll find peace again and be happy after this.”

Before you could break down again, you began walking away.

But you haven’t even taken three steps when you were pulled by the arm. You spun around slightly, ending up wrapped in his arms again, his hug tighter than any you’ve felt. He buried his head on your shoulders while you wrapped your arms around his waist like you’ve done so many times before.

He didn’t say a single word when you pulled away. Neither did you. There was nothing left to say.

You turned around and just like that, you were gone.

The ding of the elevator opening pulled you back to the present. But you were too far from the doors already. You wouldn’t make it in time.

Your cheeks were wet. You didn’t realize you’ve been crying.

You figured it’s pointless to tell yourself you’ve moved on when you know full well it would take so much more than just two months to get over something as special as your relationship with Mark. Still, you couldn’t help but beat yourself up over the fact that you’re staring at an empty lounge in an empty hallway, crying like a baby.

You quickly dabbed your eyes and cheeks to dry the tears before looking around to see if there was anyone who witnessed your slightly embarrassing moment, but the are was still empty.

You went back to the elevator before you could see another thing that would trigger your thoughts once more.

You thought you were already safe. Excluding the flashbacks, the day has gone smoothly so far. But with the luck you are born with, when something is bound to go wrong, it definitely will. It’s almost funny that it didn’t even take five minutes before something did.

“Y/N?!” a familiar voice called from behind you.

You turned around, facing a tanned, brunette boy whose eye glinted with surprise, and with an aura radiating mischief and cleverness.

“Hyuck?”