#and he yelled at me saying I’m wasting tests and also that I’m apparently fine which like

[raeathnos]

.

[ymiwritesstuff]

A Helping Wing

Quick Revali scenario, I have had this idea for some time now and I’m finally posting it lol. Anyway enjoy soft, worried Revali!

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild

Revali x Reader

Summary: A trip to Goron City gets an unexpected turn with an even more unexpected reaction from the Rito Champion.

Notes: Injury

The scorching heat that dominated the air on the way to Death Mountain would have been unbearable if it weren’t for the fireproof elixirs you had made well in advance. Still, the hot air had its effect on you as you found yourself wiping tiny beads of sweat from your forehead every now and then as you walked along the rocky path. You could only imagine how the thickly feathered Rito behind you was most likely suffering from the heat much more than you were.

“Remind me again why are we on this absolutely horrendous trip to Goron City in the first place,” Revali complained behind you, eyebrows frowned in annoyance. A part of you knew that this would happen. Knowing him, just about any small nuisance in his way made his beak spill out words of irritation. All you could do was sigh.

“Daruk got seriously injured and Mipha requested us to bring her some supplies so she could heal him faster,” you explained, though had already done so when you initially started your trip to the city. You threw him a quick glance. “Without these, the process could take days.” You lifted the bag on your shoulder that held the herbs and potions the young Zora had asked for. Revali merely scoffed.

“Well, if this is such an important mission, why are we wasting our time on foot when we have two perfectly operational wings right here?” He motioned to his wings with his eyes. “Surely we would get there faster and be done with this cumbersome task.” You let out a laugh, keeping your eyes forward.

“As if you would let me climb on your precious little back,” you mocked. If there was something you knew about Revali is that he had too much pride in, well, everything, so you knew that what he was implying was practically impossible. Even if he was willing to let go of his ego in this rare, inconvenient situation, there was a problem with his idea. “Besides, the herbs would just fly out and burn if we’re that high up.” You turned around to look at him.

“We’re almost there. Just hang in there a little longer."

Revali clicked his tongue but eventually sighed, accepting your words. Despite his exasperation, you were right. Even with the effects of the elixir, flying high surrounded by the hot air would do damage to the precious contents of your bag, but also to him and you. His feathers would probably catch fire and that was the last thing he wanted. So, he continued to walk behind you, muttering miffed words under his breath.

As you pressed on under the extreme temperature, something quickly caught your eye. You stopped and Revali looked at you, raising his brow in confusion before your voice came through.

“Bokoblins.” You nodded towards the creatures. “Four of them.” They danced around as they usually did without a care in the world. The Rito crossed his wings.

“Nothing you can’t handle,” he stated, his words making you look at him in bewilderment.

“Me? Are you not going to help?” You purposely kept your voice down, as the Bokoblins hadn’t yet detected either of you. Your question was met with a smug smirk that stretched the edges of his beak.

“I am rather exhausted from this awful heat, and I’d rather let you do the honors, seeing as you seem to be quite determined in getting to the city in the first place.” You couldn’t believe his words. Revali was many things, but lazy was something you could have never expected. There was the possibility that he was telling the truth, but the pompous grin on his face made you doubt this. However, he was right in saying that defeating a few Bokoblins was no difficult task.

“Fine,” You spat and tossed the bag of supplies at him before grabbing your bow, a part of you regretting the decision to ask him to come with you in the first place. “I really hate you, you know?” Revali held the bag and took a few steps back, the smirk never fading from his face.

“The feeling is mutual.”

With a roll of your eyes, you turned away from him, your eyes gluing themselves on your target. The Bokoblins were in a nice little pile, so taking them out would be easy. However, you could feel Revali’s judging eyes boring into your back, watching your every move. At this point, you thought that he may have abstained from helping you just to see how you would do with the bow and then possibly mock you for an incorrect technique only he could see.  

You shook the thought away. Now was not the time to worry about Revali’s judgment. Your only task was to bring the supplies to Mipha and not pay attention to his foolishness. Still, in the back of your mind, some part of you wanted to impress him for whatever reason, so you attempted to take all of the Bokoblins out at once.

Revali watched as you prepared for your attack, that arrogant smirk still apparent. His eyes watched as you gripped the bow, how you tested the string and how you finally grabbed an arrow from your quiver and-

Suddenly, his expression changed to a panicked one as his widened eyes noticed the grave mistake you had made that took the form of the arrow you had chosen: A bright red, sizzling bomb arrow.

Revali quickly jumped into the air and grabbed the back of your shirt with his talons, pulling you away from the massive explosion caused by the arrow and the surrounding air. Your eyes widened at the blast, and you instinctively shielded yourself with your arms as you were pulled back before feeling your back slam against an armored chest.

The Rito stumbled back and fell to the rocky ground, softening your fall by having you land on his chest. The sound rang in your ears and you squeezed your eyes shut and only opened them once you couldn’t feel the heat of the flames any longer. You blinked and looked at your burned bow that laid on the ground, the Bokoblins fleeing the sight, frightened by the loud noise. It had all happened so fast, you only realized your mistake when Revali opened his beak:

“Are you out of your mind?!” He yelled behind you, voice filled with anger and concern. “You could have gotten both of us killed! How could you possibly think using a bomb arrow at a place like this was a good idea?!” You slowly stood up, still shaken by the accident.

“Are you truly that foolish? That you don’t know that a bomb arrow will explode as soon as it makes contact with the hot air?”

Of course you knew. In the heat of the moment, you hadn’t even realized that you had grabbed a bomb arrow and now you were scolded by your stupid mistake. Your eyes found the ground below you, embarrassment settling in your stomach. “I’m sorry... I just... I didn’t even realize,” You said, trying to somehow explain your actions, though you were more taken aback by his reaction. You had never heard him use his voice in such a manner.

A sigh left Revali’s beak as he tried to calm himself down. Truthfully, he didn’t fully know why he reacted in such a fiery manner.

“You’re hurt,” he finally said. You looked up at him and saw his eyes glued to your arm. Then you felt the burning pain on it. A significant piece of fabric from your sleeve was burned, the jagged hole revealing your reddened skin that sent waves of pain and discomfort throughout the rest of your arm. You hissed in pain and grabbed the abused area with your other hand.

You noticed Revali grabbing something from a bag of his own and motioning you to sit on a rock conveniently placed on the side of the road. You took his offer and sat down, fighting back tears that threatened to fall from your eyes. You glanced at Revali, who carried a white, jiggly blob of... something in his wing while walking towards you.

“What is that?” You asked, keeping your eyes on the unknown substance.

“White Chuchu jelly.” Revali kneeled beside you, expression neutral, rid of any signs of arrogance or judgment. “It should help with the burn,” he stated, pressing the jelly on the surface of your arm, the cool temperature of it immediately easing your pain. You let out a shaky breath.

“Why do you even have that?” You were unable to look at him, something inside you making your stomach churn. You felt his wings wrapping a bandage around your arm, the jelly staying on your skin.

“Well, I would have used it to cool myself off, but it appears that you need it more than I do after that ridiculous stunt you pulled.” You clicked your tongue in annoyance.

“I said I didn’t realize what I was doing I just-”

“Didn’t pay attention,” he interrupted. You were about to argue but after realizing that he was correct, you let out a heavy sigh instead. Revali finished wrapping your wound and stood up, briefly glancing at your destroyed bow.

“What a waste,” he sighed, walking back to the bags, relieved to see the supplies still intact. You stood up, looking at your bandaged arm and then at him. Despite his somewhat rude and cocky exterior, he apparently cared about you enough to at least tend to your wound when he technically didn’t need to. You couldn’t help but smile.

“Thank you, Revali.”

The Rito briefly stopped what he was doing, likely processing your words. You couldn’t see his face, so his expression was left a mystery. He on the other hand was grateful you didn’t witness the feathers on his face puff up ever so slightly. The accident startled him more than he would have liked to admit and was grateful that he was able to pull you out in time.

“Don’t thank me yet,” he finally said, regaining his usual attitude. He stood up and picked both bags up from the ground.

“We haven’t reached our destination yet and I clearly misjudged your abilities, who knows what ridiculous mistake you might make next.” For the first time, you let out a tiny laugh at his words, following him as he began walking.

“Well, I guess asking for your assistance in this little task of mine wasn’t such a terrible idea after all.”

Revali chuckled and shook his head at your words, his usual arrogance embedded in his response:

“Oh, (Name).” His glimmering eyes glanced at you, smirk once again decorating his features.  

“What would you do without me?”

[cryingoverafictionalcharacter]

Prompt: Veritaserum is one of the most powerful potions in the wizarding world, a few drops able to make the one who takes it to reveal their deepest secrets with no hesitation. So of course Fred and George learn how to make it for a prank, however it quickly backfires when they test it out on Y/N, who happens to have a crush on the older Weasley twin.

Warnings: swearing? Kind of angsty for like two seconds, That’s it really.

A/N: Sorry I haven’t written in so long, finals are kicking my ass and I barely have time to myself anymore. That being said, I hope you enjoy! This idea has been rattling around my brain for a while.

You sat in the Gryffindor common room, sipping hot coco and enjoying the rare silence as you read a book. You had just gotten to the end of your chapter when a pair of red haired boys walked in, interrupting your solitude.

“Hello Y/N” George greeted you, sitting in the open spot next to you, George following his movements on the other side of you.

“What do you want?” You asked, not looking up from your book. You could tell by Fred's’ tone that he was planning something, and you had no interest in being a part of it.

“Now dear Y/N, why do you think we want something from you?” Fred asked, having a very similar expression to his brother.

Instead of replying you simply gave Fred a look as if to ask ‘do I look stupid?’ Fred got the message and his face shifted from a fake casual look to a smile.

“You know us so well” He laughed, causing you to shake your head and close your book.

“Unfortunately” You sighed, putting your book to the side to give the boys your full attention.

In fact, you did know the twins well, almost better than they knew themselves. You had met them in your first year, and when you were sorted into Gryffindor, the three of you became inseparable, in fact, you were one of the only people who were able to tell them apart. However, you couldn’t deny that you and Fred spent a bit more time together, whether it be in class or on the quidditch pitch, you were constantly making each other smile and laugh, and you knew you could tell him anything. Well, except for the fact that you also happened to have a massive crush on him since fourth year. That would remain a secret.

You watched as the boys moved to sit on the couch across from you, now facing you with a similar smile on their faces.

“We have what could quite possibly be, the best prank in Hogwarts history” George said, trying to sell you on their idea, which you still haven't heard.

“What would you say” Fred started “if you could ask Snape any question you wanted. Anything from test answers to the color of his underwear-”

“Eww” You interrupted

“Exactly! The blackmail potential, the humiliation, the revenge. What would you say?” George finished looking at you.

“I would say you’ve both lost your marbles. Snape hardly speaks let alone confesses those types of things” You said

“But what if... We had a way to make sure he did” Fred asked.

You finally put the pieces together, your jaw dropping to the floor. “How did you-”

“Snape has a book of rare spells and potions” George started

“And we checked it out for the weekend” Fred finished.

“So you stole it” You stated

“More like borrowed, for educational purposes” Fred argued

“Its all set up. We’ll sneak it into his pumpkin juice before class, spread out the word and by second period tomorrow, we’ll have gotten revenge from all the torment. All you need to do, is make sure the potion works” George said, making your eyes widen.

“I’m not taking that!” You practically yelled. You trusted the boys to not ask you any questions that were too personal, that being said, there was still a lot of room for embarrassment, or for the potion to go completely wrong.

“Oh come on Y/N, worst case scenario it doesn’t work” George defended, but Fred could tell you still weren’t convinced.

“Hey” Fred said, leaning forward and gently grabbing your hand, squeezing it comfortingly “I promise we wouldn’t ask if there were risks that could hurt you”

You were to focused on containing the butterflies that had erupted in your stomach from Fred’s touch to notice how George looked between the two of you, or how he suddenly seemed to have an idea.

“Ok fine” You said, causing the two boys to cheer, before George turned and dug out a small glass vial from his bag.

“Two drops should do the trick” George said, adding a few drops of the liquid into your drink from earlier. 

You picked up the drink and eyed it, considering backing out but the thought of finally getting back at Snape for humiliating you, and so many others took over. Taking a breath, you finished your drink and set down the mug.

“How long until it starts working?” You asked after a few seconds, not feeling any different.

“It should take effect immediately” Fred said, looking at you for any sign of discomfort or change in mood. “What’s two plus two?”

“Four” You said

“You need to ask better questions than that! Something to prove she can only tell the truth” George said, turning his attention back to you “How old where you when you had your first kiss?”

“Fourteen” You said, surprised at how the words seemed to tumble out of your mouth before you could stop them.

“What’s your most embarrassing story from Hogwarts?” Fred asked

“I once accidentally called Professor McGonagall mom in front of the entire class in first year... fuck you weren't supposed to know about that. Stop asking embarrassing questions you git!” You yelled at the older red head, who simply laughed and shook his head.

“No, I think this is quite fun actually” He said, before George continued.

The questions went on for a few minutes, asking you things from what your favorite color was, to the worst date you’ve ever been on, but finally, the two red heads seemed convinced.

“Alright, it seems like its working” George started, but the glint in his eye showed that he wasn’t quite finished yet. “Who do you have a crush on?”

You couldn’t cover your mouth fast enough. You couldn’t think to run away before the name was tumbling from your lips. You couldn’t do anything but sit and watch in horror, as you answered the question.

“Fred Weasley”

The room went dead silent, the only sound coming from the clock in the corner of the room. 

“Y/N I-” Fred started, but you stood up and ran out of the room before he could say anything else.

“I knew it!” George shouted with glee once you were out of earshot, causing Fred to whip his gaze to glare at his brother.

“George what the fuck!” Fred yelled, anger evident in his voice.

“What? You’ve been pining over her like a sad puppy for over a year. Now you finally know” George defended, watching as his older brother quickly stood to follow you.

You had ran as fast as you could, weaving through students and running through corridors before you finally found yourself sitting at a hidden spot by the black lake, finally letting the tears you had been fighting go.

You had liked Fred since fourth year. You had been yelled at in front of the whole class, and were so humiliated you skipped the rest of the school day. Fred had found you, and talked with you all day, making you laugh and smile, not leaving until you finally felt better.

Ever since then your feelings grew. This last summer, you had spent the summer at the Weasley’s and found it a bit hard to sleep one night. You had gone outside to watch the stars, and Fred had joined you. You spend hours talking about life, your futures, your friendships, and at one point, he had looked at you in a way that made you wonder if maybe your feelings weren't one sided. Now you could see that wasn’t the case.

Your thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching you. Without looking up, you already knew it was Fred. You were now sitting with your knees pulled into your chest, your chin resting on the tops of your knees as you looked out at the water.

“This spot taken?” Fred asked, motioning to the spot beside you. You didn’t answer, just shook your head, giving the boy permission to take a seat next to you.

“The potion should have worn off by now, so you shouldn’t have to worry about it anymore” Fred said softly, as if not to spook you.

“You don’t have to do this you know” You mumbles, still refusing to meet Fred’s eyes, who were now looking at you with confusion.

“Do what?” He asked

“Try and make me feel better. I know were friends and everything, but I know you don't feel the same way, and I’d really rather just be alone then pretend everything is ok between us.” You said, trying not to let anymore tears fall.

Fred heard these words and felt his heart break. Fred, unknown to you, had also shared your feelings. Your smile could light up any room. You were so unconditionally kind to everyone you met. Your laugh was his favorite sound, and he had made it his goal to try and hear it as often as possible. He had been trying to drop hints, flirtatious comments, or small gestures, and that one night at the burrow, where you were under the stars, he thought he had finally made it clear how he felt. Apparently not, and he didn’t want to waste any more time trying to be subtle.

“See, now I know the potion isn’t working anymore” Fred chuckled, causing you to look at him with a confused expression.

“What?” You asked

“I do feel the same way” Fred said softly

“Fred... you don’t have to say it if you don't-” You started

“Hold on” Fred interrupted, digging through his pocket and pulling out the same small vial from earlier, before tilting his head back and taking a swig. “Now ask me”

“Oh my god, Fred I-” You asked.

“Ask me who I have a crush on” Fred said simply.

“Fine... Who do you have a crush on Fred?” You asked quietly, almost afraid of what the answer would be.

“Y/N L/N” Fred answered, like it was the easiest thing in the world. 

“You do?” You asked, a smile forming onto your lips.

“Yes” He replied, a smile growing across his face as well.

“Well why do you like me?” You asked, a hint of teasing to your voice.

“Well, you’re beautiful, you’re the funniest person I’ve ever met, you are so kind to everyone you meet, you’re super smart, you have a great ass- wait fuck that wasn’t supposed to come out” Fred said, about to continue but you kept him from going on by finally closing the space between you and pressing your lips to his.

Fred responded instantly, smiling into the kiss before moving his hands to your waist, while yours went to hold his face. You stayed like this for a moment, moving in sync with each other before finally pulling away for air.

“Told you I liked you back” Fred said, making you laugh before re connecting your lips but only for a moment.

“So I’m the funniest person you’ve ever met?” You asked.

“Yes... hey not fair!” Fred complained, making you laugh once again.

“Ok ok fine” You said, allowing Fred to reconnect your lips once again, before breaking away again.

“You think I have a great ass?”

“Yes- Y/N!”

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A/N: Hiiiii! I hope you guys enjoyed! I’ll hopefully be writing more in the future since the school semester is slowing down a bit, but until then check out my other work if you want or leave a request. Thank you all for reading!

[snickerl]

Of Miracle Births and Other Wonders

tagging @today-in-fic

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

The lady behind the reception desk sends Mulder and the two kids up to the fourth floor of the hospital. They find another reception area with another helpful nurse. She tells them a doctor will be with them very soon to give them an update on Scully's condition. The few minutes they have to wait tears every nerve in Mulder's body, putting his patience to a hard test. Then, to his great relief, a good-looking woman in her late thirties approaches them. "Hello Mr. Scully, my name is Dr. Hanson, I am taking care of your wife," she says, holding her hand out to shake his.

"Uh, nice to meet you, Doctor, but my name is Mulder. These are our children, Emily and William," Mulder says, nudging them both in front of him. "How is Scully? I mean, my wife? How is she?"

"Hello everybody," the doctor says good-naturedly. "Your wife is perfectly fine, Mr. Mulder. She is doing great with her breathing technique. Her cervix is at 5 centimeters, so we still have some way to go. The baby is in good shape, she is in good shape, so we believe we will have a smooth delivery in a couple of hours. Are you all coming to the delivery room?"

William is aghast, his eyes saucer-wide. "What? Ew, no way! Gross!" He shakes his head vehemently. "Never ever!"

Mulder looks at his daughter. "Em?"

Emily thinks for a moment but quickly decides against it. The thought of seeing her mother in pain, even if it was for a good cause, makes her uncomfortable. "I'd rather stay with Will. We don't want him sitting here all by himself," she says.

"I don't need a sitter," William snaps, "I'm not a baby."

"But you definitely behave like one," Emily fires back. "Now shut up and be nice so dad can look after mom and doesn't have to worry about us at each other's throats out here."

"Alright," Doctor Hanson says. "The waiting area is over there. There are magazines and a vending machine. If you need anything, ask the nurse at reception. Follow me, Mr. Scully...I mean Mr. Mulder, sorry...your wife will be happy to see you." She leads the way to the delivery room. Mulder presses a kiss on Emily's hair and waves at William who has already plummeted into a chair. "Okay, kids. See you later then," he says and hurries to follow the doctor.

"Say hello to mom from us," Emily shouts after him, "and good luck!" She looks after her father who disappears through a swinging door marked Deliveries, then trots toward the waiting area to join her brother. She places herself in a chair next to him, looks around, gets up again to leaf through a pile of magazines on one of the tables, finds nothing of interest, goes back to her chair, and lets herself fall onto it with a sigh.

"You could've gone with dad, if you wanted," William tells her without looking up from his phone.

"Nah, I'm good."

Both sit in silence for a while. William is totally absorbed in a game on his smartphone, Emily pulls a history book and some pencils out of her backpack and starts reading, writing notes on the pages in different colors here and there. William shakes his head when he sees her doing that. "That's so old school, sis."

"Well, it's good for me. This way, the information stays longer in my brain than when I read it on a screen. You may call it old school, bro, I call it efficient mnemonics."

"Whatever," he sighs, his eyes back on the screen.

"Hey, what you said in the car, that mom doesn't care about us anymore, what did you mean by that?"

"I meant what I said, whatever the baby needs comes first, and we will play second fiddle. Or maybe even third. But I don't care. If things get unbearable, I will ask to go to boarding school. They can play house with the new baby then and I won't be there to bother anyone with my presence."

"You're being ridiculous, Will. Mom and dad will never let you go to boarding school, and I can't believe it will be anything like you just said."

William only shrugs. The narrative in his head has solidified like concrete, and he can't imagine a worse place to be right now. The best he can do is immerse himself in this online game and forget about what is happening at the other side of the door his father vanished through. After some hours of playing (thank God he brought his charger) and a short nap with his head leaned back against the wall, his stomach grumbles. "Are you also hungry, Em?"

"Well, I could have a snack. How long have we been waiting?"

"We came here at 10:45 am, now it's almost 6," William tells her, looking at the big clock on the wall of the waiting area.

"Wow, seven hours already. Poor mom. I wonder why dad hasn't given us an update."

"Do you think something is going wrong and he doesn't want to tell us?" William says, his voice trembling a bit.

"I don't think so."

"It's not so unlikely at mom's age."

"And how do you know?"

"I read stuff."

"You read stuff. Where?" Emily has problems picturing her brother behind a pregnancy textbook.

"On the internet, where else? If you google 'late motherhood' you get thousands of hits. And they all tell you women should have babies in their twenties and thirties, not their fifties. There is a reason for that. Nature doesn't want you to have a baby when you're old."

"Mom's not old."

"For having babies she is. She should be a grandmother rather than giving birth."

"Well, if she was a grandmother, I would already have a baby," Emily points out pensively, then adds a determined, "no thanks!"

"I just can't believe they let this happen."

"Let what happen?"

"Getting mom pregnant. Why? How?"

"Well, I can tell you how..."

"Ew, don't!" William imitates a gagging sound. "But why?"

"I guess it just happened."

"There are ways to prevent getting pregnant, I hope you are aware of that, unlike our parents apparently. I don't want to be an uncle on top of this any time soon. How could they have been so dumb? I don't get it. For all the times mom lectured us about condoms and safe sex, she didn't follow her own words." He shakes his head showing his disapproval and lack of understanding quite clearly. "I will never have sex, that's for sure."

Emily gives a slight chuckle. At fourteen, her brother most certainly doesn't have any idea of the joy of it. When he gets older and starts fancying girls, he might rethink his attitude, but something else is hitting her the longer their conversation goes. "You've given this a lot of thought, haven't you?"

"Well, what else was I to do? It has been the main topic in our house for the longest time. I guess, sometimes they even forgot I was still living there."

"Bullshit."

William is done explaining his thoughts. His sister obviously isn't getting the point either, just like his parents. "Now are we getting something to eat, or what?"

"You hangry?" Emily asks with a smirk and he is glad she has taken the bait and they changed the topic.

"After seven hours of wasting my time in this stuffy waiting room, I think I am allowed to have a bite to eat. Do you have change for the machine?" The boy is inwardly fuming at his father for once again neglecting him by not giving him money for food.

Big sister overtakes Em again, "I am definitely getting us something more nutritious. There has to be a cafeteria somewhere with sandwiches and a drink with less sugar than what I see in that machine." The idea of having to deal with a cranky brother on a sugar-high isn't very appealing. She gets up from the chair, her mind set on improving her brother's mood with a tasty snack. Plus, the hunt for food will give her something to do instead of mulling over what her mother is enduring at this very moment in the delivery room. "Text me, if you hear something," she tells her brother before she leaves him alone.

He tries to distract himself with the game again, but his thoughts keep going back to six months ago when his world turned upside down. The situation was surreal. His parents had prepared one of their usual Sunday family dinners, Emily had come to join, and with the dessert they served them the news of the pregnancy. His sister's piercing shriek of surprised joy hurt his eardrums and he almost choked on the pie he had in his mouth. His mother annoyed him with science book citations about the finer points of late motherhood and male ongoing virility that made him want to cover his ears entirely and yell 'too much information' at her. The worst was his dad though. The puppy eyes with which he was looking at his mom and the silly petting of her still flat stomach caused a severe tickling in William's throat. To this very day, he hadn't gotten past the shock. He shakes his head to make the unpleasant memories disappear.

And then, of course, what had to happen happens: Emily is gone for about fifteen minutes when Mulder appears in the waiting area with an ear-to-ear smile on his face. "Waiting time is over, the baby's here! It's a girl! A healthy, beautiful little girl," he announces, his voice full of pride and also relief. He looks around, surprised to find William alone. "Where is your sister?"

"Getting us a snack. Is mom alright?"

"She is. She did great. I am so amazed by that woman." Mulder's whole face lights up. "She sent me to get you guys. When will Em be back?"

"I don't know. She's been gone for about 20 minutes now, it shouldn't take her much longer. I mean only if she hasn't met a cute guy she needed to get into a conversation with." William rolls his eyes so hard he sees the back of his head, his voice high-pitched on 'cute guy'.

Mulder is still so high on adrenaline that he doesn't chime in, although he too has been annoyed more than once by his daughter's tardiness, and the reason has often enough been a 'cute guy'. "Okay, gotta go back to Scully, I don't want to leave her and the baby alone for too long," he says. He points toward a long gray hallway with several doors on each side. "We're in room 302 over there on the right. As soon as Em gets back, come and join us. Mom is waiting for you guys."

"But dad," William laments in vain, his father is already around the corner. "Great," he mumbles to himself. First, they drag him out here and make him wait endless hours in an uncomfortable chair only to be here when the baby is born, and now that it is born, they don't have a problem with him standing around for God knows how long until his tardy sister is back. Typical. He pulls his phone out of his pocket, types in 'get here asap', his fingers flying over the screen, and slams the send button.

Impatience gets the better of him soon. There is no more sitting in the chair and playing online games for him now, he is pacing the waiting area, glad that nobody else is there to see him in this state. If Emily isn't back soon, he'll explode, he thinks, but it takes another 20 minutes until he sees her leisurely strolling down the hallway. He sighs in relief when she finally stands in front of him, a cardboard tray in one hand filled with two drinks and something to eat he can't quite figure out, and some flowers wrapped in paper in the other. "It's about time!" he lets her know.

"Sorry," Emily says quite relaxed, "I was just standing in line to pay for the food when I got your text. This hospital complex is huge and a bit confusing to be honest. I'm not sure I took the shortest way on my way back. Healthy muffins, iced tea, and something for your sweet tooth," she says with a grin, holding the tray out to William. "What happened?"

"What happened? What do you think happened? The baby's here, of course, and mom wants to see us!"

Emily gives a girly shriek that hurts William's ears once again. "Yay! Great! You could've been a bit more specific in your text rather than simply summoning me back here. I thought you were just craving the food."

"Yeah, well, there was food right in front of our noses." William points to the vending machine, unable to keep his outstretched index finger steady. "But you had to go on a hunting trip for some salad leaves and made me stand around here alone wondering."

"Where are they?"

"In room 302. They are waiting for us. It's this way." William nods in the direction Mulder showed him.

"Okay, let's go then."

Side by side, Emily and William take long strides toward the room they were told. "Boy or girl?" Emily asks on the way.

"Girl."

"Yay again! Ah, that's wonderful. I have a little sister," she chants.

William isn't sharing an ounce of his sister's enthusiasm. If he had been given a choice, he would have passed on this experience as a whole, but now that they are standing in front of room 302, by opening that door what he has tried to deny will become real. If only his mom is alright, he will accept all that comes with it: sleepless nights because of the baby crying, smelly diapers, more Thai takeout, and an annoying younger sister on top of an annoying older one. If only his mom is alright. Emily knocks and he hears his mother's voice say "Come in!" It sounds weak, he thinks, and his heartbeat accelerates. When he follows his sister into the room, he braces himself for the worst.

[blackcherrykiss]

BLOOD BOUNDARIES - Enhypen OT7 Fanfic (ch.8)

[CH.1] [CH.2] [CH.3] [CH.4] [CH.5] [CH.6] [CH.7] previous chapters

[CH.9] next chapter (now avaliable!)

You tiptoe yourself towards the room where detention was being held that lunch hour, not surprised to see a familiar face after Jaeyun's warning of Sunghoon or Heeseung being there. You clashed eyes with Sunghoon whose eyes flickered up and down at you like a light switch as you entered the room. Sunghoon's stone face would only vanish into the only other facial expression you've ever seen him give, a sinister smile.

"Have a seat... Y/N" Your gym teacher lowered her head, visibly more interested in the flyer she had in hand.

You took a slow gander at the other people in the room, a couple of recognizable lower classmen and duos of pranksters. Sunghoon stuck out like a sore thumb, remaining the centre of your attention. You willingly took up the vacant desk beside him at the very back where a few shadows lingered.

"Unexpected meeting." Sunghoon was subtle, speaking in a deep voice was just audible enough to be heard by you. You both didn't make eye contact as it would've made it obvious you were talking and God knows how many more detention sentences you'd be given for being caught chatting.

"Jaeyun told me you're here all the time, no surprises for me." You whispered while making yourself at home in your chair.

You blink in frustration as you realize if you had brought your physics textbook, you could've worked on the questions you hadn't done in class. You pull out some notes to study in the meantime, dreading the fact you were about to spend the next half hour wasting brain energy reviewing for a test you were getting quite confident with.

After using most of the detention time repeating your study terms, you peek over at Sunghoon who rested his head down on one of his arms that dangled off the front of his desk. You got the idea of passing notes to communicate with Sunghoon in the last 10 minutes of detention. Tearing off a medium-sized square of paper, you began to write in a sharp font:

hey, just wanted to ask if you're flirting with dahee or something?  rumour has it you already have a girlfriend... i won't tell anyone :-)

You fold the paper and carefully flick Sunghoon's shoulder, eyeing the teacher while you're at it out of caution. Sunghoon slowly lifted his face, squinting to adjust to the bright light before seeing the paper you held out for him. With a raised brow he grasped it between his thin fingertips, stretching it out of its crumpled form. You don't bother looking at his reaction and rather wait for him to write down a response in the empty spaces you left. Within a quick exchange, the folded paper was back in your possession with a couple of words written, his writing a lot smaller than you imagined.

since when did I have a girlfriend? and who says I'm flirting with dahee?

You obviously only pretended there was a rumour of Sunghoon having a girlfriend to avoid telling him the truth. From what you could recall, Sunghoon would "kill" Kyungeun if he found out what you saw. You weren't just going to throw Kyungeun under the bus and get her into trouble so here you were stuck thinking about your reply. Your pencil began to move once a response was in mind.

I saw it with my own eyes yesterday! something is up between you and dahee

Sunghoon took the paper right off your desk before you could fold it nicely as if he was reading as you wrote. This time he scribbled in loose and long lines as a way of communicating faster.

why does it matter? let me answer my own question, I know you saw me with Kyungeun

Your eyes went white, blinking in horror as you read the paper over and over. How could he have known you were there? You could've sworn it was too dim in the library that day.  It would also be practically impossible to identify anyone behind or even through the cracks from where Sunghoon was standing. The only answer would be Jaeyun then, right?

The teacher extended on knee down to push herself into a standing position "I'm going to the bathroom, there are only a few minutes left but I better see all of you still here and quiet when I get back."  The teacher left in a flash, probably doing her best to get back as quick as she could. But it didn't take more than 20 seconds before people broke the silence and started chatting it up with each other. You also took the absence of the teacher to speak.

You stood up in disbelief to interrogate Sunghoon, "Who told you I was there?" You looked around to make sure no one was watching while you moved in closer to Sunghoon.

"I could sense you there, behind the fiction bookshelves" He slumped back in his chair to observe your face in full light, "No one told me you were there."

You swallowed harshly at the correct observations of his, you believed he was lying just to scare you. "Cut the bullshit. So what is it about my friends that you NEED so bad? Sex?" You gasped in your head at your own retort.

"Sex?" He wheezed, hitting the table with an open palm. His loss of breath was an indication that he found your assumption pathetic. "I'm not that low Y/N," He pulled you in more than you had expected to increase the volume of his whisper, "Kyungeun will be of no use to me once I have Dahee... I'll let Kyungeun free soon, don't worry."

You hear footsteps against the waxed floors of the hallway and immediately sit down along with the rest of everyone in the room. The whole class shifted in a prim and proper manner as if no one moved an inch while the teacher was gone. You rummage through your bag to find the book you had taken out from the library to help sell the act.

"I'm surprised half of you didn't leave while I was gone... You are free to pack up now."  She nodded and left the class to probably catch her own lunchtime.

"Why will Kyungeun be of no use?" You get back on track with Sunghoon after the short commercial break.

"What's this book?" He ignored you, snatching the stack out of your hands without much thought.

"Don't ignore my question! And it's for one of my classes." You added.

He flipped to a random page like you had done when you first saw the book. He scanned the text and made all kinds of expressions, "Why the fuck do you have this?!" His jaw slightly lower than usual before an unexpected cast of excitement took over his face "This book you have, I'll have to confiscate it, pretty girl."

Immediately making you jumped on both feet to block any further travel, "Why? No? It's rightfully mine!" You scrapped the question and got more worried about the book.

He held the book as high as he could so you wouldn't even attempt to snatch it from him, "I'm starting to think you're fooling us more than we're fooling you. How much do you actually know about us?" He was clearly amused by you.

"Am I that clueless???" You bit down on your tongue, the word murderers coming to mind. But somehow that answer didn't seem right. "Fine keep that book and don't answer my question."  You muttered bitterly.

Sunghoon spun around in his slender form, "I'll answer all of your questions and give you this book back." You watched as he steadily gravitated toward the door, "Meet me at the front of the woods at dusk." And so he left the room, his mysterious intent making you uneasy.  The meetup was being held so late, in the dark, far from school grounds.

...

"I figured you had detention Y/N..." Hyesun tsked, "How was it?"

"It was alright, got some studying done... Funny, I saw Sunghoon there." You shivered just saying his name aloud.

"Sunghoon? Of course... He's sort of a snob to the teachers. Speaking of Sunghoon, Dahee told me this morning that she couldn't stop thinking about him." Hyesun bit deliciously down on her strawberry pastry, "But by chance... Do you by chance like him?"

"Why do you ask?" You answer not thinking at all.

"Dahee thinks you do, apparently by the way you look at him...? I mean, she really doesn't want to get too attached if that's the cas-"

"YES! I do like him!" You cut Hyesun off with the thought that by saying you liked him would get Dahee away from the dangerous prick.

Were you screwing up something up by saying that? Hopefully not.

"Oh, then you should tell her... I think the sooner the better because she was really wondering this morning whether or not to keep flirting." Hyesun suggested before her eyes grew large out of their sockets as she looked over your shoulder, "Hey Jungwon?"

You jumped out of the table, your mind in full freakout mode, "Jungwon??? Hey!?" You panicked as you were positive Jungwon heard literally everything that just came out of your mouth. "Hyesun I need to talk to Jungwon about a project if you'll excuse us." You were full of lies today and you were sure it would come to bite you back somehow.

Yanking Jungwon's wrist, you led him outside the dining hall and into the courtyard where there were actually people hanging around in the warm autumn noon. Jungwon shook your hand off of his coldly.

"Since when did you like Sunghoon?! He's fucking insane he will fucking ruin you!" Jungwon screamed with his voice that even began cracking up. He was yelling so loud, not giving a damn if the full basketball court heard him.

"Stop getting so mad?! I know he's a fucking bad guy! I don't actually like him calm down!" You tried raising your voice over his, trying to control the temper in your body.

"Then why in the hell did you tell your friend you do?! Why are you getting so involved with him dear God!" Jungwon breathed fire through his nose, resting the side of his fingers over his brows to avoid looking at you.

"Because I'm trying to protect her??? Would you stop acting like this? I don't understand why he's a bad person but it's clear he has some malicious intentions with my friends so just get off my fucking back would you? You don't even wanna explain to me either so just chill out!" You exploded with emotions right then and there but you had more fuel to the fire, "Are you just leading me on by caring about me this much? Are you jealous Jungwon? Do you like me? Answer me!"

In your deepest wishes, you wanted him to say yes but part of you was plain tired. You didn't know where all this talk of yours was coming from but somehow your feelings blended into the chaotic mixture of the moment.

He hesitated to answer which was enough to boil up some sort of pain and frustration in your heart, "I-I don't know!? I just really care for you Y/N!" Jungwon held his head as he lost his balance his face expressing he was not feeling well. He took a few steps back, his voice a lot softer as he began to breathe a bit heavier. "I think I'm gonna throw up." He groaned in pain as he held onto his head tighter.

In an instant, you snapped out of your anger and looked around for help while still checking on him, "Jungwon are you alright?!" You slid your bag off of yourself and put your hands near his sides in case he fainted, to which he was already in the process of doing. "Holy shit! Jungwon?!" His legs gave up on him completely, melting down into the pavement. Luckily he would not smash his skull if it weren't for the instinct of your arms to catch him.

You turned to the basketball court to see Jay had already approached the situation, a beat-up basketball in between his fist and torso. Jay knelt down with worry, "I knew this would happen to him..." He mumbled in frustration

[primasveraas-writing]

"Kent v Fucking Automobile" -Ted Lasso

This is an accompanying piece to 2 others in this series, but I consider it an AU of the first one. The subject matter is the same, but things go down differently. This one can be read on its own.

Part 1 // Part 2

WORDS: 3482

XXX

Roy Kent’s life is fucking incredible.

For one, he has a gorgeous, wonderful wife, with whom he has a fucking wonderful son, and if that weren’t enough, they’re expecting another baby in just a few short months. But, not only does Roy have a perfect fucking family that he loves, he also has one of the greatest fucking jobs in the world: coaching AFC Richmond (a career second only to being a footballer himself).

He’s headed to work early; Sam needs him for something before practice, and apparently, Roy loves this team enough to miss part of his morning with his wife and son.

It’s one of those days where he’s on autopilot, barely needing to pay attention to what he’s doing. He’s slowing for a traffic light when it turns green, and then there is a mass moving towards him, and he jerks the steering wheel, dread heavy in his chest.

All Roy knows is that he’s bracing himself, then there’s pain, then a hot flash striking his arms and face, then the world stills and he’s opening his eyes. There’s an airbag in his face and horrible pressure against his right side. He blinks, slowly, and tries to take a steadying breath. That doesn’t hurt, at least, and he looks around.

His door is bashed in, bent awkwardly into his body. He can hardly see around the airbag, but he can feel the metal against his leg- his fucking leg, as if it weren’t fucked up enough- and the other car is rammed into his own. Roy swears, loudly, and realizes that there are people starting to swarm around the wreck. He groans and curses again- he doesn't particularly fancy making the headlines with this one.

He gives one of the pedestrians a thumbs up, then fumbles around for his phone. There's no moving until the other car is gone, and even then, Roy's not sure he'd be able to climb out of his seat without collapsing. The phone rings once, twice; long enough that Roy can feel his hands shaking.

"Keeley," he says when she picks up.

"Roy," his wife answers, and she sounds startled.

"I'm okay," Roy says, staring down a bystander, who's unabashedly taking pictures of the scene. "Whatever you see, I'm okay."

"Okay," Keeley says, and there's an edge to her voice now. "What's-"

"I was in a car accident. I'm fine."

Keeley gasps; Roy wavers, suddenly regretting his bluntness. "Some wanker hit me from the side. Airbags went off but aside from being very pissed, I'm alright."

He hears Keeley breathe in and out deeply, and more anxiety bubbles in Roy's stomach. He feels hot, uncomfortably warm, and when he raises his free hand to his head, it comes away wet with blood.

"Are you sure you're alright, Roy? Did you call 999?"

"No," he mutters. "Though I'm sure someone else did." A beat, then:

"I think I fucked up my leg."

"Does it hurt?"

Roy looks down, tries to move his leg, and bites down hard on his tongue to keep from yelling. "A little."

"Okay." He can hear Keeley moving in the background, undoubtedly getting her keys. "Where are you?"

Roy peers through his cracked windshield and finds his vision is blurry. "I don't know," he whispers, and closes his eyes. "I was on my way to the pitch, but-"

"Right. I'm coming to find you."

"Wait," Roy warns. He can hear sirens approaching. "Worry about Oliver first. I'll meet you at the hospital, okay?"

"Okay." Keeley manages to sound businesslike. He knows she's trying not to reveal her worry, and that she knows he's downplaying the circumstances. "I'll see you there, then."

Roy waits for her to end the call. There's a few seconds of silence.

"You're okay, yeah?"

"Yes, Keeley," Roy promises. "I'll see you soon."

"Okay," she whispers back. "Love you."

"Love you, sweetheart."

-

Keeley stands in her kitchen and releases the kind of profanity only Roy is usually capable of. Her purse and keys are already gathered in her hands, but there's just one thing she has to worry about first.

"Oliver, love, we're going-" She bites her tongue. She can waste precious minutes asking the neighbor to come and watch him; if that fails, she'll have to find someone to come over and that could take any amount of time.

"We're going to the hospital!" She declares, and her and Roy's little terror sprints into the room and cheers.

Keeley scoops him into her arms, feeling incredibly unbalanced, and makes her exit, grabbing the first pair of baby shoes she can find. She's sure she's missing something, but at least her toddler won't have bare feet.

She calls Ted and Rebecca on the way there; Ted to watch her son and Rebecca to watch her. It'll make them both late to work, she's sure, but there are few people she'd trust more to support her family.

As expected, both of her friends drop everything to help her. Ted sobers up the moment after Keeley says hello; the worry in her words must be painfully evident. In turn, Rebecca vows to be at the hospital in a time that guarantees some horribly reckless driving, which is terrible, given the circumstances, but Keeley knows Rebecca and her best friend bribing her driver isn’t Keeley’s greatest concern right now.

Unsurprisingly, Rebecca is waiting at the hospital for them, Ted at her side. He’s white in the face, which confirms Keeley’s suspicions about their ride over, but he scoops Oliver into his arms, asking how his day has been and if he’d like Special Texas Pancakes for lunch. Keeley offers Ted a wordless smile in thanks before Rebecca takes her inside.

“All I know is they’ve admitted him,” Rebecca says, glancing at the receptionist. “They wouldn’t tell me anything else.”

“Right, well, you can’t bribe hospital staff all too easy,” Keeley muses. She gives her name to the attendant, who, despite Rebecca’s glowering, tells them to wait, and they take a seat.

It’s only a few minutes before a nurse is pointed towards them. He smiles at them, which Keeley takes as a good sign, though she still clings to Rebecca’s hand during the whole of the conversation.

Roy is fine; he was brought in conscious, but with a severe leg injury and a probable concussion. The doctors aren’t terribly worried, but they have to act fast.

“We understand that Mr. Kent has a previous knee injury.” Keeley nods. “This complicates things. Preliminary tests suggest that there’s further damage to his knee. We still need to do an x-ray and an MRI, but it’s likely that he’ll need surgery.”

Keeley swallows, hard; the youngest Kent-Jones gives her bladder a kick, and she shifts uncomfortably.

“We’ll let you back as soon as we find a room for Mr. Kent.”

“I’d like to see him before any surgery,” Keeley asserts, but her voice is strained.

The nurse nods. “Of course, Ms. Jones.”

-

Soon translates to an hour, but Rebecca occupies Keeley, complaining about idiot businessmen and updates on her mum and anything else asinine that Rebecca can think of. Keeley’s leg shakes up and down, but her thoughts aren’t totally captivated by worry, and that’s good enough.

A different nurse takes her back to see Roy when it’s time, and they wind down a long series of identical hallways. The air is stale with sickness and nerves, and Keeley’s boots click on the linoleum of the otherwise silent hall. Then, they round a corner and the nurse pushes open a door, leading Keeley past curtained-off beds and finally, to Roy.

His eyes are closed. Bright red skin indicates the burn of a deployed airbag, and there are cuts on his face and arm. The hospital gown does him no favors, revealing his mangled leg and the mess of bandages covering his knee.

Tears well in Keeley’s eyes. It’s the most vulnerable she’s seen Roy, topping his last game with Richmond, his retirement conference, and his reaction to the birth of his first child. He’s pale, clearly in pain, but when his eyes open, they seize her up quickly.

She breathes out his name, moves to the head of the bed to run her fingers through his hair, and presses a kiss to the unmarred part of his forehead. His hand captures hers, gripping tightly.

“I fucked my knee,” he whispers, and Keeley nods.

“We’re gonna unfuck your knee,” she tells him, unsure of how much she means it. “It’s gonna be okay.”

Roy nods, alert, but obviously tired. His voice was shaking on their call; it’s steady now, but Roy is stuck in a grimace, and he’s barely moving as he talks to her.

“What did they tell you?”

“Not a lot. What did they tell you?”

Roy eyes her suspiciously. “Fuck all. They did a hundred fucking tests and kept their damn mouths shut.”

“Okay. Let’s wait for the doctor, then.”

“Keeley-”

They know each other so well. She’s hard-pressed to get out of this one.

She can see the argument brewing in his mind- his lips are parted, his trademark scowl graces his lovely features, and she knows that he has every right to be frustrated.

“Well, you’re not gonna lose your leg,” she informs him, and Roy snorts. Keeley bites her lip. “I think.”

“It’s fucking useless anyway.” Roy rolls his eyes. “I’m not fucking playing football with it.”

“Legs have other uses, you know,” Keeley points out, and Roy snorts again.

“Fuck that."

A smile is tugging at her lips, and Roy is about to mirror the expression despite everything fucking hurting when metal scapes against metal, and the curtains part to reveal a doctor, who smiles at them both. Roy scowls.

“You’re going to cut my fucking knee up.” He accuses, and the doctor nods.

“You tore several major ligaments and we need to prevent permanent nerve damage and limit the risk of blood clots.”

Roy’s scowl deepens, impossibly. “Fine.”

“Excellent. We’ll get prepped for emergency surgery.” She looks at Keeley and Roy, at how tightly they’re holding each other. “I’ll give you two a minute before we take you back.”

Keeley murmurs her thanks, and turns back to Roy.

“Right,” she says, brushing a stray curl off of his forehead. “You be good, and enjoy the hell out of those painkillers. I’ll see you soon.”

“Right,” Roy agrees, kissing the back of her hand. “Don’t eat shitty hospital food if you get hungry. Make Rebecca order you something fancy while you wait.” Roy’s brow creases. “Ted has Oliver, doesn’t he?”

“He does, yeah.”

“Fuck. Well, Ted can keep him when he has his massive fucking temper tantrum ‘cause of all the biscuits he’s eaten. And you fucking relax and don’t worry too much about me and my fucking knee, okay?”

“Okay.” Keeley bends to kiss him, and he smiles at her, not with his usual brilliance but something close, and that’s enough. She knows he’s in pain; she can read it in every line on his bruised face, but he’s being unflappable for her, and she can try and do the same. “I love you so much, Roy Kent.”

“I fucking love you, Keeley Jones,” he tells her. “And tell Ollie I love him too.”

“I will. He’s gonna cuddle the fuck out of you when we get home, you know that.”

“Damn right.”

-

Keeley stays with Roy until nurses come to take him into surgery. She watches them wheel her husband down the hall and through a forbidden set of double doors, and exhales.

She finds Rebecca quickly enough, who ensures they celebrate Roy’s prognosis and consciousness and retainment of his humor. Over and over, she repeats Roy’s words in her head: he’s going to be fine, and she shouldn’t worry too much.

Rebecca regales her with tales of the worst men she’s worked with; when that fails, they compare notes on baby names. They laugh and grin without light ever reaching their eyes and neither utter a word about it, but Rebecca confiscates Keeley’s phone when her Twitter mentions blow up. There are pictures of the accident, and of a bloodied Roy Kent being loaded in an ambulance, and Ted texts her to let her know that he’s brought Oliver inside where any nosy press won’t catch a glimpse of him. Her heart aches for her son, who would be distressed if he knew any better, and who likely won’t get to see much of his parents today. Ignorance is bliss, though, and Keeley thinks of Roy’s last smile to her, and not of his strained words when he called her, or the pictures of his totaled car online, or how fragile he looked in the hospital bed.

There’s a nagging at the back of her brain, though, of what would’ve happened if Roy couldn’t reach his phone, or if he left home a second sooner or a second later, or if she had gone with him, or if he had to drop Oliver off somewhere along the way, or if the other driver had been going a tiny bit faster or hit Roy at a slightly different angle. He’s lucky, after all, that it’s just his leg, that it’s not even broken, that their baby wasn’t in the backseat, that Roy will ultimately be fine after this, he’ll be fine, because he’s still so fucking young and his son is still a baby, really, and he hasn’t even met his second child yet.

Keeley takes a shaky breath, and Rebecca captures Keeley’s hand in both of her own. She rubs her thumb across the back of Keely’s hand, and the younger woman rests her head against Rebecca’s shoulder, and the two women stay like that for a long time.

-

It’s three hours before they get any word about Roy. Keeley thinks, really, that it should have been like, half an hour at most, but the nurse who talks to them says all good things, and that they’re almost done. Some of the damage is permanent, especially to Roy’s nerves, but the rest of him is fine. Walking normally will be the greatest challenge, and to Keeley, that’s a nominal problem given the rest of his prognosis.

Rebecca stews when they have to wait another couple of hours: first, the surgery has to wrap up, then Roy is brought to a recovery room to be monitored, then finally, finally, he’s moved to a private room where they can sit with him. The whole time, Rebecca lingers an inch away from total fury, but Keeley lets Rebecca be as angry as she likes, so that way, Keeley doesn’t have to be and all her energy can be focused on Roy.

It’s quieter when she sees Roy this time, more peaceful. Even Roy Kent doesn’t scowl in sleep, and despite the IV in his arm and the injuries peppering his skin, Roy appears at rest, genuinely so. Keeley waits, alone for the first time that day, for him to wake, and when he does, Roy only mumbles hi and offers a groggy smile before he’s out again. Keeley texts Rebecca and Ted an update, and that’s how her afternoon passes, her husband in and out of sleep, and not much else in the world mattering.

-

The next day is a flurry of doctors and physical therapists, and their three-year-old son navigating a hospital for the first time. Roy’s concussion means wearing sunglasses indoors, but Ted drops Oliver off with a matching pair for him and Keeley, and their first family picture after the accident is of them in the hospital, all wearing shades inside like a bunch of proper arseholes, Roy’s face impassive but Keeley and Oliver positively beaming at the camera. Roy learns how to navigate on crutches, as is the condition of his release, so he struggles his way up and down a short hallway, swearing all the while, his grouchy disposition only faltering when Oliver makes his opinion known about the matter (“Daddy has four legs!).

They’re sent home, donned in sunglasses and laden with crutches and high-grade painkillers, late that day, and Roy has to wonder if Rebecca’s paid off the press when he’s loaded from wheelchair to car without any twats snapping pictures of him at his worst. Later, he’ll confirm that she did, in fact, pay the tabloids to piss off, accompanying a press release along the same lines. He and Keeley are lucky to have such a friend, he knows, especially one that doesn’t believe in bullshit.

He’s absent at the next Richmond match and most of their practices the following week, in favor of sleeping frequently. Something wonderful about needing three fucking naps a day is that Oliver will nap with him, which gives Keely a much-needed break, and also there’s nothing fucking better than his baby asleep in his arms, because he loves his son so fucking much but sometimes it’s fucking nice when Oliver isn’t running around like a maniac, and Roy can just hold him.

Putting any weight on his leg is fucking hard. Showering is fucking impossible, bending down to pick up Oliver’s ridiculous toys is difficult, stairs are a fucking burden on humanity, and Roy is in so much fucking pain all the time. It gets better at a snail’s pace, and he manages to make it through a full day of work on an obscene amount of Tylenol and Ted literally cheering him on in the most annoying way possible. The only thing that pacifies him is Keeley coming in to kiss him at various intervals throughout the day, and he buries his head against her side and she runs her fingers through his hair, and their kid-on-the-way sometimes kicks against Keeley’s stomach, which never fails to be spectacular.

Roy masters crutches, even though the dumb fucking things make his armpits hurt, and a month after surgery, when Roy has endured physical therapy and public sympathy and a thousand fucking stairs, he begs his doctors to let him off them. And so, they introduce the next alternative that Roy will use for the rest of his fucking life.

A cane. Roy Kent, still fucking young, is fitted for a cane, which Ted immediately wants to decorate with lights and streamers and shit, and that Oliver tries to use as a fucking lightsaber and wack people with. It’s fucking terrible, but it’s also the first thing that makes Roy laugh after coming home from the doctor’s with his fancy new stick.

They told him and Keeley this, that first day in the hospital after the wreck. That he would never walk the same, that some of the nerves were too far gone. There’s nothing he can do, aside from physical therapy to build up some strength. It’s damning, and a hard pill to swallow, but Roy’s knee has been fucked since his last football match against Manchester, and he knows that. Keeley reminds him that his life is still pretty incredible, after all, and Roy has to agree.

His daughter is born shortly after, and Roy weeps when he figures out how to hold a cane in one hand and his precious baby in the other. Frequently, he looks like the corniest fucking dad ever, because it’s honestly easiest to carry Lily in a papoose, but Roy fucking Kent’s reputation holds up: he’s still the scariest motherfucker to ever grace the face of football. When he takes her to practice, though, he finds that this effect is somewhat diminished; he yells at one of the boys to tighten up, then his daughter gurgles, and Roy is caught gazing down at her with a dopey fucking smile on his face.

The first cane breaks when Richmond loses by a slim margin thanks to a few small mistakes. Roy is minutes into a post-match debrief when he punctuates what went wrong with the cane against the whiteboard, and the wood slams against metal and splinters into a hundred fucking pieces all across the locker room, footballers ducking for cover, Roy’s chest heaving as he surveys the scene. Then Ted sits Roy down, commends his incredible strength, and tells the team to goldfish their way through this, and that they’ll work through it during the next practice.

Oliver breaks the second cane. And the third. And then Roy concedes style to durability and gets a fucking metal cane that his kids aren’t allowed to touch.

His life is different, largely because he’s a father of two now, and stairs are fucking terrible and he hates them. But, aside from that, he’s still Roy Kent, Keeley Jones’ husband, parent to the two best fucking kids in the universe, football coach extraordinaire. That’s pretty fucking good, in his book, and in the end, there’s nothing fucking wrong with using a cane so long as Oliver doesn’t kill anyone with it.

[sorryimanon]

A Bit Stir Crazy: Pt 1

Summary: You’re bit of a hot head, so is Bakugou. So what happens when the two of you have to quarantine together for 30 days?

Warnings: cursing, mentions of sex, sexual tension, inevitable smut, slow burn.

Pairing: Katsuki Bakugou x fem!Reader

Spring finally makes it way to the city of Musutafu, which also means spring break is about to commence. There was only two days left of school before the students endure a week break of relaxation and the possibility of illegal drinking. However, the sudden outbreak of a deadly virus isolates you and your best friend of five years , Katsuki Bakugou, to quarantine together. Tensions are high, and so are both of your sex drive.

<<<

It was your second semester here at Hero University, and so far everything was smooth sailing. You’ve been on top of each of your classes, and most of your classmates are pretty much family by now. Of course, no one can replace Kirishima and Katsuki. Those two have been in your life since the second you stepped into Aziwa’s classroom. 5 years of friendship gave them the role of being your protective brothers. Every guy you’ve dated over the past 3 years had to face the wrath of both Kirishima and Katsuki. In most cases, some would find this possessiveness tedious, but you found it quite comforting knowing they are looking out for you. They were also hard on you and your studies, but only because they care for you. Both of them know about your dream of being a combat medic for pro-heroes, considering your energy restoration quirk, so they were extra tough on you.

However, everything came to a halt the day before spring break. You were currently in Advanced Hero History class when the announcement happened. The teacher, mid lecture, put her textbook down and glanced at the speaker above the door.

“Testing...1 2 3... this thing is working right? AHEM, attention students of Hero University, we’ve been told there’s recently been a sudden outbreak of a virus that’s described as deadly as the plaque!” The speakers voice reverberated across the whole academy. He continued,” We want to make sure that everyone is safe and sound and takes precaution of this virus. The board of admissions at HU have decided to cancel classes and all events at the university tomorrow-”

You didn’t get to hear the rest of the announcement. Everyone in the classroom was busy celebrating and screaming at the top of their lungs. Seems like the issue with the deadly virus evaporated immediately. The thought of getting out early for spring break was more important apparently.

Ms.Leech informed the class to still read the assigned chapters and be ready for a test the first day after break.

You quickly shoved everything your messenger bag and made a beeline to the door. The hallways were far from deserted. Usually classes don’t get out at the same time, but today every student occupied the cramped halls in the building.

“Y/N!” Someone yelled amidst the crowd of loud students. You overtly looked around and spotted the all too familiar spiky red hair and angry looking blonde by the exit. You giggled and maneuvered your way over to them.

“Did you hear the announcement! We get an early spring break!” Kirishima giddily said as you guys all walked side by side on the strip to the apartment complex.

“No shit Sherlock, the announcement was broadcasted across the whole school.” Bakugou responded while rolling his eyes.

“I’m so excited though! That means I have more time to study for my exams!” You jumped with excitement.

“Exams? That’s not for awhile you fucking nerd-” Bakugou was cut off when you grabbed a handful of his hair and aggressively pulled it. “YOU SHITTY WOMAN DON’T TOUCH MY HAIR!”

-

Spring break flashed by quickly, leaving only a day left before classes begin again. Thankfully, you seem to have checked everything off your list of things  needed to be accomplished during break. The only thing you had left to do was finish your reading for adv.hero history. 

After an endless hour of reading, you decided to make a hot pot of coffee. When you walked into the kitchen of your shared apartment with Kirishima and Katsuki, you noticed a sticky note hanging from the fridge.

It read, 

Went to go pick up Kirishima from the airport. Get take out plz. The usual

-B.

You smiled and immediately dialed the noodle shop to go. Kirishima used his spring break wisely and went to visit an exotic island with his family. He would FaceTime you and Bakugo occasionally telling funny stories about his time on the island. Although the thought never occurred at the time, you now felt like you wasted your spring break doing boring mundane things. Yes you had Katsuki to accompany you, but he was gone most of the time hanging out with his other friends. Which hurt, granted, but you understand that he has other friends besides you. Needless to say, you didn’t do that much “relaxation” during spring break.

Suddenly, your phone started going off on the countertop. Katsuki’s name flashing on the screen. Confused, you answered his call anyway, not thinking much of it.

“Y/N turn on the news now,” His said with urgency.

You didn’t argue back, knowing something is off, and raced to the living room. The tv was already on, so you just changed the channels till it reached the local news station. With the volume at its maximum, you sat still and listened to the news anchor.

“This just in, Japan has issued a nationwide lockdown due to the spread of the deadly virus. We’ve been told to report for all citizens to please stay in your homes till further notice. And as for anyone who has left the country, you’ll be permitted to stay within the country you’ve flown to and wait till further instructions...”

Oh shit

-

“Hey hey guys don’t worry I’ll be fine. I mean, isn’t this great news! We don’t have to go to our scheduled classes till further notice! Plus, I think I can score my shot with the maid here at my hotel for the time being,” Kirishima gloated with pure positivity.

“Baka. You do realize there’s a fucking virus going around right? Not to mention there’s a possibility you could die from it.” Bakugou said, trying to throw some common sense at Kiri.

“Right right right. Yes I do know...but that’s not going to stop me from getting laid bro.”

That was one of the few FaceTime calls you got from Kiri. After the third, he stopped calling all together. You grew worrisome for your best friend. Even though he doesn’t show it, Bakugou was worried sick not hearing from Kiri either.

It’s been 5 days since the initial lockdown. So far, you and Bakugou have been doing each of your usual routines at home. First thing in the morning you always prepared breakfast and read a few chapters from your current book. Bakugo did laundry duty and did the dishes after breakfast. Afternoon was just recreational duties. Both you and Bakugou would reside in your rooms doing whatever to ease off the bordem. Evenings were mainly for eating dinner and watching movies.

However, after 10 days, you couldn’t keep up with the routine anymore. You skipped breakfast and didn’t dare to open up another book. Your bedroom became a reminder on how much you’ve spent cooped up in there. Not to mention how easily angered you’ve become.

One day you got angry at how Bakugou was chewing his food. Usually it never irritated you, but now the sight just made your blood boil.

“Who the fuck taught you how to eat?” You spat abruptly.

“Says the person who forgets to clean the tub after they shave their whole entire jungle of a body,” he retored back.

A faint gasp left your mouth, uaware that you completely forgot to clean the tub last night after your feminine duties.

“Don’t know who you’re trying to look presentable for. It’s not like you got a boyfriend, not with all that hair, tch.” he hit you with one last punch to the gut.

You got up from where you were sitting at and begrudgingly walked to your bedroom, locking it in the process. Not daring to leave your room, you open your laptop and started a movie without Bakugou.

-

Out of all days, day 15 by far was the worst. The air conditioner unit stopped working, causing y’all to wake up with drenched bodies. Your room especially was humid, since you had no access to a window. The colored coordinated folders from your book bag had to suffice, using them as makeshift fans. Eventually your arms grew tired of constantly doing the same motion repeatedly, so you finally left your room in hopes for the living room to be much cooler.

You stopped immediately when you caught a glimpse of Bakugou slumped on the L-shaped couch. Not to mention, he was shirtless as well. Heat flushed to your cheeks, making you glow a crimson red. You couldn’t stop staring at the view in front of you. Yes you’ve seen Bakugou shirtless before. Countless of times in fact. The boys would practically walk naked around the apartment, not caring about how you’d react. You were deemed as one of the guys.

But this time it triggered something within you. Something you haven’t quite felt in a long time. Maybe it was the quarantine getting to your head, but you couldn’t help but to wonder how it would feel to be flushed against his naked chest right now. Or if he was the type to snake his hands around your waist and pull you even closer. The thought excited you for a second, but quickly realized this was Katsuki you were thinking about.

Katsuki shifted uncomfortably in his spot, eliciting a whimper during the process. The noise alone made your lower stomach tense with a warm sensation. This was creepy. Watching Bakugou shirtless while sleeping would surly make him go ballistic, but the sight of sweat glistening on his abdomen made his abs more prominent. An image of you being underneath him kept flashing in your head like picture show. A crude and undeniably satisfying picture show. More explicit thoughts kept trying to barge into your brain. So, you ran back into your room and planted yourself headfirst on the floor. Hopefully these thoughts will go away by tomorrow

The thoughts never went away. In fact, they were the reason you didn’t get any sleep last night. A half naked Bakugou Katsuki kept interrupting your innocent dreams, filling them in with dirty scenarios involving the both of you. You knew you were fucked once you heard the faint sound of Katsukis footsteps in the kitchen. You’ve been up all night, with no pure dream in mind. There’s no saving your sleep schedule now. Maybe if you apologize to Katsuki for acting irrational the other day, the thoughts would go away.

Defeated, you got up from your comfortable bed and treaded into unsafe territory. There sat Bakugo, criss cross on the kitchen island eating cereal. It wasn’t an unusual sight, he was the embodiment of a fucking cat.

“Morning shit head,” you playfully teased.

Bakugou raised his head and looked expectingly at you.

Even just looking him dead in the eye raised the temperature throughout your body. This is going to be a nightmare.

“You alright Y/N? Your whole face is flushed...” He paused, eyeing you suspiciously. “You’re not sick are you? If so, I’m kicking you out. I don’t wanna fucking die because of you”.

How charming.

You scratched the back of your neck. “Uh no Katsuki, I just wanted to apologize for the other day. My behavior towards you was unacceptable. This whole quarantine thing has really made me-”

“Shut up. No need to apologize for some stupid quarrel we got into. Besides, we’ve gotten into worse arguments right?” 

You nodded your head, agreeing to how truthful his statement was. It was true. 5 years of friendship and not one time have you guys stopped being friends because of a heated argument. 

“Exactly, don’t sweat about it. I’m just glad you finally came out of your hole. I missed my movie buddy.” He gave you a lopsided grin, to which on cue, your stomach tied itself into a knot.

“Great, because I found a movie last night on my queue that I think you’d like” You beamed as you started making yourself a bowl cereal. Katsuki grunted as a response and leaped off from the island. 

You were too busy focusing on making the cereal that you didn’t hear the faint thump of footsteps behind you. Then, almost as some sort of harsh punishment, Katsuki rested his head between your right shoulder blade. He hummed once he felt your body tense up. His lips were merely inches away from your outer ear. Any other movement from him and you wouldn’t hesitate to throw the gallon of milk at his head. But what he said next caused your whole face to turn pallid. 

“Also, its kind of rude to watch someone sleeping don't cha think?” he whispered before throwing his bowl into the sink beside you. 

At that moment you knew, you were completely fucked. 

[thewildomega]

Star in the Sand Ch.22

Waking up you groaned and moved your hand to rub your throbbing head. Pushing yourself to sit up on the cold floor you cracked your eyes open and looked around the room to see metal walls, metal floors and a heavy duty metal door. Trying to recall what you had been doing earlier you blinked. You remembered training with Zoro, it hadn't been easy to convince the swordsman to teach you some spearman ship but after explaining that you were determined to be able to protect your child he had agreed to help you. 

It had been about a week since the ship had left Fishman Island and while you were excited to see Crocodile again you decided to take this opportunity to better get to know the crew. Teaching Sanji recipes from your world which Luffy enjoyed taste testing. You told Chopper stories you knew as well as exchanging jokes with Brook. Drawing sketches of different machines and explaining them to Franky while Usopp took a chance to help show you different plants he had learned about. At night Nami would explain the different weather patterns and how to better understand the signs of a oncoming storm. Before bed you talked with Robin about your world.

During that time your belly had slowly started getting a bit larger as well, your bones no longer protruding to the point that you could rival Brook. Nami and Robin had even had some lotions and oils to help with your dry skin and hair. You still looked different than you had before going into Impale down but hopefully now you might not scare Crocodile away. Sleeping in an actual bed had also helped with the deep shadows around your eyes even if you were constantly plagued with nightmares. Now that you thought about it that was the last thing you remembered doing. After sparing with Zoro a bit you had drank the vitamin infused smoothie Sanji had made you and then followed Bon's advice to go lay down and rest. 

This however was not Nami and Robin's room. You weren't chained or tied so that was a good thing. However you were only dressed in a pair of jeans and a black tank top. You didn't even have any shoes on, the sandals that Nami had gotten from Pappag. Now that you were coming to some more you realized it was actually cold, not as cold as level five but still chilly. Then it hit you. Punk Hazzard. "Oh Fuck." How the hell had you slept through the arrival, you must have really been out of it. If you were in here then that meant that Luffy, Zoro, Robin and Usopp were already on the hot side and you and the others were here. Only thing was though that you looked to be locked away in a separate room. Why was that? No matter the reason you had to find a way out of here. Standing up  you looked around the room and saw it completely bare. Trying the door just for the hell of it you weren't surprised to find it locked up tightly. Go figure. There had to be a way out, think! The walls were metal as well as the floor, looking up you saw the ceiling made of the same metal but... there was also a vent. You could work with that. 

.............................

Looking around the frozen wasteland, his hair blowing in the harsh wind. They had been walking around for a while now, bypassing the group of marines. Splitting his crew in thirds to go search in a different locations while Daz, Hex and himself went towards the mountains he stopped when he heard explosions. Narrowing his eyes he sensed the presents of others and started that way. When they got close enough that they could see smoke he heard yelling and turned his head to someone he wasn't expecting. 

"GATOR! Hey Crocodile!"

"Straw-hat." he spoke around his cigar. Of course, that's how she got here. 

"Over here!"

Sighing he wasted no time in turning to sand and quickly flying towards the yelling idiot. 

"You're here, that means you got Y/n's letter, she's going to be so happy!" Luff spoke with a smile as Crocodile reformed.

"AHHH NOW CROCODIE IS HERE TOO?!" Both Usopp and Chopper yelled. 

"She's with you then? She's safe?" he asked, not being able to keep the emotion out of his voice. Quickly looking around the place that seemed to be in ruins he noted a few of the Straw-hat crew, Nico Robin included along with another face, Law. However he didn't see Y/n anywhere. 

"Well no not exactly..." tilting his head and rubbing the back of his head. 

Seeing Crocodile's brow twitch Robin stepped forward some. "What he means is that she is not with us right now."

"Then where is she?"

"I duno?" Luffy shrugged. 

Gritting his teeth down on his cigar he heard as Robin offered to explain their current situation. Sighing he moved over to speak with her, hearing the Straw-hat crew go back to they previous conversations. For the next few minutes Robin explained to him how Y/n had temporarily joined them along with Bon Clay. "Bentham?"

"Yes he apparently helped her escape Impale Down. I am guessing that since she knew about us from her world, she knew where to find us in Sabaody, knew that Luffy would have no problem helping her." 

Humming he puffed on his cigar as Robin told him about everything that had happened since they had gotten here. They had apparently separated but even once they were all reunited Y/n was not with them. "How is she? How has she been?" 

Taking a deep breath Robin blinked and looked to her old boss. It was strange seeing him care about someone's wellbeing but she wouldn't comment on it. "Well I did not know her before hand but as for her health... it has improved slightly since she first arrived. I am sure our Doctor, Chopper, can tell you more at a better time." 

"Hey how about changing us back now, I can't do anything in this body." Franky yelled.

Turning his attention back to the rest of the group he watched as Trafalger Law used his Devil fruit powers to change some of the Straw-hat members back to their original bodies. After that he stood back with his arms crossed over his chest as Law explained how this Caesar Clown who used to work with Vegapunk had taken over the island and how he was experimenting on children. His main goal to change them into giants so the military could use them in war. 

"...this woman you are looking for, the one known as Firelocks Y/n, she's in the main Lab. Caesar is keeping her locked up in a separate location from where the rest of you were taken." Law explained. 

"But why? What would he want with her?" Nami asked. 

"Think about it. Caesar has been experimenting on kids for a while now and while he has had some results he hasn't gotten the ones he wants. Vegapunk himself determined the sooner a specimen started getting the drug the better the results."

"But that would mean?! NO! No he can't!" Chopper yelled. 

"What I'm not getting it." Luffy said in confusion. 

"Caesar is keeping y/n because he wants to experiment on her... because she is pregnant!"

His breath caught in his throat. Pregnant, she was still carrying their child? This whole time? Through Impale Down? Blinking and then gritting his teeth when he registered what he had just heard the cigar soon broke in half between his teeth. This Caesar was threatening his soulmate, his child. 

"This guy is a sick son of a bitch ain't e'?" Hex spoke in a growl. 

"Yes. I'm not leaving this island until Y/n and the children are all safe." Nami spoke. 

"If I leave here with Luffy are you going to stay here alone?" Law asked. 

"Wait I'm not going anywhere. If this is important to Nami and Chopper than I'll stay too. Plus Y/n is my friend and that Caesar guy has her, I'm not just going to leave her there. I mean I told her I'd help her get back with Gator. Then Sanji wants to put that Samurai back together. Look if you are going to work with us then get used to helping people." Luffy told Law as he turned towards him some.  

Seeing Law's look Usopp sighed. "Here's the thing. See most of the time when you're forming an alliance you get a couple of groups with a common goal and you negotiate the best way to get it done, does that sound right?"

"Obviously."

"So you'd think but in Luffy's world that logic get's thrown out the window completely."

"Just means I'm friends with you." Luffy butted in with a smile. "Like me and Crocodile, we're friends, right Gator?"

Blinking slowly he stayed silent, his arms crossed over his chest. 

"That's a yes." Luffy grinned. 

"You can forget about having any say in what we do. It's all up to him." 

"All up to me." Luffy beamed. 

"As soon as this guy makes up his mind about something that's it. You're along for the ride wither you like it or not. If selfness was a power he'd take out that emperor on the spot." 

"What Emperor?" Daz asked. 

"After this we're gonna go take down Kaido." Luffy grinned. 

"Fine but we have to hurry up, there's no time. Putting the Samurai back together can be your groups problem. I guess I can go investigate the drug that was given to the children. If they have already started giving it to the woman then maybe I can come up with an antidote. Now who's the ship's doctor again? You come with me, we'll do research behind Caesar's back. Crocodile, one of your men can come as well, maybe he can search around the lab for Firelocks but if they get caught it's on them."

Looking to Hex he tilted his head and saw him nod and start walking away with Law and the furball. 

"Daz perhaps you can stay here and help Nami and Usopp protect the children. Their withdrawals have been making them lash out and they coudl use the help." Robin suggested. 

Nodding once Daz looked to him he heard Straw-hat say that he was with them. 

"Now I'm gonna go kick this Caesar's ass." Luffy smiled. 

......................................

Crawling through the vent for sometime you grumbled to yourself as your knees started to ache. So far you hadn't been able to find a suitable room to drop down into and you were starting to wonder if you ever would. Continuing to crawl you stopped when you heard voices. Quietly moving over to look down into the vent you saw none other than Law and Monet. They seemed to be walking down what looked to be a hallway of sorts. You couldn't make out much but when you heard Law say something about leaving you knew what events were about to unfold. Shit. As they passed out of your view you heard another voice, a deep voice. As the three talk about 'Joker' you heard a pained gasp and wince, this had to be the part where Vergo shows up. That was one guy you really didn't want to be found by.

Staying as still and as quiet as a statue you watched as not too long later Monet and Vergo walked by, Vergo dragging a now unconscious Law behind him. With the poisonous gas soon to be flooding the place you didn't want to keep trying your luck with the vents. Glancing down to the floor you saw it not too terribly far down and sighed. Slowly opening the vent you peeked out to make sure the coast was clear. Easing out you hung from the vent as you tried to lower yourself down as best as you could. Taking a deep breath you let go and managed to land on your feet before falling back on your ass. Better than you stomach. Placing a hand over your baby bump you took a moment to get your barring's. Now you just had to make it to the center part of the lab so the gas wouldn't turn you to stone. Wrapping your arms around yourself you grit your teeth, cold why did it always have to be the cold? Hearing your stomach let out a growl you sighed. "I know." patting your belly gently you walked down another hall but stopped dead in your tracks when you saw two of Caeser's men standing there. 

"Hey! What are you doing out of your room?" 

"Get her!" 

Throwing your fist through the air and kicking at the other you grabbed his gun when he dropped it. Slamming the but of it into the man's gut you heard him groan. Swinging it around into the other's face you knocked him to the ground and didn't see him get up. As the other went to get up you quickly went around him, putting the barrel of the gun against his throat and pulling back. Whimpering out as he elbowed your ribs hard enough to make the breath leave you, pulling it as hard as you could you were thrashed around until he finally fell unconscious. Pulling the gun out you swung the strap over your arm and hurried on before more showed up. Passing by a door you saw words written on it out of the corner of your eye you glanced up and rose a brow. 

....................................

"It brings back memories to see you two in the same cell." Robin spoke. 

"Oh yea Smoky and I got caught by you and Gator in Alabasta. Kinda funny now that you both are in here with us isn't it?" Luffy laughed. 

"Forgive me if I fail to see the humor." He said with a slight roll of his eyes. 

"Shut up you damn fools!" Smoker growled. 

It shouldn't have surprised him that that feathered idiot was behind this whole operation. He wasn't even surprised to see he had managed to work a spy into the navy itself. When Caesar came into the room he grit his teeth. To think someone like him was able to defeat all of them, even when it seemed like Straw-hat had him. Hearing him tell the 'Vergo' man to start the video he saw him turn to them again and begin taunting Law. Seeing them have not only Law's heart but Smoker's as well made him raise his brow. Watching the screen he knit his brows at the giant piece of candy being laid out. Listening to Caesar go about explaining this 'smiley' creature he watched the screen as it showed the purple gas start infecting the island. When the footage showed others out on the snow running away from it he blinked when he realized it was some of his own crew along with the straw-hats and Bentham. 

"Hey that's Zoro, they're all running from the smoke." 

"Would you look at those fools, what are they doing out there and what the hell kind of run is that?" 

"Oh look the Samurai got his body back." Robin grinned.

"Yeah you're right, guess that means he isn't going to give me his legs." Luffy grumbled. "Hey wait that's not important right now Robin." Leaning up some he looked to the video "Run faster guys, that smoke will freeze ya dead! You gotta ru..ahn..ahh." Falling to the ground on his face he groaned. "Aw man I don't have the strength to yell. Damnit, dumb sea prism stone." 

"I take it those are your friends Straw-hat Luffy?" Caesar asked before laughing. 

"Yea they are my friends and they are going to be make it just like Y/n once I find out where you're keeping her. You better not have given her any of those drugged candies." Luffy growled. 

Hearing his soulmate's name get brought up he snapped his eyes over to the man, his body tensing slightly.

"Who?" 

"I believe he is talking about the woman Joker wants." Vergo spoke in his calm voice. 

"Oh her?! I wouldn't dream of drugging her, well not if I want to keep my life. Don't get me wrong I would have loved to test the effects of my drug on her and the unborn child but Joker made it perfectly clear she was not to be touched."

"Why what the hell would he want with her?" Law asked. 

"He doesn't want anything with her, he's simply the delivery man." 

"For who? Who want's y/n?"

"Big Mom maybe, Y/n told me, Robin and Nami that she wanted to kill her." Franky added. 

"Try the other side of her family line." 

"Yes one wouldn't be able to tell she comes from such a strong bloodline just by looking at her." Caesar grinned with a small chuckle. 

"Kaido. She is Kaido and Big Mom's granddaughter." Law spoke once it clicked in his head. 

"So Two of the emperors had a baby?!"

"What can I say, they're must have been some lonely nights on Rock's ship." Vergo huffed.

Shocked by the news he felt his heart hammer in his chest. She was in even more danger than he first thought. If that were true then that would mean...

"So what the hell does Kaido want with her?!" Luffy yelled. 

"Kaido wants a strong army, she's his blood..." Law told him. 

It wasn't difficult to put together what Law was saying and once he did he felt the vein in his forehead and neck stick out, his fist clenching at his side and his teeth gritting together. Over his dead fucking body. 

"I can see this troubles you Crocodile." Vergo spoke, addressing the ex-warlord for the first time. "Knowing that the two of you were affiliated before her time in Impale Down I am going to go out on a limb and say the child growing in her womb is possibly yours. If it's any consolation Kaido may allow her to keep the child once it is born... if she behaves. If not then it will join you in the afterlife." 

"Bastard." he growled so deep it almost sounded inhuman. 

Laughing at the whole situation Caesar gave a smile. "I'll give you this one last chance to see her." Waving his hand towards the workers he saw them pull up the footage of her room, "Now say goodbye to your ahhhh where did she go?!" 

Seeing the room empty he felt hope fill him. She had made her way out. 

"Shishishi, Y/n escaped Impale Down, did you really think you would be able to hold her in there?" Luffy giggled.

"I wouldn't underestimate her if I were you." Robin chuckled

"Grahh. No matter, she will be found soon enough but I'm sorry to say that by then you all will be dead." Nodding his head he watched as the crane picked up the cage and started moving it. "Time for me to show the world that my weapon is tougher than any high bounty pirate, Marine vice admiral or Warlord of the Sea." Caesar laughed.

Getting freed by Law he stood straight and brushed off his clothes. Getting into the lab he watched as the rest of the Straw-hats, marines and his own crew hurry into the lab. 

"Alright looks like everyone's here." Luffy smiles.

As soon as he heard Law tell them they needed to get to the door with R building 66 on it he looked down to his men. "Go help the Straw-hats with the kids then get to that door."

"Oh Mr. Zero there you are. Wait where is Y/n?" Bon asked, quickly looking around for his friend. 

"I'm going to find her." he replied gruffly. Turning around he waited for no reply, refusing to be separated from his soulmate any longer. 

...................................

Running through the lab you held on tightly to the sword you had gotten off the most recent group of Caesar's men. After hearing one of them yell 'There she is..." you were fairly certain they knew you were missing now, which meant Caesar did as well. Assholes had made you drop your jar of peanut butter you had swiped from the kitchen as well. You heard an explosion go off earlier so you guessed the others had made it inside by now. Knowing from the manga that the gas would be spreading quickly now you pushed on to make it to building R. Wincing when your leg ached you moved your hand down to hold it over the bleeding gunshot wound there. As another round of gunfire rang out around you, you heard one yell that you were not to be seriously injured. Running behind the corner and onto the stairway you tried to outrun them but were forced to stop when more yellow dressed men showed up in front of you. 

"Now come on lady, just come with us and we won't be forced to hurt you anymore." 

Gritting your teeth you looked back and forth, you were surrounded and while you may have been able to take on five or six of them there looked to be at least a dozen. Backing into the railing you snapped your eyes behind you to see the floor far below. There was no way you would survive the fall... but there was another option. Looking back to the group you saw them inching there way closer. It was now or never. Turning around quickly you climbed the railing and jumped. 

"NO!" 

Grabbing hold of the chain you gasped as it started falling, you were not expecting a pully. Seeing the ground coming up fast you grabbed hold of the other one and let out a muffled scream when it tore away the skin on the palm of your hand. Pushing through the pain you slowed yourself down enough to not die when you hit the ground but you didn't stick the landing and were left a little dazed when your head smacked against the hard floor.  Blinking slowly as the world seemed to spin you held your belly with one hand and turned your head to the side to see the yellow suited men running down the stairs. There muffled yelling rung in your ears and you whimpered as you pushed your body to sit up. Seeing the fallen sword on the ground not to far away you crawled over to grab it and pushed yourself to your unsteady feet. 

Raising your head as the heavy footsteps grew closer you just did swing your sword in time when one of them took the chance to grab you. The man was quickly replaced with another and all too soon you found yourself in another fight but this time it wasn't looking too good. Crying out when one of them sliced at your shoulder you backed away, the grip on the sword loosening to the point you almost dropped it. Bringing your knee up and then kicking you refused to give up but you were quickly growing exhausted. Tring to swing the now heavy sword again it was blocked and smacked from your hand. Feeling a hand yank on your hair you winced and hit against the man as he stood above you. Seeing him hold out a can of what you guessed was that sleeping gas you held your breath and tried yanking out of his hold. 

"This would have been much easier for you if you would have just did as we sa... ah!" 

"AHHH!"

Feeling the hand on your locks loosen you went to fall to the floor but something held you up. Seeing nothing but black you let your eyes slip close, a heavenly smell filling your nose. Then there was a voice, a deep voice, one you had only heard in your dreams for what seemed like a lifetime. Pulling back some you looked up and saw him. After so long you weren't sure he was real. "C..croc?"

Taking care of all the filth that dared hurt his darling he looked down when he heard her trembling voice. Seeing those sea blue eyes looking up at him and hearing her say his name he couldn't help but grin. As soon as he did he felt her arms wrap around his waist, her face burring into his abdomen. 

Shaking with sobs you held onto him so tightly you only knew his clothes would be wrinkled. It was him, it was really him. 

Prying her arms from him only long enough for him to lift her up he felt her arms wrap around his neck. Holding her with his left forearm and hook he wrapped his right arm around her to return her embrace. His eyes closed momentarily, relishing the knowledge that she was in his arms once again after six months apart. 

There were so many emotions overtaking your body but none more prominent than happiness. Tears poured from your eyes, soaking into his coat and shirt but he didn't seem to mind. "I'm ssssorrryyy." you sobbed. 

Hearing her heart wrenching apology he licked his lips, swallowing the lump growing in his throat. "Why on earth are you apologizing to me? You have no reason to be sorry..." Clenching his teeth he gently rubbed the back of her head and hair. "I on the other hand don't deserve your forgiveness, everything that happened to you, all of this, it's my fault." 

Shaking your head you nuzzled your nose into his neck. "No it's no..."

"It is." he said through gritted teeth. "I failed you again... I didn't..."

Leaning up you pushed your lips to his. Holding his face in your hands you refused to let him break away. After a few moments he sighed, his lips softening to kiss you back and you knew you had won. Tears continued dripping from your eyes and no doubt onto his face. Pulling away only to peck his cheeks and lay your forehead on his you closed your eyes. You didn't know wither it was from finally being reunited with your lost love again after so much or all the injuries but you felt very tired. 

Feeling her body slacken against his he opened his eyes slightly and looked down to her. Seeing the blood on her forehead he recalled where they were and what was happening. Moving her over to the steps he sat her down and kneeled in front of her while his eyes scanned over her body. He could see blood soaking her pants leg, a gash across her shoulder and blood coming from her head. There was so much more he wanted to observe but now wasn't the time. Removing his belt he put it around her upper thigh and pulled it tight to stop the bleeding until it coudl be treated. There wasn't much he could do about her other injuries unfortunately. As his eyes fell to the small bump under the thin tank top she was wearing he felt his heart beat harder in his chest. Reaching out he ever so gently placed his hand over the majority of her stomach. Blinking he stroked her belly with his thumb, "You truly are an amazing woman." 

Grinning bashfully you looked down to his hand and placed yours overtop for a moment. That quiet moment was soon interrupted as a loud explosion shook the lab. "We have to go, now." 

Nodding he stood and removed his coat wrapping it around her slightly trembling body he lifted her up into his arms again. He would get them out of this place and then he would never have her out of his sight again. 

[razorblade180]

OC test: Survive pt1

Each character has been split off from one another by hard light fields to form a circular ring divided evenly; with a safe zone in the very center. They can all see and hear each other, but that’s it. All characters will face grimm at the same time. The type of grimm is dependent on what will give that individual trouble. Once a character defeats their grimm, it is their choice to what zone they want to go to next to help. The test is over when a winner in every zone has been decided.

Aero:Anybody getting Saw vibes from this, or at least something sinister?

Kovu:It did say “a winner” meaning the grimm might own us.

Summer:Remember the good old days where a test was make breakfast? I do...

Veronica:Just don’t fuck up and you’ll be fine. I’m ready for everything!

Sienna:Aren’t you technically a civilian?

Veronica:Pfft, I can still kick butt. I’m a Xiao Long!

Jacquelyn:I think the test is beginning.

Yujin stretches out her wrists and grabs her sword. It was soon after that ten pools of grimm opened up with Ursa Majors clawing out, fully armored and foaming at the mouth. One final pool had a King TaijituYujin wasn’t expected anything less, yet she was still upset. “I am sick and tired of these stupid things! Why all at once!?”

“Because it’s called survival...” Tenzen said, witnessing dozens of baby deathstalkers marching towards his as hives of lancers swarmed above. “Guess I’m playing exterminator...” he syched himself up, before a Beringel came stampeding in. It beat on it’s chests and let out a roar. “And....fighting baby King Kong...”

Jael hadn’t wasted any time making headway on her test. She knew herself pretty well and what she could handle. That still did not entirely prepare herself to fend of eight fully grown manticore in aerial combat. “So this is a manticore? Yeah, about what I expect .” She said , dodging their fireballs. “Air or land, they seem pretty dangerous. Guess I got no real advantage, yet.”

Sparrow was on the ball. Military training served him well. Armed only with an Atlesian pistol and a fishing rod, he controlled the battle ground. His mother had taught him long ago what his limits were and how to make up for them. A single Sphinx flew down to swipe at him. The young man back stepped and shot a high powered round at its foot. The beast roared before trying to fly.

“Oh no you don’t!” He casted the line right in the Sphinx’s mouth and yanked back down on the injure foot. “You’re gonna move the way I want you to!” Another round hit its front paw, making the creatures spin around, using its snake tail. Sparrow had already dropped the line and cought the second beast. He didn’t hesitate to press his gun right to its eye and blow up the head of the...tail. “Whoo! Still got it!”

While several of the kids quickly understood their enemies, others were left a little perplexed. Sienna was one of these people. “Uhhh I know Remnant is a big place, but since when do grimm look like roaches?” She stuttered.

The question got many to take a glance. Yep, roaches, but not the small kind. These roaches looked on par with the size of house cats. The black insects with bone white wings scattered around the floor. Several stood on two legs while grinding their human-like teeth together that made a shrill noise Sienna found personally irritating. The only Kovu alone seemed to grasp that situation.

“Don’t run! Walk in big circle! They’ll be huddled up that way!” He shouted. Sienna followed his instructions without question. The heard of roaches began following her on two legs while the others reached outward.

“Ohhh don’t like that!” Sienna looked at Kovu with a look that said, “what I’m the actual hell” very apparently. “Kovu-”

“They’re called Feasters. Do not let them swarm you and do not run! They will get on all of their legs and be much faster. Also don’t jump! They fly; just whack them with your chain.”

Sienna did just that. “I hate this I hate this I hate this, they’re so many! And that stupid noise!!!! Agh, my ears!” She winced. A second of stopping prompted the infestation to lunge at her like a wave. Sienna quickly tumbled backwards and kept walking. The last thing she wanted was for those things to take a bite of her. All things considered though, this was manageable. The benefit of no semblance she supposed. “How we looking everyone?”

“Peachy!” Veronica yelled, rider kicking a Tar Maw, a voracious gator like grimm that had a bond white back with black carvings. It’s red eyes glared and the tar black underside dripped like a leaky faucet. The sixteen foot beast opened its gaping mouth, hurling up grimm fluid before diving into it and through the ground subsequently; as it the dirt itself has become as flowing as water. Veronica phased through the ground to try and hit it from underneath but was shocked to see the beast diving down for her. Along with two more smaller but equally dangerous Tar Maws. Quickly, Veronica shot upward through the ground and into the air to barely avoid the the creatures that burst through the ground almost as forceful as her.

“As if one wasn’t enough.” Veronica snarled. Her body rolled forward midair to deliver a swift axe kick to one of the grimm’s hid, knocking it into the others. “I think Summer and I finally agree on something! I miss breakfast tests!”

“Glad you see it my way...” Summer groaned, watching a Arma Gigas rise. She looked over to her brother’s section to see the same exact expression of annoyance. Of course he had one as well. Nick looked at her as if she could do anything about it. “I know, it sucks.”

“Royally.” He added. Nick armed himself with Mort Froide and placed 15 upright ice glyphs around it in a diamond formation. His next move was summoning a gigas blade in his left hand before running towards the emerging knight that has yet to form from the shins down. With limited options it swung its blade which Nick proceeded to jump onto an continuing his charge towards its face. “I’ve killed one before. I can do it again!” Nick jumps at the face to slash it but is knocked back by a headbutt. Fully formed, the gigas bends its knees to prepare a jumping slash. However, blades of ice rockets out of the glyphs, wedging themselves between the knees and ankle armor space to stall movement long enough for Nick to recover. He runs his head and grunts, “Gah, okay. This one has a bet more heft. Noted...”

Valerie watched her two closest friends head off to fight their grueling challenge. “Always setting the pace.” She faced forward towards a fresh Nucklevee, free of any armor but still big enough to be a problem. “What, is this some kind of generational test? Too bad dad isn’t here. He’d love this!” Valerie leaped forward, twirling her battle axe before smashing it into the ground to break up the floor. “Can’t let move easily.” She leaped again.

The Nucklevee shot it’s arms out into the crushed floor and then upwards, it’s hands full of rocks. They flew up and over Valerie before crushing the rubble. A cloud of dirt and debris rain down and struck her back, throwing her balance off. Both arms came plummeting downwards to wrap her up and slammed them into the earth.

“It’s thinking!? But it’s new!” Valerie struggled trying to break free of the elastic grasp. “Huh?” She looked up to see the horse mouth exhale a plume of black smoke along the floor and headed right to her. “That’s not good...” through pure strength and will, Valerie got to her feet and started pulling with all her might. The arms wiggled and where dragged up from the ground but would not break. The fog crawled closer and closer until the edges of it began stinging her skin on her ankles like fire. “Gah! Aw screw it!” She yelled, taking a deep breath and releasing the tension of her struggling. Her entire body slingshotted forward through the smoke and to the best, striking it with a double kick to the skeleton like face. It’s arms finally loosened enough for her to escape. She went to sever an arm until the beast turned around and struck her with it’s massive hind hooves. Val tumbled back and onto her legs. A strange numbness and pain resided in her ankles. Moving felt...odd. Valerie looked up to see the fog continue to spread and the beast beginning to charge. “Tsk..” Maybe it was best her father wasn’t here after all?.

In a other section, a much better circumstance was taking place for Lucas. The man effortlessly weaved around the onslaught of razor sharp feathers, bouncing some back to clip the Nevermore wings that sent them. It helped, but only a little considering he was dealing with an entire flock. Multiple enemies that used a wind ranging attack with multiple projectiles. Quite the headache for one who sees the future. So he did what he always did, not even try.

“One thing at a time Lucas. This moment, right now.” He said to himself as more feathers rained. He transformed his blade into a whip and began flailing it to deflect only what he could see and hear coming his way. The moment he found an opening he would swimg the whip around the bird’s neck and yank it down for him to cleave it. A simple strategy, effective. However, it was time consuming. Not a problem for him specifically, but his mind could only think about the people around him. He hadn’t been paying close attention to all of them, but the screaming grimm he could hear outside his zone let him know they weren’t all getting lucky in this test. “EVERYONE OKAY!?”

“NO!” Aero cried as he crashed to the ground, his wings covered in webs. The flexed it off the best he could while avoiding Soul Suckers, enormous spider grimm that had a real bad habit of draining aura and turning people into soulless husks that were robbed of will. Seven of the bastards shot dense web at him in an attempt to do just that. Aero spread his wings and slammed them towards the ground, rocketing himself upward with one powerful flap. “I AM NOT EQUIPPED FOR THESE!”

“They have spider grimm!?” Lucas said with concern. “That’s just sadistic...”

“You’re telling me!?” Aero looked over to Mona’s section, who was dealing with a single Goliath. Her spry nature allowed her to maneuver around its legs, quickly attacking. Unfortunately she was up against a Goliath. Simple daggers might as well be paper cuts. “You hanging in there Mona!?” He asked before having to dodge more webs.

“Worry about yourself Bird Boy!” She yelled sprinting. Mona went into a one armed hand spring onto its trunk and rolled onto its back, sliding down it with her dagger running through it shallowly before hitting armored bone; killing her momentum and hurting her shoulders. “Shit!” She winced. She yanked her blade out and jumped off as the Goliath’s trunk tried grabbing her. “Uuuggh this big bitch might as well be made of clay!” She pulled out her second dagger and took one giant lunge that sent her flying like a bullet. Mona began spinning like a sideways buzz saw as she went by the grimm’s left and right leg, making an average size gash. Not enough to cripple it but enough to piss it off.

The thief couldn’t stop her speed correctly and ended up tumbling along the ground and barely missing a tree. Her head buzzed loudly and her vision blurred enough to not realize the two ton monster charging until it was severely feet away. “Oh f-” she tried blocking. The tusks were aimed right for her blades but suddenly, her entire body was shot up in the air and away from the attack. “Aaah! What the heck!?”

“Stop screaming!”

Mona was spun around to see Eliza hovering with the power of wind. “How the- you finished!?”

“Yeah I had those gross centipedes and a couple annoying alphas with majors as well.” Eliza said. She causally pointed behind her to a zone charred beyond belief. “My semblance was useless so I had to go all out from the start. Guess you’re in a similar situation? Let’s waste this thing.”

“Hmm you’re lucky I like the way you look. I’ll take you up on that, not that needed help.”

“Whatever you say. Maybe I should’ve checked in with Kovu!” She looked his way. “But considering with Carmine said I’m sure his challenge-”

“oPeN UuuP...” gurgled a cold, torn voice. One that reached all ears, freezing grimm and human alike. It came from Kovu’s section. There the young man sat pinned and shaken up. Nothing but the dust barrier against his back and his own bubble-like barrier in front of it, constructed from his golden aura. The thing gnawing it, a very big and very aggressive Hound. It’s teeth grated against the aura, barely cracking it but cracking it nonetheless. “oPeN UuuP...”

Kovu’s face dripped sweat. His arms were completely stiff from trying to maintain his gaurd. “Guys, I don’t want to sound needy, but...” he grunted.

Several of his friends began working harder on their matches. Yujin and Veronica in particular had a fire lit inside them to make sure Kovu would be okay.

“Hang on Kovu!” Yujin yelled. “Just give me a bet of time and-”

“I thought you wanted to be a huntsman?” Carmine interjected, gaining Kovu’s attention. “I thought you wanted to try and catch up to me, but you’re asking for help this quickly? Not only that, but now you’ve caused others to worry more about you which could make them rush and make a mistake that’ll be disastrous. Hmm, I thought better of you than that.” She said bluntly.

He said nothing. Veronica on the other hand. “Hey!” She had a few words. “Isn’t that your cousin!? You of all people should be-”

“Worried?” Carmine finished. “I’m not saying I’m not, but I’m more worried about the thing behind me, I’m case none of you payed attention.” Carmine looked over her shoulder to the massive grimm pool that all but filled the entire area and continued to flow.

Of course nobody else noticed. It wasn’t big enough to caste a shadow over them all until this moment. Once again eyes looked to see the danger but it was their ears that heard it before anything else. A deafening roar that shook the ground like a disaster. Carmine fully turned around to look at her opponent. It was cruel. Downright evil to the letter. What could she have possibly done to earn-

“Leviathan!?” Tenzen yelled.

“I know right? It’s ridiculous.” Carmine said, a bead of sweat running down her head. “I rather switch with Jacquelyn.”

“Hehe, is that a fact?” She laughed nervously, witnessing the creation of a fully realized dragon staring her down as the shook off excess fluid. Yet another huge thing that nobody but Carmine was aware of apparently because they were once again floored. Not necessarily at the beasts even though they were scary, but because that was two people’s test!”

Yujin looked briefly at Carmine in awe. “You can take down Leviathan!?”

“What? Hell no! Are you crazy!?” Carmine said, unapologetically. “That thing is a kingdom killer! Look it’s flattering that you all seem to think I’m super badass but you do know I’m one person right?”

“Well when you say it like that I sound stupid. Didn’t Ruby beat one of those?” Yujin said, dodging.

“My mother flashed her eyes while a giant robot sucker punched it with a drill. Her eyes didn’t even do much but make it stuck for three seconds. Nobody just beats a Leviathan!” Carmine brandished her sword to face it. Her eyes looked back towards to see her cousin still struggling. “....Did you all know Kovu has never beaten me in a fight? He’s always been a pretty average fighter. That being said, I could never knock him out or keep him down for long. He’s resilient as hell. Almost like surviving is his special talent.”

“Carmine...” Kovu uttered.

“Surviving doesn’t mean winning. I’m definitely not about to win this and I doubt Jacquelyn over there is coming up with a grand slam plan to solo a dragon. Buying time though, I can do that all day.” The leviathan shot out a breath of immense flames. Carmine dove out of the way immediately. “Do not make me do this all day. I’m tired. Twenty minutes at best. More than enough time for anyone to lend a hand and then some, right?” Without another word, she got to work.

Carmine was an odd ball. If she had said anything like that to a stranger, it may have come off as rambling. But those around her in this test, they got the girl’s message. Kovu most of all, while Jacquelyn understood from the start given her enemy. Twenty minutes. Nobody was to aid her for that long or to worry. Carmine had temporarily removed herself the equation. One less thing for other’s to worry about.

“Twenty one.” Kovu said. “I got this mutt right where I want him for twenty one minutes.” Sure he was being optimistic, but this barrier bursting wasn’t game over right away. Like Carmine said, he was resilient.

Jacquelyn couldn’t help but smile. Part of it was the touching pep talk. The other was nervousness because no way was she about to put herself before kids. “Ah what the hell. I’m the winter maiden. A badass one at that. Thirty.” Her eyes glowed.

“Of course they want to out do me” Carmine chuckled. Alright everyone, nothing fancy! Those who know they can win, will. All others, do this test, survive!

Finally the stage was set. Everyone was on track. “Right!!!”

[echoghost1]

Dark Familiarity

Word Count: 2608

For: @gottacatchghosts

Summary: Danny has been hunting ghosts for a while now. He has been ever since they ruined his life and a mysterious package arrived with everything he needed to exact his revenge.

TW: Character Death!

You can read on AO3 or down below the cut.

Danny slowly slid the window open. He knew if he went too fast it would squeak. Just as he nearly had it wide enough for him to fit through, the door behind him opened.

“Danny?” his mom called out with a hint of warning in her voice.

He sighed and slid his backpack off of his shoulder. “Yeah?” he said with as much disinterest as he could muster. Which was a lot, surprisingly.

“What are you doing?”

“Opening the window? Am I not allowed fresh air now?” he said with a scoff. Could she just hurry up with the lecture already? He was missing out on his patrols and if he waited too long that ghost girl would get all the good ones.

She crossed her arms and scowled right back at him, “Why do you need your backpack to open a window? And where’s the screen?”

“It fell out.” That was true enough. She didn’t need to know that it was because he had kicked it out about a month ago.

“And the backpack?”

“I just hadn’t taken it off yet. Anything else you want to interrogate me over?”

She sighed and all the previous agitation drained out of her, “Why are you so angry? You never used to be this angry.”

“Well, maybe it’s because my life sucks?! Did you ever think of that? Maybe moving to this terrible apartment complex at the beginning of the school year wasn’t such a great idea?”

“You know we couldn’t afford to stay in our old house after what happened.”

“Yeah, but you could have tried a little harder to find a place with a few less rats, don’t you think?”

“Daniel!”

“Or maybe this is just who I am now?” He snatched his bag off the ground and pushed the window the rest of the way up. He didn’t care if she saw anymore. He just had to get out and shoot something.

“What are you-? Get back in here this instant!” His mom yelled as he slipped out the window and stood on the fire escape.

“You don’t want me to be angry here, so I’m going out.”

“Danny please, just come back in. It’s not safe out here at night.”

He didn’t bother replying. The only words in his mind were cruel and he didn’t want to make this worse.

He took the fire escape stairs two at a time and jumped from the ladder to the dirty sidewalk below. He quickly walked a few blocks until he got to the corner store, then he slipped into the alley and put his hunter suit on.

The technology used to make the gear was so beyond what he even thought was possible. He still had yet to meet the person who had sent it to him, but it worked so well he hardly cared if he ever would.

There was a ping on his visor HUD and he couldn’t help the smirk that stretched across his features. That looked like a big one. Perfect.

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

Due to him staying out much longer than necessary for ghost hunting patrols he accidentally slept through a test and got in trouble for fighting when he decided to stand up for himself for once.

Why he got in trouble for not wanting to be shoved inside his own locker for the hundredth time was beyond him.

“I can’t believe you kicked Dash in the balls.”

Oh yeah, that’s why he was in trouble.

He laughed, “Well if he hadn’t made it so easy I wouldn’t have been able to.”

“Okay, but when did you become such a badass?” Tucker asked as the two sat in the empty classroom and waited for their detention to start.

Danny just shrugged.

He hadn’t told his friends about the ghost hunting yet. He almost did, but when he heard Sam going off about ‘Ghost Rights’ he figured it would just be easier to keep it a secret.

“Well maybe tone it down next time? I thought the plan was to be geeks in school and then take over the world when we graduate college and all the dumb jocks have to work for us?”

“That may be your plan, but I don’t think I’m patient enough for that.”

Tucker rolled his eyes before quickly pocketing his phone as Mr. Lancer entered the room.

He takes his sweet time making it to his desk before looking over the files in front of him, “Tucker Foley. Repeated loitering by the girl’s locker rooms and having your phone in the classroom.” he sighed and looked at Tucker with a disapproving frown before looking at Danny’s report. “Daniel Fenton. Sleeping in class. Talking back to faculty. Fighting with other students? Mr. Fenton, I know you’re going through a rough patch right now.”

Whatever he was about to say Danny didn’t want to hear it. “Save it. If I wanted a pity party, I would have thrown one myself.”

Mr. Lancer slapped the papers back onto his desk. “I was hoping some positive reinforcement would do you some good but clearly that’s not what you want.”

“How is getting detention for standing up to bullying ‘positive reinforcement’?”

“Danny,” Tucker whispered through clenched teeth, “stop! You’re gonna make it worse.”

“What could possibly be worse?”

“Suspension! You’re suspended for the next two weeks! Hopefully, that will get your attitude back in check.”

“You can’t do that!”

“Actually, as Vice Principal, I very much can. Now, wait here while I call your parents.”

Danny clenched his fists and glared at the floor. This wasn’t fair. Nothing was fair and everything was stupid.

If he couldn’t go to school what the heck was he supposed to do all day? He certainly wasn’t going to sit around in the apartment.

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

Oddly enough, news of his suspension gave his dad the idea to visit his old college friend. “Sure I haven’t seen the man in years, but I’m sure he’d love to have us. It is our 20-year reunion this year, maybe he’d like to catch up?”

“Are you going to call him first? Before you just show up?” Jazz asked looking up from her book. It was a valid question giving their dad’s tendency to just do things.

“No need! He sent this invitation just the other day. It got lost in the mail for a bit due to the move, but here it is!” he said pulling the invite out with a flourish. “Nothing like a good old road trip to put the mind at ease!”

“Wisconson? That’s at least a four-hour drive from here.”

“Yeah! It’s going to be great! Especially if we see any cool attractions on the way!” his dad continued oblivious to his daughter’s distress.

“You know, this might be a good thing for us.” his mom said as she looked over the flyer. “I’ll give him a call and see if he minds if we all come.”

“I can’t believe that you get in trouble and now I have to waste my weekend on some dumb family road trip.” Jazz grumbled mostly to herself before sticking her nose back in her book.

Danny just rolled his eyes and went to his room. Apparently, he had some packing to do.

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

They ended up leaving much later than they had intended because his mom wasn’t able to get off of work any sooner than 6 ‘o clock. Because of their late departure, they had to sleep crammed into a sketchy motel. If they still had the RV they could have slept there, but that got sold with the house and all their inventions.

The sleepover did reveal some very interesting bit of news that their parents had decided to wait until the very last second to mention. Apparently, this mysterious old college friend was none other than Vlad Masters.

The name meant nothing to Danny until Jazz started going on about how he was some super successful billionaire or whatever.

That was not something he would have expected to hear.

It was made even weirder when they said he had a lab accident when they were in college that sounded an awful like it might have been his dad’s fault.

No wonder they got shut down.

Danny can’t help but wonder what his life would have been like if they had built the portal in the basement as they had wanted, instead of renting the lab space at Axion. He’d probably would have gotten hurt somehow. He’s honest with himself enough to admit that he’s clumsy and accident-prone.

Or at least he used to be.

Now he’s always ready.

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

Meeting Vlad was, interesting, to say the least.

The man was both obsessed with the Green Bay Packers and also Danny’s mom.

Jazz said it was fine as long as mom said no, and she was usually right about things when it came to other people so he let it slide.

He was watching the reunion party get set up when Vlad came up beside him, “Can I have a word with you?” he asked in his smooth rich guy voice.

“Uh, sure?” Danny agreed and followed Vlad out of the room and down the hall.

They walked for a while in complete silence and just when Danny was about to say something they entered a laboratory.

“So, how is the equipment fairing? Everything working properly?” Vlad asked casually.

“Equipment?” Danny asked when the only equipment he owned was his secret ghost hunting gear.

Vlad turns to face him with a smirk Danny can’t quite place. “Yes, you’re ghost hunting equipment.”

“You know about that?”

“Who do you think gave it to you?”

Danny hesitated and realized maybe he should have looked into what Dlav Co. was after all.

“How many well-off individuals with a background in ghost studies do you think there are?” he chuckles, “Or did it not occur to you to know your benefactor?”

Danny frowned not at all liking how this guy was talking. “If you wanted me to know who you were, why didn’t you just say so when you sent it to me?”

“And risk anyone finding out I’ve given dangerous and experimental weapons to a fourteen-year-old? No thank you.”

“Then why give them to me at all?”

“Because you're the most capable ghost hunter I've ever seen!” he praised as he put a hand on Danny’s shoulder as he steered him further into the lab. “You’re a natural in the field. Quick battle reflexes and amazing adaptability. It’s like you were born for this.”

“You really think so?”

An adult saying nice things about Danny was so rare, but this was something else. Was this guy actually proud of him? What he’d give for his own parents to be even half this proud of him.

“Of course, dear boy.” He let go of Danny as they approached a large workbench, “I hope you don’t mind, but I took the liberty of gathering your equipment.”

Danny looked to where Vlad was gesturing and saw that that was his suit and all of his guns. Even the hoverboard was there too.

He hadn’t brought his ghost hunting gear with him. He distinctly remembers leaving that at home. In his room. Under his bed.

Should he be worried about that?

“I thought, after you’ve been working so hard lately, it could use some upgrades. Don’t you think?”

“Oh, okay. Cool.” Hard to say no when it was already here.

“Excellent.” He clapped his hands together once and spun on his heel, “Well I should be done with all of this in just a few days so I’ll just send them back once they are ready.”

Danny wasn’t super excited to be without his gear for so long, but this guy was being so generous. Danny just accepted the terms.

“Perfect. Now run along. I have a few things I need to attend to before all the other guests get here.”

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

The reunion party was in full swing and Danny was starting to regret not just staying with Jazz in the movie room. Watching a bunch of grown-ups jump around to weird music because there was absolutely no one his age around to talk to was getting old.

He spotted Vlad from across the room as he walked with one of the waiters back into the kitchen.

Danny sighed and wondered if he would get in trouble if he just followed him in there too.

Just as he was setting his empty punch glass back on the table a scream broke out. He turned to the sound and instinctively reached for his gear.

Which he didn’t have.

He sighed and hoped that maybe it wasn’t ghost-related, they were so far from Amity that it couldn’t possibly be that, right?

He was wrong. Because of course, he was.

The ballroom was emptying out surprisingly fast and it didn’t take a lot to see why. Floating several feet in the air was his dad.

He was shouting nonsense about how he needed to pay for his sins as he flew about the room.

Danny bit his lip and looked around to see if there was anything in the room he could use to help.

He was about to grab one of the serving trays to use as a shield, Captain America style, but his mom gripped his arm and started to drag him out of the room with the rest of the crowd.

“Sweetie, we have to go! Where is your sister?”

“She’s in the theater,” he said pointing towards it as he tried to slip out of her grip.

“Good, let’s go!” before he could protest further she simply picked him up, slung him over her shoulder, and started running.

“Mom?! Put me down! We can’t just leave him!”

“I’m sorry sweetie, but it’s not safe. We need to leave.”

“But mom, it’s a ghost! We have to get it out of him!”

His mom slowed down in her retreat and held him in front of her, “And how do you suppose we do that? I don’t have any ghost hunting gear, do you?”

Danny bit back his retort. Of course, he couldn’t say that he did. He couldn’t say that it was in fact, here.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t take a guess at where some could be.

“Maybe Vlad has some? He went to school for the same thing you did, right?” Danny said in a rush as he was finally able to wiggle out of her grip.

“Danny wait!”

It was too late, he was already off back to the lab to get the weapons his mom didn’t know he knew how to use.

He slid into the room and to his utter horror, all of his gear was completely dismantled. Exposed wires and opened components everywhere. When the heck did Vlad even have time to do all this while he was hosting a party?

Danny scrambled to find something, anything that was even remotely usable but the more he looked, the more everything just blurred together into a haze of black and red electronics.

There was another scream.

His mother.

He ditched the room and ran towards the sound hoping he wasn’t too late to help her.

It wasn’t his mom that needed help.

Outside of the ballroom was a large balcony that overlooked the front lawn. From there you could see the most stars Danny had ever seen outside of astral photography.

The stars weren’t what was holding his attention tonight.

Down below the balcony, on the hard unforgiving asphalt of the driveway was his dad.

He was too late.

His dad was dead.

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

If you enjoyed this AU you can read more here

[noneya-business-me]

Defenseless in the sun

It started like most of these disastrous training days go. Normal. There was a bit of rain the night before, but that didn’t bother any of the young heroes in training. They had been in worse situations before. Bakugou gazed lazily out the window of the bus as they travelled further and further up the mountain. The expanse of dark forest involuntarily made him shiver as he tried to shake off the feeling of fingers on the back of his neck. “You good dude?” Kirishima asked, leaning into his space trying to see what he was staring at.

The blonde grumbled, rolling his eyes. “I’m fine.” He replied, shoving him back in his seat.

His friend smiled widely at him. “I think it’s good for us to have a change of scenery,” he stated, sensing his apprehension, “we’ve been stuck on the same boring training field forever.”

Bakugou rolled his eyes again but gave him a slight nod in agreement. “Everyone listen here.” Aizawa called, standing at the front of the bus, “we’re going to be pulling into our location any minute now.”

The bus lapsed into silence as they listened to their teacher giving them instructions about unloading the bus to get ready for the day. They soon pulled into a clearing where they all filed out to do their tasks before they would get directions for their exercises. Bakugou shoved his hands in his pockets with a scowl as Kirishima pulled on his arm to bring him closer into the group.

“Today we brought you up here to do a combination of wilderness survival and rescue training.” Aizawa explained, “you’re going to be separated into groups of three and moved between stations for the morning, a break for lunch, and then switch to rescue training in the afternoon.”

He motioned towards the numbered off sections around the clearing with different people standing by for the students to move. “We’re lucky enough to be joined by some instructors from the Musutafu Outdoor Survival School so be on your best behaviour,” he hissed with a glare, pointedly towards the blonde’s own friend group.

When the idiot squad gave him excited nods, he sighed with a shake of his head. “I’m allowing you to pick your own groups today so don’t make me regret it.”

The class murmured excitedly as they moved into their groups of three. “I’m not getting dragged down by some shitty extras.” Bakugou snapped, gritting his teeth audibly.

“Come on man! This is going to be fun!” Kirishima smiled, pumping his fist into the air, “we just need to find one more person.”

He glanced over to the other groups seeing that they were all already grouped up. “You’re going to be my group of two then.” Aizawa stated, quickly noting who was in which group, “there are 7 stations to complete by lunchtime. You’ll spend 25 minutes at each station, and you’ll hear me whistle when it’s time to change. Are there any questions?”

He quickly took the silence as a no and motioned for the students to go to a station. Kirishima quickly pulled the blonde to the first station along the clearing. “Hi guys!” The instructor greeted happily.

While Kirishima replied happily with his own hello, Bakugou simply grunted in acknowledgement. “So here we’re going to learn how to gather the right wood and build a fire.” She stated, motioning to a pile of wood next to her.

Bakugou rolled his eyes as he slumped to the ground. He zoned out as she drawled on about making sure it’s dry and not damp at all, and blah blah blah. “Dude, pay attention,” Kirishima hissed, nudging him with his elbow.

Bakugou glared at him in clear annoyance. “I already know all this shit.” He growled, “I’ve done this a shit ton of times when I’ve gone hiking with my dad.”

“Do you want to do your test now then?” The instructor asked with a tight polite smile.

The blonde shrugged, moving to his feet and sifting through the pile until he found the right wood he needed. He also gathered a small pile of dry leaves. He placed the wood down next to the pile and carefully let out a few sparks from his palms. He had learned from the training camp that even his smallest explosions could be important depending on the circumstances. This was the perfect opportunity to test his control. The leaves quickly started to smoke before a small flame formed and he carefully built it up with more brush and wood. “There.” He stated, standing up and crossing his arms with a huff, “Do I pass now?”

“Well, you were supposed to use one of the techniques that we show you.” The instructor replied, holding out one of the wooden dowels that he was supposed to use.

“I can do it!” Kirishima interrupted with a wide smile. taking the hand drill and starting to gather his own brush, “we’re a team so we can work together!”

The instructor looked apprehensive before giving him her own smile. “All righty then.”

The redhead didn’t have any problems lighting his own fire, slightly impressing the other teen. Before long they heard Aizawa’s whistle cut through the air prompting them to continue to the next station and repeating seemingly the same process. Kirishima being overly excited and Bakugou tuning out but still passing the tests easily. They built shelters, tied knots and lashes, located the perfect place to set up a campsite, and went over navigations with a compass and map. For the fifth time that day their teachers whistle shrilled through the air, making the blonde groan again. He was seriously considering going over to their drowsy teacher and breaking that whistle in half. “Come on dude,” Kirishima whined, “aren’t you having fun at all?”

“Like I said before, I’ve done this shit a million times.” The blonde hissed, stomping towards their next station.

The other boy playfully nudged him in the arm. “Yeah, but it’s beautiful outside and we’re not stuck in a stuffy classroom all day.” He stated, “this is a chance to hone your skills and become the best in the class. You’re already leagues above most of us as it is.”

Sometimes the blonde hated how well his friend could read him. He knew exactly what to say in order for him to see the value in any task, no matter how much he hates the idea of some things. Kirishima could already see the fire building in the other’s eyes. “As if any of you losers could be better than me at anything,” Bakugou smirked, running ahead of the redhead to settle at their station first.

“That’s the spirit Bakugou!” He shouted, clashing his fist together.

“What are we doing?” The blonde snapped at the sheepish looking instructor.

They jumped a bit at his volume but quickly settled again. “You’re refreshing your knowledge of first-aid and CPR.” He replied, sitting down on the ground across from them.

The two of them instantly deflated, disappointed that the adrenaline they had just worked up was wasted on a relaxed station. “Don’t look so sullen,” the instructor stated, adjusting his glasses to flip through the manual in his lap, “First-aid is extremely important especially when you’re going to be pro-heroes. There’s going to be a lot of people that need immediate help that are inaccessible to medical teams right away.”

The two of them quickly sobered up in order to listen to the man. Even the fiery blonde knew how important these lessons could be, especially after his failure at the provisional licensing exam. They re-learned dressing different types of wounds, splinting limbs, and the basics of CPR; practicing on each other throughout. “Good job you guys.” The instructor praised, “I think that’s the best I’ve seen today so far.”

“See I told you.” Kirishima grinned at his friend.

“Whatever you loser,” Bakugou replied with a small smile.

“It’s about to switch groups so you guys go ahead.” Their instructor stated, glancing at his watch.

The two nodded, moving onto their final station. By the time they got close to their next destination they could see Tokoyami, Todoroki, and Koda staring down at a small pile of acorns that they had apparently gathered as food. “I don’t think we could eat this to survive.” Todoroki stated bluntly, “I found some berries though.”

He reached in his pocket, pulling out a hand full of squished berries. He stared at his hand before glancing down at his pocket that was stained through from the squeezed-out juices. “Oh.”

Bakugou could barely contain himself from slamming his hand to his forehead in exasperation. Kirishima looked just as bewildered as he felt. “Technically you can survive off of that if you leech them first but not for very long.” Their instructor laughed before the whistle prompted them to move on.

He turned to the pair as the other group departed. “I guess you guys are the lucky group that gets to gather food for lunch.” He stated with a grin.

“What do you mean?’ Kirishima asked.

“The last group at each station has to contribute to a part of the lunch break like building the fire to cook or building the shelter for shade.” He replied, “and you guys get to gather the ingredients to cook with!”

He handed them a booklet with different pictures of plants circled and locations to find them. “It’s like a scavenger hunt!” Kirishima yelled, grabbing the paper with stars in his eyes.

“That’s a good way to think about it.” The instructor replied, “you guys better get going.”

The pair looked at each other before shrugging and moving into the forest. They walked in silence for a few minutes before the redhead decided to speak up. “I thought there would be a little more lesson than just ‘here’s a picture now go find it’.” Kirishima mused, carefully pushing branches out of his way.

Bakugou growled angrily as a branch flew back in his face, spraying him with water from the rainfall the night before. “I’m about. To lose it.” Bakugou hissed, earning a laugh from his friend.

“Don’t. Laugh.” The blonde growled, clenching his jaw so tight it was almost painful.

The redhead put his hands up in surrender, giggles still on his lips before his eyes caught on sunlight streaming through the dense forest. He unconsciously moved towards the light, like a moth drawn to a flame. “Hey idiot!” Bakugou shouted after him, grabbing for his arm, “we have a shit ton of work to do!”

“It’ll only take a second!” Kirishima whined, pulling his arm away and jogging over to the tree line.

The blonde rolled his eyes but followed after him, breaking through the trees and finally seeing the trail they were supposed to get onto to gather their list of ingredients. He glanced between the path and the quickly retreating back of his friend that had completely crossed the path to the opposite side of the trail. He could hear the twigs and branches breaking as he forced his way through. “This better be quick,” He groaned loudly, throwing his head back.

He rushed after him, shielding his eyes from the sudden sunlight to find himself in another small clearing. This time it overlooked the rolling mountains and hills, swallowed by a sea of trees far below. “Wow,” Kirishima exclaimed in awe, his breath taken away by the sight.

“It’s pretty beautiful isn’t it?” Bakugou stated, standing beside him.

“You don’t seem that impressed.” The redhead teased.

“I’ve hiked up here with dad before.” The blonde replied, scanning the closer mountains and pointing out one of the peaks, “that was the first one that we climbed when I was in elementary school. He had to carry me most of the way, now I’m the one carrying him.”

The mountains always seemed to make him somewhat nostalgic and relaxed.  

The redhead looked at him thoughtfully. “It sounds like you and your dad really get along.”

The blonde shrugged, his expression unreadable. “He’s much different hiking and camping then he is at home.”

Kirishima nodded in understanding. “Maybe we can go hiking sometime too,” the redhead suggested moving closer to the edge to look over the forest, “I want to go up my first mountain to be the same as your first mountain.”  

The blonde gave him a small grin, “that doesn’t sound too bad.”

His grin immediately fell as he felt the first shift in the ground. “Get back here Kirishima!” He suddenly called to the other, moving forward to grab him.

“What-“

Suddenly the ground crumbled beneath them. The intense and heavy rain from the night before caused the ground to soften significantly, the mini landslide was probably going to happen anyway. Although, it didn’t help with their added weight on the small ledge. The feeling of falling was sudden but brief as the two students dropped to a ledge beneath the cliff they had been standing on. Bakugou all but shrieked as pain coursed up from his ankle and rattled his entire body.

“Bakugou! Are you okay?” Kirishima shouted, kneeling down next to him.

“My ankle.” He gasped in reply, grimacing at the already blotchy purple patches appearing on his pale skin, “it’s completely shattered.”

It felt like the world was blurring in and out of focus, the pain was so intense. It was almost ironic, considering he had been in worse situations before. “Good thing we re-learned our first aid today huh?” Kirishima laughed, standing to leave Bakugou to stare at his ankle as he breathed shakily through the pain.

“HELP!” Kirishima started to yell into the sky, “SOMEONE HELP US!”

“They’re going to notice we’re missing eventually,” Bakugou hissed, trying to shift his weight to sit back. He clenched his fists tightly, letting out a long exhale.

“HELP US!” Kirishima screamed again, stumbling a bit as he gazed at the edge of the cliff where they fell from.

The sun was high in the sky, beaming down at them with no shade for them to hide in. Sweat was quickly collecting on him, the constant breeze quickly cooling it on his skin. “Shitty hair you’re just going to tire yourself out.” Bakugou wheezed with a grimace.

The other fell silent and turned partially to stare at him with a blank expression although his brow were knit together tightly. He opened his mouth to say something but quickly shut it glancing back up at the cliff face.

“What the hell are you doing?” Bakugou questioned, his throat starting to knot up. Something was wrong. Very wrong. “Kirishima get back over here.”

The redhead glanced at him before turning to move back towards him. All at once it was like Bakugou’s body completely seized up. His entire core felt bitter cold, his spine went rigid, and the knot that was in his throat completely choked him. Half of Kirishima’s face was covered in blood, fresh blood still pouring out of the open wound on his forehead. He could already see the colour had drained from his friend’s skin, leaving him pale almost grey and his lips were beginning to turn blue. The redhead stumbled towards him, before catching himself on his own foot and tripping to the ground. Bakugou yelped, moving as quickly as he could to his fallen friend. “Are you okay?” He demanded, trying to get the redhead’s eyes to focus on his. He could see now up close that his pupils were different sizes, a clear indication of a concussion at the very least.

“I just tripped it’s no big deal.” He slurred in reply, as the other started ripping fabric off of both their uniforms. The blonde could see the signs from a mile away. He was going into shock and based on the lessons that they had before, the shock could kill him just as easily as the head wound could. “Kirishima, do you know where we are?” He asked frantically as he tried to press the cloth against the wound to keep it from bleeding.

Kirishima stared at him for a moment before glancing to the side taking in the wide expanse of forest. He muttered out a soft, “woods?” under his breath. Bakugou let out a nervous chuckle at his blatant attempt at cheating. “I need you to be specific. Why are we here?” Bakugou urged.

The other stayed silent, in turn making the adrenaline in the blonde’s body skyrocket as he began to go through his first aid steps. ‘ABC’s first.’ He thought, checking through his airways, breathing, and laying the back of his hand on the others forehead to gauge his circulation. ‘He’s really clammy.’

He continued to pack fabric against his head and the blood began to soak through. He could feel his heart beating loudly against his rib cage, trying to not let that distract himself from checking and making sure Kirishima’s was okay. He could feel his own hands becoming sweaty as he worked away at him, making sure to periodically wipe his hands off in case he started to spark off in his panic. It suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks how much he took advantage of the idea of having to perform first aid on someone. He had done it before, plenty of times. There were a few people on the hiking trails that had fallen and needed a brace and a call for help and he had easily done that, but this was different. This was his best friend and it wasn’t a simple cut or sprain, this was his life; and the thought of that sent him into a panic that he had never felt before. All at once, Kirishima’s eyes suddenly fell shut. “No!” Bakugou yelled, “you have to keep your eyes open Kirishima!”

He quickly checked his pulse again. It was slow but it was still there, his breathing shallow to match it. “SOMEONE HELP US!” The blonde finally screamed, louder than he ever had before, which was surprising considering who he was, “PLEASE SOMEONE HELP US!”

Everything was happening faster than he could keep up with, because in the next moment the movement of the redhead’s lungs stopped and he laid still. His hands were jerky and unsteady as he moved to position his palms over the other’s chest. He pushed down firmly, the crack of the other’s ribs raising his panic even more but he knew to push through even as tears began to bead in his eyes. He counted out 30 compressions, leaning down to listen for any sign of breathing. Nothing. He delivered his rescue breaths and continued. “C’mon breathe!” He wailed, his body cramping up everywhere, “Breathe Eijirou!”

He took in a shuddering breath as he choked around his words, “God damn it breathe!” He begged, “I refuse to let you die here!”

His head began to feel fuzzy and out of focus as he began to hyper-focus on the other. The world blurred around him. He could only feel detachment as the sun above them burned at his skin, and sweat pooled at the nape of his neck. He didn’t fully understand as he was pulled away from his friend by someone behind him. He whimpered loudly as his weight was shifted onto his shattered ankle. The sudden shock giving him a sliver of clarity to realize that his CPR was halted. ‘If I stop, he’s going to die.’ He thought, weakly struggling to pull away and continue.

“Bakugou, calm down.” A muddled voice stated, holding onto him more firmly.

“He’s going to die.” He snapped back, his head lolling lazily as another tear rolled down his cheek, “I have to help him.”

“You’ve already saved him.” They replied, steadying the boy’s shaking form.

“Huh?” Bakugou questioned blearily, as he slumped in his arms.

He glanced back, seeing the rigid but soft expression of his teacher. His hair whipped around his face, as a helicopter lowered carefully for the paramedics to safety load Kirishima and take him to the hospital. He stayed silent as Uraraka used her quirk to carefully lift him up the cliffside, the exhaustion quickly overtaking him. He could see the blurry forms of his friends trying to approach him but being pushed off by their instructors from earlier. “He’ll be okay right?” He breathed out slowly, wincing tiredly as his ankle was splinted for transport.

“He’ll be okay.” Aizawa repeated, with a slow nod, “and you’ll be okay too.”

“I don’t care about what happens to me.” The blonde snorted, with a small grin.

His teacher shook his head with his own tight grin, “you’re going to be exhausting as a pro hero.”

“You can count on that,” Bakugou replied, the tension releasing from his body as his eyes began to flutter.

“Just rest up Bakugou. We’ll take care of everything else.”

When he woke up again, he almost felt like it wasn’t dramatic enough for him. His mom and dad were both beside his bed, and for once his mother had the same concerned look as his father. They filled him in on everything to do with his medical diagnosis. His father carefully rubbed ointment onto his arms and neck where his skin was sunburned, and in some places peeling from the sun that essentially baked him alive. His ankle had been shattered like he assumed and had to be fixed surgically upon arriving at the hospital considering their fears that any of the splintered fragments could puncture something. “Stupid weak ankle,” Bakugou muttered as his doctor came in the show him his x-ray and the placement of the steel plates and screws holding him together at the moment.

He almost lost his shit when he was told that the recovery time could be between 3 to 12 months, but quickly settled after a stern glare from both his mother and father. As the doctor packed up their charts, his mom opted to grab some food for the three of them down in the cafeteria. Not long after the doctor left, Aizawa entered to go over the events that lead up to their rescue. He made sure to mention immediately that his friend was safe and in no immediate medical danger. He had hit his head hard as they were falling and had some minor internal bleeding but was projected to make a full recovery. Based on the information they provided to each other, the blonde had kept up CPR for 17 minutes. He belatedly remembered the feeling of zoning solely into performing the task, nothing mattered at that point besides making sure he was doing everything perfectly despite how much his limbs ached and oxygen wouldn’t enter his lungs. “He’s extremely lucky that you started CPR right away,” Aizawa stated, “who knows what we’d be planning right now if you didn’t.”

“Can I see him yet?” Bakugou asked, a bit hesitantly.

His teacher contemplated for a moment before nodding slowly, “you just have to be gentle around him. He just woke up a bit before you.”

“He woke up before me?” Bakugou asked with a baffled expression, “how the hell is that possible?”

“If I knew that I’d be a doctor and not a teacher.” Aizawa drawled, earning an eye roll from his student.

“Just take me to him.” Bakugou snapped in annoyance, throwing the blanket off his lap and sitting up.

“Easy there Katsuki!” His dad interjected, making sure his IV tubes didn’t get tangled up in the bedsheets, “please calm down a bit. You’re still healing.”

The blonde gave him a blank look, before moving to get up again. “Stop!” His father shouted again, moving to go into the hallway, “just let me grab you a wheelchair first at least.”

“I don’t need a damn wheelchair!” Bakugou loudly complained as it was rolled into his room and beside the bed.

“I don’t care!” His father snapped, making the blonde freeze in surprise.

His dad never yelled like that. The twisting in his gut squeezed uncomfortably all over again. “I was scared shitless when I heard that you got hurt and needed surgery.” He stated, his eyes glossy with unshed tears, “so for the love of god just take it a bit easier than usual. For my sake.”

“Okay,” Bakugou replied softly, letting his dad help him into the wheelchair. He was careful to keep the weight off of his bandaged foot.

He could see Aizawa shifting uncomfortably at the doorway. Not wanting to witness his family’s little dramas but still sticking around to take him to his friend’s room. They called a nurse in to the room to attach the I.V to his wheelchair and they were set to go. “You should probably wait for mom or she’ll lose it when she comes back,” Bakugou stated.

His father stared at him in worry before sighing and giving him a small smile. “You’re probably right.” He replied, sitting back down in his chair, “just.. don’t take too long.”

“Don’t miss me too much!” Bakugou called back as his teacher wheeled him out and down the hallway.

He was only a few doors down from his own which surprised him, considering he assumed the other would be in the ICU or something like that. He could hear his booming laughter before they even knocked on the door, followed by a wheeze and a quiet ‘ow’. Aizawa quickly knocked on the door, listening as the laughter quieted down a bit and the door was opened by a smiling black-haired woman. “Oh hi-“ she paused when her eyes fell on Bakugou.

Her eyes watered a bit before she leaned down to softly but firmly hug him. The blondes brows knit together in confusion before she spoke again. “Thank you for saving my son.” She breathed softly.

“Hi Aizawa Sensei!” He heard Kirishima call from his bed on the other side of the room.

“He really is awake.” Bakugou sighed in relief but shock.

His mom nodded in agreement moving back to let the two in. “Bakubro! You’re awake!” Kirishima shouted happily.

His head was tightly wrapped in bandages and he was hooked up to some machines and IV’s but other than that he looked perfectly healthy. “You scared the shit out of me you asshole.” Bakugou choked out around the lump in his throat, “you’re not making me cry again you ass, I’m already dehydrated.”

The redhead laughed loudly again, as his friend was set right next to his bedside. “We’ll give you boys some privacy.” Kirishima’s mom said sweetly, all but dragging their teacher out with her.

“Thank you for saving me Bakugou.” Kirishima stated softly after a beat of silence, “who knows what-“

“Save that mushy stuff for when I feel like it.” Bakugou retorted crossing his arms.

The redhead looked at him with wide eyes before he smiled again. “You got it Bakubro!”

That’s why they worked so well together. Kirishima never pushed him to act a certain way or talk about his feelings about things until he wanted to and vice versa. They would have this conversation someday just not today. Today was about living their lives as if nothing had happened despite the fact that the two of them were covered in bandages and had fluids being pumped into their bodies.

“Are you still up for a hike in 3 to 12 months?” Bakugou asked, motioning to his casted leg with a feral smirk.

Kirishima’s sharp toothed smile widened dangerously as he clashed his fist together loudly.

“Absolutely.”

[croose]

Power Down part 2: Power Up

Request/Summary: Upon waking up after your most recent mission, you're immediately thrown back into the fray of things, not entirely sure what you're up against. And Rex doesn't seem entirely ready to watch you risk your life yet again.

Pairings: Captain Rex x Reader

Warnings: None

Author's Note: Protective Rex. Babey. Also, this is part two, but part one is pretty much the only other recent post on my account, so it shouldn't be hard to find. If my Tumblr gets more crowded I'll make a Master list and link previous parts in the author's note. Til then.

When you woke up, you were very careful not to reveal you were awake. It was a habbit you had long since gotten into.

Worst case scenario, you now had an advantage that your kidnappers didn't know you had which you could use to get out of this jail. Best case scenario, you were in your bed being woken up by your protcol droid who was reminding you that you had a council meeting in about an hour.

This day was something in between.

The first thing you noticed was the noise. It wasn't particularly loud, but it was busy.

The next thing you noticed was the scratchy blanket and the beeping of machinery keeping people alive. You were in a medbay.

Now you slowly opened your eyes, noting the clones and jedi in other beds, along with medical droids moving about to care for the patients.

You lightly closed your eyes and immediately saw, once again, the flash of the hallway roof collapsing in on you while Rex was forced to do nothing but stare.

Remembering the mission, you suddenly had no interest in remaining in the medical bay. You had needles shoved into your arm, but you wasted no time in pulling them out and clambering from your bed.

No one tried to stop you as you grabbed your jedi robes from the bedside table and left the medbay, heading towards the councilroom.

You only stopped once, in a refresher, to change, and so you made good time to the council room.

You weren't entirely sure what you expected to see, sitting on the benches outside, but it wasn't General Skywalker, Commander Tano and Captain Rex.

At your approach, the three of them (All battered and bruised, sitting on a bench with their heads hung in shame) looked up, thoroughly shocked.

"General?" Anakin asked, trying to process the fact that you were up and moving about.

"General." You responded, nodding politely.

"How are you?" Rex asked, his voice so quiet you thought he spoke with the intent of not being heard.

"Fine, thank you, Captain. However, I don't remember what happened."

The three seemed to deflate a bit at this. It was Anakin who told the story. He started with the events leading up, including the collapsing roof. Then he got to what you truly didn't know.

Dooku, of course, had escaped. But not before he managed to plug into a central computer and download all available information about Kamino, which struck you as odd.

Anakin speculated that he had let himself get caught, that he had a plan revolving around the planet. Then for the past three rotations (During which, you had been unconscious in the medbay) the three of them had been petitioning for extra security on the planet, but the Council seemed to think this was unnecessary.

"Even if it was," Mace Windu had apparently said, "We simply do not have the resources."

Anyways, the three of them were here to plea one last time to the council, hoping they would see reason before it was too late.

"You should come too, (Y/n)!" Ahsoka said, clearly testing out your name, seeing what you would allow her to have. "You know Dooku better than anyone! You've studied his moves, his attacks, you managed to track him down from across the Galaxy!"

You elected to ignore that it now seemed as though Dooku had wanted you to track him. Instead you paused to think, tapping your fingers to the side of your leg as you often did while thinking.

"Well, I wouldn't be opposed, Young Tano." You, similar to her, were testing out a nickname, exploring what she would let you get away with.

"Then it's settled!" Ahsoka said.

You laughed a bit but said nothing before the doors opened and a master and her Padawan walked out, nodding at your group as you passed, your group walking in, hers walking away.

Upon seeing you, Obi-wan Kenobi said, "Ahh, Master (Y/l/n), welcome back."

"Master Kenobi." You nodded, politely at him.

Anakin then launched into his plea for increased security around Kamino, which caused some groans and eyerolls.

"I thought we talked about this, General Skywalker." Said Plo Koon (Or, the hologram of him, as he was out on a mission.)

"Yes, okay, we did talk about it!" Anakin said. "But you all seem to think this isn't as important as it is!"

"Kamino is both safe and well-guarded, General." Shaak Ti said. "We have the protection we need. Dooku would never attempt an attack."

Anakin opened his mouth to protest, but this Master Windu cut through with, "Is there anything else any of you need?"

"Yes, actually." You said, brining the room's attention to yourself. "Where's The 307th?"

"They are with me." Plo Koon said. "You were out for three rotations and I needed a large attack force for my current mission, so it seemed only natural."

"Recovery time, you need anyways, hm?" Said Master Yoda. "On another mission, we will not be sending you until better you are." Master Yoda said this while pointing his cane at you.

You were pretty sure you saw Windu roll his eyes, but you couldn't be entirely certain, so you dropped it. Instead, you nodded, respectfully. "Yes, Masters."

"If that is all, then you're dismissed." Windu said, dismissively.

Anakin grumbled to himself and Ahsoka made a face as the group turned to leave. Rex, though, on the outside seemed perfectly fine. But you reached out into the force and, easier than you could with anyone else, you felt his emotions.

Again, you weren't entirely sure what it was, but it felt sort of like defeat. And while you were reaching into the Force you saw something else. A room on a Kamino lab... Or how to get there.

"The Council's probably right." Anakin grumbled. "It's not like we even know what he wanted from Kamino, or which cloning lab - if any - he was going to attack."

Ahsoka said nothing, but her face said it all. And Rex also tried not to show his emotions but he failed when he kicked a lose piece of trash across the floor.

"Awe, cheer up, Guys. It's not like the Resident Dooku Expert is dead!" You gestured to yourself, merrily, pretending to be unbothered by the choices of the Council.

"What, you?" Anakin asked.

"Yep! And as the Resident Dooku Expert - My official, legal title, by the way - I can safely say that Dooku is going to attack Kamino. And he is going to attack a cloning facility. And I know which one!"

The group stared at you.

"How?" Anakin said.

You shrugged a bit. "Lucky guess?"

"We don't really know if it's lucky, though. You could be completely wrong." Ahsoka muttered.

"Awe, psh! Go round up any clones willing to disobey the Council's orders - Though if it's to protect Kamino, I assume there will be a few - And meet me on your Republic Attack Cruiser as soon as possible." You were already disappearing down the hall as you spoke, leaving the group little choice other than follow your orders, or don't.

You didn't wait to find out, but you knew Anakin and Ahsoka well. They would listen. You, however, went to your dormitory and began packing basic provisions. You were just about to head out when your door buzzed, signaling a guest.

You checked the screen to see who it was and startled to see Rex standing on the other side. But for the first time since you'd met him, his helmet was off. Though his face technically looked the same as the other clones, something about him was just so much... More.

You opened the door and stepped back to allow the Captain to enter.

"General." He nodded at you.

"Captain." You responded kindly as the door shut. "What can I do for you?"

Rex took a deep breath and set his helmet down on your table. When he finally spoke, his voice was a bit shaky and he refused to turn and face you. "I don't think you should come." He whispered.

"Captain?"

He slowly turned from the table revealing a pleading expression on his face. "Don't come. Please don't come."

You spent a moment deliberating your words, but when you spoke, it was careful, precise. Your tone firm. "That's not a very fair thing to ask of me, Captain."

Much to your shock, Rex reacted with anger. His fist slammed down on your table, causing you to jump and his voice raised dangerously loud. "I don't care!" He bellowed. "Don't come!"

"Enough!" You snapped, your tone equally loud, though your body much more still than his. "First of all, you do not order me around! Second of all, you need to control your emotions!"

You weren't sure if it was because he was so used to only battling enemies and you weren't sure why you allowed it, but in a split moment, Rex had backed you into a corner and was now standing firmly in front of you, plasticore chest piece seemingly on display.

"I'm not like you!" Rex shouted. "I can't always control my emotions, but I don't always need to!"

This, you felt, had some underlying tones of something you didn't understand. That for some reason, the fact that there were no rules against him experiencing emotions was something upsetting him. But you didn't have time to unpack it, because you were also growing in your emotions.

Instead, you yelled, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't come!"

Rex slammed his hands into the wall, effectively blocking you in and yelled, "BECAUSE I COULDN'T PROTECT YOU!"

Now you faltered.

You had thought it had been about you, but... It was about him?

As you stared at him, his eyes reddened and he furiously blinked back tears.

"You were right there... Beside me. You saved my life." His voice cracked with emotions. "And I - I couldn't return the favour... You were lying there, trapped under the ceiling and... Everything I did just made the situation worse... And Dooku was killing my brothers. So I had to do the worst thing imaginable. I had to leave you.

"You only got out alive because Commander Tano..." Rex looked away and now tears did fall down his face. "I failed you, General. And I can't do that again."

You gently raised your hand to cup his face and scoop the tears from his cheek. "You didn't fail me, Rex. I made my choice knowing the consequences it would have, but I... I couldn't deal with losing you. That doesn't mean you failed me."

Rex sighed and lowered his head, similar to how he had on the ship, his upper forehead resting against your lower.

You moved your other hand to cup the other side of his face in order to pull Rex's head back just enough for you to place a gentle kiss to it.

"Please don't come." He whispered.

"Rex... I'm going to come. But I'm going to be fine."

"Promise me, General." It was technically an order, but he said it more like a request than anything.

"I promise, Captain."

You didn't know then the horrible truth that try as you might, that promise would be broken.

[vxmorpheus]

'Meeting' Log #343-■■■

Date & Time: ■■/■■/20■■, 05:55:32 pm

'Meeting with 343': Doctor V■■■■■ ■ ■■■■■■

~~~~ Begin ~~~~

(As soon as the recording is started, there is a long period of silence.)

Dr. V■■■■■: Can you not look like that?

SCP - 343: Hm? I only look like what or who you find comforting.

Dr. V: Just be the second-best thing.

343: Is seeing him again after weeks that hard and painful to you?

Dr. V: You are not him. You just look like him.

343: (holds hands up) Woah there. I didn't say I was him. I asked if it's hard to see him after so long... Just see him.

Dr. V: .... (opens mouth to speak but only a small quiet sound is made before Dr. V clears his throat and tries to make sniffling as quiet as possible) Just be something different. Please.

(Another long period of silence follows before Dr. V■■■■■ speaks again.)

Dr. V: Thank you... now, why did-

343: I did tell you to come back later. I knew you would come back and when you would. You had no intentions of seeing me again for a couple months, but now you need something, hm?

Dr. V: When you say it like that...

343: (waves hand in a motion as if to shoo away the words spoken) It's fine. I did do some looking into your little demon-human boyfr-

Dr. V: Be quiet! (Lowers to a whisper) Also, he's not my boyfriend!

343: Rrright, you just want him to be-

Dr. V: (hisses) Shut up! (Clears throat and continues in a normal tone) Would tell me what you found?

343: Hmm... (343 leans back in 'his' chair and scratches his chin). Well, his dad is a demon. ■■■ ■ ■■■■ ■■■■, his full name ■■ ■■■■■■, apparently he ■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■. But, I didn't know he started doing Crossroad Deals...

Dr. V: ■■■■■■? Like, ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■■?

343: /■■■■■■/ ■■■■■.

Dr. V: Right, ■■■■■■... What do you know about his mom?

343: His mom was a pretty good lady. I mean, besides making a deal with a demon... and having a child with one. A shame that she only got 5 years. But I guess the request was strange and normally not allowed. So, at least ■■■■■■ made and agreed to it, I guess. Just too bad that he ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ by getting ■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■. Well not so much 'got ■■ ■■■ ■■■'... more like '■■■■■■ ■■■ guy' (Dr. V again clears his throat, gesturing to 'get on with it') Alright, alright. So, I know what happened during the Dreaming Connection test. He isn't a go-

Dr. V: (Yells suddenly and loudly, enough to make 343 jump) That wasn't his fault! He never wanted to do it in the first place! Do you have any idea how much it destroyed him? He was catatonic for a week! You should know! Especially if you are actually God! You know he never wanted to ■■■■ ■■■■■ people, let alone ■■■■■■■■ ■■■■ them! (Dr. V is heard breathing heavily)

343: .... You feel better? (343 hold his hand up to stop Dr. V from speaking) Don't answer that. You're right he ■■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ them. But that doesn't change who he-

Dr. V: Do. Not. Speak of him. That. Way.

343: (343 is heard laughing jovially) Very determined on that mindset, huh? Fine, I'll humor you. What do you want to know exactly?

Dr. V: (silence then a large inhale and exhale) I want to know about his... his demon form.

343: Mmmm, I see... Like how to control it? (Dr. V nods) There's no way to actually control it from ■■■ ■■■■■■■. It's all from ■■■ ■■■■■■. He ■■■■■ to ■■■■■ ■■■ to ■■n■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■■. But, unfortunately, he's ■■■■■■ ■■ ■■, ■■ ■■■■■ is little chance ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■■■■■ himself. Which he had every right to be.

Dr. V: Ah... right... I don't think he'll ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■, so...

343: I wouldn't say that...

Dr. V: What's that supposed to mean? (343 is silent) What does that mean? What do I not know?

343: (ignores questions) You speak so highly of him. Why? He's a demon spawn.

Dr. V: Shut up. He's a good person, he never asked to be born. Now answer my questions.

343: Hm... you make a good point. Hmm... I feel that the future will be very interesting...

Dr. V: Stop speaking so cryptically and just come out with it. I'm serious.

343: Why waste energy interrogating me? You have a lot of work to do ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■.

Dr. V: (obviously annoyed) Stop! Just tell me what I need to do! Tell me what's happening or going to happen!

343: (laughs and speaks in a light-hearted joking tone) If I told you, I'd have to kill you.

~~~~End Recording~~~~

Note:

I've tried listening to this over and over, but there's just... static at parts. Every time I type out the information I remember, it just blocks itself. I can't even spell anything out. Ex.

Morpheus' father is ■. ■. ■. ■. ■. ■.

See! God damn it. I feel like it's even becoming redacted in my head.

SCP - 343 is a pain in the ass. I hate the cryptic speaking. I want to know what's happening or going to happen. I don't want anything bad to happen to Morpheus... I don't know where to go to continue my search...

••• Dr. V

[redxblueihateloveyou]

Actually for me it's pretty weird that the most popular ship in Free! is Makoharu. I mean, they give me like zero romantic vibes, if not Rinharu I would've definitely shipped Sourin. It's the main reason I hated Sousuke when I watched 2nd season for the first time - I saw him as a threat for Rinharu (now I just don't like him that much, but I decided to let Rin has his best friend, lol). Maybe it's just me loving rivals to lovers :)

Well.. for me Free! was never that kind of anime where there are other ships, but honestly after several years of watching anime and lately discovering that people ship Wei Wuxian with Jiang Cheng I kinda lost my faith in people lol And yes, I also truly don’t get those ships, where there are zero romantic vibes, but I got used to seeing this already.

I think I’ve talked about Makoharu only once, I usually don’t do it cause as a ship it’s so illogical to me that I just don’t see the point of wasting time on this lol I feel like it’s gonna be long answer so I’ll split it and after “***” I’ll talk about my bro-rinharu-shipper Sousuke.

I’m not gonna throw a debate if it’s the most popular ship or not, but I just want to say that I don’t think that it's really called shipping Makoto and Haru, since firstly, let’s talk about Makoto as a character (which is the main problem in this whole thing tbh) cause from what I saw the Makoto the MH fandom created has nothing to do with the real Makoto. Like the dude is scared of dogs, ghosts, bees, water and I forgot what else; covers his eyes when he sees anyone even in swim trunks and gets embarrassed easier than a nun (apparently you can’t even unbutton the collar of your freaking jacket!!!!!!!!!!! oh lord!!!!!!); crumbles under everyone in this anime including Hiyori and can’t even talk back. 

And suddenly like half of this fandom thinks that Makoto is a dominant top apparently. We seriously laughed our asses off seeing that, I mean even my mom (who’s a teacher btw). I’m like... I have a sister who’s majored in psychology and I myself in literature (like I seriously promise we ain’t stupid) and we just seriously don’t understand.. In what Tarzan’s ass does he suit this description? Dude can’t even answer properly while being offended. Like maybe they like Makoto’s twin brother? Because real Makoto does not have any dangerous dark side, seriously, this ain’t “8 dogs of the east” lmao.

I appreciate their friendship at times, but I never was a fan of him, because I don’t really like people who treat everyone equally (friends and strangers) and think that some asshole deserves as much love as the closest friend. I just don’t understand this life position and don’t like those “world peace” guys anyway. I mean, that fish died moment in the books was when my brain died honestly. Like I get it, dude is sensitive, but... seriously?

And for me being kind is not really a personality. I mean, hell, sometimes it’s no good to be kind. There is a fine line between being kind and being a mop you know.

And sometimes his behavior is really cringy to me. Like during the funeral and during Haru passing out in the book and during many things that are very serious. I just don’t think he’s the person you can rely on at times. I mean at first I thought he’s a steady shoulder, but somehow in all serious situations he doesn’t do anything useful.

Like I might be in the minority here, but to me when you know very well that you panic in the ocean you don’t go there trying to save somebody, it’s not brave, it’s just plain stupid (like it’s not like the tent was far, it was fucking next to him, all he had to do is wake up a pro) so by the end we had to rescue two instead of one, just because he’s dumb af.

He also panics a lot which I really hate on people. I’m sorry but like panicking ppl are the only worst. It reminds me of one of my life situation when my sister was badly hurt and we needed to keep our heads cool to act quickly and do what was necessary asap. And I’ve seen ppl behave like Makoto in situations like this and man it’s seriously no fun, it’s annoying. Like when you need to help somebody and someone panics beside you it pisses you off. And he does it even in little things like when he yelled Haru in the ear while driving JUST BECAUSE A CAR IN FRONT OF THEM BRAKED I mean omfg I would seriously yell “shut the fuck up, you pussy!”

And it all honestly keeps getting worse and worse like the way he’s written, his behavior just buffles me so much. Makoto in s3 just murdered me tbh. Like he didn’t help with anything, he didn’t bring anything to the plot, you can just erase him, he only sat there anyways. And the way they pulled his “dream” out of his ass was just a second-hand embarrassment tbh. And he’s not even Haru’s emotional support anymore. He’s just... I don’t get it. There were literally scenes where he was third-wheeling or just forced into that looked laughable. 

Which brings me to the second point. From what I saw many of Makoharu fans are mostly Makoto fans, so they just want what’s good for him, and since he has no life goals whatsoever (like after he dropped his “I dream of making children like swimming” thingy like a hot potato and was like “training children.. but look at Rin and Haru” I really lost my last marbles watching him) they apparently don’t care for what Haru’s dream is and that he said openly that he wants a future with Rin.

Like I get that everyone has their tastes, but like what.. two people who are crazy about each other since twelve and blossomed a dream of having a future together and the thought of being with each other got them through and they finally have what they wanted.. this is not a trend anymore? Mutual romantic love is not a trend anymore? Like I even without novelization can see that (and I quote Rin word for word here) that “every time he sees Haru his heart beats so fast he can’t calm down” and quote “Haru sees Rin and he’s shaking, he closes his eyes desperately trying get rid of the image, but the pain in his chest doesn’t go away”.

I am personally very happy that Rinharu are finally together and will be doing what they wanted in their life by each other’s side, cause they’ve been dreaming about it for too long, they’ve been thinking about it for  years. So not wanting them to have that is very weird for me. And the argument that Makoto somehow better than Rin for Haru is so invalid, I always laugh. I guess it depends on what you want for yourself. But honestly like you guys better find someone who make you want to reach for the stars and make you heart skip a bit everytime you see him.

So I as a huge fan of Haru want my boy to fly and now I have all the canon proof for those who were blind that Rin is the only one (been said) who makes him feel that way. So all those anons who kept writing to me how relay with Sosuke, with Rei and what baffled me the most swimming with Ikuya was just as emotional for them can finally shut it (lmao I’m sorry).

***

Now... Sousuke, my bro, the first Rinharu shipper on the village who helped them to get together is a threat? Okay. Well, I actually like s2, there are some dumb episodes but s2 actually to me showed how rinharu relationships are different from anyone else. There are literally two whole episodes and several scenes of how the bROMANCE prevails over BROmance.

Sousuke and Rin have typical brothers relationship. From their secret handshakes “parent trap” style to the fact that they draw them exactly the same with his real brother. I mean I don’t know if anyone noticed, but in 3x11 they drew Sousuke doing the exact same teasing move with Rin, that his older brother did to him in 3x01, and it’s definitely not a coincidence. Which means he treats him like his little bro, and not just that. I have lots of proof.

You know, I had a friend back at university who had an older brother who she was very close with and she kept telling me about how he kept testing her boyfriends if they’re good enough... I mean Sousuke was doing it with Haru since Rin has told him that he has found his one and only. And it never ever looked like he was possessive of Rin and was like “he’s mine”, it was always like “he’s yours so make sure you make him happy you loser”, he even stalked Haru to see if he still swims alright which is really funny (like okay dad), so by the end of the season when Rin lovingly looks at Haru and says it was all worth it, Sousuke looks very content like he was sure that they’re all good now.

And that moment like in Yakusoku where Rin dropped Sousuke as soon as he saw Haru, I honestly don’t think it’s the kind of jealousy people think it is. It’s like if I asked my sister “do u want to see the new avengers movie” and she’d answer “sorry, I already promised to go with my boyfriend” (not that this would ever happen, but let’s imagine that she found herself her nanase) I would be fucking upset too, but I would kinda get it (if it’s a love of her life I mean). Or like literally imagine you lived with your best friend for years and suddenly she wants to move in with he boo. I mean it happens sometimes. But it’s not the jealousy really, he’s just sad because he knows that he needs to let Rin go and he won’t spend as much time with him as he did before. Sousuke knows how much Rin loves Haru, plus after he saw that Haru is as good as Rin told him, he started to like him himself so he was worried about both of them. 

And I love Sousuke, he’s our godmother. I’d rather have him on the international team than Ikuya but he sadly he doesn’t swim breaststroke or back and we only have one butterfly and one freestyle spot xD

I’m sincerely saying as a person with two siblings that I really don’t see it. It’s just there’s a huge difference between brothers and lovers. And you can’t call Harurin bros. It’s just laughable. Even if you haven’t read anything and just watched the anime.

I mean I think it’s easier to see if you try to imagine Haru in Sousuke’s place in any Sourin scene and see how it would’ve went then. Like do you remember when Sousuke asked for cola and Rin went to get one and there was only one can left so they rock-paper-scissored it and Rin won and drank it?

Now imagine if Haru was there in Sousuke’s place. I can tell you 100% that Rin would’ve just given him the can. And then he would’ve looked at him with that face he makes when he’s content just by watching Haru eat, you know.

I mean it just how I see it. And there are a lot of comparable scenes in s2 that bring me lots of evil joy, but I won’t tell lmao.

But as I said before to me there’s a huge difference between bromances and bromances. So I mostly don’t get most of these ships. I don’t understand anything in this world apparently lol but I only see Rinharu since the first time I’ve watched it, and then I’ve read everything and realized that I’m right, so I’m ok with all this xD 

[robinskey]

Firsts (Steve x Reader)

Request: hi! could you write steve x fem! reader where they dated before nancy and stuff but she got pregnant and she just disappeared? (like stopping going to school because she started being homeschooled and stuff like that) and then one day reader (doesn’t know steve works at family video) goes there and robin tells steve something like “don’t be scared but there’s a toddler thats looks like you and has your stupid hair” and then sees the reader and decides to be a father!! fluff and angst !! thank u!

A/N: Okay, so I’m usually not a big fan of stories where the reader gets pregnant (because the idea of kids at this stage of my life majorly freaks me out-sorry if that’s TMI), but this prompt!! A toddler with Steve’s hair!! The angst! The fluff! I loved it. I changed a few minor things (ex: the reader moves away instead of simply being homeschooled) but stayed pretty true to the prompt overall, I think? Thanks for requesting, anon! 

Warnings: Swearing, underage drinking, teenage pregnancy, angst (probably the most angsty fic I’ve posted on here). Story under the cut.

Long before Steve Harrington was the school heartthrob, he was your next-door neighbor, best friend, and first crush. In fact, you shared your first everything with Steve. He gave you your first kiss for a dare in third grade. In sixth grade, Steve asked you to your first-ever junior high dance, the infamous Snow Ball. You and Steve went on your first date the summer after freshman year of high school; he became your first boyfriend shortly thereafter. Steve was your first love-and your first heartbreak.

Because as much as you cared for Steve, he could also be such an asshole. As he climbed up the social ladder of Hawkins High, his newfound popularity inflated his ego. He started receiving invitations to parties that you had no interest in attending. You usually tagged along to the weekend bashes, but on school nights, you told Steve to either skip it or go alone. Your resistance to embrace his new lifestyle sparked a lot of disagreements, which eventually culminated in your first ever full-blown fight.

The two of you were hanging out at his house after school one Thursday afternoon. His parents were gone, as always, so the two of you were in his room. You lay face-down on his bed, pressing your throbbing forehead into one of his pillows, while Steve rifled through his closet. Over the last few days, you’d been exhausted, excessively irritable, and achy all over your body. You felt like you were getting sick, but Steve didn’t seem to care. He was too busy planning his outfit for that evening’s party and trying to convince you to come to it.

“I can’t just show up without my girl, Y/N. What will people think?” Steve asked you. “Besides, it’ll be fun.”

“Maybe for you,” you mumbled into the pillow. “I don’t feel like partying tonight.”

“Maybe you don’t right now. But as soon as you get there, have a few drinks-”

You groaned. The idea of alcohol sounded horrific right then.

“Come on, babe. Don’t be like that,” Steve said, harsher in tone than before. 

“Like what?” you asked, turning your head to look at your boyfriend. He still faced the closet and held a jacket up to the light, inspecting it for any spots or wrinkles. His body language showed no signs of acknowledging that you’d even spoken. “Like what, Steve?” you said, a little louder.

That’s when Steve spun around with a scowl on his face. He answered your inquiry with another question: “What’s the deal with you lately?”

You blinked at him incredulously.

“What’s the deal with me? What’s the deal with you, Steve?”

“Me?” Steve threw his arms up in the air. “This isn’t even about me, Y/N!”

This comment made you jolt into an upright position. “Are you serious?” 

Steve’s hands moved to his hips, and his face contorted into a grimace. “Do I look like I’m freaking kidding?” 

“God, you’re an idiot,” you said, shaking your head. 

Steve’s complexion turned redder by the minute. “I’m an idiot because I want my girlfriend to come to a party with me?”

“Do you even hear yourself?” You rose from the bed, and your voice rose in volume with every word. “Every other word out of your mouth is ‘I, me, my.’ Of course this is about you. You make everything about you, Steve.”

He scoffed. “That’s not true.”

“Yes, it is! I’ve felt like shit all week, and you’ve barely noticed, and now you’re trying to get me to go to this stupid party, despite the fact that I told you-”

Steve’s anger finally bubbled to the surface and exploded. He took several frantic steps forward; for a moment, you thought his palm was about to connect with your cheek. 

“If you don’t want to go, then don’t!” he yelled in your face. “There are plenty of other bitches who want to party with me!”

You closed your eyes. When they reopened, your vision blurred with tears. 

“Fine,” you spat. The anger had been replaced with hurt. “Go get yourself another bitch, then, because I’m done being yours,” you said before storming out of the house. 

Apparently, Steve followed your instructions. In third period on Friday morning, you overheard Becky Thomas brag to her friends about how she went home with Steve Harrington after last night’s party. At that moment, a sudden wave of nausea washed over you, and you ran to the bathroom without asking for permission. 

After emptying the contents of your stomach into the toilet, you sat on the bathroom tile. You leaned your back against the cool stall door and wept into your hands. It wasn’t Becky Thomas making you cry, nor your failed relationship; no, it was the sudden, sinking suspicion that something else entirely was making you sick.

The pregnancy test you picked up from the drugstore after school confirmed your hypothesis. In your confused, tumultuous world, you now knew two things.

One: You were having your now-ex-boyfriend’s baby.

Two: You could never set foot in that school again.

***

It wasn’t until that weekend that the full magnitude of what he had done hit Steve.

Despite what he’d said to you at the house, he didn’t initially go to the party to find a new fling. After your fight, he just wanted to get wasted and forget about his sorrows. But by the time Steve ran into Becky at the party, alcohol was already pulsing through his veins. When he squinted, Becky’s face sort of resembled yours. She was pretty and interested, and he was drunk and lonely. It was the perfect recipe for disaster. 

When he woke up the next morning with a pounding headache and the wrong girl laying in bed beside him, he knew he’d screwed up. However, with such a massive hangover, he couldn’t even imagine driving to school, let alone dream up a heartfelt apology. So he simply shooed Becky out of his house, called in sick, and fell back asleep. 

He laid in bed for the rest of the day, drifting in and out of consciousness. 

It wasn’t until mid-afternoon that Steve finally wandered into the kitchen to grab some H2O and a snack. He stared out the window as he filled a glass with tap water. A small figure walked down the sidewalk, gaze cast downward and a plastic bag on her arm. Steve considered running outside then, sweeping you into his arms, and begging for forgiveness. But he didn’t. He just watched your silhouette march across the lawn, unlock the front door, and slip into the house.

After that day, you fell off the face of the earth. You weren’t at school Monday, nor Tuesday; by Wednesday, Steve was drilling your friends on your whereabouts. They all claimed their lips were sealed. On Friday, Steve dropped by your house with a bouquet of flowers. He rung the doorbell, waited patiently, and tried to hide his disappointment when your mother answered the door. Your mother, on the other hand, made no attempt to conceal her disenchantment with the visitor.

“Hi, Mrs. Y/L/N. Is Y/N home? I’d like to talk to her.”

“She’s not here right now.”

Before Steve could ask why, the door slammed in his face.

Eventually, word got out that you’d moved in with family upstate. Nobody knew why for certain. There were rumors, of course-everything from you getting a scholarship to a private school to joining the circus. After a few weeks, though, the vanished classmate disappeared from the minds of her former peers (kind of like Barb). Steve, however, held onto the hope that you would return to Hawkins. He never thought he would fall in love again after you. When he did, she didn’t even love him back. Steve spent three-and-a-half years searching for what he’d had with you, but he couldn’t replace it. He couldn’t replace you.

***

Nearly four years later, Steve’s taking inventory in the back of Family Video. He hums a soft melody mindlessly as he counts VHS tapes. He’s lost in his little world when Robin suddenly appears in the doorway. Her loud, throat-clearing cough startles Steve, and he nearly knocks over a stack of boxes.

“You scared me, you little shit!” Steve hisses. He avoids Robin’s eyes by pretending to study his clipboard while he waits for his heart rate to return to normal.

Robin snickers, knowing full well that Steve’s sharp tone is just an attempt to conceal his embarrassment.

“Hello to you, too, dingus.” 

Robin pauses, then clears her throat again. She doesn’t know how to phrase her question, but she knows she needs to ask it. Well, she doesn’t need to, per say-Steve could just figure it out himself. But, as his friend, she should probably give him a heads-up.

“Did you need something?” Steve asks. 

“Not really. I was just wondering if you had family visiting or something?” 

Steve scribbles something on the spreadsheet in his hand, then looks up. “I mean, if you count my parents being home for once as ‘family visiting’, then sure. But extended family, no. Why?”

“Well…” Robin smacks nervously on the gum in her mouth. “Don’t freak out or anything, but there’s this toddler waddling around the store, and he looks just like you. He’s got your stupid hair and everything.”

Steve hesitates for a moment before dismissing her comment. “All kids look the same.”

Robin blows air out of her cheeks.

“You don’t understand, Steve. Remember the time we were cleaning your garage and stumbled upon your baby album? This kid looks like he walked right out of it.”

“So? Like I said, babies all have the same face. If someone put pictures of infant-you and infant-me side-by-side, I doubt they’d be able to tell the difference.”

“Oh, please, Harrington. I was a much cuter baby than you,” Robin says. She tugs the clipboard out of his grip, places a comforting hand on his shoulder, and gives him a gentle shove toward the door. “I’ll finish this up. Just go investigate out how toddler-you figured out time travel.”

As Steve takes a step out of the storage room, a small body collides with his legs. They both lose their balance. Steve grabs onto a nearby countertop to steady himself, but the kid doesn’t have that luxury. He topples to the floor and lays there for a moment.

Steve bends down, gently helping the little one to his feet. His eyes flick over the boy’s features, from his bushy brown eyebrows and slightly-too-big-for-his-face nose to his bright pink lips and pleasantly chubby cheeks. And, of course, he can’t help noticing the kid’s hair-even without an ounce of product in it, his mane defies gravity. This toddler has more hair on his head than most children twice his age do. Robin’s right-facing this little kid is like staring into a fun-house mirror that makes you look fifteen years younger. 

“Benjamin, get back here! I’m sorry, sir, he’s just excited.”

Steve shifts his gaze above the top of the kid’s hair tower. When his eyes meet those of the young woman hurrying up the aisle, she freezes in place. The flustered apologies cease falling from her lips-which part slightly and curl into an “o.”

There’s a long period of silence, during which the toddler’s doe eyes flicker from you to Steve, Steve to you.

“Hi,” Steve finally manages. His voice trembles, just with the one word. He wants to ask how you are, where you’ve been-but he doesn’t trust his voice. And besides, it seems as though he’s forgotten how to construct sentences.

“Steve?” you whisper, despite the fact that you’re currently Family Video’s only customer. 

“Yeah, uh...hi.”

You already said that. Get it together, dipshit. 

“So, Y/N...long time no see, huh?”

You tightly cross your arms over your chest. Steve can’t tell if you do it to prevent yourself from feeling exposed or to prevent yourself from walking up to him and punching him in the face. Either one would make sense-he has no contact with a girl for four years, and then she shows up with a kid who looks exactly like him, and all he can manage is “long time no see?”

“You could say that,” you murmur, tapping your fingers on your forearm. 

Another awkward pause, ended only when Ben wonders aloud, “What’s in here?” and starts wobbling toward the storage room. You break the apparent spell that binds your feet to the tile and lunge after your son. He’s too fast, though, and disappears through the doorway before you can stop him. A few seconds later, he reappears-this time on the hip of a thin, freckled brunette who smiles at you warmly. Her name tag reads “Robin.” 

“Got him,” she says, pulling the door shut behind her before setting Ben down. He’s on the move again as soon as his feet touch the floor. You watch his chunky little legs run take him away until he vanishes behind a corner. “Hey, uh, I can watch him for a minute, if you guys want to catch up.”

“Oh, you don’t have to-”

“It’s okay. I don’t mind. Kids love me-mostly because I keep a stash of candy behind the counter at all times,” Robin says with a wink. Before you can object, she’s chasing your little boy around the store, and Steve’s staring at you with those pleading puppy-dog eyes you’ve never been able to say “no” to. You still can’t, even after all these years; when he asks if you can talk in private, you agree. Your hand shakes as you twist the doorknob to the storage room, and you immediately make your way to the opposite side of the room. The click of the door as it swings shut behind Steve echoes in your mind.

Steve collapses onto a stack of boxes. He buries his face in his hands. Then, he folds them into the prayer position, pressing the edge of his fingers against his lips. Thirty seconds pass where the only sounds are your breathing, the thud of your footsteps as you pace the room, and the muffled shrieks of your son as a stranger chases him around the store.

Steve finally breaks the silence with what sounds like a joke without a hint of laughter: “I don’t suppose that’s your little brother?” 

“No.”

“Are you his babysitter?”

“No.”

“Random kid you picked up on the street?”

You roll your eyes. “Definitely not.”

“How old is he?” Steve asks.

“He’ll be four this summer.”

Another pause, followed by a hesitant question:

“Is that why you left to go live with your aunt? So nobody would know you were pregnant?”

You swallow the lump in your throat and choke out a “yes.”

Steve nods, taking it all in. He inhales before speaking his next piece. “Just so we’re clear,” he says, “I’m the father, right?”

You stop pacing to glower at Steve. The fire in your glare is about the closest a human’s ever gotten to shooting lasers from their eyes.

“Really, dickwad?”

“I just want to make sure we don’t have any misunderstandings here.”

“Yes,” you say. “One of us was faithful in that relationship.” Your voice drips with venom, and you expect Steve to fire toxicity back.

However, to your astonishment, Steve simply runs his hands through his hair, and admits, “I deserved that.”

“You bet your ass you did,” you hiss, though you struggle to maintain the same level of ferocity as before. The moment you spotted Steve, your body started preparing for a screaming match. You didn’t expect submission.

“Benjamin, huh?”

“If you’re about to criticize how I named the child I carried in my womb for nine long months, I’m about to kick your ass, Harrington.”

“No, no,” Steve says. He gives the faintest hint of a chuckle. “Benjamin. I like it. You know that’s my middle name, right?”

You can’t help rolling your eyes again.

“Of course I do, moron,” you say. Your gaze falls to the floor, and your voice grows smaller as you add, “Why do you think I picked it?”

“You named him after me? Why? I didn’t even know he existed.” 

You detect the bitterness as he speaks, and all the walls around you that had started to sink slightly rose again to their full height. If anyone got to be bitter, it was you. It wasn’t all your fault that a piece of shit got you pregnant. But Steve had always been the sort of guy to convince you that everything would be fine, and it would never happen to you.

But it did. It happened. And while you wouldn’t trade your son for anything, things certainly would have been easier if you’d been able to have him a little later down the line.

“Why?” you repeat, starting to walk in circles around the room again. “Well, for one thing, I never thought I would have to explain it to you.”

“That’s not a reason.” 

“It’s a reason. It’s not the reason, but it’s still a reason.”

“Okay, so what’s the reason?”

You raise a finger to your lips and gnaw on the nail. 

“I thought that’s the closest he would ever get to knowing his father,” you admit. Steve frowns at his hands.

“You should have called me,” he says quietly. “I could’ve at least sent money or something. You shouldn’t have had to take care of the kid all by yourself.”

“No, I shouldn’t have,” you say, voice starting to tremble. You stop pacing but keep your back to Steve. “But I had to. I couldn’t call you. I couldn’t hear your voice. Not when I was still... ” 

“When you were still...?” he prompts. “You were still what, Y/N?”

“I was still in love with you.”

For a second, you’re that scared sixteen-year-old again, the one who could never bear to look at her ultrasounds, cried at every doctor’s appointment, and had to leave her own baby shower early because it was all too much. The welled-up tears finally seep out from under your eyelids and slip down your cheeks.

“In spite of everything, I still loved you.” You swipe at your damp face with the back at your hand before turning to face Steve. He stares at you with glossy eyes but an otherwise-undeterminable expression. “And I knew you wouldn’t want me-not when I came with so much baggage.”

On the other side of the door, footsteps pitter-patter on the tile. Benjamin’s tiny voice calls, “Ready or not, here I come!” Then, he shouts, “I see you, silly!” and breaks into a fit of giggles. 

“I don’t know how anyone could see that little dude as ‘baggage’, even if it wasn’t their kid,” Steve says. 

“You would have, four years ago.”

“Yeah, well. A lot’s changed since then.” Steve sighs, then offers you a small, tired smile. He pats the spot beside him. “C’mere. These boxes are sturdy enough to hold us both.”

You reluctantly plop down next to him, and you both lean back against the wall. 

“Look,” he starts, “I’m really sorry-for everything. I was a self-absorbed piece of shit in high school, and you deserved so much better. But I really did love you,” Steve says, reaching out to tuck a stray strand of hair behind your ear. “In fact, I never stopped.”

Steve leans towards you but stops a few inches from your face. You only hesitate for a millisecond before closing the rest of the gap. As your mouth makes contact with his, fireworks explode in your chest. His lips are even softer than you remember. 

You only take a short break for air before your lips collide once more. The kiss deepens, and you’re transported back to a much simpler time, when it was just you and Steve against the world. 

However, the fantasy doesn’t last long. After a few seconds of connection, Steve pulls away. His eyes glimmer with desire, but his lips speak the words, “Maybe we shouldn’t be doing this.”

“Why not?” you utter. Then, your mind jumps to the worst possible conclusion. “Shit-that girl out there-she’s your girlfriend, isn’t she?”

Steve recoils from you slightly.

“Oh, god, no. We’re just friends. I’m not exactly her...type,” he says with a shrug of his shoulders. “It’s just...I don’t want to complicate things. You know, for Ben.”

You scrunch up your face in confusion. “I’m not following.”

“Well...” Steve lets a long breath of air out of his mouth. “Now that I know about Ben, I’d like to be more involved in his life-if that’s okay with you, of course. Even if it’s just sending child support checks or whatever. And maybe, until we figure out what we are-if we’re anything-which, obviously, we don’t have to be…”

Steve trails off as your hand brushes against his, leaving a trail of electricity anywhere you touch. His palms are slightly clammy, but he lets you intertwine your fingers with his. You can feel his heartbeat rapidly pulsing through his wrist.

“I love you, too, Steve,” you say, pressing a gentle kiss to his knuckles, “and I want to be with you. But I understand if you’re not ready for the responsibility of being a father.”

“I don’t know if I’m completely ready,” Steve says softly, “but I want to try. I just don’t want to screw up Ben’s life any more than I already have.” 

“You won’t,” you say. “Ben needs you in his life...almost as much as I do.”

Steve kisses you once more before the two of you head back out into the main part of the store. Robin and Ben are both sitting on the floor in front of the counter. A huge bag of gummy worms is situated between them.

“Hey! You’re back,” Robin chirps, though her words are somewhat strained. She scratches her head awkwardly and not-so-subtly slides the half-empty bag of gummies behind her back. “Listen, uh-Ben started to get a little antsy, so I distracted him with candy. Hope you don’t mind.”

“That’s okay. Thanks for watching him,” you say. 

“No problem. I’m going to go finish taking inventory,” she says, getting to her feet.

As soon as Robin’s gone,  your son runs up to you. He holds out a half-eaten worm as an offering. You ruffle his hair with one hand-and that’s when Ben notices the strange man is holding your other hand.

“Why you touch my mommy?” he asks, glaring up at Steve’s face, which quickly turns a bright shade of fuschia. Steve frantically untangles his fingers from yours with a desperate glance toward you for guidance. 

“Don’t worry, Benny. He’s a friend of Mama’s.”

You sit cross-legged on the floor in front of Ben. Steve follows suit, but he stays in the background, careful to give you plenty of space. Ben immediately climbs in your lap, and you wrap your arms around his chubby little body.

“He’s a very special friend of mine, actually. We’ve been friends for a really long time. We knew each other when I was your age,” you tell him. 

Ben’s eyes widen to the size of saucers. “Forever ago?”

You laugh and press a kiss to the top of his head. “Sure feels like it sometimes.” You bite your lip, unsure of what to say next. “Benny, you know a lot of the other kids at preschool have both a mommy, like me, and a daddy?”

Hearing that question drives a stake through Steve’s heart, but Ben isn’t fazed. He simply nods.

“Well, you have a daddy, too.” You speak slowly, waiting for it to click in your son’s brain. He’s either too stunned or too incompetent to put the pieces together-which, needless to say, is fair, considering he’s only three. You point to Steve but keep your gaze focused on your son. “That’s your daddy, Ben.” 

You and Steve wait in silence for your son’s reaction. Ben doesn’t usually launch into hysterics; though he may have inherited his father’s looks, he managed to evade the “dramatic as heck” gene. Still, you expect some sort of response to this life-changing news. You eventually receive one, but it’s not at all what you anticipated.

“Do you play baseball?” Ben asks Steve. His words are completely devoid of the slightly-aggressive undertone he’d used only minutes before.

Steve blinks-once, twice, three times. Then, you elbow him, and his head moves up and down in confirmation.

“Can you teach me? Like my friends’ daddies teach them?”

A sigh of relief escapes Steve’s lips, which then curl into a cheesy grin.

“I would love to, Ben.”

Your son then turns to you, puppy-dog eyes at the ready. “Can we go to park, Mommy? Pwease?”

“Baby, Daddy’s working-”

“I’ll cover his shift!” a voice calls behind you. Robin sticks her head out the door of the storage room, smirking. “Go have fun, my new favorite little family.”

“What do you say, Stevie?” you ask over your shoulder.

“Let’s do it. Let’s play some baseball.”

Steve disappears into the back room to get his wallet. When he returns, Ben holds out his hand. Steve, beaming with joy, takes it, and the three of you walk out of the store together.

***

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[theskzvibe]

[9:24]

y/n laid on her dorm floor, covering her mouth, afraid that she would make a sound as the tears trailed down her face. She is used to her boyfriend Jae neglecting her and appressing her, but since the summer, he has been tainting her. He has been coloring her skin with purple marks. Marks not from love but from anger. Bruises on her hips and arms dance across her skin. She still loved him and tried her best to be the perfect girlfriend for him, but apparently that wasn't enough. Yesterday she saw him go into another girls dorm room, when she asked him about it, he started to get physical towards her and ended up breaking up with her.

Her phone vibrating next to her caused her to jolt up. It took her eyes a couple seconds to adjust to the bright light of her phone. It was a text message from Hyunjin. 

—

Hyunjinnie

One of Woojin hyung's friends is throwing a party at his apartment tonight, wanna come?

—

y/n's eyes filled with sorrow, she hated to decline Hyunjin's offers, but recently it has been harder for her to go out and have fun. She didn't want Hyunjin to see her this upset, or ruin his night. She didn't want him to worry about her, even though he does anyway.

—

y/n

No I'm not really feeling up to it.

Hyunjinnie

oh okay

is Jae coming over then?

y/n

No he isn't

Hyunjin

Is your roommate there?

y/n

Bora is always at her boyfriends place, I haven't seen her in months

Hyunjinnie

So you are alone?

y/n

yeah but its fine don't worry

—

As y/n typed that, her eyes welled with tears. She wasn't fine. But Hyunjin deserves to go out and have fun, not worry about her. She put her phone down, and hugged her knees. She hated feeling so powerless and sad. She is such a bubbly person, but she has lost her true self since she started dating Jae when she started college two years ago. y/n picked up her phone, in hope of getting a text from Jae, but she didn't. Hyunjin didn't even respond, but he was probably driving to the party. 

Tears started to stain her cheeks, and she just let them flow. She has lost the urge and strength to stop them from falling. She hope Hyunjin has fun at the party, he has always been a great friend towards her, since they became friends in the eighth grade.

y/n huffed a breath out, that made her bangs fly upwards and quickly fall back down. She has been in the library for ten minutes now, waiting for her english project partner to show up. The teacher assigned partners for a project due the next day. A boy sprinted into the library, his sneakers squeaking against the floor caused a teacher to stop him and yell at him for running. y/n laughed at the boys foolishness. Hyunjin sat down across from y/n and gave a boyish smile. "You must be quite the athlete. I bet you have a fast mile." y/n teased. That caused Hyunjin to blush. "I'm sorry if I kept you waiting, I had to finish up my math test." The look in his eyes was so sincere, y/n almost melted. She never met a boy this mature in her grade. "Don't worry about it. It is just so inconvenient that Ms.Song only gave us one day to work on this book report." 

"Yeah sometimes she can be a real-"

"Bitch" y/n cut him off.

y/n's vocabulary that she used to describe their teacher had Hyunjin laughing so hard he was gasping for air. Seeing him like this sent y/n into a fit of laughter. Hyunjin found y/n's little giggle adorable. Hyunjin took a deep breath and wiped his eyes. "You are hilarious."

"Hey I try. But I liked your reaction. First you gasped and your eyes went wide and then you started laughing so hard you almost cried." y/n smiled. "Those are the best kinds of laughs, the ones that make you cry and giggle so hard that you stomach hurts, and you gasp for air and you can't stop laughing." Hyunjin stated. y/n found his way of wording things very charming. She knew she wanted to be friends with him.

She smiled to herself while thinking about that day. The day she got to know Hyunjin. The day that started their friendship. As much of a bitch Ms.Song was, y/n thanks her for pairing them up, because y/n doesn't know what she would do if it weren't for Hyunjin. Back in 8th grade, she never would have guessed that her and Hyunjin would be as close as they are today. As each year went by, her and Hyunjins friendship grew more and more.

A soft knock on her dorm door caused her to jump out of her thoughts. "I guess Bora came back. Or maybe just to collect all of her stuff and move in with her boyfriend." y/n whispered to herself. She quickly wiped her tears and opened the door. The person who was standing on the other side of the door was someone unexpected. Their facial expression changed from a positive one to a worried one once they made eye contact with y/n. They quickly, but gently grabbed y/n's face and starred into her eyes with concern. "Why are your eyes red and puffy?" They then gasped, "have you been crying?" 

"I'm fine don't worry about it Hyunjin" y/n then dropped her head and broke eye contact. 

"y/n please look at me." Hyunjin raised her chin up with his pointer finger. "Why are you upset?" This question made y/n's eyes get foggy, and a tear slipped out. Seeing y/n like this made Hyunjin's heart ache. Hyunjin fully came into her room, and quietly closed the door, and wasted no time in taking y/n in his arms and embracing her in a hug. Hyunjin's hugs were the best, and they always made her feel safe, and made her feel at home. She rested her head on his shoulder and passed more tears. The quiet sound of y/n's weeps made Hyunjin upset, and feel useless. He wanted to make everything better, but he didn't know why she was upset. 

y/n took a deep breath, and grabbed Hyunjin's hand and brought him towards her bed. They sat across from each other on the bed, Hyunjin not releasing his hand from her grip. y/n wiped her tears, and hiccuped. Hyunjin squeezed her hand, a gesture so common to her, it made her feel warm. "Yesterday I saw Jae go into Rin's dorm" she huffed out. "Wait isn't she the dorm next to yours?" 

"Yeah, and they were loud. He slept with her." y/n looked down at her lap in shame. "And when I questioned him about it, he um broke up with me." y/n said, as her eyes started to water again. Hyunjin jumped over and wiped her tears and gave her a bear hug and rubbed her arms. y/n winced in pain from the slight action. Hyunjin quickly backed up and looked into her eyes, "are you alright?"

"Yeah its nothing, I walked into the door the other day." y/n said while looking at the door. Hyunjin could sense she was lying, he had known her for six years. He softly rolled her sleeves up and inspected her arms. She had bruises on her arm, in the shape of fingers, someone bruised her. y/n quickly looked away. Hyunjin delicately traced the bruises with his finger, and y/n scrunched her face in pain. "Did he do this to you?" The anger in his voice was evident, and it surprised y/n because Hyunjin rarely got angry. As a response, y/n just lowered her head. "You told me he stoped hurting you." Hyunjin couldn't stop the water building up in his eyes. "Its okay, we aren't together anymore so he won't do it anymore" She tried to reassure him. "It isn't okay. Stop saying that. y/n you don't deserve this abuse, it should have stopped. I should have stopped it." Hyunjin let a tear slip, but he quickly wiped it. "Please don't beat yourself up over this, it's not your fault, it's mine. It's my situation." y/n exhaled. "but it's not your fault, it's that assholes fault. He was never a good boyfriend, he didn't cherish you. You are an amazing woman who deserves better." Hyunjin caressed y/n's cheek. "No I should have been a better girlfriend, maybe then he wouldn't have cheated, or hit me. He said I dressed ugly and I wasn't sexy." 

"What the actual fuck. y/n, every guy that sees you does a double take. You are absolutely stunning and have an amazing personality, you are my favorite person to be around. He ruined your confidence, that isn't what a good boyfriend does, he didn't love you. You deserve real love. You deserve a guy that tells you that you look amazing. A guy that is absolutely whipped for you and doesn't take you for granted. A guy that loves you and cherishes you." He had pure passion in his eyes. 

y/n locked eyes with him and couldn't look away, it was as if she was in a trance. No one has ever said something like that to her before, and it made her feel special. She started feeling a foreign warm feeling towards Hyunjin in this moment. She only felt this feeling twice before and it was after the summer of tenth grade when Hyunjin came back from camp and he was 4 inches taller than y/n. Also when they first started college last year and Hyunjin decided to dye his hair a light brown, she couldn't deny that he looked very handsome. y/n felt her lips getting dry, and so she licked her lips which didn't go unnoticed by Hyunjin. 

Hyunjin felt himself leaning closer to y/n, and she copied his actions. They soon got so close that Hyunjin could feel her breath on his chin. He dipped his head down and tilted his head. y/n moved in closer and she slightly bumped his nose with her own. Hyunjin felt as if his heart will burst out of his chest. They both lean in until their lips connect. Hyunjin takes control, and y/n picks up his pace. Their lips mold perfectly together, and the kiss was slow but full of passion and love. finally, she felt real love.