#and i get paid enough to not worry about losing my ability to help people cause I'm no longer in the pit worried about food and a roof | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

whirlybirbs · 4 years

Text

✶ ——— MENDING ; d.d.

summary: something has unsettled din. you set to find out what. affections brew. * set post!chapter 11. contains spoilers! *

pairing: din djarin x gender nuetral!reader

word count: 1.8k of pure pining ‘n’ identity crises !

a/n: it’s another notes app fic, baby! the gif above is from this set by the lovely @thewaythisis! anyways, din can plow me like a field of wheat under the harvest moon whew (panting spongebob meme)

something is bothering him.

it would be a lie to say that din djarin was quiet soul — plainly put, he wasn’t.

he was, if anything, a purposeful and succinct soul who knew how to measure the weight of words when they were spoken. with all the little bell-like tinkers that came from his every step — beskar on beskar — quiet was not a fitting adjective to match that of din djarin. no. he was strong. sturdy. a chant of mando’a in the afternoon sun. intimidating.

something is definitely bothering him.

the ship is a wreck — you’re sure that alone is enough to strike a sore nerve with the mandalorian piloting the vessel. so, as he plots course for the little planet on the edge of nowhere that the striking bo-katan spoke of, you make work on what you can. reinforcing some structural plating, running diagnostics on the fuel-lining that runs beneath the floor plates, and welding the paneling the mon calamari engineer installed to cover the gaping hole in the side of the ship occupies you for a long while.

just the bright flicker of flame and your thoughts.

din hasn’t uttered a word since entering the ship.

you hope, at the very least, he’s taken the time to eat something away from your prying eyes.

the welding torch is hot in your gloved hands when you hear footsteps coming down the ladder into the swaying belly of the razor crest. you knew it was the wing equilibrium counter-weights the moment you took off. not much you can do about it from the inside.

the good news is that the rocking put the child right to sleep.

you pull your goggles down and watch as din djarin carefully carries the little woolen bundle to the hanging hammock within the small cot compartment. he’s exceedingly gentle, incredibly careful. once the child is inside, din dims the lights and closes the door.

you work your gloves off.

he sighs.

again, you can’t help but be struck with worry. the sort that nibbles on your heartstrings just enough to wring a flinch out of you.

“have you eaten?” he asks. his voice is even, almost cold.

you shake your head.

his helmet glints in the overhead light as he juts his chin to the cockpit; wordlessly, you stand and follow — swallows whole by his bulky shadow that looms over you as you hike yourself up the ladder.

din has done some mending of his own, it seems. the netting and twine that was keeping the dash steady had been removed. you can see the tedious, small welding marks from his own tool kit along the seams. you make a mental note to go over it later. in the corner, there’s a pile of the mess.

you land into the passenger’s seat with a huff.

the tube of protein paste that din offers you from his stash beneath the razor crest’s controls has you frowning. but, it’s bantha flavored. better than nothing. if you close your eyes, you can almost imagine it being a piece of steak.

almost.

if a steak was cold, pureed, and poured into a jerky-shaped tube.

din is quiet when swings in his chair, turning to nearly face you. he stretches, straightening his back out, then he crosses his arms. his boots plant themselves on the floor. his stance is wide. his posture is sagging.

you swallow your meal.

“did you eat?” your voice feels small.

din nods.

hm.

“... are you hurt?”

more silence. finally, he shakes his head. you know it’s a lie — the last forty-eight hours have left you both with your fair share of lacerations and deep-tissue bruising. beneath the armor, you can only imagine the sort of bruises he’s gotten.

“... tired?”

“this checklist you’re doing,” he rasps out, head lulling to the side as he looks up at the ceiling, “you should be doing it on yourself.”

you scoff into your meal paste.

“maybe.”

a grunt.

silence follows the exchange for a few minutes. it’s once you’ve managed to choke down the entirety of the bantha-flavored mush that you speak again. it’s not courage the drives the question, but concern.

“be honest, din,” you breathe, “are you alright?”

his helmet turns, t-visor glaring at you in the dim light of the cabin. you can see his fingers, gloved and tucked neatly against his biceps, twitch. he inhales deeply. the beskar glimmers with the light of stars that pass by beyond the cockpit window.

he’s rather a sight to behold.

“no.”

you’re startled back to the moment.

when you speak, your voice is soft. the sort of soft that’s begun to erode din’s usual beskar-grade composure. he’s begun to waver, begun to hesitate around you. he finds he can’t help it. he’d grown quite fond of you and your innate ability to give a shit. you’re not asking because you want to get paid, because you expect something of him. no, you’re asking because it matters to you.

he’s finally starting to understand that after cycles and cycles of time spent trying to find the child’s true place in this mess of a galaxy. you’ve been traveling with him since before nevarro — before... before the covert’s split.

before he started to feel so alone.

and confused.

and angry.

so angry.

how many moments has he denied himself because of this armor? how much kindness, how much care? how many friendships has he ignored for the sake of the creed? how many loves have come and gone, as fickle as stardust? what has he missed?

... has he truly even missed anything? that is the way.

he is all sorts of swirling bitterness now, mouth pulled into a firm line beneath the lip of his helmet. to see those others — true mandalorians, ones with clan-names, with lineage-graced armor, who speak the tongue and have touched the soil of the place he has never called home, but always idolized — reveal their faces...

he’s one of them...

children of the watch...

din’s foot taps.

you lean forward.

“din...?”

“the others,” he speaks suddenly, almost in a bark, “called my clan a coven of zealots. fringe radicalists. they showed me their faces and —”

a ragged sigh.

suddenly, you’re beginning to understand.

he’s frustrated.

“i’ve lived my life under a strict code,” din continues, helmet tilted up the ceiling. he’s tracing the bolts with his dark eyes, “one that has given me a purpose, a family, a home. but i can’t help but begin to question the cost.”

you’re listening. you’re pulling your knees up, arms cradling them close. your expression is soft.

“i thought...” then, he lets out a gritted huff of frustration, “i — i never considered my practices to be radical. i thought they were as every mandalorian lived.”

your words are soft. “... in all fairness, your people are living in a diaspora, din. the empire scattered you all to the far corners of the galaxy. it wasn’t as if you were seeing your kin every weekend."

din grunts.

you roll the hem of your tunic between your fingers.

“why is this bothering you?”

“i’ve spent my entire life in armor.”

you frown. din’s head turns and you feel a sad look pull your brows together. you hadn’t... well. his mood is beginning to make a lot of sense now. the frustration, the quiet. all of it.

“i’ve never felt the sea breeze on my face,” he continues, “or... or the kiss of another person. all because i lived my life by the creed i was raised upon. and i was told upon breaking that creed, i’d no longer have a purpose. dar’manda.”

“dar’manda?” the language is harsh on your tongue.

“to... to lose your heritage. to not be mandalorian. the covert believed that bearing your face to another outside of marriage was grounds for ex-communication from the clan. exile.”

“well,” you say after a long moment, crossing your legs and perching on the chair, “that explains the lack the kissing. certainly wasn’t the most important thing on the docket, was it?”

that manages to worm a laugh out of din. the sort that rattles his shoulders and makes his armor swell. he ducks his chin. the sound is still warm as it crackles through his vocalizer.

“interesting point of focus.”

“shut up,” you shirk, “you brought it up.”

“... do you blame me?”

you grow quiet at that but shake your head. your chin finds your hand.

“no,” you say softly, “i don’t. i’m sorry.”

“don’t be.”

“what will you do?”

din straightens a bit at that.

there’s only kindness in your eyes.

“it doesn’t matter now,” din says curtly, as if it’s the easiest answer in the world, “the child is my priority. keep you both safe is my priority.”

slowly, you amble up. your hand finds his pauldron, pressing gently into the fabric between his neck and shoulder oh-so-gently. you mind the affection blooming at his words; you’re careful with how you approach it, just as he is. as if a reflex, his hand snatches up to grip yours tightly.

you welcome it.

you squeeze the cold leather of his gloved hand.

“it does matter,” is uttered out like a sigh; din can’t look up at you. he’s sure his entire chest will burst, “you can’t bear the weight of the world on your shoulders, din.”

“i can manage.”

“let me help.”

a scoff. suddenly his hold tightens. his thumb, ever-so-carefully, ghosts the knuckle of your hand.

“you do enough.”

it’s your turn to snort.

“i’m practically freeloading, din —”

“no,” he barks, sitting up a bit straighter. now his visor tilts up, and you swear if you looked hard enough, you could see the slope of a nose, the curve of a lip. maybe, if he tilted his head, you could see his jaw — a ghost of a beard, a flash of a throat. he is human. it’s moments like these that remind you, “no, you’re important. you care.”

“— and i eat all your food —”

“you care about me and you care about the child and it matters more than you realize.”

his tone is so final, you feel as if it’s struck an ending note. as if the conversation has ended. that the welling of emotion behind his words is not to be questioned, not to be considered. in the last few cycles, moments like these have become more frequent but still cherished. as rare as they are, they never fail to make you feel like there’s star-shine in your veins. he isn’t one for grandiose confessions. but... this feel special.

his words leave your lips parted, mouth agape.

and then, in the tiny cockpit, hand in hand with din djarin, all you can muster is a flustered:

“you know, if that helmet wasn’t in the way i would have kissed you cycles ago.”

now, he’s embarassed. it has him laughing — but quiet and shy and all sorts of meak that make the brute of a man seem boyish. his voice is crackled alive with a new-found comfort. he is better now, more like himself and more.

“don’t feed the indentity crisis.”

#din djarin x reader #din djarin imagine #din djarin x you #mandalorian x reader #mando x reader #mandalorian imagine #the mandalorian imagine #mandalorian season 2 spoilers #OHHH DIN MY BABY BOY

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soulmate-game · 4 years

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I was feeling angsty. Read at your own risk, there is very little comfort in this and a whole shit ton of hurt. Probably a bunch of emotional triggers, so seriously be careful guys.

—*—*—*—*—*

Liquid pain ran down her arm like poison, the slash in it burning hot and spreading it’s agony like an invisible waterfall inside her flesh. But she did not grip her bicep where the wound had been inflicted, her gaze blank as she forced herself to hide her turmoil behind glass eyes. Her brother’s snarling face was only inches in front of her own, his katana moving from her arm to her throat.

“Useless! To think we share any blood relation is humiliating!” He growled at her. She did not move, did not emote. Her blades fans, the weapon she was loved most, lay half-opened on the ground beside her. Abandoned. But she knew Damian’s sword would not kill her. Blood family was a bond that was not to be severed by murder unless ordered by Ra’s or justified by the murdered family member in question betraying the League. She had done nothing to betray the Shadows, and Ra’s would not waste time and energy, or the breath it would require, to order her death. Just as he would not waste the precious waters of the Pit to bring her back again. She would not die today, and she knew it.

Sure enough, it was only a few more insults in various languages before Damian Al-Ghul stepped back and scowled down at the blood on his blade. Her blood. “If you don’t even have the stomach for real combat, you do not belong here,” he spat.

“That is where we agree, Grandson,” Ra’s sharp voice echoed through the room, his beady eyes never once bothering to glance at his granddaughter. “Maria, you are hereby stripped of the name Al-Ghul. Banishment from the League is the only mercy you shall be granted for your dishonor on our blood. Be useful and use whatever is left of your mistake of a life to stay out of the League’s way. Shall I, Damian, or your mother ever see your face again, your burial will follow shortly after. Am I understood?”

“Yes Gr— yes, Ra’s Al-Ghul.”

—*—*—*—*—*

Maria Al-Ghul was seven years old when she was disowned and sent away from the League of Shadows without so much as a penny to her name. She was only allowed to take the change of clothes she carried, and one small backpack’s worth of items. Her mother— Talia— had watched vigilantly as she packed those items, assuring that Maria did not take anything of worth.

The girl traveled by foot, too small to get away with driving a vehicle. Unless she could manage to steal a motorbike— she knew how to adjust the seats and pedals on most models to accommodate her size. But she was far too far away from civilization for that.

She knew that most of the League expected her to die in the jungles that surrounded the temple. After all, there were ninjas scattered throughout it with strict orders to kill anyone who was not one of them. And Maria now fit that description.

But if there was one thing Maria knew better than anything else, it was how to hide. How to hide feelings, intentions, involuntary movements, or her whole body in almost any setting. She covered herself in mud, matted her hair with dirt and took off her shoes. Barefoot was always quieter, and her feet would be more sensitive to any change in terrain. She would have to move more slowly and be on the lookout for traps, ground litter that could harm her, or dangerous wildlife, but she would be much harder to track.

It took her a month, but she made it to her first Tibetan city alive and decently healthy. She begged for food for a day before snatching a child’s outfit off of some hanging laundry lines and stealing the first decent vehicle she found. It was an old moped, but it beat walking and was already built small. She made it work.

That was how she spent the majority of the next year. She traveled from town to town, stealing what she needed until she could earn money normally. She used that money to buy herself a fake identity, even if she had to use the skills she had hoped to never need again in order to afford it.

Marinette Shiwang was born when she was already eight years old.

It was only a year after her new identity was created when she bumped into a woman in a street market. That was nothing new, those places could get crowded. But when Marinette looked up and saw valuable bracelets and necklaces of gold and jade, she knew she needed at least one. The money she would get for it would have her living comfortably for a short while. So Marinette’s theft-experienced fingers darted out and unclasped one bracelet in a fluid movement. It took less than a second. She barely had the piece of jewelry in her hand before she started to take off, hoping to lose herself in the crowd.

But a small hand clamped around her shoulder, a sturdy thumb pressing against a very vulnerable spot right at the back of Marinette’s neck, at the base of her skull. A clear threat from somebody with experience.

The sweet voice that followed didn’t match the gesture at all.

“Oh, I need that back dear. It was a gift from my husband, you understand.”

Marinette did. She cared about survival more. The small girl twisted, knocking the hand away from her before it could do damage and darting down a side street. The woman followed. It took three hours, but Marinette decided she had finally lost her pursuer before slumping down in the tiny, closet-sized bedroom of her cheap apartment. Her eyes closed for only a second before the window opened, and the smell of newly-baked sesame buns filtered through.

It was the woman and a much taller, much more masculine man. He was practically a giant, reminding Marinette of a certain member of the League that she used to know. They were both smiling.

“My wife figured you would be more open to an exchange than just giving up the bracelet for free,” the man’s voice was deep and inviting. “You can eat as many buns as your stomach can handle, if you give it back.”

Marinette accepted. Mostly because of her fear for people who could track her to her home so easily, when she had been certain she had not been followed. The League has tuned her senses well, there was no way the couple had been close enough to see her when she made it to her apartment. Yet they were still there somehow. Then, it also had to do with the promise of food, and the heavenly smell of the food itself. And then, lastly, Marinette was tired. She didn’t like stealing, it was just a necessity. She would not hurt these people over a mere bracelet that she wished she didn’t have to take in the first place.

Useless, she thought. So much of a bleeding heart that she just gave up what could have paid for two months rent. Too soft to even protect herself. The Al-Ghuls has been right. She was a waste of space and time.

Marinette was ten years old when she became a Dupain-Cheng. Somehow, that strange, dangerous couple had become her new family. Not even she knew how. But she was grateful— they took her back to Paris with them and she didn’t have to worry about rent, or food, or money anymore.

She vowed, that day that she received her spacious attic bedroom, that she would repay them. She would make herself useful, for the first time in her life. She would stay out of their way, be the perfect most unobtrusive daughter ever. She would help in the bakery, keep a smile on her face so that they never doubted that they were doing a good job. So that they never wasted time worrying about her. She smiled, and laughed, and became successful for them. Competent and reliable even though her memories would sink into her dreams every day and make it near impossible to drag herself out of bed in the mornings.

And then, when Marinette Dupain-Cheng was thirteen, she was given a pair of magical earrings and a tiny fairy-god. And Tikki was thorough, at least. Diligent in her explanation. Marinette listened to every word, dread seeping in as she doubted her ability to carry out such an important task. Save a city? Defeat someone much more experienced and magically powerful than her?

Useless little Maria could never. Slightly less useless Marinette could never.

She was only ever meant to play a support role. Stay on the background and make everyone else shine, without ever succeeding in anything worth noting. That was who she was.

But then Tikki gave her the Warning. The catch that came with the Ladybug abilities, and Marinette felt the long-rusted determination in her begin to fire up again. Maybe she could be Ladybug. Maybe she could be useful, at least this once. At least for just this one scenario. She could fight and win the war against Hawkmoth, and that achievement alone could make her happy. Let her die knowing she did something worthwhile.

—*—*—*—*—*

Damian Wayne was seventeen when he and his family found out about the Paris Situation, and immediately went over to offer help. Damian Wayne was seventeen when he watched Ladybug stumble at the sight of him, and immediately run away. But the two of them were twins, and though twin telepathy might be a myth they always did have a certain instinct when it came to one another.

Damian Wayne was Seventeen when he said, aloud on the top of a random Parisian building and surrounded by his family—

“My sister is Ladybug.”

Damian didn’t wait for their reactions, having entirely forgotten about the existence of his father and brothers, before taking off after his spotted sibling.

—*—*—*—*—*

“I knew you were alive.”

In hindsight, those probably weren’t the best words for him to say when Maria clearly thought he was still an assassin.

Damian watched as Marinette spun to face him, her face so much more expressive than he remembered. He could actually see the resignation in the slump in her shoulders, he could feel the fear in her bluebell eyes. The eyes she was lucky enough to get from their father while he was cursed with their mother’s green irises. He used to envy that about her, especially after joining the BatClan. But now he only felt comfort when he looked into her eyes. Comfort that she was different than him, and always had been. In the best of ways.

He watched as his sister was enveloped by a bright flash of pink light, detransforming right in front of him. And without the mask, it was impossible to ignore the relation between them. She had their father’s eyes and nose where he had their mother’s, but other than that they were almost carbon copies of one another. Her blue-black hair was pulled back into twin braids though, something he noted distantly as oddly fitting. They suited her, he thought.

But all those thoughts instantly turned to dust as she dropped to her knees in front of him, head bowed in complete submission.

“Tom and Sabine are innocent,” she told him. “They adopted me out of nothing but goodwill, and they have been nothing but good to me. I never told them a single word about my origin, I swear it on our blood. They think I am just an orphan that was abandoned in Hong Kong—“

“Maria—“

“—so please, don’t harm them. I’m begging you. And there is no need for you to waste energy killing me. You are welcome to stay in Paris as long as no harm comes to Tom and Sabine, but just wait and watch. I know who Hawkmoth is, and our final plan is almost ready. I’ll have him taken down by next week. Just— wait until then, please. My death will take care of itself afterwards, but Paris deserves to be free, and killing me now will set this entire war against Hawkmoth back by at least a year. And I also need that time to pick my successor—“

“Maria! I am not here to kill you!” Damian had to yell to get her to stop babbling and begging. She froze, but didn’t dare to sit up or even raise her head. So Damian took the initiative and sat down on the ground with her, though he kept his distance so that he didn’t scare her too badly. He couldn’t blame her for her reaction, it had been ten years since they had seen one another and their parting hadn’t exactly been pleasant.

But he had changed a lot since then, matured a lot.

“I am completely disconnected from the League,” he admitted. Of the blurry memories he had of her, he did remember that being blunt was the best way to handle information with her. Beating around the bush had always done nothing but make her exceptionally nervous and jittery. Sure enough, his admission was enough to make her look up at him with disbelieving eyes. He risked a small grin. “I didn’t come in my old uniform, did I?” He gestured to himself in the bright Robin colors. Sure enough, Marinette’s rapid blinking proved his theory that she hadn’t even registered his clothing at all to be true. She had run as soon as she recognized his face.

But Marinette did not speak. She sat up a little, still eyeing him cautiously. But her silence helped him finally realize where they were— where she had led him.

The sounds of traffic and other big city noises were all muted, as if muffled by several layers of cloth. Shadows fell over them abundantly, and they were surrounded by dilapidated concrete walls.

She had brought him to an abandoned area far from any activity, where a body would take ages to find. She had then disarmed herself of her only weapon, her magic suit, and had gotten on the ground in total submission.

She had purposely given him the perfect setting to kill her, where there would be no witnesses and plenty of time before her body would be found for him to escape. That realization hit Damian square the chest, leaving him breathless for a moment.

“I am not here to kill anybody,” he reiterated, his voice noticeably much gentler than before. “Not you, not you adoptive parents, nobody. I left the league when I was eleven. Mother—“ he took a breath, but Maria deserved to know. “— she cloned me. Her clone killed me. He no longer exists, but that is of no consequence. She killed me, she and Grandfather disowned me when I made it clear I was not returning. Father— our father,” he was insistent as he leaned forward, not continuing until she met his gaze. “You remember who our father is, right? Bruce Wayne? Mother had dropped me off to be raised with him when I was ten, but of course it was all just one of her plots. It was her miscalculation though, because I ended up growing close to them. To Father and his adopted children. You would get along with Gra— with Dick, the best I think. Although T— Jason would also be a prime contender as your favorite brother, I think. He shares your love of motor bikes, if that hasn’t changed?” She just stared at him, clearly confused and experiencing a lot of feelings at once. He stayed silent for a moment to allow her to sort through them a little.

“I’m Robin now,” he made his voice quieter, but still easy for her to hear. “I’m a member of the Bats. I’m sure they would all welcome you, if you chose to meet them. Though be warned, they can be quite in—“

“Why are you doing this?” Marinette’s voice was barely above a whisper, Damian almost didn’t hear her. But he did, and fell silent. He watched as his sister licked her lips and tried to find the right words to say. “If what you say is true… you have a perfectly good family. Brothers, Father, a comfortable life. Why follow me then? Why offer me… any of that?”

Damian frowned. He didn’t remember Maria being so gloomy, but then again she had been raised to never show her emotions. Maybe, after years away from the temple like him, her true feelings were just easier for him to see now. Closer to the surface.

“I want to get to know you— to get to know my sister, again,” he told her. “Don’t tell them, but Father and the others have taught me to appreciate family. The way I treated you when we were children was not right, and though it was heavily influenced by Mother and Grandfather, I want to make up for it nonetheless. Maybe we can get to know the new us, together?”

Marinette’s eyes went wide with disbelief, but then she clenched her jaw and shook her head.

“We can’t.”

“... right, I understand if you do not forgive me. I didn’t even consider—“

“It isn’t that,” Marinette was quick to correct him. “When I said that my death will handle itself, I mean it, Damian. The Ladybug… the earrings that give me my powers, come with a price,” she absently ran her fingertips over the unassuming black studs in her ears. “If a Ladybug uses the miraculous for more than three years, the powers of Creation will demand to be balanced. Already, the Miraculous is powering itself on nothing but my life force now. Once I defeat Hawkmoth, there will be no need for Ladybug anymore. The moment I take the earrings off, they will cease keeping me alive.”

Damian’s face fell. No— no, that wasn’t right. He was finally able to find her, finally able to apologize and try to fix his past mistakes. This couldn’t be how the reunion went. This couldn’t—

“Not even the Lazarus Pits can bring me back from a Miraculous death,” Marinette went on. “So you and your family should go. You don’t need to be here when I—“ Marinette paused, gasping. “Damian, why are you crying?! Stop that!” Her voice became desperate, Marinette crawling over to him as quickly as she could and wiping away his tears as if they were something terrifying. Damian wasn’t sobbing or making any noise, it was just a silent stream of tears running down both cheeks as he stared at her wordlessly.

“I…” he finally managed to choke out. “I wanted to make up for everything. I wanted for us to be twins again, together.”

Marinette paused, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. “I know a magic user who can erase your memories of me,” she offered. “But you don’t have to feel guilty for anything. You never said anything that wasn’t true.”

Damian’s green eyes widened. He had said nothing but cruel things to her, that last year they spent together as children. Did she really believe all of that? Did he and their childhood really affect her self worth this severely and irreversibly?

“Maria—“

“My name is Marinette, actually,” she corrected him with a small smile. “I’m not Maria Al-Ghul anymore. Marinette Dupain-Cheng is actually useful, Damian. I can actually do things right— I’m doing something right right now. Beating Hawkmoth will be the first worthwhile thing I’ve ever done, don’t you see? Once it’s all over, I will have brought honor back to our blood. I’ll have proved to you that I really am your twin, that I wasn’t a mistake. That I was born for a reason,” Marinette’s eyes got dreamy even as Damian just felt like he was impaled again, this time by a spike of ice rather than a sword. “And I’ll be able to die before I ruin it. It’s a perfect scenario.”

“A perfect scenario implies that nothing important is going to be lost,” Damian breathed. Marinette just blinked.

“Yeah, I know. That’s the plan. Defeat Hawkmoth, save Paris, and nobody dies.”

“But you’re going to die!” He growled. Marinette leaned back, bewildered by his violent reaction.

“Yeah, but it’s not like I actually matter. Nobody needs me. Tom and Sabine might be hurt for a while, but they will recover just fine. And it’s not like I have friends or any—“

“Stop worrying about other people, damnit!” Damian surged forward, grabbing her shoulders hard enough to bruise and shaking her a little. “Even back then! Even when we were seven, you threw down your blades because you were more worried about hurting me than you were about how Grandfather would react, even though you knew he would be tempted to kill you for what he thought was cowardice! You never put yourself first, and it’s finally starting to piss me off!”

“Damian—“

“No, listen to me!” He shook her again, his tear stained cheeks only making his glare all the more potent as he stared right into her eyes. “You are alive, and your life matters! You were never worthless or useless, you just didn’t fit what our abusive situation wanted of you. They wanted a cold hearted killer, a tool they could use, and you were always too warm hearted and clever to fit either of those goals. But I did, I was the killer they were looking for and the pawn they wanted. If anything, that makes you better than I ever was! I was too young and naive to see it back then, but I’m trying to make up for it now. You are my sister, whether you go by Maria or Marinette, Al-Ghul or Wayne or Dupain-Cheng, I don’t give a damn! And so help me, even if I have to surgically attach those earrings to your skin, I am not letting you die before you gain at least a modicum of respect for yourself. Do you understand me?”

A wet sniffle met his ears, and he pulled Marinette in for a hug. She returned it weakly, sniveling and sobbing into his cape.

“D-d-Damian?”

“Yes, Shaqiqa?”

Another sniffle.

“I-is it really o-okay for me to stay with you?”

“Of course.”

“I-is… is it really oka-ay for… for me to live?”

Damian’s arms tightened around her. “Always. Always, always.”

Marinette buried her face into his shoulder, taking a deep shuddering breath.

“Th-then… I wanna try.”

—*—*—*—*—*

Not sorry. Ha 😎

#mlb x dc #maribat #platonic daminette #bio!dad au #Bio!Dad Bruce Wayne #sibling Daminette #angst #heavy angst #hurt no comfort #or very little comfort anyway #ml x dc #platonic brucinette #twin AU

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youarejesting · 3 years

Text

Sly like a... ? Part 6

[Master list] [Sly Master List] Beta: n/a (at the moment) Rating: All Pairing: Hybrid!BTS x FailedHybrid!Reader Genre: Hybrid au, fluff, action, adventure, angst, drama, slice of life. Some marked chapters will contain mature/smut scenes, BUT they will not have plot in those scenes and are 100% skippable without losing your place in the story. Words: 1.8k

Summary: Human’s strive to be better, faster and stronger looking to animal DNA. Thus Hybrids are born. As the rise for designer and Pedigree Hybrids increase, so do the failed attempts. There is one species scientists are unsuccessful in creating, but, folklore says they have been here all along, hiding and blending in with the humans for many millennia. How clever they are.

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There had been a moment when Taehyung seemed almost reluctant to leave, as if he was having fun with the hybrids around his age and you couldn’t blame him. He had spent his life with older people who didn’t really do anything particularly thrilling.

But the night ended without any fights from any of the hybrids so you considered that a bonus. They were slowly becoming more accustomed to the other presence and though there were a few small shoves, hisses or choice words, all in all they were being polite.

Sitting at the dining table talking with Jimin about your plan tomorrow at the shopping centre, he was very close, you knew it was a dominance thing, that he knew you the longest and he was unintentionally rubbing it in the other hybrid’s faces. Seeing Jungkook’s eyes barely staying awake you wished him good night with a hug and told him to get some sleep.

Yoongi was slinking around looking like he wanted to say or ask something but waiting for you to be alone. Seokjin and Namjoon both headed off to bed and Jimin reached over taking your hand. “How are you feeling?” he asked, his brows creasing in the same concern that laced his words, “you keep making sure we are okay, that no one has asked you?”

“I’m good,” you admitted with a smile, “how are you taking this?”

“You know I am used to it, we grew up in hybrid homes just like this one,” Jimin laughed, “gives me a bit of nostalgia.”

“The only thing that is unsettling at the moment is the smell of the carpet, it is driving me mental?” you laughed, “that bleach not only burns it just makes the place feel empty.”

“I know what you mean, but if you would like I can scent the house?” he wiggled his eyebrows. “like we used to?”

“Jimin we were children running around naked was okay back then now it would be weird,” you scoffed, pushing him away, “go to bed.”

“You want to sleep in my room?” he pouted, “there is no need to be a martyr”

“Thanks but, I am going to stay up a little later and work out some things.” Jimin walked into the hall eyeing the older hybrid and gave a deliberate, let me know if you need anything spiel.

“Hey Yoongi, is something wrong?” you smiled patting the seat beside you, he hesitantly sat on the seat keeping his distance. He seemed to mull over his thoughts and choose his words carefully before he attempted to speak.

“When I was in University the first time, I was studying psychology, I wanted to help young hybrids,” you repressed a squeal he was opening up and you were so proud, “I was wondering, if there is a chance I could continue that course? I still want to help other hybrids like myself.”

“Of course, that is perfect, I can get you ready I will get your folders and work transferred over and we can have you started in no time, they might ask you to do an entrance exam so if you don’t mind I can give you a little refresher with the other boys and then you will be all set, all the Uni classes are online, so you don’t have to worry about transport and it’s all paid for so money isn’t an option either.”

“I don’t like free things” he played with his sleeves, “I much rather get things on my own”

“Well, if you would like I can give you pocket money everyday and you can save it so that you don’t feel helpless. Let’s say accompanying me grocery shopping, I could wash up the dishes and you could dry and little things like that and I can give you... uh, fifty dollars a week,”

“That is too much,” He said, shaking his head, “not when you are also paying room and board. That is way too much and I don’t want to take more of your money”

“It’s not my money, you forget, I am living free here as well,” you laughed, standing up and holding out your hand. He took it and you walked him to his room, “please don’t stress Yoongi, I promise you I am not as scary as I look, you are safe and I want you to feel safe and if that means you have a little money box under your bed than let’s do it”

Yoongi laughed, “You aren’t scary at all”

“I don’t know if you had seen her dancing this evening, that was scary,” Hoseok called from his room. He was a very easy going guy, he liked to hear the others better so he left the door open. It must be hard coming from the country with night noises and lots of hybrids snoring to a place that is genuinely quiet with the occasional sound of a car and his own room.

“Alright Yoongi time for bed, I am here now so I hope you like being tucked in?” you walked him to his bed and pulled the blankets up to his chin and you could hear the purs as you pet his head.

“I want to be tucked in too,” Jungkook wined down the end of the hall, and you froze as the chorus of me too filled the hall. Rolling your eyes you stood up pressing a kiss to Yoongi’s forehead and stepping out.

“Fine, let me start with Jin, you want to be tucked in?” You grinned and the oldest hybrid nodded vigorously from his bed. You made the rounds and visited every room, Namjoon announced he was already tucked in and would accept a good night. He was acting proud but you thought to try anyway. “your blankets are askew, let me help, you can’t be tucked in if your blanket is all wonky”

The excuse worked and he purred deep in his chest as you pet his head and kissed his forehead. Hoseok made you laugh and requested multiple kisses but received a “Don’t be greedy,” from his neighbor Jimin.

Jimin gave you his signature eye smile that you just knew was there even without your superior night vision. You thought about it and a lot of the hybrids in the house were nocturnal giving reason to their late bedtimes and keen senses in the dark. You weren’t too sure about Hoseok and Taehyung so that would be something to google before bed.

Stepping up to Jimin’s bed he grinned, “Tuck me in,” he declared his arms out as if he was getting a hug.

“Okay but you have to lay down and stop squirming,” you reprimanded, making him still long enough to tuck him in placing a kiss on his forehead with a pat, his hands holding his tail as he always did when he slept. “You still hold your tail when you sleep”

He blushed and turned away, “I dunno it’s comfy”

“It’s cute, have a good night” you walked on to the last room where Jungkook was standing at his door obviously having gotten impatient. You walked him to his bed and sat beside him as he got comfortable.

“y/n, I love being here and I don’t want you to give me up but, I miss my family, I barely remember anything about my mother I can’t even remember what she looked like, all I remember is she smelt like clean cotton and sunny days” He said a few tears in his eyes.

Wiping his eyes he sniffed, “I wanted to be cool for you, but I am just a big baby” he whined, “Can you stay with me until I fall asleep, sing me a song or tell me a story?”

“Alright, get comfortable and I will tell you a story koo” tucking him in you opened your mouth when he grabbed your hand, “Is something wrong?”

“You have to give me a goodnight kiss too, while I am awake or I won’t feel it” he gave a big cheeky grin and you laughed brushing his bangs to the side and pressing a small kiss on his forehead. “Alright I am ready”

“This was a story that I was told when I was young,” you shuffled onto the bed more, “in japan there are monsters and mythical creatures called yokai…”

“Yokai were sometimes even gods they could be good and they could be bad, the kitsune was a yokai, they said when a fox grew to a certain age they would be able to transform into humans” Felix spoke cleaning some of the toys off your bed.

“Like Hybrids!” You giggled, jumping on your bed, your stuffed toy under your arm, Felix tackled you onto your pillow and grinned, tucking you in and switching off the light. He reached over to turn on a small night light. “Or like the other story where they peel off their skin?”

“Alright, I admit it was a mistake to tell you that, are you still having nightmares?” he sighed rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “I still haven’t been let off babysitting duty because of that, the earful Astrid gave me”

You laughed at his dramatic shiver, she wasn’t that scary, but Felix always seemed to think so. “If you know so many stories about fox hybrids then why did they make me, if they were already out there?”

“That is the thing little Kit, they aren’t hybrids” his smile was big and his eyes gleamed mischievously. “They are huli jing, kitsune and kumiho, they aren’t hybrids. These are special beings; foxes with the ability to transform into humans, they are special.”

“If they can disguise themselves as humans how do you know they exist, have you seen one?” you were ever curious to know more about fox related things it made you feel like you were getting to know more about yourself and why you did the things you do”

“Humans can’t see them unless they wish to show themselves to them first, but they can see each other, they can’t hide from one another,” he hummed

“Are you a fox person Felix?” the memory of the other night in your head when you thought you saw two tails and some ears attached to him.

“I am just Felix and you young lady are up past your bedtime. So lay still so I can tell the story.”

“The fox breathed fire burning the forest and when their emotions calmed they saw the town destroyed and the woman the fox man had loved had died from the flames along with her new husband” you whispered, Jungkook’s little snores were cute and you readjusted the blanket and gave him another kiss on the forehead before retreating to the living room couch.

A thought passed by about perhaps using Taehyung’s room but you thought it was best to not invade his privacy, that was his safe place and your scent would ruin that. The thought didn’t last long as you were soon out cold from exhaustion.

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embrassemoi · 4 years

Text

Surrounded by the Moon and Stars • 06

Pairings: Sirius Black x [F]Reader, Remus Lupin x [F]Reader Content: Language, possible errors, music snob!Remus, Author’s notes: song used: Come Together by The Beatles

BTW: I always try to use little to no physical descriptions for the reader insert but I did add that the reader has some sort of hair. I didn't mention hair texture or length (Sorry if ur bald). My taller readers, I only mentioned that you were shorter than Remus (no height was given)

Masterlist: Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Chapter 6: ABBA vs. The Beatles

❉───────•~❉•᯽•❉~•───────❉

“Merlin’s beard! Binns is a sadist; torturing students must be his only pastime,” James yawned, taking his glasses off to rub his eyes.

Nothing could ever compare to the History of Magic. Today, lessons were dreadful and muddy. Professor Binns’ monotone voice filtered throughout the class, rambling on and on about various dates in history. Hardly anyone paid attention before he started calling on students. Annoyed, Binns would continue to reiterate his inquiry until the student(s) got the correct answer, no matter how long it took.

A sadist indeed.

Although Binns wasn’t the sole reason why the class was pathetic, but rather the lack of any practical work was simply a joke. The class only reminded Y/N of her short time in public school. Geometry? Utterly useless for any daily life interactions. To make matters worse, Binns surprised the class with a pop-quiz and two chapters of reading. Luckily, he had an ounce of mercy in his ghostly body and dismissed the class early for lunch.

James continued, “I would rather fight a dragon than — Woah! Your hair! “

She glanced to look at herself through the reflection in James’ glasses. Her hair, which originally was emerald green, was now turning into a golden yellow. The different colours clashed together boldly.

“You look like the banner for the Holyhead Harpies,” Peter said, striding up to James’ side.

“The Holyhead Harpies,” James said dreamily, “They’re probably one of my favourite teams.

Remus, who had been trailing behind Peter jumps in, “You only like them because they’re all women, you wanker.” He turns to Peter, his hand shooting up to the side of his head, massaging small circles into his temples, “Why’d you get him going?”

James became insufferable whenever someone or something mentioned Quidditch. Not only would he boast about his abilities as a Chaser, but he seemingly was a never-ending encyclopedia about Quidditch. It only worsened as November neared, the start of the new Quidditch season was approaching.

One time Y/N found herself stuck listening to him babble about Ireland winning the world cup for about thirty minutes. She didn’t have the heart to stop him, though. Nobody listened to his rants and he could hardly contain his excitement. How could she tell him she wasn’t interested?

A monstrous smirk etched its way onto his face, “Caught me.”

“Be anymore of a predator would ya, Prongs?”

“Hey! That’s not the only reason why I like them. Did you forget their victory in 1953 against the Heidelberg Harriers? Their strategy was blood-fucking-brilliant. They’re legendary! My father was there to see it in person. Lucky bastard. He told me…”

His voice fades into the background as Y/N catches Remus’ eyes. A glint of mischief shined through them before he forced a fake pitiful smile. He mouthed a quick ‘sorry’ to her before looping his arm around Peter’s shoulder, discreetly leaving James’ side and out of the classroom.

That sly, slippery bastard.

"— and did I mention that their seeker was one of the most sought out —”

“Wait, James.”

He abruptly pauses, waiting patiently for her to continue. She leads them out into the corridor and towards the great hall. “Sorry, didn’t mean to cut you off like that, but when is my hair going back to normal?”

Y/N instantly regretted mentioning her hair. There was no trace of a smile on James. His shoulders slumped a bit and his walking even staggered. “Godric, I know, I know and I’m sorry. I thought it would have returned back to normal by now. I’ve been creating reversal spells — even started asking Moony to help.”

“Moony?”

“Remus.”

“Another one of your nicknames?”

“It’s not a nickname! It’s a brotherhood — a pack!”

“Oh, sorry Prongs,” she drawled, a sarcastic smile on her face, “If I didn’t know you I would assume you were an asshole.”

“What? How?!”

“You go around calling yourself a marauder, the king of Quidditch and now Prongs. Seems pretty assholely.”

James’ mouth opens before closing again, repeating the process several times.

“Plus, you pull silly pranks every day.”

He chuckles, “Oi! You helped us with that itching idea!”

Her eyebrows raised in acknowledgement, “Touché.”

To this, James shakes his head, directing the conversation back to the Holyhead Harpies. Inwardly, Y/N wanted to whack him with a broomstick.

They were among the first students to reach the Great Hall, aside from students who had a free or were excused early by Professor Binns. None of the girls were there yet. Unfortunately, Marlene was held back by Binns, so Y/N was left to sit beside James who sat opposite to Remus, Peter and Sirius.

She had been trying her best to avoid Sirius whenever she could. It was clear he didn’t like her. He never laughed whenever she made a joke, he hardly noticed her, he never praised her, even if she tried to compliment him. He was just rude for no apparent reason. The rest of the marauders and girls knew this, although they preferred not to comment about the obvious, strained relationship (which they didn’t even know the reason for. Granted, Y/N wasn't quite sure herself. Was it the rejection, he just didn't like her or is just an ass?).

Although, ignoring and avoiding him proved to be extremely challenging. Y/N was glued to Lily’s hip ever since the Sorting Ceremony. It also didn’t help that if you were with one marauder, another one was sure to follow. She and James started to spend more time with each other, and by extension, she was obligated to be around at least one other marauder. With the addition of study sessions with Remus, it was inevitable.

Surprisingly, Sirius hadn’t made any snarky remarks, excluding dirty looks, he was being… nice — nicer to her. The action was a stark contrast from his previous behaviour and she speculated a few reasons why:

Most likely, James or Lily, she assumed the former, said something to him. Since his little spat with James at breakfast a few weeks ago, Sirius was tight-lipped ever since.

Maybe he was done being a prick, deciding to stop by himself after realizing he was a prick.

Went through something personal, it stopped, and his behaviour improved.

Minutes after the bell rang, students began to trickle in for lunch. The comfortable chatter rose as Y/N finished eating an apple. Everyone seemed pleased when James’ Quidditch lecture was interrupted as hundreds of owls streamed in, packages and letters dropping into the laps of students. She hadn’t expected anything considering her owl, Celeste, didn’t drop anything off since the first week of October. However, today she fluttered down between the bread and fruit bowls, dropping off several letters and a small parcel onto Y/N’s plate, pecking at the bread crumbs on the table. She tore the letter open, inside it said:

Dear Y/N,

Are you still having a hard time with Charms? If so, perhaps I find some textbooks and send them over.

Don’t slack off this year. Send me a letter whenever you have the chance. (Make sure to tell Celeste to be quieter next time. You know I can, and never will get used to the owls.)

Mom

Her mother finally wrote to her. A sense of joy flooded her body as she placed the letter back down on the oak table. A part of her wondered if Celeste was dropping off her letters to the wrong house, the one back in Toronto as her mother never wrote back. She opened the next letter, immediately recognizing the messy scrawl:

October 19, 1975

Y/N! I thought you replaced me with one of your brits, but a false alarm, your letters just take a while to arrive. Must be tiring for Celeste to travel to and from Scotland then America and back. You know, whenever people see her fly in, they still recognize her.

Are you doing anything for Halloween? We’re throwing another dance. Going to be alone this year now that I can’t force you to come. I guess I’ll just watch half the school dry hump each other while I smuggle in firewhiskey.

How’s it going over there? I heard from a few students, even read in the papers about the war. It’s getting pretty crazy over here. Teachers have been meeting and trying to prevent students and parents from losing their shit. My mom has been worried too, writing to me like a lunatic and I’m not even in the UK. The MACUSA have been keeping quiet but they were caught having meetings with counsellors from the Ministry of Magic. Even heard that Jenkins is stepping down. If it keeps getting out of hand here, I can’t imagine what it must be like at Hogwarts. I truly thought the war was dying down, I was wrong. Keep your wand close. Surely, you’ll get away with a hex or two.

Until next time

Matthew G.

So engrossed in her new environment, her old life slipped to the back of her mind. There was a detachment from her reality compared to the one at home. A pang of guilt hit her, swallowing her up from the inside out until another pang hit, loneliness. If she easily forgot everyone, would anyone remember her? None of her old friends, apart from Matthew, had made a move to contact her since she left.

Often thinking about writing them first, she had to remind herself if they wanted to, they would. Especially with the knowledge that people still recognized Celeste.

Was she forgettable and if so, was it karma for forgetting too?

It put a mechanical vice grip on her heart, applying just enough pressure to be a constant reminder. With every beat, it tightened more and more.

Looking around the table, she saw her peers huddle in groups, familiar laughter ringing throughout. So noisy, so taunting. She may have been friends with Lily, Dorcas, James or even Marlene, but they had their own friends. Friendships that had years to develop before she came. She had only known them for less than two months.

Forgettable.

How hilarious, she thought.

“Hey,” a gentle voice cooed into her ear, “Are you okay?”

She hummed back absentmindedly.

James wore a concerned expression, his eyes knitted together, one raised higher than the other like it always does when he was worried. The look he shot her suggested he wasn’t convinced, although he didn’t press; instead opting to stir the conversation. “So, who wrote to you?”

“A friend and my mom —”

A snort so loud that it caused the rest of the marauders, random onlookers and even Lily (who had a look of pure disgust on her face) turned towards them. “What did you say?”

“I got a few letters?”

“No!” He bellowed, “Who sent you them?”

“My friend and my mom —”

Nearly choking on his sandwich, James clutched his stomach laughing. Laughing so hard he has to grip the table to prevent falling off the hall bench. "Haha! Mom?! MOM?” He mocked in a poor American accent, “What the fuck is mom? It’s MUM. Bollocks!”

“We say vitamin.”

“It’s VIT-A-MIN! Who says VIGHT-A-MIN?” Without a pause, James presses his entire body onto her shoulder, smushing her before grabbing the letter her mother sent her. His eyes scanned across the pages before hitting a certain word. “Back home? Maple trees? Where did you use to live exactly?”

“Canada.”

“Canada?! You don’t mean those snowy gits?” At this, Peter and Remus snort under their breaths. Even Lily had to force down a smile.

Staring deadpanned at him, in an unamused voice, “Really?”

“You are a bundle of surprises! I thought you lived… I’m not sure. I assumed somewhere like New Hork.”

“York,” Lily corrects.

“Tomato, tomato,” he jokes, playfully batting his eyes at Lily before biting into his sandwich, “You do live in London, right?”

“Right.”

James takes a moment, letting the conversation die down before he quickly glances at Y/N again. An undecipherable expression crosses his face before it’s promptly replaced with elation, “I take back anything negative I’ve said about Canada. They have an amazing Quidditch rooster. Have you gone to any of their games?”

A low grumble of sighs follows at the mention of Quidditch from James. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Remus shake his head and sighed dejectedly.

“Nah, I’m a New-Maj, remember? My mom — “

“Mum —”

“ — sorry, Mum — hardly understands the wizarding world, let alone what Quidditch is.”

His eyes were wide, whimsical, as a hand flew to his chest dramatically, “Rubbish! Bloody ridiculous! You’ve never seen a real Quidditch game? One day, I swear I’ll bring you to one! Or you can bring me to Canada one day and we can watch a home game!”

As James continued to rant, Y/N’s mind slowly drifted back to the bitterness in her chest. Trying to distract herself, she borrowed Lily’s quill and a few sheets of parchment, scribbling down letters in response.

Mom,

I’m fine with Charms, you don’t need to send anything. And don’t worry, I’ve been studying for my OWLs.

Love you, write soon.

The next letter was addressed to Matthew:

Matty Matt,

Of course, I didn’t replace you… yet.

Another dance? You would think the students’ protest last year would have influenced the professors this time. I guess it’s time for you to get wasted. I didn’t tell you last time but I think I’m going to a party. A friend of mine is throwing it and I know he’s going to force me to come no matter what. He briefly mentioned costumes and drinks. Plus, there’s going to be some kind of prank that I may or may have not been a part of? Sounds cool right?

Yeah, I’d say it’s been bad up here. I don’t know much about what's going on outside of school, though. The professors are hiding it well. I didn’t even hear about Jenkins stepping down. Keep me updated.

Until next time

She sealed the letters before sending Celeste off again, “Be quieter when you drop off the letters, yeah?”

❉───────•~❉•᯽•❉~•───────❉

It must be her lucky day.

The ringing of the bell went off, signalling the end of class. Professor Flitwick asked the students to stay behind so he could hand out quizzes the students completed on Monday in preparation for their upcoming test on Growth and Reductor charms the following Tuesday.

It was never a good sign when a professor flips your test over to prevent other students from seeing their mark. Flipping it over at a downwards angle, Flitwick handed Y/N her quiz.

Turning it over nervously, a tight coil formed in the pit of her stomach. A large P was plastered on the top right corner in bold red ink. She studied hard for this too. Angrily, she shoved her work into her bag and left the class. This was the third poor she'd gotten in a row. She should have told her mother she needed those Charm books.

“I swear I’m going mad! Her brother is a complete cow! He even — are you listening?”

She looks at the girl beside her, Marlene. Her glossed over, doe eyes must have served as an answer before the blonde shook her head.

“Sorry, distracted,” she mumbles, before forcing out a fake-happy tone, “Continue your story! I wanna hear!”

“Hey,” Marlene says in a softer voice, “If something’s bothering you, you can talk about it.”

“No, it’s okay,” she replies instinctively. She felt bad spacing out during Marlene’s story but her mind was running through and under hoops. The last thing any fifth year student needed was to fall behind in their classes, let alone feeling like nobody cared about them.

At that moment, she wished she was wrapped away in red and gold blankets to wallow in her self-pity party, away from prying eyes. She could feel the burning sensations of tears building up.

Dammit.

Y/N looked out the window to her left. The sky was melting with the warm hues of reds and yellows while the other half was being slowly engulfed into a cloak of twilight. Even from here, she could feel the cool air seeping in from the windows making her tug on the sleeves of her robes.

She continued, “I’m just tired — been a long day. I’m going to take a nap before dinner. See you.”

Judging by the look on Marlene and Lily’s face, guilt riddles her body. They both look sympathetic. The pity only made Y/N feel disgusting. In all honesty, Y/N will care later. Right now wasn’t the time and she desperately needed some shut-eye.

Before she left the room, she overheard them talking.

“What’s up with her?”

“Dunno.”

Great.

❉───────•~❉•᯽•❉~•───────❉

Sleep did little to ease her thoughts.

The same uneasiness she felt on the train ride to Hogwarts settled deep into her bones again. She thought she was past this. The worrying about friends, missing home, feeling alone, failing class, stressing about her future. The rational part of her brain knew it was just one silly quiz (and old shitty friends), but knowing herself, if she were to continue to have this mindset, she would only fail in the end.

Dinner ended and Y/N belligerently climbed up the stairs towards the library to attend today’s study session. The Charms quiz threw her into a loop and it was better not to dwell on it, opting to rather use her time for something useful.

Her marks improved significantly since she attended her first session two weeks ago. The last couple of assignments and quizzes she handed in that she worked on during the groups were some of her best work, ever. Additionally, her ability to retain information was improving at astonishing rates and she found herself participating in lessons more often. Unfortunately, she started to doubt her abilities again.

There weren’t as many students as usual. Perhaps it was because of the Quidditch meeting for all teams tonight, or because nobody wanted to spend their time in a library Friday night. She assumed it was the latter.

Although, the same student with black hair from Slytherin was there; tucked away in his usual corner. He was always there. Whether it was the study sessions, another OWL or NEWT student or he simply just enjoyed the library, Y/N could always rely on him sitting there in his little nook.

In the far back, surrounded by tall bookshelves sat Remus. Another student, a first or second year, judging by their height, seemed to be asking him a question, rapidly writing down something on a piece of parchment whilst they walked away. Remus leaned back in the brown chair, his right leg was folded over the other as he stretched.

She spent over twelve hours minimum with Remus directly since the first session, minus the time he was around James and the girls. Perhaps she only started to notice afterwards but she swore Remus wasn’t around this much before. Now, he was everywhere.

In the past couple of weeks she’d gotten to know him, she made a mental list in her head of him:

1. Remus loves sweaters. They weren’t flashy, seemingly preferring to wear ones with small designs, stripes or a solid colour. He wore green the most. He also wore cardigans. Two, in particular, he wore the most; one was white and the other was a muted brown. They were big and hung off his loose frame, the pockets were often stuffed with books, rumpled parchment and his wand.

2. He’s a coffee addict. He drank it in the morning, the afternoon, at the study session and sometimes with meals at dinner. He loved to dump pounds of sugar, so if he only drank black coffee, it usually meant he was in a bad mood. James even joked that he became Sirius whenever he drank black coffee, because haha! Get it? It’s BLACK coffee!

3. He frequented the library whenever he wasn’t with the rest of the marauders. He enjoyed poetry, wrote post-it notes after post-it notes to annotate his favourite parts. He even slept there from time to time, not without having to persuade Pince to not give him detention.

As if Remus magically sensed her, he took a large inhale before he stopped stretching, opening his eyes to look at her. A small smile was plastered on each other’s faces. He stuck up a few fingers to wave at her, motioning her to come over.

“Hi Y/N. I thought you didn’t come on Fridays?”

“I don’t but I have a test, Charms, Tuesday.”

“Oh, well I’m happy to help.”

“Thanks for the offer, Professor Lupin, but just being down here will help me focus.”

A scarlet blush settled on his face at the mention of his tutoring. “Well come sit with me then.”

Pushing the chair out of the way, she sat down beside him, pulling out her cassette player and earbuds along with her notes. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Remus staring at the player curiously.

“Do you want to listen?”

“If you don't mind. I didn’t know you could use these here.” Picking it up, he turned the rectangular device.

“If record players work here, why not this?”

She hands him an earbud, alongside a small collection of other tapes she had on hand.

“Choose whatever you want to listen to.”

Without much thought, he pressed the play button. The upbeat tune of Waterloo by ABBA trickled into their ears. Y/N bobbed her head up and down before the song was suddenly stopped.

A sour grimace sat on Remus’ face before their eyes met, his nose upturned slightly.

“Why’d you stop it?”

“I hate ABBA.”

“What!?”

“I just don’t like their cheesy disco-pop-esk sound. They sound generic and random words are thrown in when they don’t add to the song.”

“Jeez— never met anyone who hated them that much.”

A ghost of a smile appeared before he flicked through her collection of tapes. He picked up Abbey Road by The Beatles. Opening the player up, he slid out Waterloo. With a click and the press of a button, Come Together played.

“So you hate ABBA but not The Beatles? Benny and Bjorn said they were influenced by them!”

“Keyword: Influenced; which is just another word for a shitty knock-off version.”

4. Remus Lupin is apparently a music snob.

“Well, I think both are good.”

“Respectfully, I disagree with you.”

“Whatever you say, professor.”

"I've been thinking a bit, why did you come to Hogwarts? Why not just stay at your old school?"

The sudden switch of topics threw her into a loop. “Wasn’t by choice. My mom’s a doctor and got a position here. It was too good to turn down. But it’s not bad. There’s less wizarding laws.”

He nods his head, "I'm assuming you have dual citizenship?"

"Mhm."

About a half an hour passed as she sighed for the umpteenth time before putting down her quill. Her chair scraped back noisily as Y/N’s hand balled up into a tight fist, feeling her fingernails bite into her palm. She’d been flicking through her notes, the words all blended.

At this rate, if History of Magic didn’t exist, Charms would surely be her least favourite class.

“Are you sure you don’t need help?”

She was at a loss, this was the third time Remus had offered to help and he was persistent. She felt horrible that she was taking up his time to help her on a stupid Charms test.

He continued, “If you think bothering me is an issue, it’s not. I run the sessions on Friday. It’s my job.”

“Fine, but there has to be something I can do in return.”

“Hmm,” Remus pondered for a second, “How about this, I tutor you in Charms and in return you give me your Potions notes? I'm dreadful at it.”

“Deal.”

“Great. Before we start, is there anything in particular that you have questions on?”

Silently tapping on the quiz she received today, Remus snatched it and quickly scanned over her answers and Professor Flitwick’s notes.

“I see what happened. You know, the curriculum taught at Ilvermorny is different. That’s probably why you can’t understand some of this shit.” He cleared his throat, “So as we know, the growth charm increases the size of your intended target…”

His voice, like a light switch, changed instantly. Instead of his softer deep, raspier voice, it became commanding and steady. He never stumbled over his words and articulated his points elegantly. She found herself enraptured by him, understanding why he was in charge of the study groups.

Eventually, Remus takes a pause, “Does that make sense?”

“Yes. You know, you’re really good at this. No matter how much I asked Flitwick or even Lily I could never get it.”

A large blush bloomed on the apples of his cheeks before he shyly rubbed the back of his neck, averting his eyes. “I’m not that good.”

“No time for modesty, Professor Lupin!”

“Okay, okay! So here, do you see what went wrong? There would be a reaction with those two spells if —”

A boy, small, most likely a second year, stood at the foot of the shared table holding a large red and gold book. His hair, dark ginger, similar to Lily’s, was cut short. He fiddled with his fingers as he continued to stare at the two.

“... Um, hi. You're Remus — right?”

“Yup. Did you need help with something?”

“Yes! I’m having trouble with the Transfiguration spell, beetle into button.”

A look of understanding passed through his face before Remus turns to look at her, “Duty calls. It’ll be quick.”

“Of course, take your time.”

It was not quick. Understandably, very few were successful at the ginger’s age to perform the spell, but thirty minutes passed and the second year still didn’t understand the basic concepts. No matter how many times Remus had reiterated his point differently, the boy couldn’t retain it.

“I just don’t get it.”

“You learned this last year, it's a quick revision. I’m not sure what part you’re talking about. Look, do not wiggle or twirl your wand left, direct it towards the right. You have to picture the spell in your head before saying the incantation.”

He guided the boy's hand steadily before performing the spell himself.

“I don’t understand!” The boy whined.

He sighed, “Then we keep trying —”

“It’s too hard. Why are they teaching this crap anyway?”

“Could you stop complaining?” He snapped, closing his eyes before he realized what he’d just done. “I’m sorry about that. I’m… just tired. I can’t help you anymore, though. You should ask someone else,” Remus said brusquely, his eyes unnerving as he stared at the child. As a result, he yelped out a ‘thank you,’ rushing off in the opposite direction.

The muscles in his jaw tensed under the soft glow of the table lamps. There was a pale red tint rimming his eyes and he looked visibly paler than normal. Irritated, he bounced his knee rapidly, up and down, before looking out the large window beside them. The sky was mostly cloudy. Only the peak of the silvery moon appeared. A sliver was missing before it was fully complete.

He closed his eyes, before breathing in. His posture once stiffened, completely relaxed before a flimsy smile reappeared on his face, returning his attention to Y/N.

“Let’s continue, shall we?”

“If you’re tired we can stop.”

“No, s’okay. I’m fine — really.”

She chewed the inside of her cheek, adding to her list:

5. Remus was always so hard to read.

148 notes · View notes

axoxtxhxh · 3 years

Text

Promise Me - Chapter 2 - The Fight

Summary: Armin convinced Reader to let him out for the day. On their way out, they get into some trouble and Reader gets hurt.

ArminxFem!Reader

Content: Blood, a little bullying, fighting, immigrant-hating (? I’m not really sure what to call it), me failing at using old-timey slang XD

Word Count: ~ 4,500

Armin’s eyes widened with excitement and he jumped up from where he was sitting. He was going to say something, but thought better of it. Standing quietly next to you with a huge grin on his face. He shook his hair out and smoothed it down and you felt a tiny twinge in your chest that forced you to smile. His innocence was always so endearing.

It was probably best that you didn’t both go out wearing scout regiment uniforms and you moved to the few extra articles of clothing you had next to the bed, digging around. The weather in this country was quite similar to Paradis and would have normally been warm at this time of year, but today was colder. The sun was hidden behind the clouds covering the sky and it looked as though there would be rain. If you didn’t actually need to go to the store, you probably would have skipped it on a day like this.

Unfortunately, all that was in the pile of extra clothing were short sleeves and thin shirts, the only clothing cheap enough for you to afford. They would have to work for now.

“What are you looking for?” Armin peeked over.

“We both can’t be out wearing our uniform,” you explained, “it’s bad enough that I wore it. Both of us wearing it together will look bad.”

You stood up holding a short-sleeved t-shirt, quickly removing your uniform shirt and handing it to Armin. He took it from you and folded it, replacing it in the bag while you put on the t-shirt.

“Ready?” You packed the small amount of change you had in your pants pocket.

“Won’t you be cold?” Armin worried. He didn’t mind wearing the t-shirt instead of you wearing it. He looked over your arms and really became aware just how much muscle you’d lost already.

“I’ll be fine. Let’s go.”

The walk to the store was only about ten minutes and not that scenic, but watching Armin look around in awe made the experience entirely different for you. He watched the people and cars moving around him quickly with a huge smile on your face and you smiled, feeling pretty happy that he convinced you to bring him along.

Armin couldn’t believe everything he was seeing. So many people, so many different people, all the cars, the food being sold on the street, everything was so new and amazing. He was breathing in the smells coming from the food vendors, barely wanting to blink in fear that he would miss something. He looked up to you and saw that you were smiling.

As you were walking, you thought about how strange it must be seeing the two of you together. You were definitely older than Armin, but not old enough for people to mistake you as his mother, maybe his young aunt. He was smaller than you as well, not just in height, but in build. Somehow, his black scouts uniform made him look bigger though.

The reactions of the people on the street were quite different today than they normally were. Maybe it was because it was a cloudy day and people knew rain would be coming in soon or maybe you did look different with Armin walking next to you, but everyone almost seemed friendlier.

There wasn’t a food stall that you passed that wasn’t saying ‘hello’ with a smile when you normally never even got a glance in your direction. A couple of them even gave Armin a free sample to taste which he accepted with an excited ‘thank you’ and shared with you while you walked. You kept looking over at him as he smiled at everyone with his big, blue eyes. It was definitely Armin that was making the difference. His less threatening face and cheerful look in his eyes was getting the attention of everyone you moved past.

You made it to the store and the lady behind the counter who usually paid no attention to you wasn’t any different from the rest of the town, happily greeting Armin with a welcoming smile on her face. You moved to the back of the store knowing what you needed and quickly grabbing it. There was no need to be out more than necessary. Armin took the supplies from you and you both went back to the counter.

“Looks like terrible weather today,” she said smiling at Armin.

“Rainy weather is nice with a cup of tea.” He smiled back.

“Such a positive way of thinking about it.” She rang up the items. “Are you guys from around here?”

“We’re just visiting,” he replied. You remembered another item you needed and quickly ran back to the aisle in the back, tucked all the way in the corner, ‘feminine products’. It was completely different here than back home. Each time you came back thinking they would restock what you were used to using, but it was only ever the same products. You grabbed a box at random and went back to the front.

“This one is my favorite,” the cashier was saying to Armin, “it’s perfect for days like today.”

“Thank you for the information!” His innocent smile was winning everyone over. She put it in the bag with your stuff and Armin spoke up to protest. “Oh, I’m sorry. We can’t pay for that.”

“No problem.” She winked. “It’s on the house.”

“Thank you!” Armin was beaming.

He looked back to you as you set your box of tampons on the counter, looking at the box, then back to you, concern hitting his eyes. You paid for the stuff and grabbed your bags, heading back out to the street.

“Wait… wait, Y/N.” Armin rushed next to you, taking the two small bags from you. “I can carry these for you. You should rest.”

“What for?” You kept walking.

“Your condition.” His eyes were wide, still full of worry.

“Trust me—” You tried not to laugh at his concern. “—I’m fine. Besides, the bags aren’t even heavy.”

“Even still, I will—”

“What do we have here?” A voice called from a group of older boys just outside the store. Both Armin and you turned to see who they were talking to. “It looks like a couple out-of-towners.”

The group of boys laughed and that’s when you knew they were talking about you and Armin. You turned Armin around to keep walking.

“Hey, blondie. Nice outfit.” Another voice called. You stopped where you were standing. Armin turned to grab your hand, but you stayed there.

“Looks like we got a bearcat on our hands, fellas.” The group laughed.

“Don’t listen to them.” Armin was pulling you, but you weren’t budging.

“Come on, you got something to say?” The boys kept jeering.

“Don’t tell us you’re going to listen to that little guy.” Another boy taunted, throwing an empty can at you, just missing your head.

You turned around quickly, walking over to them and narrowing your eyes.

“Is there a problem?” You asked, taking time to glare at each of them.

There were four boys. They each looked to be around eighteen, maybe nineteen. They were clearly bored and looking for someone to bother. If they wanted a fight, you would give them one. It had been a while since you sparred. Why not take out some aggression on some punk kids.

“As a matter of fact—” the boy sitting on the table stood up, “—there is. We don’t like your kind coming over to our country and stinking it up.” “Our kind?”

“Yeah, foreigners.” He spit whatever it was he was chewing right next to your foot on the ground. “You’re leaving a mess.”

“I think you’re mistaking me for your friend there.” You nodded at the one who threw the can.

“Whatchu mean?” He spit off to the side again and you clenched your jaw.

“The porky ashcan sitting behind you.”

All the boys stood up at that and the spitting one calmed them down, putting his hands up until they settled.

“I think you need to be more careful with who you’re calling a porky ashcan.” He narrowed his eyes and spit, this time right in front of you, the splotch landing directly on your shoe. You moved quickly forward, but Armin was faster, standing in between the two of you and holding you back with his hand.

“Wait! Wait! We will be more careful.” He was looking at you, then turned to look at the boys. “She’s just tired. It’s making her angry. We will be more careful.”

“Looks like the blondie can tame the bearcat.” The spitter smiled an ugly smile.

“We’re sorry to bother you.” Armin nodded and pulled you along. You glared at the spitter until Armin pulled you far enough away and you both continued along the sidewalk.

“Why did you do that?” You griped. “You realize I could take them. Easily.”

“We fight titans. I don’t doubt your abilities.” His voice was low. “But you can’t just lose your temper like this every time you get a bit upset.”

“A bit upset??” You turned to look at him, your eyes wide. “He threw garbage at us, called us names and spit on me. I am more than ‘a bit upset’.”

“Let’s just get back.” Armin’s walked quickly, the smile on his face from earlier was gone.

You sighed as you followed him. Were you getting irrationally angry? It seemed like an appropriate amount of anger to you. They were punk kids that probably needed a lesson anyway. You looked over your shoulder, seeing them following you both. They might actually get that lesson if they stick close.

Before you even had the chance to prepare a plan, one of them ran forward, pushing Armin and he tripped, falling forward into the sidewalk.

“Armin!” You ran down to help him sit up and checked his face. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” His cheek was bleeding, scratched on the rough surface of the sidewalk. You were seething, fists shaking, breathing heavily and unsuccessfully trying to control your anger. Armin could see how upset you were and held your hand. “Y/N, I’m okay. Don’t do anything.”

You stood up and turned around, shoving your fist in the face of the first boy you saw, the porky ashcan. His head flew back and he fell to the ground, knocked out. The other boys started getting loud, yelling threats and running at you. You moved away from Armin and drew their attention to the little junkyard area behind you.

The second boy made his way over, fists flying and you ducked and dodged until you got him in the stomach and a kick to the face where he doubled over, falling to the ground.

The next one was coming at you with a misplaced kick and you laughed at him, making him angrier until he was close enough for you to grab his collar and headbutt him, knocking him out cold.

The spitter was last, walking up to you with a confidence you could tell he didn’t earn. You hit him and he quickly shook it off. He must have been hit before, familiar with the feeling and not as shocked as the others were. He grabbed the collar of your shirt and lifted you up. You had to admit, you weren’t exactly a lightweight, the guy had some muscle.

Picking you up was a mistake though. You quickly threw your leg over his shoulder and shifted the weight, taking him down until you were straddling him, one more close hit and he was out too. You smiled, standing up and wiping your hands. You were about to turn around to head back to Armin when porky ashcan tackled you, knocking you down and into a metal shard sticking up from the ground.

“FUCK!” You screamed. You were panting when porky ashcan climbed off of you and the other boys woke up. Seeing what happened and watching the blood soak into your white shirt, they all fled, leaving you lying there.

“Y/N!” Armin ran over, helping you sit up.

“Shit.” Your breathing was shallow and quick, sharp pain stabbing your lungs as you shook, trying to grip the edge of the shard. It wasn’t thick, but it went clear through the side of your lower abdomen. “Is it all the way through?”

You lifted up the side of your shirt to take a look. Armin knelt down next to you, holding your hip and helping you lift your shirt.

“Yeah.” His eyes were wide. Armin didn’t even need to lift your shirt to know it was straight through, the back of your shirt stained with blood.

“Help me get it out.” You leaned forward, resting your head on his shoulder.

His hands were shaking as he reached forward, gripping the edge sticking out of your stomach. He wiped the beads of sweat that formed on his upper lip with the back of his hand and shifted his legs a bit. He didn’t want to do this. He reallydidn’t want to do this, but he couldn’t ask you to do it.

He gritted his teeth, forcing the water sitting in the corners of his eyes to roll down his cheeks and he blinked to clear his vision then pulled. Quickly, and yet somehow so slowly, and with a dragged-out groan from you, the shard was out of your stomach and Armin set it to the side, resting both of his hands on your shoulder to help steady you.

“Fucking shit,” you breathed. “Damn it.”

The cut wasn’t that big, mainly hitting the bulk of muscles you had at your side, but it was bleeding quite a bit. This is exactly what you didn’t need right now. You didn’t need something slowing you down, something stopping you from being at your best. You took a deep breath, Armin still examining how bad the cut was.

“I think you need stitches.” He wiped his eyes harshly on the back of his sleeve.

“I’ll be fine.” You winced as you dropped the shirt back down, lightly pressing on the cut.

“You can’t beat an injury just by being strong, Y/N. You need stitches.” Armin stood up. “I’ll be right back.”

“Armin, where are you going? Armin!” You called after him, but he was already out of view and most likely nearing out of earshot. You had no idea how he had that much energy, but you didn’t have time to think about it. You couldn’t decide if it was better to stay sitting how you were or to get moving. There was no way you would be able to help Armin if he did get in trouble. The best way to help was not sit around and take your time.

You slowly stood yourself up, the twisting and stretching starting to pull at the cut causing your vision to go white. You stopped midway, wincing and taking a deep breath, then getting yourself to fully stand up. You kept pressure on the wound and walked back to pick up the bags and slowly made your way back to your abandoned building.

You were definitely losing blood. You could feel it pooling in your hand as you held your stomach, but it wasn’t enough to prevent you from moving, though moving was only contributing to the continuous flow of blood to the cut.

It was only a couple more minutes until you would reach the building and you could rest. You took a deep breath, your feet starting to drag slightly as you fought your mind wanting your body to sleep.

You could barely hear Armin’s voice yelling for you behind you. In your attempt to slow down and turn, you lost your balance and started falling. Armin quickly ran forward and caught you.

“What the hell are you doing?!” His face was right in front of yours, eyes bright blue and glassy. His jaw was clenched in anger. “Why are you trying to carry all this and walk when you’re injured? Are you crazy?”

Seeing him yelling at you only made you smile, your vision going black shortly, body limp, before returning and you blinked yourself back.

“We need to get back,” you mumbled. Armin put you on his back and grabbed the bags, moving as fast as he could back to the building. Thankfully, the cloudy weather sent most people inside and walking through the final small streets weren’t as difficult.

Armin managed to get everything, including you, back up the stairs and moved you to the bathroom, setting you against the sink.

“I think this might hurt.” He worried.

“I promise you, I’m already in pain.” You pulled off your shirt. “Just get it over with so I can lay down.”

Armin washed his hands and wet the small rag he had with him, bringing it to the wound and wiping gently, trying to watch your reactions.

“Fuck,” you grunted through gritted teeth. He lightened the pressure of the towel and ran the water through it, squeezing it out and wiping again. You watched as he quickly wiped his eyes with his shirt sleeve. “You don’t have to cry, I’m fine.”

“I’m not…” He looked up and met your eyes, sniffling. “I’m just worried.”

“It’s okay, Armin.” He looked back down and continued cleaning the wound with the wet towel before moving to the smaller cut in the back.

He knelt down in front of you, doing his best to stitch the gash closed, thankful it was a clean cut. He continued looking up as he worked, watching as you closed your eyes and your body swayed woozily. He wasn’t the best at medical aid, but you had both certainly stitched a cut or two while out on a mission. As he finished up the stitch, the bleeding slowed and he let out a small sigh.

He had managed to find some stitching supplies at the store and the lady working there was nice enough to give them to him for free. He knew you would most likely need some sort of antibiotic, but hoped the cleaning he did would be enough for now.

He finished up the stitches in the back and helped you to the bed. The second your body hit the blankets, you passed out.

You began to lose track of time as you came in and out of consciousness, each time asking Armin how much time had passed. By the end of the second day, you were more aware and able to stay awake.

“You need to try and eat something,” he suggested, handing you a piece of stale bread.

You refused the food and he leaned over you to check on the progress of healing.

“Please at least drink some water.” He handed you a cup and you went to grab it as he laid your shirt back down.

“G—damn it!” You grimaced. “Don’t push so hard.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He frowned, worrying about how much worse the pain is getting instead of better. He put his hand on your shoulder and you fell back asleep.

You woke up in the middle of the night, sweating and in extreme pain. There was a pulsing heat coming from your side and you were shaking as you moved to sit up, a wave of nausea passing over you as you leaned your back against the wall. It was cold and actually helped the heat you felt pouring over you.

You forced yourself to take quiet, deep breaths in order to not wake up Armin. You could easily fall back asleep. So easily you were fairly certain you hadn’t been sleeping at all, but passing out from the pain. Up until now you had been able to get up and use the bathroom yourself, but right now you weren’t even sure you could stand up by yourself.

You took another deep breath, bending your legs in front of you and leaning against the wall behind you to get yourself to slide up the wall, but it was no use. There was no way you were going to stand on your own. You moved your hand to Armin, trying to call his name through labored breaths. He opened his eyes and quickly sat up, seeing you sitting.

“I need to pee.” You tapped his hand lightly with your own.

“Do you want me to bring a bag or something?”

“I don’t think we’re there yet.” You tried to laugh, but only a puff of air came out. “I just need help to the bathroom.”

Armin nodded and moved closer to you. He hooked his hands under your armpits and lifted as you used your legs to help, whimpering at the pull against the laceration. As soon as you were upright, he wrapped your arm over his shoulder and helped move you to the bathroom.

The building didn’t have the greatest bathroom, but it did have separate stalls which was helpful if you and Armin needed to use the bathroom at the same time. That had yet to happen, but it was still nice. It was also helpful having indoor plumbing, something you both weren’t familiar with.

Armin sat you down and closed the door, waiting sleepily on the other side.

“How long were you awake?” He asked, yawning through his question.

“Not long.”

“Maybe we should clean the wound a little while you’re up.” You opened the door and he turned around to help you to the sink. Armin had been suspecting that it wasn’t healing properly. Pain would have been normal, but not the amount you had been in.

He leaned you up against the cold wall in between the two sinks and lifted your shirt. You could hear his quiet gasp as he looked at wound. Perfect.

“Tell me if it hurts when I touch it.” He leaned over and started just resting his hand on the front of your stomach, far from the actual cut which was closer to your side. He continued moving it, pressing lightly as he slid it more towards your side, but higher up, just under the band of your bra. At this point, it just felt like his hand on your skin.

Armin was doing his best to slowly approach the red streaks that were creeping out from the wound. It definitely looked bad. The scab was big, wider than it was the day before, pus leaking through the cracks in it. Thin red streaks were appearing on the edges. He lowered his hand to your waist, sliding back towards the wound and you winced, your body flinching away from his hand.

“Maybe it’s better if you clean it?” He stood up straight. “I’m worried it will hurt if I do it.”

“It’s okay.” You nodded. “I can handle it.”

Armin quickly washed his hands and you braced yourself over the sink. The moment he brought his hands to your waist, the stinging pain of the water and the weight of the pressure had you gripping the sink so tightly your knuckles were white.

Armin lightened his touch, watching your ab muscles flex as your breathing picked up.

“I’m sorry.” He pulled his hand away to get more water.

“Just… do it… quickly.” You could barely separate your teeth to talk. Armin finished up and patted you dry and you both moved back to the bed.

A couple hours later, the sun had barely risen, small slivers of light shining through the window above you. You were sitting against the wall, having trouble breathing. Armin sat in front of you, his eyes watering and trying to think of anything he could do for you.

Your skin had paled significantly, lips white and chapped. You were constantly sweating at this point and somehow still managed to feel cold and hot. The pain was nearly unbearable.

“I don’t know what to do.” He held your hand, his own hand shaking as he tried to calm you.

“It’s okay,” you breathed, “we need to… if I pass out again… you have to find a way…”

You had no idea how to explain to him that he had to keep going, even if you wouldn’t be able to help him.

“Y/N, no! You have to get better.” He begged.

“Armin, I—"

“Armin?” Both of your heads shot up at the unfamiliar voice ringing quietly through the room. Armin quickly turned around. It was still too dark to see anything farther in front of them.

Armin grabbed a stick from next to the bed and held it in his unsteady hands, aiming at the direction of the voice.

“I’m not here to hurt you.” The voice called.

You still couldn’t see the owner of the voice, but you could tell it was a man, his accent different from the other people in the country.

“Who—who are you?” Armin stepped forward.

“I can come closer so you can see me.” The man took slow steps closer to them, stepping into the bit of light they had. He was maybe in his mid-to-late forties with dark features and tanned skin. Armin squinted a bit, trying to get his eyes to focus on the man’s face.

“Fran—Francisco?” His voice shook and the man smiled.

“Yes, you remember me.” The man stepped forward a bit more and Armin stiffened, stepping back, closer to you. As if right on cue, you coughed. “I can see your friend is sick. I only want to help.”

“How did you know we were here?” Armin asked, his voice firmer than it was before.

“After I gave you those shoes, I wanted to make sure you were okay.” The man stepped forward again and Armin stepped closer, lifting the stick to threaten him. The man lifted his hands in reassurance that he wasn’t there to threaten you both. “I was watching you for the last couple days. I only want to help.”

The man took another step forward, only a couple feet from them now and Armin was starting to worry. He knew this man, but only as much as the five-minute conversation they had to learn each other’s names. He had no idea what he wanted from you both.

“Stay back!” He shook the stick.

“Okay, okay.” The man stepped back and lowered himself to the ground, sitting. “I just want to talk. I can see your friend is hurt. I can help her. I have a friend who’s a doctor.”

Armin’s eyes had been watering and he wiped them on the back of his hand, looking back to you, barely conscious, and turning back to Francisco.

“She needs a hospital, Armin.” His voice was calm. “I can help her.”

Armin couldn’t think. He needed time to think things through. He looked back to you, you were dying. You were definitely going to die if you didn’t get help, but he didn’t know that this man was actually going to be the help you needed. He brought his hands to his head, groaning through his clenched jaw. His mind was running wild. He just needed time to think.

“Armin…” your voice was weak, raspy and tired, barely audible, but the moment you spoke, he turned around, kneeling down to you.

“What do I do, Y/N?” He wiped the hair out of your face.

“We don’t have a choice. Let’s go with him.”

Francisco started standing up at your words, staying back until Armin told him it was okay to come closer. Your eyes closed as you slowly lost consciousness again, but not before hearing Armin’s voice in your ear.

“I won’t leave your side, Y/N. I promise.”

72 notes · View notes

maidskeppy · 4 years

Text

So I saw all this Skeppy jail stuff, and I decided to write something about it... enjoy!

Warnings: angst, spoilers, possible lore inaccuracies

"Oh man, he’s gonna be pissed if he sees this…”

Skeppy muttered to himself while digging up sand at a desperate pace. Not for the first time, and probably not for the last, he had let a creeper into his and Bad’s home, which had decided to detonate while standing right against the front wall. While most of the wall was fine, the window had completely shattered, and the floor had a huge hole in it. Skeppy could fix it all, but he wasn’t sure how much time he had before Bad got home.

He almost had enough sand when he heard fast-paced steps approaching. Bracing himself for another lecture about being careful, he turned around to face…

Dream?

Skeppy wasn’t even sure when they had last met up. He knew Dream had been busy, with important-sounding things like war and politics, but Skeppy hadn’t paid much attention to anything that didn’t directly concern himself, Bad, or the Skywars map he had spent months constructing. “What’s up?” He asked, not sure what to expect.

Dream sighed, and for the first time, Skeppy noticed the exhaustion in his posture. He was breathing heavily, and a few drops of sweat briefly shone on his forehead before slipping below his mask. “Skeppy,” he began, wheezing the name out with difficulty. “It’s Bad. He needs you.”

“Wait, why? What’s going on?” He was already putting away his tools, ready to run.

Dream shook his head. “No time to explain. He’s hurt, he needs you right now.”

Even if there had been time to explain, that was all Skeppy needed to hear. He ran as fast as his body could physically stand, yelling several times when Dream couldn’t keep up. “Come on! Where is he?”

“In here,” Dream finally panted, placing a hand on the door of the prison. With his other hand, he fished a keycard from his pocket, swiping it to gain access.

Skeppy followed, squinting through the dim halls. “Why would Bad be in here?”

“He agreed to help me guard it,” Dream instantly responded. “We might have to use it soon, and… we need all the help we can get. But there was an accident. This way.” He pointed down a long hall, lined with entrances to what appeared to be tiny cells.

The hall was only just bright enough for Skeppy to see into each cell. From where he stood, they didn’t even look big enough for a person to fit into. What was supposed to go in them? Most of them were marked by signs, but he couldn’t afford to take time to read any of them, not when Bad was hurt and alone and probably crying for Skeppy. Answers could wait.

He had darted out ahead, but the careful attention he gave each cell allowed Dream to quickly catch up. Occupied with his task, Skeppy didn’t actually realize how close Dream was until a hard shove forced him past the entrance of the cell he was examining. Turning around, he was met with the slam of iron bars, sealing his only way out.

“Dream, we don’t have time for trolling!” He banged on the bars with both fists, hoping they would somehow be weak enough to collapse. They weren’t. “We have to find Bad!”

“No, Skeppy.” Dream stood outside, all traces of exhaustion mysteriously absent. “I have to find Bad. And then I have to let him know we’re doing things my way from now on… as long as he wants his precious little Skeppy to stay safe, anyway.” His words were drawn-out and sickly sweet, a vicious mockery of them both.

Skeppy launched another futile attack on the bars. “Oh my God, you’re actually fucking evil. Dude.” Had he been like that the whole time? The idea was starting to hurt his brain, especially since he was no longer even sure if Bad was hurt or not.

Dream shrugged. “Maybe it looks bad from your side, but I’m doing what’s best for everyone. Now don’t go anywhere… not that you exactly have a choice.” With that, he was gone, leaving Skeppy alone in his cell.

Now that he was inside it, Skeppy was questioning the use of the word “cell”. He had so little room to move that a better word would probably be “cage”. He couldn’t even properly sit or lay down… which meant he wouldn’t be there for long, right? Yeah, it had to be temporary. Bad would find him, work things out with Dream, and get him out.

He sighed, not quite out of relief, but out of an unshakable trust that it would come.

—

Losing track of time proved easy, as he realized when he next heard footsteps in the hall, and couldn’t produce an answer to how long he had been left alone for. He didn’t think he had fallen asleep at any point, so it was probably less than a day, but that was as specific as he could get. Leaning forward the tiny amount he could, he tried to get a look at his visitor.

Twin metaphorical weights of stress tumbled off his shoulders when he glimpsed a familiar set of eyes, framed by an equally familiar hood. Once Bad saw where Skeppy was waiting, he rushed over, clinging to the bars that separated them. “Skeppy! Are you okay?”

“I will be once I’m out of here.” Skeppy reached out, his hands closing over Bad’s fingers as much as they could. “What’s going on? Dream’s trolling us, right?”

“You don’t have to worry about Dream anymore. Actually, they’re probably dealing with him right now.” Bad cast a look back towards the prison’s entrance. Though the thick obsidian walls prevented any sound from escaping, he could imagine the scale of the commotion.

“Great. Let’s go home.” He didn’t even care if Bad saw the creeper hole. They could fix it, go to bed, and hopefully forget this ever happened.

“Well…” Still holding the bars, Bad took a step back. “Here’s the thing, Skeppy.”

If that was already enough to chill Skeppy’s blood, what happened next turned it to ice.

As Bad watched Skeppy, the vibrant red in his outfit faded to a dull gray, then to white.

“Bad, what’s happening?” He asked, even as he started shaking in a way that suggested he already knew.

“I have to do something important, Skeppy.” His fingers stroked Skeppy’s palms in an attempt to be comforting. Skeppy hated that he couldn’t even bring himself to pull away. “Something dangerous. People might start thinking they can use you to stop me.” He shook his head. “I won’t let them.”

He didn’t wait for a response. “I know it’s not the nicest place,” he said, voice taking on a placating tone. “But it won’t be for long, and I’ll visit you all the time, okay? I’ll bring all the foods you like, and drinks, and games, and anything else you ask for. You won’t really be missing out on anything!” Was he smiling? Was he really smiling? Skeppy wanted to reach out and slap him, right across the face.

He resorted to the only tactic he had left. “Don’t do this, Bad.” He kept his voice soft and sad, hoping it would be enough to have an effect. “You know I won’t be happy here. Is whatever you’re doing really worth that?”

Bad bit his lip, and for a second, Skeppy saw a battle rage in his eyes. Then it was over, and Bad pulled his hands away from Skeppy’s. “Skeppy, I know you don’t understand yet, but I’m doing this so we can be together forever. No more problems, no more fights, nothing trying to keep us apart.” He looked down, hands twisting together. “Don’t you want that?”

Damn it, he was even better at guilt trips than Skeppy was. “Yeah, of course, but…”

“It won’t be long,” Bad promised again, leaning closer. He carefully positioned his face against the bars, making it clear what he wanted. Skeppy sighed, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

“It better not be.”

“See you soon, Skeppy.” Bad gave him a kind smile. Somehow, its sincerity hurt even more than Dream’s cruelty. When Skeppy didn’t answer, Bad looked away and started walking, disappearing from view within seconds.

As soon as he was gone, Skeppy felt a broken noise escape from his throat. It sounded like a strangled hiccup, but the way it forced streams of tears from his eyes made it feel more like a sob.

Whatever it was, it echoed through the hall for a moment, then faded away. Once it was gone, Skeppy heard something faint but unmistakable: a single footstep, which wasn’t followed by another.

He waited for a little longer, delaying his conclusion for as long as he could, but it increasingly set in despite his best efforts. If Skeppy had heard that footstep, then Bad had heard him crying. And he hadn’t come back.

There was no reason to keep holding back. He slumped as far down as the cage would allow, and let the tears come.

He didn’t realize that his sobs weren’t just wordless sounds until the walls echoed them back to him.

Despite everything, he was still crying for Bad to come and save him.

He could explain it away by blaming habit- that was what he always did when things went wrong beyond his own ability to fix them. But even as he told himself that, he couldn’t make it feel like the truth.

He loved Bad. He had loved him through all their fights, all their time apart, and he would keep loving him, no matter how long he was kept here. And he couldn’t decide what was worse: the thought that Bad didn’t love him as much in return, or the thought that he did, and could still bring himself to do this.

In his cramped position, he wasn’t sure if it would even be possible to sleep, but sleep eventually came. When he could no longer physically stay awake, he finally drifted off, hands still gripping the bars in the same position they had been when Bad had been there to hold them.

#skeppy #badboyhalo #skephalo #skeppy jail #the skephalo can be platonic or romantic #dreamsmp spoilers #dream smp spoilers

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lizbotw · 4 years

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Kageyama, Tanaka, and Daichi When Their Younger Sister is Dating Someone from the Volleyball Team

Anonymous said:

Hello can you please write hcs for how Kageyama, Tanaka, and Daichi would react to finding out that their younger sister is dating someone from the volleyball team ? I feel like they’d have the most reaction from the team lol

they definitely would have a big reaction, i agree with you!!! this was really funny to think about aha. lots of protective big bro headcanons ahead! i hope you like them because i spent a bit too much time on them and they almost morphed into actual scenarios lmao so please let me know what you think! ♡

Kageyama Tobio

This idiot is so focused on himself and volleyball that he would barely even think to worry about what was going on in your life.

Sure, you guys shared snippets of your day as you tossed a volleyball back and forth in your backyard during the evenings, but most of the time he was so tired from afternoon practice that he just wanted to eat dinner and crash (you had to shake him awake and drag him out of bed several times to remind him to do his homework because you were just that nice to him ♡ he didn’t seem to appreciate it though).

You didn’t always need verbal communication though because the comfortable silences of your walks home and the way you always slipped each other snacks whenever one of you was up late (you usually studying for a test the next day while he was just staying up late for the novelty of it all—laying down in bed and tossing a volleyball above his head, watching volleyball videos, staring out the window dramatically thinking about volleyball… you get the idea).

For all you knew about each other and your routines, Tobio seemed unable to even think about change in a context that included you—you were his little sister and it would always stay that way, and he was caught up in his own life and the changes he had to go through to grow. You were meant to be a constant.

That’s probably why he was the last person to expect you getting in a relationship—and with someone from his team no less.

Popping your head into the gym one day—holding a bag of meat buns you had bought for him and he had forgotten on the counter at home—turned into a regular routine once his teammates seemed to take a liking to you.

They bombarded you with teasing questions about the “King” and his personal life, and you were asked how it felt to be “royalty” (“Nice one, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi snickered at some point in response to that).

You stole glances out of the corner of your eye at Tobio aggressively chugging water on the sidelines and hiding his flustered face, finding him looking back at you intently. You gave him a knowing smile and it was as though another silent pact was formed.

You made small jabs at your brother as you joked around with the teammates, but you always steered the conversation away from topics you just knew he would throw a volleyball at your head later for answering.

Lighthearted conversations were always expected when you paid short visits to the gym, and the overexcited members always immediately abandoned their drills to talk to you, earning them quite the earful from Coach Ukai, although that never seemed to stop them.

But then your visits started getting longer and longer until suddenly you were staying for the entire afternoon practice sessions whenever you had time and even helping with manager duties on the side. You had always gone to your brother’s games (he forced you to come, even if you protested that you had already made plans with your friends that day) so you weren’t all that interested in what he was up to because you had dealt enough with his self-obsessed phase in middle school.

However, you were interested in Tobio’s latest move—just not the Tobio part. The infamous quick was now all yours to see up close and while the genius setting abilities of your brother came at no surprise to you, you couldn’t help but go slack jawed every time you saw the energetic orange-haired boy Tobio always bickered with leaping into the air.

(Actually, you were still in awe of your brother, but you were reluctant to admit it and inflate his ego so you stayed quiet. Also, you wanted to take the time to admire other volleyball players too, not the same one you had been cheering for for years. Tobio seemed to understand your emotions without you needing to explain them though and didn’t take them to heart—you two just knew things like that about one another.)

The game moved fast, as volleyball had the tendency to do, but even as you watched the practice matches and drills, your eyes locked onto the short player each and every time he sprung into the air, hair flying and arm drawn back for a powerful spike.

Hinata Shouyou—his name was about all the useful information you got out of Tobio when you asked him later during the walk home before he went back to complaining about how Hinata can’t do this and Hinata can’t do that. You rolled your eyes and tuned him out—just sibling things, you know.

Thank God he had told you that at least because you had embarrassingly forgotten a majority of the team’s names after they hurriedly introduced themselves when they first met you and then never made an effort to remind you of their names afterwards.

Hinata wasn’t the only one you had your eyes on though.

Tsukishima Kei—tall and blonde with a feisty attitude that was strangely alluring, mainly because he managed to get under Tobio’s skin almost better than you ever could. His blocks were clearly calculated, and his demeanor was cool and effortless, or snarky when he wanted it to be. His height definitely helped his cause (both in volleyball and in you noticing him).

The first year Tobio seemed to talk to the least was Yamaguchi Tadashi, but only because he wasn’t a regular in the volleyball rotation and Tobio tended to have a one track mind that included not paying attention to those he didn’t need to. You saw the boy practicing his floating serves though and you were instantly hooked. The way the ball effortlessly fluttered to the ground once he served it over the net? Way cooler than whatever Tobio was doing (once again, an exaggeration, but you didn’t want to fawn over your older brother that already knew he was a genius). You couldn’t believe you had been missing out on seeing all this action just because Yamaguchi wasn’t a regular.

Since Tobio was constantly stirring up trouble with the others in his grade, you ended up getting to know the other three pretty well at first, but soon you become well acquainted with the other players and the upperclassmen.

The older members of the club moved with a certain grace and sureness that came from pure experience with the sport for so long, and you were drawn to the way they built up a solid foundation for the underclassmen, filling the holes where Tobio and the others stumbled and made mistakes.

The entire team was amazing to you. It was breathtaking to watch them play now that you weren’t bound to sitting in the stands at some tournament, and you found your eyes darting about constantly throughout the game.

Everyone there was definitely amazing, each in their own special way. This is what Tobio had been keeping you from when he said not to come to his practices because he thought you’d just get in the way?

You made sure to let Tobio know how lame you thought he was afterwards and he gave you a punch in your arm in reply as he sipped from a milk box on your walk home, scowling before turning back contently to focus on his drink.

You admiration of the Karasuno boys wasn’t one-sided at all though, and they thought you were an absolute joy to be around, whether it be your helpful nature when it came to offering your assistance to Kiyoko (Tanaka and Nishinoya were especially a fan of that one), your sweetness in complementing them whenever they perfected a technique, or the way you could easily joke around with them as though you had known them from the start. Even Tsukishima had to admit you weren’t that bad.

If you were dating Hinata, Tobio would most likely find out when Hinata kept messing up his quicks whenever you were watching—wanting to impress you but also getting too overexcited and losing focus. Cue the arguing between them until Tsukishima made a snide comment about Hinata wanting to impress his girlfriend—you.

“What the hell? No??? Why would you even say that about my sister, you idiot?” Now Tobio was all up in Tsukishima’s face, eyebrows furrowed in anger. “She would never date a dumbass like him, right?” At that he turned to you, ready for your instant confirmation—but then you hesitated and he started to get worried. “Right?” he asked again, this time almost pleadingly.

Tsukishima snickered at your brother’s crestfallen expression when you shook your head, not knowing how else to answer, and Tobio knew it was all over. He snatched Hinata up by the collar of his shirt faster than lightning and shook him in the air, yelling at him because what the fuck.

Hinata managed to wiggle out of Tobio’s grasp and shoved him back, saying that you actually liked him and it’s not like he blackmailed you or anything so what’s the big deal.

The rest of the team had to break up the fight before it got out of hand and the two of them had to be separated for a while to cool down. During all of this, Tsukishima was standing next to you, watching with an amused expression while you were simply in shock because you had no idea what had just happened.

Tobio bombarded you with a lot of questions on the walk home about why Hinata of all people and you had to explain to him that you don’t get to chose who you love because if you did you wouldn’t choose someone you knew would deliberately piss him off (he thought that was pretty stupid because just like he chose to play volleyball, you could choose not to date Hinata—sigh, he really doesn’t understand these things).

Tobio and Hinata had a lot of competitions after that to settle it once and for all who you liked better out of both of them.

(“She chose to date me, dummy!” Hinata would shout.)

(“I’m literally her brother! I’ve known her longer!” came Tobio’s reply, slightly out of breath because their latest competition involved seeing who could run the farthest and the fastest—as if that was an accurate representation of how much you liked someone.)

Tobio would keep a careful eye on Hinata and you, and there would definitely be lots of bickering between the two, although that was normal.

He would mellow out at some point and become less intense about trying to get rid of Hinata and break you two up, but if you two ever showed PDA in front of him Tobio would make sure to grumble and huff as he watched it happened, or turn away and cross his arms—if you ignored him, he would just keep doing it louder until you noticed and were forced to stop because talk about mood ruiner.

When Tobio is just completely over it and is just like ‘whatever, I guess this is happening now,’ he’ll actually tell Hinata that he… kind of trusts him with you, and Hinata would be all shiny eyed and sparkly at the complement and reassure him that he’ll do his best to always keep you happy.

There may even be a time where you’re feeling sad, perhaps after a fight, and Hinata hesitates—wondering if he should run after you, if he should bother pursuing you, if you even really want to see him again—and Tobio would be there, arms crossed and raising one eyebrow as he looks down at him.

“What are you waiting for? Go after her, stupid.”

Hinata, lost expression being replaced with one of surprise, would shift to peer up at him. “Wha- You really mean it?”

Tobio would turn away, forcing the grumpiest expression on his face possible. “Well, yeah… you’re her boyfriend. That’s your job. She wouldn’t listen to me anyway.”

With Hinata’s spirit reinvigorated, he was quick to run off after your retreating figure, shouting back at Tobio that he won’t let him down. Your brother couldn’t help but crack a smile at that.

For the love of God, do not date Tsukishima if you don’t want Tobio to disown you.

Tsukishima wouldn’t really care much about being public with your relationship—to him, who knows knows, and who doesn’t just doesn’t, simple as that. And it wasn’t like you were itching to tell your brother you were basically dating his arch nemesis (okay, that’s dramatic, but it felt like your life had become some dramatic secret—a soap opera brought to life —and you were living a double life by keeping this a secret from your brother), so Tobio basically knew nothing for quite a while. Tsukishima also didn’t show too much PDA in general so your brother remained oblivious.

That is until Tobio and Tsukishima got into another argument and Tsukishima was getting so annoyed that he just let it slip, using it as leverage to get a leg up on Tobio.

Tobio immediately clammed up and went stone-faced, mainly just at the mere thought of that, not because he was accepting it as his reality. But then he watched Tsukishima’s smirk grow and he broke out of his trance, definitely being like, “What the fuck??? She’s not dating you and I will beat you up for saying that you fucking idiot.”

Tsukishima found it sooo funny how Tobio was fuming and gave you a smug look from the sidelines. Oh boy, Tobio did not like that and was like, “Hey??? I’m talking to you, pay attention to me and don’t look at her!!! I bet she hates you!!!”

Even Hinata wanted to get in on the action, and of course Yamaguchi didn’t want his best friend to get ganged up on so he stepped in and started listing off all off Tsukishima’s good qualities that were definitely likable enough to date him.

It was getting embarrassing just how much Tsukishima had made Tobio lose his cool, so you had to step in and diffuse the situation, although no one could step away from the argument until they knew the truth so, begrudgingly, you told them that yes, you were dating Tsukishima. That didn’t really help much though because Tobio was still losing it and arguing with Yamaguchi because Tsukishima didn’t feel the need to defend himself and now Hinata was asking you if Tsukishima had blackmailed you into saying that.

To pour gas on the already flaming and wildly out of control fire, Tsukishima went up to you while the others were distracted and gave you a kiss on the forehead right in front of everyone—absolutely no shame. Oh my god, it was a whole mess and a half and everything was falling apart.

You have no idea how, but everyone calmed down at some point, although there was a lot of tension as practice continued. Things were fairly back to normal the next day once everyone had time to sleep on the issue and come to terms with it on their own.

Tsukishima loves throwing it in Tobio’s face and it’s horrible, yes, but you have to admit it’s sort of funny at times and you still love your boyfriend regardless.

Tobio goes back to hating Tsukishima even more for a while (and they had been making some progress with their relationship too so talk about a major step back), but after a while of silently fuming in his room every day for almost two weeks, he’s mostly normal again. Definitely still eyes Tsukishima suspiciously whenever he so much as looks in your direction though and reminds you that you were not supposed to date until you were like fifty (you had never agreed to or even heard of that rule before for that matter so that was a nice surprise).

Generally expect Tobio to give you guys a hard time for way too long before he sees some instance of Tsukishima actually being very caring and helping you out of an emotional rut whenever Tobio is unavailable to do so, and then his opinion of your boyfriend shifts into a somewhat favorable light. Don’t expect too much from him though.

And, well, if you were with Yamaguchi? That’s a little too close to Tsukishima for Tobio’s liking, but at least it’s slightly better.

There’s literally no way Tobio would really find out unless one of you explicitly told him. Yamaguchi might confide in Tsukishima about his relationship and there might be a chance Tsukishima uses it against Tobio in an argument, but generally he would probably decide that it’s not his place to say anything.

Tobio already doesn’t interact with Yamaguchi all that much anyway and their relationship is mostly fine (minus the times he joins Tsukishima in being a major pain in Tobio’s ass), so there’s no chance of your boyfriend blurting it out on his own in the heat of the moment either. He’s also too shy for PDA most of the time, so everything is very much hidden.

It actually starts to get ridiculous when you’ve been dating for months though and Tobio still hasn’t realized. You decide that it’s important for your brother and your boyfriend to be on better terms with each other if this relationship was going to last—which you most certainly hoped it would—so you were forced to take matters into your own hands.

Sitting Tobio down at the kitchen table, all serious with your hands neatly folded in front you, you would break the news. Tobio’s fidgeting and complaining about how this was stupid and why couldn’t you just talk to him in his room, ugh, would all fall away instantly while he processes the news.

“…Really?”

“Yeah.”

Tobio would still argue with Tsukishima whenever he was with both you and Yamaguchi, telling the blond to “back the fuck off, you overgrown bean sprout,” but he would also look to the root of the problem and take a special interest in harassing your timid boyfriend.

Although Tobio could be intimidating at times, Yamaguchi had seen it all before, so he does his best not to be freaked out when Tobio starts directing threatening glares at him instead of at Hinata or Tsukishima like normal.

After seeing that Yamaguchi is the pure definition of harmless though, Tobio would try not to keep a cold exterior, since his protectiveness didn’t seem to be doing much anyway because there was nothing to fix when it came to worrying about Yamaguchi hurting you, and would slowly try to get closer to your boyfriend. Forcing out compliments when it came to his serves, giving him little tips along the way, and making sure to greet him and bid him farewell every practice.

It was awkward at first because he was clearly trying to force the friendship for your sake, but when you told him to just be himself because he was freaking Yamaguchi out, that seemed to do the trick and it was now a mixture between his earlier aloof behavior and his newer friendly one. A happy medium.

Yamaguchi knew that he didn’t need shining compliments from Tobio every second of the day to know that he had accepted him as your boyfriend and he was fine with that—that was just how Tobio was—plus Yamaguchi was really here for you, not your brother, so it didn’t matter much anyway.

Things were pretty mild between them, although Tobio would occasionally let Yamaguchi know that he… appreciated (yes, he had to choke it out) what he was doing for you and all that jazz.

Dating one of the upperclassmen would be a much less chaotic affair, and you would probably go about things the “mature” way and tell Tobio about your relationship near the start, rather than waiting a long time like the Yamaguchi situation, or having someone else tell him like the Hinata and Tsukishima situations. The upperclassmen are also generally more mature than those in Tobio’s grade—even Tanaka and Nishinoya would have a bit of sanity in this situation—so they would say it’s up to you if and when you want to let your brother know.

When you tell him, Tobio will kind of blink at you for a bit, just absorbing that fact because you looked dead serious.

“Don’t think you can just boss me around during practice now.”

“I do that anyway, so shut up.”

He wouldn’t know what to say to your boyfriend—yeah, he wants to be all like don’t mess with my sister, but also they’re older than him and he’s supposed to be respectful or he’ll be forced to run extra laps as punishment while Hinata laughs at him from the sidelines—so the first few practices after you tell him just end up with him studying your boyfriend very intensely from across the gym while tightly clutching a volleyball. It’s very unnerving and your boyfriend begs you to talk some sense into Tobio because he is ruining their concentration so bad and Coach Ukai is definitely considering if he should have them do extra drills to make up for it and they do not want that.

In order to save your boyfriend from such a fate, you encourage both him and Tobio to talk it over. It consists of your boyfriend doing the typical upperclassmen thing of being very reassuring while at the same time being very overbearing with their intense presence and Tobio is sweating because this is your boyfriend, don’t say anything weird or you’ll hate him forever, just keep cool.

He’s not usually one to be that worried about this sort of thing, but no matter which upperclassmen it is and no matter what kind of relationship he had with them before, he’s going to be very stoic and try to come to terms with the fact that you’re actually dating them.

While your boyfriend is all like “Don’t worry! I’ll take care of her!” and “Sorry, I know this is a little weird, but I really do like her!,” Tobio’s like “mhm,” “yeah,” “okay” so to the untrained eye he seems very nonchalant about the whole thing, but internally his mind is working a mile a minute. He probably starts sweating a little and your boyfriend is like, “Uh, you okay?” and he’s just like “mhm, yeah,” while sweat starts dripping down his forehead and he feels like he’s going to go into cardiac arrest.

Rather than the conversation between the two consisting of Tobio asserting his dominance as your brother and threatening your boyfriend, it’s just him being forced to accept his fate while your boyfriend says his piece and is like “Wow, I’m so glad you’re okay with it!” at the end of it all.

You try to minimize PDA because your brother looks like he’s going to blow a fuse anytime he witnesses it and always turns away very embarrassed, blushing furiously. Come on, you can’t really blame him. Like when did his little sister grow up so fast? Uh, a long time ago, you moron, stop being so focused on yourself.

He makes an extra effort to ask more about your life now and wants to know everything, so now your usual routine silences or shallow talks have turned into midnight discussions either in one of your bedrooms, lightly tossing volleyball back and forth, or in the kitchen as you two sit at the table and binge eat snacks.

That actually helps him a lot with coming to terms that yes, you have your own life and it’s just as important as his volleyball one and that he should really make an effort to keep up with you. He feels really bad that it took him so long to realize that you were even dating someone and after getting your perspective on the matter, he comes to accept it, trusting them to do a good job because he’s seen what they can do on the court and for the team and has known them firsthand for quite a while.

Dating anyone on the team would have its fair share of ups and down and bumps in the road, but it’ll also be a great wake up call for your sometimes too-dense-for-words brother and actually end up strengthening your relationship in the long run, especially because now he knows you have someone reliable to lean on whenever he falls short.

Tanaka Ryuunosuke

Oh man, your entire life was just filled with him constantly butting into your personal life, playing the big scary guy at anyone who looked at you funny and always asking if there were any so called “punks” you wanted him to beat up (the answer was always a firm “Ryuu, no” because you didn’t want him to get in trouble, but you always looked at him with a sparkle of admiration in your eye at his bravery).

Just like with Saeko, he’d get embarrassed when you showed him affection sometimes, or would kick you out of his room if he had his friends over (your teasing revealed one too many embarrassing personal secrets of his that his friends made fun of him for ages for).

He still made his love clear through his protectiveness though and he wasn’t any stranger to giving you a good-natured pat on the head in public. Basically, as long as it didn’t ruin his tough guy appearance (he said that reputation was important and that he had to keep it up so that no one would even think about messing with you in the slightest), he would be very clear of his pride in your achievements and just how much you meant to him. This meant it was mainly at home or in private that he would flip the switch and give you hugs, or get started with comments of “look how much my pupil is growing” (you punched his arm when he said things like that, but you were always grinning when you did so).

(His overly affectionate moments were mainly to get back at you for teasing him in front of his friends and he gave you the same treatment, but he also really did mean it.)

He taught you how to be “tough” (hence the “pupil” nickname sometimes and the feeling he had of taking you under his wing) and you eagerly studied him with shining admiration because he was your cool older brother after all.

You were always in the know about each others lives and while he ranted to you about volleyball and school, you let him know about how you totally put some kid in their place today in class like he taught you to or if you needed his advice for things (as much as you liked to make fun of each other, you still looked up to him and his “worldly” experience that simply came from being older, plus he was very attentive when it came to solving problems in your life and giving you his input).

Finally the day came that you two were reunited and going to the same school once again when you started your first year at Karasuno. Ryuu gave you a pep talk before you went inside about what to expect of high schoolers and reminded you that the same rules still applied and that if you needed him to take anyone on for you he was just one floor away (he cracked his knuckles for good measure at that)—he reassured you that you were never too old to rely on your big bro.

Despite your protests, he decided to walk you to class on the first day, saying it was on his way to his own class anyway. He spent the walk bragging about how he was a second year now and how it was so nostalgic to walk in the first year halls now and how he remembered this and that in the hallways (he pointed to specific spots as he recalled the memories of sitting on the floor for lunch with his friends, or telling you something hilarious he spotted from the windows one day), and while you rolled your eyes and reminded him that he had been a first year just a few months ago (he shushed you when you said that), you listened with rapt interest, wondering what your own high school career would end up looking like. He also gave pointed glares to several students you passed by in the hallways, especially the guys, and made sure to loudly repeat how you must be so glad to have a second year who can fight as your older and protective brother, relishing in the way some of the first years gulped in fear.

It wasn’t long until you two reached your classroom, and you lingered just outside the doorway with him, ready to say your final goodbyes as you got ready to embark on your first day. However, when you turned to him, you realized he was looking at you strangely, his eyes sparkling with pride, but it also seemed like he was trying to hide his face from you.

“Ryuu? Are you… are you crying?” You had to try extra hard to keep yourself from bursting out laughing.

He dramatically turned his head away. “Of course not! Anyway I’ve, uh, got to go, so bye now! Have fun and trust no one!” And then he was off back down the hallways you had come from, ready to ascend the stairs and begin his own new school year.

He brought you to volleyball practice with him as soon as it began for the year, waiting for you outside of your classroom so he could lead you there and you wouldn’t get lost trying to find the gym. He wanted you to know where he was going to be spending a lot of his time outside of school in case you ever needed to find him, so he figured it would be best to let you know from the start, especially since they wouldn’t be doing much on the first day anyway.

“Hey guys!” he greeted the third years as he walked in, “I brought my sister with me, hope you don’t mind.” You followed after him somewhat timidly, not sure what the captain and vice captain he had told you so much about would be like.

Daichi and Sugawara were more than welcoming though and reassured both of you that it was fine. They asked about your interests and how your first year of high school was going so far. The duo was kind and funny, and you felt instantly at ease joining in with their antics.

You already knew the other second years from when Ryuu would have them over, so it was basically smooth sailing from then on in terms of you being friendly with everyone on the team.

That is, until the first years showed up and you had to watch the drama between them unfold—everything from Kageyama and Hinata’s initial disagreements once they realized they were on the same team, the entire storm that came with the duo of Tsukkishima and Yamaguchi, and, last but most certainly not least, the match between all of them.

Ryuu kept you updated about all of it, even letting you know of his plan of allowing Kagyeama and Hinata to use the gym before morning practice (you thought he was the coolest for taking a risk behind Daichi’s back to help the first years out), and you were so caught up in wondering how it would all turn out that he invited you to the match that Saturday.

Of course you were cheering for your brother once he was dragged in to be a part of the match and let him know afterwards how cool it was. You had been to his volleyball games before, but it was entirely different seeing them up close with everyone practicing.

You slowly began to spend more time with the boys’ volleyball team, always one to cheer on your brother and admire his skills, and once you got acquainted with Kiyoko, you began to help her out with simple manager duties in exchange—Ryuu always tried to use you as a gateway to talk to Kiyoko and having him be jealous of your friendship with her gave you a sense of triumph because you finally had something to hold over him.

You even became fast friends with Yachi once she joined the Karasuno crew due to you both being in the same grade and she became one of your favorite people to talk to whenever the day was particularly slow. You showed her the ropes of being a manager and gave her your own personal anecdotes about what it was like to be new to the team so she didn’t feel so nervous about the whole thing knowing that someone else was once in the same boat as her.

At last you were able to socialize properly with the first years now that their dispute had been settled and, similar to your experience with the rest of the team, you instantly took a liking to them, even if some of them were snarky or could be blunt sometimes (Kageyama and Tsukishima). You grew especially close to them since you were all in the same grade, although the upperclassmen still looked over you and you had a good relationship with all of them as well.

Ryuu would be able to tell right away if something was off with you once you started acting a little strange. He would be concerned and probably ask you what was wrong when you two were home and just hanging out on the couch, and since you’re so used to confiding everything in him, you end up blurting out that you were dating one of his teammates, immediately covering your mouth after and staring at him with wide eyes, unsure of what he would say.

All of the first years would need to watch their backs once he found out if it was one of them that you were dating.

“Seriously? Him?” he would ask in disbelief when you told him and shake his head. Then he would get all sentimental again and lean back, hands behind his head. “Ah, young love,” he would muse.

“Ryuu, shut up, you’re not that much older than me!”

Ryuu would constantly be lurking nearby anytime you were with your boyfriend, and during practices he would take a special interest in teasing them. Definitely glared at them a lot, gave them lots of scary faces, and threatened them whenever he had a chance during the beginning and found it hilarious if they ever seemed scared or uncomfortable. He kept that up until you told him to knock it off or else you would stop talking to him for a whole week (he can’t go that long without his little sister so he was basically forced to comply).

Tsukishima wouldn’t be all that phased by his threats anyway though so Ryuu would continue trying to intimidate him no matter what you said. (“What? Why do I need to stop? That kid needs someone to put him in his place!”)

Tsukishima wouldn’t really care at all about trying to appeal to Ryuu, but the any of the other first years would probably try to show that they were doing their best to be a good boyfriend so could he please stop looking like he wanted to murder them, please they are begging you.

Depending on the first year you chose, it may take him different lengths of time to warm up to the idea, but once he did he’s always teasing you two and “Aw, Noya, look at the tiny first years in love. If only that was us and Kiyoko. Minus the tiny part. And the first years part.”

If you choose one of the second years, when you told him he would groan and cover his ears, screwing his eyes shut because he did not want to know that.

“This is a joke, right? I can’t believe you’re dating one of my friends! Gross! I’m never going to be able to look at you two the same again.”

Nishinoya is his best friend, so once he got over the initial weirdness of it all, you three went back to being the most chaotic trio of the team. Tanaka even forgave Noya for betraying Kiyoko since he was dating you after all. Those two were basically your protection squad before, but it was ramped up to the max now that Noya was actually dating you. Anyone come near you? They were about to enter a world of pain with two feral volleyball players guarding you at all times. Lots of hanging out between the three of you, and Ryuu would get all pouty when you told him that no, he can’t come on your date tonight (lo behold, unbeknownst to you, Noya had also invited Ryuu over because “bro code” so you couldn’t escape him anyway).

Ryuu had a lot of respect for Ennoshita, so if you were dating him he would trust him to take good care of you, although since Ennoshita always kept him and Nishinoya in line, you basically had that same power now and he was not happy about you bossing him around.

Overall, Ryuu would have a hard time accepting the fact that his friends were dating you because how in the world did this even happen (the first few weeks would have him cringing and turning away if he ever saw any PDA because please spare his eyes), but ultimately he knew he wouldn’t trust anyone else to treat you better than the guys he already knew so well, so he would try his best to be supportive and make sure you knew to come to him if you needed anything as always.

Decide to date a third year and Ryuu is going to stare at you in silence for a very long time once he hears that. He’s just sitting there blinking, waiting for you to burst out laughing at the joke, but when you ask him if he’s okay, he realizes you were most definitely not joking and now he’s having an existential crisis.

“How can my precious baby sister be dating someone older than me? How am I supposed to keep that guy in line if I’m supposed to be respectful to him?” He’s freaking out because suddenly you and your entire life in his mind could no longer be considered to only consist of people younger than him that he could easily intimidate and be seen as your cool older brother by—no, you had entered uncharted territory and this was so weird.

He couldn’t do much in terms of threatening the third years, but once you let your boyfriend know that you had told your brother about your relationship, they would go talk to him themselves after seeing how tense he was acting during practice. They’d let him know they intended to take good care of you and everything like that, and Ryuu knew that he trusted their word.

Whether it was Daichi, Sugawara, or Asahi, Ryuu told them he was fine with it, but that if they ever did hurt you, he doesn’t care if they were older than him, he will come after them. He also definitely keeps a watch on you two when he can because of course he’s worried about his younger sister dating someone older than both of them.

Just like with the second years though, he knows the third years are responsible and trustworthy, and he feels pretty safe leaving you alone with them.

Eventually, no matter who it is you’re dating on the team, Ryuu will come to accept it because he wants you to be happy, but he’s constantly ready to jump to your defense if your boyfriend ever does anything wrong because he’ll always be your caring, protective older brother.

Sawamura Daichi

Daichi was the responsible older brother every parent dreams of having (albeit a bit overdramatic at times).

Once you started at Karasuno, you were stuck to his side constantly—although it wasn’t through your own choice, no. Your dear older brother was convinced he needed to keep a close watch on you at all times and that if he wasn’t there something bad would happen and he would be the one who had to deal with the blame from your parents.

He gave you your freedom, especially because he was busy with his own life, but he was always waiting right outside the school to walk you home, and if he saw you at lunch you better believe he’s going to embarrass you in front of your friends and say “hi.” (Your friends would then proceed to ask about the “hottie upperclassman” that had just talked to you, and you would gag and stick your tongue out, letting them know that they did not want to date your brother. Listen, living with him meant that you had to see a side of him that wasn’t the perfect boyfriend facade your friends seemed to see in him. You knew the truth.)

When the time came that most people were signing up for clubs they were considering and attending club interest meetings, he invited you to stop by the gym after you were done looking around after school. This was mostly because you two could easily meet up there and then head home right after, but he also thought it would be fun for you to see what antics his team got up to, even if you couldn’t join.

You poked your head into the gym and glanced around, instantly spotting your brother on the far end of the room. “Yo, Daichi! I’m here!” you called out in a sing-songy voice, making your way across the gym. Your strides were confident, even as the rest of the team turned to stare at you, because it was your cool brother that was the captain after all and that automatically made you the star of the party, or something like that.

He would be glad to see you and introduce you to the rest of the team right away, mainly to get them to quit staring and actually get back to practicing. That didn’t help much though because you were bombarded with questions and practice was entirely derailed by your arrival.

You already knew Sugawara and Asahi from when Daichi would invite them over and you even hung out with them a few times when Daichi would host a movie night for them at your house and you would join them in the living room.

Depending on if you were a first year or second year, you might even be acquainted with the underclassmen as well if they were in your class, especially once they learned that you were related to Daichi and would go to you whenever they needed to pass on messages to him, such as if they couldn’t make it to practice later that day or requests for him to pick up supplies for them if they needed it or questions about their training. Yeah, they could easily go to him most of the time, but it was a lot more fun going through you in an unintentional game of “telephone.”

Even after you decided on the club you wanted to join, you still kept coming to the practices. Your club usually finished earlier than the volleyball team did, especially because Daichi usually kept them pretty late, so for the end of practice you would sit quietly in the corner, finishing up some homework. You could technically go home on your own if you wanted to, but the sounds of the team practicing were comforting background noise to your work, even when you had your headphones in, and Daichi preferred to walk you home anyway and make sure you were safe and nothing happened. It just sort of worked out that way and since no one had a real problem with it, everyone simply went with it.

At one point, Kiyoko asked for your help with refilling the boys’ water bottles and you agreed, setting aside the notebook you had been scribbling in as you reviewed your notes from the school day. After that, you asked her occasionally if she ever need help, or would step in on your own if you saw she or Yachi was struggling since they usually didn’t want to bother you, and soon it became a regular routine with you helping out during the practices most of the time and doing your homework on the side if you had a chance.

You got to know the team members much better now that you were actually participating, rather than tuning them out and focusing on your work, and their dynamics were intriguing and hilarious, especially how they always seemed to drive your brother up a wall while simultaneously impressing him constantly. The duality of it all kept drawing you back for more.

Now Daichi wasn’t the only one who would say “hi” to you at lunch. Some of the other boys would greet you if they saw you—if Yamaguchi dragged Tsukishima over to you when he went to say “hello,” the blonde might give you a slight head nod of acknowledgement on a good day—and the comments from your friends on the rapidly increasing number of boys that would come up to you just seemed to multiply. Expect it wasn’t just Daichi—your nice but occasionally stupid older brother—they were talking about, it was actual boys you talked to.

When you had first started attending the volleyball club practices, you had regarded everyone there as family, since that what they always said they were and that was the dynamic they had with Daichi, so you thought you automatically fell into that category, but the offhanded comments from your friends about “Ooo, what did you think about that one?” and “Yeah, he was nice, but that one from yesterday was cuter,” had you reconsidering your thoughts about a certain few of your brother’s teammates.

You would probably feel guilty keeping your relationship a secret from your brother and would decide to break the news to him somewhere near the start of when you began dating one of his teammates, choosing to do it as you two walked home one night, the air chilly and refreshing after being in that stuffy gym all afternoon. It felt right to do it then because you didn’t want to make it a big deal, rather fitting it into your daily routine so that hopefully he wouldn’t take the news as hard.

You two were in the middle of a discussion about practice that day when you bite your lip and steel yourself to tell him, shoving your hands in your pocket and staring down at the ground as you walked. “Um… Daichi… there’s actually something I wanted to tell you…”

He would immediately stop walking and turn to face you, the tone of your voice making him concerned—so much for not making it a big deal. “(Y/N), you’re not getting into any sort of trouble, are you?”

That made your eyes go wide, quick to correct him. “What?! No, no! You’ve got it all wrong! It’s just that…” And with a deep breath you would break the news to him, holding your breath right after as you watched him to see what he would do.

“That’s all? Oh, thank God, I thought you were about to tell me you joined a gang or something,” he’d chuckle, and you would hesitantly join in with your own awkward laugh, a little scared at how well he was taking this.

The fact that you had almost given him a heart attack and he was so glad that the truth wasn’t the worst case scenario he had come up with would initially have him not reacting that much to the actual implications of you dating someone, just relieved that it was something normal.

But then he would dwell on it some more as you two continued walking, your chest much lighter now that you had gotten that secret off of it. You weren’t off the hook just yet though, unbeknownst to you.

He wouldn’t say all of his thoughts out loud just yet, although he would muse, “I guess I should have seen that coming. You have been spending a lot of time with him lately,” as he reflected on the past few weeks.

“Wh-what?” you would choke out, stumbling over your steps and then rushing to catch up with him. And here you thought we were being slick the whole time. Brother knows best as they say (or something like that).

Literally start dating any of the underclassmen and Daichi is going to have to pull them aside to have a little “chat” as soon as he finds out.

When they emerge, your boyfriend looks absolutely terrified (even Tsukishima would be a little shaken), but Daichi is grinning widely and gives them a hearty clap on the back, thanking them for their time.

“N-no problem,” is what they would probably stammer out before slinking away to continue practicing.

You don’t even bother asking Daichi what he told them because you already know he’s not going to tell you, or just give you a watered down version, but you do give him your own lecture about how he should be nicer to your boyfriend and quit giving them a hard time. Daichi ends up being the one coming out of that talk a little shaken so it seems as though justice has been served for your boyfriend.

Daichi tried to make an effort to be nicer after that, but you can feel him watching you guys like a hawk across the gym whenever you’re so much as talking with one another. As soon as you turn to glare at him though, he looks away, going back to whatever he was doing, whether it be sipping from his water bottle, having a conversation with someone, or cleaning up a section of the gym, even whistling a little tune as though he hadn’t been giving the death stare in your general direction just five seconds ago.

If he really wants to know what you two are up to, he’ll pretend he’s doing something, such as picking up a ball, and inch closely to eavesdrop on your conversation. Leaning in for a short kiss? Oops, he accidentally bumped into you two very hard, he’s so sorry about that, and oh, would you look at the time, shouldn’t they get back to practice now, that break seems like it was long enough—tight-lipped smile and all to accompany it.

If your boyfriend comes to pick you up at your house to go out on a date, Daichi is there. Whether he opens the door himself, or is looming behind you as he bids you two farewell and no, he’s not trying to communicate threats using his eyes, what are you talking about?

Inviting your boyfriend over for dinner with your family? Daichi is there of course. Movie night? I’m sure you wouldn’t mind if he joined, right? Studying in your room? Hmm, maybe you should leave your door open. What? It’s just to let some fresh air in, that’s all.

Of course you want to do that whole romantic walking home together thing, so you tell your boyfriend to hurry up and change early after practice so you two can start walking before Daichi even finishes.

But somehow, without fail, no matter what you do, he’d always be there right behind you two, walking a few steps away.

You turn around to shoot him a glare. “Daichi, I swear-”

“What? I’m just walking home. I live here too, you know.”

“Go walk with Suga or something like you usually do!”

Somewhere in the distance you can see Suga running up the hill to catch up with Daichi, panting loudly and calling out for him to wait up, he was still getting dressed, can’t you have some mercy, you stupid captain.

Daichi would be generally overbearing at first and although it’s annoying it’s clear he’s just looking out for you. Plus, your boyfriend is lucky Daichi actually knows him because the treatment would be much worse for anyone else.

He may be a bit more hesitant when to comes to the troublemakers of the team, such as Tanaka or Nishinoya, versus if you were dating one of the more mature underclassmen, but ultimately he knows that even those who cause him headaches almost everyday can be just as responsible as the others when the time comes.

Daichi will probably still keep up the overprotective act for quite a while, although it gradually decreases over time, but deep down he really does trust his teammate to take care of you and will let them know as such if he sees they’re actually ever feeling unsure during the relationship and thinking that you deserve someone better.

If you’re dating one of the two in his grade, dear God, he has zero control.

Suga just amps up his playful bullying of Daichi if he’s being too worrisome.

“Suga, be careful, don’t hold her hand too hard, she has a paper cut on that finger- oof.” Cue Suga punching him in the gut with a devilish grin and reassuring him you two will be fine and to quit hovering so much.

Daichi is actually at Suga’s mercy in this case and while you feel a little bad, it’s just so funny. Whenever he looks over at you for help because please, someone stop Suga from making fun of him for being an overprotective brother, you burst out laughing and tell him, “Sorry, but I have to side with my boyfriend on this one.” Please stop rubbing salt in the wound, he looks like his spirit is about to leave his body.

You and Suga are a fearsome duo against Daichi and he has absolutely no control over either of you. As reckless as he can be sometimes, Suga is still high up on Daichi’s list of people he trusts and his caring side more than makes up for the trouble he gets you in, so Daichi feels as though you’ll be fine.

With Asahi, Daichi would try to pull the whole scare tactic on him, but he feels bad when Asashi gets all worried about Daichi hating him and ends up barely touching you if he’s around—this winds up with you complaining to Daichi about how’s he’s getting in the way of your PDA and he actually tells Asahi he should ramp up the romantic act (even if it pains Daichi to say it). Plus, he knows you’re in good hands with Asahi and he’s always careful and treats you with the utmost care in the world, so Daichi begrudgingly accepts that there’s no reason for him to step in and that you deserve to be in a relationship with the ace.

Both of the third years worm their way into Daichi’s heart in some way and he just knows he can’t control either of the people he’s spent the last few years playing with, so he simply comes to accept it, secretly glad that you chose one of them because he couldn’t think of anyone better to entrust you to.

Dating anyone on the team will have Daichi wary at first, but ultimately he knows all of them and he knows they’re good people and will likely be even better boyfriends, especially if they know he’s always lurking close by when you’re involved, so although he may try to give some of them a hard time, it all comes from a place of love and wanting to make sure that you know he’s always there for you no matter what. Once he cools down the act and sees that you’re open with him about your relationship and let him know if you’re unsure about certain things—no matter how small—he’ll be more comfortable since he knows he can be sure you’ll never keep him in the dark if it really is serious.

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klbwriting · 3 years

Text

Pirate’s Heart - Chapter 5

Parade Music Part 1

Fandom: Six of Crows

Pairing: Kaz/female!Reader

Summary: Y/N is saved and Kaz finds something troubling

Notes: so this was originally going to be longer but it was getting to be like 2500 words and I figured I would split it into 2 chapters, also we get to see how Y/N and Kaz met and the flirting is just *chef’s kiss*

Taglist: @sixofshadowandbone @thedelusionreaderbitch @itsemy01 @angelicdanvers @marinettepotterandplagg @screen-to-stage @aysegust @sagewrites111 @lilyoflower @hey-peeps @starjane312 @spawn0fsatan @myalupinblack @ameliathackray @moondustmarauder

(its been too long since I’ve seen Milo)

This is parade music

Good grade music

Party like you just paid or got laid music

Kaz had panicked when they started going to fast in the boat, they all looked shocked as Y/N was just pushing them, moving so fast in the water. Then he felt the boat falter for just a moment and blood was moving behind her legs in the water. A bullet must have hit her and for whatever reason Kaz felt his heart was in his throat, worried she might stop and they would all be killed, worried that she was going to die. He wasn’t sure at what point in this little jaunt he had really gotten attached to Lady Heartless but now he was. They had always been friendly, even as rivals, but he never felt worried about her.

Just after he was made captain of the Crow their small crew needed money to get more hands on deck so they had decided to hit up a small navy treasury on Port Du Nonce. They noticed another ship was there, a pleasure vessel that they ignored, assuming it was just for the men. They were even excited, hopefully most of the guards would have abandoned their posts to go party for the night. They were shocked to find the guards dead, all of them. Inside the treasury was a small group of young women, putting the money and gold bullion into bags and barrels.

“Can we help you gentlemen?” one of the women, the oldest of the group asked, holding her machete casually at her side, a pistol poised in her other hand. Kaz had considered his options, there were more of her crew than theirs, the odds were not good.

“Who are you?” he asked, glaring. He had wanted to make a striking first impression on his first job but clearly this would not be happening.

“I am…” the woman paused as if no one had asked her that before. “Lady Heartless.” Kaz had laughed at that. What a dumb name. “Have you come to steal our treasure?”

“No, we came to steal Pekka Rollins treasure, but it appears you’ve done that already,” he said. He didn’t know the moment it happened but something shifted then, maybe it was something he said or did but she put her weapons away and snapped her fingers.

“Come on ladies, we have enough treasure, let’s leave the rest for the boys here,” she said. The girls just nodded and grabbed onto what they were carrying. She picked up a couple full bags of her own. “There, now we each have some treasure to get our pirate careers going. Take this half and stay out of my life, I’ve already had my life ruined once I don’t want it happening again.” Kaz had watched her walk away and in that moment decided he was going to mess with her, fuck up every heist she tried to do if he could, generosity was a weakness he would exploit at every turn.

At first that’s what he did, he would do any job that he thought she might be at, noticing her pattern of only attacking pleasure vessels or navy treasuries or mining sights, anything that Rollins had a hand in. His uncle must have done whatever she had said had ruined her life. They met often at first and finally she had gotten tired of him.

“You are ruining my life,” she one night when she had just finished kicking his ass and taking a job out from under him, something he normally did to her. “Now, stay down and don’t make me shoot you. You’re a boy trying to be a man, grow up a little bit before you try crossing me again.”

“I’m not here to ruin your life, only fuck up your night,” he said, moving to stand. She sighed and shook her head.

“I really didn’t want to do this,” she muttered. He lunged for her, ready to take her out with his cane, when she shot him. It only grazed him really but it was the first time he had been shot and instead of pushing through it and attacking he just grabbed her sleeve, pulling it down and seeing the scarring on her chest. It was then, as he lay bleeding, that he put together who she was.

“Wait…” he had called but she kept walking, yelling for his crewmates to come retrieve him before leaving him there.

Kaz touched the scar on his side from her shooting him as he cleaned up from their job. She had been taken to his medic’s room to be looked at and he had sent the others to clean up. The ship was in a state of paused motion right now, everything seeming slow as they waited to hear about the other captain. He knew that the others had questions, but it wasn’t his place to answer them. He had left them waiting for word on her while he changed and wiped off the blood. He had already been sick from what had been happening but seeing her carried below, pale and mumbling incoherently had made it worse. He couldn’t stomach going to see her while she was worked on so instead he decided to go through the bag she had retrieved.

He hid the will and all of Rollins’s identification papers, knowing that the crew did not need to know about any of that. He counted the heaps of money and bonds finding that there more than he thought before. This was enough for both ships to function for a year without needing to do another job. He set them aside and started to pour through the business documents, wanting to see what was going on amongst the islands. He froze when he found a parchment that held plans for harnessing the power of a sea witch to destroy the reef and open them back up to the world again. That would be a problem. More access meant more pirates, more competition. Kaz clenched his jaw, he didn’t like the sound of this. He slid that paper aside to show Y/N later, if she survived. He was just finishing a rather boring stacks of documents when Jesper came in without knocking.

“Didn’t I tell you next time you came in unannounced you would lose a finger?” Kaz asked, looking up from the parchment. Jesper took a step back out the door and knocked on it. Kaz nodded, not really wanting to get more blood on him tonight anyway.

“I just wanted to let you know that Y/N is ok, awake, the medic gave her a crutch to use and why the hell didn’t anyone tell us she could do that? What is she?” Jesper asked. Kaz glared at him. “You know what, I will just go and ask her, um, goodnight.” He closed the door in a hurry. Kaz let out a breath of relief and sat back, a small smile coming to his face.

Y/N woke up, sitting up quick and gripping her head. It ached like someone had hit her with a hammer. She looked around the small cabin, slowly figuring out that it was the medic’s room. She looked at her leg, seeing her pantleg pushed up to her knee, a bandage wrapped around it. There was a crutch leaning on the bed. She gingerly swung her legs over the side and stood, leaning on the crutch. She remembered swimming and the pain, she must have been shot during the escape. She needed to get some seawater and kelp, that should help her heal faster. She pushed open the door of the cabin and walked out. Inej and Nina were waiting for her.

“Let us help you,” Nina said, offering her arm. Y/N took it gratefully and walked to the steps. “What do you need?”

“Find out if they have any kelp and seawater aboard, I don’t think I can swim enough to get it myself, it’ll help me heal up faster,” she said. Inej nodded and went off to do as asked. “When she gets back I’ll explain everything.” Nina smiled.

“Its ok, we kind of figured you were a mermaid with the whole finding you in the jungle thing, and you know not aging for 5 years,” she said. Y/N laughed a little, feeling a great fondness for her ladies. She wished she could love them, she really did.

“Yes, but I didn’t tell you everything and you should know, I mean, I’m sure you’ve pieced together parts of my story, but I should tell you both all of it,” she said. Nina got her above deck and sat her on a bench near the side of the ship. She stretched out her leg and saw the rest of the crew eyeing her. Ah, so everyone knew there was mermaid aboard now, great. Inej soon came back with some kelp and fresh seawater.

“Captain Kaz told them to get it after he knew you survived,” she said. Y/N raised an eyebrow but just nodded, taking the kelp and dipping it in seawater. “Nina, remove the bandage please.” Nina did as asked, her fingers quick and concise. Once removed Y/N handed her the kelp. “Now wrap that like a bandage.” Once again the girl did as asked before sitting back.

“How does that help?” Nina asked.

“Mermaids get their abilities from the water, we are born into it and we spend our lives taking care of it and the creatures in it so it in turn takes care of us. I’m sure you saw me swimming, it gives us some extra strength and speed in the water and also can help us heal quickly. That wound should be gone in a couple days. Send word to the Menagerie to meet us at the rendezvous point at Pirate Island,” she said. Inej ran off to do that. Jesper, Matthias, and Wylan joined them soon, offering their regards and telling her they were happy she was alive. She looked at the stern and saw Kaz watching her. He didn’t approach so she just nodded to him and he nodded back to her.

During the voyage to Pirate Island, the farthest island from Argoes, Y/N slept a lot in Kaz’s room, healing up. Kaz avoided his room mostly, only sleeping in short bursts so that he could not be around her. She looked dead still when she slept and he couldn’t handle it. After Jordie he couldn’t handle someone else he cared about being hurt like this. He scowled at himself. Admitting he cared for Y/N just annoyed him, he already cared too much about other people and its not like she could ever really care about him. She could like him enough to not want him to die, but actually care? Never.

He hadn’t meant to be in the room when she woke up but here she was, just a few hours before they would be getting to their destination, sitting up, looking much better, eyes finally focused and sharp again. Kaz had been coming in to change his shirt but stopped, trying to close the door again but she had seen him.

“Kaz Brekker get in here and acknowledge that I’m alive,” she demanded. He groaned internally. This fucking woman. He entered, glaring at her. “Don’t be like you’re happy I’m still breathing.” He dropped the glare but still didn’t look pleased.

“What do you want? Aren’t you still resting?” he asked, leaning to his cane. She leaned down and peeled the kelp from her leg, showing him a scar where the wound had been. “Miracles seem to happen every day for you it seems.”

“Not the day I met you cranky,” she grumbled. This brought out the glare again. “Why have you been avoiding me? We should be talking about what we found from Rollins’s desk and how to divvy up the cash.” Kaz didn’t want to answer her question so he avoided it.

“There’s enough in there for each of us to live a year without actually pirating,” Kaz said. Y/N’s face broke out in a grin that rivaled the sun. “We can do the official split after the party.”

“Party?” she asked. Kaz was throwing a party?

“It’s the biggest bounty we’ve had in years, the men want to have a party. They also wanted me to ask for your ladies to join if they want,” he said.

“Yes of course as long as they behave, anyone giving trouble will have body parts removed,” Y/N said. Kaz agreed to her stipulations before moving on to the next issue.

“We have a problem, Rollins has plans to harness a sea witch’s power to try and break the reef again,” he said. Her eyes widened. “More access to these islands means more competition for us, less loot to go around.”

“It would mean that Rollins would get unlimited power too, if the sea witch’s power is strong enough to break the reef it could possibly be strong enough to do much more to the rest of the world,” she said. Kaz looked at her surprised, having not thought about that.

“What would give a sea witch that kind of power?” he asked although he was pretty sure he already knew.

“The heart of a rare tail mermaid,” she answered. “Well, we have the plans, is there a map?”

“Yes, to a spot near Argoes.”

“Horus’s home, they probably don’t know how to summon them, shit, now that Rollins knows I’m alive he’ll probably try to find me. Fuck, I’m going to have to abandon the Menagerie until this is over, I can’t put those woman at risk over my own stupidity,” she said, throwing the useless kelp across the room. “He knows I’m alive, he knows I know how to summon a sea witch. I’m sorry Kaz, me just being here is going to put you in danger…”

“I’m not worried about that, I’m worried about how we’re getting you to this Horus’s home to summon them,” he said. She snorted a laugh.

“You think that I’m just going to waltz in there and somehow get their power? They wear their power in a crystal around their neck, it would take a master thief or magician…”

“Good think I’m both of those things,” Kaz said. She looked at him.

“When do we tell the crew?” she asked.

“After the party, let them have some fun before we start putting their lives in danger again,” he said. Y/N nodded. “Will you…join me at the party?”

“Are you asking me on a date Kaz Brekker?” she asked, hoping she didn’t bely how pleasing the idea was. Kaz smirked and shook his head.

“No, I just know everyone would like to see you there looking healthy after you almost died on us,” he said. “Morale booster and all.” Y/N looked at him and smiled, he was telling her half of the truth.

“Admit it, you just are too nervous to ask me on a date.”

“Would you even say yes if I did?”

“Ask and you’ll find out.” Kaz opened his mouth to speak but they heard the call for land above them so instead he stood and headed out the door. Y/N smiled after him and for the first time she felt a pang of something new in her soul, she couldn’t identify it but it was something that only Kaz seemed to bring out in her.

#six of crows #kaz brekker x reader #kaz x reader #kazbrekker #kaz brekker #kaz #pirate kaz brekker #pirates heart series

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fanficparker · 3 years

Text

A GAME OF DIAMONDS AND HEARTS // H.O.

>> CHAPTER SIX

“They agreed with each other violently and disagreed with each other pleasurably.” - A Suitable Boy, Seth

(Frenemies to Lovers! Mob AU! ) Harrison Osterfield x Fem!OC

Word count: 2.13k words

Warning: Swearing, guns, knives.

Synopsis: After the sudden death of his uncle and the eccentric multi-millionaire mafia king Lufian Clarke, Harrison Osterfield’s almost decent life is mostly devastated especially when half of what should be rightfully his fortune is transferred to their immediate rival for reasons he doesn’t know. What’s remaining is him trying to figure out how to deal with this collaboration of two rival corporations that don’t belong together and work on the side of the woman he never knew would ever be referred to as his partner in crime while they are dragged into a mess bigger than what they were trained to handle.

<< FIVE [ MASTERLIST ] SEVEN >>

"Who let you enter my private study?"

Harrison asked, stopping with one step inside his office, fixing the watch on his wrist. His eyes focused on the uninvited guest.

"My ability to walk." A smirk played over Sandhya's lips as she flipped a page in the file she was holding, twirling the ball pen between her fingers. The base of the pen rested below her lip as she lifted her eyelid to catch a glimpse of Harrison's irritable face. And damn he indeed was irritated.

"No one comes here without my permission." He hissed, striding into the centre of the room, staring at her furtively until his gaze landed on the other parts of his office. His office was a mess. Not anywhere near how he left it. His file cabinet was open and at least twenty files were lying on the sofa and a few over his desk. There were two on Sandhya's lap as she sat with her legs crossed over each other, leaning back leisurely in one of the chairs, skimming through the papers. An empty plate and a coffee mug were also sitting on his desk. The mug wasn't even placed over a coaster. He could even see some bread crumbs scattered on the wood.

He barely managed to not lash out at her, clenching his fists. Drawing in a shallow breath, he opened his mouth in an attempt to reason with her but she was the first one to speak.

"Can you log into the system? I need to look up something." She pointed the tip of the pen at the computer placed on his desk. Her voice was far from that of requesting even if she framed it as a question.

Harrison's brows pinched, "Are you serious?!" His voice sounded so pitchy, almost resembling a train wreck about to happen.

"Yes."

That's all? His stomach rumbled with anger. She didn't even look up at him. That bland yes twisted like a snake in his gut. He was past taking orders, especially from her. So, he walked up to her, swallowing his building rage and snatched the file she was holding.

"Hey!" She squealed, trying to take it back as he pushed it over his head and out of her reach.

She rose from the chair, about to grab it when he dropped the file on the floor behind his back, scattering the papers.

"Why would you--"

"Because it's my office and those are my files! And fucking," he seethed, trying to keep his voice casual, lifting the mug from the table, "We don't eat in the study, let alone dump the scraps on the desk. Also, you didn't even use a coaster!" He groaned upon noticing the ring the liquid left on the wood before he settled the mug again on the table, only this time there was a coaster beneath it.

Her eyebrows pulled together, disbelief roaring through her head, "You are worried about the coaster--"

"The white oak---"

"The uncle was murdered in this house and the nephew is more interested in coffee stains." She squinted her eyes, shaking her head.

Harrison bit back a groan. Her words had managed to flip his stomach. He sighed keeping his conduct civil.

"As much as I am curious about Clarke's mysterious death," he spoke as calmly as he could, meeting her eyes, "We aren't even sure if he was murdered in the first place."

"You gotta be kidding me!"

"I am not kidding you!" He bit back, "And anyway, get out of here. I don't like outsiders touching my stuff," he shifted his gaze to the side, hands folded across his chest.

She scoffed, almost scornfully. "Says the one who had no problem sleeping together."

Harrison's neck snapped at the words, his temper reaching new heights. Gritting his teeth, he took a step forward, looking down at her face. "If I had known it was you, I would have never--"

"Exactly!" She snapped, "You didn't know who you were sleeping with, how do I ensure you know about the people working here?"

"That's bullshit."

Sandhya exhaled, failing to reason with him. It was harder than she had expected. So, she tried the gentler way, trying to make her words sound closer to a request, "I need you to give me access to your computer." For no avail--

"What made you think I would do that? You have already seen enough." His hands dropped from his chest and she fought back the urge to roll her eyes.

The last attempt at asking and being gentle, "Look Harrison," her voice was sweeter as if she had accepted her defeat, moving to the last resort, "You have already ruined my Plan A and now I need to know about certain things to come up with a Plan B."

"You really think you're some kind of mastermind in planning? Don't you?"

"Harrison, that was my job back then--"

"Oh. I thought your job was to seduce strangers and sleep with them." He didn't hesitate but when the words finally parted his lips, he noticed the light in her eyes dimming for a brief second, the little grin on her lips fading. His heart thumped in his throat. Perhaps, he went too far.

But what he said wasn't a lie. Perhaps, it was okay. He didn't care anyway, yet his eyes moved to her neck, somewhere-anywhere, away from her face.

Those scars on her throat fell into his line of sight. Fine red lines, shallow, peeking off from her pink hoodie. He hadn't paid much attention before but she looked cute in the outfit, a way he had never expected her to look. Her expression defied the notion though, driving his brain back to the thick air that engulfed them.

Her hand came to cover her throat, gently rubbing across the marks. He swallowed. His eyes flickered back to hers and she averted her gaze to the side. Probably, that was the closest he would ever get at marking her.

He was waiting for a reply, a sharp hit back. Instead, the air between them seemed to hum quietly. Harrison had hit the mark so blatantly, Sandhya didn't even bother refuting it. And that somehow bothered him.

She tore her gaze from him, turning on her heel. He felt the urgent need to cut the silence.

"I don't support the idea of a murderer walking among us." He spoke slowly.

He heard her sigh heavily.

"Well enough," she made up her mind, walking away from him and picking up the file, he had previously dropped, "You live in your protected shell, dreaming about sunshine and rainbows while someone stabs you in your sleep," her voice was still without heat or anger, "But you know what..."

She turned to face him again, eyes hardening, "I don't want to die or lose what I have earned so, I'm going to do something about it."

"Good luck." He muttered, eyes never leaving her figure as she stormed off the room.

***

The day was heavy on Sandhya. Checking up all the records of the people Clarke had ever worked with was more time consuming than she had thought, especially considering how her initial plan of dividing the work with Harrison went amiss.

She had navigated through whatever documents he had in his room, along with Clarke's and had taken the help of Holly to get access to their server. It would have been nicer to have her in person than on a phone but she was indeed helpful, although, Sandhya hadn't found anything game-changing. There was at least a compact list of people she had her suspicions on, though.

The library was bigger than what it appeared from afar. Probably they could shoot a Jurassic Park movie in here. Or Night at the Museum or library or whatever. She had laughed at the thought. She had also walked through all three tiers of the magnificent space, analyzing the delicately carved rosewood shelves carrying books older than time. They even had some of the original manuscripts of the classics. Unbelievable.

But now she was tired. It was over six hours, she was sitting there, skimming through all the information she could get her hands on. The mob business was full of mischief. Interacting with people you should definitely keep a six feet distance from was customary .

She sighed, shutting the library computer and keeping the files aside. Untying her hair and pressing her fingers against the pulsing side of her head, she tried to relax. A gasp left her lips. She bet she saw a shadow move outside.

Her heart stopped for a moment when the lights flickered. There was definitely someone who shouldn't be here.

Slowly, carefully, she rose from her seat, ducking down the table. Then she heard it. Footsteps. She scrambled forward, keeping low, hiding behind a pillar, drawing the knife from her clothes. She waited and waited, breathing through her nose. But no one came for her. And then it hit her.

They could be here for Harrison.

She risked a peek, looking outside the library. There was still no one in sight. The alleyway seemed dark, dead; enough to accelerate her pulse. She climbed down the stairs, one foot at a time, letting her eyes wander around the hall. Stopping and hiding behind an intersected wall, she saw it: A guy in all black, twisting the knob to Harrison's room, the haft helpless in the vice of his grip. He entered inside.

Sandhya swallowed. Her throat felt dry. She only had a knife on herself right now. Protecting Harrison at all costs was a requisite. Even when he was an insufferable jerk.

He was a team.

And she hated teamwork.

She also hated jerks.

Harrison turned in his sleep, lying over the left side of his body, hugging the silk sheets that covered him. His room was pitch black, with curtains all drawn shut. He preferred sleeping in the dark and maybe that was the reason why the silver light shining over his thin eyelids discomforted him. He wasn't a heavy sleeper and little sounds managed to bother him.

He had somehow grown accustomed to the noise his clock made. His mind erratically jumped between disconnected, unwanted thoughts whenever he sensed other sounds in his proximity. Sounds that didn't match the rhythm of his clock.

Noises of shallow breathing.

Noises of out of tune footfalls.

Out of tune...

His eyes flew open, wide, fixed on the dagger that stood three feet above his chest, reflecting the minimal amount of light his window shades failed to conceal.

He tried to kick off his sheets but the dagger lunged forward swiftly like a wild animal. He squirmed, unable to move, waiting for the impact. Only that he never felt the object pierce his body. The guy groaned, his steps faltering backwards.

Harrison unspooled himself from the sheets, quickly switching on the lamp. Leaping from the bed, hands first, he landed on his toes, squatting.

Sandhya's arms were crossed around the guy's neck from the back. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she tried to push him back.

"Don't just stand there!" She cried, struggling to hold the big guy as she pulled him backwards, pressing her forearms against his throat.

Harrison shook his head, jumping forward. His heart pounded in his chest as he hit the man over his shoulder. The guy with his face blocked out with a black woollen mask, wailed, stumbling on his feet. He slammed Sandhya's back against the window, dropping both his weapon and the whimpering girl on the floor.

Harrison tried to catch him but he ran, pushing him back, storming off the door. His eyes roamed at the door and then at Sandhya. He sighed, giving out his hand. Grabbing it, she pulled herself on her feet.

"Don't say it." He mumbled, jutting his tongue out of his compressed lips.

"Told you so." She said anyway, voice so low that only he could hear, flashing him a small grin, more of a grimace, actually. His own mouth twisted but then his eye caught the sight of his window, the shades drawn away because of the rustling. His slight frown turned into a scowl.

"Watch out--" He grabbed Sandhya by her waist, pulling her down with him, capturing her body beneath his as a gunshot blasted the window of his room, crashing, shattering the glass over them.

A moment passed in silence as they tried catching up their breath.

"Are we even?" He mouthed, manoeuvring his eye line back up to her face. She was horrified, her chest rising and falling.

"We'll see..."

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quazartranslates · 3 years

Text

Welcome to the Nightmare Game II - CH41

**This is an edited machine translation. For more information, please [click here]**

[<<< Previous Chapter | Table of Contents | Next Chapter >>>]

-----

Chapter 41: Star Death Reality Show (XXIV)

For a long time, Qi Leren couldn’t find the ability to think.

He seemed to be a poor man petrified by magic, just sitting in a chair, watching the system prompt gradually disappear from the screen.

Ning Zhou was dead?

Dead. Qi Leren couldn't put this cold word on Ning Zhou. Even if it was just in his imagination, he couldn’t accept it.

His trachea seemed to be blocked, and Qi Leren felt that he had returned to the sea, feeling the pain caused by suffocation in the increasingly strong water pressure. He couldn't breathe and couldn't escape. The oppressive darkness and death surrounded him, tormented him, and made him unable to endure for even one second.

He had to go to Ning Zhou! He had to bring him back from Purgatory!

He had always been used to waiting passively, indulging his interia and dependence as he waited, comforting himself. This was the best way, but he didn't expect that some people, some things, he couldn’t wait for. The anxious sense of urgency weighed heavily on his shoulders; just like when he had used the Prophet's Heart, a huge clock kept counting down behind him.

Counting the seven days after his death, today was the twenty-fourth day after his resurrection. There were only five days left for him. He had to hurry back and bring Ning Zhou back, otherwise...

Qi Leren couldn't think of what followed.

Don don don— When a knock on the door sounded, Qi Leren was startled and hurriedly closed the laptop. At the moment it closed, it disappeared out of thin air. Thankfully he had turned off the invisible camera that followed him, otherwise he really didn't know how to explain all this.

A skill card was lying quietly on the computer desk. Qi Leren had no time to think about it. He put the skill card in the item bar and asked loudly, "Who’s there?"

When the door opened, Du Yue stood outside looking surprised. "You’re really here?"

This was a strange question. Qi Leren felt strange when he heard it: "How did you know I was here?"

Du Yue scratched his head, a little muddled and a little confused, and said, "There’s a very strange gentleman... I don't know where he came from... He showed me the way and said that you were here."

A chill penetrated Qi Leren's back and cold sweat flowed down. Qi Leren's hand was shaking. If he didn't deliberately control it, his voice would tremble. The familiar fear returned to him; even if he just thought the name of that person, he would feel terrible.

A person who suddenly appeared and knew him like the back of his hand, a person who could access and even interfere with the copy, a… terrible person.

He had come here again for the secret hidden in this laptop.

"Where is he?" Qi Leren asked slowly.

"He said he would be at the lowest level of the institute. Qianbei, is he a survivor of this planet? Did they not leave here, but lived underground or something?" Du Yue, who didn't know Su He, never thought of the man’s real identity, but thought he was a part of this copy.

Qi Leren took a deep breath, shook his head, and got up and walked out of the room.

"What about the others? Have you spoken with them?" Qi Leren asked.

"We split up just now," Du Yue said in a depressed way.

Qi Leren didn't ask any more questions and walked quickly towards the safe corridor. Since Su He wanted to see him, he had to bite the bullet and go, but this time he had no Easter Eggs. If Su He made him choose between life and death again...

I should make an agreement with him, Qi Leren thought. He absolutely couldn’t die here. If he died, Ning Zhou would be fated to follow that terrible path, leading to the abyss of death. He couldn't watch Ning Zhou die.

If Ning Zhou became a demon, he would accompany him.

If the world wouldn’t let them be together, then they would go to hell together.

He wasn’t afraid, because nothing was more terrible than losing him.

But if Su He insisted on killing him... Qi Leren stopped on the stairs, turned to Du Yue, and said, "I have something to ask of you."

"Qianbei, please say it, I’ll do it!" Along the way, because of Qi Leren’s dignified expression, Du Yue felt nervous, thinking he may have made some big mistake. Now that he heard that his qianbei wanted to make a request, all he had to do was clap a hand to his chest and promise.

"Don't follow me later, do everything possible to protect your own safety. If I die, go back to the Village of Dusk and find a woman named Chen Baiqi..." As Qi Leren spoke, he took out a pen and paper and quickly wrote about Ning Zhou, then handed it to Du Yue.

Du Yue opened his mouth and looked ready to cry. "Is it that dangerous? Qianbei, don’t go!"

"There are some things that can't be escaped," Qi Leren said. Su He had come in person, and it would take him only minutes to kill everyone in the copy. He didn't even have the cards to negotiate with him. It was simply a fantasy to avoid him. "If you find Dr. Lu, don't get separated from him. Although he’s often confused, he’s still very lucky. That person should not be interested in killing you... I’m leaving, you should be careful."

Du Yue gawked at Qi Leren. He really was crying. A big and strong boy who was only eighteen years old could not hold back his tears when faced with life or death, and he took Qi Leren's hand with a face of snot and tears and refused to let go.

Qi Leren had to comfort him with a white lie: "Don't worry, this is only the worst case. Generally, I’m lucky and won't die."

Du Yue was dumbfounded: "But Dr. Lu said that your luck level falls below the alphabet."

“………………”

Qi Leren, who had been exposed, finally just pushed Du Yue out of the stairwell and continued to go down. As the floor numbers dropped, he entered deeper and deeper underground, and the surrounding air became colder and colder. Even wearing temperature regulating clothes, it still made Qi Leren feel stiff all over.

As he walked, Qi Leren looked at the skill card that had been left after the laptop disappeared.

[Sophisticated Lawyer: A cunning lawyer should avoid the traps in the contract and do everything possible to help their client, who has paid enough in legal fees to avoid contracts that are not beneficial to them. If you sign a contract with anyone after equipping this skill card, that contract can't bind you, but a payment of 130 survival days will be consumed. Remaining usages: 1/1]

Qi Leren's face turned green. He worked hard with the Devil of Fraud to save 147 survival days, but this would take 130 days at once?! If this skill card was used and his identity was revealed in this copy... Very good, he would be directly obliterated because of insufficient survival days.

But he knew in his heart that if "it" would give him this thing, it was already hinting that he… he would need this skill card.

Just like the Easter Egg.

Qi Leren looked at this skill card with mixed feelings and inserted it into the card slot.

He had already reached the 13th floor underground. The depth of this underground research institute was really shocking. At present, he faced the exit of the stairwell. Qi Leren hesitated outside the door for a while before fearfully pushing it open.

Ahead of him, there was a cold and featureless metal corridor, dark and lacquered, and the range of a flashlight was limited. Where light couldn't reach, the deep darkness was like a beast's open jaws, waiting for him to trap himself.

Qi Leren let out a mouthful of hot air that condensed into a thin cloud of white smoke in the extremely low temperature air.

He stepped out of the stairwell.

Light suddenly hit his eye, and the sudden light blinded his eyes with whiteness, but the fresh air and warm temperature from the tip of the nose made him realize that he was no longer in the cold underground research institute.

Sure enough, when his sight returned to normal, the ethereal and clean world around him made him hold his mouth tightly shut.

The blue sky was endless, and there was one white island after another floating around him, unable to discern if they were white clouds or floating islands. Pigeons flew from the direction where the sun was rising, and the whole world was immersed in the hope of dawn. Who could have guessed that this was a Devil’s field?

Qi Leren stood on the tower of the floating island, where he had once come and had a friendly conversation with the Devil of Fraud.

At that time, Su He had said that this was the Village of Dawn in his memory, and he had projected the ideal hometown into his own field. Qi Leren didn't know whether this sentence is true or not, but if he thought deeply, he couldn't help but feel fear for the truth of the Village of Dawn—was the so-called Village of Dawn itself not this Devil’s field?

"Good morning, lost lamb." A hoarse and charming voice came from behind Qi Leren, which scared Qi Leren into turning around quickly.

On this terrace that had been empty only a few seconds ago, there appeared a woman holding a white porcelain tray, as if she had appeared out of thin air.

This was the sexiest woman Qi Leren had ever seen. This was so even though her hair was tied in a meticulous bun and she was dressed in a high-necked black dress, her whole body covered—only her face was exposed, and even her hands were wearing a pair of black silk gloves. Even if a naked woman was standing there, she would not attract more attention than her, because no one would have the same reserved yet affectionate smile as her.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Ruth. It's a very common name, isn't it? In the demon world’s capital city, if you shout Ruth casually, at least ten women will turn around. So I prefer others to call me the Witch of Lust." Ruth walked lightly to the round table and sat down, waving to Qi Leren again. "Sit down, the little pet His Majesty is in charge of keeps causing trouble again. If you ask me, it really needs to be changed to a bigger cage."

"What pet?" Qi Leren asked cautiously.

Ruth crossed her hands under her chin—this action was really like her master—and hesitated: "A goldfish."

A goldfish? Qi Leren was at a loss. What trouble could a goldfish make? Jumping out of the goldfish bowl? It was worth Su He handling it himself?

A goldfish bowl? This word suddenly awakened Qi Leren's reluctant memory. It suddenly occurred to him that Su He had been called away by a voice when he had revealed his identity and killed him. At that time, Qi Leren had lost blood and couldn’t see clearly, but his ears had still heard the voice. What were the exact words? They seemed to be...

[...The goldfish bowl has raised an alarm. It’s very likely that it will escape again...]

Wasn't what lived in the goldfish bowl a goldfish?

It was going to escape, and again? That is to say, it had escaped before?

What on earth was this thing?

Lust calmly poured tea for Qi Leren, and there were three tea sets on the table. Her and Qi Leren’s cups were already filled, but the empty one still waited for its bearer.

"He always makes us wait so long. If you don't mind, we can talk casually." Lust stirred the black tea in the porcelain cup with a delicate silver spoon, but her eyes never left Qi Leren for a moment.

"...What is there to talk about?" Qi Leren asked warily.

"Let's talk about men. Women like me and men like you always like this topic," the Witch of Lust laughed.

"..." What do you mean, "men like you"? Qi Leren was a little depressed.

"What do you think of His Majesty?" the Witch of Lust asked wistfully.

Could he say that he thought he was a deeply-scheming pervert? After Qi Leren learned Su He’s true face, it made his hair stand on end when he recalled the little things from when they used to get along. This feeling was probably like if he had found out an old friend of many years was actually a serial murderer, and that he was his next target.

However, Qi Leren couldn't make such comments to the witch about her boss, lest she become angry from his impudence and teach him to be a man in 10,000 ways. He had to breathe a sullen sigh, consider the sentence carefully and thoughtfully, and after deleting a few-hundred-word-long negative review, provide a small truth that wouldn’t offend anyone: "He’s very handsome."

Lust giggled with joy and reached out to touch Qi Leren's cheek: "You’re so cute, I like you a little."

A sigh came from behind Qi Leren: "Ruth, I asked you to dress properly and take care of the guest, not flirt with him."

The voice struck Qi Leren's head like thunder and lightning. He suddenly jumped up from his chair, then felt that he had overreacted, so he sat back down in embarrassment. The footsteps behind him were getting closer and closer, passing his seat and sitting down in the empty chair opposite Qi Leren.

Su He wore what appeared to be a riding suit, as if he had just arrived by horseback, and he took off his white gloves and held them in one hand. He looked like a human being, handsome and gentle. He didn't seem to notice Qi Leren’s blunder, and he forgot his former unhappiness. After sipping a mouthful of black tea that Ruth poured for him, he put down his cup and smiled, saying to Qi Leren who was on pins and needles:

"On this beautiful night, are you interested in making a deal with me?"

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