#and i want to know in what world you felt muting people who expressed similar sentiments

[flecks-of-stardust]

palestinian rain world fans, if there’s anything that can be done to support you in light of everything going on with ludeo and main rain world’s staff’s handling of the situation, feel free to use this as a nexus to share links or other stuff of the sort.

[am0ng-us-sus]

How Sakine came into the family-a short fic

Tw: Death mentioned frequently,eating disorder referenced once near the end of the fic. I used Google Translate for all the Spanish,so I apologise if it's inaccurate...

It was a Saturday in mid summer,sometime in June. Meiko was watching some television while Luka was listening to a podcast and washing some dishes.

Meiko heard her phone ring suddenly. Muting the tv,she answered it.

'Hello? Oh,hey,Mom!'

Meiko's expression changed to one of shock and sadness,her face going pale as she felt tears in her eyes.

'O-okay,thank you for letting me know,love you,too...'

Meiko hung up the phone and set it on the coffee table.

Luka noticed her partner's expression and pressed the pause button on her podcast,drying her hands and walking over to sit next to the taller woman.

'Hey,what happend?'

She asked softly,gently rubbing her girlfriend's back. Tears started running down Meiko's cheeks and Luka hugged her as she sobbed quietly. After a few minutes,Meiko pulled away from Luka and looked her in the eyes.

'Lu...my sister...she-she got into a car accident...she and her husband...neither of them made it...my Mother just called me and let me know...first my dad and now this...' Meiko said quietly.

'Mei...I'm so sorry...I know it's hard...whatever you need,I'll be here for you.' Respond Luka

Meiko looked like she wanted to say something,but didn't have the confidence to do so.

'What's wrong? Is there something you need to tell me? Whatever it is,I'll help you with it.'

Meiko took a moment before speaking again

'She...she was a mother,Luka. She had a daughter. Around Miku's age...And I promised her that if anything happened to her,I'd take care of her daughter. I know this is sudden,but nobody else in my family is suitable to take her,and she'll go to an orphanage if nobody can care for her. I don't want that,she deserves parents. I want to adopt her,I know this is out of the blue and I know you're probably not ready to adopt a kid and I know that you might want to leave me because this is something I have to do and maybe you don't want to be a part of this and that's okay I know this is crazy,I know this is all happening at once,and I'm fine with that,I can go live somewhere else it's fine,you can stay in the apartment it's fine I'm sorry and-'

'Woah,hey,hey,it's okay,breathe... I'm not going to leave you,I would never. You're the most important person in the world to me. I'd be happy to adopt your neice,I agree,she deserves parents.'

Luka reached out and wiped the tears off of Meiko's cheeks before pulling her into another hug.

'The funeral is on Tuesday,we can pick her up there...' Said Meiko quietly.

'Is there any paperwork we need to fill out?'

'...A little bit,but everything was arranged when my neice was born,so not too much.'

'So you've been walking around with the title 'Godmother' for all this time? Not a bad title to have,it sounds badass.' Said Luka,trying to brighten up the situation a bit.

'Yeah,I suppose so...' The brunette responded with a small chuckle

'Luka?'

'Yes,my love?'

'...Thank you...for being okay with this...'

'Of course,Mei.'

----------------------

Tuesday;day of the feuneral

The couple left around 10:00 am,as the church and cemetery were about an hour away,and the open cascet started around 11:30. By the time their car pulled into the parking lot of the large church,Meiko was asleep in the passenger seat,she always ended up asleep on long car rides. Luka gently shook her awake.

'...hm?? ¿qué?' Meiko looked slightly confused,as she always was after a nap.

'We're here,honey,wake up!' Said Luka softly.

'Ah,right...' Meiko and Luka exited the vehicle and walked up the short cement staircase to the large building. Once inside,Luka immediately felt like she stood out,the church was filled with people who all had brown and black hair,most also had a darker skin-tone similar to Meiko's,with only a few people who had colored hair or pale skin. It was rather interesting,as brown and black hair was a rather rare color in the Vocaloid universe,most people having brightly colored hair. (Brown/black hair is like the equivalent to red hair in the real world)

Luka also felt her anxiety kick in as soon as the two entered,and she grabbed onto Meiko's arm because although it was quiet in the church,there were still many people she didn't know and it was quite overwhelming. Meiko turned to look at Luka and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek.

'It's okay,everyone here is nice,they'll love to meet you.'

Luka nodded and the two walked farther into the church. Meiko spotted her mother chatting with a group of people who unsurprisingly,all looked like variations of Meiko.

The two walked over to the group and Meiko greeted them with a soft 'hello' as the group all turned to look at the two. More specifically,Luka,as most of them had never seen her before. (Meiko's mother being the only one who knew her) Luka held onto Meiko's arm a bit tighter,keeping close to her partner's side. This pulled Meiko out of the solemn conversation she was having with her mother.

'Ah,right. This is my girlfriend Luka,everyone.' Meiko said quietly.

'This is the Luka I've heard so much about?' Said a man who looked to be around twenty-five or thirty. He held out his hand for Luka to shake but Luka was frozen at the moment.

'Not much of a people's person,huh...' He said,putting his hand down.

Meiko sighed.

'Lu,this is Isaac,my cousin.'

Luka hummed softly in response.

Suddenly,children ran through the circle of people and Isaac said calmly

'Now,kids,this is a church,this is no way to behave.'

'Sorry,Uncle Isaac...' The small children said in unison before walking away.

Luka started to feel a little more comfortable as the group picked up on their quiet conversation about Meiko's sister and brother-in-law,though she still kept quiet.

Meiko's mother was taking the loss really hard,with her husband dying only a year prior.

'Mom,is she here yet?' Asked Meiko,referring to her neice.

'No,Leo is driving her and you know how late he can be sometimes...' Said the tired old woman. Meiko nodded.

'I'm going to go find Layla,is she here yet?'

'Yeah...but she's taking this pretty hard...' Said the woman standing next to Isaac.

'I can imagine,Lucy was like a literal part of her...' Said Meiko sadly,before she and Luka turned to go look for this 'Layla' person.

As they walked away,Luka looked up at her partner's solemn face.

'Honey...who's Layla?'

'She was my sister Lucy's identical twin. They spent every day together as kids and as you can imagine,this is hitting her really hard. I can't really explain or understand it because I don't have a twin,but I can't imagine how horrible it feels to have a part of your soul ripped away in a sense...' She said somberly.

Luka thought about how close the Kagamines were and how one of them would react if the other all of a sudden disappeared and it almost made Luka cry. The Kagamines were connected in such a strong way,and you couldn't have one without the other. They were like fire and ice,thunder and lightning,right and left. Without one,how can you be sure that the other even exists at all?

Eventually,Meiko stopped,pulling Luka out of her thoughts. She looked onwards at a woman who was sitting alone in one of the church pews,she had her head in her hands and was almost motionless. Meiko sat next to her,Luka sitting awkwardly next to her partner.

'Hey,Layla.'

The woman looked up at Meiko,who had spoken,and threw herself into her younger sister's arms,sobbing loudly.

'Oye, está bien, hermana... I know it's hard...'

'Se ha ido... mi gemela... era parte de mí... No sé cómo voy a vivir sin ella...'

'Lo sé... Respira, Layla, respira, todo va a estar bien. I'm here for you...'

Luka didn't know what to do or say,so she sat there awkwardly,playing with the strands of long pink hair that were brushed over the front of her left shoulder. It was then that a dog walked past the pew,it was a white Lab and looked at her curiously,two sets of pale blue eyes staring back at each-other.

Luka got up and walked over to the dog,reaching out a hand to it. It sniffed Luka's hand before giving it a lick,sensing that the woman was harmless. It rolled onto it's back playfully and Luka happy knelt down to give it a belly rub. The dog perked up when it heard the voices of children approaching,the kids from before were heading towards Luka and the dog,exited to see the animal. The dog rolled onto his stomach and got up to greet the kids. Luka followed the Lab and happily played with the dog and the kids. Meiko was watching the scene with a soft smile while rubbing her sister's back gently.

A man then came rushing to the dog,several other children following him.

'Bandit! Get back here,you naughty boy!' Said the man. The kids behind him giggling.

The man hooked a leash onto the dog's bright red collar and sighed before turning to the kids behind him.

'You three need to stop letting Bandit off of his leash,I know you guys do it on purpose to mess with me... We are at a feuneral,try to behave yourselves...' He said tiredly.

'Sorry,papa!' They all said,still giggling.

Luka got up and observed as a woman with dark green hair walked up next to the man.

'Honey,I told you to leave him at home...'

The man sighed.

'I know,but the kids snuck him into the car!'

Luka watched with curiosity as the family bickered and the kids continued to play with the dog.

Meiko mumbled softly to her sister before getting up and walking over.

'Ah,hello,Leo. Late as always...' She said.

'What's up,Meiko! Haven't seen you in a while!'

'Ah,you're awfully cheerful despite being at our sister's feuneral.' She said,slightly annoyed.

'Sorry,little sis...I'm trying to brighten the mood a bit...' He mumbled.

'Anyways,I see you've met mi amor. This is Luka.' Meiko said.

'Mei,I didn't know you were married! Why didn't you invite me?' He said jokingly.

'Married?'

Said Luka quietly,feeling her face go red.

'Leo,we're not married...yet...'

'Yet?' Luka squeaked

'You heard me,Amor~'

Luka covered her face attempting to hide her flushed cheeks.

'Anyways,Leo. Where's Sakine?' Asked Meiko.

'Ah,right...uhh...she's here somewhere...'

'Ay,Dios mío,you lost her?' Said Meiko,pinching the bridge of her nose.

'Heh...sorry,sis...'

'I would smack you but out of respect for the dead,I'm going to refrain from doing so today...'

The woman standing next to Leo spoke up

'I told her to wait in the pew near the enterence for you two to pick her up.'

'Thanks,Aoi...' Said Meiko.

'No problem,Mei.' The woman responded.

Meiko grabbed Luka's hand and the two started walking towards the enterence. Once they arrived there,the couple spotted a young girl sitting by herself. Luka was shocked. Everyone here directly related to her partner looked similar to Meiko in some way,but this young girl looked almost like a carbon copy of Meiko,looking exactly how her partner had when she was that age. The girl had short brown hair that was a few shades lighter than Meiko's,and their faces looked almost exactly the same. The girl's brown eyes looked up at the two as they approached,Luka didn't even know this girl's name yet,but the sadness in her eyes broke her heart. Both of her parents had just died and she was definitely having a hard time processing what was going on. Meiko sat down next to the girl.

'Hey,there,Sakine. This is Luka,she's my girlfriend,I know you haven't met her yet but I'm sure you two will get along wonderfully!'

'Hey there,Sakine,was it? I'm Megurine Luka! Nice to meet you!' She said softly.

The girl simply looked at Luka coldly before burying her face into Meiko's side,wrapping her arms around her aunt. Luka looked at Meiko with confusion. Meiko gave her a look that read 'give her some time'.

'Hey,do you want to go up and see mommy and daddy one last time before they bury them?' Meiko asked.

The girl nodded and her and Meiko got up,the girl taking her aunt's hand. Meiko guided her out of the pew,placing her other hand on Luka's back as the three walked up to the altar and over to the cascet. The family had decided to bury the two together in one large cascet,as they had died holding hands. Sakine whimpered slightly as tears began to roll down her cheeks. She fortunately hadn't been in the car at the time,but getting the news still hit her harder than the car that rammed into her parents ever could. Meiko rubbed the girl's back as she too cried quietly. Luka took her partner's free hand in hers,gently rubbing the back of her hand with her thumb,using her other hand to comb through Meiko's hair. She saw Sakine give her another cold look upon performing these actions. Luka tried to ignore it,and eventually,the girl went back to looking into the cascet.

--------------------

Burial;same day,1:00 pm

After a few hours,everyone headed to the cemetery,which was located next to the church. The burial was quick,taking about 45 minutes before everyone departed. The couple headed to the car,Sakine getting in the backseat.

'Before we head home,we're going to stop by Sakine's old house and pick up her stuff.' Said Meiko.

'Oh,alright. Do you have your stuff packed already,Sakine?' Asked Luka.

The girl simply nodded and Meiko put the directions into the gps app on her phone and the car drove off.

Once they arrived,Meiko and Luka helped Sakine get her things into the car,she had only packed her cloths and her most valuable possessions,once the rest of her family stopped to get her parent's things,they would grab the rest of her stuff and bring it to the apartment.

---------------------

LukMei's apartment; 10:30pm,two days later

It had been a few days sense the couple had gotten the girl set up in the spare room,and she was supposedly asleep on the air-mattress they had set up in there. But Sakine needed to use the bathroom,and in the hallway,she overheard the adults talking.

I don't think she likes me,Mei...

Give her some time,Cariño,She's still getting over the loss.

Did I say something wrong? Was it something I did? Did I offend her somehow?

...This is just her way of coping with something sad. She closes herself off from new people. It's not something physical,that you can stop,like how I tend to overeat as a coping mechanism. The best you can do is wait for her to open up again. I'm sure she loves you. You're a good person.

(LukaMei pov)

Luka sighed. The two were sitting on the couch,Luka was leaning into Meiko,resting her head on her girlfriend's shoulder.

'But Mei...she seems...jealous... Did you see the look she gave me when I gave you a kiss goodbye before I went grocery shopping the other day?'

Meiko didn't respond,because truthfully,she had seen it.

'I know that nobody likes me but does she have to rub it in?'

'Lu,don't say that,lots of people like you. You may not feel like they do,but that's just your mind talking. It's all in your head,honey. If nobody liked you,then you wouldn't be in our band,would you? And I wouldn't even be here right now if that was true.'

Luka sighed.

'But she seems like she genuinely hates me...she doesn't even use my name,she just calls me 'Megurine'. Does that seem like love to you?'

Meiko noticed that Luka was starting to cry. She genuinely did want Sakine to like her. Meiko put a hand on Luka's cheek and turned her head to face her. She gave her a gentle kiss before wiping her tears away.

'It's late,we'll pick this up tomorrow,okay?'

Meiko helped Luka up and the two were heading to their room when they saw the silhouette of Sakine standing in the hallway. Luka avoided eye contact with the girl.

'Do you need something,sweetie?' Asked Meiko.

Sakine slowly walked forwards keeping her head down as she approached the two. She stopped in front of Luka and stood there for a moment before wrapping her arms around the slightly taller woman in a hug. Luka was shocked and Meiko honestly was a little surprised,too. Luka returned the hug,though she was a little confused about the sudden attitude change

'I-I do love you...L-Luka...' Sakine said quietly,resting her chin on Luka's shoulder.

'I-I'm sorry...I'm a bad person...' She mumbled quetly.

'Sakine,you're not a bad person...' Luka stated.

'You're not a bad person okay?

You're my daughter.'

[they-lived]

A year in review: tldr heart hurts but I know things get better.

Tw for war under the cut

I really truly didn’t think we’d get here. Another year over, another year of feeling too much all at once. I am full of something and I don’t know what to call it; maybe it’s grief maybe it’s hope, they seem pretty similar at this point.

I am exhausted and when I think back on this year I genuinely don’t know what to grasp onto. I try to be a positive person, I try to see the best in the world and my own personal situation… and I’m not sure I can do that this year.

I remember waking up to the news of the war in Ukraine and I remember crying for days on end. I remember that my chest was sore from sobbing. I remember people couldn’t understand my grief. I remember all the people who wanted to use me as their personal connection to this tragedy. I remember all the times I felt like I had to carry the weight of other peoples opinions and that I had to educate with kindness so that I wouldn’t be outright ignored. I have so much love for Ukraine and for my loved ones that I did it anyway.

And I’m not going to sit here and say my suffering was more than others. I was safe, I was never in direct danger. But I watched the world I knew collapse and the dreams I had went with them. I am not the same person I used to be before all of this.

Here’s the thing, I was in a fog since covid and I think the war snapped me back into reality. During the pandemic I felt so lost and heavy. I was in this haze of life for nearly two years as I struggled to catch a breath. I’ve never had depression, I know that and I would never pretend otherwise. But I was in such a deep dark funk that I have never been in before that I just can’t express to you how empty I was with any other word.

I shut everyone and everything out and when the unthinkable happened; when a war came to my front door and I watched helplessly as the people I love suffered, it was like the world came back on. My apathy switched, like my world had been on mute and suddenly there was sound again.

It wasn’t a good change but it was a change period. I couldn’t keep sitting in my sorrow because I had to do *something* and I was tired of doing nothing. Maybe it wasn’t healthy at first but it was what I needed to do, I saw so much of this war from the sidelines and it made me see the truth of the world. No matter how horrible or dark it may be, there will always be hope.

I saw how brave we can be, how much kindness we are capable of and I saw the breadth of compassion humanity still has even after everything we’ve been through in the last decade. I watched my friends suffer but I watched them keep their faith and keep their dignity through it all. They inspire me more than anything ever has before. From the little ones who continue to learn in bomb shelters to my freshly turned adult students who have gone to the frontlines, some of whom have already lost their lives, each of them reminds me that there is something bigger than us to fight for.

Community, love, friendship, there is a reason to keep going. They are my reason, I will see them again one day. I will return to a free Ukraine one day. I’m not where I want to be in my life but I’m not scared to fight for it anymore.

I am not without hope, I will never be without hope and I have to hold onto that. Happiness is work and it’s work I want to do again for the first time in years. I’m scared, I’m excited, I’m passionate, and I have a lust for life again; even if it is out of spite I would take this feeling over the nothingness I had this time last year.

The one good thing Putin did was show the world how strong good people can be when they’re put in impossible situations. My people are some of the best in the world and they have proven that time and again. I want to share that love, that hope, that story; because it is all worth sharing even if it feels impossible to speak to.

My beloved Ukraine, you will be free soon. Your light will not go out. Your story will not be forgotten. Your courage will be honored and your sacrifice will be remembered. You are a beacon of hope in all of this and I cannot express the depth of my love and admiration for you.

Cheers to a new year, may things keep getting brighter friends. 🥂🍾

Щасливого Нового Року мої друзі з любов‘ю завжди 💙💛🌻🌻

[kanencrow]

Can I request a twdg violet x reader where she and reader go onto the bell tower and look at the stars like in the game and confess to each othrr

Underneath the Stars - The Walking Dead | One Shot

A/N: Of course! I got a few similar requests, so I'll just do one singular one shot so I'm not reposting the same exact thing multiple times.

SUMMARY: She wanted to get away from the constant stress that getting ready to face the raider's brought on, and she wanted you to come with her.

WARNINGS: Swearing, kissing, the Delta, Violet giving herself a hard time, (probably) a drawn-out confession, slight angst (?), fluff.

WORD COUNT: 1763

“Do you think we even stand a chance?” 

“Hm?”

“With the Delta,” Violet clarified, as she sat beside you on the edge of the bridge that was somehow still standing, connecting the bell tower and its twin tower together. She considered the place as her own personal safe space, and you understood the appeal. Though, currently, she seemed extremely uncomfortable in her own personal element while her fingers gripped the ledge tightly, the whites of her knuckles showing. “I have this sinking feeling that they’re gonna…” 

When the blonde trailed off, you took your eyes away from the black abyss above and lowered your attention to fully focus on her instead. All you could see of her was her side profile, which was sharp and defined, but you also noticed the clear tension she had circling her features. The muscles of her face were taught and full of clear discontent, but she tried so hard to hide it. Having been around her for so long, though, you could always see through her, like a pane of glass that had been uncovered by its curtains. “You know, they always say there’s strength in numbers, but… even then, I think we stand a chance.” 

Violet let out a humorous scoff the moment she heard your attempt at trying to be as optimistic as possible, as she glanced at you out of the corner of her eye. You awkwardly chuckled to yourself shortly after, acknowledging your unhelpful way of trying to lessen the weight of worry the both of you felt, but your amusement was quick in dying down. So did the girls’ beside you. Her expression was swift to fall within a millisecond, as she lowered her chin and looked between her knees, watching how her legs dangled off the edge of the bridge. It reminded her that she was so high up. Like she was on top of the world. “Who knows, maybe there’s strength in the relationships you have with the people around you.” 

Her voice was quiet, contemplative… almost mute to your ears, like the whistle of wind as it passed by your head. Though, there was still that little, tiny distinct sound you could hear in the process. Just loud enough so only you were the one who’d be able to acknowledge it. And you did. You leaned forward slightly and turned your head to try and peer at her face. The same one that refused to meet your eyes. “What’s on your mind, Vi?” you inquired, your tone soft as your eyebrows furrowed in worry for the young woman beside you.

The blonde took in a large, quiet breath, before letting it out as her shoulders slumped. “A lot of stuff, honestly,” she admitted, while lifting her chin up to stare forward and into the darkness of the night. “Those child-snatching assholes, just waiting to bust down our gates when we least expect it,” she listed off, as she shook her head in distaste. “And on top of that, I’m just… worried, I guess.” 

“About…?” You leaned closer to Violet, trying to get a better look at her face, but she continued to keep her eyes away from your own when she raised her head to stare up at the night sky. An annoyed huff came from her lips shortly after her movement, but you knew she wasn’t angry with you. You’d be able to tell if she was. She was frustrated about the situation she, you, and the rest of the kids down below were suddenly forced to face. And you didn’t blame the emotion at all. Though, you did want her to feel better, even if only a little. “You can talk to me, V.” 

“I know I can,” Violet replied, her tone slightly raising in defense, though not a considerable amount. “It’s just…” She trailed off again and fell into silence, as her chin lowered to stare onward once more. “It’s hard to talk about a… problem… when the problem is the person I’m talking to.” Your features scrunched up in offense the moment she said that, and she quickly glanced at you and widened her eyes when she saw the way you reacted. “I mean, I’m not saying that you’re, like, a problem, or anything. It’s just… you’re not a problem.” She let out a hushed groan and flickered her irises down slightly, refusing to keep her focus with yours. “I just… wanted your company. You know, before we die.”

“We’re not gonna die,” you disagreed, shaking your head. “You know Clem isn’t gonna let that happen.” Your statement was quiet as you voiced it, but you were sure you got your point across when you heard an almost silent hum come from the blonde next to you. It was a sound that made you let out a sigh and lean back to rest your palms against the cement below you. “I won’t let that happen. Because I can’t lose you, and I don’t want to,” you said, your throat becoming scratchy as you thought out your next words. “You mean too much to me to let that happen, Violet.” 

“Can I tell you something?” Violet’s voice suddenly filled the temporarily silent air. She sounded nervous, which caused you to furrow your eyebrows in slight concern and turn your head to gaze over at her. Of course, she was still staring forward, but that didn’t last long the moment she breathed in and shifted her attention to focus on you instead. She eyed you for a few, long seconds, before eventually speaking. “I’ve watched people leave before. Family, friends. They never come back,” she admitted, moving a leg up to rest her arm against her knee. “There were so many times where I pushed you away, made it seem as if I don’t care about you… but you’d always stay, even after I’d hurt you. You’d always linger around and wait for me to get my head screwed on straight. And I didn’t deserve that type of care, at all.”

You frowned faintly at her words. You remembered all those times, but you never faulted her for it. You knew she was healing in her own way, and although you gave her advice on healthier ways to do that – when she was willing to listen, you knew that you needed to be as patient as possible, and not hate her for making a mistake. Like every human does. But the human before you was someone you would have done anything for, even if she thought you were crazy in turn. “Of course you do, V. You make mistakes, just like me and every other person in this school and on this earth. What matters is that you self-reflect and fix what you’ve fucked up on, and that’s admirable, because not a lot of people are able to do that.” 

Violet sent you a small, but warm smile in response to your words. She gazed at you for a few moments, before glancing down at the space between the two of you and letting out a sigh. “You’ve given me so many chances, Y/n. More than what people usually give,” she told you quietly. “And, now… I can’t imagine what my life would be like if you weren’t here. You’re just… that important to me, and I–” 

Your heart overpowered any other aspect of logic in that moment, as you suddenly scooted closer to the blonde and raised your hand up to gently grab her chin. Your index and thumb lifted her head up, and when her eyes met yours, you waited to check for any sort of discontent from her. And as you saw her glance down at your lips, showing the mutual feelings you had, you leaned in and softly pressed your mouth against her own. Immediately, your eyes fluttered shut at the feeling, and you swore you felt sparks fly when she pressed her palm against the side of your neck, a quiet exhale coming from her. 

Only a few seconds passed before you and Violet equally pulled away from one another, faces flushed and eyes opening, only to convey complete surprise. Her hand was still cold against the side of your neck as she leaned back slightly, but with how warm you felt, it soothed you more than anything. Your own fingers fell away from her chin shortly after, but the proximity between you and her was still undeniably close, as you let out a breathless chuckle to yourself, before smiling at her. 

You were completely at a loss for words.

Though, Violet wasn’t, as she shook her head in utter disbelief and let out a scoff of bafflement. “Holy shit.” She looked at you as though you just did something she never would have expected, and in a way, you did. At her reaction, you laughed once more, and she quickly did the same, as she giggled out an: “I mean, holy shit.” 

You lightly shrugged your shoulders at the response and uttered: “I care about you too much to let you say things like that about yourself.” You reached a hand out and rested it on her upper arm, “There’s nothing you can do that’ll make me stop caring about you. I want you to know that.” Your fingers curled in to give her limb a soft squeeze.

Violet’s expression was quick to fall and contort into awe instead. Her pale green eyes quickly became glassy, but you didn’t notice it when she looked down and grabbed your hand that sat against the ground. She picked it up and rubbed her cold thumb over the back of your palm, cradling it, which caused goosebumps to rise on your skin. “Thank you, N/n. It means a lot.” You knew she wasn’t open about her feelings often, but even the simple statement went a long way. Your heart fluttered the moment you heard it, content with the fact that you made her a little less worried about what was to come.

…

The last few moments up in that bell tower were spent with you and the blonde sitting in a comfortable silence. And it was a silence that the both of you cherished, as you and her waited for those raiders to come knocking down the gates of Ericson. You were once terrified of what could soon happen, but now that you knew you had the person you loved aware of your devotion, and vice versa, you felt practically unstoppable. 

Even if that might have just been delusion coursing through your veins. 

Still, you had more hope than ever before.

Feel like this could be better, but my brain is mush at the moment.

Hope you enjoyed and have a good day!

[tokoyamisstuff]

Tender Ch. 1 - Loki x Mute! Reader

Summary: Even though Loki doesn’t understand why the new member of the Avengers should be kind to him of all people, he doesn’t want you to stop either.

Warnings: Loki being depressed, the Avengers being kinda mean, mentions of Torture and Death

Words: ~2100

[Story Masterlist] [All of my Works]

All eyes were on him again.

As soon as Loki would step inside, the previously lively room would fall completely silent. Well, it’s not like he wasn’t used to being the involuntary kill-joy...

Usually, the God of Mischief craved attention, may it be positive or negative - most of the time being the latter. But lately, after months of having all those distrustful and hostile glares piercing holes into him, he’d rather wish for the ground to swallow him whole.

“Umm, so...I gotta go.” Natasha was the first one to flee the unpleasant atmosphere, not even putting the energy into mutter anything else than a cheap excuse on her way out. Clint wordlessly followed her close after, but not without shooting the Odinson one last, spiteful look.

Loki on the other hand was picking on his hands, a nervous habit he had inherited from his mother. As much as he tried to avoid meeting their eyes, the tensioned aura they were emitting making him feel close to breaking down completely - but he would never give them the satisfaction to witness this, he swore to himself.

And yet: Maybe he should just leave. Disappear, forever.

Although he’d never admit, Loki had grown very tired of his life following this stirr path, unable to diverge into a new direction. Everything he did would ultimately bring death and destruction upon mankind, inflicting fear in the hearts of all people.

His whole existence was based on being condemned to fail - just for others to reach their ‘glorius purpose’.

“Great” Tony scoffed. “Now they’re gone. Well done, prince of nothing.” Steve cut his friend off, clearing his throat very exaggeratedly.

The god still hadn’t moved from the doorframe of the conference room, while all others were already sitting on the oval-shaped table. He didn’t got what all that fuss was about. If Steve didn’t insist him to attend this emergency meeting, he’d just have gone about his usual business and avoided everyone as good as he could.

“C’mon, brother” Thor sighed, well knowing that if his brother was to stay in the team, it would ultimatively drive a wedge between them. All that pressure in the air was straining for everyone, including himself. 

Tony on the other hand was pretty chill about everything, aside of being passive-aggressive. This was probably due to their similar coping styles.

Even though his near-death-experience back when he stopped the Chitauri was still eating on his mental health, he’d prefer glossing over it with stupid jokes and overly confident behaviour. “No sassy remark today, Reindeer Games?”

Stark was leaning back in his chair, arms crossed as he rose an eyebrow on the god, who only muttered a hoarse “No...not today.”

Yeah, it was kind of his style to break the unsettling silence through puny comments or self-glorifying speeches, to distract from his own insecurity.

But right now, he was just so damn tired.

Of this planet and it’s people, as well as the humiliating circumstances he had to dwell in. The fact that he was a prisoner at the Stark Tower, amongst his worst enemies. Being forced by his brother to keep up this meaningless act, as if he’d ever be seen as a team member or ally - when in reality, he was but a slave to the people he once ought to reign.

Just like back on Asgard: Never one of them, never belonging. No way to break free - for his true self was something to be loathed.

However, first and foremost the one thing he was especially tired of was himself, for he couldn’t get out of his own skin. Not only could he never be considered a hero, let alone be redeemed.

After all the atrocities he had commited due to Thanos’ torture and the tesseract’s influence,  now that he woke up from that naive dream of power stilling the emptiness in his dark heart, there was nothing left for him - other than to be haunted by his crimes until the mercy of death would overcome him.

“Well” Steve began, slamming his palms on the desk to attract everyone’s attention. “As you all know, we are welcoming a new team member today.”

“They all know?” Of course they wouldn’t let him in on such sensitive information. Not that he minded either way - one Avenger more or less, it didn’t matter how many people hated him in here.

“Please, come on in.”

Loki cleared the entrance when he heared Tony’s words, turning around in anticipation of another dull creature like the Hulk to torment him - but his calm demeanour dropped completely at this unusual sight:

“Y-You?!”

That was simply not possible! The last time he had seen you was almost a year ago, and you were on the brink of death at that!

“For everyone that doesn’t know yet: Her name is Y/N Y/L/N. She is one of the victims HYDRA experimented on, and they succeeded in forming an artificial mutant.”

Steve went on and on explaining about your powers, but Loki’s head had already turned on autopilot, the only thing he could concentrate on being how the hell you of all people ended up here.

All these months, he was desperately trying to get any information about you, all of his hints ultimately leading him to dead ends - and in the end, tragically believing in your imminent death.

The memories were still painfully vivid in his mind: It was his first mission together with the Avengers, at a HYDRA hideout with most likely no civil survivors.

Actually, he had planned to make his escape right when the others engaged in a fight, wandering the hallways of what resembled a torture chamber rather than a laboratory.

On the walls were several instructions, about a serum that might cause a human to mutate if they were exposed to unbearable stress - pain being the most effective method, apparently.

Yet instead of finding anything useful for his personal gain, he found you: A  beautiful woman, yet emaciated and lying in a puddle of her own blood. At first he thought you to be dead just like the others - but as soon as your faint whimpers drang to his ears, he burst the cell you were trapped in open, rushing to your side immediately.

“Shh...” the god scooped you up from the cold stone floor, wrapping his cloak around your broken body. “Everything is alright now. Your savior is here.”

Loki gasped as he felt your hand stroking his cheekbone, even through all your pain and weakness wanting to bid your hero this due respect.

“Hel...you humans are such fragile creatures...” Loki muttered under his breath, cursing his own lack of talent when it came to casting healing spells. “Hang in there, look at me!”

Your eyes were teary and bloodshot, yet not less fit to bring across a message no words ever could: Incredible gratitude, and admiration.

He could tell you were close to passing out when your hand left his face, falling limp to the side. But he held you firmly in his arms, not once stopping to utter sweet words of encouragement as he made his way to the ship, leading you into safety.

“Your world in the balance, and you bargain for one man?”

Those were the words he once directed at Black Widow - but only now he understood her attempts.

Saving one person could never make up for all the lives he had destroyed - and yet he knew that for you, it would mean the world none the less.

In one way or another, with your life at his mercy, he began to finally grasp the preciousness of life, and doing everything in one’s might to protect it.

“Reindeer Games” Tony tapped on his shoulders, making Loki wake from his pondering. “I’d appreciate if you didn’t scare her away on the first day already.”

Oh.

Just now he was noticing his own grim expression, having towered over your much smaller form this whole time with furrowed brows.

“My apologies” was his firm response, but you only shook your head, trying to tell him it was not a big deal.

So this was what you looked like when you’re not imprisoned, he realized when he took in your physique.

Much to his pleasure, all of your wounds had seemingly healed, and you finally gained some much needed weight. Like this, you looked so much more healthier - and most definetly even more bewitching than he remembered you.

If people had let him know, would he have visited your sickbed, aiding you towards health again? Who knows...

Yet somehow, he dwelled in the thought of you being able to lead a happy life now that you were free - which made your decision to seek out the Avengers in wish for more battles even harder for him to accept.

“You are incredibly strong, Lady Y/N” Loki spoke firmly, everyone else rolling their eyes at his usual exaggeration - but you knew he meant every word. “Be sure of my eternal respect.” 

The God of Lies’ eyes widened in excitement when you directed a warm smile at him, knowing for sure that this one was genuine. It wasn’t like those fake smirks the other Avengers gave him out of politeness, or the mocking laughs when they were making fun of or excluding him.

No - that one was just pure affection. And it left him in awe.

“Thank you for saving me back then” you signed, just for Loki shooting you a puzzled look.

“What, I thought the all-tongue knows every language?” Tony yelled, as inconsiderate as always. Thor was quick to explain on his brother’s stead, him still being deeply invested with you. “Every spoken one, yes. ASL is not one of our fortes.”

Usually, Loki had always been a quick thinker. But right now he was to bewildered by your appearance that thinking straight was out of the question.  

What language were they speaking of? And why have you not been saying anything up until now? Maybe his presence was making you uncomfortable, after all? Should he leave on your behalf?

To make it easier for him to understand, you rolled down your turtleneck, revealing the unsighty scar that covered your whole throat.

There were not many people bold enough to come close to the God of Mischief without warning, yet suddenly you simply took his hand and slowly led it to your neck.

How could you be so naive and offer someone like him such a vital spot?! He’ll never get the human philosophy...

And yet, the flabbergasted god hesistantly let his hand run over the scar, while you opened your mouth to no avail - for 11 months already, no tone would leave your vocal cords.

“I’m incredibly sorry...” Loki whispered with a sorrowful tone, while the others just stared in disbelief. “If only I was able to heal this wound back then...”

What a puny god he was...and an even more pathetic wanna-be-hero at that...

He would try to take a few steps back, but you took a hold of his hand, squeezing it with both of yours, that cheerful smile not faltering in the slightest.

“Please, don’t be sad. I’m only alive thanks to you!” Bucky, whose cousin was mute as well, translated what you were signing for Loki. His tone sounded quite irritated, not fitting those meaningful words. “I only wanted to join the Avengers because I want to be just like you. You’re my idol!”

Those words touched him deeply, igniting a flame inside of him he thought long to be defunct. Was it hope?

Of course it was not nearly enough to pull him out of that deep, dark hole he felt trapped in for as long as he could remember - yet somehow, he now felt that it was not impossible to escape.

While the others were cringing at your declaration, making jokes about ‘choosing wrong idols’ or would plainly not believe Loki to have a positive effect on anyone, the two of you would just stare at each other in silent admiration.

Shyly, you signed yet another word for him - and this time, Loki would know what you mean from pure intuition. 

He smiled.

For the first time in what felt like forever, Loki was able to smile again, just thanks to your heartwarming welcome. And he was still blissfully unaware about what effect you could have on him, if he was brave enough to let you close.

One thing was sure: You literally had him wrapped around his finger from the very start.

[writing-on-the-wahl]

Writing Snippet #10

O Positive

Part 2

Ok so @im-a-wonderling had a FANTASTIC idea for a snippet, but I’m putting the ask below to not cause spoilers lol:)

Special thanks to @im-a-wonderling as well for the beta read, edits, suggestions, and expert medical knowledge to help make this way more realistic than my original draft! You’re amazing!!!

—————————————————

Hero shifted from side to side as she stood in line, fingers clutching a bottle of orange juice.

“Well you’re prepared.” Hero’s head shot up as the attendant waved her forward. “Normally people wait until after to go for the juice.”

She chuckled nervously. “That’s me... prepared.”

“ID?” She scrambled through her wallet, making sure she didn’t grab either of the two aliases she’d already used at different locations that morning.

She would have used the same ID, but last time she’d tried to explain that she healed super fast- a result of her powers- and could donate more, the resulting argument had lasted nearly an hour, with nurses questioning whether her “magic blood” could even be used at all (it was perfectly normal blood thank you very much), and they’d still only let her donate the normal amount.

She handed him the correct ID, and he shoved a clipboard full of paperwork at her. A phlebotomist led her to a reclining chair. Even though she’d filled out the information twice that morning, it still took approximately twelve years to finish the stack of forms. The phlebotomist returned, and began asking her an equally long list of questions. She only half paid attention to the stream of questions.

Have you received any blood transfusions?

No.

Have you traveled in the last 6 months?

No.

Are you free of HIV or any other blood diseases?

Yes.

Have you ever been pregnant?

Yes.

Wait! No!

The phlebotomist chuckled as she snapped on a pair of gloves. “Ok let’s see that arm.” Hero held out her mark-free arm. After the first donation that morning, the needle mark and resulting bruise had been gone in a matter of minutes. After the second, she’d had to wait over thirty minutes before the signs of her deception to fade. The phlebotomist wrapped a tourniquet above her elbow before consulting her paperwork.

“It says here you’d like to do a double donation?”

“Yes.”

“You have to be 150lbs in order to donate that much sweetie.” The older woman eyed Hero dubiously.

Her throat went dry. “I know. I am.”

“I’m just going to take one bag today; you’re looking a little pale, honey.”

“But the other phlebotomist let me—”She cut off and cleared her throat. “I mean, last time I donated. It was fine.”

The phlebotomist shook her head as she felt the inside of Hero’s arm for the vein.

Hero forced a cheery smile. “This is important. I’ll be fine.”

By tomorrow, she added silently. Or the day after that...

Last time she’d only been able to get in one regular and one double donation before she’d gotten called into help with a work emergency. She’d spent the rest of the day in bed, but had woken up fine the next morning. Of course, that was only half the amount of blood...

The woman narrowed her eyes before shaking her head.

“The shortage is the worst it’s been in years, but I’m only going to take one bag today.”

“But—”

“Unless you’d like to go stand on that scale over there?”

Hero blanched, then mutely shook her head.

The woman muttered something that sounded suspiciously like ‘I thought not,’ before raising her voice to a normal volume. “And make sure to take it easy and drink that orange juice you’ve got there.” She nodded at the bottle in Hero’s hand as she swabbed her arm with an alcohol wipe and picked up a needle.

“I will.”

————— 30 minutes (or so) later —————

Hero made it ten steps out of the building before she collapsed against the wall, head swimming. She peeled the tape and cotton ball off her arm. Blood immediately began to trickle down her forearm.

She struggled to unscrew the cap of her juice, hands shaking. Finally, she succeeded, the cap slipping through her fingers and bouncing against the sidewalk. She brought the bottle to her lips, but only managed a few sips before her stomach revolted. She clamped a hand over her mouth and closed her eyes, willing herself not to throw up.

She closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall, ignoring the curious stares from pedestrians on the crowded downtown street.

She needed to get home.

A quaking boom shook the ground, and Hero cracked open her eyes to see a plume of smoke a few blocks over.

Most likely the bank on main. Or the diamond store next door.

She took a step towards the plume of smoke, but the ground was still rocking, and she had a feeling it wasn’t from the explosion. She closed her eyes as panicked civilians began running to and fro.

Her phone rang out in a pealing tone, sending her a foot into the air, her orange juice falling to the ground with a sticky splash.

The emergency line.

Groaning, she accepted the call.

“Hero! Villain just set off a bomb on Main Street.”

“Diamonds or bank vault?”

“BOTH! You need to get over there now!”

Hero covered her eyes. She wanted to, she really did. If only the ground would stop moving.

“It’s my day off. Send Other Hero.” She cringed at her seemingly callous words, but she didn’t think the Hero Agency would exactly condone what she’d just done.

Even if she was just trying to save lives.

“Other Hero is undercover spying on Supervillain. Your phone shows you are six blocks away. That will take you 12 seconds to get your speedy butt over there.”

A second explosion rocked the ground.

Oh he didn’t. Hero growled, pushing off the wall and taking a hesitant step forward.

The ground was finally still. Much better. She pulled out the spare mask she always kept in her purse and fitted it across her eyes.

12 seconds, she scoffed.

————— 9 (and a half) seconds later————

Hero skidded to a halt in front of the shattered front windows of Pristine Diamonds.

The windows of the bank next door were in a similar condition. She rested a hand against the ash stained wall, gasping as the world spun.

She forced her head up, scanning the scene. A gaping hole had been blown in the wall connecting the two businesses, and smoke was still pouring out of both buildings. She darted into the diamond store, moving without her super speed through the black air. She made it to the back of the store, where the massive safe stood empty, the door hanging drunkenly off one hinge.

She cursed and made her way to the jagged hole. She was halfway across the bank lobby when a figure leapt from the smoke and she was thrown to the side.

She scrambled to her feet as Villain faded back into the smoke. His laughter echoed around her as she spun in desperate circles. The smoke thickened until it was nearly solid around her.

“You’re slow today, Hero.” The voice rang out behind her, and she whirled around, but there was nothing but smoke.

Her vision was truly swimming now. She swiped at her eyes. “And you’re extravagant. You can create smoke from nothing, you didn’t actually need to set off a bomb.”

“I was creating a passage between the businesses. They should thank me.” The voice was to her right, and she spun again. There was no point in super speed if she couldn’t see. Her head was starting to pound.

“And that outfit.” The whisper brushed against her neck, and she whirled around again, only to see the smoke curling in around the place where Villain had just stood.

She glanced down self-consciously at her pink shorts and baggy tie-dye T-shirt.

“You already ruined my day off. There’s no need to mock my clothes as well.” She huffed, taking determined strides in the direction she hoped was the door.

“Who said I was mocking?”

She sensed him behind her the instant before he attacked. She spun. He hit. She flew. Across the room. To the floor. Over chunks of rubble. And into a brick wall.

Her back cracked against the wall, knocking the air from her lungs.

Smoke swirled through the air as Villain emerged, the dark tendrils receding to lap at his heels.

He looked surprised; he’d never actually managed to land a blow that direct before.

Hero forced herself off the ground. It was time to retreat. She summoned her powers, but between her swimming head and the sharp pain in her leg, she made it only a few feet before sinking back to the ground with a quiet whimper of pain.

She forced her blurry gaze up to Villain, who was regarding her with a strange expression on his face.

“I thought you healed as fast as you can run.”

She blinked, and realized he wasn’t looking at her, but at her leg.

She looked down. Blood seeped from a long shallow gash on the outside of her calf, no doubt from a sharp piece of rubble.

Smaller cuts and bruises covered the rest of her body, and none of them were healing.

“That’s strange.” She wiped clumsily at the cut.

Villain’s eyes narrowed. “You seem oddly off your game, Hero. You haven’t lost that much blood.”

She mustered the energy to glare at Villain. “I did tell you this was my day off.”

“I wonder if it’s from the blood earlier.” She mused, floating on a hazy cloud.

The tendrils of smoke scattered as Villain knelt down beside her.

“What blood? You came to fight me when you were already injured?”

His voice sounded as though he was speaking through a tunnel.

“There’s a national blood shortage. Worst it’s been in years.”

“So?”

“So, I donated.”

Villain scoffed as he produced a cloth from somewhere and began wrapping it around her leg. “You have regenerative healing powers, a pint of blood wouldn’t have made you this weak.”

Hero shook her head and weakly held up five fingers.

Villain froze. “FIVE PINTS OF BLOOD!” He roared, smoke dancing angrily around them. “ARE YOU ABSOLUTELY INSANE!? YOU SHOULD BE DEAD RIGHT NOW!”

Her head throbbed with every word, and she flinched away.

“I heal fast.” It was barely a whisper, but his fiery eyes met hers.

“I don’t care how fast you heal. No one can survive losing half their blood.” At least now his rage was contained to a low snarl. He grabbed Hero’s hands and pulled her to her feet.

“Your hands are freezing! What were you thinking!? Why would you face me after donating that much blood?!? Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

He continued to seethe as he swept Hero into his arms and strode through the bank. He paused only to swing a bulging duffle bag onto one shoulder before he swept out through a second gaping hole into a back alley. A dark SUV was waiting in the shadows. He tossed the bag into the back and slid Hero into the passenger seat.

She curled against the warm leather.

“I was just trying to help.” She mumbled, her voice muffled as she spoke into the headrest.

“I know.” A hand ran down her hair. “Close your eyes. Sleep.”

She forced her eyes wider, remembering. “I can’t. I have a job to do.”

Villain shut her door and rounded the car to the driver’s side. Slipping into place, he started the engine.

“Not today.” He managed a small smile even as his eyes crinkled in concern.

“It’s your day off, remember?”

Original request from @im-a-wonderling:

“I started thinking about a story where the hero donates blood and then the villain does something that the hero has to go and face them. The villain notices the hero is off their game, but assumes they’re just tired or something. Then, the hero gets injured. The injury is really minor in terms of blood loss, but the hero is pale and sickly and can’t stand up and the villain gets all protective like “WHY would you come and FACE ME if you DONATED BLOOD today?!” And the hero mumbles “They’re having a blood shortage.” And the villain is ready to wring the hero’s neck for not taking care of themselves. So they just scoop the hero up in their arms and brings them back to their lair to feed them and let them sleep.”

Again thanks so much for the request!! I hope I did it justice:)

[the-goddess-of-mischief-writing]

New York High Rise {3}

Series summary; What does Steve think of what just happened? Well, not only will his next client get to know but also a dear friend of the mob boss.

Pairing: mob!Steve x mob!reader  

Rating: Mature

CHAPTER NO/ONESHOT: Chapter 3/5

Word; 6.2k

Warnings; canon type violence, death, anything you could expect from a mafia!au

Author; @the-goddess-of-mischief-writing

A/N: I just want to warn anyone, this chapter revolve around Steve and contains graphic scenes so if anyone feel like they may get triggered, I have now warned you. If you choose to read anyways it is YOUR choice.

SERIES MASTERLIST

Steve was fuming. He could practically feel the steam rising from the top of his head. This time, compared to earlier, it wasn't because of the feverish warmth inside the club. Nor the sunny season's air outside. It was because of the folder resting on the table.

The Canine boss could still hear the echoing slap the orderly stacked papers had done when landing on the table. Even your words reverberated in his head like an annoying tune he couldn't help but mutely sing in his mind.

This was not how he'd thought this meeting would go.

Steve had planned to get his will through, to expand his empire from Brooklyn to the most successful part of New York, Manhattan, your territory. But no. You'd decided to be as stubborn as a mule and as stuck up as the bureaucrats that he needed to handle in exclusive deals.

Now he understood why so many said your empire wasn't the usual kind, rather something new. You'd built your syndicate from the best, or worst in regard of how the Canine for the moment saw you, of two worlds.

"Bitch", you were long gone, so the growled curse aimed at you went unheard. However, the walls around Steve caught the profanity he uttered whilst snagging the folder from the table and pursued to head out of the room.

Only the guards stationed outside the corridor leading to the conference room was still in the club. Yet, the Canine boss paid them no mind as he stalked out of the private area, making them scramble to follow him. The rest of his party, even those previously undercover, must have either retreated for the night or waited outside. Concerning how Steve himself hadn't left yet, he suspected at least his most trusted team was waiting by the car.

Passing through the lobby, the mob boss frightened some of the staff lingering about. Not only thanks to the authority he always carried himself with but also his visible darkened features. However, Steve's attention didn't stray to the people following him with wary eyes. Instead, he looked straight forward, focusing on his guards where they lounged around the black Chrysler he'd arrived with a few hours earlier.

Seemingly, they had enough of an engaging conversation that they shared some laughs. But that changed the moment Steve stepped through the door a bouncer held open for him.

Usually, the Canine boss' hard exterior dissolved somewhat among his men, seeing how they'd become good comrades. Although now, when the dark-blonde man came out of the club looking like he could kill someone, their easy smiles and carefree stance immediately smartened up. Backs straightened and jaws clenched upon seeing the fury Steve not only emitted with a scowl but his whole body.

"How did it go?" One of the guards questioned, more out of courtesy than curiosity, concerning it was clear how it went. As suspected, he got nothing more than a glare from Steve, seeing how his anger hadn't flickered out the slightest, only heightened when feeling how his fingers clutched the folder in his hand even tighter. Your folder with your contract.

"Where's Barnes?" Some flinched by his bark of a question.

"He's still inside...", the rest of the answer fell on deaf ears as the blonde rounded the car, not caring too much where his head bodyguard was for the moment, only that he would hurry up to finish whatever he dealt with.

"As soon as he's back, we go", the driver, who had noticed the Canine boss and stepped out of the vehicle to hold open the door for him, didn't even get the chance to do what he intended. Steve all but tore open the backseat door and climbed into the car. Leaving the chauffeur to stand there and look at his boss in perplexity, as the Canine didn't more than touch the black leather seat before he slammed the door shut again.

That Steven had a temper everyone in his vicinity knew. But how he now acted reached not only a new level but contrasted heavily to how you'd appeared.

You'd left about ten minutes ago, looking indifferent to how everyone in Steven's patrol had seen you when first entering the designated conference room. That guard of yours had led you to the car parked mere ten feet from their own boss'. There, your chauffeur had greeted you with a smile and a few quiet words none besides you were meant to hear. Neither was your response, that likewise was accompanied with a smile, able to be distinguished.

As you stepped into your transport, none of the men trying to read your expressions noted anything more than a similar politeness Steve could show them once in their company. However, when comparing it to the state of their own boss once he exited, it was clear that the meeting didn't favour the Canine boss, but rather the Feline. And though none who had accompanied Steven knew what the two of you'd discussed concerning the meeting had been a closed-door discussion, they knew their boss hadn't brought anything with him earlier. So when spotting the portfolio that the mob boss had held in his hand, it only sealed the deal further.

That was why none of the guards nor the chauffeur intruded on the solitude Steve had sought inside the car, merely waiting for the right-hand man of the Canine boss to return so they could head to their next stop.

And it was good none did either, seeing how Steve mulled over everything that had happened with curses leaving him every five seconds. Additionally, anyone who would've opened the opposite backseat door would have got your folder smack in the forehead, seeing how the blonde man had thrown it as harshly and as far away from himself that he could, once in his own confinement.

He didn't need to hold the damned contract you'd offered him, even less open and study it, to know he would read it in your annoying voice. And that aggravated Steve even more.

It annoyed him that your voice echoed as a constant reminder in his mind. It annoyed him that you'd prepared a contract, which so obviously cried you hadn't even come here to listen to him in the first place. It annoyed him to such a fucking degree that you'd played him by a mere act of forced courtesy rather than a gentlemen move, to use your own words, that it felt like he could just tear the contract to shreds.

Still, he didn't.

The blonde man seethed, turning his head to look at the folder. 'If you don't sign it and have it delivered to me, I know you've declined my offer and this war will be ended in another way.' He knew you were serious about that, so perhaps that was why he hadn't left it behind in the conference room. Nonetheless, it had taken a great effort for Steve to push away every ounce of pride in his body to grab ahold of it. And when he finally held the stiff cartoon folder, it had almost felt like it burned him like some crucifix. No, it burned like a sign of defeat.

Joseph Rogers would never have done it, never admitted when he was defeated.

At the thought of his father, Steve's hand fisted where it rested on the armrest dividing the two seats in the back of the car. What would he say? He probably wouldn't have said anything, just walked out as you had done to him. A vibration deep in his chest made a low sound leave him at the realisation you actually played the game his father always had and Steve himself only thought he had.

Fittingly, or unfittingly in his own mind, the door connected to the other seat opened with a click to interrupt the abusive thoughts of his father.

Although pulled out of his mind, Steve didn't glance to see whoever plucked the folder occupying the seat beside him before they climbed in themselves. There was only one person that first and foremost would dare to be in his presence right now. On top of that, also knew he was the only one who didn't need to repeatedly ask for permission to join him.

Not even when he saw the person shift in his peripheral, from simply holding the folder to actually waving it slightly to catch his attention, clearly wanting to ask him a question, did Steve look towards them. Although, he did speak up.

"Not a word, Barnes", the Canine boss raised his fist, so it was levelled with his cheek as he said this. By now, his nails had dug into his palm and there was no question small crescent moons would be dented in his skin.

"Maybe I should've stayed, after all", the sentence was followed by a chuckle, the sound making Steve snap to watch the man sitting beside him.

"Didn't I say you should keep your mouth shut?" The blonde stared at the brunette. Who, unlike earlier, now had pulled his hair into a low bun in the nape of his neck. However, no matter the fury the Canine's cold blue eyes conveyed, Bucky Barnes saw no real threat.

"You often do, but you have so far not put a bullet in me", Bucky shrugged with an easy smile.

The mob boss remained silent as his head bodyguard leaned forwards far enough to knock on the wall beside the still open windshield that could separate the driver from those in the back seat.

"Close it up", Steve honestly thought the brunette would've given the chauffeur, who now had taken his place behind the wheel, directions of where to go. Gauging by his act, he must have done it before getting into the car. Hence, the driver did nothing but nod to signify he heard what the guard said before closing the visor, leaving whatever Steve knew Bucky wanted to talk to him about for only him to hear.

He felt the car rock to a gentle start, the road underneath the vehicle sending small vibrations throughout Steve. Tilting his head, he saw the scenery blur as he didn't concentrate on anything specific they drow by.

Despite the initial silence of the car ride, the blonde saw how the man beside him shifted, angling his body just slightly more his way. The minimal change of where Bucky attention laid told the mob boss he would initiate a conversation. And as on a cue, Bucky spoke. "So what happened? 'Cause clearly you scared half of your squad enough for them to want to take a week off".

He didn't redirect his gaze, fearing that his now fisted hand would connect with his friend's jaw if he didn't control himself. What happened? The question taunted in his mind, enough so that Steve clenched his jaw. Everything that shouldn't have happened.

"You have the folder", he gritted out, continuing to aimlessly stare out of the window, now concentrating on how the scenery changed from the narrow streets the nightclub had been located in to instead manifest the glittering sunset reflecting off the water in East River.

Beside him, he felt how Bucky shifted and shortly afterwards came the sounds of papers starting to be turned over. The head guard sat silent as he read the contract that not even the Canine had looked through.

The lack of verbal confirmation of Steve's evident loss in this meeting spurred the blonde, whether he wanted or not, to glance at the brunette.

Bucky's brows were furrowed. Consequently causing the grooves on his forehead, which always appeared when he pondered something, to become extremely visible. His features remained this way as his eyes scanned over the rows stitching together the contract. Then, for some reason, they changed.

From an expression showing the brunette tried to fathom the situation that had made Steve considerably harsher to anyone in his close vicinity, his face now fell and a smirk began to toy with his lips. On top of this, he let out a low whistle turning to the next page.

The smouldering anger in Steve's chest flared up to the same intensity it had burned with earlier. Back when he had sat in silence and glared at the folder inside the club. He ground his teeth together, feeling how they caught in each other's pointy edges.

"What?" He demanded to know what the man all of a sudden found so entertaining. Yet, the answer didn't come immediately. Instead, Bucky sat there with the same expression pinning his face while finishing the document in his grip.

Not until the brunette had closed the binder and waved it similarly to how he'd done when entering the car did his gaze meet Steve's. His eyes, also blue but slightly greyer in colour, was crinkled in the corners. The amusement, or whatever caused the mob boss nostrils to flare in agitation, was only further displayed by the shake of his head.

"She's good".

"What?" Bucky almost hadn't finished his nearly wordless reply before Steve barked his requirement of an explanation.

"Whether you want to admit it aloud or not, I know you think about it in that analysing brain of yours", the brunette begun, pushing the folder underneath the mob boss' arm on the armrest. Steve, who followed the act with disdain, shuffled in his seat directly afterwards so he wouldn't be touching the contract which you formerly had been carrying around.

Watching the blonde's action, Bucky only continued, now even less worried his words might be wrong and evoke further anger from the Canine. Of course, he might still get mad, though Bucky knew he at least was right. "She is good, Steve. If not shown by this contract, which I suggest you read, then at least how she's gotten to you".

The blonde man elected to ignore the last part of his bodyguard's sentence. Hence, only questioning the first part. "Why should I read it?"

Arrogance was a trait many shared once someone stepped on their pride, but never had Bucky witnessed such amounts of it exhibited by the Canine boss. His nose twitched in the corner as if the mere thought of opening the papers offended him. The mistrust in his voice showed he didn't believe what just was advised to him, nor that the words of you being competent could be true. All signs of denial, a damaged pride.

"Sometimes I wondered how you even could've come this far to rebuild your father's empire when you're so stubborn to see the truth at times", the comment made Steve cock his head.

"Is that a threat or a call for resignation, I hear?" Bucky simply rolled his eyes and turned to fully face the man, now giving him his undivided attention.

"I may have been here from the day you called me and asked me to join your plans, but believe me, working outside this world for some time, especially in the field I was in, you learn to see who is good at their job and not".

Although Bucky had known Steve ever since they were kids, essentially because their fathers had been partners when the Canine empire was worth more than its own power in gold, the two had fallen out of the regular touch they'd kept after Joseph had passed. Steve had remained close to his mother. While Bucky returned to have both his feet in the ordinary world.

His name had never been brought into the discussion of conviction or any kind of youth crimes, essentially thanks to his father never being proven guilty of the few charges raised against him. Another favour his old man thanked the former Canine boss for. For Bucky, it made things easy to find live his life as if he didn't know what went on underneath the city he walked in.

He went to school, took a degree in law. Which his father before passing as well, considered humorous. Though, Bucky didn't start working directly even if offered jobs. He'd been young and not really knowing which direction he would go. He had no mothers footsteps to follow, seeing how she'd passed before he even had a memory of her. His father shoes still felt too big to fill, so he decided to follow a path he felt natural.

Bucky joined the army. Not more than a few years and two trips. Nevertheless, it was easy pocket change concerning two factors. His father had urged him to take the same martial art classes as Steve's father had done to him. He'd also lived with one foot in the syndicate and the other outside during his whole childhood. The concept of order, planning and warfare wasn't anything alarmingly new to him.

Then he'd begun to explore more, starting to step into the low tier position as an intern at different firms. It was easy to get in, concerning his degree and quickly, he gained enough working experience to get a promotion. His former boss at the advocate company may have thought Bucky was a natural talent or a genius from school. But, it was all thanks to his upbringing he possed the requirements a higher position demanded.

It's mainly thanks to his years working within the judiciary before reconnecting with Steve and began working as his head guard Bucky knows you fall into the group of people who are good at what you do.

The blonde had sat silent this whole time, never breaking away from Bucky's stare. It made the brunette believe that his friend would settle whatever resent he had towards you personally and at least read through the arrangement you assembled for the greater of his empire. Apparently, he was wrong.

"But now you're not working with that anymore", Bucky actually let out a low scoff of annoyance.

"I'm working as a head personal guard for someone I'm swaying on keeping alive at the moment, I know. And I do this because we both know I'm better at the combat part than you, ever since we were kids", despite the jab, it was the mention of how the man, despite being roughly the same size as Steve, always had been slightly better at fighting then himself that made the blonde bite his inner cheek. "I also know that I'm still damn good at what used to be my former profession. Which, you actually also should know concerning you never shoo me out of the room when discussing with your official advisors of the plans to come", when he finally ended the point he wanted to prove, he cocked a brow at Steve, who now had furrowed his brows.

Bucky saw the ire still lingering in the blondes' eyes, making them go cold rather than warm. Nevertheless, he said nothing. The Canine boss simply gave the folder, which hadn't moved from its settlement no matter how much the two men gently had rocked with the turns of the car, one last glare before he altogether turned away as much as his seat let him.

The head bodyguard was close to letting the comment of how similar the mob boss, who'd made a name for himself lately of being indifferent to everything standing in his way, was to a rebellious child. Yet, in the end, he didn't, knowing the car ride would become even more atrocious than it already was set to be.

As suspected, the whole drive from the club to the luxurious hotel, where the Canine boss' next stop was, went by in complete silence. And, when they finally pulled up outside the building, the car had almost not stopped before Steve opened the door without a word. The brunette couldn't but let out a huff and follow the man out of the vehicle.

As Bucky tracked a few steps behind the blonde mob boss, he nodded to a few of the other bodyguards to follow as well. Whatever he might have remarked about considering to keep Steve alive was very much said as a dig at the moment to remind the man he might be written as his subordinate, but he was true to nature working side by side with him. After all, Steven was his friend and Bucky didn't desire to get his blood on his hands.

When the little party of Canines neared the entrance, both men stationed on each side of the doors opened them without further ado. Either they thought Steve looked like someone fitting to live here, or they could've been paid to do so. The brunette figured it was the latter concerning the overall safety measures, not only this hotel but the district in general upheld. Although, he didn't question it way too much as he now concentrated on the slightly denser crowd of people in the lobby.

Not only did they blend in quite well, concerning the people living at this hotel was flanked by at least two bodyguards each. Bucky also noticed how some of the former rigidity in Steve's shoulder lessened as he weaved through the lobby.

Though anyone else may find it excellent that the physical aspect of the blondes former irritation trickled off, it unsettled Bucky even further. Thus, having grown up with Steve, he knew that the silent seething anger was worse than the outgoing one. This, in other words, didn't bode particularly well.

However, even though the brunette had a raising suspicion, along with fear, that this visit the mob boss had decided to do after his meeting with you wouldn't have a good outcome, he had no chance to voice his worry. Essentially because the elevator they'd taken to reach the floor they were heading to now stopped.

Bucky was first to exit the elevator. Checking that the coast was clear before looking back to the Canine boss. He tried making the blonde meet his gaze, now seriously doubting if Steve was fit to meet the partner he'd had an escalating problem with the past weeks. Yet, the blue-eyed man kept his attention straight forward and didn't even spare his childhood friend a glance.

A thousand things were running through Steve's mind as he headed down the corridor, spotting the door his business partner was on the other side of.

He knew Bucky tried gaining his attention with the repetitive looks he threw his way. His most entrusted bodyguard and friend could read him like an open book. Thus knowing the silent facade that he'd put up was just that, a facade. Still, he continued to ignore him as he'd done ever since their conversation was over half an hour ago.

As the party stopped before the door, Steve decided to give the inclining nod to one of his other guards to step forwards and knock on the door.

Following three rapid knocks, a call of 'no cleaning' followed by a similar set of knockings later, footsteps could be heard near the door from the other side. A few seconds after, the door swung open, revealing a man currently trying to fasten his cufflinks.

"I said I didn't...". Even though the brunette's eyes had been cast down as he'd began to speak, the second they flickered up to watch, what the man must have assumed would be a hotel maid but rather was the Canine mob boss, he trailed off in his sentence.

"Good day Mr Jefferson", if the man's body hadn't already gone rigid, his shoulders bounced up even closer to his ears after Steve's greeting.

In a hurried attempt to smarten up, he completed his attempt of fastening the jewellery pin.

"Mr Rogers", he breathed out almost shakily while pulling a hand through his hair, some of the strands sticking to his scalp while others simply fell forwards once more. "Why do I owe the pleasure?"

Without answering, Steve stepped forwards, forcing the man to open the door wider.

As he walked into the pad, the blonde gazed around it uninterestingly. It was lavish. Probably like most rooms were in the hotel.

"I'm here to talk with you". Steve answered his associates question the second he heard the door closed. Taking the liberty, he sat down in the couch group occupying a vaster portion of the entry room's space. "Sit", with a wave of his hand, the Canine motioned to the sitting place at the other side of the dark oak table.

Jefferson, who glanced warily at the guards that had stationed themselves around the room -one by the window, another two directly behind Steve and the last lingering by the door out to the corridor- had no other choice than to follow the mob boss' directions.

Sitting down at the edge of the seat, he swallowed around the lump in his throat.

"How's business going?" The mob boss asked as he leaned against the couches backrest. One arm was slung over the ridge, fingers tapping against the material, while his other hand rested on his thigh.

"Bussines is going well".

"Good, always nice to hear companies you invest in are going strong", Steve hummed, noticing the minimal shift Jefferson did as he said this. "How's my money going?"

"Ah... t-that question is a little more complicated...".

Even though the brunette continued to ramble about all the different reasons his payments were late, or not even that, non-existing, the Canine boss didn't listen. He knew he was being screwed over by the man opposite him. He'd gotten the information weeks ago that the CEO of the company he's worked with since the beginning of the year wanted to change sides.

At first, it had been more of a rumour and he hadn't been able to dig up where Jefferson's company was heading. Then it became clear they would switch partners to one of the other godfather's around New York. However, even if Steve thought he didn't like how they tried doing so in the shadows while still upholding their deal, the worst thing was when he got to know who they shifted their alliance to. You.

Seeing how much unfavourable publicity you'd given his empire in the last few months was aggravating. However, listening to the man talking his ear off as if Steve hadn't already figured why exactly fifteen percentages of the profit capital was rolling into your account instead of his was the last drop.

Without even noticing it himself, Steve's hand that had rested upon his thigh raised and were tucked into his suit.

The metal handle he gripped wasn't cold anymore, not after having rested so close to his heart for over an hour. Nor did it get cooled down as he hastily pulled it out of its holster and aimed it at the man opposite him.

"I don't like rats, Landon", the use of the man's first name rather than surname would've made him quiet if the gun aimed his way already hadn't silenced him. "Pray you don't get reborn as one in your next life as well".

On the firearm, a silencer was mounted. So the characteristic bang sounded much more like a pop. Therefore, the noise of the gun was even less intimidating than the ricochet. However, neither of the telltale signs of a shot made Steve flinch, not even as he watched the bullet penetrate the space in-between his former associate's eyes, did he react.

As the mob boss stood, Jefferson's upper body slumped forward, hitting the table with a heavy thud and ugly clap as his head was the first thing that connected with it. No tears were trickling down his cheeks. Only a red streak that steadily created a near-invisible puddle on the mahogany table.

"Steve!" The silence and peace Steve found in watching the body was cut short by Bucky's voice.

The Canine glanced to his side, regarding how his head bodyguard rounded the couch and stood before him with one single step.

"What the fuck was that?" The brunette exclaimed, hand motioning to the dead body.

If any other person than Bucky would've done the same thing in this instance, they either would've ended up joining peaceful Mr Jefferson, or they wouldn't work within the Canine empire anymore. However, concerning that it now was his childhood friend staring at him in disbelief, Steve made sure none of the options was carried through.

"Problem-solving", Steve answered, about to take a step forwards but were stopped with a hand planting itself on his chest. He looked down before looking up with a cocked eyebrow.

"That ain't how we solve shit!"

"Not we, but I", Steve said, gripping Bucky's wrist, ripping it away from him. "You see, now both our problems are solved. He doesn't need to fear his cover being blown and I don't need to lose more money". That was all Steve said before taking a step around the brunette, whose eyes had narrowed considerably.

As most of his colleagues trailed after their boss, Bucky stayed back just a second longer, looking at the lifeless body giving a new sheen to the table whilst staining the carpet underneath. He'd known Steve had taken your conference badly and he also knew it hadn't been a good idea to have this appointment so shortly afterwards, especially when it was connected to you, but in such a different way. Still, he hadn't believed it would take this much of a turn.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

"Damn that fucking thing!" Steve roared, not thinking when he swept his hands over his desk. Everything from pencils, an empty coffee cup and other things crashed to the floor. However, it wasn’t solely that which now was littering the ground. The papers of your contract had flown out of the folder as well.

Staring down at the mess of shattered glass and paper from his standing position. The Canine boss felt a sneer enter his features. Ever since returning home late last night, he'd been locked inside his study. Primary because it was the place no one dared to disturb him in, but also because he didn't feel like arguing with Bucky.

He knew that after the stunt, as he knew his friend and bodyguard would label his approach to the Jefferson problem, the brunette wanted to speak with him. Yet, with the residue anger of not only a restless night, one Steve had powered through thanks to copious amounts of coffee. But also the subject now taunting him on the floor, a conversation with his right-hand man would lead nowhere.

He and Bucky didn't often get into fights, but Steve was convinced this was one of the matters that could force such a confrontation. He'd still not gathered his bearings enough to admit that he needed to yield. Because that was what he would need to do.

The mob boss switched from watching the scattered pieces of the contract to instead stare straight into the oaken surface of his desk as he now leant on it, knuckles turning white from how strongly he held the countertop. By now, he'd read through the four-page agreement. Something that was a step in the right, or in Steve's regard wrong, direction.

He didn't want to admit it. But as Bucky had mentioned yesterday, it was a top-certified contract. He couldn't find any loopholes. No grey-zones. No area that he could play you on.

Steve knew that you would be hard to crack, but he hadn't anticipated this.

Despite knowing that you and the Felina empire had overtaken his father's grip on New York, he had underestimated you. A woman running the empire you did was so uncommon he thought you would have some weak spot regarding how you had no one else to look up to. Nor did you have any previous family connections to the underworld. Which honestly made your success even more astonishing. 

Almost so much it was questionable if you had done it yourself.

Steve had assumed you hadn't. Someone else must be the brain behind the operation, simply using you as a puppet. However, it seemed he'd made a tremendous mistake by assuming just that. It wasn't anyone else running your empire. You were involved in every little part of the well-oiled machine.

Once more, the canine boss let out an irritated noise, sounding more like a growl than a harsh sigh in his own ears.

He pushed off from the countertop and, in one motion, had side-stepped his chair. Now, with the room behind him, Steve stared out of the windows lining the wall furthest from the entrance. His arms had crossed over his chest and remained there as he stared out at the bay not far away.

Ferries and other boats travelled the waters. Breaking the tension and creating small waves. If it wasn't for this, it almost would've looked like they travelled through the city. Regarding how not only New York's but also Brooklyn's dusk lightning reflected in the water.

When the Canine boss finally felt the sight before him lessened the tension in his shoulders, a knock came from the door.

If his features ever had lightened, the sound immediately beckoned a furrow to take its place. Even more so when the door opened without him having given the person on the other side permission.

He knew who it was, Bucky.

"What do you want?" Steve's voice was cold, harsh. 

"I want to speak with you", instantly, the mob boss noticed how his friend's voice didn't carry that joyous tone when he spoke to him as just that, friends. Bur rather the more levelled one, the professional one.

"I won't speak about Jefferson".

"Neither is that why I'm here", glancing over his shoulder upon hearing the rustle of paper, the Canine boss saw his guard pick up the pieces of the contract from the floor. He arranged them before putting them back into the folder. Contrary to how Steve would've caused the map to give away a whack when flinging it onto his desk. Bucky's hand followed through the whole movement. His fingers even resting upon the grey folder as it laid placid on the middle of the counter.

"I'm here to talk about the real problem", Steve turned to face the brunette. He didn't say anything. Still, Bucky knew that having gotten this much attention was a sign he either was about to be shot or given a limited amount to talk.

"I know this is hard for you, Steve... actually scratch that, it is hard for everyone who's supported you. But I'll be damned if you let everything we've worked for go to waste because you don't have it in you to lose a battle in favour of winning a later war"

All of a sudden, Bucky's face twisted as an unexpected crash echoed. His fist had smashed onto the table. Enough for the countertop to rattle.

“I love to give you the most personal advice I've ever had”, he started, not even holding back his pent up frustration. “Sign that fucking contract, pal". The canine boss' blue eyes narrowed as he met the stormy grey ones of the man before him.

"Get out", Bucky clenched his jaw and straightened himself.

"I'll be waiting for the call to come and pick it up", was the last thing the brunette said before swiftly turning on his heel and heading to the door.

Steve followed his oldest friend with his eyes until the door echoes shut behind him. Even after Bucky's footsteps were long gone, did the Canine boss stare forward. He did it simply because he didn't want to let his eyes flicker down to the contract, now turned to the last page where the paper waited for his signature.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

A day later, Steve still stared at the folder resting un-signed on his desk. It was out of pure spite he hadn't signed it. To keep your victory at bay.

Two days later and he felt how the clock on his wall ticked louder than before. How the voices in his head escalated from whispering to shouting at him. 'Sign that fucking contract, pal.'

Three days later and Steve felt how time was running out.

Even if he didn't want to admit it aloud. To not sign would be foolish. Sure, he had the resources to continue this war. Hence, the short extra time the meeting and his delay in signing the contract had abled him to recoup. But still, his empire was lacking a significant piece his father's syndicate had, time. He needed more time to grow but wasn't given that. So yes, he could continue this battle, but he could not win it.

Therefore the mob boss gripped the pen and pressed the ink dipped tip to the dotted line.

His signature was darker than usual. More colour bleeding onto the paper. The curves of the letters were not as smooth as regular either. Instead, straighter, pointier. Forced.

Steve didn't look at his name shining back at him once he raised the pen and put it back in its stand. Instead, Steve stood and dialled a number on his phone. One tone was all it took before the person on the other end picked up.

"Get it out of my sight, Barnes", was all he said before instantly hanging up. The call had lasted four seconds. Even so, Steve deleted it from the history of his 'latest' list.

Shoving the phone into his pockets, the blonde man stood from his chair and headed to the office doors. He didn't look back once at the folder left behind on his desk. Not even when he closed the doors behind him.

Series taglist: @njrronaldo7​ @fanfic-love-show​ @gabycamargo22​ @fckdeusername​

[creativeashproductions]

A Discovery of Ghosts // Luke Patterson

Summary: Avoiding the house, the eldest Molina sibling has been unaware of the new chapter in Julie’s life until one fateful night.

Warning: Swearing, angst, fluff and overprotective!reader

Words: 2.1k

Oh look! Another JATP fic. Weird how it appeared? Enjoy! I may have a part two for Lost Time. If you want it, let me know!

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Masterlist

The dirty bag dropped on the ground as you cracked your neck heading straight for the kitchen, for the last year you would find Julie in there. Before the loss of your mother Julie spent all her time in the studio whether it be doing homework or playing the piano. Now, with the grief still striking hot within the Molina family even a year later.

“Jules?” You called out pouring a large glass of water. Dropping the empty water bottle in the sink.

In all honesty you hadn’t been home longer than to grab a bite and sleep before heading straight back to the field. It was a way of keeping away from the sadness permeating the house and the absence of your mom. Along with avoiding the awkward conversations of selling the house when it was really only Julie that okay with it.

“Dad?” You called next grabbing the sticky note off the fridge

Girls,

Carlos had a last-minute practice. Money left in the jar for supper.

- Dad

You hummed heading for the stairs to take a shower taking a guess that Julie was either in her room or at Flynn’s place. Bag in hand along with the softball bat you started up the stairs leading to your room. The faint conversation from her room was odd to say the least, the door was closed, and it sounded like more than one person.

The door opened easily under your hand scaring Julie who was sitting on her bed with a disgruntled expression. Her look of terror and nerves was the most concerning. Dropping the bag, you gripped the softball bat tight as you pushed the door open the rest of the way.

“Jules?” You spoke scanning the room, “Why do you have three boys in your room?”

The room went stock still, each boy scanning your form and the bat in hand. Standing in uniform coated in red soil from the infield you were on the more intimidating side.

“You can see them?”

“Jules, are you okay?” You questioned ignoring her odd question with a look of concern, the bat dropped low.

The last year had been extremely more difficult on Julie than Carlos and you given that Julie was closer with Mom with music. Carlos and you hadn’t inherited the gift that Julie had been born with; yet she hadn’t found interest in sports.

“She looks like she could break us?”

You sent a confused look at the trio giving your attention back to your little sister, “I’m sorry I haven’t been around lately, but you shouldn’t be acting out like this.” Julie’s jaw dropped at your words, “I’m not acting out! Dad can’t see-“

“He can’t see this because it shouldn’t be happening Julie.” You sternly told the younger Molina, “Just let me shower and we’ll hang out. You can pick the movie and the snacks, but they have to go. If you want, we can even dig out the projector.”

You pointedly looked at the three boys before turning your heel to head out of her room to yours down the hall. The door was closed tight as it always was, it was your space so when the door was shut no one went in. Trust was important in your family and with Julie uncharacteristically sneaking boys in that could mean all trust on closed doors would break.

“They’re ghosts.” Julie called out from her open door. The concern for the girl growing at her words, “I know that sounds bad and makes it seem like I need to see Dr. Turner but I’m not lying.”

You sighed at the girl completely in disbelief at the length she would go to lie, “Maybe you should see Dr. Turner Jules. Seeing the doctor doesn’t make you weak.”

Julie was silent as you began to open your door before the blonde boy literally appeared out of thin air in front of you.

“Oh my god!” You screamed stumbling back from the tall male, “Oh God. Scratch that! WE both need Dr. Turner.”

Two more bursts of light happened as the other two boys appeared in front of you with sheepish expressions. You took in a deep breath finally taking into consideration of Julie’s admittance.

“I-“ You choked out, “Does this mean Benny was a ghost?”

Julie blushed at the mention of her childhood imaginary friend that she had had for a number of years. It was also a time that Tía Victoria was not welcome in your home when she went behind your parents to schedule an appointment with Dr. Turner.

“Benny? No, I’m Reggie.” The boy with slicked back black hair spoke shaking his head, “This is Alex and Luke.”

You mutely nodded clenching your fists together, “Good thing you’re a ghost or I would have punched you.”

Luke’s eyes widened at the threat, “Whoa.”

“Now move. I just got home from practice, I’m sweaty and dirty.” You announced side stepping the ghostly trio. You grimaced at the blush appearing on Reggie and Luke, “Dead but still think inappropriately.”

“We’re teenage ghosts.” Alex announced glancing at his best friends. His hands shoved deep in his pockets as you took in his words.

You glanced over your shoulder at your little sister, “Just stay out of Julie’s room. And don’t look under Carlos’ bed.”

With that you opened the bedroom door and slammed in in their dead faces. The room had drastically changed from the previous year mainly the pale pink was painted over by a new colour. It was no longer the little girl’s room your mother had decorated while preparing for your birth. It was a young woman’s room decorated to fit your personality.

Located on a wall was the rack of softball bats with a number of softballs settled in divots on the connected shelf. Your room also had the only other connected bathroom, being the oldest sibling had benefits.

“Ghosts.” You muttered jumping when a thud happened. Turning your heel, you saw that Alex had opened the door and tossed your ball bag in.

“You left this. Sorry for interrupting.” Alex apologized as he left the room again.

“Boundaries!” You called out heading into your bathroom. Alex smiled at how similar he thought you and Julie were to each other.

Half of you had anticipated Julie getting the living room ready instead of using the projector in the garage; it was a part of growing up. The first time you can remember seeing the projector was when you first got your period and it became a thing with your mom. For the length of time for you period you had movie nights in the garage and when Julie got her first period it came a ritual. It helped that as sisters your periods synched together.

“Julie.” You breathed finding that she had surprised you. She had waited in the living room for you, “You didn’t.”

Shyly the younger Molina girl nodded her head and led you to the studio outside where it decorated as if the past year hadn’t happened. The projected was brought out along with countless snacks, fuzzy blankets and soda. It was also barren of anyone else.

“I’m guessing from the amount of time you’re in here that the ghosts live here?” You deduced at the musical instruments placed in an area they wouldn’t get in the way.

“Yeah.” Julie nodded, “I’m not sure where they are.”

“Righ-“

“Reggie!” Alex hissed from the loft with an apologetic expression, “We’re finding something to do while you use the studio. We’re be gone in a moment.”

Reggie and Luke nodded in response while digging through the things that had collected up there since 1995. Your smile turned into a frown at the discontentment they each displayed.

“Jules. Do they have anywhere else to go?” You whispered feeling sad when Julie indicated that this was their only place, “Why don’t we change this?”

“Change what?”

“I know that this feels odd without Mom but maybe we can make this better. Alex, would you guys like to stay?”

The question was barely spoke before the three ghosts flashed down to the ground floor with beaming grins. Each boy nodded happily eyeing up places to sit, Luke having fallen on the couch beside you. Julie shuffled making more room on the couch draping a blanket over her lap.

“So, Julie…comedy, horror, or romance?” You questioned raising one eyebrow up waiting for the reply, “Or we can subject the boys to Twilight. Then again Alex might enjoy Mean Girls.”

After reading the short description of the film Mean Girls was vetoed out along with Horror but the issue came with the move genre. Luke wanted a film with music while Reggie was asking for romance and Alex was just wanting to watch something.

“Pitch Perfect.” Julie and you spoke together nodding frantically, it had a moderately nice balance between music and romance.

“Pitch Perfect.” Alex stated unamused at the title, “How is that romance?”

“You’ll find out.” You smirked at the male dead teenager who would more than likely adore watching films to catch up on everything he missed during his twenty-five years in a dark room.

Every once in a while, Luke would gaze longingly at the food gathered around the only two living people. It was sad given the love he had had with food when he was still alive, he would anything in sight to be honest.

“Oh my god! The Breakfast Club! That came out ten years ago! It’s popular now?” Reggie exclaimed twisting to look to Julie.

“Gentle reminder. It came out thirty-five years ago. It’s a classic John Hughes! Of course, it’s popular.” You chuckled shaking your head by leaning back. You felt the caress of Luke’s gaze on your cheek but when you glanced over, he was staring hard at the screen.

“You good?”

“Yeah.” Luke nodded with a smile painted on his lips getting further into the comedy he found somewhat interesting. It was the song choices that got to him.

The music from your Spotify playlist muted the outside world as you focused on the computer screen open to a document. Eyes shifting between the paper of notes on your desk to the half-written History essay due in a few days. The last week had been mostly adapting to being one of two people able to see the band.

“Y/N.” Luke spoke from the doorway he had poofed into. A frown pulling the corner of his lips down at the lack of attention. In an action of desperation he chucked a pencil on your back; you flinched turning to see him in your room.

“Luke?” You asked removing an earbud from your ear. The joys of 2020 came with Bluetooth earbuds.

“Oh. You were listening to music.” Luke nodded moving to grab the earbud from the desk curiously, “Where are the wires? So small! How do they work?”

Launching into a short history on the change of music technology Luke was enthralled by the passion you carried. What he didn’t know was you were researching the changes between 1995 and 2020 for his benefit. Going as far as to compile a playlist for all three boys to introduce them to modern music.

“This is insane.” Luke mumbled handing the earbud back, “Cell phones are what get me!”

“Hey, doesn’t matter if your seventeen or forty-something…you still don’t understand it.” You smirked flinching when Luke tossed a decorative pillow at you with practiced ease. The squeal fell from your lips as it happened.

“If I was forty-something this would be very wrong.” Luke cheekily retorted tapping a finger on his knee thinking back on everything that happened, “Had everything gone to plan you would have known me only by music.”

“I’m sorry you died but I’m really happy we met.” The nerves evident in your tone, something that you didn’t often show. Softball was important and possibly the only ticket to college if everything went right.

“Me too.” Luke smile at the girl across him eyes so soft he could see what Alex and Reggie were trying to tell him.

Luke had a crush. Luke had feelings for a girl living and unable to feel his touch.

“Hey! I made a playlist for you guys. Let me know when you want to hear them, and I’ll get it playing for you. I have to get back to my essay. Feel free to stay.”

Luke graciously took the earbud from your hand leaning back on the bed as you played the rock he had unfortunately missed out on. Both unaware that his fingers had grazed your hand during the handoff. Luke has a crush and he can touch her too.

Tag List (PLEASE SEND AN INBOX TO BE ADDED!)

@safehavenmuse​ @siennanoelle01​ @whiterose291​ @mell-bell​ @blackhood5sos​ @ficrecsideblog​ @ifilwtmfc​ @deadpoolgirl23​ @crappy-unicorn​ @sunsetcurve-h​

[wordstro]

[12:07 PM] + hero/villain au + "no more chances." + part 4

part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6 part 7 part 8 masterlist

2.3k, mentions of panic attacks, kind of a small in-between part mostly from san's pov, though the last part goes back to the plot/reader pov and is important, wooyoung is incredibly mean I'm very sorry to everyone this series is very angsty :(

-

choi san loved too deeply. he knew this. he knew everyone around him knew this. his love ran too deep, like all the other emotions he's ever felt, and they say there is a thin line between love and hate.

he did not want to hate you. he did not want to hate wooyoung, yeosang, seonghwa, jongho. he did not want to feel this way, as if all the love in his heart has hardened into this solid indestructible thing that lay so heavy in his chest, some nights he could not breathe from the weight of it.

he did not want to hate anyone, but as he stood before the crumbling remnants of what was once an apartment building, surrounded by the sounds of wailing people, children and adults alike, and sirens and the solemn shouts of paramedics, he could not help it.

you were wordless as you tore the building from it's foundations, ignoring san's pleads to stop. the child in his arms squirmed, sobbing silently, and he could do nothing but shout as he phased through crumbling walls to rescue anyone he could get his hands on.

he should have known you would join wooyoung, yeosang, seonghwa, and jongho eventually. no matter how many times you held san's hand and reminded him to breathe when things would get too much, no matter how many times you set up dinners and movie nights in the new groupchat to keep everyone distracted, no matter how many times he saw you crumble as well when you thought no one was looking, san should have known you'd join them.

san should have known you'd join wooyoung.

because san saw the way you used to look at him, before Everything. san understood it. san hated you for it. san hated that he understood you for it. the rage he felt when he saw wooyoung and yeosang burned at his eyes, at the weight in his chest. now, when no one was there to hold him through the weight in his chest, when yunho and hongjoong and mingi were too busy keeping themselves together, he imagined following your example. the guilt from those thoughts alone kept him from ever following through, focusing his attention on taking up the tasks you left behind, the group chats and the movie nights and the dinners.

"no, this isn't right. this can't be right." mingi's deep voice held a sorrow san would never forget, the first time they saw you after days of radio silence.

but that first time, they did not have time to mourn the new loss. you did not entertain their sorrows nor their questions. wooyoung spoke instead, snarky and mocking, his hand on your shoulder, your back, always hovering close by. you broke yunho's arm with an easy flick of your wrists, and you did not bat an eye as you did it, twisting his broken bones. yunho hadn't taken his gloves off, despite that. not once.

no remorse. it was so unlike you, but every encounter was the same and san figured this was just the real you all along.

now, he stands in the wake of your destruction and he reminds himself to breathe. he only moves when he notices yunho waving him down to the leveled street below.

"is someone stuck?" san asks, the moment he's within earshot, scanning their surroundings. "do they - what's wrong?"

alarms ring at the back of san's head. hongjoong crouches before them, head cradled in his hands, fingers curled into fists. yunho stares down at hongjoong. he looks sad, too sad. mingi crouches beside hongjoong, rubbing his back. he cranes his neck to look at san. his eyes are uncharacteristically solemn.

san steps closer, dreading the answer even as he asks, "what is it?"

hongjoong lifts his head, a slow ascent, and san expects grief and broken exhaustion. instead, he finds fury. he finds nails digging into the palms of his hand and a rage san has only seen from hongjoong a handful of times.

hongjoong uncurls his fists, and a familiar pouch dangles from his fingers, shaped like a strawberry. it would always dangle from your belt loop, your wallet, your bag straps, anything you could clip it to. he had a similar one stuffed away somewhere in his drawers, of an orange. mingi had given it to him.

hongjoong holds them out for san, wordless.

san drops to his knees, reaching for the note first.

his heart sinks in his chest at the word scrawled across the ripped paper. your handwriting.

help.

nonsensical instructions.

from the strawberry pouch slips a needle containing clear liquid. he blinks.

"it's the research they stole. from the biomedical department months ago." yunho tells him. "power enhancement serums. laced with one of the villain's powers, according to y/n."

hongjoong grits his teeth, "it explains why y/n can suddenly tear buildings off the ground."

san stares.

"they wouldn't - don't they know how dangerous this thing is?" mingi stares at the serum in apprehension, "the notes detailed the failed tests. one of them lost an arm from it. i doubt they have proper equipment to test thi-"

"whose powers did they lace this with?" san clutches the serum.

"y/n didn't say," mingi shakes his head.

san meets his gaze, before he glances from yunho's downcast eyes to hongjoong's angry gaze.

"or they couldn't say?" san asks, the weight in his chest growing so heavy, he'll sink into the earth and come out on the other side of the world because of it.

yunho closes his eyes, "yeosang wouldn't do that."

"do you really believe that? now?" san grits his teeth, turning on yunho. "after everything?"

"i have to." yunho breathes.

hongjoong just rubs his eyes, sighing loudly.

he says, "we'll use the words and hope they're telling the truth. it's...if it's true then we need to help them."

"what about..." mingi trails off, frowning. they haven't spoken their names aloud in a long long time.

"if this is true, there's no helping them. wooyoung, yeosang, seonghwa, jongho." hongjoong closes his eyes, "there's no bringing them back from something like this."

san just sinks to his knees and nods and nods, strawberry pouch rough against his palms. he's supposed to hate them, but why does he feel so much dread?

~.~.~.~.~

you wake up to the soothing feeling of fingers in your hair and a soreness in your muscles you do not want to dwell on. you've learned it's better to ignore your brain when it starts imagining all the atrocities you must have done while under the serum's control.

you open your eyes and wooyoung looks down at you, fingers still tangled in your hair, his touch warm. you're sprawled across the couch, you realize, a blanket thrown over your legs, your head nestled against his warm thigh.

"you're back," wooyoung says, voice soft. he's not smiling.

you nod, lifting your head, but your vision grows spotted. so you drop your head back against his thigh.

wooyoung's hand remains in your hair, though the soothing circles have stilled. you crane your neck to look at seonghwa, with his back against the couch near your feet, to jongho and yeosang who both sit side by side on the other couch, shoulders touching. the television is muted. neither of them are looking at it. only seonghwa. you cannot read their expressions.

you lift your head against, sitting up, "what's -"

wooyoung grips your hair and pulls you back down. you blink, startled, gripping his hand. you can't use your full strength, because of yeosang's instructions, but you can just enough to make it hurt. he winces, his jaw tightening, but he does not let go. neither do you. even when the heat radiating from his hand is searing. even when it's too close to your face.

wooyoung says, voice low, angry, full of betrayal, "where is the serum you stole?"

a vindictive part of you relishes in the emotions running through his face. he deserves to feel what he put you through a year ago.

you look to yeosang and jongho. both of them just stare at you, waiting. you look down, at seonghwa. he doesn't look at either of you. your heart races in your chest.

"can't you just have yeosang make me tell you?" you hiss.

"i'm giving you a chance to tell us the fucking truth," he lets go and you sit up, flinging yourself away from him. your hands burn and you can make out bruises against his skin, as well. wooyoung looks you dead in the eyes as he says, "i'm giving you a chance to come back from this. to help yourself."

"no," you spit.

you think he'll tell yeosang to spill everything. you think, for a moment, that wooyoung will burn you alive where you sit. the rage in his eyes, the cold fury, is everything you felt when he left you in the rubble over a year ago. you think he'll finally kill you.

but wooyoung sits at the edge of the couch and he speaks, with a calmness that makes you scoot back further until your elbow grazes the back of seonghwa's head.

he says, "did i ever tell you the things you do when you're under the serum's control?"

"your control." you correct, because he doesn't get to separate himself from his actions. he doesn't deserve that.

wooyoung laughs. it is not amused. "the world doesn't think that. they think you did this all on your own."

"we both know -"

"you broke yunho's arm. he never even took off his gloves, you know that? but you took his arm in yours and you shattered his bones into so many pieces. you would have done the other arm if yeosang hadn't called you back."

you blink, your heart sinking to your chest, fingers curling into fists. your eyes flicker to yeosang. he nods, closing his eyes as he does so.

wooyoung doesn't stop there.

"you know that apartment building you wanted us all to move in to a few years ago? you ripped it from the ground. fourteen stories. 106 dead. we never even asked you to do that. you just did it."

"stop." you cover your ears.

"yeosang, tell them to put their hands in their lap."

yeosang does as wooyoung says.

"you beat the ever-living shit out of mingi and hongjoong so many times already. to the brink of death." wooyoung tilts his head, "in fact, i think a few of the heroes are dead because of you. their vigils were on the news. i can tell you exactly how you killed them. what were their names again?"

he makes a show of thinking, tapping his chin, dark eyes watching you shake your head.

you struggle with yeosang's compulsion, but your hands lay limp in your lap. you hate it when you plead, hate the tears slipping down your cheeks and how weak you feel. your powers had guaranteed that at least. that you would always be stronger. "wooyoung, plea -"

"lee taeyong. skull crushed by your bare hands. kang seulgi. broken in half, bones shattered and nearly unrecognizable. seo -"

"wooyoung, enough."

seonghwa's voice is soft, but there's a finality to it that wooyoung obeys.

your sobs curl at your chest, and the pain of it is excruciating. your hands still remain limp in your lap, so you can't even wipe your tears or save your dignity.

wooyoung says, "you have nowhere to go back to, y/n. the whole world sees you as a killer. this is your life now, but it can change. if you don't tell us what you did with the serum, it will change." he reaches out and places a warm hand over your limp ones, leaning in to meet your gaze, "i'm giving you one last chance to fix it, y/n. your only chance."

"i..." you take a deep breath, your brain conjuring images of everything he's said you'd done. yunho. civilians. mingi and hongjoong. san. 106 civilians. lee taeyong and kang seulgi. there were more. he had a list.

wooyoung wasn't lying about any of it. wooyoung is many things, but when he is angry, he tells the bitter truth especially when it hurts.

"under the mattress," you hiccup, "i was going to give it to someone, but...but i didn't know who or how so i just kept it."

jongho goes to your room and you wince at the slamming. he returns moments later with the serum in his hands.

wooyoung threads his fingers through yours and he gently brushes at your wet cheeks. he speaks sweetly, "shhh, it's okay. you're okay."

you stare at the serum in jongho's hands, your heart pumping in your chest. yeosang's fingers curl around the serum as he takes it from jongho.

as wooyoung examines your reddened, still limp hands with his bruised ones, he taps your chin, his gentle voice a sharp contrast to his words, "no more chances."

it's not just a reminder. it's a warning. your eyes flit to the serum in yeosang's hands.

[uvobreakmylegs]

Red Thread of Fate

I wrote this when I was in a mood but hopefully Paku isn’t too ooc

Soulmate AU

“The red thread is what connects you to your soulmate, my dear. When the time is right, the rest of it will appear and lead you to them.”

Those were the words your mother had said to you one morning several years ago, after you had woken up to discover a red string wrapped around your left pinky that, no matter how hard you tried, wouldn't come off. When you went to your father about it, he didn't know what you were talking about, unable to see it. Your mother had then pulled you aside and explained it. How everyone was meant to be with someone, but not everybody had the ability to see those connections like the two of you could.

“I waited until our connection revealed itself, and at the end of the thread I found your father,” she had said, “it may take a long time, perhaps even years, but one day, you will find your soulmate at the end of that thread, and I am certain that you will find happiness with them.”

The words she had spoken always stayed with you. Even after moving out of your parent's home and finding a job on the outskirts of a nearby city, every time your eyes drifted to the thread around your pinky, that conversation and musings about your soulmate repeated themselves in your head.

Not only could you see your own thread, but you were able to see the threads that connected others. Just as your mother had said, a red thread connected her to your father. Several of your old friends from high school also had those threads connecting them to their spouses, and part of you wanted to ask them if they could see the threads and knew that they were meant for each other. But you remembered the concerned reaction your father had when you had tried to show him, and so you kept your mouth shut.

Through the years, you weren't surprised to see that couples whose threads weren't attached generally ended up splitting apart. Couples that aren't made for each other never stay together, your mother whispered to you as the two of you watched the couple next door as they argued in their front yard. Their threads weren't connected, and months later, they had divorced. You had been able to make a few calls on some of your friends relationships that way, whenever problems arose with their partners you would subtly push them to end things, and they always came out happier when they did.

But as you saw those around you connecting and finding their own soulmates, your thread remained as a small circle around your finger.

That was the most likely reason why the self-doubt within you had formed. Seeing everyone else find their soulmates without even trying, while you knew what it was that brought people together but were left alone, the thread that tied you to your soulmate staying invisible.

Your mother had forbade you from dating after she found out you could see the thread, citing that she didn't want you wasting your time on anyone who wasn't your soulmate. The remainder of your high school years had left you feeling empty in terms of romance. Even after moving out, you kept out of the dating scene, your mother's instruction ingrained into you as you waited for the rest of the thread to appear. You were pinning all of your hopes onto your unknown soulmate, you realized, and then you had a terrible thought:

What if your soulmate didn't like you?

What if they hated you?

What if when you did finally meet them, they just didn't want to be in a relationship with you?

Your mother had insisted that you would find happiness with them, but she could be wrong. She was wrong a lot actually, and there was now the possibility in your mind that maybe you had wasted too much of your life pinning your hopes on your soulmate and in the end would only be left with disappointment. But by now you weren't sure of what else to do, as you were still unwilling to reach out to see if anyone else was aware of the soulmate connection.

So for now, you maintained your course, trying to keep your outlook positive while those fears simmered in the back of your mind.

Life had a certain monotonous quality to it. You went to work, you did your studies, you hung out with friends in the time that was left, over and over again. And in the quiet moments, you would look at the thread, waiting to see if there was any change.

So when something different finally did happen, you were caught completely off-guard.

It was a late-afternoon on a weekday, with very few customers coming in to the store where you worked. You had been in the process of pretending to work to avoid getting a talking to from your manager about being lazy, wiping down a surface that didn't need it as you waited for the time to go by, and you'd glanced down at your hand.

There was a thread coming off of the one on your pinky, trailing along the the tiled floor and out onto the sidewalk outside.

It was finally happening. You could finally see it, finally use that connecting thread to find your soulmate.

The universe must have also been waiting for this moment, because shortly after your manager approached you and asked if you wanted to leave work early. You jumped at the chance with such enthusiasm that it surprised him.

“Everything all right?” he asked.

“Something came up,” you answered, already heading to the back.

Stuffing your work uniform into your bag, you began to follow the thread once you made it outside. The trail was straightforward, but it appeared as though it went on for several blocks. After a few minutes, it took a turn to the left, the end still nowhere in sight.

With a small sigh, you made your way forward. You'd waited this long, after all.

The thread you followed vanished as you made your way along, flowing up and disappearing into the thread around your finger. As you made your way through the streets, you tuned out the world around you which left you alone with your thoughts, and those ugly questions popped up again. What would you do if they didn't like you? How do you even approach them? Since it was obvious your ability to see the soulmate connection was rare, it seemed unlikely to you that they would be able to tell that it existed at all. And you couldn't just go up to them and tell them that the two of you were soulmates. Your palms began to sweat as you wondered if doing this was a bad idea; maybe you weren't actually meant to see this thread and should just let fate handle everything. But after all of this time, you at least wanted to see who it was you were meant to be with.

The thread trail began to grow taught the further you went – that meant you were getting close, right?

You were in a nicer area of the city now, one in which you felt vastly out of place. And based off some of the glances you caught people giving you, you must have looked out of place as well.

Another turn at a corner, and you saw the trail lead up the steps of a.... Museum?

There was a large number of people gathered at the front, all appearing to be waiting to go inside. The banners on the building indicated that something new was being displayed, but that mattered very little to you as you saw the thread disappear into the crowd. You kept to the side of the stairs, dipping past the people who were situated on the steps as you looked for who the thread connected to. It would be a problem if your soulmate was already inside the museum, as you doubted you would be able to get inside with how you were dressed. Would you have to wait for them to come back outside? You doubted museum security would let you do that if they were in there for hours.

Those worries turned out to not matter, as you stepped behind a group on the landing outside the entrance and saw the end of the thread, and the woman it was attached to.

Tall and slender in a suit top and skirt with short blonde hair and an aquiline nose, she was speaking to a man with slicked back hair and a long black coat. You were too far away to hear what they were saying, but she had a serious expression on her face, and you noticed she appeared to be scanning the crowd around her. Was this person really your soulmate? You checked again, looking at the thread that hung from your pinky.

She was. No question about it.

Already you felt that she was far more intimidating than you could have anticipated, and you wracked your brain trying to figure out how you could approach someone like her.

You noticed that she glanced down at her hand, and then she did a double-take. Was she.... Was she looking at the thread? Her eyes were clearly trailing along the thread's path.

She could see it?

Then her eyes met yours, and she looked at you with a muted surprise. Your expression was likely similar – you hadn't counted on your soulmate on being able to see the thread, and at the moment you could do little more than stare at her.

The man she had been talking to was looking at you now as well, having noticed her reaction. They were speaking again, but they kept their eyes on you. It only caused you more confusion. What were they saying? Who was he? Who was he to her? Could he also see the thread? Was it possible that you had run into two people in one day who could do that?

You stayed still, watching, unsure of what to do. Then the man said something, to which your soulmate nodded. He then turned and walked over to the museum doors, but not before looking at you with a small smile.

Your attention was quickly brought back to your soulmate as she approached you.

Oh God this was really happening.

“Umm.... Hello?”

Your first words to her sounded pathetic. That was what you thought the instant they fell out of your mouth. But if she felt the same way she didn't show it.

“Hello,” she responded. A warm smile graced her lips.

You opened your mouth, trying to say something – anything – when you were bumped from behind. You only stumbled forward a few steps before she steadied you, her hands on your shoulders. The woman who had bumped into you didn't even acknowledge you, content to continue on her way.

“We should find someplace else to talk,” you soulmate said, and you nodded in agreement. With an arm wrapped around your shoulder, she led you through the crowd of people and back down the steps. She kept that arm around you until you were a good distance away from the museum, pulling away once the two of you had found a secluded spot next to a building.

“So......”

Was all you were able to say once the two of you had stopped. After all those years of wondering about this moment, the things you would say to your soulmate, and you could barely get a word out.

“So?” she repeated, her head tilting slightly.

“You can see it?” you asked.

That was a stupid question, you told yourself. Of course she could see it. That was why she came up to you.

“Yeah, I can,” she nodded, “but I'm more surprised that you're able to. How long have you been able to do that?”

“Since years ago. My mother is also able to see the threads, so I thought it was just something the two of us could do.”

“A lot more people have that ability than you may think.”

“Really? How long have you-”

Your words were interrupted by the growl of your stomach.

You wanted nothing more than for the ground to open up beneath you and swallow you whole.

“I'm sorry,” you mumbled, your cheeks growing red.

“Don't worry about it,” she said, chuckling, “I guess food is in order; do you know anything around here that's good?”

You shook your head.

“I'm not familiar with this area, so....”

“That's fine. We can just walk until we find something. My treat.”

She motioned with her head to follow, and the two of you made your way down the sidewalk once again. You should have been on the lookout for some sort of restaurant where the two of you could properly sit and have a conversation, but your gaze kept going back to her, a million questions running through your head.

“Do you not live around here, then?” you asked.

“No. I'm only in town for some business.”

“Business? Wait, that wasn't why you were at that museum, was it?”

“It was.”

She didn't sound angry or even a little agitated, but guilt from pulling her away from a possible job hit you.

“I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt you if you were doing something important.”

“It's not a problem,” she said, “you take precedence.”

Despite her words, you were still worried.

“Won't you get in trouble for leaving?”

She chuckled again.

“No. My boss was very understanding.”

Boss? You wondered if it was the man she had been speaking to, given that he was the only one who you had seen her with. Questions on who he was and what exactly she did for a living were about to spill out of your mouth before she interrupted you.

“What about you? You didn't skip work just to hunt me down, did you?”

“Ah, no. It was slow, so I was able to leave early.”

“And where do you work?”

“A small store on the other side of the city. It doesn't pay all that well, but it's about as good as I can get.”

“I see.”

The two of you continued to walk, with her being the only one still looking for a place to eat. Maybe you were overreacting, but you swore you could hear a bit of disdain in her voice in her last response. The self-doubt that had been in the back of your mind for years began to show its head, and you were caught up once more in the worry that your soulmate didn't like you. That you weren't good enough for her. Reflecting on the actions that had lead to this point, you wondered if you had gone with the most selfish route. You had literally tracked her down and had forced her to acknowledge you, even if the second part had been unintentional. And now, even though the two of you knew nothing about each other, she had put business on hold and was even taking you out for a meal. Were you just causing her problems?

“What's wrong?”

Her voice snapped you out of your thoughts, and you realized that you had stopped walking. She stood before you, her head tilted in concern.

“Are you not feeling well?” she asked.

“No, it's just..... I'm sorry,” you said.

She blinked in surprise.

“For what?”

“I just.... I'm.... Worried that this is a disappointment for you,” you mumbled.

“You're clearly a lot better off than I am, and I don't have much to offer you, in terms of..... Well, anything really,” you continued, “I don't want to just barge into your life and disrupt it. So, if you don't want anything to do with me, I completely under-”

A finger to your lips stopped your rambling, and you looked back up at her.

“You apologize too much,” she said after a beat, taking her finger away. The urge to give her another apology rose up, but you bit your lip as you realized you would be in that awkward position where you apologized for apologizing.

She seemed to sense your turmoil, as she brought her hand back to cup your cheek, and you felt the urge to lean into it.

“I'm not disappointed in the slightest,” she said, “I'm very glad that you came to find me; I can't wait to learn more about you.”

The blush from earlier returned to your face and you found it hard to keep eye contact with her, your eyes turning to the concrete sidewalk as she smiled at you. You were at a loss for words once again, but she didn't push you to respond. She wrapped her arm around your shoulder and pulled you forward.

“I think there's a place we can eat at up ahead. Let's go check it out, okay?”

You nodded in response, keeping up with her pace as she kept her arm around you.

Another thought occurred to you.

“What's your name?” you asked.

“Ah. We somehow didn't get to that, did we?” she laughed.

“I'm Pakunoda. And you?”

The way she looked at you was nothing other than loving, and you felt your heart flutter at the way she repeated your name after you told her. All of the doubts that had grown over the years were quashed in an instant. Pakunoda wanted to be with you. She was happy the two of you had met. Everything was going to be fine.

That had been too close for comfort, Pakunoda thought to herself. Had she not happened to be at the museum's entrance speaking to Chrollo, she could have missed you entirely, and that left open a slight chance that you could have gotten into the museum and then be slaughtered like the rest of the guests. It was doubtful that the rest of the troupe would have been paying attention to such a thing, and would have left her with her nen abilities gone.

She had noticed that the thread appeared shortly after she and the rest of the troupe had arrived at the museum's back entrance for their current heist, but the thread had been completely slack and leading in the opposite direction, and she just assumed that she could leave it until afterwards and then track you down. But never had she counted on you being able to see it, much less you going out in search of her. Especially when you clearly didn't have much in terms of a nen ability. You didn't even know that you were using gyo to see the thread between the two of you.

Paku would explain it to you eventually and help you develop your skills, though it she didn't plan on ever having you participate in any heists. Like the other soulmates for the troupe, if you had nen then you needed to be trained enough so you could defend yourself.

The two of you were sitting in a booth at the very back of a small restaurant, you telling stories about your life that you clearly felt were too mundane while she listened and smiled at you, silently encouraging you to open up to her. Although in truth she was only half-listening. While she had played it off that this situation hadn't affected her in the slightest, her own emotions were running wild over your meeting, though for reasons much different than yours. For the troupe, finding one's soulmate was something that was necessary to ensure that one's nen couldn't be lost due to a soulmate's untimely death. At worst, a soulmate was a burden; something that needed to be protected just so one could ensure their abilities wouldn't just vanish one day. And while Pakunoda didn't view the concept as harshly as some of the others, she did understand the sentiment.

But when she had seen the way you had been pushed forward, Paku's first thought was that she should blast the head off of the woman who had bumped into you.

A brief moment of irrationality that she had quickly managed to quell, instead just taking you away from that area. She wasn't used to feeling such rage over such a small action, especially one over someone who was still a stranger to her. Paku would be the first to admit that she didn't open up easily to others, and yet she had been ready to kill for you within seconds of meeting you. There had clearly been more to the soulmate bond than she had initially thought.

As you continued to talk, she glanced up at a clock on the wall – their operation at the museum would have started by now, the patrons dead or in the process of dying. Pakunoda's eyes narrowed at the thought of the woman who had pushed you being killed in various ways, depending on who she came across.

“Is everything alright?”

Your voice brought her back, and she realized she had been smiling at the thought. She quickly wiped it away, shaking her head and giving you a more genuine smile.

“I'm fine,” she said.

“You bring out a side of me I didn't even know I had.”

You blushed, taking a swig out of your drink as you avoided her gaze while the darker implications of her words flew over your head. The warm feelings of affection began to fill Pakunoda again as she watched your reactions. So uncertain but so clearly head over heels for her.

She decided then that she would hold off on letting you know about the troupe. At least for as long as she was able to. From what you had said about your job, you didn't seem to like it, so it would be easy enough to get you to quit if she began to provide for you. Then it would just be a matter of moving you somewhere else, somewhere more out of the way where you would be off the radar. Pakunoda knew she would need to tell you the truth eventually. There was no lie she would be able to come up with to explain away her “job”. But by that point, she hoped that you would love her enough to overlook it.

The thread that connected you to her spanned across the table. She reached over to cover your hand with her own, and you smiled, the sight of you doing so warming her heart.

Everything was going to be fine.

[anniebrainrots]

Visit

In which you visit Dream to get the revival book. 

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

warnings: sadistic! reader, slight mention of torture

wc: 2.5k 

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

“And what is your relationship with the prisoner?” 

The question hung heavily in the air, and the burning stare the warden gave you would have given you goosebumps hadn’t you known him before. 

You gave him a smirk, sharp canines glinting dangerously in the low light of the prison. “Oh, come on, Sammy. You know who I am, already, why are we even bothering with the formalities, hm? Just let me see him.” 

“Answer the question properly, please.” 

You pouted, even if he was the guard of a maximum security prison and was known as some unyielding and heartless warden, Sam was still as polite as ever.

“Nice to see you haven’t changed much, Sam.” You put a finger to your chin and pretended to think, “hmm, I guess he was a friend? An ally?”

The man squinted at you before scribbling something in a book. “And lastly, why are you visiting the prisoner today?”

You chuckled inwardly at the extensive procedures, but deep down your brain was frustrated and impatient; but still, you just smiled and tried to get everything over with.

“Just wanna visit and talk to him, ‘s all.”

Sam hummed, closing the book. “Very well. Follow me.” He led you down a hallway that opened up to your left, making you whistle in amazement.

“Heard from Sap that you built this prison by Dream’s request, gotta hand it to ‘ya buddy, you did a great job. Kinda ironic that Dream’s gonna spend the rest of his life rotting here, though.” You walked with a confident strut, arms raised and folded behind your head as you continued down the dark hallway of blackstone.

He deliberately ignored your last statement, “thank you for the compliment.”

You reached a room with four doors and he took you to the one farthest on the left. There was an ender chest to the farthest wall and a chest labeled ‘Locker 1”. “Dispense all your items in the chest and wait for the key to come out. Put that key in your ender chest and we can head to the cells.”

You followed all of his instructions mutely, the looming energy of the prison finally settling into your bones. The next few steps involved getting splashed with various potions and walking through various hallways of lava, water, and blackstone. You couldn’t wait to see him, after all you heard from the outside, you wanted to hear straight from the source.

Soon enough, you reached a room in which one wall was fully encased in lava. He tells you that Dream would be standing on the other side of the wall and you felt your fingers twitch in excitement.

“You sure about this?”

You rolled your eyes at that. Of course that would be the first thing he would ask you as himself rather than the warden. “Yes I’m sure, Sammy. Why, you think this is a bad idea?”

“No, I just—alright, just face the lava wall, it should come down soon.”

The man sighed, looking at you with defeat in his eyes before he turned to the wall behind him and pulled a lever.

You hummed but didn’t respond, following his instructions quietly. It took a while for it to fully settle, so you opted to hum a song.

“What are you planning on doing?”

You were barely halfway through the L’manburg anthem before cutting yourself short. You answer without looking back.

“What do you mean? I told you I was just paying an old friend a visit, right?” You turn your head slightly to the side, looking at him from the corner of your eyes behind you.

He crossed his arms, leaning against the wall behind him. Since you entered the prison, this was the most casual he looked. “I mean it, Red. Why did you come back?”

You smirked at the nickname. ‘The Red Queen’, you were known as. Rumors had spread about your ‘violent behaviors’ when you were traveling with Dream, thus earning you the nickname which your old friends couldn’t help but tease you with. You guessed that the name stuck with some people more than others.

You gave him a slight shrug, turning back to the lava. “Maybe I just wanted to see it for myself, the bastard finally rotting in a place worse than hell.”

He didn’t answer, and you didn’t care enough to listen if he did because the lava finally fell to a point where you could see a tuft of dirty blond hair in the distance. When the burning liquid finally settled at the bottom, you could see him standing there from behind the netherite blocks.

Sam told you to stand on the platform and you listened, fists clenching as you slowly approached the prison cell. The man inside the obsidian cell looks at you with cold eyes, similar to what you remember from outside the prison, though a lot more empty as opposed to being filled with power-hungry rage. You took a first step on the obsidian before the platform behind you retracts back and the lava falls back from behind you.

The netherite barrier sunk into the ground, letting you walk around the tiny cell freely. You hummed at the sparse decorations: a chest, a desk, and a clock with a tiny note on it that said ‘Do not burn’.

Your green-eyed friend judged you from his sitting position on the floor, following your movements with squinted eyes. “What are you doing here?”

You stopped your aimless wandering, turning to him with a sigh. “Why does everyone keep asking me that? Is it weird for an old friend to come visit every once in a while? I was here when you founded the SMP.”

He gave you an unimpressed look, “you betrayed me.”

You shrugged at that, though something in you became slightly ticked off at the accusation. “Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t. Let’s agree to disagree.”

“Why are you here?” He repeated.

You sighed in mock sadness. “You’re just like Sammy out there. Not even a ‘hello’? Or a ‘long time no see’? Or a—you know, you used to call me by a nickname. What was it?” You paced up and down the small room. Of course, you were only messing with him, you couldn’t resist antagonizing him, after all.

“Flower. Why are you here?”

“Ah, yes. Flower! You used to call me that all the time,” you smile down at him, aura turning sinister and deadly. You pulled out the chair from his desk before settling it against the wall on the opposite side of the man. His mask was on the table next to a closed book, one of the few things he got to keep in his cell besides his precious clock that, from the looks of it, was not very precious to him at all.

“I’ll cut to the chase, Dream. I heard you have a little trick up your sleeve. A revival book. I’m gonna kindly ask that you hand it over to me. Take it as a gift for your dear ol’ pal.” Despite the playful nature of your words, Dream felt a chill run up his spine.

Still, not one to back down, he smirked back at you with equal heat. “I burned the book, Red. There’s no physical remnants of it in this world.”

You hummed, swinging your legs back and forth. You smiled at him with a tilt to your head, “then teach me how to do it.”

Dream rolled his eyes and scoffed, leaning back against the wall. “No.” There was nothing that he could gain from it.

“Not even if I help you break out of here?”

The way Dream paused made you produce a smile he couldn’t see. The man contemplated your words, mulling them over, weighing the consequences. He wasn’t going to lie, he has thought about calling you and asking for your help to break out of the prison. His plans to escape had to involve people from the outside, and he thought you were a powerful enough ally to do just the job. But, he thought, that the knowledge of the revival book was too powerful, too expensive to give for the exchange for his freedom that wouldn’t even be complete. Even if he did escape, there would be people constantly hunting him down until eventually, he would run out of tricks.

He sighed in defeat at his own thinking, sure that you thought of these scenarios as well, judging from the way you turned to him with a smug look.  

“No,” he finally said. He also had that favor to cash in with Technoblade; and as far as he knew, no matter how strong you were, that Technoblade would be even stronger. “Besides, Quackity’s been asking for the same thing, and he’s torturing me to have it. If I haven’t even given it to him, what makes you think I’ll give it to you?”

You pouted, getting off the chair and walking over to the lava. You put your palm as close to the lava as you could bear, intense heat warming your hands instantly as you ponder over his words.

Dream was sure he finally got you. Even if you were to torture him and hurt him, he has gone through enough to block out the pain. You could never do worse than Quackity.

“I heard Sapnap visited you a while ago.” That perked the man upright from his slouching position, narrowing his eyes at you with a glare that you chose to ignore. “I saw him on my way to the prison. He said he stops by the prison from time to time, just to make sure you haven’t escaped. How does that feel, Dream? When one of your closest friends wants you to stay rotting in this place?”

Dream’s fists clenched in anger, heat simpering through his bones as you continued to talk like nothing was the matter. He would’ve loved to throw you into the lava, but the fight in him dwindled as he was worn down by the prison, and he has long since accepted his fate.

“You know, when I came in, Sam made me sign a visiting book or something. Made me sign my name n’ shit. I saw a few familiar names, some new ones. But, I didn’t see a name I thought for sure I would see.”

Dream felt his heart drop to his stomach, already knowing who you had in mind. A shadow loomed over him, making him feel smaller than he had ever felt. His hard expression crumbled as he looked up at you, crouching in front of him with a grin on your face. He never felt more like prey, like a lamb to the slaughter, more than sitting here in front of you.

You took his silence as your cue to continue, “George hasn’t visited you at all, hasn’t he?” There it was, the final hit to complete the combo. Dream, instead of growing angry and lashing out, slumped farther into the wall as if to hide himself from your snake-like grip on his mind. You stood up, going back to pacing the wall back and forth as you continued to monologue.

“I saw him on my way here, too. He had this cute little mushroom hat that—he told me—came from the kingdom that he started with Sapnap and this guy named Karl. Lots of new faces and names around here, Dream. Anyways, I made some small talk with Georgie, it was a miracle I even saw him, do you remember how he was always asleep? You could never make that guy attend any important events in his life.” You shook your head at the fond memory, glancing at Dream from the corner of your eyes, seeing his head still leaned down and staring at the ground. Still, you knew he was listening to you.

“I saw XD there, you know. What’s that about? He calls himself a benevolent god with an unforgiving nature, but in the end he’s just a guy with powers who has himself wrapped around Georgie’s fingers. Who could blame him, though? George is very charming. Now, pop quiz. How can you hurt a man who is blessed by a god?”

Dream’s head turned to you sharply, glaring at you with eyes full of heat. “Whatever you’re planning, don’t do it or I swear to god I will make you regret it.”

You continued to pace, unbothered by what he said. “Incorrect! You lose a point for that one. The correct answer is—”, you stopped in front of Dream, “you make him reject the god, then when he’s alone, you attack.”

You took a seat on the chair from across Dream, holding yourself up with your arms as you leaned forward as if to taunt the man sitting in front of you. Speaking of, he hasn’t stopped glaring at you, and it made you giggle excitedly to yourself. Good, this is good, you were getting a reaction which meant you were breaking him.

You stretched your arms above your head with a stifled yawn, “I’ll kill him.”

That’s it? You mentioned the revive book earlier so you must know that he can just bring George back to life. To your threat, Dream scoffed, “I can just bring him back.”

You smiled knowingly, “I know. Which is why I’ll just have to drag it out, I’ll kill him so painfully slow, then when he goes you’ll just bring him back. Then we repeat until you give up.”

Dream felt as if his world stopped. His best friend, dying by the hands of someone he used to admire, to cherish? He tried to respond, to deny, to say something. But he couldn’t, and all that would leave his lips were stutters that made you smile.

You crouched in front of him again, and this time his heart skipped a beat. Out of fear? He wasn’t sure, but he felt like something akin to an animal who’s been cornered with nothing to lose.

“I can just see it, Dream. You sitting right where you are, watching me hurt our little Georgie. He’ll start to beg me. Beg me to stop, to just kill him and end it. But, I won’t. And you won’t stop bringing him back, either.”

You took your hand and brought it up to Dream’s hair, the first time you’ve touched him since you entered the prison. You brought his head up so he was looking up at you, giving him the perfect view of your face.

“Then eventually, Dream, he’ll stop begging me.” You gripped his hair a bit tighter, “and he’ll start begging you. To make it stop, for you to stop bringing him back so he doesn’t have to go through all that pain anymore. I wonder, Dream, if you’ll be able to do that.”

For the first time, you could see Dream’s eyes well up with tears, making you giddy with power.

“Please, don’t.” He whispered, the shake in his voice prominent as he tried to hold back sobs.

You leaned in close to his ears, and you noticed he’s shaking. “So, what will it be, Dream?”

[firefly464]

The newest oneshot was super sweet, I’ve already reread it once! Wouldn’t be surprised if I do so again tomorrow, either, haha. Do you think you could write something similar for the sleepy bois streamer counterparts :0? Thank you!!

OH BOY I HAVE HAD THIS ONE SITTING IN THE MY DRIVE FOR SO LONG THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME AN EXCUSE TO FINISH IT

ALSO YES THIS ONE IS CANON TO THE REAL WORLD STORYLINE!!!!!

Original Story - Other Drabbles

~~~

“Will, I really don’t think this is a good idea.” Tommy nervously said into his mic. 

“Nah, don’t be stupid. It’ll be fine, I swear.” His friend replied. 

“I don’t even- I’ve never met these people before, and now you’re telling me to just act normal?” God, he hated meeting new people. Over the past month or so, he had grown used to his new lifestyle, but speaking to new people always freaked him out. Especially if they were people that had known the old Tommy. He always felt under pressure to be someone that he wasn’t. He hated it. 

So when Wilbur had told him about two friends that he wanted to introduce Tommy to, it had taken all of his energy not to scream. He knew that Wilbur was just trying to help him feel more welcome, but that didn’t change the fact that he would rather crawl into bed and just lay there if it meant he didn’t need to talk to new people. 

“I mean, that’s what you’ve been doing, isn’t it? Why is this so different?” 

“Because the other Tommy knew these people! They’re gonna expect me to act like him. How the fuck am I supposed to tell them that I’m not really the guy that they were friends with?” 

“I dunno, you told me and Tubbo, didn’t you?” 

“It’s not like I had a choice. It was either tell you or watch as my entire fucking world got destroyed.” Tommy ran a hand down his face in frustration. Why was this so difficult for Wilbur to understand? He was acting like it was no big deal, like nothing could possibly go wrong. 

Tommy, on the other hand, knew that was complete bullshit. So many things could go wrong. Why couldn’t his friend understand? 

“Yeaaaah, sorry about that. Look, I can promise you that these are good people. They aren’t going to fucking interrogate you. Besides, if you do start feeling uncomfortable, you can always just leave the call. Sound good?” 

The teenager was silent for a moment, trying to weigh his options. On one hand, he hated this idea. He hated everything about it. But on the other, he knew that Wilbur wasn’t going to leave him alone until he at least tried. Besides, his friend was right. He could always just leave the call if he really needed to. “... Fine,” he finally said. “I’ll fucking do it I guess…” 

“Fuck yeah!” Wilbur cried out excitedly. “Sweet, I’ll add them to the call real quick” 

Tommy could feel his anxiety spike as he listened to the ringtone. God, this was an awful idea, why was he doing this? He shouldn’t be doing this. 

He was about to leave, to tell Wilbur that he changed his mind, when an unfamiliar voice pierced through his thoughts. “Hulloooooo.”

The teenager couldn’t help but flinch slightly, as he often did when startled. Over the past month, he had grown less skittish and jumpy, but a month of therapy could only do much against half a year of battle instincts and war. 

“Ayyy, Techno!!!” Wilbur’s voice was loud, filled with excitement. Tommy was forced to reach over to his keyboard and hastily turn down the volume. 

“Jesus, Wilbur… Just go and give me a fucking heart attack, why don’t you?” He muttered under his breath. Unfortunately, his mic picked up on it. 

“Oh wait, is that Tommy?” The man, who’s name was apparently Techno, asked. He sounded half-asleep, but simultaneously energized somehow. His voice was deadpan and calm, a stark contrast to Wilbur’s enthusiastic and expressive tone. “Tommy? Woah, woah, hold on. What happened? Are you okay? Were you hurt? Are you-” 

This was why Tommy hated talking to his alter-egos friends. They always asked him what had happened to him, why he hadn’t contacted them in so long. He never knew what to say. So instead, he just stayed quiet. 

“Alright, calm down Tech. Give the kid a break. We don’t know what kinda shit he’s gone through.” A new voice said.

“Alright, well you can’t blame me for being worried after he just disappeared off the face of the earth for a month,” the guy named Techno replied, “Seriously though, are you alright?” 

“I’m fine,” he stated simply, shaking his head slightly. He was supposed to be acting like the old Tommy, not some quiet asshole who didn’t know how to talk with people. “It’s uh, it’s been kinda quiet to be honest. Sorry I didn’t reach out...”

He could practically hear the new person smiling. “Hey, don’t worry about it mate. We’re just glad to know that you’re ok. You had us all worried sick” 

He attempted to chuckle slightly, but it sounded forced. “Heh, yeah... Sorry about that. I’ve been kinda busy” 

“Yeah, that makes sense. Didn’t you guys go to florida at some point? Tubbo mentioned something about it.” 

A small cough could be heard, and Tommy let out a sigh of relief as he was saved from whatever embarrassing answer he was about to give. “So, Phil! How have you been lately?” 

As Tommy sat there, he listened as the other three began to talk about anything and everything, with seemingly no care as to what they were saying. At some point, he had ended up muting his mic, and just listening. It was almost calming, in a strange way. 

Nearly an hour of silence had passed before Tommy heard his name again. Techno was the one who finally spoke up. “Is... Is tommy still there? He hasn’t talked in a while.” 

“Not sure, it says he’s muted,” Wilbur responded. 

“Is he ok?”

Tommy’s ears perked up. He half considered umuting, but his curiosity got the better of him. So instead, he simply stayed muted, and listened. 

“He uh, he’s been through a lot.”

“Yeah, but he’s never been this quiet before. Ever. Not to mention, he’s practically disappeared off the face of the earth for a month and a half. What happened...?” Techno’s deadpan voice was filled with concern, something that Tommy couldn’t help but find slightly strange. He had never met these people before, and yet here they were, acting as though he was their family. It didn’t make sense to him. 

“I feel like he should be the one to tell you guys, once he’s ready.” 

“Alright,” Phil’s voice was calm, filled with a quiet understanding. “We can wait. Just know Tommy, because I know you’re still there you little shit, we’re here for you.”

A faint smile crossed his face as he reached over and unmuted his mic. “thanks... I’ll uh, I’ll make sure to keep that in mind.” 

~~~

Taglist :D (feel free to send me an ask if you wanna be added)

@hismilw @violet–majesty @chiera99 @koi-boye @waffle-time-god @miss-oleum @porkgavor @crafted-dreams @harley-the-pancake @lemonaid-ruru @g3rmpy @somethingtocrowabout @bee-tubbo @firepowder @boombahey @rayjayo @carry-on-my-wayward-why @echo-delta @star-fruit23

[imaginaryari]

Welcome to the Show

Part One

The prisoner looks up as her least favorite cop comes into the interrogation room. Officer Warren has awards for rounding up the enhanced, people like Silver. He walks and talks like a man the people respect and fear. Talks to the enhanced like they’re close on first name bases and revels in the fact that he put them in their cells. What she would give to lay one finger on him. That’s all she needs. Unfortunately, her hands are gloved and bound because officer Warren also knows that. 

“To what do I owe the pleasure officer.” She asks.

“How would you like to get out here?”

It’s a trap. Silver knows this. The enhanced don’t get second chances especially not from officer Warren. 

 “Wasn’t I supposed to rot in here? Just as you said?” Silver asks.

Officer Warren gives her a sick grin. “I thought you would be interested in parole but if you aren’t...there’s plenty of you in here. “

The promise of seeing the outside world again would sway anyone.

“How can I trust you?”

Officer Warren beckons one of the guards. “Remove her cuffs.”

“Sir?”

“Now, please.” Warren orders.

Silver immediately rubs her wrists when the cuffs click open. The relief is almost overwhelming. She quickly reminds herself not to do anything stupid, no matter how satisfying it would be to knock Warren’s lights out.

-

“There’s a group of enhanced kids going around and robbing people. Messing with their heads. You’re fond of doing that so I thought this would be the perfect way to end your sentence.” Warren had said as he escorted her out.

Silver squints. Nothing about that story adds up. Robbing civilians while common isn’t a team effort especially if you can mess with minds and memory. A group would actually draw more attention and a tight knit one wouldn’t take the risk of losing a member to officials. 

Unless your Silver’s ex. Hm. Things are starting to make sense. 

“You’ve tried to catch them before.” Silver states. 

Warren doesn’t even look ashamed admitting his failure. “Physical powers are one thing. Mental ones are harder. But from my experience you can catch ‘em with a little trust.” He begins to walk away, leaving Silver at the gates. “You have three weeks.”

—

It’s no fancy hotel, barely a motel, but it’s a place and it’s furnished. Officer Warren had said it was hers for as long as it took her to finish her task. Silver won’t complain, before she was arrested, she was constantly couch surfing. Never out staying her welcome and never spending too long on the streets. She had made friends this way but contacting them was out of the question. Getting caught means getting blacklisted. A means of protecting themselves. Well, Silver had been thrown under the bus. Semantics. She won’t see them again and hopefully they’re doing okay. 

She shakes her head, never mind that. She has a job to do and extraordinarily little to go on. 

The neighborhood is different. She didn’t expect it to be quite the same after lock-up but the changes are more than jarring. New buildings going up, less of the spots her old friends used to hang. Silver is so sure the neighborhood has been purged of the enhanced until she decides to hit up one of the cafés. She stares at it; upset she can’t remember what it used to be and then enters reading the weirdly named drinks on the menu.

“Are you new around here?” another patron asks.

“Not exactly,” Silver says with a shrug, eyeing the stranger. He’s handsome even if he looks like he should have taken a sip of his drink before speaking. The bags under his eyes scream exhaustion but he still sounds awake. And happy about it. “It’s just a while since I’ve been round here.”

“Ah, try the mint hot chocolate. It’s a crowd favorite.”

“Is that what you’re having?”

He chuckles. “No…this is way too caffeinated for the masses.”

“Is the inevitable crash worth it?” She asks.

“Always.” He says as Silver is called next to order. “See you around.” The stranger says exiting. She thinks about the encounter for hours afterwards. The enhanced were still around even if they were muted.

—

She finds what she’s looking for the next day, right before the sun sets. It’s a large tent set up in a nearby park. Big enough to draw attention but lacking the actual necessities to pass as a real circus. No animal trailers, no confection stands. To anyone paying attention there’s no possible way it could have been set up so quickly. Definitely the work of the enhanced. 

Civilians flock to the tent with the promise of entertainment. Silver by-passes the line and taps a potential viewer on their shoulder. “You don’t really want to see this show, right? I can take that ticket off you.” The man blinks and then hands over his ticket. Silver quickly takes it and makes her way to her seat.

-

The spotlight lowers, illuminating what has to be the ringleader. He’s barely dressed for the occasion. Top hat donned but instead of a blaring red jacket, a black T-shirt with a tuxedo print and black jeans contrasting nicely with white sneakers. 

“Hello everyone. Welcome to your wildest dreams. I’ll be your guide. Whenever you need me you can shout More!” Silver snorts at the corny introduction but still applauds with the crowd. It takes a moment but she recognizes him. The man from the café with the over caffeinated drink. Interesting. So far he’s just the host, maybe the leader of this whole operation, but Silver can’t place an ability just yet.

“Please give a round of applause to our first act, Mirage, master of illusion.”

Silver is willing to bet he’s the one responsible for the tent. His set isn’t too extravagant; he just has smoke and card tricks. It’s what he does with them that counts. Shifting the smoke to look like a bird that soars over the crowd. It lands ever so gently on the empty seat in front of one of the viewers. The spotlight shifts to them, a young boy, and he offers a nervous smile, not prepared for the attention. The guest looks to Mirage who gives a cocky smile. “Blow it away.” He instructs through his mic. With a shrug he does. The smoke dissipates to reveal a real bird. A stark white dove. The young boy reaches for it face lit up in wonder, but it takes off landing right on Mirages shoulder. He pets it to prove its real and the dove seems to love it. However, it then dissipates into smoke after Mirage blows on it. That confirms it for Silver, the dude simply makes illusions.

“I need a volunteer for my next trick.” Mirage says.

He and More look around at the audience and More locks eyes with Silver. There’s a connection, a shock of understanding, and something else she can’t quite place before he says, “You, cutie with the hood. Would you like to help Mirage?”

Silver nods unable to break eye contact.

“Don’t be nervous, it’s just a simple card trick.” Mirage says, a deck of cards pulled from his pockets. Silver keeps her head down and her hood on as she walks into the ring. She wasn’t supposed to draw attention. More finally backs away giving Mirage the stage.

It is a simple card trick, with a lot of flourish. Silver selects a card, memorizes it, puts it back in the deck. Mirage is skilled making the cards seem to dance, shuffling and tossing them even pulling some from behind Silver. Sleight of hand can be learned, however,

“Is this your card?”

“It sure looks like it!” Silver says, and the audience applauds. Her choice in words don’t go unnoticed by Mirage. He smiles, like he just learned a juicy secret and gestures for Silver to return to her seat.

More passes her on his way back to the stage and gives her a similar smile to Mirage’s. She can’t help but feel she shouldn’t have done that.

“Our next act goes by Charlie. He doesn’t say much but he’s loads of fun!”

Silver immediately understands how the next act earned his name. Charlie dances out, encompassing Chaplin’s energy. He dons a similar top hat to More, and shirt except his is white instead. More comments on this with a laugh. “Clearly one of us has to change!” As corny as Silver finds More, she can’t say she’s not amused. Charlie looks More up and down, and then gets into a stance. He’s posed like a batter on home base and leans back and forth on his toes. He swings and More ducks, his top hat flying across the ring as if a real bat had hit it. The trick ears them impressed gasps and amused giggles from the audience. From Silver it earns a disbelieving stare. She’s never seen an enhanced like Charlie yet.

Charlie continues, his set like any traditional mime. Tripping over objects that aren’t there, pushing invisible walls, overexaggerating his facial expressions. Except Silver thinks, knows, he isn’t. There is a wall the audience can’t see. Silver can’t prove it, and wouldn’t even know where to begin explaining Charlie to officer Warren.

“Give it up for Charlie everyone!” More says shaking Silver from her thoughts. Charlie leaves the stage with the same comedic swagger and a wave.

“Now our next act is unfortunately our last. But we always go out with a bang! Please welcome to the ring, Star!”

With the snap of More’s fingers the lights go out. Another snap and they’re back, along with a woman sitting on a trapeze. She’s beyond beautiful, it could be the lighting, or the slight shimmer she has, but she’s captivating all the same. Her hair is pulled into two puffs and her smile dazzles the audience. Silver notes that there is no apparent netting beneath her, that should be concerning.

The music starts, a haunting melody punctuated by a bass that Silver feels in her chest. Star is flying above the audience on her trapeze. She hangs by her legs and lets her arms hang. If Silver focuses, she can see what looks like dust, her charisma spills off of her, entrancing the audience. She makes another mental note, three out of four isn’t bad. Maybe she wrong about him being enhanced. He could just be the fall guy if this all goes to shit. Authorities like Warren wouldn’t keep a powerless civilian. It’s smart. The doubt lingers. She knows what she felt.

Silver almost misses the end. Stars trapeze returns to the ring and she waves before letting go and falling to the ground. The audience gasps bracing for an impact that never comes. Star vanishes in a puff of smoke that settles all over the ring. The applause is stuttered out, the crowd is impressed and worried.

When the smoke clears the applause picks back up as all the performers are safe, taking their bows.

“Thank you all for coming!” More says. The lights go out. When they come back on the group is gone. Well, that’s one way to end things.

-

“Like the show?” A voice comes up from behind Silver. She’s just as dazzling up close and silver can see how she captivates the audience. The charisma wisps around her like smoke. 

“Sure did. Wasn’t expecting to be part of it though.”

“Yeah, More can be a bit impulsive,” Star says apologetically. She steps closer to whisper. “But his guess was right! You are like us.” 

“All of you? Special?”

“Yup!”

“What gave me away?”

“You didn’t immediately fall for my charm.”

“...really?”

“That and More caught you using your gift to get a ticket.”

“Also caught her struggling to order at the café,” More says rounding on them. “We should stop meeting like this.”

[retvenkos]

rolled up messages | n.e.

Blades of Light and Shadow - Nia Ellarious x platonic!MC!Reader, slight angst, fluff requested by @brokenandheadoverheels

tw: mentions of death, seasickness, grief

word count: 1.7 (okay, but in my defense, this is nia, we’re talking about.)

song: message in a bottle - the police | 🔍

Summary: The sea worked in mysterious ways. This time, it brought you someone to grieve with.

When you had been little more than a child, your work knee-deep in the earth and all your life in your small and calloused hands, one of your favorite fantasies to spin was being a pirate. Kade had heard plenty of stories of life on a schooner, and seeing as you had never seen the sea, it was the most beautiful daydream your mind could concoct and escape into. It was a world beyond anything you had ever known. It was a romantic and daring vision - full of sea spray and gulls, the bright blue sky and the enchanting waves.

Life aboard The Wraith was anything but the stories Kade had once told. The hypnotic sway of the ship kept your mind in a constant and muted haze, and the endless skies muddled your sense of direction. Mostly, the days were dull, but on occasion, something more sinister lay within. Restlessness seeped into your veins - slowly, then all at once.

Only a handful of times in your life were you equally as rattled as you found yourself, now, and in each life-changing circumstance, what grounded you was working - the steady drudgery of tilling the earth, the resolute swing of a hammer, the clang of iron against an anvil. But here, there was no task to complete. There was just the open ocean and the ceaseless sky and the insanity that slipped in slowly. It was an itch, and soon, it would grow into a scream.

Most days, you sat around, waiting for things to happen. On occasion, the Captain - the fearless and headstrong Imtura - threw some meager task your way. You almost hated the way you jumped up, eager for something to do. The last thing you wanted to be was a dog begging for someone else's scraps. 

The sea was lawless in its corruption; you would be damned if you let it turn you.

If Kade were here, he would have known what you were thinking before you were able to put it into words yourself. He was always perceptive like that - annoying, too, because he knew it. He would have teased you about your restlessness, and before you could register the stir-crazy feeling in your belly, he would have told you stories about how the sea could charm you into doing her bidding. She'd cut you down slowly and carefully until your will was broken and your mind was jelly. Then, she'd use the rhythmic sway of the boat to hypnotize you into becoming her servant.

Was Kade somewhere out there, now, being drawn and quartered, broken down by the shadow and being built up again, against his will? Was he sitting in the cargo hold of a ship or a dusty cell beneath the ground, insanity visiting him in the night? Was Death a new companion of his, gnawing at his skin until he was foaming at the mouth? If you found him, would the shadows cling to him the way ghosts once did? If you discovered him alive, would Kade beg you to end his suffering?

And would it be a mercy to give him what he desired?

The sea was churning your stomach, the acid within burning up your throat. The world - a flat blue that couldn't divide sky from ocean - spun. You needed a quiet place to sit down. You needed a moment alone to grieve.

You stumbled your way below deck, gasping for air. The ship rocked to one side, and you staggered to a wall, throwing one hand out in front of you, catching your breath. You couldn't think about Kade, but you couldn't damn well forget about him either. Not when—

"(Y/n)? Are you alright?"

You snapped your head to attention and found Nia blinking back at you, her delicate features sculpted into light concern - mouth turned, eyebrows knitted. On her lap, she held a leatherbound journal, one hand holding a pencil, paused in its scratching. 

You closed your eyes, forcing yourself not to grimace. 

"Yeah, I'm alright," you breathed. You could hear the irritation in your voice. You hadn't meant to direct that at her. "What are you writing?" you asked, trying to smooth things over - steering the conversation to a place you could handle. "Keeping a harrowing account of our journey?"

Nia stiffened like a child caught when acting out. If you weren't so seasick, perhaps you would have waved your question away, content to sit in baited silence. But you needed a voice in the din - something to take off the edge - and you knew Nia would comply.

"Not exactly," Nia said slowly, worrying her bottom lip. "I'm writing a letter."

"To who?"

"Oh, umm... you'll probably laugh, but Scholar Vash." Her words hit you like a bullet. In all of the chaos surrounding your quest, you had forgotten about the loss of Scholar Vash. When had your company ever allowed Nia to truly grieve? You had spared her a few moments after the shadow took him, but you hadn't given her such mercy since. You should have never been so thoughtless in your mission. Nia let out a breathy sort of scoff and shook her head. You wondered if she was blinking back tears. If the light were better, would you have recognized it when you first came down?

"I just want him to know that I'm well and that I'm staying true to my faith," Nia played with the ends of her long, red hair. The shimmer of her dress caught in the orange lantern light. She looked like an angel in mourning. "I also thought that I'd write down the questions I still want to ask him. Maybe somehow - through the Light - he'll be able to send some kind of answer."

"Kade and I used to do that with our parents," you commiserated, your voice choked. "Write them letters, I mean. People in Riverbend thought it was a way for orphans to appease the spirits of their parents. Connection. We used to send our notes in glass bottles down the river."

Nia looked at you and gently smiled. Her expression turned wistful, something that made you draw nearer, sitting on a crate next to her. You were closer, now, and you could see the tears welling in her wide, brown eyes.

"We used to do something similar in Whitetower. On days when we were left in the archives for studying, we'd all gather around and write notes to would-be kin. Of course, we didn't have a river, so our letters were tied to the feet of birds. Little rolled up messages saying 'I'm here. Don't forget me.'"

For a moment, Nia's voice drifted away. The ship continued to rock, but in that time, it felt like a mother rocking a cradle, soothing the weeping child within.

"Most of us are adopted by the Temple of Light when we're infants," she sniffed. "I guess it's universal to want to know where family might be." 

Nia touched the journal before her, where loopy cursive graced the page and spelled out the name of Scholar Vash. You hadn't known the High Preist long, and while Nia spoke of him often, she was brief with her words. It was as though, on occasion, she forgot all that transpired, and she talked about him when she thought of it, only to have the abrupt realization that he passed, and his final moments were spent doused in shadow. Vash Vallerin had been more than just a teacher - the Scholar had become that of a father, the only one Nia had known. You could see the way the loss gripped her. It reminded you too much of the way you felt about the kindly farmer who took you in, of the little life you had created in the heart of Riverbend that was slowly fracturing - falling apart.

You grabbed Nia's hand - gently, at first, but squeezing it tightly when you got a firm hold. "You are here, Nia, and Scholar Vash may be somewhere out there, but I've known too many ghosts, and I know he won't forget you."

A tear fell down Nia's cheek, and you could feel your own doing the same. How comforting this was - feeling how deeply your grief ran but sharing in its bittersweet bite.

"It's only the living that struggle with forgetting those that we love. The dead have memories that outlive eternity and infinity - at least they have that on us."

Nia laughed - a mix of a chuckle and a sob.

"Scholar Vash will get your letter - no matter how you choose to send it - and I believe he will find a way to answer."

Nia squeezed your hand before letting go and dried her tears. She looked down at her journal to find a tear had wet the page, and she laughed. "I think Scholar Vash would have liked it better that way."

You smiled and wiped your own tears with the palms of your hands. You waited as Nia finished her letter, standing up and digging through the cargo in the hold to give her privacy. You found a bottle of good spirits and took a long drink. You debated on whether or not to offer the priestess some, but you decided it would be better to spare her the headache of refusing and made a mental note to give some to Mal later.

Nia finished writing her letter and tore the page out of her journal carefully. "I think a bottle would be the best way to go," Nia said, rolling up the parchment and turning to you.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Nina affirmed. "It'll wash up on shore somewhere and—"

"And maybe the world will know we were here?"

Nina smiled. "And maybe they'll know we were here."

-- taglist: @fives-cup-of-coffee, @musicallisto, @missameliep, @brokenandheadoverheels​ // message me if you want to be added!

[thepeachgreentea]

this got Real Long Real Quick...

I wanna know more about Luka's soul song gift - like how much do emotions or personality play into it? ((I’m going with a lot)) Does it only work in person?? Or can he get like snippets from videos or vibes from pictures? Like it would make sense if it was only in person...... But where's the fun I'm that? Realistically it wouldn't be as strong as in person but I could see him getting some stuff. Pictures it probably wouldn't be a lot, or even much of anything, unless the soul song really didn't match the picture...

Which means Luka is one of the first people to realize something is Up with Adrien (and the Agrestes in general)

The ads around the city never felt right, never matched up with the snippets/vibes he was able to get - unless Adrien was supposed to be sad or melancholy. Which is... yikes...

Then the Adrien The Fragrance commercial happens. And that's an additional big Fucking Yikes

Like I can only imagine that Adrien isn't particularly big on modelling in general from what we've seen (with the Marinette-exception) so the filming of that could have only been Worse than normal. How many times did it take to get the emotions at the ‘right’ level? How long did it take to get the angles and all the action done?

Anyway: after the first time Luka literally cannot stomach watching it or even listening to it because it is so Wrong. The soul song snippets from the video are longer and more intense and it is just so discordant that Luka can't deal

Adrien is most certainly NOT feeling carefree. Or radiant. Or remotely dreamy. He's goddamn exhausted, frustrated, resigned, depressed, sweaty, anxious, awkward, stressed. It is a whole stew of (teen) angst offset with that upbeat music and the bright blue sky & all that w h i t e and the jumping for joy

It is such a strong dichotomy Luka has a visceral reaction every time and has to either leave the room or mute it and look away,

All of that means that after he meets Adrien in person, and gets to hear his soul song in a couple different situations and can see his emotions matching internally and externally he basically tells him they will always have space for him on the Liberty. (Also the first time he saw the LB + CN movie and heard Adrien's voice acting he only picked up some nerves - easily attributed to a new situation rather than a secret identity - but he was clearly enjoying himself even if it was a terrible script)

Therefore, Luka doesn't have particularly good feelings towards Gabriel, even before seeing any videos of him.

Style Queen was a Time. He was happy for Adrien but the bits he was getting from Gabriel were so rigid and tight... And rather selfish to boot. Which was weird given the situation

He has to try very very hard to not sneer or snarl at the tablet he first "meets" him on - probably at a Kitty Section practice or concert or at some class + family event.

I can also v easily picture him meeting him in person and being super uncomfortable at the sheer amount of manipulation and self-aggrandizing, selfishness, etc that rolls off of Gabriel, basically choking out his soul song. Either Lula barely refrains from punching Gabriel and manages to shake his hand but then desperately needs to clean his hands. Orrrr he does punch him and then basically coats his hands in sanitizer (either way he is Nino’s absolute favorite person for this alone)

Also, this would not be the first time Luka has figured out an abusive situation. It has happened with both his own and Juleka's friends & classmates. He is v much a protective older brother at heart

And because I damn well can have some Lila salt, some of which has been touched on before, unlike with Gabriel:

He had heard about her from Juleka and Kitty Section and was a bit confused about it but it wasn't until Rose was over and the girls were telling him about some of Lila's stories that he saw a picture of her.

And that was The Strongest he had ever reacted to a picture before: instant chills up his spine and an actual hiss escaped him

All 3 of them are shocked. Luka then has to explain that reaction as best as he can. Which is hard when you aren't great at words and while the soul song fragments are rather clear he would never make his guitar suffer trying to recreate them.

He manages tho and Julerose are at least wary of her afterwards. They start observing her more and a lot of her behavior and the way she talks can be very off-putting. They start noticing some of the digs that she makes at others, that she contradicts herself 5 different ways, and how she is constantly bringing the attention back to herself.

During all this they start noticing how both Marinette and Adrien react to her and it is Not Good. Mari gets defensive and will often try to bring up those contradictions that they started noticing. But jealousy is only a minor factor, at most. In certain situations it is possible that it could be involved... except those only happen when Adrien is looking very uncomfortable and Marinette notices or they make eye contact and then Marinette creates an opportunity for him to escape

Which is something that no one else is noticing which is really terrible and unhealthy...

Around this time is when Ivan has started to figure out something is up. and then he definitely knows when Julerose show Luka a video at a private band practice.

Because video and in person interactions make the BadBadBAD feelings worse and Ivan, while he often struggles with understanding & expressing emotions, has definitely noticed Lila - even though she is not actually there - causes a lot of stress and anxiety to Luka and he has gotten really good at methods of lessening those.

So, Luka sees the video with/of Lila and has an even stronger reaction than the picture before. His eyes get huge, and his face pales (gets slightly sickly?), and he hisses even stronger than the first time

He refuses to try to play her soul song because something like that is nearly impossible to recreate but also doesn’t need to be put out into the world but does his best to try and describe it

Possible: her soul song feels like it is drowning in toxic sludge - there is just so much negativeness that it is barely intelligible. It is being smothered by self-satisfaction and importance, narcissism, aggressive manipulation, pettiness, vile maliciousness, etc

In person interactions are awful. Luka avoids physical interaction as much as possible. Even more than he would with Gabriel, and he wants as little to do with that man as possible, ideally none. But Lila is worse...

There have been multiple times that he has had to step out/away to be able to get some fresh air and breathe again. At least once where he has been or almost has been sick - usually following a hug that he did not consent to or something similar

Ivan is definitely in the fold now, and Julerose share what they have noticed from taking their step back. He realizes he has noticed a lot of those same things but he wasn’t analyzing them and didn’t have the same context for them at the time that Luka, Juleka, and Rose did. But afterwards he picks up on them more clearly, and some other things they hadn’t - benefits of being one of the quiet kids (and a lesser target of Lila’s focus). He is part of the driving force in bringing Marinette and Adrien in first before going to others.

Marinette breaks down because more people believe her?? and support her and Adrien? it is a huge relief of tension. And she didn’t even have to convince them herself!! what a concept... but it is definitely a safe space for her and she can share her own experiences and that certainly is nice

they had all suspected Something was Up but weren’t expecting that so there are lots of hugs and tears and support and mutters of payback 

Adrien eventually cries because Kitty Section + Marinette give him a TedTalk about consent and personal autonomy. And now he has so many people (!!!) telling him he can say no and make his own choices, mistakes, and decisions. (Marinette’s part is largely “I told you so / do you believe us now?” because the Dupain-Chengs have probably already given this same talk as a family but that is just A family’s opinion, others probably think differently) And this is the first time he really truly believes it and... oooof there are a lot of emotions and interactions to unpack and reconsider

but now he knows he really needs to and that he can and should which is new, but so is having an actual support system...

Thus, Luka is ready to fight a bitch the first time he sees Lila and Adrien interacting. There is so much clinging and touching, and Adrien is panicking and no one is doing anything or is being waved off. And (unfortunately) this is one of the things that causes some people to start questioning things about Lila. Because most of them know of Luka as a really chill, laid-back guy who is open and accepting of people. and besides he has no reason to be jealous (((👀👀👀👀 too much to think about and unpack t h e r e))) so why would he be upset about Lila leaning on Adrien and holding his arm??

So, the questioning of Lila and what she says spreads out from Kitty Section and Adrinette to the rest of the class. They take a different approach. They slowly, carefully approach their classmates and take them aside when possible to talk about the situation

This allows them to be able to get their undivided attention and lay out what they have found out in a logical and cohesive manner, rather than attempting something rash or in the heat of the moment. Marinette grumbled about this method initially but when there were actual results and the burden was shared it was a huge relief for her.

In fact, others start coming to them about Lila.

because of the work of Kitty Section and Adrinette Lila’s audience has been steadily decreasing and it is getting easier to notice things. With a smaller audience the focus doesn’t get split as much and there are less questions for her to build off of or go on tangents from and the contradictions start standing out more, or she’s making more to try and keep them around her by holding their interest with different details

Plus, the comments about those outside Her Circle are getting meaner and more frequent. Usually they are still sneaky or underhanded but nowhere near as subtle as they were originally (were they ever, really?) and it is raising suspicions and hackles.

Eventually, Lila is left without an audience because the class has all been brought out of the cloud of manipulation and are working on trust and listening to each other more/better. and on how to not disregard other’s feelings (which is esp important with the high butterfly population in Paris, but is a v good life lesson in general). they are young and will make mistakes and will have to learn from them. but trials, growth, and change are all part of life so it is good for them.

But it essentially all stems from Luka and his ability to hear soul songs and reacting to those songs, or the lack thereof when they are being choked by evil intentions/emotions/actions/what have you

[tscmu]

Some headcanons for the Hq boys and how they propose to their s/o?

HI YES THIS IS THE KIND OF STUFF I LOVE WRITING ABOUT PLS okay so u didnt really specify which boys so im gonna go for ones that i can picture proposing that sounded weird ok-

characters; koushi sugawara, satori tendou, kenma kozume, osamu miya + tooru oikawa oK LETS GO

koushi sugawara

- pls he’d make it so heartfelt and meaningful HHH I LOVE HIM~ - he’d want to make you feel how much he loved you, like actually feel it in your heart - i feel like he’d tell a FEW people, probably only get daichi to help AHAHAH - bruh asahi would probably have a mental breakdown and tanaka would snitch💔💔 - but he’d have an idea of what you both wanted i think, you wouldve spoken it over before defos - he’d want it to not be that public, just the two of you - so it’d be at like a hiking trail you both go on or something, a place that means loads to both of you but isn’t there for the world to see - and then...…came the day - he knew how much you picked up on little details so he had to be sneak sneak ten thousand™ - “hey, wanna go out on that one walk up *insert name of place idk*? ok ok ok i’ll get ur coat sugar” - EEEEEEEEEEE - he was trying his absolute best to keep it together - he knew you’d most likely say yes, so he wasn’t TOO scared, but it was still SCARY LIKE- - and then u got to the place he wanted to propose - it was this place where you always stopped, where there was a little bench (with your initials STILL carved into it from all those years ago) and it looked out over a nice view - “ooh, can we stop here again!” “u-huh i was actually gonna ask-” - bro he almost forgot the speech daichi read over to him about 20 times - but HE DID IT WOOOO - he didn’t want to make a MASSIVE deal out of it, the wedding would be more important to him but he still wanted to make you know how much he adored you - speech included lots of memories dating even back to before hed even SPOKEN to you i stg this man - AND U SAID YES!!! u have no choice. u did.

satori tendou

- i feel like he’d be kINDA similar to suga?? - a little less caring - he’d never actually pictured himself getting married tbf- - he never thought he’d actually find the right person so he just....gave up idk - BUT THEN YOU CAME INTO HIS LIFE- - even with you he hadn’t really thought about marriage, he was just focused on having fun with you, but then ushijima was like ‘...so, tendou. when is the wedding commencing between you and y/n.” and he just- - it was actually when they were sitting there he started to plan it - ushijima would SEEM like the worst person to go to, but he was actually quite good at this stuff - so in about 2 hours sat at the back door of tendou’s work, they had sketched out a sort of plan on the back of a spare napkin - there was one main thing he knew he wanted to talk about - how you always stuck by him, no matter what he did - he thought he’d seriously fucked up, and you would be back at his door the next day, smiling and chattering about this new café you heard opened down the road - god, he was terrified to even mention paris to you, but you were so up for the idea, it took him by shock - he didn’t take you for granted - so for once, he wanted to make you feel loved - they couldn’t think of a place to take you for ages, but then it hit them - you and tendou always went to wakatoshi’s games, ever since high school you both always made the commute if you had the time - and ushijima had a game coming up in two weeks...…. - when he mentioned it OFC U WERE DOWN PLS, you loved going back to japan - like ofc france was incredible but......... it was just lovely to see everyone again ;-; - since youd been there so much, you basically just got to stand right at the side of the court AHAHAH - so they won the game. obviously. its ushi and kags we’re talking abt here. are you kidding. then tendou started acting weird, which made u hella sus - it was the first time in what felt like years you’d seen him so...nervy - he kept fumbling over his words, you had to yell at him to speak up - but eventually he did it - he spoke abt how much you meant to him, how you made him more comfortable in his own body, how you stuck by him through everything - AND U SAID YES. AGAIN, U HAVE NO CHOICE. - and yes ushi and kags started cheering and the news outlets put u on the news i dont make the rules ok

kenma kozume

- ok mans is TERRIFIED - he’d quite genuinely never thought about marriage, throughout his years with you by his side it just...never crossed his mind - but it was when you were lying in bed one night, his arm dangled over you as you both drifted in and out of sleep - and it just hit him - why the fuck were you both still like this? - marriage was something you always expressed a love for, when kuroo got married you were basically in a trance the whole time - how was he so unaware? - people described kuroo’s proposal as pretty much perfect, he’d always been good at reading his partner, so he just used that knowledge to make something he knew they’d like - so, to kenma’s extreme distaste, he went to kuroo - oh my god kuroo fucking c r i e d - kenma was finally ‘growing up’ - so after about an hour of kuroo sobbing, they finally got down to business - after lots of.. lets say elaborate ideas from kuroo, and lots of no's from kenma, they finally came to a sort of compromise - since you and kuroo worked in the same department, he would text you on saturday simply asking if you wanted to catch coffee and talk about that one assignment - obviously, you said yes - not thinking anything of it, you just pulled on a jumper and jeans AHAH- - then you notice,,,why tf is he taking u to a beach at 7pm in march???? - #serialkillerkurooheadcanons - but u see kenma and ur like... wtf have u gotten yourself into- - have they been possessed?? who knowz - and then u get BLINDFOLDED LIKE WHAT - but then u snap back down to earth like why would they kidnap u- - as kuroo takes it off, kenma’s quite literally shaking - poor babie - he never really knew how to explain his thoughts properly, so the speech wasn’t anything extremely dramatic and/or romantic - but he did in a way tell you how much you meant to him - he spoke abt how you boost his confidence, have always been there whenever he needed you, and how you seem to always understand him when he’s being at his most blunt - therefore he thinks you’re his soulmate - PLSPLSPL IM CRYING

osamu miya

- i think he always knew he wanted to marry you - atsumu always embarassed him about it- - it got to the point you didn’t actually think he’d propose, you would just wake up one day and a wedding dress would be on the door - but it got to the point where tsumu was mentioning it significantly more when you went over for dinner - mama miya was always telling you how happy she was that samu picked you - even your own parents were being oddly warmer towards samu, whenever they phoned they asked how he was, etc etc - so you knew something was up - samu was always really polite to your parents, asked their permission before he even took you out on a date - ironic because you lived together but still- - so turned out, he actually mentioned proposing to you to them - they adored him for gods sake so of course they said yes - then tsumu thought he was acting weird, so he told his side - jesus christ they freaked out - his parents were always nervous about atsumu, who slept with random people on the weekends, and hadn’t been in a proper relationship since middle school - you were basically their god send AHAHA - so it was a massive deal when he wanted to marry you - it would appear that he didn’t really care, but in honesty it meant the wholeass world to him - like suga, he’d go for a location that meant a lot to both of you - christmas was a huge deal for both your families, they both came together and you had an incredible time - and last year some of the jackals came over, which was just hilarious - so what better time than christmas with your loved ones around you??? - it started off like a normal christmas, you had an incredible dinner ( cooked by none other than osamu ((with atsumu and bokuto attempting to sabotage it but just burning their hands on the pot)) ) then all played some games - but it was when you were all watching the basic christmas tv programmes when the atmosphere... changed - everyone was looking at you and samu, even sakusa looked excited - it was when his father muted the tv, and samu took your hand, your heart was basically beating out your chest. - he spoke about how he felt like, for the entirety you’d been together for, every day he seemed to fall more in love with you. you were like his rock, when things were even a bit off he could just come to you and you’d automatically make him happier even just by looking at you - bruh bokuto and hinata were sobbing in the corner

tooru oikawa

- surprising, but he never thought about marriage - he just kind of assumed he’d be one of those people that would be in a relationship for like a week then just.. move on to another person idk - that was until he ran into you - everyone, even his own parents, said he was a different person when he started dating you - it was ironic, you were quite similar to him - yet you made him rethink his fucking morals  - it was sappy asf - ANYWAY BACK TO THE TOPIC AT HAND - he took this proposal really seriously, he wanted it to be the best moment of your whole life - until the wedding ofc ofc - since you’d basically changed him as a person, he wanted this to just show his appreciation for everything you’d ever done for him - he wanted you to feel his love - and so he set about preparing a good proposal - he’d be like osamu, and definitely ask your parents first - your parents loved him anyway, they thought he was the best thing that’d happened to you for a long while - he basically knew what he wanted to do - nothing too public, but nothing too quiet - whats the point of proposing if some people dont see am i right??? - sometimes when you both either a) needed a break or b) you both had a period of time where you were free, you both just booked an impromptu holiday AHAHHA - #richkidtingz - so obvs he had to do it on one of them... it was ur thing after all?? - it was when you walked in the door, face red, and flopped down on the sofa next to him, he grasped the opportunity - “..got any spare holidays from work?” - you quickly went on a travel agent website and booked a three day holiday to brazil, leaving the next morning - it was one of your favourite places to just escape to, so it made sense for him to propose there tbf - it was as you both woke up the first morning there, still sleepy from the night before, you grinned at eachother. - “hey.. get ready quick, i wanna do something.” “wHAT-” - he didn’t actually know where to do it, he just called a taxi and asked for your favourite high street HAHAH - after about an hour of browsing around shops, your hand never out of his, you finally asked ‘what did you want to do?’ - his breathing almost stopped i stg, he didn’t realise how scared he was - but then... HE DID IT POGGERS - he stuck to what he knew he wanted to speak about, making you sob in the process ofc - and even all the locals congratulated you!!!

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HI THIS IS SO LONG IM SORRY BUT I LOVED WRITING IT PLS!! THANK U FOR REQUESTING da box is always open mwah