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planet-mabel · 11 months ago

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book thief - niall horan

an: hellooo!!!! i was reading at the beach and could not get this idea out of my head so HERE WE ARE!! i hope you enjoy :) I'm cooking up part two right now

summary: a trip to bora bora leads to bumping into niall horan by the pool and accidentally swapping books!

wc: 1.8k

what i was listening to:

As I disembark from the plane, weary from the long flight and craving a good meal, I step into the Bora Bora airport. I've treated myself to a solo stay at a delightful resort here for the week, and the anticipation of this moment has been a beacon of joy during my busy days back in NYC. I yearn for some well-deserved relaxation, as the incessant bustle of New York's streets and blaring car horns can be overwhelming at times. As I make my way towards the baggage claim area, I take a moment to savor the view from the airport windows. Though it's just a glimpse, I can see fragments of swaying palm trees, and a sense of tranquility washes over me. Leaning against the baggage trolley, I pause, eagerly awaiting the familiar "beep" that signals the arrival of our luggage.

I catch sight of my obnoxious purple suitcase as it comes around the conveyor belt and quickly snatch it before heading over to the shuttle bus waiting to take me to the resort. After stowing my suitcase in the overhead compartment, I sink into the luxurious seat on the bus. While waiting for the other passengers to board, I take a moment to text my friends and family to let them know I've arrived. The bus engine roars to life as we set off down the road. I glance up from my phone and out of the window, cranking up the music in my headphones. I take in the beautiful scenery as we wind our way toward the resort. Looking around at my fellow passengers, I notice that they are all families and couples. A faint feeling of loneliness creeps in as I realize I'm traveling alone.

I let out a deep sigh, gazing out of the window at the serene, azure skies and the gentle, rhythmic dance of the palm trees swaying in the breeze, attempting to distract myself from the overwhelming sense of isolation.

As the shuttle comes to a stop at the resort, the passengers begin to disembark, and I patiently wait for my turn. Once off the shuttle, I make my way to the front desk with my bags, eagerly anticipating some rest and relaxation in my room. I provide my name and reservation to the woman at the front desk, and the concierge swiftly arranges for my bags to be taken up to my room. The humidity of the Polynesian air causes my t-shirt to cling to my skin as I wait.

While the woman prepares my room key, I glance at a man nearby who is also checking in. His accent intrigues me, and I find myself admiring his appearance. I'm momentarily lost in thought until the woman's clearing of her throat brings me back to the present. After receiving the room key, I exchange a tight smile with the woman and mutter a quiet 'thank you.' As I head towards the elevator, I briefly meet the man's gaze before pressing the button and entering the elevator. I select the third floor, my hand tightening around the room key as the elevator ascends.

I stumble into my room, weary from the day's travel, and collapse onto the plush duvet covering the bed. Propping myself up on my elbows, I take in the surroundings. The TV faces the foot of the bed, and a familiar mini fridge rests beneath it. To the side, a closet is built into the wall, and opposite that, a sleek desk catches my eye. Across from the entrance, a sliding glass door beckons me to venture out onto the petite balcony. I rise to my feet and make my way to the small mezzanine, stepping outside to be embraced by a balmy breeze and a mesmerizing vista. I pause, closing my eyes, letting the scenery wash over me.

After re-entering the room, I gently closed the door and made my way to the luxurious en suite bathroom. I marveled at the elegant plumbing and the spacious, extravagant shower. I couldn't help but let out a whistle of admiration, feeling impressed by the lavish amenities, almost forgetting that I had only booked this place for a week but paid the equivalent of a month's rent.

I let out a contented sigh and realized that I deserved to unwind by the pool for the rest of the day. Without bothering to unpack, I quickly slip into the first bikini I lay my eyes on - a vibrant, eye-catching pink one. After ensuring that I'm thoroughly coated in sunscreen and throwing on a comfortable t-shirt for extra coverage, I grab my purse and the book I've been meaning to read. As I make my way out, I return to the elevator and descend back down to the lobby.

I hurry downstairs and make a beeline for the pool, scanning for an unoccupied, plush reclining chair. As soon as I find one, I eagerly lay down my belongings beside it, exhaling contentedly. After slipping on my sunglasses and discarding my t-shirt, I settle back, flipping through the pages of my book to pick up where I left off during the plane ride. The book in my hands is 'Violet Bent Backwards over the Grass' by Lana Del Rey. It may seem a bit unexpected for a beach trip, but I have a fondness for poetry and adore Lana Del Rey, so I thought it was worth a chance. Immersing myself back into the pages, I lose track of time, captured by the words on the pages.

I slowly rise from my lounge chair, feeling the stickiness on my back from the sun's rays. Deciding it's time to take a break from tanning, I toss my book onto my chair and head towards the glistening pool to cool off. As I settle by the water's edge, I take in the mesmerizing sight of the swirling pool while dipping my toes into the refreshing water. Surprisingly, the area is deserted, giving me the perfect opportunity to submerge myself in the pool. I resurface, gently wiping my eyes before reclining on my back and savoring a tranquil moment, finding relief from the intense heat of the island air.

I emerge from the water, climbing the steps in the shallow end. The droplets slide off my glistening skin as I make my way to my chair. As I approach, I notice a man sitting in the chair next to mine. I recognize him as the guy I saw in the lobby, engrossed in a book. I glance around at the empty seats on the pool deck, wondering why he chose the one next to me, and furrow my brow in mild irritation. Despite my annoyance, I take a moment to study his appearance. His unkempt brown hair and pointed nose catch my attention, as does the way his scruffy stubble complements his deep blue eyes. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I finally reach for my towel. I clear my throat to catch his attention and he looks up from his book, smiling softly. He gestures to the book in his hand and I immediately clock it as ‘Violet Bent Backwards over the Grass', the same one I’m reading. I glance down at my chair in search of my copy, not completely sure he didn’t swipe mine. I clear my throat to capture his attention before speaking.

"Excuse me?" I managed to pipe up, my voice a blend of nervousness and amusement. "I think that might be my book." With my towel wrapped tightly around me, I glanced down at him. He met my gaze and then looked down at the book in his hands before responding.

"Oops, my mistake," he chuckled and handed the book back to me. "I noticed it here and thought someone must have left it behind. The title seemed intriguing." I reclaimed the book and settled back into my chair. "I didn't even realize you were here, geez. If I had known, I wouldn't have sat so close." His over-apologetic tone made me chuckle softly.

"No, it's okay. I'm traveling alone, so I appreciate the company," I assured him, readjusting in my seat. "Have you read it? It's a good book, isn't it?" I say enthusiastically as I glance back at him, thumbing through the pages again. He nods before replying.

"Absolutely! I can't resist a well-crafted poem," he responds with a nod, gesturing toward the book of poems resting on the arm of his lounge chair. I let out a soft chuckle in response.

"Ah, cool. Nice to meet another poetry enthusiast," I say with a smile before returning my attention to my book. I sense his persistent gaze on me before he speaks again.

"You mentioned you're traveling alone?" he inquires. "So am I." I look up from my book, slightly puzzled.

"You? Why's that?" I ask, marking my place in the book and placing it on my lap.

"You first," he counter-challenges.

I shrug before responding, "Just needed a break. New York can be overwhelming at times, and none of my friends were up for splurging on a vacation," I explain, gesturing dramatically. "So, here I am, flying solo." I give a somewhat forced grin, and he chuckles.

"Same here," he remarks, leaning back in his beach chair. "You mentioned New York City? Sounds exciting," he comments. I nod slightly.

"Yeah, mostly. How about you?" I inquired, curious to confirm my suspicion about his distinct accent.

"Dublin," he declares proudly. "Dublin, Ireland." I raise an eyebrow.

"So that's where the accent comes from," I remark slowly, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't have an accent; you have an accent," he retorts playfully, feigning a scowl, which elicits a soft giggle from me. He grins at me, his eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"Well, I should head back to my room. The chlorine always does weird things to my hair," I say with a soft chuckle as I pick up my bag and wrap my towel around my waist. He sits up in his beach chair to look at me.

"Hey, let me buy you a drink later," he suggests, gazing up at me. I take in his shirtless form reclining on the chair in front of me and for a moment, I struggle to find my words.

"Um, well, okay," I say hesitantly before regaining my composure. "Yes, that sounds good." I offer a soft smile, trying to conceal my unease.

He nods and continues, "I'll see you at eight at the hotel bar." He stands up and I nod in response.

an"I'll see you, book thief," before giving a small chuckle and walking from the pool deck back into the lobby. As I leisurely make my way back to the door, I hear his quiet laughter echoing behind me. A grin spreads across my face, and in that moment, I feel as lighthearted and carefree as I did in my teenage years.

#niall horan #niall #one direction #bora bora #niall horan x reader #niall horan fanfiction #planet-mabel #Spotify

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mur4sak1 · 1 year ago

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How would genshin men react to seeing you in a dress?

A/N: Remember that English is not my first language so I hope I wrote in the best way <3

Situation: that day in the city there was a big celebration that had animated the whole town. The people were elegantly dressed, they laughed, lived and joked, filling even the smallest streets with joy. Due to the size of the city you and your man hadn’t met yet, until he, searching through the crowd, managed to see your face. But due to your appearance he was unable to immediately approach you.

Characters: Diluc, Kaeya, Wriothesley, Alhaitham, Kaveh

Diluc=People's shouts of joy could be heard from every corner of the city and they were so loud that they even echoed inside the buildings. Diluc, who until now had been working in his studio, was ready to go to the streets to enjoy the last moments of the party. As soon as he went out the structure, the muffled music that could be heard from the rooms was louder than ever, giving him a bit of relif after so many hours of effort. He went down the stairs of the city until he reached the long balcony overlooking the main square, tiredly leaning on it with his arms. His eyes looked at the crowd dancing casually and without following the rhythm throughout the area until a group of them fell, perhaps because they were too drunk. A laugh escapes from Diluc's lips which makes him roll his eyes at the clumsiness of what he had seen. However, a girl arrives to help the men on the ground to get up, she was dressed very well in a long tight dress which highlighted her curves and with his back free from tissue, illuminated by the light of the setting sun. The group thanked her and staggered away and Diluc thought of how kind she was to help them, even if the fault of that situation was theirs. The woman turned and the redhead immediately recognized your face, even though it was very far away; he had always seen something more in you and this event sparked something and him. It was so obvious, his face had turned the same color as his hair, a scene that if Kaeya had seen it, it would have been a great excuse to make fun of his brother for life.

Kaeya=The celebration in Mondstadt heated up the streets. Everyone was joyful, excited and drunk, and Kaeya loved to take advantage of these situations to flirt with anyone he could see and then walk away without accomplishing anything, just to have fun, just for the sake of feeling powerful. The crowd had gathered under the statue of the archon anemo and loud music led everyone to a free and wild dance that filled the square. The blue-haired man was leaning against the side wall of the church, surrounded by a few women who drooled over him and asked to tell them all his amazing adventures. “…and that's how I defeated a horde of Hilichurl completely alone” he concluded proudly while the women listened to him impatiently, as if they couldn't contain their excitement. As he spoke, focused on driving the desperate ones even more crazy, he saw a female figure pass in front of him. She was too focused on carrying a large bouquet of yellow flowers in her arms and not tripping over her heels to care about anyone around her. The long floral dress she wore fell softly on her hips, leaving her chest partially empty and allowing the flowers direct contact with her skin. The long hair had a few small green leaves, probably blown away by the wind from the bouquet and landed there; Kaeya had noticed all this in a couple of seconds. She walked along the entire pathway alongside the church and then approached an elderly lady and, crouching down slightly due to his short height, handed her the large bouquet. When she stood up she shook his dress and moved his head to make any residue fall out. It was in that moment that Kaeya recognized you, brighter than any little girl present, the only woman he really wanted and that, for some reason, he could never get. The old lady thanked you and you lowered your head slight, and then joined Barbara and Amber who were talking not far away. Having disappeared from his vision, Kaeya regained his composure and this allowed his attention to return to the small crowd surrounding him which was now bothering him quite a bit. “Okay misses, story finished, I have to go now” he said, then he made space between the women and walked away. In return he received disappointed gasps, but he didn’t care anymore, those women no longer interested him. He just wanted to get rid of it so he could finally reach you and try, for the umpteenth time, to conquer you... but you weren't going to give him an easy win.

Wriothesley=The festivals in Fontaine were always large and involved all members of the big region. The city was decorated in every corner, filled with various activities and food stands to spend the day in company. That year Furina was extremely excited by the idea and decided to give all of her employees the day off so that they too could appreciate and enjoy the hard work that was behind the creation. It was now late morning and Wriothesley was walking through the streets near Neuvilette while they were looking for a place to have lunch; they were sure that everyone would share their idea shortly, so they hurried and entered in a small pub that made the best sandwiches in the city to avoid a painful and long row of people. As soon as they entered, however, they found a crowd of drunk figures laughing and dancing to the music in the large area surrounding the counter. With his hands in his pockets, Wriothesley followed his friend to the cash desk, ready to order lunch and leave the restaurant as soon as possible. As he was selecting his choice from the menu, heard Neuvilette say hello to someone, and as he looked up, he saw Navia sitting at the counter with a beer in her hands. The man greeted her with a nod and returned to concentrating on his lunch. At a certain point his attention was called again by the woman's words “and don't you say hello to y/n?”. Wriothesley was confused, he was always alert and attentive to everything! You weren't there, otherwise he would have definitely seen you! But he was wrong...he looked up again and behind the blonde he saw a familiar figure in a tight short dress and high black boots, with loose hair framing her lightly made-up face. Their gazes met and the man immediately recognized your eyes, being struck by your appearance. He had never seen you so elegant... of course, he had always considered you an attractive woman in work clothes but he would never have imagined that you could be so attractive in a simple dress. “Won't you say hello to me Wrio?” You replied with a light laugh. Finally the man regained his composure and greeted you, but did so with a slight stutter. This made Neuvilette frown, and as he looked closer at Wriothesley, he immediately understood why. So he immediately turned to Navia and asked her if they could go for a walk around the outside streets to discuss some work things. Initially she refused because she wanted to enjoy the party with her friend and without thinking about duties. The man, however, looked at her intensely, pointing to something in the dark-haired that made her burst out laughing. Still in ecstasy, she stood up and started to leave for the fateful work talk, laughing. Maybe due to the alcohol or the liveliness of the moment but what she said to Wriothesley made him blush and become even more agitated than he already was: "If I were you I would keep more control of your friend in public hahahah". In fact the man hadn't realized it but y/n's dress had not only left him speechless, but also the one who was creating the bulge under his trousers.

Alhaitham=It was now late afternoon and the party was coming to an end. The tired group of people was slowly decreasing and everyone was heading back to their homes. Alhaitham had walked alongside Tighnari all day as they tried, in vain, to contain Kaveh's contagious enthusiasm at every stand they passed. The city was not very large in size, but the numerous and intricate streets that were used as elevators to go up to the upper floors of the structure made it like a labyrinth and it was difficult to meet family figures. In fact, the man had not met you even once and this was remarked several times during the afternoon by Kaveh, who seemed to be your biggest admirer. Now half drunk, Alhaitham took him home and made him lie down on the bed, where he fell into a deep sleep. He went into the kitchen to prepare a quick dinner but while he was waiting for the water to boil to prepare a soup, his thoughts constantly ran to all those times that, after hearing your name from the mouth of his roommate, he searched for your face in in the middle of the crowd, without however having any results. Since he was a resolute man he decided to leave the house for a walk, in the hope of putting peace to the confusion in his head. By now the streets were deserted and walking had become much easier and more relaxing than it had been in the previous hours. Alhaitham took a small road that climbed upwards to reach a small gazebo that he loved so much, because it was isolated and had a magnificent view. He mentally retraced the road: as soon as he finished the short covered corridor he would have to turn left. He took the last steps but as soon as he turned around he realized that his isolated spot was actually already occupied. There was a woman from behind, sitting on a small stone bench, with her face turned towards the red sunset, the light wind was moving her hair and with it the hem of the short dress she was wearing. For the first time Alhaitham could not think; he was known for his intellectual qualities superior to the norm, and for always being a rational and cautious man in his actions. But this time it was as if his mind was turned off, struck by what his eyes were seeing. The woman moved her face slightly to observe the view from the other side too and the man immediately understood who he was looking at, it was you. The rotation of your head caused you to glimpse a male figure, gasping in fear. “Oh it's you Al, you scared me” you said giggling heavily, relieved it was him. “Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, I just didn't recognize you dressed like that,” he said, finally managing to compose himself. “The view from here is beautiful, right?” you said, turning your gaze to cover your embarrassment. The man answered after a while with a simple "definitely", which however was certainly not aimed at the sunset, but rather at the one thing that his eyes could no longer stop looking at. “Will you sit here with me or will you stand the whole time?” you asked, finally making the man come forward and sit next to you. You two looked at the sky for some time, in silence, without saying a word. However, if the two had opened their ears more, they would have heard a familiar laugh of joy coming from not far away; it was Kaveh who, woken up by the fall of the boiling pot, had gone out to get angry at Al for not paying attention but found him, after not a short time, with you. This made him explode with joy because he knew in his heart that he was partly the cause of everything that was happening, but also of his friend's first and only irresponsible behavior for which he could have teased him for a lot.

Kaveh=The city was so full of people that many had started to pass among the tables where other people were eating and drinking together. In fact, Cyno complained several times about this behavior while he was at a small square table with Kaveh, Alhaitham and Tighnari eating some skewers. The party was desert themed and for this reason you could occasionally see some child dressed as an Egyptian deity running through the crowd and stumbling due to the long white fabrics and the mask that partially covered their vision. Between one laugh and the next, time passed quickly but not having seen you yet caused a small sadness in Kaveh that he tried, as usual, to hide by transforming himself into the life of the party. After a couple of hours the boys were still sitting at the table talking about this and that when the blond felt hands covering his eyes and a figure standing out behind him. "Who is?" he asked . "Guess!". He immediately recognized your voice and showed the joy he had of knowing you were close with a big smile. “Y/n I know it's you, now let me see” he said laughing. You immediately did as requested and gave him a big hug from behind, wrapping your arms around his slender shoulders. Then you broke away and went to the other side of the table to say hello to all the boys. Due to the fact that you had suddenly appeared from behind, Kaveh hadn't yet been able to see you properly, but when he found yourself in his visual field, the boy was amazed. You wore a long white satin dress with two holes in the sides from which hung chains full of diamonds and gold decorations. The arms were covered by a thin white veil attached to the dress by a single seam at breast level while the back was completely empty, exept for a chain that started from the shoulders and went down in a "Y" shape until it found the fabric. In her hair there was a pin with a white flower and the face was decorated with long black eyeliner. Throughout the greetings, Kaveh had his eyes fixed on your outfit, so much that he didn't even realize that you were in the company of Collei (who was also equally dressed in the theme of the party) who immediately handed you a drink. The girl asked if you and her could join them and, after a positive nod from Tighnari, pulled up a chair and sat down next to him. You also did the same thing, but sat between Kaveh and Cyno. There was so much chaos and it was difficult to communicate between the music and the singing crowd. You sipped the drink your friend had offered you for the first time, exclaiming out loud that it tasted great, sure that no one had heard you. In reality you were wrong, as Kaveh took the moment to get close to your ear and whisper a phrase that would surely soon have more than unexpected results: "you're very good too".

#genshin impact #genshin imagines #genshin x reader #kaeya alberich #kaeya #genshin impact kaeya #diluc ragnvindr #diluc #diluc x reader #wriothesley #wriothesely x reader #alhaitham #alhaitham x reader #kaveh #kaveh x reader

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stitch-away · 16 days ago

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el novio de papi

pairing: marcus moreno x male reader

summary: marcus introduces you to his daughter and comes out as gay

tags: fluff, tooth rotting domestic fluff, coming out, very mild hurt/comfort (marcus cries a little), marcus is a goddamn sweetheart, missy too

word count: 1.3k

a/n: i have a hc that marcus is gay,,, no reason other than i said so. thought it'd be cute to write him coming out to missy <33 writers block ate my ass on this one so i kinda feel meh about it but we ball

pride month masterlist

marcus hasn’t been able to stop worrying. he’s called you five times in the past hour to check that you were still coming. of course you were, you wouldn’t miss this for the world.

you brush down your shirt and knock on the moreno’s front door. you aren’t wearing anything fancy but you know this is a big deal for marcus so you tried to at least dress presentable, a nice ironed shirt and pants rather than some graphic t-shirt and those tatty jeans you usually wear.

the door swings open to reveal a very clearly stressed marcus. his brow is furrowed, his eyes have bags under them and his hair is a mess.

“shit– marcus,” you say, grabbing his face and walking him backwards into the house, “baby, what’s wrong?”

“nada– i…” marcus sighs, exhaustion and stress ripe in his voice, “i didn’t get much sleep last night– i’ve just been worrying about today– i’m hardly even ready.”

“okay, amor, tranquilo,” you smile, hoping it will ease his worries, “everything is going to be fine, i promise. let’s get that hair sorted and we’ll sit down, okay?” marcus chuckles wearily as you run your fingers through his hair, straightening it out. he nods. “let’s just take this one moment at a time.”

you and marcus walk into the lounge, sitting down on the plush couch. you wrap an arm around his shoulder, placing your other hand on his knee.

“you ready to do this?” marcus shrugs.

“as ready as i’ll ever be,” he sighs, turning to face the hallway where missy’s bedroom is, “missy! can you come here, mija?” you hear missy call back before hearing her footsteps pad down the hall. you’d seen photos of missy before, marcus being far too proud of her to never show you her, but now you were actually meeting her. you’re starting to feel as nervous as marcus.

as she appears from the hallway, she has a bright smile and that same infectious joy that marcus carries with him every day. she’s undeniably his.

“what’s up, papi?” missy asks, walking over and sitting down on the other couch. she notices your arm around marcus and frowns. “who’s this?”

“you know how i said you were gonna meet someone today? someone important to papi?” marcus smiles nervously, taking your hand in his, “this is him. he’s my boyfriend.” marcus tells missy your name and waits on edge as missy processes the information.

“you’re dating?” marcus nods.

“i–i’m sorry, i wanted to tell you but i didn’t want to make it a big deal if it didn’t work out,” he says, “but it has– i’ve been really happy so i wanted to finally tell you. what do you think?” missy shrugs, it’s clear the cogs are turning behind her eyes, trying to process her father dating someone, let alone another man.

“but he’s a man,” she tilts her head, “how can you date a man?” marcus looks at you; he has to tell her now. with a small smile from you, marcus takes a deep breath and turns back to missy.

“i’m gay, mija,” he admits, forcing himself to keep looking at her, “i like other men. i know this might be strange to you, considering i was married to your mami, but it’s true.”

“i don’t understand,” she says, “how can you be gay if you married mami? she wasn’t a man. did you not love her?”

“no, no, baby, i loved her– i loved her a lot,” marcus sighs, looking down at the ring he still wears, “she was everything to me and nothing could change that. i just realised, now i’m older, that i like men– a lot more than i’ve ever liked a woman.” he pats next to him on the couch. “ven aquí.” missy does as he says, sitting down next to her father.

“i know this might be confusing– it was for me too,” marcus says, taking missy’s hands in his own, “i’ve always had feelings for other men, but i just ignored them because i thought they were wrong. but now i understand that they’re not, and i want you to know that too. i don’t want you to think that you’re ever wrong for the way you feel and i don’t want you to think that other people are wrong for how they feel, ¿bien?” missy nods.

“bien,” she smiles, hugging marcus, “i don’t care who you love. i just want you to be happy, papi.” marcus wraps his arms around missy, holding her tight to his chest.

“i’m really happy, mija,” he whispers, his voice growing hoarse as tears prick his eyes, “not just in my relationship, but that you’re okay with this.”

“aww papá, don’t cry,” missy chuckles as she wipes the falling tears from marcus’ cheeks. you shuffle closer to marcus, squeezing his hand in support. “te quiero, papá.”

“te quiero también,” he smiles, giving missy a kiss on the forehead before turning to you, “y tú. te quiero mucho, amor.”

“te quiero más,” you reply, pressing a kiss to his soft lips.

“ewwww,” missy groans, covering her eyes. you and marcus chuckle and pull away.

“okay, no kissing,” marcus smiles, taking missy’s hands off her eyes. you can see the love sparkling in both of their eyes. it makes you fall in love with marcus all over again.

“missy, your papá told me you like superheroes, like him,” you say, “my favourites are the x-men. i have a bunch of their comics if you’d wanna borrow them some time?” missy’s face lights up at the mention of superheroes.

“you have comics?” she smiles, “that’s so cool. we have a few too– some avengers ones but i really wanna read x-men ones.”

“that’s perfect, i’ll bring them round next time,” you smile, thankful you’ve found common ground with her, “if it’s okay with you, marcus, i think it’d be fun to have a superhero movie marathon tonight. how’s that sound.” missy practically jumps in marcus’ lap.

“pleaseeee, papi,” she begs, shaking marcus by the shoulders, “can we? pleaseee.” with a laugh, he turns to face you, giving you a look that tells you that you’ve opened a box that cannot be shut.

“sí, mija,” marcus sighs, smiling as he looks back at an overexcited missy, “we can watch movies tonight. together. you wanna go make some popcorn?” missy nods and hops off the couch, running into the kitchen.

shuffling to fully face you on the couch, marcus takes hold of both your hands, pressing a kiss to both.

“thank you for being patient with me, for waiting til i was ready to tell her,” he sighs, “she’s my whole world and i really wanted this to be perfect– and honestly, it couldn’t be more perfect. muchas gracias, mi amor.”

“aww marcus,” you smile, interlocking your fingers, “no need to thank me. i love you, i’ll always wait for you to be ready, i know this wasn’t easy for you. but you did it and i’m so proud of you.” you lean closer to marcus, resting your forehead against his. he looks like he might cry but before he can, missy returns.

“gross,” missy teases, chuckling as you two separate, “i came back to ask what flavour we want; butter or sweet and salty?” marcus wipes his eyes and leans back against the couch, moving his arm around your shoulder.

“whatever you prefer,” he smiles, “we don’t mind.”

“are you sure?” she asks, to which you nod, “awesome– butter it is.”

as she runs back into the kitchen, you melt into marcus’ arms. it truly feels like home in his arms, in his house, with his daughter preparing you popcorn for a movie night. your first family night together. it couldn’t be more perfect.

♡♡♡♡

tags: @perezososstuff @alfiestreacle @archive-of-ink

#marcus moreno #marcus moreno x reader #marcus moreno x male reader #pedrito pride month #pedro pascal #pedro pascal characters #pedro pascal fanfiction #pedritos #pedrito pairing #ppcu #ppcu fics #stitch-away

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bookloover35 · 7 months ago

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Sweet as Sugar- Jack Kelly x fem reader.

Jack Kelly x Plus-Size Baker!Reader

The smell of cinnamon and freshly baked bread wafted through the narrow streets of New York City. The morning sun cast golden light over the bustling market stalls, but Jack Kelly was in his usual spot, perched on a crate near the bakery window, sketchbook open on his lap. Every so often, he'd glance up at the woman behind the counter, her cheeks dusted with flour as she laughed and rolled out dough with practiced ease.

That was you.

The bakery was your pride and joy, tucked between a fruit stand and a tailor's shop. You'd taken it over after your father passed, determined to keep the family business alive. You didn't mind the early mornings or the long hours. What you loved most, though, were the Newsies—the scrappy, energetic boys who made your shop their unofficial headquarters.

"Morning, Miss Sweetheart!" Racetrack called as he pushed the door open, the bell jingling above him. You turned with a smile, hands busy tying up a box of fresh pastries.

"Morning, Race. Chocolate croissants today," you said, sliding the box across the counter. "For you and the boys. On the house."

His grin widened as he peeked inside. "You're a saint, y'know that? The boys'll flip for these."

Jack appeared behind him, his ever-present charm in full effect. "Morning, sugar."

"Morning, Jack," you replied, trying to ignore the warmth that spread across your cheeks. You'd known Jack for a while now—his quick wit and easy smile had drawn you in from the start. But you'd always been hesitant to hope for anything more.

Jack leaned against the counter, his hat pushed back on his head. "You spoil us, y'know that? You're like our fairy godmother or somethin'."

You laughed, a rich, full sound that made Jack's smile soften. "Someone's gotta keep you boys fed."

"Yeah, but why?" He tilted his head, a playful look in his eyes. "I mean, you could sell these for double what you charge us."

Your smile faltered, just for a second. "Because you remind me of family. And because everyone deserves something sweet now and then."

Jack nodded, his gaze lingering on you a little longer than necessary. There was something about the way you spoke—with such care and warmth—that made his chest ache. He wasn't used to people being kind for no reason.

Over the next few weeks, Jack found himself spending more and more time at the bakery. He'd bring his sketchbook, claiming the light was better near your window, or he'd offer to help you carry flour sacks, even though you always insisted you were fine.

One afternoon, after the rush had died down, you caught him staring at one of your pies with a curious look.

"Something wrong with the pie, Jack?" you teased, wiping your hands on your apron.

"Not the pie," he said, meeting your eyes. "Just thinkin' how much care you put into this place. Into us."

You shrugged, trying to play it off. "I like taking care of people. And baking's kinda my love language, I guess."

Jack raised an eyebrow, leaning a little closer. "Love language, huh? So what's it mean when someone sketches pictures of someone else all day?"

Your heart skipped a beat. "Depends on the pictures."

Jack reached into his sketchbook, flipping through pages until he found what he was looking for. He slid the book across the counter, and your breath caught. There you were, surrounded by flowers and pastries, your laugh practically coming off the page.

"I didn't know..." you started, but Jack interrupted.

"You're beautiful, Y/N," he said softly. "Not just in the way you look, but in how you care. How you light up a room. I wanted you to see yourself the way I see you."

Tears pricked your eyes as you looked at the drawing. "Jack, I..."

He reached across the counter, his fingers brushing against yours. "You don't gotta say anything if you don't want to. But I think you're somethin' special."

You smiled, warmth spreading through you. "You're not so bad yourself, Jack Kelly."

From then on, the bakery wasn't just a refuge for the Newsies. It became a place where you and Jack built something sweeter than any pastry—a connection that made the city feel just a little smaller and a lot more like home.

#wattpad #wattpadstories #wattpad story #my own words #jack kelly x reader #jeremy jordan jack kelly #jack kelly x fem reader #newsies #newsies x reader #newsies jack kelly

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dreaisgrayte · 1 year ago

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Under the Goddess' Veil [TEASER]

A/n: This fic was a tad bit spur of the moment to take a break from rewriting some of Lady of Amberguard. Turns out I really like the idea and haven't been able to stop writing on it for 2 days. I will say this will be a bit of plot in the first 4 or 5 thousand words but from then on...dear Lord forgive me for the absolute FILTH I have planned.

Description: I'll give a silly one for right now, basically a maiden gets sacrificed to 5 dragons and a lot of fucking happens. The end.

Pairings: Obanai Iguro, Sanemi Shinazugawa, Giyuu Tomioka, Uzui Tengen, and Kyojuro Rengoku x reader

ENJOY!

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

“I was supposed to be sacrificed to you for the honor of my village…” You trail off, trying to connect the dots. You glance in the direction of Sanemi, his usually stern eyes softening when they connect with yours. “Are you going to eat me?” Your words sound pitiful, like you had accepted that fact already – and you had. You’d be raised on the single constant that you would be fed to the Gods atop the neverending tips.

Uzui appears in front of you, a lazy smirk playing with his lips as he leans down to be eye level with you. “Not in the way you’re thinking.” He purrs, rolling his smirk into his mouth.

Kyojuro pushes forward, his long hair whipping in the wind Obanai was still creating. “Your humans assume when we request a maiden to be given to us that we would feast upon her supple flesh,” He sighs, looking at Obanai as he speaks. “Every century our loneliness becomes unbearable. There was the occasional soul that attempted to harm us, wanting to take the hoard for themself, but that didn’t last long. Other draconics would visit us, but some of them would fight for our territory.” Your eyes are drawn to Sanemi again and his plethora of scars. He avoids your gaze at all costs, he finds the outer wall of the cave particularly interesting.

Kyojuro continues with a solemn smile. “Then one day a beautiful woman found her way into the lower tunnels. She came begging us to help her village, people were sick – dying. She was ready to give anything to us for the sake of the people.”

Uzui, who is leaning against the wall, pipes up again. “So she gave us her body.” Your brows knit together. Her body? What exactly did that mean? Kyojuro shoots him a glare before setting himself in front of your gaze, staring into your eyes.

“The women before you were scared, frightened of the big bad monsters within the Ponorich peaks. Most of them tried to escape with no avail…they would get lost and starve or stay within our sight and do the same thing. There were others that would find our hoard and selfishly conspire to harm us to take it.” Kyojuro’s eyes are bright swirls. “We want a mate, a bride.” Bride…you had dreamed about a day adorned with joy once. It had been a quick thought, squashed by the reality that you understood from a very young age. Though, now perhaps you could live the life that had been taken away from you.

The wind dies down and you quickly look behind to find Obanai stepping onto the edge in a graceful manner. He nods his head at you, an ethereal glow still present in his eyes. It made your stomach dip in the strangest way. "You can have one of us,” He waves his arm to the group of men, their eyes trained on you. Obanai steps forward, picking up your hands softly. You peer at him through your lashes. “Or all of us." He finishes. A distinguishing feeling glides through your very being. Something that tells you if you were going to die for the village the least you could do was live for them.

"I-I'd like to have all of you..." You stammer, your confidence dropping with every second. When did you decide to become so brazen? Here you were, a maiden surrounded by five men that surely looked upon you with heat and desire.

"Are you sure you can handle that little doe? Becoming the wife of five hungry dragons isn't going to be easy. You will ache when you are without us and you will ache when you are with us." Giyuu coos, placing a hand on your back. It sends licks of warmth that jolt to where you had never been touched.

“You will become ours in every way possible.” Uzui is now to your other side, hand upon your waist. “We will take you whenever we want,” A piece of hair falls to the side of his ear, distracting you for a moment until he brings your gaze back to him with fingers under your chin. “And you can take us whenever you want.”

Kyojuro hangs his arms around your shoulders, placing himself square behind you. The thin material of your slip does nothing to hide the warmth radiating off the man. “When our heat occurs you will have to be careful. One of us may ravish you and then two more join in.” He nudges your head with affection and your stomach stirs.

“Are you willing to make sacrifices?” Sanemi asks, still standing a few feet away from the huddle the rest of them had now created around you.

“I was raised to do so.” You reply, a confident nod moving your head.

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milkteacrumblecake · 5 months ago

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Well this is my first AU I’m posting, so I hope you like it. (／≧ω＼)

>——————————————————————————-<

Double Life AU

Part 1

After the failed extermination, and the death of Adam. The hotel was rebuilt, all returned to normal. 300 years went by in a flash with Charlie hotel being a success. And her dream of having sinners being redeemed came true. The extermination was stopped and dismantled resulting in the exorcist being disbanded. Lucifer was so proud of his daughter.

Lucifer standing in the hotel lobby chatting to his darling daughter: Char, how everything is going so far honey. I thought I would swing by and check up on you before I go to my meeting with the sins.

Charlie rolls her eyes and smiles: Everything is going fine as usual dad,I have a meeting with Emily later on. But enough that you seem more happy lately, did something good happened?

Lucifer beams with joy of how proud he was for his daughter. Then sweats and smiles nervously: Oh you know the usual created more ducks, and I started getting into a new hobby baking.

Charlie is excited and hugs her dad: That’s wonderful dad, I’m glad you’re trying new hobbies. I’m so proud of you

Lucifer releases a sign of relief: Oh look at the time sweetie it looks like I got to go. I shall come by tomorrow to check up on you. Tell Maggie I said hi

Charlie: Ok dad I see you later, would you also bring some of your baked goods by the hotel? I would love to have the hotel resident to try your baked goods.

Lucifer smiles and waves goodbye: Okay Char I do that, I see you later.

Charlie waves him off: By dad

Lucifer then opened the portal and stepped into a lush green forest. Lucifer put on his human disguise, he has blue eyes, pale skin, claws turned into human hands, red circles on his cheeks change into a light blush, nose and ears. As he makes his way out of the forest towards the cabin. Lucifer stands at the front door, and dust himself off and fix his clothes and hair. With a snap of his fingers, a bouquet of sunflowers appeared.

Lucifer takes a deep breath and smiles as he proceeds to open the door and steps into the cabin: Honey, I’m home!

A beautiful woman with long wavy red and brown auburn hair that reaches down to her butt. With striking gold eyes that simmer when the sun reflects it. Sun kiss tan skin, and curvy in all the right places. Wearing a long flowing white sundress with sunflowers embroidered in it with a pair of white sandals. Adele walks from the kitchen to her husband and kisses him on the lips. Notice the flowers Lucifer holding: Lu-bear welcome home and happy 5th anniversary. Oh, are these for me they’re so beautiful and my favorite flowers.

Lucifer melts into her kiss and smiles as he hands her the flowers: Anything for my darling beautiful wife and happy 5th anniversary love.

Adele blushes as she sticks the sunflowers in a vase, her husband has a way with words: I made all your favorites Lu-bear, I made you this, I hope you like it

Adele went to receive Lucifer's present under their shared bed and proceeded to hand it to him. Lucifer smiles and proceeds to open his gift and his eyes wide. As he pulls out a cardigan that looks at it as the most precious thing he ever gotten. It looks like it’s been crocheted, and proceeds to put it on. It’s a white cardigan with little ducks and apples crocheted into it.

Lucifer gave Adele a deep passionate kiss: Dove I love it, this is the best gift I ever gotten.

Adele was breathless and flush and a bit dizzy: I’m glad you love it Lu-bear.

Lucifer pulls out a small box and proceeds to hand it to Adele: Dove I also got you something

Adele opens the box and there sits a gold heart locket with two ducks cuddling together. Adele opens the locket and it has a picture of them on their wedding day.

Adele smiles so brightly: Oh Lu-bear I love it, would you put it on me.

Lucifer's eyes softened and smiles. He took the necklace out if the box’s and put it around Adele’s neck: Of course dove, allow me

Adele hugs and kiss him again: I love you Lu-bear

Lucifer grins with a goofy smile, with lust in his eyes and wiggles his eyebrows: I love you too dove, shall we make love?

Adele’s blushes and laughs: What about dinner?

Lucifer smiles mischievous and picks up Adele bridal style and starts to kiss her while heading towards their shared bedroom: We can eat after, and besides I would rather eat you first.

Adele's eyes widened and her breath hitch: L-Lu!

Lucifer laughs as he throws Adele onto the bed and climbs on top of her and made love to Adele. Morning rays leaked through the blinds, and the morning birds were chirping. Adele slowly woke up and noticed Lucifer wasn’t there in their bed. But there was a note left by Lucifer that said.

“Dove, I have an important meeting this morning for work, sorry I couldn’t be there when you woke up. But I made you my famous pancakes, I see you as soon as my meeting is over. I love you with all my heart and soul Dove. ~Love, Lucifer ”

Adele was sad, but she understands his job is important and she knows he always makes it up to her. Adele gets ready for today, puts on a light green dress with a white cardigan, and a pair of brown slides. Adele heads towards the kitchen and has some breakfast that her husband made her.

Down in Hell

Lucifer arrives at the Hotel with the baked goods he promised his daughter: Char, I brought the goodies!

Charlie excitedly smiles: Thanks dad your the best

Charlie grabs the container of sweets and hands them to her wife Vaggie to put away. Charlie notices her dad wearing a handmade cardigan.

Charlie: Dad, that's a cute cardigan, did you make it?

Lucifer beams with pride, and puffs out his chest: My wi— I mean my friend yes friend made it as a gift.

Charlie: You made a friend dad. I would love to meet them.

Lucifer sweats nervously: Ah well they’re one of my old friends you already met. So there's no need for you to meet them again.

Charlie looks at him curiously: Who

Lucifer think to himself he would apologize to Ozzie later: Your Uncle Ozzie made this as a gift for me

Charlie: Uncle Ozzie! I wonder if he can make me a unicorn and rainbow one. I’m going to text him right now.

Lucifer eyes wide and panics: No Char! I let Ozzie know, I’m supposed to meet with him later on today.

Charlie jumped a bit: Are you sure dad

Lucifer: Yes Sweetie, how about we have some sweets I made and some tea? And you tell me how your meeting with Emma go.

Charlie: Okay dad can Vaggie join us as well?

Lucifer relaxed: Of course sweetie go ahead and get Maggie. And I go prepared the tea and snacks.

To be continued……….

#hazbin hotel #adamsapple #hazbin hotel adam #hazbin hotel lucifer #female adam #double life au #lucifer x adam

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aelita-sucks · 3 months ago

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Chapter 1 - Reunion

╰┈➤ ❝ Next Chapter ❞

Summer.

Season of joy.

Freedom.

Vitality.

The favorite season of many humans. It’s warm. Everything is in full bloom. The city is vibrant.

But all the vibrancy is lost in his eyes. It hasn’t been present for a long, long time now.

Elias finds himself in a grocery store because, while immortals don't need to eat, they most definitely enjoy it. Food is one of the few enjoyable things these last few decades. Around him, people are busy with their own responsibilities and shopping lists, some doing what they’re supposed to, some engaging in conversations.

Listening in on regular people somehow always pulls him out of whatever melancholy that lurks in his ancient mind, but this time, not even that is a distraction. So now lost in his thoughts he walks around, looking over different articles when out of nowhere, he bumps into something, or rather – someone.

‘’Oh, shit, sorry, I–’’

He has to pause. A dumbfounded look on his face. It takes him half a second to realize who she is – the hue of those blue eyes is unmistakable. After an awkward pause, he offers her his hand and pulls her up, but he doesn’t take his dark eyes off of her.

He has lived a lot, well over 2000 years now, and he always finds her, always finds that haunting beauty each time she’s reborn—this time she’s a woman, short with a curvy build. Oh, how many times has he touched those curves, kissed the flesh that her beautiful soul wears? By now he’s an addict.

Her hair is very different from the last time. It’s as black as the night sky, and long, curling down to her waist. Her skin is now pale, almost white. That’s fine, he already loves it—loves her long lashes, her rosy lips. Her face, however, looks the same. Sharp jaw, perfect nose, and her eyes, the everlasting feature. He knows that shade by heart, has every line and dot memorized. She may wear a hundred different bodies, but those eyes will forever remain the same, their bright blue so different from his own almost black ones, a mirror into the soul’s depth.

And suddenly a smile forms on his lips. The colors slowly start returning in his vision the more he looks at her – what a sight for a sore eye.

‘’I didn’t see you, you always take me by surprise,’’ he says with a nervous chuckle, smiling sheepishly. This is their… shit, he has no idea, but it feels like it’s the first meeting all over again.

She blinks up at him, her eyes locking onto his dark ones. There’s a small frown creasing her forehead, her cheeks reddened with embarrassment. She doesn't appreciate being knocked down by handsome strangers, it seems.

‘’No, I– what? You weren’t looking where you were going!’’ She grumbles as she accepts his hand and stands on her feet.

Ah, there’s that boldness, he thinks with a grin, crouching to collect the groceries she’s dropped. She was rarely shy.

‘’Mm, yeah, that does sound like me,’’ he says lightheartedly. He hands her the items he picked up, and his head tilts to the side, observing, hoping for a small, small chance she’ll recognize his soul, his smile, his eyes—anything. But there’s nothing there.

She raises an eyebrow, looking him up and down, taking in his appearance: the golden locks, olive skin, tall and muscular frame. ‘’You don’t say. Do you make a habit of knocking people over, or am I just special?’’

He just grins at her statement.

‘’Oh, you have no idea.’’

‘’Was that supposed to be flattery?’’

A chuckle escapes her as she takes the cereal box from his hands, putting it back in her basket amongst an assortment of fruits. It looks out of place.

"Take it as you please." The grin doesn't leave his face—so far, so good! He glances at her cart, overflowing with her selections. "So… you always buy this much fruit and veggies, or are you feeding a small army?"

She scoffs playfully, catching onto his attempt at conversation. "Ever heard of meal prepping? Some of us like to have a plan."

"A plan? Sounds exhausting. I’m more of a ‘grab whatever looks good and hope for the best’ kind of guy."

His smile never falters—she's beautiful as ever, and seeing her after nearly 50 years is so refreshing. Her laughter, melodic and genuine, makes his heart skip a beat, and he’s not sure why he feels nervous—they’ve done this countless times before. He feels a weird ache in his stomach.

"That explains a lot."

"I'm sorry, what’s that supposed to mean?" He doesn’t allow the banter to die down in the hopes that she’ll remember, feel that they've done this before.

"You just have that ‘winging it’ energy. Like you talk your way into things instead of planning ahead." Her words are followed by a smirk. If only she knew how much he’s actually planning.

"Now that’s just slander. I’ll have you know I’m very calculated in my bad decisions."

"I don't think that's something to be proud of."

"Well, you stick to your good decisions and exhausting meal prepping, then."

The pull between the two is so familiar, unmistakable. Fate has brought them together once more, and now it's time for him to make his way into her heart again, to cradle her mortal body and take care of her immortal soul, make sure no harm comes her way. He has sworn to be her protector centuries ago. He's determined to keep that promise.

He gives her an appraising glance and straightens up, making himself look a little bigger, more confident, hoping his next line won’t come off as too cheesy if he acts like it isn’t.

"You know, I feel like we’ve met before."

The tilt of her head and the roll of her eyes tell him that he is, in fact, being cheesy, but the corner of her lips are tilted upwards— he's amusing her. Good, it should be easy from here. He just has to get her number now.

"Wow. That’s an original line."

"It’s not a line if it’s true."

He follows her eyes. She's the one studying him now, trying to figure him out. His heart gives a hopeful thud – maybe this time she'll remember him, or maybe she just feels the spark of their souls recognizing one another even if her mind just needs to catch up.

"Maybe I just have one of those faces."

"Maybe. But I don’t think so. Something tells me we go way back." Please remember.

"Oh? Like long-lost childhood friends? Secretly related? Maybe you were my neighbor’s annoying kid?" She snorts, and he might just die from the way her eyes sparkle with amusement.

He lets out a dramatic gasp, placing a hand on his heart as if deeply wounded. "Annoying? Now that’s just unfair. I would’ve been your favorite."

"You’re confident, I’ll give you that."

There’s another pause. His loneliness will finally end, the world will get its colors back, now that she's here, it will be better, but there's some lingering uneasiness in the back of his mind. Things would be so much easier on them if only she had the ability to remember, they would have more time.

"You really don’t remember, do you?" His voice is soft, almost a whisper. He hadn’t meant for her to hear, but she blinks, looking a little put out.

"What?"

He laughs in an attempt to brush it off. "Nothing. Just… I swear we’ve met before. Maybe in another life." He repeats, not even sure why. The ache in his stomach is messing with his mind. It's not like him to be nervous like this.

"Okay, now you’re definitely flirting." She rolls her eyes, tucking a stray lock of black hair behind her ear.

He mentally puts himself together as quickly as he can. "Would it work if I was?"

"Depends. Are you the kind of guy who asks for a girl’s number in the middle of a grocery store? Not very romantic."

"I could write you a poem about oranges if that would make it more romantic." He smirks at her laugh.

"Most definitely flirting, then."

"Hey, you brought up the number and romance thing, not me." He puts his hands up in mock surrender. ‘’Not my fault fate is involved as well.’’

"Uh-huh. So you just planned on running into me again, or something? Make it look like fate?" She narrows her eyes. She might be charmed, but she’s wary—she won’t just give in. He didn’t expect her to. But if there’s one thing he has, it’s time to work it out, so for now, he only grins.

"See? You get me."

"Yeah, or I'm just good at pattern recognition. Lots of creeps around.’’

“I don't know what kind of creeps you've been around, but I'm getting concerned. How about I help you with those?” He holds out his hand, waiting for her to hand him the shopping basket. “All this meal prep material seems heavy.”

"Oh, are you doubting my strength now? That’s sexist." She hands him the basket anyway. Who would refuse having their stuff carried?

‘’Wha- No! I'm just trying to be a gentleman, you know.’’ It’s his turn to roll his eyes. He’ll never get tired of her ability to get under his skin. He takes the basket and follows her around as she picks up a few more items.

‘’I’m just teasing you, you know. But I guess it’s a way to pay me back for knocking me down and damaging my oranges.’’

‘’Your oranges are fine. You’ve always been dramatic.’’

‘‘And how would you know?’’

‘’I told you already, we go way back!’’ He teases once again, although he knows she won’t pick up on the actual implication behind his words.

The banter continues all the way to the register, making them seem like a married couple, and in his mind, they will be one, she just doesn’t know it yet. He follows her to her car, carrying both their groceries in his arms. She unlocks it and opens the trunk. It’s a nice car, though he’s not sure what it is—he’d never been too interested in cars.

But then he notices something he’s not really fond of.

Baby on board sticker. It won’t hurt to ask and find out, right?

‘’Is it yours?’’ He asks, referring to the car.

‘’Nope, it’s my sister’s, I’m just borrowing it for today. Mine is at the workshop.’’ She doesn't look at him as she answers, too busy loading the trunk.

‘’Oh, I see, she has a kid?’’

‘’Yes, two kids, actually, three and five years old.’’

‘’That must be a handful, no?’’

‘’Nah, you’re probably just bad with kids.’’ ‘’HEY, I’m actually great with kids, thank you very much, I just have none of my own.’’ he grumbles while loading the trucks with her groceries and closing it. “How long has it been in the workshop? I have this one friend that's a really good mechanic, bet I could get you a good discount. All it costs is your number.”

“Ah, now I can't pay for my own car to be fixed? Wow, sexist for sure.”

“Hey- stop! I'm just trying to be nice here, and I don't doubt you, someone who can afford all this meal prep material can definitely afford a fixed car.” he can tell she's just joking around, and he's loving it, loving how she’s trying to get under his skin and display confidence.

“Okay, okay, I didn't know I was working with a sensitive flower over here,” she rolls her eyes for the - who knows what time now, and there's a moment of hesitation from her side, something he has never really seen her do before. It's the way she bites the inside of her cheek and how she glances at him before looking at her feet and then sighing. She returns her gaze on him.

“I...guess I could take your offer, hand me your phone.”

And Elias does so without hesitation, handing her his phone with a victorious grin on his face. He can clearly see her eyebrows furrowed in uncertainty about the whole thing, she seems almost anxious, he doesn't like that look on her at all, but he keeps up his casual demeanor. He’ll figure her out, he always does. Constantly reincarnating means she always grows up in different surroundings, with different people and cultures – it’s never boring with her. Once she hands him back his phone, he looks at the contact name, happy that he finally got to learn it.

“Renna…pretty name, but i think mean grocery store lady fits better.”

She just shakes her head disapprovingly before opening her car door and settling down into the driver’s seat. She chooses not to engage in more banter.

“That mechanic friend of yours better be a good one, stranger.”

“It's Elias, actually, but i could live with ‘stranger’, if i must.’’

“Elias…’’ she repeats his name ‘’I guess I'll hear from you, just don't make it creepy.”

“Don't you have meal prep to deal with?!” he scoffs in a playful manner, and she just smiles fondly before closing the car door, starting the engine and taking off.

A sense of longing and warmth spreads through his chest as he follows her car with his gaze. He can't help but feel fulfilled once more, but something is off. Something deep down is telling him not to get ahead of himself. Renna is…a little different this time, still an extroverted maniac but she seems too wary of him. He brushes it off for now, he’ll learn eventually, he always had a way of crawling under her skin, settling there and making her his home. He sighs. If only it could last an eternity.

╰┈➤ ❝ Next Chapter ❞

#writing #original work #original character #chapter 1 #soulmates #reunion #immortality #romance #fluff #first meeting #eventual angst #eventual romance #first work #writers on tumblr #writers on ao3 #fiction

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blorger · 7 months ago

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I have a confession to make: I love Pansy Parkinson.

I love her little snub nose, I love her big DH moment (even though as readers we're supposed to hate it) but, most of all, I love her because jkr hates her.

I'm not being hyperbolic when I say this either, we have it straight from the horse's mouth:

I loathe Pansy Parkinson. I don't love Draco but I really dislike her. She's every girl who ever teased me at school. She's the Anti-Hermione. I loathe her. Yeah, sorry! Sidetracked there by my latent bitterness.

("PotterCast Interviews J.K. Rowling, part two." PotterCast #131, 24 December 2007)

I recently found myself wondering how, for a self-professed Pansy stan, I sure know very little about her as a character. If we take aside the fact that I derive psychic joy from being a contrarian (especially when it comes to jkr and her garbage views), is book Pansy actually an interesting character or do I just like the Pansy that the fandom's collective unconscious created? Who even is Pansy, really?

Because I'm me and there's no problem that can't be answered by amassing huge amounts of informations, I went ahead and prepared

a Persuasive Primer to Pansy Parkinson

PART 1: PANSY'S PERSONAGE

The character of Pansy Parkinson has been present in the Harry Potter series since book 1. Her name shows up briefly during Harry's sorting since she's close to him in the class list but her first real appearance occurs during the Remembrall Incident, where jkr sets up two of her character's mainstays: her looks and her meanness.

This very first description of Pansy's face as severe and pitiless-looking is perhaps the kindest one we get in the books, since the only other times Harry, our narrator, bothers to describe her appearance he calls her pug-faced, which incidentally is where we as a fandom (and, clearly, the HP movies casting directors) got the idea that she has a snub nose.

Other than these vague and unkind descriptors, Pansy's looks are left to our imagination; the brunette bob she is well known for is a movie creation and the only other description relating to her appearance is that of the robes she wears for the Yule Ball in book 4, which are very frilly and pale pink.

As any scholar of JKR Studies worth their salt can tell you, jkr is a consummate misogynist who loathes pink and only uses it in order to give a negative connotation to something/someone; pink=girly, which is bad, and frilly=superfluously, ostentatiously girly, which is the worst possible thing a female character in the jkr extended universe can be. jkr has a lot of opinions on what constitutes an acceptable performance of femininity and the character of Pansy Parkinson exists to exemplify the complete opposite of that.

PART 2: A PERNICIOUS PERSONALITY

What can we learn from Pansy's tone? Firstly that she is shrill and annoying, as she shrieks and screeches; in her role as part of Draco's entourage she's both a mindless follower who simpers and an active participant who spreads gossip and maligns by whispering and giggling mean-spiritedly.

jkr created Pansy in the image of the girls who bullied her in her youth so Pansy has an entourage all of her own, an unnamed gang of Slytherin girls (they're always referred to as such, no further description provided) who appear in a greek chorus-like fashion to herald the bullying of Hermione (Ideal Woman and self-insert supreme).

So, what can we learn from Pansy's insults? well, for one that she doesn't like "fat little crybabies", as shown in the excerpt above. Furthermore, when she's not parroting Draco's insults, Pansy shows a single minded preoccupation with the life and looks of one Hermione Jean Granger

(from GoF, Pansy has Opinions of Rita's Skeeter's aricle)

(from GoF, Pansy is there to show us that Hermione was Beautiful All Along)

(from GoF, Pansy helps Rita Skeeter with her character piece)

(from GoF, Hermione suffers the fallout from Rita's article, Pansy is vigilant to any and all Hermione news)

We'll look more closely at Pansy and Hermione's relationship in a short while but for now let us focus on more of Pansy's barbs; I would like to take to this moment to highlight the following:

(from OoTP, Draco's gang shows up to the Gryffindor quidditch practice to do some heckling)

I find it notable that the only time Pansy insults the looks of someone who isn't Hermione it's when she makes a racist microaggression towards Angelina Johnson, one of the very few black characters in the books. While this is unquestionably vile behaviour, I struggle with interpreting jkr's intentions: does jkr even know and/or understand microaggressions? Is Pansy's insult even meant to be interpreted as racist? Does racism as we know it even exist in the hp universe?

Personally, I've always gotten the impression that the wizarding world was meant to represent a post-racial society in a very United Colors of Benetton, "I don't see race" kind of way that is very typical of nineties pseudo-liberalism, no doubt to give more space to her blood purity system (and because someone like jkr has no interest in even mentioning the pervasive effects of racism in society). Still, let's not discount what is no doubt one of Pansy's lowest moments in the books, regardless of the reading we choose vis à vis jkr's intent.

To cleanse our palates, here's a more benign insult:

(from OoTP, Harry and Cho's date is but a collection of unfortunate moments)

While I'd put the Cedric reference pretty high on the Insensitivity Scale, I find myself reluctantly entertained by Pansy's drive-by read, especially because Harry IS a garbage boyfriend to Cho.

What else do we know about Pansy's personality from the books? For one, that she likes unicorns but considers showing it outright to be undignified:

(from PoA)

We know that Pansy is made a Prefect in OotP and, while the books never specify the parameters used to choose Prefects and Hermione implies Pansy wasn't chosen for her smarts ("she's thicker than a concussed troll" is the actual quote, though Hermione's objectivity is questionable), we can assume that, at the very least, she is somewhat of a leader among the Slytherin girls (on account of the aforementioned gang).

Finally, we never hear Pansy's opinion on blood purity although it's safe to assume that it's not terribly progressive on account of the company she keeps.

PART 3: PASSIONATE PARAMOUR

While the books never state conclusively wether Pansy and Draco are ever a couple (in fact, neither of them says a word about the other in the books), we know both from statements jkr has made irl and from the in-universe characters' opinions that we are supposed to treat them as a couple of sorts. The evidence for that is as follows:

Draco is implied to exagerate the extent of his Buckbeak injury in order to garner sympathy from Pansy in PoA:

Pansy is Draco's date to GoF's Yule Ball

the infamous carriage scene in HBP:

and

Ron assumes that the boasting witnessed by Harry on the train was done in order to impress Pansy.

and

Regardless of wether you want to read their relationship as romantic or not, Draco and Pansy clearly hang out together a lot from the ages of 13 onwards; Pansy is often mentioned as part of Draco's posse together with Crabbe and Goyle and she's further shown as an active participant in his various schemes, most notably in the popularisation of Weasley is Our King:

(from OotP)

Pansy appears to have a genuine interest in Draco's wellbeing as shown by her concern when Draco is injured by Buckbeak in PoA:

and

Pansy if further shown to be understandably upset when Harry guts Draco like a fish in HBP:

So we can conclude that, although we have no idea of Draco's feelings, Pansy feels authentic affection for Draco.

PART 4: HERMIONE HATER?

Pansy is positioned as sort of the Female Draco: while Draco's job is to antagonize Harry and Ron, Pansy is there to deliver the Girl insults to Hermione, the Girl One of the trio. While jkr's intention was no doubt to paint Pansy as a straightforward bully, her singleminded interest in Hermione displays the same pigtail-pulling connotations as Draco's behaviour throughout the books.

Their first exchange comes by courtesy of Hermione, who hits her with her trademark condescension, which seems to specifically drive Slytherins mad like nothing else (the first "mudblood of the books comes as a direct response to one such occasion):

(from GoF, Pansy enjoys the potter stinks badges, hermione begs to disagree)

Following this exchange, we start to see Pansy engage in your typical Mean Girl behavior, which, apart from the preoccupation with her looks shown above, also includes laughing at Hermione's expense:

(from GoF, Hermione was hit by a stray curse and her teeth grew to a comical size)

and

(from GoF, Pansy shows hermione the infamous "harry is in love with Hermione" article by Rita Skeeter, which features a quote from her)

While we never see Hermione respond in kind (since her preferred method of dealing with bullies is the could shoulder), we know that this behavior definitely colors her opinion of Pansy

(from OotP, Hermione is displeased when Pansy is made Prefect)

and

(from OotP, Fred and George's departure from school left a vacuum in the prankster hierarchy and all manners of students jumped up to fill the spot)

All in all, we don't have a very precise read on the relationship between the two: do Pansy and Hermione exchange barbs whenever they meet? are they enemies or is Hermione a sainted martyr suffering in silence (on account of her moral superiority)? Just how closely do they parallel Harry and Draco's rivalry? You decide.

PART 5: PANSY'S POLEMICAL POSITION

Finally, we come to Pansy's Big Moment

(from DH, Pansy says the quiet part out loud and is banished for it)

During the Battle of Hogwarts, Pansy displays the ultimate act of Evil (in jkr's eyes) by not behaving Bravely when faced with an impossible decision. To give context, Voldemort has just given the students of Hogwarts a way out of the whole mess:

Personally, I hate this scene. Pansy doesn't know shit about just how essential Harry is to ending the whole shebang; furthermore, she's just a scared student living out her own version of the trolley problem and yet the narrative frames her (imho) understandable reaction not only as unforgivable cowardice on her part but has a condemnation of Slytherin house as a whole.

I hate how the Hogwarts student body is alternatively portrayed as a mindless horde whose opinion can be swayed by the faintest of rumors (as seen by public opinion turning on Harry in CoS, GoF and OotP) and as a prop to show the Right Way. The Hogwarts student body is essentially pulling a Spartacus moment except their reactions are somehow neatly divided into Houses: it's not some individuals who choose to react bravely and motivate the rest, its the Gryffindors as a whole, moving like a single-minded hive, who influence the other single-minded hives of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaw. The individuality of all of these people is ignored in service of an impactful scene and the one person who shows a dissenting thought is summarily removed (together with the Evil Slytherin hive, which did not express any opinions but is nonetheless blackened by association).

jkr's bullshit black-and-white worldview rears its ugly head here and what could have been a genuinely moving moment of student solidarity - showing people from different backgrounds coming to the defense of Hogwarts together - becomes a condemnation of those who dare oppose the righteous horde instead.

In a moment in the books that feels very biblical, the non-believer who dares doubt the Savior is shunned and summarily dealt with (which opens up a whole can of worms about the Jesus-ification of Harry that I'm not prepared to go into). Pansy is merely a prop in this scene, a stand-in for the whole of her house, yet I appreciate her very human reaction: she's the only person in that room to show individuality, expressing the fear and doubt that most people would feel when placed in a similar situation.

I appreciate how Pansy goes against the grain in one of my least favorite scenes in the books but I acknowledge that her big moment is not really about her, nor does it tell us anything about her character that we didn't already know: All Slytherins Are Evil and the best they can hope for is to just be slimy and opportunistic (à la Slughorn) instead of straight up villains.

PART 6: PERSONAL PERORATION (or: I really shot myself in the foot with the whole alliteration thing)

So, what did we learn kids? First of all that the Pansy in the books, as intend by jkr, is an irredeemable, uninteresting shitstain, less of a fully-formed character and more like a vaguely defined caricature of a Mean Girl.

While my instinct is to go against this cartoonish portrayal and attempt to read some complexity in her thoughts and motivations, I acknowledge that, to some, Pansy is forever tainted by the harsh way in which she's depicted and therefore will forever remain unlikeable. Personally, I find myself drawn by characters with seemingly nebulous motivations and, since I don't share jkr's shitty deterministic worldview, I can see scenarios where she grows as a person; I enjoy seeing different explorations of her characters in fics just like I enjoy reading about her fellow b-team villains in general.

Choose the path that sparks the most joy for you and live your truths my friends, ignore this primer completely or allow it to change (or reinforce) your opinion of Pansy, your feelings are valid regardless.

xoxo

#hp #hp meta #harry potter meta #Pansy Parkinson #the blorger special #it didn't fit anywhere else but #fic Pansy is often either a lipstick lesbian of a helpful fag hag and I find that entertaining #fanon pansy is fun and that is a major reason why I like her #pansy my beloved

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animeyanderelover · 2 years ago

Text

Tw: Yandere themes, unhealthy relationship, possessive behavior, obsession, overprotective behavior, jealousy, paranoia, abduction, violence, death

Tags: @saiyara05 @shellofthewell

Words: 8.1k

The CEO and her bodyguard Pt.2

Pt.1

Months flew by faster than he had expected as he grew familiar with his duties as well as the people around him. It wasn't quite as boring as he had initially assumed. He wouldn't complain about it obviously, not with the amount of money he earned every month by following you and successfully intimidating about everybody that crossed his path.

It wasn't like he had much action within the job besides glaring at someone when they got a bit aggressive or irritated with you, something he had started doing when Yukimaru Aki had told him that no one was allowed to disrespect you or question your position as the CEO. As much as the little lady was bickering with you daily, she genuinely cared about you. Sone Kazuma wasn't much different as Toji had quickly realized. Both of your closest friends and assistants were more shady than what they initially appeared to be like and it was all done for your protection and reputation.

The most entertaining part about his job was actually watching you three who honestly appeared sometimes more like a trio of comedians than three of the most influential figures in Japan with your company. So whilst he wasn't able to beat anyone up as you usually were against any form of violence due to only minor incidents, he at least got a good laugh out of watching Sone, Yukimura and you at times. He had some memories he dared to title as fond since they had managed to elicit a chuckle out of him or had pleasantly surprised him.

~~~

His head was leaning back as he stared at the wall of the room, your gibberish white noise as he tried to somehow survive the sheer boredom of the presentation you were currently presenting to a few of higher-ranked members of your company. A presentation with fucking 39 foils plastered with statistics, charts and numbers. Aki had helped you putting everything together as she had essentially imprisoned you in your apartment for hours the last few weeks, discussing and planning everything with you.

Initially he had seriously thought that you couldn't do it as you had whined and begged and protested for her to let you off the hook because the both of you had still time but your best friend had remained firm in her decision. But in this moment you were doing surprisingly well, looking professional as you stood in front of the long table and had memorized everything that was written on the foils. You appeared to be in your flow as you fluently explained everything and suggested changes and adjustments for the feature. You almost looked like a different person.

Until suddenly someone stormed through the door, panting and gasping for breath, her cheeks flushed red as she sputtered out some apologies before flopping down onto her chair as Sone, who just happened to sit next to her, offered her a bottle of water. The younger woman wheezed out a "thank you" before taking a few gulps of the water. And just like that your focused appearance vanished into thin air as a grin stretched your face.

"Midori-chan! You came? Does that mean that...?" You didn't finish your question but he could see that you were slightly bouncing on your heels as you giddily looked at her with expecting eyes. She gave you a nod as a grin also broke free on her face.

"I'm officially an aunt now."

"Oh my god! Congratulations! What's his name? Is your brother fine? Is your sister-in-law alright? Is it really alright for you to be already here? I wouldn't have minded if you would have just taken the day off to spend some time with your little nephew! Tell me everything!" You rambled excitedly as you walked quickly over to her and grabbed her hands in your own, your eyes sparkling with joy and happiness. Midori on the other hand seemed a tiny bit flustered with your sudden intimacy and the onslaught of questions but she most likely didn't say anything because you were her boss.

"Both are doing fine. They're just a bit exhausted from everything. His name is Hayato." She answered you, the sheer brightness of your eyes almost overhwelming her as she averted her eyes elsewhere.

"I'm so happy for you. What does he look like? Do you have pictures? Please tell me that you have pictures of him. Can I see them if you a few? Can I-"

Aki suddenly loudly cleared her throat as he interrupted your happy ramble and adjusted her glasses.

"As happy as I am also for Midori-san, I think you're forgetting that we're in the middle of a meeting here, (y/n). You can interrogate her all you want after we are finished with this presentation. We're only halfway done." She reminded you with a dry yet sharp voice that made your shoulders lift up as a look of discontent deformed your face. It was obvious what you would have rather done right now but then your shoulders sagged in defeat as you plodded back to the front of the room.

You opened your mouth as Aki switched over to foil no. 21 yet nothing came out as you suddenly furrowed your eyebrows, wrinkles appearing on your forehead as your eyes were focused on the ground. Aki gave you a slightly confused look that morphed into a look of horror when you lifted your head and gave her an apologetic and bright smile.

"I forgot what I was supposed to say, Aki-chan."

A collective groan echoed through the room as Aki pinched the bridge of her nose, her nostrils flaring as she released a deep breath through them.

"Can we like...start over from the beginning? Because that's the only part I remember. I'm sure that it'll come back to me whilst I'm talking about what I recall. Midori has missed half of the presentation anyways."

Your suggestion was spoken with a tad bit of guilt and embarrassment audible in your voice as you gave everyone a sheepish grin whilst scratching your cheek. You braced yourself for a few scathing comments from Aki's side but instead a deep chuckle cut through the groans of your workers and you turned astonished around only to find your bodyguard leaning back in his chair, failing to hold his laughter in.

~~~

In hindsight he probably shouldn't have laughed because the mood of the room hadn't exactly called for it and Aki had given him her infamous death stare when she had caught him laughing. It had been the combination of everyone's tired and done faces, Aki's twitching brow and your sheepish face that had suddenly caused him to to splutter. All heads had turned around to him as he had quickly attempted to hide his laughter behind coughs. When his green eyes had met yours though, he remembered being sort of surprised to see you actually smiling at him as if happy to see him laughing.

He even remembered that within two days after this conference, you had woken him up by ringing his door bell persistently in the early morning.

~~~

He hadn't exactly been able to guess beforehand who it was that dared to knock on his door at such a godforsaken hour but when he opened it and saw you standing there with the same apologetic grin he often saw you giving others when your airheaded behavior got in the way, he couldn't bring himself to be surprised.

"Good morning, Fushiguro-san! Have I interrupted you?"

He leaned against the door frame as his green eyes locked onto the package you tried to hide behind your back. That combined with the impatient and eager spark in your eyes despite your somewhat guilty grin told him that you had something for him and in typical (y/n)-fashion you couldn't wait until his shift started and you would see him for over half of the day anyways.

"Just get it over with quickly. I'm trying to get some sleep."

You tilted your head rather adorably before glancing outside the window.

"Have you been up late again? I mean, it isn't any of my business. What you do with your time after I'm in my apartment and don't have to go outside anymore isn't of my concern because that is your free time. I just want to kindly remind you that in 2 hours I have to go back to work which means that you have to get back up by then too. I don't care too much personally but Aki will probably chew you up if you're sloppy in your job to protect me."

You were rambling again and Toji was absolutely not in the mood to hear it. Not when he was tired and lost money when he had been out to gamble a bit. He still had more than enough left of course but it had irritated him nevertheless. So instead he suddenly grabbed the package you were hiding behind your back and ripped it out of your hold.

"Hey!" You yelled before quickly covering your mouth as you remembered that Aki was inhabiting the apartment right next to Toji's. You glanced somewhat scared over at the door leading to Aki's apartment, ready to dash away if she should have woken up because both of you knew that she wouldn't take it well if she would find the both of you still awake instead of sleeping and getting some rest. When a minute passed by and nothing happened, you relaxed a bit.

"That was supposed to be a surprise for you. You're such a fun killer." You now whispered to him in a hushed down, pouting and glaring at him cutely that he couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle.

"You're quite bad at hiding a surprise if you shouldn't have known that already." He whispered back, playing around with the package in the palms of his hands.

"At least open it then. I want to see if you like it." You replied, gesturing at the package to urge him to open it. He shook it a bit in his hands as he couldn't help but question what you had bought in what had most likely been a sudden and unstoppable impulse of yours. The package was quickly torn open and you eagerly gauged his face as he saw what was inside. He arched one of his brows before looking at you.

"Seriously?"

"Well, you always look quite bored when we have a meeting. I understand that, I also feel that way. Unfortunately your job is to protect me and my job is being the CEO which also includes all those conferences. Since it isn't your job to actually listen to what I have to talk about during such meetings though, I thought buying you one of those might keep you entertained at least a bit. I also bought a couple of games you can play. Some of them aren't even available yet."

You explained in hushed giddiness as he pulled out the Nintende DS you had purchased for him. He remembered vaguely some adds he had seen about it as it was a very new and portable device. There were also some games inside the box that he could play with this thing. Now, he wasn't quite sure how to feel about this but he also knew better than to tell you straight in your face that he didn't know what to do with a Nintendo.

"Do you not like it?" He had perhaps remained quiet for a few seconds too long which gave him away to you.

"Let's just say that this isn’t what I was expecting to receive from my boss at such an early hour. I must admit, I’ve never really played much before.”

“But I thought you liked gambling!” You exclaimed confused before remembering that you had to keep quiet in order for Aki not to hear you. Toji gave you a weird look when you said that before he huffed out some air, somewhat amused by your statement.

"That's not the same, you know?" He told you after a few moments where he was thinking about what to say. He knew what Aki thought about his gambling habits and he knew that even Sone-san, despite being much more respectful and calmer about it than Aki was, also wasn't a big fan of it. He didn't know how you felt about gambling though.

"I know that of course. But seriously, isn't this the healthier option? You can still waste hours of your day doing something that won't do anyone any good, not even you, but at least you don't spend huge amounts of money on something that has only a little chance of earning you money anyways. You won't lose any money playing some games on a Nintendo. Can you tell me what the appeal in gambling is?"

You were genuinely curious as you looked at him and perhaps it was this look that you gave him that actually managed to overwhelm him for a short moment. You weren't really judging but instead asking him why he gambled as often as he did. And for the first time, he couldn't find a good reply. At least not one that every other person addicted to something would give you. "It's...just fun, alright? " He answered you after a while, although even you caught on to the slight hesitation in his voice.

You gave him a very long observant look as if searching for something in his body language or facial expression before you sighed and nodded thoughtfully. "I see. Well, I don't really care what you do in your free time as long as you do your job. Do not gamble in my presence though." "Weren't you gambling too the first time we met? Or is it alright for you if you gamble because you have enough money to waste?" Toji scoffed as he referred to the first time you had met him in the izakaya.

"That's true I guess... It was a one-time-thing though, understood? I won't do something like this again. I just...had some stuff on my mind back then." You spoke after a few seconds as if you had also been searching for a good enough answer to justify your participation in a small gamble without repeating what everyone addicted to gambling could have said too, although you still failed. Much like him. Then silence befell the both of you. Not the comfortable one, the awkward one where both of you grew slightly uncomfortable.

Toji didn't even know why he of all people suddenly felt so weird, so much aware of any blink he did with his eyes around you. He wasn't used to it so he was the first one to decide to end this conversation. "Thanks for the gift then." He finally said as he turned around in the doorframe and felt briefly embarrassed when he repeated his own words in his head and wondered if he could have said something that would have sounded better. He didn't even know what else he could have said but somehow the gnawing feeling in the back of his mind didn't want to leave him alone.

"See you in about 2 hours then." You muttered awkwardly as you turned around and walked towards the elevator. You turned one last time to wave him temporarily goodbye before you realized that he had already closed the door to his apartment.

"Well, that was weird." You muttered to yourself as you pulled out your key to enable the lift to reach the 4th floor.

~~~

"Furukawa-san, please calm down and have a seat." You said with a painfully forced amicable smile as you made some appeasing movements with your hands in hopes of calming the older man down.

It wasn't hard to see that you were slowly reaching the end of your patience though and Toji had to admire you for even holding out for as long as he did. He knew for sure that he would have snapped minutes ago with the bitter and entitled attitude the businessman was giving you as if forgetting that between the two of you, you were definitely the financially more successful CEO by a long shot.

He had been arguing with you for a while now about a contract you had crafted for a cooperation between your company and his smaller and insignificant one. He wasn't satisfied, wanted to play a bigger part within your company.

"I understand your frustration but your business has only been existing for a few years now. Frankly spoken, I fear you still lack a bit of experience in this business so I think it's better for you to learn a bit more about how to handle your own company before I assign you a bigger role." You told The older man, barely able to swallow the annoyed sigh back that desperately wanted to be let out whilst you were enduring his angry rants.

Toji was sitting on the couch in your office in the main building of the company in Tokyo, only focusing half-heartedly on the Nintendo as he constantly glanced at you and Furukawa-san, his eyes narrowing the more he heard him arguing stubbornly back at you, ignoring your logical approach to his discontent. Couldn't that old geezer just shut the fuck up? His jarring voice was giving Toji and probably even you a headache by now.

"Furukawa-san, you're not looking at this from a logical point of view. You can't expect me to put someone who has so little experience in handling a company to a higher-ranking position just li-"

"I do not have to listen to someone younger than me berating me like this! Especially not to someone who just one day conveniently appeared after the death of the previous CEO and his father and took over the company just like this! That's quite suspicious, wouldn't you agree?"

You didn't have enough time to even feel the anger making your blood boil as he accused you as bluntly as he did. No, instead both of you heard a sudden slam as Toji snapped the Nintendo closed and stood up from the couch as if the insult directed at you had struck the wrong cord in him and not you. All of a sudden there was a shift in the atmosphere as it felt heavy and oppressive, for Furukawa more than for you as his angry expression quickly dropped when Toji took a few huge strides to him before shamelessly towering over the smaller man.

"Wanne repeat that again?" He asked in a sneering tone as green eyes looked down on him as if he was a mere piece of trash laying uselessly on the ground somewhere. Furukawa's mouth went dry instantly as he stared at your bodyguard who so far had spent the entire time playing some games on the Nintendo you had gifted him. He nearly jumped up when Toji pressed a hand on his shoulder and applied a bit of pressure. His legs instantly gave up under him as Toji forced him to sit down again.

"Stop acting like a little brat. You ain't shit here, your age must have made you already quite a bit senile, hmm? Show some fucking respect to her because between the both of you, she is the one who makes all of the decisions. She's important, you are not. So stop acting like you're anything special because you are replacable to her. Be grateful that she even made time for you in the first place."

He'd gone visibly pale in his face and all he could manage to do was a weak nod, his whole body rigid. You gave Toji an appreciative nod as he continued standing behind Furukawa, glaring down at him. When you realized that he actually intended to stay there, you dismissed him with a wave of your hands.

"Fushiguro-san, that's enough. I think our dear Furukawa-san here has received his reality check. You're going to give the poor man a panic attack if you continue glaring at him like this."

For a moment Toji's gaze met yours as if telling you that such behavior wasn't enough before he let out a "tch" and stuffed his hands in the pocket of his trousers before flopping back down on the couch, resuming the game on the Nintendo. You could still see how he was glaring sharply every once in a while at Furukawa.

"So, Furukawa-san..." You began again, your voice snapping the older man only partially out of his tensed position.

"Let's talk about our contract again, alright?"

~~~

"That turned out easier than expected." You told him as you were putting on your jacket, about to leave your office. Toji was leaning against the wall on the other side, watching you as you stuffed everything into your handbag. You glanced shortly at your watch and let out a thoughtful hum. "I actually have time left. You really intimidated Furukawa-san for good. The poor guy just agreed blindly to everything I suggested. I appreciate your help of course but can you try to be a little bit less intense?"

Toji rolled his eyes at your words. "So now I'm being scolded for doing my job too good? It really is quite difficult to please Yukimaru and you." He told you, although at least he didn't seem to be deeply offended by your words. "I only did what Yukimaru asked of me. Complain to her, not me."

"I am aware of what Aki-chan told you but I didn't expect you to react quite as...well, ferocious as you did today. I mean, don't you think that you were overdoing it a bit? There isn't much use in me negotiating with partners if all they do is agree with everything I say. It takes a bit of fun out of it, although Furukawa-san definitely was a pain in the ass today."

You grinned when your last sentence elicited a light chuckle out of Toji as he trailed lazily behind you the moment you left your office and finished your work for the night.

"Hey, how about going out for a drink? I still have time and don't really want to go back home already." You abruptly asked him as both of you stepped into the lift and you pressed the button for the first floor.

"Don't really have a choice, do I? My working day only really ends when you're back in your apartment so as long as you're still outside, I can't really leave your side." He answered, although he definitely wouldn't mind going out for a bit. He had been stuck the entire day in your office, dealing with more or less tolerable people whilst playing some games on the Nintendo you had gifted him.

"That's right, I guess. Well, just means that I don't have to worry about anyone or anything as long as I have you with me." You replied with a slightly flustered grin as if just remembering that there had been very specific rules in his contract that he had to follow as your bodyguard. Your words caught him off-guard and he didn't know why. He glanced briefly over to you, gauging your expression as if trying to detect any dishonesty on your face. When he didn't find any and realized that you were actually being honest and had just given him a compliment, his eyes shifted to the buttons in the elevator as he sensed a weird warm sensation somewhere in his chest.

"How about going to that izakaya again?" You asked him as both of you left the huge building as every other worker on the first floor bowed down to you and wished you a pleasant night and you did your best to bow your head to all of them and thank them for working so well today.

That izakaya? What did that mean?

It seemed to be important to you and judging from the expectant look you had in your eyes, he realized that you assumed that he knew what you were talking about as well. All he could do was give you a surprisingly clueless and confused stare. A look of theatrical hurt crossed your face as you gasped shocked at him.

"You don't know what I mean, do you? How could you forget?" You spoke slightly dramatically as you placed a hand over your heart. It was only a playful gesture from your side but it bothered Toji much more than he had expected. Not your dramatic reaction but the fact that he had forgotten something that involved you. He was silently brainstorming for the memory that you meant by "that izakaya" but he had probably been to quite a lot izakayas in his life before which he couldn't even recall anymore. Had there ever been a special izakaya before in...

Oh. That's what you meant.

You snorted when you saw his face morph into one of realization as he finally understood to which izakaya you were referring to.

"Wow, seems like the gears finally started spinning. Took you long enough to remember. I'm talking about the izakaya where we first met, Fushiguro-san."

He narrowed his eyes but instead of glaring at you for laughing at him, he glared at the pathway beneath his feet as he silently strolled with you through the busy streets of Tokyo, the city bright with all the lights and adds from the buildings. He had forgotten, honestly he couldn't even remember very detailed what he had been doing with his life much before meeting you. He only vaguely remembered gambling a lot, accepting requests from others for the right amount of money, he remembered killing people for money. Only fleeting memories though, he couldn't even recall very well the faces of people who had hired him. But that wasn't the case with you, was it?

He started walking a bit slower when he realized that he could recall almost everyday he had spent with you more detailed than he could recall the almost last two years of his life. His eyes focused on the back of your head as you took the lead and walked through Tokyo in a good mood, heading for the izakaya. Had he been paying that much attention to you?

You tilted your head slightly to look at him and when your gazes met, he instinctively looked away. He didn't know why. But looking at you somehow only made him recall everything even more, flodded his mind with images of you laughing, pouting, goofing off and being silly.

"You don't have to feel bad for forgetting, you know? I didn't really expect you to remember."

What? What did that mean? Green eyes instantly shot up from the ground as a strange feeling took over him as he mulled over the words you had just told him. Unfortunately you didn't seem to have any intention of explaining yourself further as you walked on. Honestly, he had heard worse in his life, he had been treated worse in his life and nowadays he couldn't even be less bothered if anyone would try to get under his skin. So why...?

Why were your words bothering him so much?

You were a bit surprised when his steps suddenly quickened and he stood in front of you within an instance, forcing you to slow down and eventually fully stop. You were occasionally still amazed with how tall he was, especially since you would go as far as considering yourself quite tall in comparison to many other women in Japan. Now was one of those moments as you looked up at him, slightly confused as he was staring down at you with narrowed eyes as if you were a riddle he was desperately trying to solve.

"What do you mean?"

Hearing him speak so normally without any sneer, cockiness or slight annoyance came totally unexpectant and suddenly you found yourself being overtaken by awkwardness. You had never seen him quite as honest-looking as he was right now and you were taken aback by green eyes staring at you, silently wanting an answer from you.

"...What?"

It was the only thing you were able to blurt out as you were unable to tear your gaze away from Toji, your heart pounding in your chest due to his shift in attitude. Honestly, you wouldn't have been alarmed by anyone else acting this way. However, you couldn't help but be worried by Toji suddenly acting so out of character.

Before you could even grasp the situation, Toji seemed to snap out of it. It was if someone had just pulled him out of a trance. He blinked down at you as if he had just woken up from something before his face twisted into an unreadable mask that you couldn't fully decipher. He stepped out of your way, avoiding your own eyes vehemently. When he realized that you didn't move and were still standing there, looking at him with those eyes, he suddenly turned his back to you and walked on his own.

"Forget it." He muttered as he quickly moved to the izakaya. You stood there for a while, staring at his back as you were silently contemplating whether or not you should try to ask him about what had just happened. You could see though that he absolutely didn't want you to try to dig deeper so eventually you forced yourself to move and trail behind him.

~~~

Four glasses of beer and a plate of buttery and delicious tuna sashimi later and you were full. He'd accompanied you already a few times for a couple of drinks before so by now he kind of knew what was coming for him. Both of you had sat down on an empty lower table, the izakaya not nearly as full as it had been back when both of you had met for the first time.

"You probably shouldn't drink too much. Yukimaru will probably only scold you as soon as you get back to your apartment." He spoke as he watched you ordering another beer. You let out a tired and exhausted grumble as you rubbed your eyes.

"t's not my fault that I'm not built as you are. Sseriously, do you ever get drunk?" You slurred as you looked up at him through half-lidded eyes. Even if you tried to be serious right now, it was impossible for him to take you as such as he stared at your face. His eyes took in your hair, your eyes, your nose, your cheeks until they finally zoomed in on your lips...

"What are you lookin' at? my eyes are up 'ere." You spoke, your words snapping him for the second time tonight out of a daze. What was wrong with him?

"...'ey, anser ma question. What's your secret behind not getting drunk?" You repeated yourself, a pout on your lips as you snapped your fingers in front of his face as if hoping to get his attention.

"I don't know. I guess that I was just born with it." Your bodyguard spoke after actually considering it for a while before he also took a sip from the sake he had ordered. Honestly, sometimes he wished that he could get drunk and his inability to do so hadn't made him the biggest fan of alcohol. He enjoyed it though when he was around you as he just joined you whenever you were drinking.

"Hmm...So it's all thanks to your body." You muttered to yourself as your eyes shifted from his face to his toned chest, your gaze narrowing thoughtfully. His brows went up to his forehead as he noticed where your gaze was lingering, your eyes squeezing as you stared bluntly at his chest.

Before he could make any cocky remark about it though, one of your palms suddenly laid itself flatly on his chest, close to his own heart.

As his skin suddenly started heating up a tiny bit and he could feel his own heartbeat picking up its speed, he wondered briefly if perhaps alcohol had an effect on him after all. The warmth from your palm seeped through his shirt and spread throughout his entire chest. His gaze was glued to your hand resting on his chest, probably feeling his own heartbeat through the tip of your fingers. He was struggling to say something and a part of him didn't really want to say something either in favor of just having you touch him.

"C'n I borrow your body then? I wanna drink without gettin' drunk. That's not possible though, is it? Aaah, I'm jealous of you. Ye have such a beautiful body."

You pulled your hand back from his chest as if the sudden realization that swapping bodies wasn't possible had just immensely disappointed you. Toji on the other hand was attempting his best to figure silently out what the fuck was going on with him.

“Beautiful…?” Was the first word he was able to say to you after he had calmed down a bit, although he was still painfully aware how the heat of his skin and the own throbbing of his heart only got worse as he looked at you.

“Yeh. I mean, come on! Look atch you! You look like the guy people either wanna be with or want to be!” You spoke up as your hands gestured wildly at him, trying to make your point obvious.

He knew what you meant. Toji was highly confident in his abilities, he knew that his body and the physical strength that had come with it was one of a kind. All of his clients all of the women who had approached him in his past had known that too.

Yet hearing it from you, half-drunk and looking like your head was about to bang on the table because it was too heavy for you and you were quite tired at this point, just sounded so much more sincere.

He swirled the small cup of sake around in his hand, watching the clear liquid spiraling around as he did so. He wasn’t sure if he would have been able to say those words as easily if he would have continued looking at you.

“Thank you.”

There it was again. Sincerity. You peeked over to him as you heard it but you didn’t know what to say. Then the silence came. The same silence that made him itchy and more aware of every breath he took around you. You didn’t seem to mind as much, already happily drunk to care about the infamous awkward silence and in that moment he envied you for being able to just say whatever came to your mind and to remain so unaffected in a situation that had him acting so unusually stiff.

“Do you…actually want to know my answer to your question from before?”

That seemed to be enough to gain his attention as you felt his green eyes resting on you as you were playing with the chopsticks. It had been bothering you the moment he had asked you this question and you had been silently thinking about an answer in your head the entire time. At least up until you had downed your first glass of beer and had temporarily forgotten about it. It had just randomly came back to you now.

"...Do whatever you want."

You took that as a yes from his side.

"I didn't think that you would remember because to me you looked back then like the type of guy who doesn't care about his surroundings and the people in his life unless money is involved."

He couldn't really deny your words and his vague memories from his life in the years before he had met you only proved your point. Yet it wasn't true. At least not fully. Not when it came to you.

"That's sort of rude to say to your bodyguard, don't you think?" He chuckled as he tried to overplay the strange emotions your answer had awoken inside of him.

"Probably. But I am happy to see that I still made the right choice by picking you. I'm sure that if I would have chosen of Aki-chan's selected choices, I wouldn't have such a good time right now. You really are a nice drinking buddy, although it isn't quite as fun if only one party gets drunk."

You tried to give him a small smile without looking stupidly drunk before you took a glance at your watch and realized that it was about damn time for the two of you to leave.

"Aight! Time to head home." You declared as you slowly stood up, your head slightly spinning as the sudden shift of gravity due to you standing up after having only been sitting for the last two hours was almost too much for your drunk self.

Toji quickly grabbed you, his hand wrapping around your arm to stabilize you.

"Are you going to be fine walking like this around the streets?"

He asked, his tone somewhat laced with amusement as he also stood up from his seat.

"That's what you are for. Aki-chan will kill you if you lose me." You replied with a grumbling tone as you pinched the bridge of your nose. Perhaps you had overdone it a bit with your beer tonight.

~~~

"I'm more than capable to walk on my own two feet, y'know?" You complained to him as he led you through the crowds, his grip on your arm tight enough to not lose you yet also loose enough to not hurt you.

"You look like a gentle gust of wind could knock you off your feet." He instantly shot back, grinning as he looked at your slightly wobbly figure, swaying gently left and right.

"Now you're the one who is being mean. I'm your boss." You whined as you swatted his arm lightly when you took notice of the grin on his face. At least he seemed to be back to normal again. You had been low-key a bit worried when he had been so strangely sincere with you.

Your eyes lazily flew across the people walking all past you as Toji led you the way back to the main building. Your car was still in the parking facility where only workers of your company were allowed to drive their cars into. You wondered if Kazuma had already taken Aki with him and if both of them had driven home already. If Aki was still waiting for you, she would most likely insist on driving the car because she would never let someone on the wheel who had just consumed alcohol and Toji's apparent immunity against it was something she couldn't care less about.

You nearly tripped when Toji's strides suddenly increased in length and speed only to feel yourself suddenly be pulled closer against him, your body pressed against him as his one arm wrapped around your waist.

Subconsciously you noticed how incredibly warm his body was but you were more confused with his action. You glanced up at him only to notice that his green eyes were focused on something behind the two of you. You tilted your head around to search for whatever he was noticing but there were just too many people among the crowd.

"Toji...?"

A short skip of his own heart as you suddenly called him by his first name before his senses went back to focusing on those same footsteps he had been noticing for a while now. Someone was following you two. No, someone was following you.

He didn't answer you but you could sort of tell by his focused look that he was sensing something you couldn't. You didn't know why but for some reason his senses were so much more enhanced than those of everyone else around him.

"There's someone behind us, isn't there?" You asked, although you were already pretty sure that you were right anyways. Toji could tell from the look in your eyes that he didn't need to confirm what you already suspected so he didn't answer your question at all. Green eyes were darting over all the people in the crowd, trying to figure out which one of them it was. Until his eyes landed on a young man whose face was partially hidden by a mask he was wearing.

"Listen, there are still some members of the same group out there who murdered the two previous CEO's of the Ito company. One of them walked a few months ago just like that into our main building with a knife. It's clear that they're out for (y/n)'s life too. That's why I wanted her to get a bodyguard. And for some reason she has gone for you, a random man she met on the street. So as her bodyguard, you have only one job to do. Protect her. Protect her no matter what."

Those had been Aki's words to him a few weeks after he had been recruited by you and it had been her first words to him in a while as she had generally avoided conversing much with him when he had been new. She had obviously still been a bit resentful that you had chosen him over every other bodyguard she had suggested for you.

As his green eyes were scrutinizing the man standing there amongst the crowd, Toji stopped walking. He just stood there, silently staring at the guy who had also stopped when he had noticed that Toji had stopped. He had apparently finally realized that he had been spotted and Toji could tell even from the distance that he clearly hadn't expected to be spotted.

You had been about to say something to Toji but when you looked up at him and saw the look in his eyes, you quickly decided against it. Green eyes were fixed on someone within the crowd you still couldn't make out, focused and gleaming with something that made you swallow a bit.

There was something dangerous in his eyes and even the man could sense that from the distance as he slowly stepped away. Toji never left him out of his sight, his eyes following him and following him until even he couldn't make him out amongst the full streets anymore.

Only then did he finally turn his gaze back to you and released his hold on you, although it took him more willpower to do so than he had expected, your warm body pressed against his own causing pleasurable shivers to travel through his body.

"He's gone. You don't have to look so worried anymore." He reassured you when he noticed the look in your eyes. You glanced back at the crowd for a short moment before you nodded slowly.

~~~

"What in the world happened? (y/n), have you been drinking too much again?"

You let out an exhausted groan as Aki's voice pulled you out of your little nap. God, had you fallen asleep? The last thing you could recall was getting into the car and after that everything was sort of blurry. So you had perhaps fallen asleep whilst Toji had driven you home. Why was Aki making such a drama out of it though? It wasn't like you had never drunken a glass or two too much before.

"Aki, you're too loud." You grumbled as you cuddled yourself against the hard but very warm surface beneath you. It felt nice, what was it?

"Ooh, you're enjoying that right now, aren't you Fushiguro? I would appreciate it if you would let her down."

"What was I supposed to do? She fell asleep in the car and didn't want to get up when I tried to wake her up."

"You could have just told me and I could have helped."

What were those two arguing over again? You slowly forced yourself to lift your head, blinking with heavy eyelids to adjust to the light in the first floor. When you finally cracked them open fully, you understood why Aki was causing a little scene right now. Since when had you been on Toji's back?

Toji was the first one to notice that you had partially woken up and Aki noticed only a bit later.

"(y/n), would you please get down from him?"

Your sleep and alcohol-addled brain needed a bit to process her words before you slowly got down from his back with a slight look of discontent in your eyes.

"Why do you look so unhappy?"

"Toji is so warm, Aki."

"He's your bodyguard and not your plushie! Wait, did you just call him 'Toji'? Since when have the both of you been on first name terms?"

You considered her words for a bit. She had a point. So far you had only referred to him by his last name and he had done the same. However, he had been working for you closely for nearly a year now so honestly, at this point you thought that it was appropriate.

"Since today. I think the both of us are close enough now to call each other by the first name. Hey Toji, call me (y/n) from now on and not (l/n)."

You said as you turned around to look at him.

You didn't know if you had imagined the short expression on his face that almost looked flustered before a grin spread across his face.

"(y/n), huh?" He muttered, more to himself than to you or Aki before he locked eyes with you.

"Can't do much but do as you say. You're the boss after all."

~~~

The lift stopped on the third floor as Toji stepped out of the rather cramped room since he took up a lot of space within the elevator. You and Aki were staying as the both of you were heading for the fourth floor. You were still drunk after all so Aki planned to escort you to your apartment and make sure that you would instantly head to bed and sleep because you had work to do today again. You hadn't mentioned the fact that someone had been following you to Aki yet and whilst he initially thought that you might have forgotten about it temporarily again because of all the alcohol, you had thrown him a short glance when Aki had asked him if everything had been fine. He understood though. You were drunk and had a bit of a headache so Aki's overbearing questions if she would find out tonight probably would only add to your pain. You'd tell her tomorrow about it.

"Good night, Toji."

"You better not have a hangover tomorrow, Fushiguro-san."

With those words, the doors to the lift closed and he was left alone. He unlocked the door to his apartment, didn't bother to turn the lights on as he went to the living room and flopped down onto the couch. He leaned back against the pillows propped against the furniture, his gaze focused on the wall. Were you already in your apartment or was Aki still trying to stabilize your staggering and much taller figure than hers?

He clicked his tongue frustrated when he realized that his thoughts had drifted once again to you. He sighed as he leaned his head back. Today...had been strange. And now that he was all alone in the darkness with little sounds surrounding him, he became all the more aware of the fact that his heart was still pounding against his chest. It hadn't stopped doing that ever since you had touched his chest and he swore that he could still feel the weight, the warmth and the shape of your palm resting so close to his beating heart.

And then there had been the guy who had been following you... And when Toji had noticed, his body had instinctively clutched your body protectively to his own. When the fuck had he ever done this for one of his clients? He had no doubt that the guy was the pathetic leftover of the assassination group Aki had warned him about and he had also no doubt that he would have most likely attempted to do something if Toji hadn't been with you.

He would have tried to hurt you probably.

That thought struck the wrong cord somewhere inside him again and even worse than when this Furukawa guy had insulted and belittled you in his presence as anger tensed up his muscles before he forced himself to relax again.

Seriously, what was wrong with him?

It almost felt like...

Pt.3

#yandere jujutsu kaisen #yandere jjk #yandere toji #yandere fushiguro toji

156 notes · View notes

kystarlight17 · 5 months ago

Text

Call Sign: Pipsqueak

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/62843273

https://archiveofourown.org/works/62843273

I wrote a fic based on my Caleb brain rot.

Might be fluffy, might be cheesy and maybe a little angsty that you might have to squint?

Also I’m bad at punctuations 🥲

Walking into Caleb’s home on his private island in Skyhaven, the woman found herself the only occupant. Looking around, it was clear Caleb was still tending to his duties as Colonel after returning from another expedition in the Deepspace Tunnel. She glanced at the digital clock in the living room—6 p.m. Perhaps she could surprise Caleb with her unexpected appearance in his home... or perhaps not. More often than not, Caleb was always aware when she arrived in Skyhaven.

She walked deeper into the home, noticing that Caleb had bought more things for the place. To her, it still felt cold and sterile, but the new plush carpets and pillows—strangely to her taste—hid it like a band-aid.

“Aah!” she exclaimed in surprise, stumbling over a small package she knocked over. Throwing her weekend bag onto the couch, she bent down to pick up the package. The label on the delivery box read: ‘1 Desktop Robot - Yellow.’

She raised an eyebrow. The last time she owned such a thing was back in high school when she used to talk to it while working through her problems—when Caleb wasn’t around. That was years ago. And yet, Caleb bought one. The woman couldn’t help but wonder why he bought the exact same model. She had thought it was out of production. As if it were for her, if not him then this robot will do. As if he were trying to—

She stopped the thought in its tracks, setting the box down on the coffee table before heading toward the kitchen.

An hour or two later, Caleb returned home.

He didn’t tense up when he saw the lights on. He wasn’t even suspicious. He knew she was there. After all, she was the only one who held the key to all of him. The soft creak of his leather boots and the beep of his keys accompanied his entrance. The sounds of chopping from the kitchen, coupled with soft humming, greeted him.

The humming brought him back to memories—memories he wished he could live in forever, despite the pain and immense joy they carried. But he shook his head, forcing himself back to the present. Taking off his Colonel’s hat and tucking it under his arm, he headed toward the kitchen.

“Whatcha doing there, pipsqueak?” he asked, making his voice sound light and playful, just like before.

How he only called her pipsqueak because it used to annoy her. How it reminded her that he was always taller, always older. How that nickname was his shield, a childish pretense to keep the boiling feelings inside him at bay. Like staying in a familiar dynamic would not ruin him. Would not ruin them. When all he longed for was to call her something else entirely—

“I’m making you your apple soda,” her voice broke through his thoughts, shaking him like the vibrations of a collapsing star forming a black hole.

She was making him his favorite drink. And suddenly, it felt like it was all for nothing while simultaneously being everything.

She stood before him like a black hole with her declaration, and once more, her presence warps the space around him, pulling him in whether he fights or not.

He took a deep breath, lest he forget this moment.

“Well then,” he said after a beat, his tone masking the aching thud in his heart—simultaneously light and unbearably heavy. “I’ll go get changed, and I’ll make you one of your favorite dishes in return for the soda.”

He saw her shoulders relax slightly. He didn’t comment on it.

Turning away, he walked toward his bedroom—to slip into clothes the Caleb she knew would expect to see him in. Clothes she still liked. But it was still all so new between them.

She listened as his footsteps disappeared into the depths of the house. Relief- or was it something else?- settled over her. His Colonel uniform still filled her with all sorts of emotions. Some she could name. Others…she dared not. It blurred lines that were already too hazy yet still held them both back.

Lost in thought, she didn’t realize she was chopping the apples harder than usual until she heard Caleb’s voice behind her.

“Did I do anything wrong this time, pipsqueak?” he teased as he looked over her shoulder, watching her progress.

The presence of him behind her-close,solid,warm-was both comforting and suffocating.

“Ugh, Caleb,” she groaned in mock annoyance, falling back into the rhythm they knew. The rhythm that let them pretend.“You broke my concentration.”

“What, cutting chunks of apples needed concentration?” he teased, reaching over her head to retrieve the plates, the brief press of his chest against her back making her instinctively lean into the counter. Too aware. His height, his warmth and his-

“Pass me a knife, will you?”,

Wordlessly, she reached for the knife block, pushing it toward him before stepping away from the shared counter. Distance. She needed distance.

Caleb could only smile.

Even though it was just across the kitchen, his illogical side saw it differently.

He shifted his gaze back to the vegetables he was expertly chopping just as the sound of the blender filled the quiet kitchen. The harsh machinery filled the space where their familiar banter should be.

They could still talk like they always had. But it was like winding up a music box over and over, their groove lost on a different frequency.

They were both too stubborn to move. Too scared of the change.

“When are you leaving again?” she asked suddenly.

The minute pause in Caleb’s chopping was almost imperceptible.

“Eager to plan illicit activities while I’m gone?” he teased, aiming for levity. But the words reminded him of what he lacked.

He had no luxury to join her adventures. No luxury to be by her side like he used to. And the darker part of him wondered—

Did she find new people to go on adventures with?

She nudged his arm with her elbow. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

Her touch landed on his disguised mechanical arm. The phantom sensation it gave him was both familiar and aching. He couldn’t feel it. Not fully.

She kept her gaze on the boiling pasta. “I just wanted to see if I’ll be free the next time you come back. Maybe you can come over to my place if our schedules align.”

Caleb exhaled. Back and forth. Heaven and hell. Over and over again.

And yet… he was used to it.

“I don’t remember it on top of my head so I’ll look for it and let you know later”, he smoothly lied as in fact he knew when his next expedition and when he is coming back again. To her. It was just his pathetic way of finding an excuse to contact her.

“I’ll hold you to it and oh the pasta is done by the way”, announced the woman as she was carefully pushed to the side watching Caleb take over the rest of the cooking. Judging on the ingredients Caleb had prepared it was going to be a Mediterranean night

Dinner passed with playful banter, plans for his next outing, and stories of her latest missions. Caleb was listening-humming in response, asking questions, throwing quick glances her way. If she weren’t so distracted, she would have noticed those glances felt like a fleeting caress. As if memorizing her all over again.

The woman soon reached the conclusion of her stories,

“Apart from that Lemonette for some reason keeps making appearances all over Linkon City which makes patrols more difficult,” the woman concluded as she set her utensils down on her finished plate.

A small teasing smile graced her lips, “Don’t tell me that you even managed to get a Wanderer to like you” the woman continued her teasing tone, “Because I’m beginning to see a pattern here of Lemonette’s appearances and your arrival back, they seem to coincide.”

“Oh?,” drawled Caleb following along with the woman’s banter, pausing from taking a bite of the cooked pasta to rest his chin on the palm of his hand. Using his fork to point at the girl, “Would you be jealous if I looked forward to getting a gift and attention from a Wanderer?”,

The implication was there as they both knew that Caleb never accepts a gift from anyone except from the woman and the grandma that raised them.

The woman looked at Caleb with a look as she knew it was meant to be a jest but secretly she did care, childishly she stuck her tongue out to Caleb, “Then I’ll tell Lemonette to make you a super duper sour candy”,

“I look forward to it, pipsqueak” singsonged Caleb as he began to eat his dish once more as he took in the flush on the woman's cheeks and the familiar feeling of pride to have made her look like that.

After dinner, the woman wanted something sweet. Caleb disappeared into the kitchen and returned with two mini pints of ice cream. The one she liked. Not that she needed to know he bought it just for her and would restock it everytime.

“Mmmh,” hummed the woman with pleasure as she dug into her half pint of favourite ice cream, “Also Grandma’s birthday is coming up soon, we should leave something at her grave,” the woman remarked as she dug back into her desert.

Caleb, in turn, hummed in thought as he didn’t realise how much time has passed since that…bombing. The death of their shared guardian who told them to call her grandma and gave them life much different than before. A life Caleb remembers vividly and the woman forgot.

The woman began to talk about possible gift offerings they could leave at the grave as they ate their ice cream. Half of Caleb’s mind was present while his other mind delved into one of his rare introspections.

He was thankful. Their grandma had brought them together, given them a family bond that ran deeper than blood. But bonds, he had learned, were a double-edged sword - strong enough to hold, tight enough to constrict.

Watching her, he knew with certainty: he loved her.

It had taken him so long to admit it. The kind of love that was both a poison and a cure.

Skyhaven had been his dream, a place where he could soar free. But love tethered him. And instead of resenting it, he found that he didn’t want to escape. Like a celestial body bound by an unseen force, he is always drawn back to her orbit.

It was the necklace she had given him, the laughter they shared, the way she grounded him. She was why he fought, why he returned from the Deepspace Tunnel against all odds.

Even if it meant putting himself in harm’s way again, his second death would be for her alone. A phoenix only to die again.

Love should be an absolution. But absolution could only come from her.

Focusing back on the present moment, he noticed a stray drop of ice cream at the corner of her lips. He automatically reached over to wipe it for her causing her to stop mid talk. Her wide eye gaze honestly made him want to move his thumb and caress her lower lip.

“You know for someone who claims she’s all grown up, you sure do eat like a child,” he teased her not missing a beat lest she suspects where his thoughts went to,

For a second, she forgets to breathe. Then, before she can stop herself, she swats his hand away. Too quickly, too sharp. As if the touch might change something neither of them are ready for.

“So? There’s nothing wrong with being young at heart,” the woman quipped back to Caleb as she gave her ice cream spoon a long lick to finish off the leftovers. While she kept her gaze on Caleb she could see the miniscule movement of his eyes before focusing back on her face.

The woman presented her empty ice cream cup and ice cream spoon to Caleb as she playfully continued, “See I’m stopping at one ice cream cup, would a woman like me go for a second one?”,she asked him,

“A woman huh?Caleb remarked as he leaned back in his seat and there was that tiny crack on his face that the woman, knows well, “I do have another ice cream cup in the fridge and it would be awfully lonely to eat one by myself,” Caleb goaded her with his faux sadness.

For some reason, the woman couldn’t help but notice there was another layer to this. Their interactions these days are often double layered and hardly straightforward as it used to be. Right now, this conversation made the woman wonder if Caleb was thinking of the changes in her. Changes that he wasn’t there to see and witness during his time away after his supposed death.

Much like how she feels about his own changes perhaps she’s slowly understanding that this independant version of her was someone he is still coming to terms with. Especially since she still pictures him being part of her life in the future.

“We can share a cup then,” the woman conceded and was given that boyish smile on Caleb’s face that made her heart flutter and wanted to keep to herself forever.

When Caleb returned with a new cup of ice cream and sat across from her once more, the woman quickly snatched it playfully from his grasp. Earning an equally playful sound of protest as Caleb waited patiently to see what she was up to.

The woman sported a mischievous grin as she opened the ice cream cup and taking out a spoonful of ice cream she held up it to Caleb, “Prove you liked the apple soda”

She watched as Caleb eyed the spoon and belatedly realised it was the spoon she was using originally. However, before she could withdraw, Caleb was quick to eat the spoonful of ice cream from it.

For some reason, her heart beat faster at that action and she couldn’t understand why. After all, they've shared utensils before and didn’t bat an eye about it. Yet this new dynamic between them that she dared not label yet was perhaps another factor at play.

Caleb copied the woman’s actions and used his own spoon to scoop out the ice cream and held it up to her.

“Prove that the dish I cooked for you was delicious”,

Without hesitation, the woman leaned forward to eat the ice cream. Keeping her gaze on his face and though there was a slight smirk on his face there was tendril of that fire. Like he likes watching take what he provides for her.

Their game continues as the sentences shifted differently,

“Eat if you’ll come to down to Linkon soon,” Caleb ate

“Eat if you’ve been sleeping on time,” the woman ate

“Eat if you’ve also been looking after yourself,” a slight hesitation from Caleb that the woman did not miss as Caleb ate the ice cream

“Eat if you’ve haven’t been pushing yourself too hard at work lately” it was the woman’s turn this time to pause for a few seconds that Caleb immediately noticed.

They had told two lies and two truths to each other. Since when did their dynamic have become hide and seek all in the name of each other’s peace of mind and happiness. Then, as the last two spoonfuls remained, they both spoke at the same time.

“Eat if you still promise to let me stand by your side”

“Eat if you still promise to not let me drift away”

#lnds caleb #love and deepspace caleb #caleb x mc #lads caleb #caleb x you #female mc #short fanfic #character study #hoped I did justice to the fic

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