#and they told us that storms like that weren't too unusual

[cookinguptales]

So my dad and I went on a road trip a few years ago. We hit a lot of national parks, ghost towns, bizarre little tourist traps, the weirdest things we could find in Vegas, etc.

(Also, we accidentally went to an alien-themed brothel but I guess that's another story.)

We did... go to Death Valley... but it was not a great experience. lmao

To preface, it had been windy for a lot of our trip, which affected our stops to varying degrees. By far the two worst situations were in Petrified Forest and Death Valley. We still sort of enjoyed Petrified Forest, even though I literally got blown over a few times and the pictures weren't great. We actually talk about going back there some time to see it better because I do love fossils.

Death Valley tho...

I do like deserts, to be clear. I think deserts can be really, really beautiful. And I think maybe in much, much better circumstances, Death Valley might be beautiful. But it was not beautiful that day, and we are not making plans to go back.

We'd actually planned to stay there a couple nights, but the wind had basically kicked up a dust storm that was so bad that it cut power to the entire park. This is very dangerous in a place like Death Valley, where you can literally die if you get stranded. Like... they call it that for a reason. It was April, so less hot than it would be later, but it's still a desert in the middle of freaking nowhere.

When we finally got to our hotel, we found that it had lost power and probably wouldn't be getting it back for a day or two. That meant very little by way of food options, absolutely no internet, and, probably more importantly, it meant we wouldn't be able to charge our cell phones. The gas station also was not working.

So even though we had quite a bit of gas in the tank, the prospect of potentially running out of gas with no cell service or internet in a place called Death Valley was enough to run us out of town. We saw a little bit of the place before we left, but visibility was so poor that it was difficult to see much.

(And... I have to be honest with you, it was not the most visually interesting desert I've ever seen.)

In the end, we ended up just canceling our hotel stay (they couldn't check us in anyway) and driving to Lone Pine. Which was beautiful.

So uhhhh here are some scenes from Death Valley. Mostly, after a certain point, taken from inside a car. Because we were in a fucking dust storm.

To know just how bad the wind was, here's a video from when we stopped at the hotel/fuel center. Please keep in mind, if you turn the audio on, that I was in a truck.

For this next section, the gas station we stopped at just outside of the park, please just know that I double-checked the time stamps and this was early evening but it was not dark yet. You can kind of see how the sky was blue from some angles, but the sun was still being blotted out by the storm. The closest I've experienced to that otherwise is the odd sort of half-light you experience during an eclipse.

And then we got to Lone Pine and it looked like fucking this when we woke up. lmao. One of the most beautiful places I've ever been. What the fuck.

[steddieas-shegoes]

see where the night goes

for @steddieholidaydrabbles prompt 'only one bed' rated m wc: 867 cw: some borderline somnophilia-esque behavior? tags: forced proximity, unintentional cuddling, idiots to lovers, love confessions, implied sexual content

🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️

The full sized bed was covered in the ugliest plaid sheets Steve had ever seen, which was saying something since his own bed had been covered in ugly plaid sheets.

It looked like it would fall apart if Steve sat on it, let alone lay down on it.

"Bad news first or good news first?" Eddie asked as he walked into the room.

"There's more bad news? The broken down van and the storm knocking out the power everywhere but this inn isn't bad enough?" Steve responded, putting his hands on his hips as he watched Eddie sit on the bed.

Huh. Looked like it would manage to hold at least some weight, then.

"There's no other bed."

Steve shook his head.

"That's a joke."

"Nope," Eddie popped his lips together. "I did check the bathroom though and there's a decent shower with actual hot water, so. A win's a win?"

Steve groaned.

"Dude, this bed is not big enough for both of us," Steve gestured to the bed Eddie was sitting on. "It doesn't even look big enough for you."

"Sure it is. I slept in a twin until I was nearly 18. This will be like a California King!"

Steve knew he was trying to make light of the situation.

The van breaking down four hours from home on a night when the worst storm Indiana has seen in years decided to come through was only the beginning.

Eddie had lost his wallet somewhere between the van and his walk to a payphone, which meant he had to walk all the way back to the van without having called anyone. He was soaked and cold despite the air around them being relatively warm. By the time he got back to the van, someone had stopped to check on Steve, who had been panicking about Eddie getting lost. When they finally got towed to a repair shop, the mechanic told them he wouldn't be able to look at it until the morning and that from the sounds of it, they'd need to replace a handful of parts that were more money than either of them had with them.

A weekend trip to visit Robin at college had turned into an expensive nightmare.

And now, they would be sharing a very tiny bed.

Eddie and Steve had been closer lately, especially since Robin's classwork had made it impossible for her to visit much. But sharing a full sized bed?

"Well, guess I'll go shower. Maybe it'll help me feel less like everything is falling apart," Steve sighed.

"Okay, Eeyore."

Steve rolled his eyes, but ignored him.

They got ready for bed like they were dreading it, and maybe they were.

They both got into the bed, laying on their sides facing away from each other, but close enough to feel the heat radiating from the other.

The rain pelted the roof, and lightning flashed in the distance, but it seemed like the storm was almost past.

"Steve?"

"Hm?"

"Sorry about tonight."

"Nothing you could do, Eds."

He felt Eddie shift, but they still weren't touching.

"I guess. Still sorry though."

"Yeah, me too."

Sleep fell over them, the exhaustion of the day hitting them hard as soon as their bodies were horizontal.

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

Steve was sweating, which wasn't completely unusual, but definitely rare when he hadn't woken up screaming from a nightmare.

He had something, no, someone, in his arms.

Eddie.

He was curled around Eddie entirely, his arms around him, his hard dick pressing into his ass.

Eddie was still asleep, breathing softly, chest rising and falling slowly.

Steve needed to wake him up, or at least get up so he could put some space between them until his dick calmed down.

But just as he went to pull his arm away, Eddie turned around in his arms and smiled in his sleep.

And then his eyes fluttered open.

His smile faded.

"Sorry, let me-" As Eddie started to pull away, Steve tightened his arms.

"A minute."

Steve sometimes said he needed a minute like this when the kids were all yelling about things he didn't quite understand or when Robin had been rambling on for too long.

Sometimes, when he and Eddie were just hanging out, he would say it like he just had too much going on in his brain.

Like now.

Steve was looking at Eddie, really looking.

"Eddie?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I might love you."

Eddie blinked back at him, mouth agape.

"You think you might?" His voice was quiet, hesitant.

"Yeah."

"And this is...because of us sleeping in bed together or...?"

"No. It's because when we have a shitty day that could turn into another shitty day tomorrow, I'm still just happy to be with you for it. I didn't...I guess it didn't really hit until now," Steve admitted.

Eddie gulped.

"And you think that's...love?"

"I think that's part of it. I also think I'd like to kiss you."

Eddie let out a small breath, shaky as Steve pulled him flush against his front.

"You would?"

"If that's okay."

"Is that all?" Eddie smirked, obviously implying that he could feel Steve's dick against his thigh.

"We'll see where else the night goes."

[ghoulie-67-baby]

Disrespect- Wizarding world.

Summary: You’re tired and overwhelmed and in a serious bad mood, bu that doesnt mean you can take it out on Remus without punishment.

Warnings: Pet names, disrespectful behaviour, nudity, Sub & Dom dynamics, subspace, punishment, crying, spanking, little angsty.

Pairing: Wolfstar x GN!Reader.

Word count: 2,300.

"I'm just trying to help you, Bunny, it'll make it easier for you," Remus muttered mindlessly as he skimmed the pages of his book. I rolled my eyes and huffed out a breath before throwing my own potions book on the bed away from me, sour-faced.

"Y/N, watch your attitude." Sirius piped up, raising his eyebrow at me. I ignored him and buried my face in the blankets of Moony's bed. I knew the use of my name instead of a nickname was a serious warning rather than a passing comment but I wasn't in the mood for him to complain about my behaviour. I was stressed, overtired, overworked, overwhelmed and in need of an escape into my subspace but hadn't had the chance for a while.

"I'm just saying, if you don't get some work done now then you'll end up stressing and cramming all your work in at the last minute. You know I'm right Bun." I scoffed, lifting my head as I sat up and staring at the lycanthrope who looked rather surprised at me.

"I'm not a child Remus, I know how to manage myself." I shot back, glaring slightly as I hopped off the bed in a huff.

"Last warning Y/N, you won't be told again." I met Sirius' gaze, challenging him slightly with a scowl.

"Whatever," I knew I was being unreasonable but my bad mood had taken over completely. "Stop acting like you know everything Remus." That was my last word before I grabbed my bag and stormed out of their dorm and down to the black lake for some alone time.

———————————————————————————————

Two days had passed since I had spoken to Remus like crap and on the first day I didn't speak to either of them, knowing they were too pissed off, the second-day things seemed to have settled a little, speaking to me but not being as close and open as they usually were. The guilt of the situation had hit me hard and I scolded myself in my head every hour as I watched how Remmy had shut down a little, distancing himself. I had nested myself into bed at night in the girl's dorm, feeling unusually cold because my boys weren't cuddling me to sleep but I was also too stubborn and hated apologising.

Knowing if I didn't apologise it wouldn't be resolved, I had stashed myself way in their dorm room after my lessons so that when they got back from their lessons I would be there and I could bite back my stubbornness and say I was sorry to my boyfriends. I had planted myself in the middle of Remus' bed with my books around me, completing homework, so that I would be the first thing he saw when he walked in which meant he couldn't avoid me. I had changed out of my uniform shirt and gown into one of his shirts and the bottom half of my uniform to be more comfortable and mostly so I could smell him around me.

Just as I had predicted, Moony walked in first, laughing alongside Sirius, until his gaze fell upon mine and then the laughing stopped much to my disappointment; I loved the sound of his laugh. He walked over to his bed, placing his things on the bedside table before I caught his attention by holding my arms out for a hug. I knew he wouldn't deny me a hug even though he was mad. I wrapped my arms around him and cuddled into his neck, guilt setting in again when he kissed my cheek.

"How was your day Poppet?" I peeked over Remmy's shoulder at Siri, giving him a small, unsure smile.

"Boring and tiring, my head feels frazzled," I muttered, pouting slightly. Remus released me from the hug and continued to put all his things away, changing into sweatpants and a cardigan as he went. I watched with sad eyes as they flickered between the two marauders. I was staring at my hands in my lap as Remus came and sat on his bed, book in hand, and rested on the headboard. I crawled over to him, biting my lip unsurely before sitting beside him and waiting for him to look up.

"What do you need?" He raised an eyebrow but didn't look up, his voice was flat and void of emotion. I had really upset him this time. "You just gonna sit there watching hmm?" I shook my head and lifted up his chin so he would look at me.

"I wanted to say sorry Moony, I shouldn't have spoken to you like that and I know it was wrong." His eyes observed me the whole time as I fought the tremble of my lip. "I didn't mean what I said and I won't do it again. I know you're jus' trying to look after me." I played with his fingers as I spoke, a nervous feeling running through me at the thought of him not accepting the apology and hating me.

"Thank you for apologising Bun, I'm glad that you recognised your mistake and were able to be brave about it. I just care about you is all and I don't want you making yourself ill over work. Next time just listen if I advise you on something okay?" He soothed, his hand squeezing mine as I nodded at him. "Good." I smiled slightly, looking up at him. I knew this wouldn't be all, after all, I was due a punishment and was happy to take it, I had behaved badly after all.

"Y/N come on Poppet, the sooner this is over the sooner you can cuddle and rest." Sirius beckoned me over but not before Remus gave me a quick kiss on the lips, making me smile against him. I stood in front of Sirius as he made himself comfortable on the big armchair, my hands crossed in front of my lap. "Strip to your underwear Poppet." I did as I was told, not wanting to get in any more trouble but left my socks on to keep my toes warm. He nodded as I did and folded my uniform onto the chest at the end of his bed. Within seconds I was back in front of him and he had his hands on my hips. "Now, you know you have to be punished for your behaviour s'be a good Puppy and take what you're given, okay?" I let my eyes glance to Remmy on his bed who sat reading his book, letting Sirius get on with the task at hand. Siri began to pull me closer to him, so he could lay me across his lap but before he could I planted my feet firmly on the ground. The look of annoyance on his face unnerved me, making Remus look up at my defiance but I pouted at him sadly.

"Remmy, I'm sorry," I whispered, "Siri kisses?" My eyebrows furrowed as I bit my lip and tangled my fingers together.

"Of course Poppet." A grin spread on his face as he pulled me in for a kiss, being gentle and comforting as he brushed my hair behind my ear. He knew how on-edge punishments got me and was typically gentle unless he was in a terrorising kind of mood. "Now do as you're told and lay across m'lap, don't want more punishment than is needed do we?" The question was rhetorical and a warning at the same time so I wrapped my arms around his leg whilst I laid myself on his legs, face down.

I braced myself for the first swat as he rubbed my butt, running his fingers over my pale skin which we both knew wouldn't last long. My body tensed as his hand was removed and came down on my flesh with a crack. It wasn't the worst I'd had off him but I knew it would feel worse once my skin started to welt and become more sensitive. The second one came quickly after and I winced at the feeling, shifting uncomfortably until his free hand came to rest on my back, both comforting me and holding me still. I became more sensitive every time his hand came into contact with my ass, after trying to keep my eyes open the tears began to sting them and I squeezed them shut as I whimpered and winced at the pain, my body jolting with each hit.

It felt like I had laid there for hours as each swat followed on from the next, alternating between each side and different areas so it didn't do too much damage. My whimpers soon turned into little cries and then into full-grown sobs which I huffed out, gripping the material of Sirius' trousers as tears spilt over my cheeks and onto the fabric. I had given up wriggling around and trying to stay quiet, knowing it was pointless as my skin seared. Broken sobs filled the room as the spanking came to an end, leaving me with a welted ass, tear streaks everywhere and laboured breathing. Once he had finished, Sirius leaned down and pressed a small kiss to my sore skin, rubbing his thumb over my back in comfort.

"Okay, Poppet, all done now." He sat me up gently so my legs were on either side of his body, smiling at me as I whined when my skin pressed against his trouser material. There was the terrorising side of him, amused by my discomfort.

"All done?" I whimpered, rubbing my eyes as I hiccuped out more sobs.

"Yes Poppet, all done. You took it so well, like a good puppy." I nodded and fell forward onto his chest with a small huff in exhaustion as he soothed me. My hands shook as they curled into his hair, playing with the strands whilst Remmy wandered around the room to find something. I struggled to keep my eyes open as tiredness and headspace set in making me feel fuzzy and soft.

"Bunny, you have to let us put some cream on before you sleep, where do you want to lie." Remus appeared in front of me with a concerned look on his face. I opened my eyes as wide as I could, pouting at his statement but sitting up slowly. I tried to ignore the soreness of my skin as I did but the way the material rubbed against it made the tears appear once more. With an accompanying cry, I held my arms up at the lycanthrope, making grabby hands as he cooed at me. "Okay Bunny, I've got you little one." He recognised the signs of subspace and picked me up, holding me to his chest as I wrapped my legs around him. The two walked over to Remus' bed and sat down with me lying on Moony's chest so my backside was accessible. "Y'gonna let Pads put some aloe on Bunny, it'll help with the pain." I nodded, remembering the reason I had gotten myself into this mess and scooting up Remmy's chest to rest my head in the crook of his neck for my own comfort.

I hissed as the cold cream came into contact with my hot skin, soothing the red, hand-print-shaped welts as I tightened my grip on my Dom. Once in a while, a whimper escaped my throat and a kiss was pressed to my head or the small of my back as they both soothed me. The cream had been applied generously before they manoeuvred me into a loose pair of their boxers and left on Remmy's shirt. I clambered back onto Moony's lap and nuzzled into his chest, drawing patterns on his cardigan as he petted my head sweetly.

"You did so good for Pads today Bun, I'm so proud of you." His coos filled me with happiness and I sighed in relief.

"I thought y'both wouldn't want me anymore 'cause of the way I spoke to you Remmy," I muttered into his chest, fingers tightening in the material of his cardigan. "You do still want me right?"

"Hey little one, of course, we do, we'll always want you Y/N, a bit of bad behaviour because you've got a lot going on isn't going to change that." He lifted my head so I could look into his eyes as he spoke and I nodded, biting my lip. Sirius came to join us on the bed and sat beside Remmy leaning against the headboard.

"Don't ever think we don't want you Poppet," He chipped in, "We know it's difficult for you and sometimes you need something to help you relax or put you back in your place. There are times when you're gonna lash out but that doesn't mean we'll ever not want you." I giggled as he tickled my ribs gently, rolling his eyes playfully at Remus' warning look as if to tell him not to get me wound up when I needed to rest.

"Come on now Bunny, settle down and get some rest." Remmy laid me between the both when he noticed me rubbing my eyes with balled-up fists, yawning as my body started to shut down. I cuddled into Remus' side as I burrowed between them both, too tired to care about my skin rubbing against the material of the boxers lightly.

Night Remmy, Night Siri," I mumbled with closed eyes, smiling as a blanket was pulled over me and Sirius cuddled me from behind, careful of my butt. "Love you both so much."

"Goodnight Bunny." Remus soothed, kissing my head.

"We love you too, Poppet," Sirius added, kissing my shoulder.

And with that, I fell into the best sleep I'd had in the past week, glad I'd made up with the two most important people in my life.

[sillyruinsfox]

Birthday Blues

PAIRINGS: Avengers X reader,

Steve Rogers X reader

WARNINGS : Explicit use of swear words, mentions of period blood.

SYNOPSIS : Y/N is sick and the Avengers have forgotten her birthday. Hence she is also mad and her uterus decided to spontaneously explode.

AUTHORS NOTE : Hey people! This is my first Avengers fanfic, so I would really appreciate the feedback. Also hope you enjoy it! The second part I have yet to write but I will post it soon. Toodles!

It had been a gruelling day. For starters, you had woke up with blood pooled on your white linen sheets- it was obvious. Even your uterus was conspiring against you. Second, your hair had gone on strike and refused to sit in a pony tail. The lonliness had gotten to it too, it spontaneously reshaped itself to look like a bird's nest, hoping for some fly company.

To top all this off, you had caught a cold. To illustrate how it looked, bigfoot was know for his big feet (obviously) and you shall be known for your nose. Red and irritated. Just like you felt at this very moment.

You weren't usually such an incorrigible grump, but it was your birthday tomorrow and your team mates showed no sign of remembering, despites the bomb-like obvious hints you had constantly dropped for the past week. There is nothing as irritating in the world as an itch you can't reach and your stupid ass friends not remembering your birthday. The unfortunate part is that you knew the lot were stupid before you became friends with them.

This was good enough reason to put anyone in a bad mood right? Oh but there's worse! Your one and only boyfriend, Shmaptan Schemerica (blame the stupid pronunciation on your blocked nose) a.k.a Steve Rogers had been way to busy running some shit or the other with Fury to even have a proper conversation with you this past week.

You decided enough was enough. If these asshats didn't remember your birthday, you were going to celebrate it on your own. And you promised yourself not to melt when Natasha or Pietro apologized later on. Those two were manipulative as fuck.

At midnight you woke up with your nose blocked three ways to hell and decided that the only way to celebrate was with medicine and a cup of hot chocolate. The sugar would kill you throat- sure, but what is a little death for a professional assasin?

You made your way down the stairs wrapped up in a thick blanket, looking like the aftermath of a war. Your footsteps heavy and echoing in the large stairwell. As you made your way into the common room, you found it unusually dark, the rest of New York looked like a festival in comparison. You opened the kitchen door and immidiately heard the flip of the lightswitch and turned 180°, on high alert. It proved to be a good choice as a large cylindrical object, burst in your face, throwing conffeti all over it. You heard a loud 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY!' in the background.

The conffeti had triggered another sneeze fest. After the 5th sneeze, you looked up to see the Avengers dressed for a casual party, looking at you awkwardly.

Steve was the first one to speak up,'Jeez, Y/N. We didn't realize you were so sick!'

You shot him a dry glare, trying to control your volcanic anger,'Jeez Steve! I'm so sorry you didn't! If only I saw you lately, I would have told you sweetie!', you cast a look around the room. Most of them stood awkwardly, Tony was the only one with the gall to look mildly amused.

You stormed into the kitchen making yourself a cup of hot chocolate. Vision came in, ' Are you okay Ms. Y/N?'

You had a soft spot for the transparent AI. He was sweet and understanding and a great listner. It always felt safe being vulnerable with him, you said,' No Viz. I'm tired and I can't breathe or talk properly. I have been extremely sad and angry that none of you remembered my birthday for the past few days and nothing is going my way!', as you said this, Viz looked at your hair.

'That obvious huh?', you asked him, a small laugh bubbling out of you.

He tactfully ignored that and moved on, 'we didn't mean to hurt you, we just wanted it to be a suprise.'

'Oh I know Viz. It's just..... I don't know. I am confused and sad. Knowing that cake awaits me on the other side of this wall makes me a little happier. Can we go to the cake?'

Vision smiled and swept his hand as if to tell you to go first. As you entered the common room again, Steve came rushing.

He placed a hand on you cheek and said in an extremely apologetic manner,' I'm so sorry babaycakes. I should have come up to check on you.'

You almost melted, but your ego decided to wage forntal attack, ' You've had a piece of my cake honeybuns and you know that it's not baby sized and I hope the actual cake you got me right now isn't either!'

[shadowmaat]

"Excuse me?" I raised my hand, feeling a bit stupid for doing it, but some things are too deeply ingrained to stop.

"Yes?" The man, wearing a black suit that covered every inch of his skin except for his eyes, pointed at me. "Was it you?"

A ball of fire formed in his other hand.

"No? I mean, I don't think so. I just have some questions, if that's alright?"

The man sighed heavily, rolling his eyes. "Join the club. Fine. What is it?"

I took a deep breath, trying to center myself. My three coworkers clustered behind me, either hoping I'd protect them or hoping my fiery death would give them a chance to escape. Fat chance.

"Can I ask what this is about, please?"

The man, who hadn't introduced himself when he'd abducted me, tilted his head.

"I beg your pardon?"

I clenched my fists, trying to dispel the tremors. No luck.

"I- I mean, what is it one of us is supposed to have done?"

The fireball flickered out as he continued to stare at me. I fidgeted.

"You mean you don't know?"

I shook my head and could hear a quiet murmur of agreement behind me.

"Unbelievable." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, I was hired by your boss because one of you offended him grievously and then refused to apologize."

"Mrs. Beasley?" I clapped a hand over my mouth. Had I gotten the pronouns wrong? Had there been a change and I hadn't been told?

The man looked at me like I was an idiot. Not exactly a new experience in my job.

"No, your boss. Dr. Muerte. Supervillain? About this tall?" He held a hand over his head.

Oh. Oh. That was a name I definitely recognized. Some of the villains in the city weren't all that evil, but Dr. Muerte seemed to have a grudge against the whole world and took it out on everyone around him.

Behind me, Trent whispered, "I knew Mrs. B was evil! I told you!"

I jammed my arm back, elbowing him in the ribs. This was not the time for his conspiracy theories.

"I'm, uh, very sorry, Mister...?" My voice trailed off, partly because I didn't know his name and partly because it was dawning on me just how fucked we truly were. Hells, we were all in our pajamas (or naked, in Ben's case, poor bastard). We'd been snatched from our homes in the middle of the night and dragged to this dirty old warehouse, and it was all a mistake?

"The Eraser," the man replied, dragging my attention back.

Trent started swearing under his breath, explaining to the others that the Eraser was the mystery guy that villains hired to "clean up" problems. Ominous.

"Right, Mister, uh, Eraser." I winced, knowing how stupid that sounded, but I was trying hard not to panic and I was operating off even less sleep than usual.

"Look, uh, I think there's been a mistake? We don't work for Dr. Muerte, we work at Starbucks. The one on the corner of Harris and Fillion? I don't think we've ever seen him in the store?" I glanced back, looking for confirmation from my coworkers, but as unusual as some of our customers could be, I was pretty sure we'd have known if an eight-foot tall guy in a skull mask and old timey mortician's outfit had come in.

My coworkers stared back at me. Nita, however, was frowning.

"Starbucks," the Eraser repeated. "You're telling me you're baristas?"

I heard an oh, shit behind me and a bunch of whispering. but stayed focused on our captor.

"Mostly? Yes. I mean, there's more to it than just making drinks- never mind," I interrupted myself. As fear responses were, turning into a chatterbox was not a good one.

The Eraser covered his face with his hands and started pacing back and forth, swearing up a storm. Small flames licked out across his body, though they didn't seem to burn his suit.

Trent tugged on the back of my No Fox Given t-shirt and whispered in my ear.

The blood drained from my face. I swayed before catching myself. The Eraser was still pacing and swearing. And smoldering.

I cleared my throat, mouth suddenly dry.

"Uh- um? Eraser, sir?" When in doubt (and terror) be polite. "I, uh, I think we maybe figured out what happened?"

The Eraser stopped, dropping his hands as he stalked closer to me. My coworkers immediately vacated the area behind me.

"What is it? What's your name, anyway?"

"Uh, Kendra Willet, sir. Uh, I, uh, um." Pause. Deep breath. "Does- does Dr. Muerte wear, um, something to make him taller?"

I was sweating, and not just because of the flames.

Blue eyes narrowed at me.

"Why do you ask?"

I blinked rapidly, trying to stop the tears from forming. It was too late for that, now.

"Well, uh. We, uh, had a customer in this week. Shorter than, y'know." My hand made a brief flail. "And, uh, well. it was busy at the time and it can be very hard to hear, and..." I swallowed. It was so stupid. And such an obnoxious clichè. But mistakes really did happen sometimes.

"...And I might have misheard his name and written 'Morty' on the cup."

I cringed. This was stupid. It wasn't my fault! I mean, it was, but come on! The guy- Dr. Muerte, apparently, had thrown an absolute tantrum when Nita had called his name. It hadn't quite been a "call the cops" situation, but it had been close. He'd vowed revenge as he left. I assumed he was going to leave a negative review. Or complain to Mrs. B. Or both.

The Eraser was staring at me. It was getting uncomfortable. Well, more uncomfortable.

"Are you telling me," he said, "that Dr. Muerte cashed in his favor because someone mispronounced his name?"

"It's my fault, not Nita's!" I could feel the tears. "I'm the one who wrote it down wrong! I'm so sorry!"

The Eraser clapped a hand on my shoulder. I yelped, jolting as I waited for the flames to engulf me, but there was nothing. Just a warm hand on my shoulder and the sound of- of laughter?

The Eraser was laughing. So hard that he was using me as a prop so he wouldn't fall over.

Things got a bit hazy after that. I'm pretty sure the Eraser actually apologized to us, and to me specifically, for dragging us out there. He said something about "taking care of it," and the next thing I knew I was back in my apartment with Beans twining between my legs and miauing.

And then... life went on. I worked opening shift the next morning with Ben, who filled me in on a few things I'd missed in the aftermath, but nothing dramatic happened.

There was a story on the news about a fire in the Gold Towers neighborhood. A super posh McMansion burned to the ground. Despite everything the fire crews did, there was nothing left but ash. Strangely, none of the surrounding homes, or even the trees and plants, sustained any damage.

About a week after that I found a blank envelope in my mailbox. A cashier's check for $500K with a note that said "with sincerest apologies."

We all got one. Those of us who'd been there. Or at least I assume Nita got one, too, but she quit the morning after and we never saw her again. Can't say I blame her, and given that the bank verified the check was real, maybe I'd quit, too.

If only all bad customer encounters ended this well.

“Someone’s going to pay for this. I don’t particularly care who — I’m only delivering this punishment as a courtesy to a friend, whom one of you offended. So, I give you a choice; either step up and admit what you did, or all of you die.”

[infamousbrad]

It's the 30th anniversary of the end of the Branch Davidian siege at Waco, and the news coverage hasn't gotten any better since.

I have a weirdly privileged view of those events, not unique, but pretty unusual. I had recently bought a house that came with a Big Ugly Dish, one of those old-fashioned 10-foot diameter aimable satellite antennae. Back then, the way that stations like NBC or CNN covered unfolding events in remote areas was to send a camera crew and a satellite uplink, and stream the footage in real time back to the studio in New York for editing. And back then the raw feeds were entirely unencrypted. So if you had a big ugly dish, you could watch the unfiltered live stream of any major news event.

I was glued to this story from the day it started. From the first day of the siege, I was expecting the worst, because unlike most Americans, I knew something about the Clinton administration's Attorney General, Janet Reno, namely how she got the job. During the transition team, Hillary Clinton was assigned by her husband to expand the pool of qualified female candidates for cabinet-level positions, and Hillary seized on Janet Reno because, like Hillary, she was "committed to protecting children."

The reason that Janet Reno was considered "committed to protecting children" was that she was an early adopter and enthusiastic promoter of the Satanic Ritual Abuse conspiracy theory, the one we now know as Q-Anon.

Over the first couple of days of the siege, it came out that the Branch Davidian raid had started out as an international child-custody dispute. A group of three Australian ex-spouses of Branch Davidians had filed for sole custody in their home country on the grounds that the children were being brainwashed into a cult, and got it, but the US Justice Department always reflexively sides with the American parent and declined to honor the Australian court order. So when the Australian spouses came to Washington to lobby for themselves, Reno didn't even agree to meet with them, not at first. Then, and only then, did they start circulating the "David Koresh rapes children as part of cult rituals" story.

That caught Janet Reno's attention, all right.

In planning the arrests and the search of the compound, the Justice Department turned up the fact that David Koresh was popular with local law enforcement, so that ruled out ordering the local sheriffs to carry out the arrest and search. They also found out that one of the residents was a federally licensed machine-gun dealer who stored machine guns on the premises, so that ruled out sending the Marshals or the FBI, because they weren't willing to send their agents up against someone with machine guns, so it fell to the ATF. Also, any attempt to arrest Koresh in town was ruled out, or even to knock and announce, because Reno wanted to make sure that any evidence of cult-ritual child-rape was preserved.

As the ATF were storming the compound, a shot rang out, an ATF agent was shot in the leg, and the rest of the ATF agents lit the place up, and the Davidians returned fire.

I forget how long it was after that, not much more than a couple of days, before someone inside the compound got ahold of CNN by phone. (Land-line. Cellphones were still pretty rare then.) They said that they saw the ATF coming and were prepared for a siege, but that they knew for a fact that none of their people had fired the first shot, that the first shot was friendly fire, probably accidental. (There's some evidence supporting this theory, I won't go into it because this is already too long.)

When the reporter told them that cops had been shot in the exchange of fire, the Davidians said that they were afraid to surrender, now -- that as accused cop-killers, they were afraid that an excuse would be made to shoot them as soon as they came out the door or let the FBI (who had taken over the scene by then) in. So they asked CNN to send in one reporter to come out with them, figuring that the FBI might be willing to murder "cultists" but wouldn't have the guts to murder a reporter on-air.

Reno ordered the FBI to keep reporters out, claiming she believed they would be used as hostages. She also ordered the phone line cut.

You know most of the rest. I watched it live. The FBI used specially designed tanks to gas them out. The gas in question is frequently lethal to children and the FBI knew that the Davidians had no child-sized gas masks, but justified the gas on the grounds that the parents would know this and that would make them rush the children to safety. But they were still afraid of getting shot as suspected cop-killers, so almost nobody fled.

The tanks set the compound on fire, almost certainly accidentally, probably by knocking over kerosene lanterns inside as they punched holes in the walls and igniting the hay bales the Davidians had piled up as bullet-catchers. Almost nobody escaped alive.

Janet Reno kept her job, because all the right people concluded that she was right to want to Save the Children and No Reasonable Person Could Have Foreseen This Outcome. And the dominoes keep falling, are still falling to this day.

[acey-wacey]

hiiiii i love the future children series so i request Riddle, Vil, Kalim, Jamil and Idia if that is okay ^^

This series is in quite high demand, I must say.

...

🌹 Riddle Rosehearts 🌹

Riddle was on his way to attend to the Heartslabyul croquet hedgehogs when he found that their cages had been opened.

You can imagine his panic when every single one of them was gone.

He huffed, trying his best not to hyperventilate at this grievous issue.

He heard a giggle from behind the garden shed and stormed over, ready to scream at some irresponsible first years.

When he caught sight of two little girls, he was so shocked he forgot to scream at them.

The two girls, one of them 6 years old, the other 5, were petting and playing with the little blue and pink hedgehogs.

Both of them had bright red hair and features that reminded him of someone Riddle couldn't quite put his finger on

He cleared his throat, startling the little girls.

"What are you children doing here?"

"We were just..." began the older girl before she was interrupted by the other.

"We were making sure the hedgehogs weren't lonely!"

Riddle sighed and crouched down to be at eye level with the girls.

"I appreciate your concern for the emotional well-being of my hedgehogs but it was very irresponsible to take them out for their cages, especially without permission."

"Sorry, papa," the girls said in unison.

"No need to call me papa. I'm not your father. Speaking of, I'll take you two to the main office. I'm sure Headmaster Crowley will spare no effort to reunite you with them," Riddle spoke, trying not to crack as the little girls stared up at him with their big ol' eyes. He then muttered under his breath in contempt of the headmaster. "Especially if it will give him and excuse to not work on sending Y/N home."

The oldest girl tugged on his sleeve and furrowed her eyebrows.

"Why are you gonna take us to Mr Crowley? Do you not want to play with us?"

"As much as I would love to entertain you, I'm sure your parents are very worried about you. You must be visitors from the Isle, correct?"

The girls exchanged a look and burst out in giggles.

"Silly papa! Did you forget? We're from the Kingdom of Roses, not the Isle!" the older girl laughed.

"I learned about it in school!" The younger girl said proudly with her hands on her hips. "We talked about the Queen of Hearts and she was from the Kingdom of Roses too!"

"You're from the Kingdom of Roses?"

"Yes, papa! Keep up!"

"May I ask what your parents names are? Perhaps I'm acquainted with them."

"Is this a test, papa?" the youngest squinted at Riddle.

"I know!" The older girl squealed. "Our parents are Riddle Rosehearts and Y/N Rosehearts. And just in case you need it for your test, my name is Reina Rosehearts and my little sister and best friend in the whole wide world is Rosaline!"

Riddle was stunned upon hearing your name and his own as the children's alleged parents.

He was far too flustered to deal on his own so he called you and told you to come to Heartslabyul right away.

You thought somebody had broken some bone so you rushed over immediately only to find Riddle cuddles on the common room couch, reading fairy tales to two little girls.

It's safe to say, he warmed up to them pretty quick.

"This is the emergency you were talking about?"

"Hush, Y/N, we're at the best part of the story."

...

🗡️ Silver 🗡️

It wasn't abnormal for Silver to fall asleep on one of the campus benches.

It was, however, unusual to spot a little boy cuddled up with him.

You were walking back to your dorm when you spotted Silver, who was curled up while hugging a little grey-haired boy.

The boy looked about 7, far too young to be on the campus without an adult, and he had Silver's jacket draped over him like a blanket.

You didn't want to wake Silver but you were so curious and you didn't have anywhere to be so you sat next to Silver on the bench, waiting for him to wake up.

About 30 later, Silver's eyes blinked open and he found you right next to him.

"Oh, Y/N. When did you get here?" he rubbed his eyes and tried to shift his posture without waking the boy in his arms.

"About a half hour ago. I wanted to ask, who is the boy with you?"

Silver looked down at the boy he still cradled and almost looked surprised.

"Oh, yes. This is Elliot. He's our son."

You couldn't help but laugh from the pure shock from Silver's response.

"Our son?"

"Yes. He's from the future and found his way here, one way or another."

Silver seemed so genuine that you stopped chuckling and furrowed your brows.

"Are you still half-asleep, Silver?"

"Probably, but I'm actually being serious about this. He's our little boy. He even says so himself. We could wake him to prove it."

You shook your head and looked at the little boy who peacefully snoozed on the bench.

"We shouldn't disturb him. How about we carry him back to the Diasomnia dorm where he can sleep peacefully and when he wakes up, we'll have this conversation?"

Silver nodded with a barely visible smile and gentle picked Elliot up.

The boy whined and shifted but stayed asleep.

The two of you took him to Diasomnia in comfortable silence and napped on Silver's bed with Elliot in between you two.

Of course later, Lilia would walk in and take a bunch of pictures before practicing you both about "intimacy before marriage".

He stops as soon as s he realized he had a grandson.

You have to pry Elliot away from Lilia because he so thrilled to have a baby again.

...

♣️ Trey Clover ♣️

"Who are my strawberry tart?" Riddle screeched, fuming mad at his authority behind undermined. "Ace, you knave!"

Ace rolled his eyes and crossed his arms at Riddle.

"For the last time, Mr Dorm leader, I'm not always to blame for everything that goes wrong."

"But you gotta admit, it is usually your fault," Cater chuckled from behind his phone screen.

"This one isn't my fault! I'm not gonna sit here and be yelled at for something I didn't even do!"

"Then who would eaten it?" Deuce sighed, his head starting to hurt from all the yelling.

Trey cleared his throat and all turned to look at him as he stood in the doorway of the kitchen.

He rubbed his neck sheepishly as he looked at Riddle.

"Sorry, Riddle. That would be my fault."

"Trey?"

"For real?"

"No, no, not me," Trey chuckled in embarrassment and beckoned for someone from behind the door.

Three children sheepishly stepped out with their hands behind their backs.

There was an older boy, a girl, and a very little boy, all three of them with strawberry red staining their cheeks.

"Trey, what is the meaning of this?" Riddle sternly inquired. "Are these your siblings? Did they eat my tart?"

"They did eat the tart but they aren't my sibligns. They're actually, uh," Trey sighed, unsure how to bring it up gracefully. "They're my children.

A gasp rippled through the room before all hell broke loose.

"You have kids?"

"When did this happen?"

"You're just 18!"

"Who's the mother?"

Trey held his hands up in surrender and ushered the kids back behind him as they seemed very overwhelmed by the influx of questions.

"They're from the future, so don't worry about me having children as a teenager."

"How'd they get here if they're from the future?" asked Deuce, though he wasn't sure if the answer was obvious to everyone else and he just wasn't getting it.

"I don't know, Deuce, but they're here until I can figure out how to get them back," Trey sighed. "Since they might be here a while, I'll introduce them."

Trey pointed to the older boy who had greenish hair and glasses just like his father.

"This is Julian,"

He pulled the girl, who had e/c eyes with a mischievous glint, into a little side hug and she giggled.

"This is Catherine,"

He ruffled the little boys h/c hair, making him laugh.

"And this little one is Lukas."

"Okay, but who's the mom? Is it someone we know?" Ace seemed very invested in the new tea.

"I'm not sure I really want to tell you anymore."

"Come on, who is it?"

"Mama is Y/N!" Lukas exclaimed, looking very proud of himself that he remembered his mother's name.

All the Heartslabyul students went quiet. This time nothing broke the uncomfortable silence as they all exchanged glances.

"I heard yelling. Are y'all alright?" you poked your head into the kitchen.

"We're fine!" Deuce practically screamed, making you even more concerned.

"It's absolutely nothing," Cater gave you a thumbs up and a saccharine smile as you raised your eyebrow suspiciously.

"You're all acting weird."

"Mama!"

Before you knew it, three tiny bodied were upon you.

"What's going on?" you asked, panicked. You looked to Trey for help since he usually knew what was going on.

Trey sighed and began prying the children off of you.

"Alright, kids. Let's not suffocate your mother."

You practically saw blue screens.

"Mother?"

"Maybe let's take this somewhere more private where I can explain."

You could hear a chorus of suggestive "oohs" from the kitchen as you walked to Trey's room.

[bangtaninborderland]

Risk It All (1) - Tokyo Is Broken.

Genre: Chishiya X reader, Angst, Fluff.

Warning: Death, Violence, Guns.

A/N: Please interact it means a lot especially when writers take hours planning and developing story lines . I won’t be going 100% on how it happened in the show or the manga such as the changes to the game of tag they will not be huge changes at all but I will be including all of the characters and their personalities will remain the same. Let me know some ideas you’d like to see and maybe I’ll put it in the story! There may at some point be smut but not for a long time and I will post warnings beforehand. 🥹🫶🏼THANKYOU 🫶🏼🥹

Masterlist | Ch. 2

Everything was silent which was strange considering your apartment was next to Shibuya crossing. You peered out of the open window seeing nothing but a dark city. You've never seen Tokyo this dark or quiet it carried an eerie feeling but you brushed it off after all there had been a storm a few hours earlier and it wasn't unusual for the streets to be bare. 

You grabbed a black zip-up jacket with a hood, an umbrella and a flashlight.  You exited your apartment and took the stairs, if the power is off the elevators won't work. As you opened the door to the stairwell you noticed that no one else had taken them which left you questioning your earlier thought about the power. Maybe it wasn't affecting anyone else? 

You switch the flashlight on and At a quickened pace you take the steps. When you finally reach the bottom you step outside, the door to the stairwell had been removed a few weeks earlier for a renovation. You weren't the type to complain about small things such as that after all, it didn't impact your life in any way. However, at this moment you wished that door would be there to stop you from facing what is right in front of you. 

The streets were bare, the wind blowing but no rain. You take a glance at the umbrella in your hand. 

Stupid.

The power cuts and I choose an umbrella? You sigh placing it down on the stairs behind you along with the flashlight before venturing further out into the street, you reach the crossing and see a flash of light in the sky, it's the only light you've seen so far and although every hair on your body raised and your feet told you to run, you walked towards it. 

You take note of everything around you as you always had done, your friends would always complain and tell you that you thought too hard but it never hurts to be prepared. You begin to panic internally when you pass a few streets and still no one. As of right now, the light in the sky is the only hope you hold and it's a hope you cling to.

As you approach the building you see the lights are on, the only lights in Tokyo. You rush inside the building against your better judgement to be met with 7 people you've never seen before but at this moment you've never been happy to see a person. Even if you didn't know them. 

You pick up one of the phones from the table in front of you hoping it has some use, the screen illuminates and it isn't anything as you'd hoped. The small screen scans your face before a cheerful voice declares that you have been verified. 

You turn to the other individuals in the room focusing on the two boys huddled together. 

"What is this?" your voice breaks as you fake confidence. 

The two boys turn to you and you wait patiently hoping for some kind of response. The boy in the orange shirt doesn't seem happy when his friend replies. "It's a game, you have to clear the mission and stay alive" he pauses before continuing "I'm Arisu, this is Karube."

He gestures to his friend and you smile sheepishly, your mind fills with questions, however, before you can ask another the same cheery voice makes it clear that the Registration period had closed. The phone flashes and you read it over, confused by every word. 

Game: Tag 

Difficulty: 5 of spades 

Rule: Run away from the tagger 

Clear condition: find the safe zone hidden within the building within the time limit. 

Time limit: 20 minutes 

After 20 min the bomb inside the building will detonate.

You follow Arisu to the elevator and decide to make use of the few moments you'll have to gather information. 

"What is this place, where is everyone, what's this game?" 

There is a slight chuckle behind you and you turn to face the boy behind you, he was wearing a white jacket similar to yours. His hair was light blonde and he was short and slender, you couldn't see his face well and he seemed to have been in his own world.

As interesting as he may have seemed you knew you didn't have time to think about him as Arisu had begun to answer your questions. 

"It's Tokyo, there are some people here but not many. We have to play games to survive you'll get a visa if you win which means you don't have to play for a few days but if you die then you're gone. We have to hide and don't get caught by the tagger. We have to find a safe zone. When you find it gets to it as fast as you can" 

You had answers yet you still felt as confused as the moment you got here. The elevator door opens and Arisu looks back at you.

"Stay alive" he turns his head and runs up the stairs with his friend following behind him. 

You know you need to do the same, you take the stairs to the top floor, it's either a really smart decision or a really stupid one. It could be where the taggers will start but if they start on the ground floor it would take them much longer to get to you. 

You watch as the next 5 minutes are filled with bloodshed. You weren't surprised at the sight of a dead body but you couldn't help but wince every time you hear a gunshot. However, you were surprised when people started shouting about their location, they were working together. 

Working so we can all live, at least those of us that are still alive. 

Just a few feet away the blonde-haired boy who laughed in the elevator stood casually watching the game, although it was nothing more than a movie. 

You begin to wonder how someone can become so calm, how long has he been here? How long will I be here? You took a breath and headed towards him, you couldn't worry about what will happen, you had to survive now. Besides, he was so calm, he had to know something. 

"You're not participating" you speak so quietly you can barely make it out.

You were too afraid to make a sound, too afraid to get caught.  

"I'm watching" he replies in a voice that is all too cheery, similar to that of the voice from the phone.

Nothing and no one should be laughing in a place like this.  

You glance over at a girl jumping from level to level as if it was a normal ability for every human, you'd hope everyone here would survive but the reality wasn't as kind. Although death wasn't something you were afraid to witness it wasn't something you wished for others or yourself. 

You sigh and walk away to your previous position, he wasn't going to talk, at least not here. Truth-seeking would have to wait, instead, you begin to look for the safe zone, everyone else was risking their lives to hide from the tagger, and you would make sure you would win the game for whoever was left. 

You noticed a door with no bullet holes yet the wall around it had been shot to death, you recall the tagger shooting at two girls earlier but why would he shoot so far unless he didn't want to kill them but wanted to get them away from the door... 

You know what this meant. You know where the safe zone was but why was it so easy and why is there no one guarding it? 

Six minutes remaining

The phone chimed and you decided you had waited long enough. You took a breath and began running. You took the stairs down being cautious around every corner ready to run Incase a tagger is lurking around. You safely got to the door and hesitantly tried the handle. It opened and you paused before going in. 

"You figured it out too" a voice behind you made you jump. 

You turned around to be faced with the blonde man once again, his face remaining straight with no emotion. He lets out a slight smirk as you nod.

"Go ahead then" he signals for you to walk through the door. 

You take a breath and walk inside. The room is black and you can't see anything, the blonde boy holds a device in his hand but you can't figure it out and be in a small room with a stranger fills you with a sense of immense fear. 

Suddenly shots fly around the room and the blonde boy runs outside closing the door and leaving you with the tagger. Asshole. 

You duck quickly and run behind the tagger as he reloads, you hit the gun out of his hand and suddenly the door opens the blonde boy presses a button on his small device, a taste, before throwing it to you. Once you catch it he closes the door again. 

 You don't even think before shoving it into the tagger's chest and tasing him. 

You finally breathe after the tagger falls to the floor, you compose yourself and look around the room, you walk towards the door behind the tagger's body. You open it and at first, you are blinded by the light but you quickly adjust. It is an empty room except for two buttons on the wall and for the first time in your life, you need someone else to help you. 

You rush back outside to find the blonde boy hoping he had waiters, you're surprised when you realise he had not

"To clear the game I need help it has to be two people" You scream to alert the other players hoping that someone would come. 

After a few minutes, Arisu and the climber girl run around the corner, you prepare yourself to run in case there is a tagger behind them, however, no one follows them.

"Where is it?" the climber girl asks out of breath. 

"It's inside the room, there's a door. Two of us need to press the buttons to clear the game" you explain quickly. 

Arisu takes a deep breath before sighing "I'll do I-" 

Before Arisu could finish his sentence the tagger who was moments ago passed out had begun shooting from his position on the floor, you don't hesitate to hide. 

You wait patiently and silently behind the wall. 

10 seconds remaining 

You panic and rush towards the room you had nearly died in seconds earlier only to hear another chime from the phone in your pocket. The screen illuminates your face.

The game cleared, congratulations you've earned a visa! 

Visa: 5 days 

Arisu, the climber girl and the blonde boy walk out of the room the game had been cleared in and In a quick breath, you thank them. 

Arisu nods and the blind boy scoffs, the climber girl smiles slightly and you think for a moment about how different it would have been to meet them at home. 

Real home. 

You follow them to the exit of the building and despite all of your unanswered questions and fears about this world, you decide the only place you can go to is the apartment you had called home for the past 3 years. You start to walk in the direction you came from hours earlier but you're stopped when a hand touches your shoulder, you turn around warily only to be met with the smug face of the victorious blonde. 

"You're not entirely worthless, I'm chishiya" his face remains still and his eyes remain cold. 

You mumble your name back at him and after a minute he makes another comment. 

"You weren't as stupid as everyone else. You used your brain. Maybe you'll be useful. You should come with me" He stated, seeming uninterested in his own words. 

You stood silent for a moment debating your choices. You weren't sure where he was going but it had to be better than being alone. Maybe he knows the answers,  maybe he can bring everyone back. 

You pause before nodding "Okay, but first I have to get some stuff."

He nods "Lead the way."

[no-mercy-bby]

Snake in the Grass

Robby Keene X Fem!Reader

Summary: After learning about what happened at Kreese's dojo, you go to bring Robby back.

[Light angst and my homie Terry Silver manipulating Robby and Y/n😔✌ ]

~🖤🥋🖤~

"We've got an all-valley to win." Johnny states loudly, which causes Miguel to nod beside you.

"If one of you don't win, we're all done for," Daniel states solemnly before continuing on, "We need to train our hardest if we're gonna beat Cobra Kai. Especially now that Kreese has his fangs in Robby..."

"What?" You question softly, turning to look at Miguel, but he avoids your gaze and stares down at his sneakers instead.

"Y/n-" Daniel starts, and in anger you cut him off.

"-How can you just leave him there with that that psycho??" You question him angrily, and before he can say anything you storm off, climbing into your car.

You would just have to bring back Robby yourself then.

You absentmindedly take notice of one of the front windows being replaced as you yank open one of the front doors.

Glancing around, your eyes immediately land on Robby who was in the corner of the dojo, and very aggressively practicing his punches on a dummy.

You'd never seen him like this.. So angry? Or maybe it's fear?..

"Excuse me," Kreese rasps from the opposite side of the room near the office. "What do you think you're doing here, miss?"

"I'm here to get my.. friend back, asshole." You snap at him despite the intense glare he wore aimmed at you.

"Y/n?" Robby now questions, and finally turns around to face you. You can't help but notice as his face softens while looking at you.

"Come on, Robby. Let's get you out of here." You say quietly as you move to hold his hand in yours.

"Mister Keene here isn't going anywhere with you." A different voice- a deep, dark voice- chuckles from the doorway of the office.

That's when you see the infamous Terry Silver. It was obvious enough with the unusual ponytail thing he had going on.

"I think Robby can decide for himself." You state and send a glare Silver's way before turning back to face Robby. "Robby, listen to me, Mr. LaRusso told me about these guys- they're terrible-"

"-Mr. LaRusso is a liar-" Robby starts, but Silver cuts him off.

"-Oh wow, you know who I am. I feel famous, John." Silver practically snickers, "Good to know that I still haunt Danny boy."

But then his gaze narrows onto you. "You must be Mister Keene's precious little miss Y/n. He's told us all about you."

You shift nervously under Silver's intense gaze, and Robby's hand lands onto the small of you back.

Were you and Robby were close friends, sure. Did you have a crush on Robby, sure.

But you weren't his- although you didn't necessarily mind the thought-

"-Y/n, you should train with me here, I've already learned so much and I know you could too." Robby tells you gently, and moves in front of you to tell you face-to-face. "Please?"

Robby's hands reach up, and gently cupping your face in them, his thumbs brushing along the apple of your cheeks.

"Please?" He repeats softer this time, as his endearing green eyes peering into yours.

And before your really realized what you were doing- you were nodding silently in agreement.

~🖤🥋🖤~

*casually sneaks back into the CK fandom* Robby Keene, am I right??

Yeah I finally snapped and wrote this- I might be a Robby simp now😔

I don't have a cult taglist for any Cobra Kai characters yetb but if you wanna be tagged in whatever else I decide to write please message me or reply to this post :) I love youuu

[mushiimune]

6 with Javid? :0

Dialogue prompt 6: "Why are you asking me that?"

Jack goes to visit the Jacobses, only to find David crying on the fire escape.

Here is where you can also find this on ao3! It was interesting to write :-) what goofy mentally stable boys

*****

The fire escape rattled as Jack climbed up, undeterred by the slight spittle of late autumn rain freezing on his cheeks. All the trees were brown, and the sky was gray, brewing thick with a storm angry enough to change the seasons.

Jack knew he'd heard somebody on the landing above him, and thought nothing of it until he reached the Jacobs’ floor. He took pause at the top of the steps, staring with alarm down at David Jacobs, curled up in the corner with his knees against his chest.

By no means did Jack consider himself a genius, and graciously it didn't take one to see that David was upset. Judging by the way the part of his face that was slightly visible over his arm looked taut and pained, he had probably been crying, too, or was about to. There had been countless times where Jack accidentally walked in on another boy when they were trying to take a moment to collect themselves. The lodging house wasn't all that big, after all, and from firsthand experience Jack knew that the cramped confines of the dormitory was no place to let anything seep through where anyone could see. Wearing your heart anywhere somebody could see was a good way to get it crushed, or worse, scrutinized.

Sometimes a fellow just has to take a minute for himself. Sometimes days, or even weeks. It wasn't unusual. However, Jack hadn't known David long enough to know what was usual for him or not. Maybe David had a habit of sitting out on the fire escape when Jack wasn't around that he simply didn't know about yet. Or maybe, this was a deviation from normalcy. In either case Jack should show his concern and support, because that's what a pal would do. And they weren't just pals, they were best pals, which called upon more than the bare minimum that Jack was used to.

David didn't say anything to him. But he didn't tell him to scram, either. Jack thought it was reasonable to stick around, even though his heart was pattering and his body was already resisting the pull of the stairwell calling his name. Age-old instinct hammered into his buzzing nerves told him to turn around and run back into the alley below.

Jack's head, however, warned him that David—constantly surrounded by the warm bosom center of his family—needed somebody beside him when things got tough. He was used to being cared about a certain way. If Jack left now, David's opinion of him would almost certainly plummet. More importantly, David would be left alone when he needed somebody to depend upon; likely, before Jack, that person had been Sarah. Which begged the question of why David was outside at all, in the cold and the muggy air foretelling of downpour, instead of inside with his family where he belonged. Without a coat, at that.

Jack noticed that the curtains were drawn and the window was pulled shut. There wasn't another sign of life around, except for the whipping of damp underthings on the clotheslines slicing through the aperture of sky above them.

Jack staunchly approached David, who didn't move at all as Jack lowered down beside him with a grunt.

“Hey, Dave,” said Jack, kindly as he could. Shoulder to shoulder, he didn't have to glance over to know David was shivering. “You all right?”

David shrugged, lifting his head so his chin rested on his stacked forearms. Bloodshot eyes stared blearily at the building across from them.

Jack chewed his lip. “You want me to go?” Maybe he had been wrong. Maybe David was the type of guy to cherish his alone time more than Jack thought.

David shrugged a second time. Then he muttered, “No.”

An uncomfortable silence stretched between them. Jack could tell that David was cold, so he slipped his coat from around his shoulders and fixed it over David's, holding it there with his arm around David's neck.

“Look, Dave,” Jack started once the tension in David's shoulders had eased some. “If there's anything you wanna, you know, talk about– I'll listen.”

Boyishly shameful, David hid his face in the crook of his elbow, clutching Jack's coat closer to him with his other fist.

Minutes later, David spoke up.

“What made you want to be my friend?” He asked unsteadily. “Why did you care whether I walked away with nineteen papes or twenty?”

Those were two very different questions. Jack didn't know which David wanted him to answer first.

“I don't like seeing nobody get bummed around by Weasel.”

“So that's it? You stood up for me out of principle?”

“Well… There's more to it than that.”

“Tell me about it, then. What made you want to be my friend?”

A lot of reasons came to mind, too many to pick through, especially when he didn't know the sort of response David was looking for. Or better yet, what he needed to hear right now.

Probably he didn't need to hear the truth. Not that Jack would be able to tell it to begin with. Shame settled deep in his bones, looking back on the day that they met, and the weeks leading up to it.

David didn't need to hear that Jack had dragged him into a partnership because he'd been so unspeakably desperate for company that he latched onto the first stranger that caught his attention. David had been hard not to notice, making a scene like that on his very first day.

“Want me to be honest?”

“Yeah,” David said warily. “I can take it.”

“I thought you were the bravest person I ever met.”

David couldn't help the bitter laugh that escaped him. “I thought you said you were going to be honest, Jack. You're just–”

“I ain't improving the truth,” Jack insisted with a smile, jostling David good-naturedly. “I'm serious. Yeah, you stumbled into the square looking like a lost puppy, but you left it a million times more confident than you was before. You stood right beside us and took a chance when not even Spot Conlon would, at first. You marched right into Pulitzer's office and made him listen to you like it was nothin’. That's pretty brave, Davey.”

“I guess so.”

“Whaddya mean, you ‘guess so?’”

“I just…” David sighed, deflating. “That’s not really me. That's not who I am, but I wish it was. This is going to sound really pathetic, but I've never felt more alive in my life than I did that week. I'm not an interesting person, Jack. I'm not brave or strong, and I never know what to say. I barely even know what's going on half the time.”

David's voice tapered out, and Jack wanted to grab him by his shoulders and shake him. He couldn't believe it was really Davey saying all of this.

“The only reason I was able to do any of that is because of you, Jack,” David said ruefully. “You inspire people to do great things.”

“And you don't?”

David regarded Jack strangely, like he was talking in tongues or something. “Not even close, Jack. You were the one who got the other newsies invested in our cause.”

“Using your words.” Jack was starting to get a little angry at David. Considering that David had probably been crying a short time before Jack made his way up there, Jack managed to hold his tongue. “Doesn't matter who was saying ‘em. That was all you.”

“It does matter, Jack. There's something about you that…” David's face colored a little, “commands people's attention.”

“You command my attention all the time.”

“Jack.” David wanted to swat at him, but just ended up smiling. “Telling you not to jump on the fire escape isn't the same as making a speech to hundreds of people. And you know me, anyway. It's different. You care what I have to say. Some of the time, at least.”

Jack knew that last part was meant to come off as a joke, but he wasn't all that amused.

“All of the time,” Jack corrected him resolutely, giving him a slap on the back. “I always care what you got to say. But that don't mean I'll always listen.”

“So you're admitting that you have selective hearing.”

“What was that?”

David glared at him, scrunching up his nose and making that exasperated face Jack loved. An easy grin spread across his own, and for the moment it seemed that David was feeling better than he was before.

Emboldened, Jack cleared his throat, careful about his words.

“So what're you askin’ me that for anyway, Dave? You think I don't like you anymore or something?”

David's face dropped, remembering his initial line of questioning. For some reason he felt embarrassed about it, now that he'd calmed down and could breathe properly again.

“It’s not you. Or anything you've done. Sometimes, it… just feels like there isn't any reason for anybody to like me, or even want to be around me. I guess I just want to know what your reason for still being here is.”

“Well I do wanna be around you, for one,” Jack said defensively, offended at the thought anybody wouldn't want to be around David and hear whatever he had to say. “And secondly, I'm still here ‘cause I like you a lot. That's how simple it is.”

David opened his mouth to object, then closed it. The answer didn't totally satisfy his curiosity, but it would do for the time being. Jack wouldn't force himself into hanging around somebody he didn't like. He could easily make friends with anybody he wanted; he had to have a reason for choosing David, of all people. He trusted Jack was telling the truth, even if he didn't elaborate as extensively as David wanted.

Suddenly David became very aware of how close they were sitting, and how warm Jack's arm was around him.

“What do you say we get outta here?” Jack said, snapping David out of whatever trance he'd slipped under.

“And go where?”

“Get something to eat. I'm starved. You ate yet?”

David shook his head. “I should get my coat. And, um, tell my parents I'm going.”

Jack eyed him curiously. “Did they say something to you?”

“What? About what?”

“I dunno. I just figured there had to be a reason you’s out here instead of in there.” Jack jabbed his thumb toward the window, starting to get up, leaving his coat where he'd left it on David.

When he was standing he extended a hand down to David, who took it and hoisted himself up as well. His legs were numb from sitting uncomfortably for so long. Now that he was up, he felt the full force of the fall weather hit him, sending a shiver down his spine.

“That is,” said Jack, “less you'd rather not say.”

“Not right now,” David murmured, shifting on his feet. Jack was still holding onto his hand. He sucked in some of the cold air, heart quivering. “Maybe over dinner.”

Jack nodded at him, his eyes lingering on David's now that they were finally face to face.

“All right, Davey.” Jack let go of him, and nudged him gently toward the window. “Go on and tell them. Grab a hat, too. It's gonna rain soon.”

[mynameismauve6]

Quidditch Captain || Fred Weasley one-shot

pronouns: he/him

tw/cw: swearing, kissing

POV: 1st

•

Being a Quidditch captain was never easy, and being the quidditch captain of the WORST team was even worse.

I'm the captain of the Slytherin team and having to teach them how to play fairly was just a pain in the ass. There was an upcoming tournament against the Gryffindor team. I hate playing against Gryffindor seeing as they have an amazing seeker and we have Malfoy who is just mediocre.

"Practice over!" I shouted as I groaned at the unsuccessful practice.

"Your team is shit," I heard someone say from behind me.

"I can't say yours is any better then mine can I, Weasley?" I rolled my eyes as I met his eyes.

I felt my heart begin to beat fast as I noticed his face was close to mine.

"Actually, the Gryffindor team is pretty immaculate." He smirked.

"Beat it Weasley, I don't need this bull from you." I scoffed before storming away. "I'll show him just how amazing Slytherin is."

For the next few practice left I pushed them to do their best. But saw no progress, they were still shit at this. I groaned as I saw Malfoy bickering with the beater.

"Stop! Stop!" I shouted as I flew towards them. "Just stop!"

They looked at me scared, "you two! It's always you two! Can't we have a decent practice for once? I'm done being the laughingstock on the field!"

"It's not my fault this one doesn't know how to aim correctly and wanted to decapitate me!" Malfoy shouted.

"You were in my way! I know how to aim!" The beater shouted back angrily.

"Enough! Practice is over! Changing rooms! And I swear, if this happens at the game you two are OFF the team! Understood?" I shouted as they grumbled and glared.

"Yes Captain." They both said at the same time.

"Good, now go to the changing rooms, this practice is over." I grumbled flying down.

I muttered and grumbled under my breath after my team left.

"I see your team still sucks," I heard the same annoying voice.

"Go away Weasel man, I don't need your stupid input of my team." I pushed him aside as I walked to the locker rooms.

"Wait! Sorry, I bet your team will do fantastic at the game." He said as he caught up to me.

"Bullocks, a load of bullocks that is." I grumbled.

"I saw serious progress on your practice," he smiled.

"You aren't allowed to look at other teams practice," I stopped and looked at him.

"I- will- I- you see look-," he stuttered and his face turned almost as red as his hair.

"What's your excuse?" I asked him as I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms.

"I- I don't know how to tell you this really," he muttered rubbing his neck.

"Just spit it out Weasley, I don't have all day for this." I scoffed.

"I like you." He blurted out.

I stood there flustered and confused, I felt my face begin to heat up as I heard those words.

"Is this a joke?" I asked more scared then anything else.

"No! No! I promise it isn't a joke!" He exclaimed before laughing nervously. "So?"

"So?" I repeated.

"Do you maybe like me back?" He asked hopefulness in his voice.

"I- Well, I-," but I was saved by the bell.

"What are you doing speaking to this thing?" I heard Malfoy say giving Fred a stank eye.

"Nothing, lets go Malfoy," I walked to the locker rooms with Malfoy my heart racing and my face still hot.

"What did he want?" Malfoy asked and I simply shrugged. "What a loser, having to spy on us."

"It's whatever, we weren't practicing so it's not unusual..." I muttered.

We walked back to the common rooms together, I was too distracted to focus on Malfoy's stupid rambling about Harry Potter and how the dark lord is coming back.

"It sounds like you fancy Harry," I told him.

"W-What?!" He exclaimed but that was the last bit of our conversation.

I couldn't help but think of Fred Weasley maybe this was his attempt at confusing and distracting me. It wouldn't be a surprise if it was.

During dinner Fred wouldn't stop looking at me, how did I know? Because I couldn't stop looking at him.

"Weasley is weirdly looking at you," a girl said as she sat close to me.

"I'm not sure what you mean," I said back as I continued to eat my dinner.

"Don't play dumb (Y/n)," she said in a flirty tone. "You two are rivals in the field he is probably trying to throw you off with his blue eyes."

I felt my face heat up as my heart beat faster, the same feeling I get around Fred. I got up quickly and left the great hall, my heart continued to beat fast as I sped to the common room.

"(Y/n)!" I heard the oh so familiar voice of none other than Fred Weasley.

"What?!" I shouted flustered as I looked at him.

"Are you okay?" He asked in a calming tone.

"I like girls okay? I've always liked girls and I'll never be into guys! So leave me alone!" I shouted before speeding off to the common room. But that was a lie, I clearly liked guys too. What were these feelings and why was I feeling them?

I changed course and immediately ran towards McGonagalls office. I strangely saw her as a Mother figure since my mum was mostly absent.

I knocked on the door hoping she finished her dinner and wasn't asleep yet.

"You may enter," I heard her say. I opened the door and entered her room. "Ah! (Y/n), what brings you here?"

"I'm really, really confused," I said sitting down. "I don't know, I think I like this guy he makes my heart race and my face turns red! But this girl! She started to touch my arms and the same feeling came back?!" I shouted confusedly. "I don't understand! Am I into this guy or this girl? Do I like guys? Do I even like girls?"

"These feelings are very normal, you could maybe be bisexual, ever heard of the term?" She asked and I shook my head no. “It means you can be attracted anyone regardless.”

“You can do that?” I asked. We talked about attraction and I confessed that I may or may not have a small crush on Fred Weasley. I walked back to the dorm room confused but relieved. I was worried on how I would then come out to everyone and how I would come out to my parents, would it be worth it?

The next morning came faster then anticipated as the lads began to overestimate themselves like usual. Malfoy most of all had a huge ego and actually thought he’d be able to catch the snitch before Potter.

“Come off your high horse Malfoy, as captain I expect nothing from this team, all of you quit literally suck and only win because you guys play dirty.” I mumbled.

“Cheer up mate, maybe Malfoy does catch the snitch,” one of the fellas smirked and chuckled.

“What are you guys up to?” I asked raising an eyebrow as they snickered and shrugged. “I swear if you guys are going to cheat your way to a win our team will be disbanded and we will be blacklisted!” I told them sternly.

“Don’t worry,” was all they said before they went back to their devious plans.

“Whatever, just count me out of whatever you guys are doing. I’m going to get a head start.” I sighed getting up and leaving to the locker rooms.

“Hey,” Fred Weasley said from behind me.

“Jesus Weasley, could’ve killed me sneaking up on me like that.” I rolled my eyes at him.

“Look, I wanted to apologize.” He said with a frown. “I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable or feel like I’m pressuring you or anything…”

“What?” I said confused.

“Look, I just would really appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone,” he said.

“Tell people what, that you like guys?” I asked and he nodded. “No worries then, your secret is safe with me then.”

“Seriously?” He asked and I nodded.

“I will confess that I was being an ass yesterday and after a bit of reflection I have come to terms with something I tried to repress for a long time.” I sighed nervously avoiding eye contact. “I do like you, I like guys and I do like girls at the same time. You know, being bisexual is something I’m slowly accepting about myself.”

“You do like me?” He asked shocked with a smile before bringing me in for a hug.

“I do! I was just being an asshole, more like I was scared of actually being into guys…”

“It’s okay, we don’t have to be out to the school, I’m not even out to my parents just my twin George,” he chuckled.

I smiled and brought him in for another hug, I was happy but afraid at the same time. Afraid of being rejected by my friends and family but happy because I was finally able to be myself.

[ablackfangirlwrites]

Jealous ll

Part 2!!!! I linked the sone again cause its a bop and I love it also heres pt one!

You had had enough

Thats what you kept telling yourself

As you got ready tonight

You weren't going sit in the house anymore waiting for keigo to show up whenever he felt like it

Tonight you were going out for you

You thought about how you used to have fun, how you used to be happy

And how miserable you had been lately and you decided

If Keigo didnt appreciate you anymore

Then you'd find someone who would

So thats why you found yourself looking in the mirror admiring how well you dressed up tonight to go out

You almost forgot how hot you were when you put in a little effort

You had originally stopped because keigo would tell you how beautiful and perfect you were without make up or anything

But now you were on the prowl for someone new to notice you and keigo's words meant little to nothing to you right now

Tonight you were gonna find someone to show you just a little bit of attention you craved so much and it wasnt going to be keigo

Just then you saw keigo staring at you from the reflection in mirror

he was home unusually eailer

"Dont you have to work?" You asked bitterly

"Where are you going?" He asked ignoring your statement

Sighed and rolling your eyes and picking up your purse you turned to him before leaving the bedroom, "Out. You don't have to wait up for me."

"You're being ridiculous y/n."

He said following you but you ignored him

"Y/n? Y/n?" He kept calling you, "You cant just go out an-"

"And why not?" You turned to him before you left the apartment, "according to you were not even really dating-"

"You know why that is." He told you seriously

You huffed out a fake laugh, "yeah, but its still okay for you to flirt with anyone?"

Keigo didnt respond to that making you chuckle, "Exactly...like I said im going out dont wait up." Then you slammed the door leaving.

You knew you were being unreasonable with him

You knew the two of you needed to just talk and make up

But you kept letting your anger from all your arguments cloud your judgment

Because you just wanted him to feel the same hurt and jealously you had been feeling more then anything

Keigo stared at the door you had just slammed

Things somehow got worse in the following days after your argument on your anniversary

You refused to talk to him

He tried to apologize to you but you basically brushed him off

Keigo wasn't sure what to think you said you hated him, you wouldnt sleep in the bed with him

Yet you hadn't packed up and left so that was good right?

But that distance that was growing between the two of you was wider then before

And he didnt know what to do to fix it

And now you were going out clearly dressed to find someone else

Did you really hate him? Had you really had enough of him?

Hell, he couldnt even blame you if you did he thought

You had put up with so much of him up until now

And maybe some of what you said the other night was true? Had he gotten too comfortable with you always being there?

But that was only because he loved you

Keigo was truly in love with you, and dispite you suspensions he never cheated on you

And he would never do that, you were the only one he wanted even now when you two seemed to be at each others throats

He still wanted you, and he couldn't picture his life without you

So thats why he ended up following you to the bar you were currently at

He made sure you hadnt noticed him staying in the back out of your sight

And he hated what he saw

He saw you having fun

You had met up with some of your girlfriends the three of you all laughing and drinking

You acting like you didnt have a care in the world, like the two of you didnt argue before you left out

Having a good time as if you didnt leave him alone in the house

He watched you dancing as though you were having the time of your life as other mean stared and gawked at you

He watched as a guy singled you out and was clearly flirting with you

And worst you let him and was encouraging him

You kept touching his shoulder laughing at his jokes letting him dance against you

Words couldnt describe the irritation he felt watching

He wanted nothing more then to rip that mans hands off you and fly away with you in his arms

But part of him felt like he deserved this

This feeling he had, was it how you felt?

If so he needed to fix this, was all that he could think

And he was about to go to you, but before he could someone called out his name

"Hey! Hawks is here!"

Fuck he said to himself when a crowd started to form around him

His eyes then connected with yours knowing you heard he was here

And for a moment he thought you were gonna come up to him

But instead you kept talking to the random guy ignoring him

Hawks wanted to go to you and talk to just take you back home

But was having trouble getting away from the crowd

He was all smiles talking to his fans but the whole time he kept his eyes on you

But somehow it became a battle to see who was going to be more stubborn

You continued to dance with the random guy, but now you knew keigo was here watching you

You convinced yourself not to care, you came here to have fun and he wasnt going to ruin it for you

But thats just what he was doing as you watched him talk to some random girl now

He was here to get under you skin, you were sure of it

But two could play this little game

Both of you having this little war with each other watching each other from across the room

And you couldnt lie you were enjoying it a bit

Seeing his eyes watching you, knowing he had to be feeling the sting of jealousy as another man held you close

But It all came to a head when you saw the girl he was dancing with lips on his neck

He wasnt looking at you when you saw that all his attention clearly on her

You couldn't deny the sharp feeling in your chest at the sight

And not wanting to see anymore you left the dance floor telling the guy you needed to go to the bathroom

Hawks pulled away from the handsy fan

Denying anymore of her advances

Yeah he had been trying to get under your skin now but thats was a bit much

But now when he looked up to find you again, only to see you were gone

His stomach sank

Where did you go? You had to had just seen that?

Did you leave with that guy? Hawks started to panic when he didnt seem him either

Where did you go? Why was he being so stupid just now? He should have just went to talk to you

Just then keigo noticed the guy you had been flirting with at the bar and went up to him

"The girl you were dancing with? Where'd she go?"

The guy looked at him like he was crazy "whats it too you?" He challenged him

But keigo wasnt in a playful mood and grabbed the man by the collar, "Answer the question asshole."

The guy quickly put his hands up in defeat, "she just said-

"Hawks?"

He heard his name called out and looked behing him to see you

"What are- you are so unbelievable." Yku shook your head storming off

You couldn't believe him he had the audacity to attack the guy you had been talking to

It didnt take much thought to figure out why

And it annoyed you to no end

So keigo could flirt and let girls kiss all over him but if you had a guy around you that was too much

He was such a hypocrite

You were angry your whole way back home

You stood in the mirror once you got back

But with a different feeling in your stomach then the feeling you had before you left

You felt defeated your plans of fun had been ruined and you felt like your back in the same spot you had been in

Hawks was giving you a little bit of space taking his time getting back home

Because now you were probably madder than before at him

When hr got in he saw you had just got out the shower

"Y/n..."

You heard him call out your name But you ignored him

Y/n, you have to listen to me."

You werent going to turned around but before you knew it he hugged you from behind

"Im sorry."

"Let go of me hawks." You spat out but he didnt budge

"Just listen to me y/n..."

"Why are we doing this to each other?" You asked quietly, "Why do you keep hurting me? What are we even doing? It clearly isnt wor-"

"Ive been an idiot, y/n."

Keigo buried his face in your neck, "I've been so stupid, but please please dont leave me."

You were trying to fight back tears, "I dont want to leave you keigo....but I cant-"

"Dont say you can't with me anymore. I need you." Keigo pleaded holding you tighter

You were so frustrated

You still loved him, you still wanted to be with him, because when things are good between you they're great

But the way your relationship had been it was becoming too much

But you wanted to stay with him

Because you loved him

You moved your hands and held on to his arms secretly enjoying his embrace that you missed so much

"I know you mean well keigo-"

"I love you so much y/n," keigo cut you off again, "I know ive been an asshole, ive been neglectful, ive been the worst, but dont give up on me. Please."

You finally turned around to face him and hugged him back

You could see the sincerity in his eyes as you did "I love you too keigo but I just cant do this- we keep hurting each other...thats not what your supposed to do to the people you love."

Keigo pulled back "You want me to tell everyone about us? I will." He told you, "You want me to tell you everything ive been doing I will, I promise you Ill to whatever it takes to fix us. I dont want to live the way we have anymore."

You knew he was serious and your heart leaped hearing his words but you werent sure

"You're the only one I want y/n" he said giving you a light kiss

Almost like he was asking for permission

"Ill do whatever it takes for you to forgive me."

He said inbetween kisses, "you're so important to me, im sorry i made you think you weren't."

You couldnt lie he was finally saying everything you wanted to hear

And you wanted to believe him

"You promise?" You asked him

"I promise."

[eryiss]

I'd like to suggest a slightly angst Fraxus idea. Something about the period after Tartaros, when Laxus got sick from the particles. Like Laxus who refuses to be sick and trains/takes missions and gets hurt and Freed who is both angry and worried.

Links: FFN, Ao3, Drabble Request Post

Notes: It was fun to write this. I don't often to angst so this was unusual for me. They get to have an argument with each other, as a treat.

Summary: Laxus had been taking missions, and Freed hated it. He wasn't recovered enough for it yet. And now, Freed had gotten the message he'd been dreading. Someone had found Laxus unconscious on the road. Beaten, battered, and nearly dead.

Particles

Freed stormed through the corridors of the Northern Fiore Medical Centre, his face thunderous.

He had known that this would happen! He had known! He had even told Laxus that he hadn't yet recovered from the anti-magic particles and it was too early for him to go back to active duty again. He had told the idiot again and again that he wasn't ready, and that he needed to continue his resting, but Laxus had gone anyway. Hadn't so much as told Freed he was leaving, other than the crappy note he'd left on their kitchen counter.

For a week, Freed had been worrying. Every day, in the back of his mind, had been the dread of hearing that something had happened to Laxus. And then, in the middle of the Guildhall, Mirajane had approached him, said she needed to speak to him, and told him that Laxus had been found beaten and unconscious.

Freed was grateful that the person who found Laxus had been able to teleport him to hospital. Who knew what could have happened otherwise.

Following the signs to where Laxus' private ward, Freed felt every part of him burning on the insides. He was angry and scared and impatient, and he just needed to see that Laxus was alive before he snapped. If anything had happened to his husband then he didn't know what the hell he was going to do. He wanted to burn the damn building down in his confliction; why were hospitals always so fucking maze like?

When he found Laxus' ward, he stormed inside without caring to knock. He saw Laxus sitting up, a pain filled expression on his face. His torso was covered in bandages, and his right leg was in a cast and held up by a sling. He looked towards the doors, which had opened with a slam, with confusion turning to shock. He went to open his mouth to speak, but Freed had a lot of things he needed to say to the man and he wasn't going to wait.

"What the hell were you thinking?" He snarled, storming towards the foot of Laxus' bed.

"Freed-"

"Shut up!" Freed snapped, running a hand through his hair as the fear gave way to anger. "I told you you weren't ready! I told you. You shouldn't have come here. You shouldn't have taken any missions. I knew it, Porlyusica knew it, and even you knew it. But did you listen to any of us? Of course you fucking didn't. You had to act like you knew better than everyone else and what happened? You end up in hospital, beaten and half fucking dead."

"Freed-" Laxus tried to start again.

"I told you to shut the hell up!" Freed snarled, and Laxus looked shocked, but stayed quiet.

Freed walked to the end of Laxus' bed and pulled out the clipboard. Being a mage, you started to know more medical terminology, so Freed would be able to get a better understanding about exactly what had happened to Laxus. Most of it was what he expected - a lot of heavy bludgeon related injuries, broken bones, blood loss and magical exhaustion - but the final line on the clipboard struck Freed. Rage overwhelmed him again.

'Lack of energy due to Anti-Magic Particles. Patient claimed this is an ongoing issue.'

The particles were still inside of Laxus? They were still rotting him from the inside and Laxus knew and hadn't told anyone? Laxus knew why his recovery was so slow, and had thought that he would keep it to himself and push himself to the extreme.

"Let me explain," Laxus began again.

"You're done," Freed said, firm and unmoving.

"What?"

"You're done," Freed repeated, glaring at his husband. "You're done with missions, no matter how small and easy they seem. You're not working again until the particles have left your system and you've fully recovered."

"You can't fucking order me around like that," Laxus scoffed. "I ain't a fucking kid."

"Then stop acting like one," Freed snapped. "Why did you force yourself to do this? Was it your pride? Your ego? Or have you lost your senses because that is the only thing that makes any sense to me whatsoever."

"I'm a mage," Laxus tried to argue. "It's my job to-"

"You may be a mage but you're also a husband," Freed growled, panting and voice ladened with anger. "You have a duty to the people that love you, Laxus. A duty to keep yourself alive when you can. A duty to do whatever you can to keep yourself safe, even if it's not for yourself. What you've been doing is selfish, and arrogant, and I will not allow it any more."

"We're fucking mages dammit," Laxus tried to move, but his bandages stopped him. "We get injured, it happens."

"We get injured because of mistakes, not stupidity!" Freed snapped, before the anger suddenly left him in a deflating rush. He averted his gaze, looking down at the ground with tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. "Laxus, I don't want to know what it feels like to miss you."

Laxus didn't say anything for a moment. The silence was heavy.

"I wasn't gonna die, Freed," Laxus said, his voice a quiet grumble, perhaps ladened with regret. "I would've stopped before it got that bad."

"It did get that bad," Freed snapped, collapsing into the chair and deflating. "If that mage didn't find you, if they didn't have the right magic to take you to the hospital, or if they found you later, you could have died."

"Freed-"

"Every time I'm on a difficult mission, I know that you worry," Freed was hunched over in his chair, looking down at the ground. "You worry that you'll get a call saying that something has happened to me. I know that because that's exactly how I feel when you're on a difficult mission," He looked up, meeting Laxus' gaze. "Do you have any idea what it feels like when that call comes?"

"No," Laxus whispered. "No I don't. I'm sorry."

"I don't want you to be sorry, I want you to be better," Freed stated.

"I will be better," Laxus promised, and Freed wanted to believe him. "I'll, erm, I'll talk to Gramps. I'll tell him about what's happened with the particles, and tell him not to let me take any missions until they're gone."

"Good," Freed nodded a little. "I'll make sure you do."

"I know you will," Laxus smiled a little. Freed wanted to be angry at that, but didn't have the energy. "I didn't mean to scare you, Freed."

"Well you did," Freed snapped, before sighing. "But I know you won't do it again."

"I won't," Laxus promised.

The room was stagnant in it's quiet. Freed was half tempted to let the anger fizzle inside of him again, but there was no point in that. All he needed right now was to know that Laxus was alive, and was going to recover. He had known that Laxus was a pigheaded asshole when he'd married him, and he just needed to trust that he knew when he needed to stop.

"I got you a sandwich, from the train station," Freed eventually said, reaching into the small overnight back of Laxus' clothes that he'd forgotten he had brought. "Better than the food here, I expect."

"Thanks," Laxus said, smiling.

"Would you like some water?" Freed asked as he handed the packaged sandwich to his husband.

"Yeah, thanks," Laxus said. Freed poured him a glass of water from the pitcher on the bedside table and gave it to Laxus. When he did, Laxus took Freed's hand and held it. "I love you, Freed."

Freed wanted to remain angry, but sighed. He gave his husband a small, honest smile and whispered "I love you too."

[mistaeq]

kira yoshikage - beyond the touch of a hand

tw // none i think ?? just know it's kira, there are hands.

dora's note: kira yoshikage work because why not ehehe,,, i'mma leave this here,,, i hope what i wrote is understandable, i was inspired for something like this ^^

word count: 1.4k

taglist: @fragolaaaaaaa @outofthiszawarudo @sky1mercy @cheemerthejojofreak @berryvalentine @yandere-lovebites [if you wanna be removed or added, all it requires is a dm or an ask !!]

you always seemed to love your job. it was a simple one, nothing odd ever happened, the shifts were always the same, your fellow co-workers kinda boring. the only reason why you seemed to be in a good mood everytime, was because from the cash register you were usually assigned to, you could see the best sight you could wish for. thanks to the nametag he carried on his jacket, you had learnt his name was kira yoshikage.

he was one of the stockers, and you could see him dash in the aisles, organizing the shelves in the best way possible. the two of you had never talked to each other, and you weren't even sure he had ever spoken to anyone. he seemed to highly dislike getting his time stolen and his schedule to be ruined by any kind of accident or interaction. you had seen him though, multiple times, eyeing customers' hands, above all women. could it be a fetish of his? in any case, he seemed to do nothing wrong but watching.

but sometimes, he waved at you. and he had never done it, to any of the cashiers. your mind wandered, thinking he could be interested in you as well, but the truth was, that the fact that you were carrying gloves at work, pissed him off. the co-workers in your shift were all gloveless, but you usually did carry them to protect your hands. at the end of the day, a cashier touches hundreds of items each day. yoshikage wanted to see your hands, so much it hurt. you were beautiful, in any visible part of you, and he thought, your hands would have definitely been the same. 

much to your surprise, so, the man that looked unreachable and strict, was the first one who asked you out. it started with a couple lunch breaks spent together, but every single time, you seemed to have gloves that matched your needs. this led to yoshikage being unavoidably focused of something else, being your hands not available. your smile, for example. the way you always asked him about his plans in order to get everything done within the time he was offering. the way you started calling him by his name and let him do the same to you. he could definitely say, after several dates and meetings, that your hands had been almost forgotten. he still hoped he could see them soon, but not that eagerly as he used to before.

little could he imagine, he would have seen them in the worst moment possible. all of a sudden, you stopped texting him, and stopped showing up at the kame yu store. 

you weren't one to behave like that, yoshikage knew it enough, at this point. that man, that strict man, whose schedule and plans were as unbreakable as diamond, noticed something was up, when the first thought he had was paying you a visit at your house directly, therefore sacrificing his plans for the day, and leaving the kame yu store earlier. no stand attack, nor magic or sorcery, he was putting someone before himself. he had never looked at someone and got interested in anything beyond their hands, so something felt incredibly off to him. more like... unusual. he didn't know what was up, all he knew was that half an hour before the end of his usual shift, he was rushing under the rain, on foot, all the way to your house. he had never been there before, but you happened to tell him the address once, and he never forgot.

his need to know what happening to you, was stronger than his need to finish his shift, get home and rest. why had he even asked you out in the first place? ah, yeah. your hands. but the way you lovingly fixed his nametag that day was better. the way he realized he wasn't escaping his schedule for you, was better, because he understood you had become part of it. you were part of his life now. to think it was all because of a pair of gloves. and what was beyond it. these were the thoughts that were filling his mind as he knocked at your door, and seriously thought of breaking it down with killer queen, when it took you too long to open it.

"yoshikage?" your weak voice met his ears, as you moved aside to let him in. the man as soaking wet because of the rain. your nose was red, your eyes were puffy, but you were smiling. there had been plenty of storms in morioh cho, and one of them caused you to go through a high fever that kept you in bed for almost four days. not to mention, something - or someone - had hurt your leg really bad. blood had come out of the wound, and walking was just a challenge for you. this was why, it took you a lot of time to open the door. "oh, thank you for worrying for me... you're such a dear man."

your heart was bumping in your chest, butterflies all in your stomach, he had come to check on you because he cared. he had gone through the rain without an umbrella, on foot, leaving the kame yu store earlier than usual. you decided to show him your affection too, taking his jacket and putting it in the dryer. for a matter of respect, you couldn't push yourself to washing many other clothes of his. the two of you talked for hours, as you told him of the fever, and above all, about the leg wound. until your words and movements came to a halt. you covered your mouth with your hand. your bare hand. kira wished he could get a closer look to it, kiss it, maybe brush it on his cheek. but... "yoshikage, you have one, too..."

"what do you mean, y/n...?" the blonde man turned around, but all that was there, was just killer queen, who he had let out just in case. he always did, when he went to places he'd never been to. but he never knew about you being a stand user. you could see it? "could your leg wound possibly be..." he murmured, as he thought of the arrow. but decided not to think too much about it. what really caught his attention, was that you were sticking your hand out for killer queen to take. you were curious, and happy to be seeing yoshikage's soul so close to you. but knowing how used the stand was to stealing hands by killing the owners, it was no good at all, to him. it was a matter of a second, yoshikage took your hand instead. he protected you, as if it could be the last thing he would have ever done in his life.

yours was a soft hand. so pleasing to touch.

touching it felt intense. he didn't want to cut it off of you. he didn't have the desire to kill you. he didn't get any... boners. it was a brand new sensation, and you sat down, letting him do his thing as you understood that might have meant something to him. no matter your fever, he seemed okay with how close you were to each other. he didn't care about the fact that he had your hand in his, rather about the fact that he was one of the few people who had been so close to you to see your hands. they looked beautiful. and slowly, as if he wanted to savor the moment in every step of it, he kissed it. once, twice. and your heart skipped a beat. once, twice. everything before it seemed to happen so quickly, yet now everything was in slow motion. 

"i wonder what's going on inside your head. it's fascinating." you murmured, as he moved your hand to brush it against his cheek. "you are so mysterious and look so unreachable, you made me feel special since the first time you chose to wave your hand at me and at me only." you moved your thumb up and down, willingly caressing him yourself. "you almost know everything about me. but there's still too much i want to ask you."

kira's hands were trembling a little, as he kept the contact with yours. oh, it was intense. "there's not much, going on inside my head." yoshikage murmured, slowly closing his eyes in absolute bliss.

"my heart just now learnt what's really beyond the touch of a hand."

[onceupona-chaos]

Feathers and dawn (part II)

Day 18 of Elriel month/ Teach me how to fly

You can read part I here.

"Spread your wings." 

The moment Elain opened her wings, the cold, impetuous wind hit them, and the full impact made her lose balance, almost falling backwards. Instead, she met Azriel's chest, his hands tightened on her waist, and her body went cold and hot all at once.

This time Elain did stop breathing. 

WC: 4164/ Warnings: Language

(I had so much fun writing this! As usual, sorry for any mistakes, English is not my first language. Sorry for any typos as well, but I can't look at it anymore lol)

Elain had held that light inside of her with everything she got, and even so it came close to controlling her rather than the other way around.

She still could feel it, not the light that shone so bright to blind someone's eyes, but more like a gracious flame of a candle in her chest. But that was nothing compared to how the muscles on her back burned.

When her eyes cracked open, she was half expectant that all of it had been a delirious dream or one of those visions that still hunted her from time to time. But then she tried to move to a sit position, and a scream escaped from her throat at the very, very real pain punishing her upper body.

Her entire back was sore, and she could feel a complex extension of muscles - from her neck to the end of her spine - that was now linked to two massive weights coming out of her shoulder blades.

Excruciating, blinding pain.

Elain didn't notice the tears falling down her cheeks, couldn't even hear the sounds coming out of her own mouth.

Strong, calloused hands were pushing her hair away from her sweaty forehead a second later, and then Azriel’s beautiful face was there.

He was like a hiding spot in the middle of a storm, anchoring her from her agony, even though his expression was contorted in worry.

Azriel's eyes were wild, lips forming her name, but she couldn't hear a sound. Pain was all she knew, making her senses numbed.

Black dots started to dance in front of her eyes, her head getting light, and hazel ones full of terror was the last thing she saw before the world bleed into darkness again.

_______________

The next time Elain emerged to consciousness, first she smelled the leafy odor of salvia. Then the feeling of gentle, experienced hands massaged the line of her spine while she was lying on her stomach.

Heavy eyelids opened to the Velaris sunset, shades of pink and purple coloring the blue sky were visible through the familiar floor to ceiling windows, making her recognize her room in the river house.

Elain caught a movement from the corner of her eyes, and she inclined her head slightly to see Azriel, kneeling beside her bed, worry still printed in his face, but his eyes filled with relief now.

His hair was in complete disarray, the dark locks pointed in different directions as if he had run his hands through it repeatedly.

“You’re awake,” he breathed.

Those hands, unfamiliar hands, were still rubbing her exposed back, the gentle touch soothing the pain.

“That’s Majda, she’s almost finishing.” Azriel must have sensed her confusion. “How’s the pain?”

Her mouth was dry and it was an effort just to make words come out of it. “Tolerable” she said, voice raw.

He just nodded and then they fell in a comfortable silence. It was always like this with him - no need for empty words.

Azriel just stayed there in his vigil, shadows curling around his ankles, watching her with those familiar hazel eyes. Not the blazing gold of Cassian's, but rather an embrace shared between warm brown and stark gray, with hues of emerald green that would stand out according to his mood.

Eyes as complex as Azriel's himself, candidly observing her whilst Majda worked, her hands putting the exact amount of pressure to soothe her muscles, the salvia tuning the sharp pain into a dull ache. She didn't touch Elain's wings.

Wings.

Even with their weights on her back, even with the feeling of that warm power in her chest, Elain still was prone to believe it all had been a dream if it wasn't for the pain.

When Majda finished the healing massage, she merely told them she'd come back the next few days to do it again.

The bedroom’s door clicked shut, and Elain was already trying to get up, Azriel immediately protesting, "You should stay in bed.”

"I want to see them" was her only reply. She needed to see, to look at them. To know they were real.

"Your muscles aren't strong enough to support the new weight -"

Indeed, when she tried to stand, her balance wavered and she toppled forward.

Azriel caught her before she could fall on her face, hauling her up. Gently, one of his hands passed behind her knees, the other around her waist, and he scooped her up.

Elain let her head fall against his chest, breathing his scent as he walked through the room. A few moments later, far more than was necessary to reach her mirror, he put her down, but remained close.

She didn't see her pale face or even care about the fact that she was wearing nothing, but a nightgown that reached the middle of her thighs. Not when two massive wings rested on the floor behind her, the soft, white feathers touching the carpet.

Elain turned around to see her back, to see the point where the skin ended and the feathering began.

They were beautiful.

But she never had felt more unworthy of something. She couldn’t even hold them up, couldn't even lift them from the ground. It had been so exhausting spent months trapped in that murky realm, visions blending together with reality, that she hadn’t want find out what else the Cauldron had given her, hadn't want to touch that flame burning in her chest, not when her own body felt foreign and now -

Only when she felt tears dripping onto her chest, Elain realized she was crying, exhaustion falling upon her as a blanket, covering her to the bones.

She stood there for enough time that the next time Azriel spoke, she had almost forgotten he was there.

Almost.

Because she always seemed to sense whenever he was around.

"I will teach you everything."

It didn't sound like an offer at all. His words were a promise.

Slowly she turned from the mirror to face him - and nearly sobbed at how lovely and fiercely his eyes were, almost shining with sheer compassion.

Compassion for her, yes. But also for an Illyrian boy who didn't know how to fly, who found himself all alone in a war camp long ago. "I'll be with you and I'll teach you everything."

She didn’t know what to say, what to make of everything. So Elain only took his hand, interlacing their fingers and squeezing firmly.

But then, a thought struck her. "Truth-Teller," she gasped.

A smile curved his lips. "It's with me," he said. "I went back to the Cave. Turns out, without the Orb, the wards were gone."

Relief washed over her. And guilty.

"I'm sorry. I should - ."

Before she could finish her sentence, Elain was again in his arms. Azriel chuckled, but hadn't missed how heavy her eyelids were getting. "Not your fault. You weren't exactly in position to remember it," he said while gently carrying her back to bed.

But before he could lay down the mattress, he stopped by the side of the bed, and turned to look at her. Every ounce of amusement gone.

"I thought…" his words died and he shook his head.

No trace of that mask he so often used, no sign of his usually neutral expression.

The look on his face was Azriel in his most raw state. And she could see it.

I thought I had lost you.

She wished she wasn't so tired as she buried her face in the crook of his neck and breathed, "I know."

He nodded. He understood.

He murmured as he lay her in the bed, "Sleep. I still owe Nesta an explanation."

Elain smiled sleepily, and mumbled, "Good luck."

Just when darkness came to claim her once again, Elain felt the ghost touch of a light kiss in her temple and the smell of mist and cedar. ___________

The next day, Elain was sitting at her usual spot by the window of the living room in the river house, the Orb laying on a desk right in the center of the room. What was unusual, however, was the many pairs of eyes glued to her.

Cassian's jaw was still on the floor by the time Amren, the last one to arrive, entered the room. Even her face went a bit slack when she took in the wings and some emotion sparkled in her silver eyes.

Elain tried not to blush, but all that attention wasn't helping.

Although Feyre had helped her before to retract and summon her wings, which she was grateful for, Elain didn't want to summon them in front of everyone, so she decided to just get straight to the point.

She didn’t know how Azriel explained what had happened to the others, especially to Nesta. But given the look on her face fixed on Rhysand and on the spymaster, a perfect I Will Slay My Enemies look, according to Cassian, Elain wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

But as for now Azriel just held her sister's gaze, his face neutral.

"So…" Cassian began, waving a hand towards her wings. "What the hell?"

"I think what he's trying to ask you is," Nesta gave a look at her mate. "Where did those come from?"

Elain took a deep breath. "Well..." She bit her lip, trying to choose her words in order to make sense. "After I found out what I was, I've never accessed the full extension of my powers. I knew the Cauldron had given me something else,something more, but I didn't want to find out what it was."

Rhysand asked, "Why."

"Because I was too scared," She replied honestly. That was all she could say. She didn't want to, didn't know if she could relive those days when she couldn't tell reality and dreams apart.

She glimpsed at Azriel, who was at the corner of the room, sorrow shining on his face while he gave her a reassurance nod.

"So when I grabbed the Orb, it… whatever powers I have just grumbled in answer, as if they were the same… they came to the surface. It tried to stop them, push them back, to let go of the Orb, but I couldn't… it trapped me"

"That's because they are the same," Amren said. As soon as the words left her mouth, Elain understood what lay on her eyes: recognition.

"What wicked sort of plans the Cauldron may have for the three of you," Amren went on, nodding to Elain and her sisters.

"Amren," Rhysand said, the voice of the High Lord. "If you know something, just tell us."

The petite female gave him a hard look, before turning to Elain. "The Cauldron didn't make you any Seer." Amren tilted her head, studied Elain. "He also happened to make you an Oracle." Her eyes were practically two blazing stars, and Elain had to fight a shiver, before asking "An Oracle?"

"That 's right, girl."

"What's the difference?" Nesta demanded.

"A different group of Seers… powerful ones", Rhysand murmured, running a hand through his hair. "I thought they were just a myth."

"They were as real as you and me, Rhysand," Amren said, shaking her head.

It was Feyre's time to demand, "Someone please explain."

"Before the High Lords, there was a time where this world lived in complete, unshakable peace," Amren began. "The Oracles were the great responsibles for this time of harmony, a group of Seers who used to celebrate life and pulled the threads of Fate. They travel through words just like we travel between courts, using their Seer powers to See and manipulate the future to their will… to prevent any cause of conflict before it even became a conflict. Subtle, swift creatures those females"

Elain wasn't sure if anyone in the room was breathing.

Azriel asked quietly, "How did they disappear?"

"No one truly knows." Rhysand answered. "The legends don't go that far."

"Common Seers have the gift of sight, but it's limited in its own way," Amren explained. "Oracles, however, have other sort powers as well and they can see further in the future, no matter how distant."

There was one question in Elain's mind, essencial and terrifying. "What is my power?"

Amren's smile was a thing of pure wickedness. "I guess you'll have to find out."

"But why the wings?" Nesta asked, brows furrowed.

Amren eyes softened a little. "Some claimed some of them heritaged from an unknown race of warriors. But not every one of them had wings. If you were blessed with them, they would call you the Leader. The others would fly on their winged horses by her side, travelling through the world and maintaining their balance."

Elain's head was spinning. "But what about the Orb?"

"I might have an idea, but I'll need to do some research in the Helion's libraries first." Rhysand shot his mate a look, his lips curving. "Care to join?"

Feyre only rolled her eyes.

Cassian let out a long breath. "So you're telling me Elain could see if a war is truly coming and stop it before it even begins."

A sick feeling gathered on her stomach, and she blurted, "No."

Silence.

"No what?" Amren asked thighly.

"No, I won't use my powers to play with Fate." She couldn't help the edge of rage in her words. "Espeacilly not when Fate itself had been playing with me all along."

Silence fell.

"You're right," Feyre offered at last, her voice soft. "It's your choice."

Gratitude washed over Elain.

"I want to learn how to fly, though" she blurted, glancing at Azriel, who was already smiling.

Feyre looked between them. "You'll find Azriel has… harsh methods, but they are quite efficient."

Rhysand, who had been just observing, suggested, "Maybe you, Feyre darling, can teach Elain, too."

"I will train her." Azriel's words were practically a snarl, challenge filling every one of them.

Elain looked at the shadows gathering around him as he stared at Rhysand, who just narrowed his eyes back. Strange.

"I'm sure Azriel is the better option to teach Elain, he was the one who taught me after all." Feyre was looking pointly at her mate. "But I can participate in a few lessons when they get tired of training alone." She said looking at Elain, eyes shining bright with an edge of mischief.

Elain ignored that.

"You'll have to build some muscles, you know that, right?" Cassian asked.

Muscles. It wasn't that Elain was opposed to that, but… she couldn't see herself as a warrior like her sisters. Surely, she wouldn't mind learning one thing or two, but...

"I'll help you."

Elain turned to her older sister, with raised brows. "I don't…"

"You don't have to learn how to use a sword, but I can help with your core muscles," Nesta offered.

Then, Elain couldn't stop the warmth in her chest - not from that source of power, but from pure gratitude. "Thank you."

Amren shocked her head and huffled a breath, edged with amusement, making Elain's brows furrow at that.

"A Made, reborn Fae and a Valkyrie training a new Oracle." Her lips curved in a feral smile. "Three Cauldron-blessed sisters, indeed."

Elain didn't have to use the Orb to know Fate had listened to Amren's words.

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

"Shit."

Azriel's curse hit Elain's ears, before her arm hit the rock as she fell on her face right into the lake.

They had been training for weeks now. At first, it was more about how to summon her wings and keep them up instead of resting on the ground.

Sometimes Feyre would join them, or even Nuala and Cerridwen made an appearance for what Cerridwen called "emotional support".

Which means they watched as Elain jumped just to fall right into that gods-damned lake and tried not to laugh. Cerridwen often failed spectacularly at that.

But after one particularly hard training lesson that ended up with more bruises Elain would care to admit, especially to her pride, Cerridwen had come to her room with a gift: a brand new and very pink apron with a winged fawn carefully embroidered at the front, the chain stitches meticulous done.

It was the most ridiculous apron Elain had ever seen - and she wore every chance she got with a stupid smile on her face.

But most of the time it was only Azriel and her. First they would stick to training, and she was able to focus only on the lessons. Until one day they had sat side by side at the shore, talking about everything and nothing, and, gods, she had missed him.

But then she felt that ravenous pull towards him and had to look away, before she could do something stupid again - and just like that she remembered why they had kept their distance in the first place.

She knew he desired her just as she desired him. She had seen the longing in his face, and had smelled his scent that night, darker than usual. Had read the hunger shining in his eyes as he looked at her.

But she had crossed a line he didn't want to cross.

Good thing now she had other things to worry about. Like ignoring the pain in her left arm, finding her way to the surface to get the hell out of that chilling lake.

But before she could do any of those things, Elain found herself looking at the sky and then the ground was beneath her.

And a very, very shirtless Azriel was by her side. "Are you alright?" he asked, wrapping his tunic around her shoulders, scanning for injuries.

Even with her teeth almost chattering off her mouth from the cold, Elain couldn't help but take one good look at his muscled chest, those intricate tattoos on display and she felt her face heating. Not from embarrassment, but from pure desire that was pounding in her blood, traveling through her body. All she wanted in that moment, and so many before that, was to touch him, taste him. Be with him, by his side.

She imagined what would be like to have that powerful body hovering over hers.

Then she blushed a bit at those thoughts, too.

"I"m fine," she blurted after a considerable time, enough to make Azriel blush as well. And make her consider throwing herself at the lake again.

To distract herself, Elain closed her eyes and accessed that flame in her chest, letting it shine bright inside her, waves of heat running through her veins and bones until she was no longer cold.

When she looked at Azriel, he was already watching her. He cleaned his throat. "You kept yourself on the air longer this time."

Elain raised an eyebrow, "I fell on the only rock in this entire river."

A gleam shone in his eyes.

Elain narrowed hers at him.

"Are you trying not to laugh?"

"No," he said, clapping his lips together.

Every pound of desire in her blood died. "You said it wasn't funny anymore after the first four times!"

At that, Azriel tipped his head back and busted out such a rich laugh, that even Elain couldn't stop the small smile on her own lips. "You are a terrible teacher."

Except that he wasn't. Azriel was patient and thoughtful. He had refused to let her practice anywhere but the lake, and when she said she didn't need to be coddled and could practice on land, he had scanned her face, so many emotions passing across his, and told her he wouldn't see her getting hurt.

So they practice on the lake. Every day.

That was weeks ago and Elain was starting to think she would never take to the skies. She still couldn't sustain herself on the air for more than a few seconds.

"What is it like? To fly, I mean." she asked, eyes fixing on the lake before her.

She felt Azriel's eyes on her. "It 's freedom." Truth echoed in his words.

Elain nodded to herself. "I can hear the wind calling me." Her wing ruffled as if in emphasis."I can feel every muscle in my body begging me to jump out of the windows and it just… it's getting harder to ignore."

Elain tried to stop the burning in her eyes, her voice was broken when she breathed, "Why me, if I can't even get close to being airborne for more than five seconds?"

Azriel kept silent for so long, she didn't know if he heard her, but she was too much of a coward to look at him. Didn't want to look at him, not like this, not again.

But then gentle fingers found her chin and slowly turned her head to meet hazel eyes shining bright as the sun above them.

"Come with me."

Next thing she knew she was taking his extended hand and he shot to the skies, his tunic flying from her shoulders while she was being cradled against his bare chest.

Even though he was made of muscles hard as rock, his skin was warm and soft as the finest velvet.

Azriel landed right on the top of one of the highest mountains surrounding Velaris, the city bursting with life so far below that it seemed one of Nyx's toys.

And Elain almost stopped breathing. "Are you going to push me?"

Azriel chuckled, but didn't answer. "Turn around and close your eyes."

"So you definitely are going to push me," she murmured, but did as she was told.

She didn't know what she was expecting, but it wasn't Azriel's large hands on her waist or the warmth of his body behind her.

"Spread your wings."

The moment Elain opened her wings, the cold, impetuous wind hit them, and the full impact made her lose balance, almost falling backwards. Instead, she met Azriel's chest and his hands tightened on her.

This time Elain did stop breathing.

Especially when Azriel's breath caressed the

shell of her ear. "Focus on the wind passing through your wings, how each feather answers to it. Try to understand its direction, its temperature."

So she did. And she could feel it. She could feel the most external layer of feathers absorbing the temperature impact of the icy wind. Could feel the most little plumes, so sensitive they could perceive the slight change in any air current direction.

She became aware of everything around her. But mostly of the heat emanating from Azriel's body on her back, of his thumbs now drawing small circles on her sides.

"When I was a boy, I used to think the same thing as you do now," he whispered. "I was locked away and had to suppress so many instincts…" He let out a breath. "These wings are yours and only yours, you command them. It might take some time, but you will fly and control your powers. Be patient. You can do whatever you want, Elain."

It was his words, the meaning. He believed in her, had always believed in her.It was that certainty that had her leaning into his touch.

She folded in her wings and tilted her head, slowly opening her eyes to find his beautiful face inches from hers, close enough for her to see the hues of green in his eyes.

"Thank you," she breathed.

Azriel said nothing. No, he just let every word shine in his gaze as he leaned down and brushed his nose against hers while his thumbs were still caressing her sides leisurely.

She sucked in a breath, eyes falling close as she lost herself at the pure intimacy of that touch. Elain's whole body went molten and she wanted nothing more than to melt against his chest.

But she couldn't cross that line again.

So she pulled back, just enough to look at his face and made herself say, "I think Nesta is waiting for me."

Shadows darkened his hazel eyes. "Right."

On their way to the House of Wind, she thought Azriel would keep silent but he surprised her when he said quietly, "Nuala and Cerridwen never told me you were training with them."

Despite everything, a faint smile curved Elain's lips. "You can't expect to know everyone secrets."

He lifted an eyebrow. "That's my job."

And Nuala and Cerridwen's, too.

"I don't want to be a warrior," Elain blurted. "But… maybe I can use my gifts - my sight gifts, I mean - to..."

A whisper of those shadows still filled his gaze, but Azriel gave her a small smile. "Like spying?"

Elain blushed. "Perhaps."

"You'd make a good spy, but you have to be patient."

Elain looked at him. At that male who had intrigued her and made her feel comfortable and safe from the very beginning. At that male who found her when no one else would, who had seen her. Had truly seen her.

No, she wouldn't cross that line now, but...

"I can be patient, Azriel," she breathed. Promised.

This time, hope shone so brightly in his hazel eyes that no room was left for shadows.

[urlocalfrogmammy]

is it ever gonna change?—bull randleman

inspired by

ANON: could you do #7 on your prompt list for bull randleman pretty please? thanks!!! (prompt #7– “well don’t chicken out now”)

when your morals are compromised during the interrogation of the replacement who shot chuck, bull has to find a way to comfort you

i got rlly carried away. warnings : bit of gore. word count 1.1k

they'd found the guy who'd shot chuck. he was a replacement from I company. you passed george luz and floyd talbert on your way to the room he was being kept in, determined to see the man who'd shot your sergeant. "hey! y/n!" george stood up from the table he was playing cards with. tab looked uncomfortable, running his hands through his hair. "hi george." you made a move to enter the room that was rowdy from whatever was going on in there, but luz blocked your path. "y/n, you'll get upset."

"i wanna—"

"y/n." he said your name sternly, something you weren't used to when it came to george luz. tucking your hair behind your ear, you told george to let you in. his eyes pleaded with you, but you ignored them.

you walked into the glass-doored room and gasped shakily. "y/n. nice of you to join us." alton more smirked at you as you stared at the replacement. he had blood trickling from his head, and his nose and mouth. he was almost gargling on it. you'd been in war, a veteran of d-day, holland, bastogne and now germany. the sight of that the men were doing still sickened you.

"what the fuck are you all doing?"

"well, don't chicken out now! you only just got here."

"i'm putting a stop to this!" you stepped in front of the replacement. "this is inhumane! haven't you had enough bloodshed!"

"he shot grant." christenson piped up. alton stepped over to you, looming down. you stared back at him through his hard gaze. "i'm not excusing what he's done. but i won't let you beat him to death."

"more." a southern drawl warned alton from the corner of the room. alton more knew better than to push bull's patience, especially when it came to you. he complied, stepping away from you. "i think you should leave, y/n." bull continued.

"i won't—"

"that was an order, corporal." seething at your boyfriend's use of rank to undermine you, you stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind you.

"floyd, you have to stop this."

"let's just play cards, alright." george puffed on his cigarette and offered it to you. you took it with shaking hands. a loud thud was heard and speirs thundered into the room.

"where is he?"

"how's grant?"

"where is he?"

"is he okay?"

"where is he!?" you all looked over to the door. speirs took the hint, and just as you had done, he strutted into the room. however, his reaction was the polar opposite to yours. you began to walk to the door, shrugging off tab's hands, and leaning on the door frame. "replacement. I company." bull noticed your entrance, and tugged you towards him. in an act of unusually public affection for bull, he tangled your hair in his hands and pulled your head into his chest. "don't look." he murmured.

"where's the weapon?"

"what weapon?"

there was a loud whack, and you jumped at the sound of it. bull slowly ran his hands through your hair. you attempted to look over at what had happened as speirs hissed: “when you speak to an officer, you say sir!” bull didn’t let you, he pushed your head back into his chest and rumbled, “i said don’t look, y/n.” the man was choking on his own blood and you could hear it bubble in his throat.

there was an unmistakable click. the safety on a pistol. you felt yourself clench up, and bull felt it too, slowly moving you both away from the situation and rubbing small circles into your scalp. there was a 30 second window of palpable tension, and then it passed. you felt bull exhale in relief, and speirs demand the MPs take care of the replacement. bull still wouldn’t let you see, he turned you around and marched you to your room.

your hands were trembling as you attempted to light up a smoke. bull wrapped his around yours and steadied the lighter, before guiding it to his cigar. "it's not right."

"y/n, it's better not to get involved like that.”

“why not?”

“because it’s gonna get you into more shit than it’s worth, darlin.” you inhaled, feeling the smoke in your lungs inducing a sense of fake calm. you felt for bull’s hand, and he engulfed your hand in his, rubbing circles into it. “you know i don’t like it when you use your rank against me.”

“i’m sorry.” he puffed on his cigar. “was just trying to look out for you.” you bit your lip softly and looked up at him. “can we cuddle?” you asked, stumping out your cigarette.

bull stubbed his cigar, opened his arms and swallowed you in them as you attempted to sniffle up your tears. he pulled you down onto the bed and rubbed your back softly as you cried, rumbling words of reassurance to you. he smelled like tobacco and woodsmoke and musk, the aroma was comforting to you now. you nuzzled your nose into his neck, and bull placed kisses to your forehead. “i love you, y/n.”

“i love you too, bull.”

“is this how it’s gonna be now?” you mumbled, lying on your back and staring at the ceiling. bull stared at you, trying to decipher the glaze in your eyes. “how do you mean darlin?”

“is this what the war has turned us into? bloodthirsty thugs?” you were fumbling with your jacket sleeves, and bull carefully prised your hands off them. “c’mon, take this off.” he sat up, and sat you up, and you reluctantly complied, throwing it onto the floor and pulling your boots off, adding them to the pile. “when i get home—” bull heard the break in your voice, but you steadied it, “people are gonna ask why i’ve changed, and why i don’t look the same.” you paused thoughtfully. “why i think differently now.” bull felt his heart wrench as you turned to look at him, face rosy from crying, and he wondered how someone with a soul as beautiful as you could question what people would think of them. “all i know,” he grasped your hand, “is that things aren’t ever gonna be the same as before. but they’ll get better. just you wait and see, huh?”