#another side fact is that we actually went to a small farm before going to the mall that day and there were lots of cows | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

nichirinpen · 2 years ago

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Bumpy Road

SanemixReader

Can also be read here on Ao3

Synopsis- It was just a part time job on a farm, but the owner's grandson Sanemi has been nothing but an ass to you. One bumpy road rider later and a storm, you find out he can actually be nice. Really nice.

Content Warning- AFAB reader descriptions, Smut, cunnilingus, Edging, vaginal penetration

~Minors DNI~

How had you gotten here?

You grit your teeth, hand clasped firmly in your lap as you tried your best to keep your composure. It was hard to do so, the movement of the small truck you were crammed into kept you bumping about. It also didn’t help that it was at least 100 degrees in the vehicle, windows shut tight to keep out the road’s nasty dust. The air was humid and hot, almost suffocating in its density. Sweat slid down your skin, seeping into your bra, your shirt. The stickiness was incredibly unpleasant, but the movement was worse. You weren’t sure if it was the small country road, or the fact that a teenager who was too tall was driving.

Genya was hunched over the wheel, lanky knees on either side of it as he drove. He winced as the tiny truck hit a particularly rocky part of the road. Genya’s head went forward as he cussed and you flew up. Your head smacked into the truck roof before you slammed back down onto not the seat, but Sanemi Shinazugawa’s lap. The man let out a hissing breath, a snarled curse barely audible in your ear.

It brought up your question again, how had you gotten here?

“Geez dude! Hold on to her will you?” Genya snapped at his older brother, wincing as his knees smacked into the dashboard again. The poor boy was all legs and arms, the small truck too small for him now. The teen winced as another bump was hit, the truck's wheels loudly protesting as he twisted the wheel. Sanemi grumbled, hands coming up to unwillingly clasp your waist. Clasp was the wrong word, his hands sat limply, as if he didn’t want to touch you.

It wasn’t like you wanted him touching you. The man had an attitude problem, had one since you first started working at their grandfather’s farm. Day one he had scoffed at you, not even bothering to say hello when his grandfather introduced you. He went out of his way to be a complete asshole. Your job was to simply man the roadside stand, selling the small fruits and veggies that the main workers would bring up for the summer. For some reason, your existence all the way at the end of Farm road, was a problem for him. You spent your sweaty sun blistering days literally 2 miles away from him and he hated you for no reason.

Another bump, this time, his hand clamped on your waist, one rough finger slipping accidentally under your tank top as he did so. You suppressed a shiver, eyes sliding to look at his large hands. They sat, pale against the dark blue of your shorts. Scars criss-crossed his rough skin, somehow even paler than the rest of him. How did he not have a sunburn? The man worked in the sun all day and yet was as pale as paper.

Another bump, this one worse than the last two. You yelped as rough fingers dug into your soft skin, momentum carrying you and Sanemi up briefly before slamming back down into the seat.

“FUCKING DRIVE RIGHT!” Sanemi snapped in your ear, fingers still tight against your sides. Now 7 of his fingers were under the hem of your tank top, the rough calluses chafing your soft sides slightly. You suppressed a shiver that rippled across your skin.

“THIS SHIT ROAD IS NOT MY FAULT.” Genya snapped back, looking in the rear-view mirror as he did so. You followed suit, taking note of the mix of destroyed produce boxes and leftover fruit bouncing about. There was no doubt a small trail of smashed fruit on the road, the birds would eat well in this stretch of the woods.

“Why are we even taking this fucking road.” Genya grumbled under his breath, the comment barely audible. Sanemi let out a sound of frustration, rough fingers tightening before he quickly let go. You looked out the windshield, trying to gauge how much more of this road was left. Too much by your guess. The only reason you were all on this road was the request of Grandpa Urokodaki, the owner of the farm next to Shinazugawa's. He didn’t want you three traveling on the main road, stating he could smell a tree was ready to fall, one of the big ones. Whatever that meant, you weren’t too sure the old man was all there. It had been alright on the way there, taking a lesser known road that was still paved.

The farmers market had been fine as well, a little too hot, but the three of you had sold nearly all of the produce you had come in with. On the way back however, the shitty little dirt road had been chosen. A tree actually did fall, the main road becoming blocked, Genya had seen the long line for the alternate route and decided that shitty dirt road it was. Which had been fine, 30 minutes ago. You shifted in your seat, or rather Sanemi’s lap. The man grunted behind you, warm breath tickling your sweaty neck.

So gross.

Despite your best efforts to sit up and not touch him, the confined space of the truck had your back pressed against his chest. Sanemi radiated heat, the sensation incredibly unpleasant against your skin. You could only imagine once you got out that both the back of your shirt and front of his would be soaked with sweat.

So nasty. And one more thing for the man to complain about.

You rolled your eyes at the thought. He had already snapped at you at the farmers market. Snapped at you on the drive over, you had been sitting on Genya’s lap and the two of you had been “too annoying” just by talking. He had snapped at you for loading the truck wrong. It was never ending with the man.

Another rough patch, this time the little old truck skidding slightly, the back end nearly fishtailing out as Genya gripped the wheel with white knuckles. Sanemi’s hands were on your waist again, though this time it did little to keep you stationary. You and Sanemi slammed into the door, then back as Genya righted the vehicle. His hands dug into your sides, a futile attempt to steady himself. The both of you shot Genya a look, the teen looking miserable from his hunched seat.

“We are lost.” You voiced what you knew the other two were thinking. A grumble from behind you, the noise akin to agreement. Genya sighed, slowing down slightly as he looked over at you.

“I think this meets up with a gravel road. We hit that and it's five minutes top to the farm's back road.”

He shrugged as he spoke and you could feel Sanemi shrug back, a huff of frustration tickling the nape of your neck again. You figured he was right, your sense of direction was not great at the moment but the winding road did feel as if you were getting closer to the farm.

As if on cue, the truck hit gravel, the awkward jerking of the vehicle turning into a dull vibrating. Genya let out a whoop, one hand slapping the wheel in excitement. You felt a sense of relief, the farmhouse was just a little farther away. The cool indoor air, maybe even fresh juice with ice. It was an almost mouthwatering thought. You settled back without thinking, you mind mulling over thoughts of cool treats.

The thought was interrupted by a sensation. You shifted, sure that the hard object poking into your left asscheek was not there. Because it couldn’t be, right? There was no way Sanemi Shinazugawa currently had a hard on. Not for you, not ever, the man hated you. It was the vibration of the road, it had to be. It was his phone surely, or a tool. Something farm related and not at all phallic. Please let it not be his dang erection.

You shifted again, swallowing a grimace as you did so. The movement caused the hard object to slide between your asscheeks. It pressed against the seam of your shorts that conveniently pressed against your crotch.

Great, now you were fully sitting on it. No more moving, as much as you wanted to in order to remove the object from its current spot. But in doing so, you could make it worse. He was for sure hard, the man sat stiffly, hands clenching the seat edge with white knuckles. You suppressed a shiver, your stomach fluttering as you did your best to keep your head empty. Not thinking about it and how it made you feel was the best option.

The truck continued its path, the horrible gravel road shifting to a small paved path. Blessedly the vibrating stopped. But his erection didn’t disappear. It stayed tucked against your core as Genya pulled up to the farm and hopped out. You sat for a moment, finally turning to look out of the corner of your eye at him. The man looked furious, his barely there eyebrows pulled down in a thunderous expression. You took the hint, sliding off his lap and hopping out of the truck.

Genya was already on his way into the farm house, running up the long path and shouting about emptying the truck later. The lanky teen disappeared inside, the old screen door making an awful screeching noise as it slammed shut.

Sanemi slammed the truck door in response, standing and glaring. You stared back, willing your eyes to not move. But alas, they slid down, taking in his tented work pants. Snapping your gaze back up, you found your cheeks flushing bright red. For some reason your heart was racing and your mouth felt oddly dry.

“Not a FUCKING word.” He hissed, snatching a broken crate from the back and stomping into the nearby produce barn. You waited for a moment, chewing at your bottom lip as you thought. On one hand, you could go into the house and get a nice cool juice with Genya and Grandpa Shinazugawa. On the other hand, you could help a livid Sanemi unpack the truck. Option one meant no stress for a bit, but it also meant he would be incredibly nasty due to the lack of help.

Fuck it , you thought, turning and walking to the house. Chickens scurried from your path as you stomped towards the door. If he wanted to be an asshole he could do so by himself. Last thing you needed today was to be snapped at and the boner somehow be your fault. Because it wasn’t, the gravel road making the truck vibrate and in part you vibrate on his lap, was not your fault.

Entering the farmhouse you sighed in relief. Cool air brushed gently over your sun kissed skin. It was a much needed cool down from the heat of the day. Your sweat soaked skin was quickly drying, the heaviness of the heat lifting from your skin. Stretching you smiled and sighed, this was what you looked forward to after each day at the farm stand.

Flopping down at the kitchen table, you gratefully poured yourself a glass of sweet tea, smiling at the clinking of ice. The first sip was like heaven, the ice cold liquid soothing your parched throat. Genya smirked at you from his spot across the table, chugging his glass quickly before pouring another.

“Good work kids.” Grandpa Shinazugawa smiled, clapping Genya on the shoulder as he shuffled by. The little old man began bustling about the kitchen, pulling ingredients from the fridge as he began dinner preparations. You watched as he did so, taking in the smells that started wafting from whatever it was he had sitting on the stove.

Genya leaned across the table, throwing a glance over his shoulder before he spoke, “He had a boner didn’t he?”

You choked on your drink, ice cold tea shooting from your nose and across the table. Sputtering, you glared at the teen, quickly snatching the paper towel he offered with a huge grin. You hurriedly cleaned the table, tossing the damp towel in the nearby trash can.

“No idea what you’re talking about Genya.” You hissed through grit teeth, kicking his leg and jerking your head at his grandfather. The teen rolled his eyes and your glare deepened. Unlike him you weren’t family and therefore cherished this job and your kind employer. The brothers might get to keep their job if they acted up around the old man, but you weren’t sure the gesture would be extended to you.

“He totally did.” Genya chugged his second glass of sweet tea, burping as he poured another. You sipped your own tea slowly, eyes narrowed as you waited for him to continue his line of conversation. Despite your barbed glances and refusal to open your mouth, the teen was hellbent on talking.

“I get it though.” The boy leaned back in his chair, snatching a bread roll from the basket Grandpa Shinazugawa had laid out. Genya bit into it, chewing before pointing at you. His tone lowered and you noticed him shooting yet another look at his grandpa. You should have helped Sanemi in the barn, you decided, biting the inside of your cheek as you waited for whatever cursed phrase would spill from Genya’s mouth.

“Sanemi is into you like BIG time.” The whisper was barely a whisper and you rolled your eyes with a snort. Genya was an idiot, you knew this, but the statement was by far the stupidest thing he had ever said. Sanemi hated you, with a burning passion. The man went out of his way to make sure you saw his glares and grimaces. It was almost an obsession on his part.

“Yeah he likes me as much as fish like being on land.” Your tone was dripping with sarcasm, the urge to roll your eyes again to punctuate the statement overwhelming. Genya took another bite of his roll, brow furrowing as he looked at you.

“Fish don’t like being on land.” The teen looked genuine in his statement, his expression slightly puzzled. The brothers were going to be the death of you. Sanemi’s nastiness and Genya’s puppy dog-like attitude caused you mental whiplash too many times in one day to deal with. You motioned to the rolls behind him, catching the bread orb as Genya tossed one over. It was still a little bit warm, your fingers sunk into it slightly, the fluffiness of the roll almost cloud like. You looked up and sighed. Genya was watching you expectantly, his cheeks puffed like a hamster as he chewed.

“Sanemi goes out of his way to be nasty. He hates me.” You tore a small piece off the roll, stuffing it in your mouth as you spoke. Genya nodded, chugging more tea. You waited as he swallowed the way too big gulp, the teen wincing slightly as he did so.

“That’s what guys do right?” He motioned at you, then back to himself with his bread roll. “If you like a girl you like, tease her and stuff.”

Your mouth dropped open and you quickly snapped it shut, trapping the yell that threatened to emerge. What was wrong with these two? It was like they only knew how to interact with themselves and that was it. And their grandpa, the sweet old man smiled at you as he puttered about the kitchen. You noticed his white mustache was stained with soy sauce again and smiled back.

“Genya please do not tell me at the age of 16 you are bullying people you like.” Your voice was flat as you spoke, your lips pressed in a thin line as you stared at him.The teen flushed, his ears turning tomato red as he choked on his drink. Now he was the sputtering idiot buying time for an answer.

“Well. It’s not bullying.” He brushed his floppy hair from his face, eyes darting about as he spoke. “Just like, I don’t know.” Genya shrugged, grabbing another roll and stuffing the entire thing in his mouth. You chuckled, shaking your head at the teen’s embarrassment.

“If you like someone, just act normally. Be yourself and all that junk.” You waved your hand through the air as you spoke and Genya nodded. He was struggling to chew and swallow the roll, eyes narrowed as he concentrated. You made a face at him in response and he laughed, the noise garbled by his full mouth. The screen door slammed open and you both jumped, Genya coughing as he finally swallowed his snack. Sanemi entered the kitchen, his nasty mood on full display as he stomped in. The man glared daggers at you, then his brother.

“Here.” He snapped, shoving the money box into his grandfather’s hands. The elderly man thanked him, voice trailing off as Sanemi stomped away, his thunderous footsteps fading as he marched to the other side of the house. You and Genya watched, eyes sliding to meet each other's. Laughter bubbled in your throat for some reason and you could tell that Genya was equally amused.

“At least his boner went away.” You muttered, casually sipping your iced tea. Genya smirked at you, eyes narrowing like cats as he leaned in.

“I am not letting him live it down.”

You laughed at the statement, shaking your head at the teen’s glee. He already had his phone out, a large devious grin on his face as he no doubt texted Sanemi.

“And with that I am going to leave before he comes back and kills me.” You finished your drink, standing and waving goodbye to Grandpa Shinazugawa as you left. Genya followed you, shoving his phone in his pocket as he closed the screen door.

“I meant it though.” He jerked his thumb back at the house, “He likes you.”

You laughed, “Sure Genya, if he ever confesses I owe you 20 bucks.”

The teen fist pumped and headed back inside with a cackle. You rolled your eyes and turned towards the main drive. He needed to learn how to perceive sarcasm and you weren’t about to start teaching him. With a sigh you began the long walk back to the bus stop, mind pondering what to make for dinner.

Sanemi’s attitude did not improve after that day. If anything it got worse. You found yourself confronted time and time again by glares and nasty words. He had stopped speaking in full sentences to you, opting to instead grunt and answer with single words when absolutely unavoidable. Sanemi was insufferable and you found yourself starting to hate the man. He was annoyed by you? That was fine, you would just go out of your way to avoid him.

So how had you gotten here?

You sat in the tiny truck, once again on the bumpy road. Arms crossed tightly across your chest, trying your best to act as if the extreme bumpiness was not throwing you about like a ragdoll.

A storm had ravaged the landscape the past few days, the rain thankfully letting up in time for the Farmer’s Market. But it had left the main roads nearly impossible to traverse, trees and debris littered the way. So it had been the little gravel and dirt road, to and from.

At least this time Sanemi was in the driver’s seat and you were alone in the passenger seat. The upset of not having Genya to assist earlier was paying off now in the return trip home. You weren’t sure if the teen was actually sick but either way you would thank him. The glare filled silence of the farmer’s market was for sure a fair price for not sitting on Sanemi “Boner” Shinazugawa’s lap.

Ok so the nickname was not one that was actually used. It was just used by you. And Genya. Privately in text that would never ever see the light of day. You hoped. The thought of Sanemi somehow finding his brother’s meme “collection” that was mostly sent to you, and mostly consisted of specifically edited memes about Sanemi, was bone chilling. He would no doubt murder you and then Genya in a fit of rage.

As if on cue, your phone buzzed. You pulled it out of your pocket, free hand gripping the truck seat in an attempt to not be launched through the roof. It was Genya, with a meme. You squinted at the low quality frog with an edited wizard hat and wand. He had written in ‘How goes Boner Road Traveler?’

You rolled your eyes. Genya was for sure ill, this one was not at all funny. The teen had a talent for creating these and this one was for sure not a ‘Banger’ as he would put it. You slid your gaze to Sanemi, relieved to find the man glaring straight ahead, white knuckle grip on the steering wheel.

‘Lame meme.’

You watched as immediately his texting bubble appeared. He was no doubt insulted, the boy took meme making entirely too seriously. You waited for the next meme to be sent, internally rolling your eyes as you did so.

“If he has time to text, why did he stay home?” Sanemi’s voice startled you, breaking your concentration on your phone. You nearly dropped the device, glaring at him as you pressed it against your chest. It was like he had a 6th sense, either that or he had seen the meme and had realized it was Genya. You sincerely hoped not, your heart skipping a beat at the thought. Sanemi was not looking at you and you doubted he wanted an answer. But his tone irked you, it really did. Of all the full sentences to say today, this is what he picked. Not when you were checking out customers and needed help. Not when you had asked him about crop availability for the elderly ladies that came by. No, he chose to do what he always did and complain.

“Texting and loading a truck full of produce are two different tasks.” You felt your phone buzz against your chest, ignoring it as you stared at the white haired man. His burning glare shifted to you. Another bump and you glared back, ignoring the fact that you probably looked ridiculous as you lifted off the seat and slammed back down. Slipping your phone back in your pocket, you resisted the urge to see what Genya had sent. With Sanemi’s burning gaze on you it would be a stupid move to even peek at it.

“At least he’s useful.”

You scoffed, throwing your hands in the air as you did so. There it was, the man was so unnecessarily mean.

“I am useful, Sanemi.” You snapped, jabbing a finger at him as you spoke. Sanemi glared at you, lips pressed tightly together as he waited. It almost made you lose steam, but then the thought of quietly ignoring him as you always did refueled your irritation.

“You just have a problem with me.” You huffed, sitting back and crossing your arms. The truck jerked to a stop as Sanemi slammed on the breaks. You yelped as you were flung forward, seat belt thankfully catching you before your face could slam into the dash. It hurt like hell though, your shoulder stinging as you sat back up.

“I do NOT have a problem with you.” Sanemi snapped, his attention fully on you. His wild eyes were narrowed as he spoke, “I have communication issues.”

What a ridiculous statement. The audacity of this man to sit and try to convince you he just had communication issues. As if you weren’t glared at like as if you were a disgusting little bug on the daily. You laughed, the sound sharp and full of irritation, “Oh of course. Silly me. I forgot you can be a total DICK to people and it's just communication issues.”

You used air quotes as you spoke, your tone mocking. The man looked like he had been slapped, brow pulling into a thunderous expression at your words. His wild lavender eyes were narrowed to slits, face twitching as he put together his next insult. You waited, arms crossed as you tried your best to convey your anger through your eyes.

“All you do is sit at the fruit stand and walk around in tiny shorts and tank tops!” He snapped, jabbing a finger in your shoulder as he spoke. Your jaw dropped and you squawked in anger, words jumbling in your brain as you tried to comprehend what he just said. Sanemi’s face was bright red as he waited. You could feel your own face growing red, the anger burbling in your chest slowly sliding up into your throat.

“Have you been an asshole this ENTIRE time because of my clothing choice.” Your voice was low, almost a whisper as you spoke. Sanemi opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again.

“No?” The answer was a question not a statement, his blush spreading to his ears and down his neck.

“Sanemi.” You kept your tone even, leaning forward as you spoke. “Have you been an asshole all this time because you’re attracted to me?”

The scarred man audible swallowed, his expression wavering between embarrassment and a half hearted glare.

“No?” It was a question again, not a statement.

You snorted, leaning back in your seat and turning away from him. He was a handsome man and you were attracted to him. But that nasty personality really overshadowed all of the built muscle and good looks. You weren’t sure what was more annoying, knowing that he was nasty because he had no idea how to communicate truly, or that you found yourself thrilled at the fact he found you attractive. You were disgusted with that part, trying your best to squish its glee. At your age you had no time for nasty ass men, no matter how hot they were.

A raindrop hit the windshield, then another. Your brooding thoughts were interrupted as a deluge of rain fell from the sky. The forecast had said it would be overcast all day, but the storm was supposed to be over. You groaned internally, dreading the walk to the bus stop that awaited you once back at the farm. As the truck started moving again, it felt as if the rain became heavier. The storm pressing against the truck, rivulets of rain leaking through the old windows. You shifted closer to Sanemi in an effort to avoid the leak, biting at your lower lip as you watched the rain.

The leftover produce in the back was for sure a lost cause. From a quick glance in the back you could see water collecting in the truck bed. The cardboard boxes Grandpa Shinazugawa had opted for were quickly becoming nothing more than mush. You grimaced, turning to the front again and wincing as the truck skidded through the now muddy road. The tires were doing their best but you could feel the vehicle struggling with traction.

You found yourself sitting right next to Sanemi, the both of you trying to avoid the water coming through the side windows. He was warm in the sudden chill that seemed to be seeping in, the storm pushing the heat of the day away. Your shoulders bumped together with each jerk of the truck, the movement becoming more and more frequent as the storm began to howl.

The rain was torrential, the truck's windshield wipers barely doing anything at this point. Sanemi continued driving, his lips pressed in a thin line as he leaned over the wheel, squinting through the rain streaked windshield. You hoped he could see more than you, the white haze all encompassing. The road wasn’t even visible, the truck's lights unable to cut through the thick curtain of rain.

The truck sputtered and you stiffened, eyes meeting Sanemi’s worriedly. You didn’t like the sound and neither did he, the both of you tensing as another mechanical noise came from the truck hood. The vehicle continued, skidding through a few more feet of mud and sputtered again. You heard what you assumed was the engine cough and the truck rolled to a stop.

“Fuck.” Sanemi sighed, he pulled the key from the ignition then slid it back in and turned it. The truck coughed, struggling and then failing to start. You watched silently as the man tried again and again, each attempt yielding nothing. The sound of the rain was deafening, its loud droning covering up the low curses Sanemi was spitting out. The man looked less angry and more defeated with each attempted restart of the truck. He looked at you and shook his head. The truck had died.

The anger that had been festering between the two of you had fizzled out. Now you both sat, defeated as the rain covered everything. You couldn’t see anything past the haze, the world had stopped existing beyond the truck. The leak in the window had strengthened, a small waterfall streaming down the glass. Given the age of the truck you doubted it would do much more damage. Sliding your seatbelt off you sighed, worriedly biting at your lower lip. How long would you be stranded out here?

“This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t picked a fight.”

Your jaw dropped at the words, head whipping around as your anger reared its head. Sanemi sat back, arms crossed tightly across his chest. Surely he hadn’t just tried to blame this one you.

“We might’ve been close enough to home to walk.” He gestured through the windshield, eyes rolling as he spoke.

“You did not just blame the fucking weather on me.” Your voice was tight, jaw clenched tight, the words barely slithered past your teeth. Sanemi shrugged, gesturing at the truck and again at the rain.

“I wouldn’t have stopped and we wouldn’t be here.”

The audacity of this man. Anger churned in your chest as your brain flip flopped between cursing him out and just smacking him in the mouth. Your face burned red as you sat, hands clenched tightly in your lap. The anger was so strong you were shaking, nails biting into your thighs as you struggled to not go ballistic.

“What is your fucking issue.” You snapped finally, leaning in, your finger jabbing at him accusatorily. Sanemi’s upper lip twitched and he leaned back, avoiding your touch. The action made you angrier, the heat in your chest intensifying.

“You know what? Fuck this!!” You snapped, turning and yanking the truck door open. The rain hit you immediately, the downpour painfully cold. Your anger was boiling now, the feeling of the rain barely registering as you slammed the truck door and took off down the road. Faintly you could hear the other door opening, a shouted word or two that was lost to the rain. It didn’t matter what he had to say, the man was nasty for no reason. You had wasted enough energy on him.

A shiver rippled down your spine as you splashed through the mud and rocks. As quickly as mud coated your ankles, the rain was swiftly washing it from your skin. The ground was so wet that it seemed to slip away with each step. Your sneakers slogged through the mess, feet twisting slightly with each step. Water sloshed around in your shoes, unpleasant and making walking all the more difficult.

The rain had completely soaked you in a matter of moments, your tank top clinging to your skin like a wet paper towel. Your shorts fared a similar fate and you realized with dismay that your phone was for sure destroyed. The pocket it was stuffed in hung sadly and you internally cursed. Swiping a hand across your face to clear your vision, the action did little to assist. Blinking just made it worse, the path ahead disappearing after a few feet. It felt as though you were under water somehow, everything was wet and cold. Your hair felt plastered to your skull, the rain running in rivulets down your face, into your ears and eyes.

It was horrible.

Better than being in the truck with him though.

Shaking your head you hasten your pace, jogging quickly down the path. It was an easier pace to keep and you figured you could make it to the farm faster this way. At least you hoped so. The rain felt heavier, your vision getting worse with each passing moment. Ignoring it and the urge to look back, your pressed forward, lips set in a grimace. Despite the pace of your jog, you were freezing, the icy rain chilling you to the bone.

You slipped suddenly and fell harshly, your chest smacking into the wet earth, teeth clacking together painfully on impact. The ground was freezing, cold mud lapping at your skin as stones swirled past in the torrent. Goosebumps littered your skin, the chill in your bones somehow worse now that you were on the ground.

With a grunt you pulled yourself to your hands and knees, spitting out mud with a cough. Your knees dug painfully against hidden stones, the mud shifting slightly and pulling you deeper into the mess. Thunder rumbled above, the sound feeling as if it shook the earth. You stared at your hands, wrist deep in a slew of rain water and mud. There was gravel a few steps ahead, which meant that you were actually pretty close to the farm. Could you make it in this downpour? The path was barely visible and despite your best efforts you knew getting lost would be easy.

You sneezed harshly, a shiver running across your skin. Even though it was summer you were sure to catch a cold in this rain.

A hand tugged you onto your feet. You glared up at Sanemi, the man looking like a drowned rat. His normally fluffed up hair lay flat against his face, strands covering his eyes slightly. His shirt clung to his body leaving no room for imagination, the light green fabric defining every muscle. Your eyes slid down further and you snapped your gaze to his feet, refusing to look up. Of course today he was wearing gray sweatpants, The article of clothing that was normally notorious now soaked and sticking to him like a second skin. Twice in one month you had gotten more of an eyeful of the man’s penis then you ever wanted to. You would have blushed, but given the cold your body seemed incapable, instead opting for an odd flip-flopping sensation in your stomach. Sanemi leaned in, causing you to look up. Rain streamed into your eyes and you squinted, taking in his equally scrunched face.

“WE ARE GOING TO GET STRUCK IF WE STAND AROUND.” Even with him shouting you barely heard the words. Thunder clapped again, the sound deafening. You heard just enough however, nodding as you let him tug you from the open road towards the trees. Lighting flashed in the distance, its dazzling light rippling purple across the almost black sky. He was right, following the path was inviting lightning to strike you down.

Sanemi’s hand slid from your arm to your hand, the man tugging you along through the trees. You followed without protest, your feet slipping through the churning earth. Pushing your earlier anger aside, you kept your hand tightly around his, your rain soaked skin making it difficult to hold on. He seemed to know where he was going or at least it felt like he did. The man moved with confidence, his broad shoulders pushing through the heavy pine boughs. More than once a branch caught your face and you winced at the tiny scratches that stung in the rain.

The wind picked up, pine branches creaking and groaning as the heavy rain pulled at them. You winced as thunder cracked overhead, the sound so loud it felt as if your bones were rattling. Sanemi’s hand tightened around yours and you stumbled as he tugged your forward.

A buzzing sensation traveled up your spine and you shuddered at the odd sensation. Rubbing your arm with your free hand you began to shiver as goosebumps erupted across your skin. Sanemi was saying something but through the drone of the rain you couldn’t make out the actual words. Squinting you wrinkled your nose, shaking your head as he turned to you, his eyes wide. You squawked in protest as Sanemi tugged you hard, the both of you hitting the ground as mud slid beneath your feet. The ice cold mud coated your skin unpleasantly, but you barely noticed as Sanemi tugged you under a nearby tree. You lay with your back against his chest, his muscular arms caging you against him. Like you he was shivering and from the corner of your eye you could see a worried expression twist across his face.

Not a second later, lightning struck nearby. It was blinding and terrifying. You shrieked, the sound drowned out by thunder clapping directly overhead. All or your senses felt as if they had been reset, your ears ringing as the sky continued its rumbling. Your heart felt as if it would fly from your chest, the fevered tempo of it beating painfully against your ribs. Blinking to clear your vision you shot Sanemi a look, the man looking equally as shaken as you. Had he realized lightning was about to strike? The thought didn’t matter however, lightning struck again farther away and you swallowed hard. Getting struck was uncommon right?

Sanemi leaned in, cold lips pressing against your ear as he spoke. “THERE ARE TOO MANY TALL PINES!”

Your brow furrowed and then smoothed as you processed what he meant. The lightning was striking the tallest objects. You were too close to the road which was sheltered by old tall pines. Very tall pines that ran the risk of losing branches when hit. The likelihood of being struck was slim, but you had no idea how long the storm would linger. It was better to be safe. You wracked your brains, trying to think of where to go. The farm was probably still a good 10 to 15 minutes walk, longer given the state of the ground. As far as you knew the farm was surrounded by forest, there was no neighboring building to hide in.

Your thoughts were interrupted as Sanemi tugged you to your feet, the man continuing in the general direction of the farm. His hand slipped in your grasp and you clenched down, suddenly afraid of losing him in the rain and pine trees. The thought was unpleasant and you shook your head to clear it, focusing instead on Sanemi’s broad back. You both were slowing down you realized, despite your best attempts the rain and cold was winning. His hand was like ice in your grasp and you knew you were equally chilled. You sneezed again, rubbing cold fingers across your icy nose. With your luck the two of you would die out here of hypothermia.

“ HERE! ”

The shout was so faint for a moment you thought you had imagined it. But no, Sanemi was grinning, shouting again as his pace picked up. You followed him confused, your feet slipping in the mud. Was there a cave or fallen log for shelter? His large hand held yours tight, tugging you forward as he pushed through the pines.

You entered a small clearing, the space occupied by a very rusty looking shed. A rather large shed you noted as Sanemi tugged your towards it. The building must have been for tools or something you mused as the man fumbled with the padlock on the door. The metal siding groaned and rattled with the wind, the sound haunting. You frowned at Sanemi, the lock needing a pass-code rather than a key. The man paid you no mind, hunching over the lock with a scowl. Sanemi’s fingers slipped as he pushed the first button and he cursed, wiping his hands on his pants and then shaking his head as it did nothing to help with the wet of everything.

You shivered, pressing tight against the small building as you watched the sky. It was still dark, clouds churning as rain and lightning fell from the sky. Flashes of purple and white lit up the somber clouds, the distant flashes aggressive. You wondered just how long the storm would persevere, thinking of Genya and his Grandpa. Hopefully they had gotten the chickens in before this, this rain would kill the poor birds if they had been left outside.

“YES!!.” You jumped at Sanemi’s sudden shout, the lock pulling free and the door swinging open. He slipped inside, pulling you after him. You quickly shut the door, noting a small sliding latch and swiftly pushing it into place. The door shuddered in its frame, the outside rain and wind lashing at the structure as if trying to tear it down. You pressed against it, blinking as a light was suddenly turned on.

“Move.” Sanemi’s voice was hoarse but he didn’t have to shout to be heard. You moved without a word, watching as he shoved a small couch in front of the door. The rattling of the frame seemed to subside and you relaxed slightly.

Wait. A couch?

You blinked, turning to look in the dimly lit space. It was not a tool shed but rather a small living space. You stood in a combination kitchen and living room, your jaw slack as you took it in. To your right a tv and small table with a single chair and to your left a sink, toaster oven and mini-fridge.

Directly in front of you a few paces away was what you assumed was the door to the bathroom. It was slightly overshadowed by a ladder leading up to a loft. This was jarringly different from the rusty tools and farm equipment you had expected.

“What the heck is this?” Your teeth chattered as you spoke. The man shrugged, his eyes not quite meeting yours as he spoke.

“My place.”

You blinked at those words, your brows drawing down in confusion as you mulled over what he said. It made sense though you supposed. When he wasn’t working you never saw him hanging around the main farmhouse like Genya did. Sanemi hated you as well so he had no need to tell you about it.

The light flickered overhead, dimming slightly as the howling of the wind intensified outside. You shivered listening to the rain smacking down on the metal siding. The entire place creaked and moaned as if protesting the weather. It sounded as if it might be pulled from the ground.

“It’ll hold.” Sanemi gestured vaguely around him, his expression tired. You nodded, not quite believing him.

It felt awkward now. The two of you had been so angry just a little bit before, but now you were standing and avoiding eye contact like a couple of kids. The light flickered again, throwing shadows throughout the room. You realized as it occurred that there were no windows.

“We can’t shower since I don’t get hot water out here.” Sanemi gestured at the small bathroom door. “Getting colder will probably make us sick.”

You sneezed in response, flushing as you rubbed your arms to keep warm. Either way you would get sick. You weren’t stuck in the rain anymore, but the chill was still present. The both of you stood in puddles of water, your clothing and skin dripping onto the hardwood floor, Sanemi seemed to not mind, the man more concerned with the light.

You watched as it flickered again and then went out completely. Sanemi cursed, throwing his hands up as he did so. You waited as he stumbled over to the TV, throwing open what you assumed was the breaker box. The clicking of switches being thrown filled the air, Sanemi’s low grumbles accompanying them. The lights remained off, your companion sighing as he shut the breaker box.

“No power.”

You nodded, your teeth chattering as you attempted in vain to keep warm. Even with electricity you doubted this small home was heated. Sanemi seemed like the kind of man who was never cold. You had an idea that he wore shorts and t-shirts in winter.

“Follow me.” Sanemi turned and quickly climbed up the ladder. You followed slowly, your chilled limbs feeling stiff as you did so. At the top of the ladder you paused, eyebrows raising as you took in the dark environment. You could make out Sanemi hunched over what you assumed was a set of drawers. He made a pleased noise, a flashlight clicking on and flooding the space with light. You blinked, taking in the green bed and small wooden dresser. There wasn't much space, Sanemi was hunched to avoid smacking his head against the A-Frame roof. The bed took up a majority of the space, leaving about two feet on the right side of the bed. One foot really with the dresser was pressed against the wall. Glancing back you sighed, the drop wasn’t high at all but you could for sure see yourself tripping and flying down to the first level. It didn’t help that there was only a foot of space between the ladder and the bed either. You pulled yourself up, standing at the foot of the bed, watching Sanemi as he dug in the drawers again.

Up here you could hear the rain much better, the drops thundering against the metal roof like hail. You noted a small window at the head of the bed, the world outside dark save for the flashes of lightning occasionally dyeing the sky purple and white.

“Here.” You blinked as a towel hit you in the face. Deciding not to snap at him, you took it gratefully, drying your face quickly. Sanemi was doing the same, roughly drying his hair as he glared at the ground. Drying your own hair, you realized that the next step was your body, which meant stripping.

Your eyes flickered over to Sanemi, noting that the man did not seem anxious at all about the prospect. His shirt hit the ground with a wet smack, pants and underwear being stripped equally as fast. You cleared your throat, turning your back as you continued drying your hair.

“Sorry.” Sanemi’s voice was low and you nodded quickly in response.

‘Fuck it’ You grit your teeth, quickly pulling your clothing off and tossing it aside. Your shorts and tank top sat pathetically in a soggy lump and you paused. Wearing soaking wet underwear to cover your shred of modesty would only make you colder. You needed to towel off and hang everything to dry. Stripping off your underwear, you tried to dry yourself quickly. You swiftly covered yourself with the towel, face burning as you prayed Sanemi saw nothing.

Turning you noted that he sat on the bed, towel wrapped around his waist as he stared out the window. So he had avoided looking at you, what a gentleman.

“Do you have any spare clothing?” At the sound of your voice he turned, shaking his head in answer.

“It's laundry day.” Sanemi sighed. You nodded, trying not to stare at the man. It was difficult though, his chest was littered with scars. The silvery lines twisted over his skin looking almost as if he had been attacked. You had always assumed the scars on his arms and hands were due to farm equipment. But it looked more like he had lost a fight with a bear. Or maybe won it you thought, shuffling over and sitting next to him on the bed. The green blanket was super soft, surprisingly so, you ran your fingers over it, enjoying the sensation. Sanemi looked at you, then back out the window.

Too awkward , you grimaced internally.

While the two of you were silent, the room was not. The drumming of rain against the roof was almost droning, the sound like white noise against your ears. Thunder intermingled with the rain, the loud rumbling feeling as if it shook the house.

Twisting you looked out the window, watching as lightning flashed over the trees. As it faded, you blinked, noting a light. Excitedly, you crawled up the bed, placing your hands on the windowsill as you squinted in an attempt to see through the rain and dark.

“Is that the farm house?”

Sanemi shifted, standing and pacing over to the right side of the bed. He leaned, looking out and nodding.

“Yeah it's easier to see without the rain.” He paused and then let out an annoyed huff. “Fuck, I should see if they’re ok.”

You watched from your seat on the pillows as Sanemi padded back over to his wet clothing pile. He crouched and you flushed as his towel slipped down. You admired the man’s rather nice backside as he pulled his phone from his pocket.

“FUCK!” He snapped, tossing his phone onto the small dresser with a sigh. It was dead you presumed, as your phone no doubt was. You squeaked as Sanemi flopped onto the bed, the man lying face down in the green blanket. His back was equally as scarred, the twisted lines reminding you of old map etchings.

Without thinking, you reached out, placing a hand against a particularly large scar. His skin was like ice and you could feel him stiffen beneath your touch. The scar was silken under your fingertips, not rough as you imagined it would be. Sanemi shifted, his head turning enough so one eye could glare at you.

No, not glare, he looked confused. You shrugged sheepishly at him, pulling your hand away.

“Sorry. I should have asked.”

The man shifted further, turning onto his side and propping his head up. He looked both amused and unsure. Sanemi’s hair was fluffed back up, the shaggy locks no longer obscuring his wild eyes. His gaze made your stomach tighten. The towel around his waist was threatening to fall. You tried not to let your eyes slide to the edge of the towel. It was hard to ignore the toned body sprawled next to you.

“So gentle, I thought you hated me.” His voice was soft and teasing. You scoffed, turning your head to look back out the window. Avoiding the piercing gaze, you shrugged, trying not to let him see your bright red face.

“You’re the one who hates me.” You shot him a look as you spoke, “Or per earlier, hates me because you want to fuck me.”

The words acted like a cattle prod, the man sitting upright quickly. You shrank back slightly, surprised at the sudden motion. Sanemi sat right in front you, the hard lines of his body angled towards you. He licked his lips, the action sending a thrilled shiver down your spine.

“You know if you were nicer I might want to.” Your voice was almost a whisper, goosebumps erupting across your skin. There was no reason to tell him that, yet you felt compelled. Your heart was thrumming in your chest, the tempo erratic as you watched his face.

“Might want to do what?” Sanemi was leaning in, his gaze unwavering as he spoke.

Your heart was beating quickly as you remained silent. Unsure of what to say, your mind focused on the fact that his warm breath was brushing over your face. Thunder filled the silence, a lightning flash sending odd light across Sanemi’s scarred face. You licked your lips, watching as his pupils grew slightly in size.

“If you were nicer.” You paused, feeling oddly out of breath. Sanemi leaned in closer, just inches away. The last half of the sentence was like a bird in your throat, struggling to fly from lips you had pressed so tightly together. Sanemi’s hand slid from the bed onto your bare thigh, the warm calloused palm causing a shiver you couldn’t suppress. He was so close, your lips parted as you took a shaky breath, your stomach fluttering with excitement.

“I might want to fuck you.”

The words were like a bolt of lightning between the two of you. Sanemi surged forward, his lips meeting yours heatedly. You fell back onto the soft blanket, towel partially sliding off as your arms came up to wrap around his neck.

His lips were warm against yours, tongue licking against your mouth. You complied, opening your lips to allow his tongue entry. Sanemi tasted sweet and tangy, like a warm citrus. You moaned into his mouth, hips canting up slightly as your hands tangled in his hair. He shoved a knee between your legs and you shivered, shifting so your legs were planted on either side of his. Balanced on his forearms, Sanemi slid one hand under your neck, fingers pulling on the hairs at the nape of your neck.

Pulling back for a moment, you gasped for air, a trail of salvia leading from his lips to yours.

Sanemi’s normally pale face was flushed, the man panting slightly as he waited. You smiled nervously at him, hands sliding from his hair to his chest.

“I can be nice.” Sanemi’s voice was low as he spoke, warm breath tickling your face. You tilted your head, eyes narrowing at him. The anger from earlier had transformed into pure lust. It twisted through your veins, warming your chilled skin. Sanemi looked at you expectantly, his lips parted slightly.

“Then show me.” You grinned at his eye roll, the man smirking at you as he did so. His lips were on yours again, body pressing down on you. Sanemi’s kisses were feverish, pressing against your lips with an intensity you hadn’t experienced before. You groaned as he slid his tongue into your mouth, the appendage tangling with yours. The kisses were becoming more desperate, the both of you messily panting. Your teeth clicked together, tongues swirling as Sanemi swallowed your moans.

His free hand pressed against your stomach, sliding down to rest on your thigh. You shivered, fingers tangling in his short hair, pulling him closer. Heat was bubbling in your stomach, spurred on by the occasional huff of pleasure from the man above you. Sanemi pulled himself from your lips, latching onto your throat with a low groan. You shivered as his tongue lapped against the soft skin, his sharp teeth catching occasionally.

Without his lips on yours the room filled with the sound of your breathless moans. It seemed to spur him on, the man sliding his other hand down to your thigh, pulling your hips up. The head of his cock slid against your wet folds. You shuddered at the sensation, shifting in vain to slip against him again. Sanemi chuckled against your throat, tugging at your hips again.

You shivered as the hot head of his erection slid against your clit, the action building the warmth fizzling in your stomach. He was teasing you for a reaction. Sanemi wanted the irritation, the snapping. You wanted him to fill you, not to draw this out.

Your head tilted back into the plush blanket as you canted your hips upwards. The action had you rubbing against his thigh, the slick of your arousal glistening against his thigh. You shuddered, moving your hips again. The rough texture of his scars rubbed against your clit, sending bolts of pleasure through you.

“Oh you like that do you?” Sanemi chuckled above you, warm breath tickling your neck as he pulled back. He balanced on his knees, shifting his grip to pull your hips up again. This time he angled you against his right thigh, pressing against you roughly. You let out a small sigh, trying your best to hold still. Thunder shook the house and you both paused, heads tilting to look out the window. The view out the window was just pitch black, raindrops sliding down the glass.

You shifted, shuddering as your clit rubbed against his rough thigh. Tilting your head back you caught his eyes, moving your hips again in a silent urging. You wanted him to continue, whether with his cock or his thigh. Sanemi’s hands each clutching a handful of your ass, keeping you steady as he smirked at you.

Lighting sent purple light rippling through the room, the storm still raging outside. You realized that somehow the flashlight had fallen, its dim light coming from near the ladder. It had apparently fallen down. It didn’t matter however, the storm outside caused enough light for you to see what you needed.

Sanemi’s cock was pointed nearly upright he was so aroused. You thrust upwards with your hips, your clit scraping deliciously against his rough skin. Your motion caused his cock to bob, the sight making your pussy clench as you imagined how it would feel entering you.

“Be nice.” You whispered, canting your hips upwards again. His breathing had caught in his chest, the man watching with wide eyes as you rubbed against his thigh. The sight seemed to mesmerize him, Sanemi’s fingers tightening painfully around your flesh.

You let out a soft moan, fingers twisting in the blanket as your arousal grew. Thrusting up you sighed as your clit slid up then down his thigh. His leg was wet with your juices, the man shifting to press his leg harder against you. Sanemi’s hands tugged at your hips, urging you to move faster. You complied, shuddering as the heat in your stomach began coiling tighter. Just underneath the rain and the thunder you could hear a small curse.

Sanemi dropped your hips suddenly and you landed back on the bed with a small gasp. Disappointment rippled through you for a moment. Sanemi cursed again, dropping to his hands and knees.

You shivered as he buried himself in your cunt. His tongue lapped against your wet folds as if he were starving. You gasped as pleasure rippled through you, his hot tongue pressing against your entrance. The appendage circled your opening, achingly slow. Your hips canted against his face, causing his tongue to slip up against your clit. You let out a shaky moan, hands sliding to tangle in his hair. Sanemi groaned into your folds, drinking in your juices. He slid one arm over your waist, pinning you against the bed. You groaned, wanting desperately to rut against his face. Sanemi seemed to know this, chuckling as he wrapped his lips around your clit, sucking harshly.

You whined, wanting him to fill you. “Please.”

The word was so quiet you were sure the storm drowned it out. But he had heard you. Sanemi pulled away from your pussy, giving you a smirk from between your legs. Your arousal coated his face, the man licking it away devilishly as he pulled himself upright. The scarred man positioned himself over you, the head of his cock pressing against your entrance. Lowering himself to his elbows, Sanemi nestled his head in the crook of your neck, breathing out shakily. The man seemed to be grounding himself, his warm breath as shaky as yours. He placed a kiss against your collarbone, right hand sliding under your hips and angling you upwards.

Sanemi pressed against you slowly. The tip of his cock almost gently pressing into you, pushing past your entrance. You moaned, walls fluttering slightly as he entered. He was thick, the girth stretching your walls out pleasurably. You squirmed beneath him as he pushed in slowly. The pace was almost agonizing, his breath catching as your walls clenched around him.

Purple light danced around you, casting shadows across the taut muscles of his body. You could tell he was trying not to go too fast, to not hurt you. It was sweet, making your heart flutter and cheeks go red. But it was not what you wanted right now.

“No more nice.” You gasped as he slipped another inch deeper, the hand on your hips clenching tighter. His cock was twitching within you, hot breath warming your neck as he panted.

“Please fuck me Sanemi.” Another whisper you were sure was drown out by the storm. But again he had heard you, the man nearly snarling as he thrust forcefully. You cried out, back arching as he filled you. Sanemi gave you no time to adjust to being filled by him. His hips snapped forward at a brutal pace, his teeth latching onto your throat. Your entire pussy ached, burning as it stretched around him. Each thrust was rougher than the last, the friction of his cock against your soft walls intoxicating. You matched his pace, the excitement coiling tightly in your lower stomach as you chased your release. The rough pace had his cock kissing your cervix, the tip rubbing against the most sensitive part of you.

Under the sounds of the storm, the room was full of your low moans and the lewd wetness of his thrusting. You were so close, aching to cum around his cock. Sanemi shifted, latching onto your breast with a huff. You met his eyes, heart skipping a beat as you took in his intensity. Sanemi’s pupils were blown wide, his brow pinched as he thrust harshly. With his lips wrapped around your breast he looked almost feral. It thrilled you, your walls fluttering around his cock, the slick of your arousal sliding down the back of your thighs. With a pop he pulled away from your breast.

“Cum.”

The word was nearly lost to you, the sound barely audible. But it undid you. You came with a cry, walls clenching around his pistoning cock. The harsh thrusting in your cunt was almost too much as you came. The orgasm intense, your vision swimming as you arched beneath him. You shuddered, mewling as your walls fluttered weakly.

Sanemi let out a choked moan, his pace stuttering as he neared his own completion. The thick head of his cock dragged achingly through your overly sensitive walls. The sound of his balls slapping against your wet thighs and ass growing louder as he thrust harder.

Sanemi was upright now, both hands on your hips as he thrust. Your knees were tucked against his ribs, scarred arms holding them in place. With this position you couldn’t move, his arms keeping you still. You felt a second orgasm building, your stomach tightening almost painfully as your pussy pulsed around his cock. Sanemi grunted at the sensation, sweat sliding down his chest. It was erotic to watch, the toned muscles of his abdomen contracting as he pounded into you. The spattering of white hair trailing from his navel and disappearing at your pussy was drenched in your fluids. With each thrust you caught a glimpse of his cock before it disappeared back into your warmth.

Sanemi shifted, rough thumb pressing against your clit. The calloused sensation of his skin was enough to send a smaller orgasm crashing through you, your walls clenching around him again.

“Fuck!” Sanemi snarled, pressing fully into you as he came, the head of his cock right against your cervix. You shuddered at the warmth filling you, taking in the man’s low groans as he finished. The weak thrusting slowed, his breath in pants as he loosened his grip on you. His spent cock twitched within you, the last of his seed sliding into your velvety cunt.

The man flopped his full weight on you for a moment, the two of you catching your breath. Sanemi kissed your neck softly, mumbling something you couldn’t quite hear. You smiled lazily, feeling the call to sleep creeping up on you.

With a sigh, Sanemi pulled himself from you. You let out a small sigh, watching as he left the bed, rustling about in the dresser before returning with what looked to be a washcloth. He climbed over you, opening the window near the head of the bed and sticking his arm out.

That was one way to get water you mused, watching as he slammed the window shut. Silently Sanemi cleaned you and then himself, tossing the used washcloth over the edge of the loft. You heard a wet thwack as it landed. Gross.

Wriggling forward, you slipped under the blankets, nestling under the warm covers. Sanemi followed suit, pulling you in close with a sigh. He was warm, the heat of his skin comforting. With your back to him, you found yourself drifting to sleep, eyes heavy.

“You owe Genya 20 bucks.”

You blinked, shifting so you could face the man. He was grinning smugly, the expression incredibly cat-like. Shaking your head, you laughed. The man raised an eyebrow, motioning for you to elaborate. You smirked, pulling the blankets up to your chin as you spoke, “You didn’t confess Sanemi. You fucked me.”

He sputtered, face flushing red. You stopped him as he opened his mouth, pressing a finger to his parted lips. “I swear if the next thing out of your mouth is that was the confession I will vomit.”

Sanemi cleared his throat, narrowing his eyes as he stared at you. Thunder filled the brief silence, the light from the storm dancing over the ceiling.

“I was going to say, before being RUDELY interrupted.” Sanemi paused, snickering as you whacked his arm lightly. His rough hands slid onto your sides, fingers wiggling playfully as he ignored your protests. The attempt to tickle you was too much, you weakly laughed, trying not to let him win. Despite your best efforts he was easily batting your hands away.

“I really like you.” His voice was low and almost bashful. You stopped your attempts to peel his fingers from your sides and smiled. Leaning in you placed a quick kiss to his lips.

“I like you too asshole.”

Sanemi let out a fake gasp of shock, fingers resuming their attempt to tickle you. “I’m the asshole? So says the woman who calls me BONER.”

You shrieked, sitting up and pushing a pillow onto his face. Sanemi laughed, pushing the pillow off and tugging you into his arms. He pressed a kiss to your forehead, smirking at you as you begrudgingly got comfortable again. The warm blankets and his gentle touches brought back the sleepiness that so eagerly wished to whisk you away. This was nice, much nicer than you had ever expected from him.

“We can both yell at Genya tomorrow.” His voice was low, the man also fighting off sleep. You closed your eyes, nodding in response. A yawn left your lips as you drifted off to sleep, the sound of thunder fading as the storm began to calm.

#sanemi x reader #sanemi shinazugawa #sanemi shinaguzawa x reader #fanfic #kny x reader #smut

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bluiex · 2 years ago

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More from the ADHD Dumpster Fire Brain. Mumbo keeps digging his own grave here to mycelium huh?

Grian laughed as he picked feathers out of Mumbo's hair, "She wasn't happy about her eggs being taken." he joked as Mumbo grumbled in agreement as his hen, Wendy, had made her displeasure known by pecking Grain's hand and then 'attacking' Mumbo.

"I'll say, but we got the eggs so that's good." he grinned widely as Grian laughed again. Walking back from the chicken coop to take them inside. "Thanks for agreeing to help me with this Gri." Mumbo said with a smile at the bird man.

He got a smile back, as Grian set down the basket on the cute table. It was made of wood Mumbo said he got from a tree that fell near his house. And he burned in leaves and flower patterns. Honestly, he hadn't expected Mumbo to invite him to his place. No one in the resistance at the time knew Mumbo had a home. Apparently, at the start of the resistance, he was moved into a small flat near the office for protection. But he did occasionally come to his actual home.

It was far out there, the island was rather big, the town itself was small in comparison. Mumbo lived near the river edge, he stated the house had been built by his great great great grandfather and was passed down in the family. His siblings wanted nothing to do with the farm life, and Mumbo took up everything. It was quaint and small, Grian liked the scent of clean air here. There was small greenhouses set up nearby, and even a backyard garden that had flowers on one side and vegetables on another. The fence kept out rabbits and foxes from the chicken coop.

Scar was watching through his eyes at everything that moved, the cute stone path Mumbo made, the gnomes around the area, and curiously at the vegetables nearby. "Next is the greenhouse, if you want to come with me, I get it if it's weird," Mumbo said as Grian shook his head and followed Mumbo close by. "I used to sell to people in town often, but lately it's been harder to keep that up."

He opened the greenhouse as they entered inside, there were mushrooms growing around the area. Grian perked up at that, as Mumbo made sure to water some of them, "Been a dry season, hope I don't lose crops." he grumbled almost to himself. "Suppose I can go forging again if so."

Grian perked up, "You forage?" he asked curiously, wanting to know more as Mumbo nodded and talked about some of the things he has done in the small forest nearby

"I can show you around it if you want, I know the trails." Mumbo offered with a happy smile as Grian gave one back. Getting to work harvesting what he could, he could sense this area was rich in nutrients.

The mayor... Mumbo was chattering away about plants by now as they moved to the next greenhouse to get the cold-season seedlings some water and check on them. Grian half listened with a smile on his face as they harvested what they could.

Later he learned about canning from Mumbo and how to preserve foods. He... liked listening to Mumbo talk. the Mumbo here and now, not the Mayor Mumbo. This guy was so cute, talking about trees he knew and random facts, showing projects he made when Grian saw them. The two of them sat on the couch together until late, as the rain started outside. Then sitting on the back porch to listen to it patter away. It was beautiful here, Grian didn't want to leave. And did agree to spend the night.

Mumbo closed the curtains once they went back inside, making the rooms very dark as Grian purred softly. Then his eyes widened in awe as Mumbo plugged in some lights, but these lights were soft pinkish-green. Bathing the ceiling in sparkling light. barely illuminating the living room.

"I loved it when I installed these guys," Mumbo said sheepishly, his eyes watching the dancing lights. Sitting beside Grian with a smile, "I... haven't shown anyone these things before. Don't have many friends interested in what I do or... did for a living." he sighed wistfully as Grian was leaning on him staring at the ceiling as the sound of a video playing on Mumbo's phone was the only sound.

"I think it's brilliant," Grian said as he felt Scar purr softly in agreement. He could feel Mumbo smile against his shoulder.

After a while, Mumbo had fallen asleep against Grian. The bird looked at him breathing softly against him. He could feel scar hum softly in his head, 'He's different than I expected.' as Grian nodded in agreement... his eyes narrowed. He wanted, he wanted this, he wanted Scar here too to experience it with him.

A chuckle in his head, fond, soft, 'You know what to do my songbird... bring him to us, I'll do the rest tonight.' Scar promised him, as Grian smiled at that.

His hand petted the peppered black and silver hair, "You'll be happy with us Mumbo, the life you love." he bent down planting a soft kiss on Mumbo's lips. Letting the connection spread through the contact of skin and lips. He smiled again as Mumbo mumbled in his sleep and snuggled closer to him.

'He'll be ours.' the Father promised as Grian grinned at that, gripping Mumbo closer as his spores spread around the mayor... a slow process, but no one would notice.

Not until it was too late.

YEEEEEEESSSSS hehehe mumbo getting infected by a simple kiss.. And he doesn't even know :3c

#bluie gets an ask poggers #long post #father spore au

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fandomlit · 4 years ago

Text

neutral, chap. 4 (dream smp x reader)

series summary (in game!au) when an exiled tommy finally rebels against a manipulative dream, he finds safety in neutral territory, a place owned and guarded by you. staying in your safe haven opens up the younger one’s eyes to your way of life, while also revealing your deeper past before neutral; a past that involved a war for your love.

chapter summary after waking from a taunting nightmare, tommy expels some late night energy on some wandering mobs. you give him another lesson about taking care of himself, even when working hard, and tommy asks if you’ll teach him archery, which, of course, doesn’t go without entertainment.

warnings nightmares, mob killing

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gif cred belongs to @halcyoncraft

he was running again. he didn’t know where or from what, but his legs carried him far and strongly, weaving him through trees and grass and other obstacles along the way. he didn’t know how in danger he was, but he wasn’t going to stop and find out.

then he tripped.

when he flipped onto his back, it was that goddamn mask staring down at him, the lips just under it laughing, “you’re so weak, tommy! did you do anything while you were in neutral?” then his axe came down and tommy braced himself for the pain and release of death.

he woke up instead.

sweating under his covers, tommy sucked in a harsh breath as he sat up. he threw the soft cotton off of him, running a warm hand down his face. it was just a dream; he was safe in neutral.

looking out of the window next to him, he saw the moon still high in the sky, casting a cool light into his bedroom. dream’s words rang through his head like a bell, and he rubbed at his temples with a sigh. was he actually getting weak? was relaxing such a bad thing? at the very least, some part of him must have thought so to conjure a nightmare like that..

with another sigh, tommy lifted himself out of bed and flipped open the ender chest. he drew out his sword before heading to the main floor of the house.

when he reached the bottom of the stairs, a voice called out to him, “tommy?” his heart nearly stopped for a moment, before peeking into the kitchen and realizing it was just y/n. she sat in candlelight, writing in a small journal with a slice of half-eaten pumpkin pie next to her. “are you alright?”

“yeah,” he breathed, his voice still heavy with sleep. “just gonna go kill some mobs.”

she nodded. she looked tired, and a part of tommy felt bad knowing that she was most definitely going to wait for him to return. “okay. have at it, kid.”

he nodded, turning to leave the kitchen. before he did so, he pursed his lips and looked over his shoulder to y/n. “you should go to bed.”

she gave him a smile, scribbling something down in the small journal. “i will, tommy. just gotta finish this up..” his natural curiosity was drawn to the small book, and he almost asked y/n what she was writing. but then dream’s voice rang through his mind again, and tommy silently headed for the doors of the house.

the night air was refreshing on his warm skin, cool and still as the moon illuminated the frontal beauty of neutral territory. he took a deep, calming breath of that crisp air before focusing on the task at hand: proving to himself that dream was wrong. that dream is always wrong.

after about twenty zombies, ten spiders, countless creepers, and a few endermen, tommy finally felt the burn in his arms become nearly too much to bear. he panted as he struck down one last spider, turning and finally deciding to return back to the comfort of y/n’s home.

he sheathed his sword when he finally entered the house, going straight to the kitchen to see that y/n was still awake and writing in her small journal.

“ready to go to bed?” he asked gruffly.

she looked up slowly before nodding, placing her quill down and capping her ink. “any trouble out there?”

“no,” he spoke, shaking his head. “wrote everything you needed to?” y/n blew out her candle and went to join the boy in the doorway to the kitchen.

“as much as i could, anyway,” she shrugged, smiling lazily as they began to walk toward the stairs. “what was your nightmare about?”

tommy was slightly startled, but a little too tired to react drastically to y/n’s deduction. “how’d you know i had a nightmare?”

“i’ve had them before,” she said simply. “and it seemed natural that you’d expel some energy onto mobs after such a thing.”

“you’re smart,” tommy credited.

“thank you,” y/n yawned.

they continued to climb the stairs in silence as tommy considered his words. “i was being hunted by dream again, but this time you weren’t there to save me. he called me weak and killed me.”

“so you wanted to prove to yourself that despite allowing yourself peace, you didn’t have to sacrifice your strength to get there,” y/n summed.

the boy half-smiled. she was spot on, as always. “exactly,” tommy breathed.

y/n was silent for a moment as she thought. they stopped at the hallway to tommy’s room and it then occurred to tommy’s tired mind that her room was downstairs; she was walking with him because she cared about him.

“honestly, tommy, if this is a real concern for you, then there is no harm in taking time out of your day to work out and train,” y/n spoke. “but the most important thing is to recognize when enough is enough, and when enough becomes too much. you’ve allowed yourself peace and care for the last two weeks, and achieving such a state doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice fighting or training; it just means that you need to be more aware and in tune with yourself as you’re doing it.” tommy nodded.

“don’t overwork yourself, is the summary here,” she said, picking a cobweb off of his shirt. “let yourself do the things you want, but make sure it’s not wearing you down. that’s taking care of yourself.”

“alright,” tommy spoke quietly. “thank you, y/n.”

“of course, kid,” she smiled. “get some sleep, alright? if you have another nightmare you’re free to bother me.” tommy nodded again. “good night, tommy.”

“good night, y/n,” he yawned as she turned to head down to her room. he made sure he heard her door shut before finally heading to his own room.

...

“can you teach me archery?” tommy questioned the next morning at breakfast. it was a question that had bugged him since y/n had first revealed her skills just a few days prior, and since he was going to start training, he figured that might be a good place to start.

“sure,” she chuckled as she scooped some more fruit onto his nearly half-eaten plate of french toast.

“why the laugh?” he questioned through a mouthful of berries.

she shrugged to herself. “your curiosity is showing.”

“i’ve been wondering about it since you took out the mob,” tommy admitted. “if i want to get stronger.. i think this is a good way to.”

“perfecting a skill is the perfect way to get stronger,” y/n voiced. “of course i’ll teach you, kid.” she smiled and he turned back to his breakfast with his own grin. “finish up your food and meet me in the basement; we gotta get you a bow first.”

tommy hadn’t been in the basement of the house yet. he opened the heavy, dusty trapdoor and assumed y/n didn’t go down their often either. he slid down the ladder easily and was immediately hit with heat.

y/n had a welding station upstairs in her shop area, but the basement had a more broad and intense version of that area. several anvils, all cracked and rusted and adorned with different materials were scattered in a sort of pattern amongst the space, a fire burning high in a fireplace at the far side of the room. seeing no sign of y/n, tommy moved to the room to his left.

the next room held a large nether portal, as well as a small farm for netherwart. the dark room felt empty to him, and he had to remind himself that he was in fact in y/n’s house still. he remembered she had said that she didn’t like going to the nether.

“i’m in here, tommy!” she called out. he took another left into a small storage room, where y/n was rustling through a chest. “how tall are you, kid?”

“6’1”,” he answered.

y/n smiled. “you’re a lot taller than i’ll ever be.” she took out a pretty oak bow, slightly scratched and obviously old. “you’ll have to use this for now, until i can make you one that’s your size.” he took the bow from her hands, shrugging.

“it’s fine.”

“good,” she hummed, still shuffling through the chest as tommy took the time to look around the small room.

“what’re the dispensers for?” tommy asked, staring at the wall that held the three stone tools.

“im nothing if not prepared, tommy,” y/n spoke as she took out a quiver and began to fill it with arrows for him. “in case of emergency, those dispensers will set off flares to let others know that im in trouble or that neutral is in danger.”

tommy nodded, still looking at the obviously unused dispensers. “smart.”

“i hope so,” she sighed, handing him the quiver of arrows. he strapped it around himself as she continued, “let’s just hope i never have to use them, yeah?”

“yeah,” he chuckled. she gave him a smile, hoisting her bow higher in her grip.

“you ready to shoot some things?”

...

“relax your shoulders,” y/n reminded. tommy did so, his fingers still white with effort against the taut string of the bow. “don’t pull so hard, tommy. you’re shaking.” he sighed as he let the string and arrow go limp, lowering his bow as y/n approached him closer.

it was his second day of archery training, and he was still missing nearly every target. y/n was a calm and collected teacher, offering him advice that was pointed directly for him and reassured him that there was no rush in the learning process. but after missing fifteen or so shots in a row, tommy was getting frustrated.

and it didn’t help with sapnap and george staring at him through the kitchen windows.

“doin’ great, kid,” sapnap encouraged weakly, taking a drink of the lemonade y/n had lovingly prepared for the boys. just watching the older man sip made tommy’s mouth dry, but he was determined to make five shots in a row before taking a break.

tommy glared at the man before turning his gaze back to his mentor. “ignore him, tommy,” y/n spoke gently. “nick couldn’t hit a target if it was three paces away.”

“that’s a lie!”

“im kidding,” y/n laughed, placing a hand on tommy’s shoulder and turning him away from the distraction that was sapnap. “but seriously, there’s almost always going to be someone watching when you shoot. the more you can tune them out, the better. just focus on your aim--and make sure your grip is looser. you’re gonna snap that string in no time otherwise.”

“loose grip, focus on aim,” tommy breathed and she patted his shoulder as he turned back to the target ahead of him. he hoisted the bow up slowly and pulled the string back just enough that it wasn’t fully taut. he made sure his aim was a little higher than his target, and released the whizzing arrow. the arrow pierced just outside of the center ring.

“perfect,” y/n smiled. “now, do it again.” and he did, taking another deep breath and allowing himself to focus in on the feel of the rough wood on his fingertips, and the tight string he was pulling. the arrow hit just beside his last. she nodded encouragingly. “keep going.”

tommy could feel his heart start to thump in his chest from the excitement of his accurate aim. he took another calming breath and watched as the arrow lodged closer to the center.

“great aim,” she complimented and he grinned as he pulled another one back, trying to contain his shaking as he aimed. the arrow shot lower than his previous, but on the target nonetheless. “still a good shot. one more?”

“yeah,” tommy nodded, licking his dry lips as he retrieved another arrow from his quiver. heart still thumping with utter excitement and pride at y/n complimentary words, he quickly released the arrow and his smile dropped as the arrow lodged into the ground before the target.

“hey, that’s fine!” y/n assured as tommy groaned and dropped his head. “four in a row is an amazing improvement, tommy. you should take a break and reward yourself.”

tommy sighed, looking to the shameful arrow. “yeah. alright.” he dropped the bow to the ground along with his quiver. he looked to his slightly splintered fingers. “im gonna go.. wash up.”

“alright,” y/n smiled as tommy scampered away. she entered into the open kitchen, smiling at her guests. “you boys doing alright?”

they nodded. “when did you take up parenting, y/n?” george giggled. she rolled her eyes as she went to pour her and tommy their own glasses of lemonade. “no, seriously! you care for that kid a lot, it-it’s not a bad thing!”

she sighed, leaning against her counter as she sipped at her lemonade. “i know you two haven’t always agreed with him in the past, but i think tommy’s a good kid. i like his ethic, and i think he has a lot of potential. but that being said..” she shook her head. “he’s so young.” the boys nodded. “he’s been thrown into such a life of chaos and destruction, and im not saying he’s at all innocent, but.. i think it’s good for him to learn that there’s more to this world than just war and enemies. there’s...”

“neutral,” sapnap finished for her. she let out a laugh.

“yeah, neutral,” she agreed, tapping her fingers against her cold glass. “but, yeah, if teaching him peace and self care is motherly of me..” she shrugged. “then i guess im alright with being a parent.”

“that’s sweet,” sapnap nodded. “i hate it.” the three of them laughed, y/n laying a light slap on the man’s arm before tommy’s voice called out to her.

“y/n! can i have some help?”

“im coming!” she called back, setting down her glass of lemonade.

“go help your poor son,” george teased, resting his head in his hand as he gazed at y/n amusedly. she rolled her eyes.

“behave, you two,” she laughed before leaving the kitchen.

there was a moment of silence before george spoke, “i do think it’s quite sweet how y/n’s taken tommy in. i think it’s good for both of them.”

“you say that now,” sapnap sighed, leaning back in his chair. “but just wait until tommy’s back to feeling 100% and y/n’s going around saying “pog” all the time.”

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helliontherapscallion · 4 years ago

Text

Warmth (Adrenaline Junkie Part 6)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17

Spotify Playlist (collaborative)

Warnings: Self harm scars, mentions of panic attacks and hallucinations

Word count: 2,842

(A/N): This takes place about 6 months after the last chapter. Also, I was heavily inspired by Toothless’ prosthetic, I’m really excited to write more about it : )

You hummed to yourself as you walked down the cobblestone street of the village. The village was probably one of your favorite places to visit; it had quaint little shops and stalls decorating the main plaza that you adored, it was always interesting to see what’s being sold today. Though you always wore your cloak to cover your wings (well, wing and a now-feathered nub) whenever you visited to avoid the stares, you still regularly visited the main plaza for the shops.

The first time you visited after the incident was about a month ago with Wilbur, you two were looking for something to cook for dinner. You were trying to get used to having your wings out again, so you were wearing the jacket with the slits in the back that you always used to wear.

The feeling of people staring holes into you was a feeling you forgot about. You always got stares whenever you went into the village because of your wings, but now it felt like more and more people were staring at you as you passed them, probably because of your nub. Though some looked at you in pity, most looked at you with disgust.

You could hear children asking their mothers what happened to you. Their mothers would take one look at you and shield their children away from you staring at you with disgust. You even made one kid cry when he saw your wing; you didn’t blame him, you still couldn’t look at your nub without tearing up. An hour hasn’t even passed before you were asked by a police officer to leave because you were causing a disruption and being indecent in public.

Wilbur was pissed. “They’re fully clothed and they didn’t even talk to anybody, so how exactly were they being disruptive or indecent?”

The officer firmly held her ground, looking up to Wilbur’s tall form. “Sir, the people are complaining and it’s my job to make the public feel safe and comfortable. Look,” she sighed, “I really don’t want to have to ask them to leave, they’re not doing anything to directly threaten people. However, they are causing a disturbance with their,” she wrinkled her nose, “their thing, so I’m going to have to ask them to leave.”

“You have absolutely no right to tell them to leave. They-”

“Wilbur, it’s fine. I’ll leave,” turning back to the officer, you calmly stated “I’m sorry for causing a disturbance ma’am. It won’t happen again.”

She curtly nodded and stood watching you, probably making sure that you left the main plaza. Before you could turn to leave, Wilbur stopped you.

“(Y/n)-”

“No, Wilbur. It’s alright, I can wait outside the village for you.”

He sighed, looking through his leather satchel. “No, you won’t have to wait for me. We’ve got enough food for dinner anyways,” shooting one last heated glare at the police officer, he reached down to grab your hand. “Let’s go.”

He drug you quickly through the village with you having a little trouble keeping up with his long strides. Once you were out of the village, he slowed his pace and walked with his hands shoved in his pockets.

“(Y/n), I’m sor-”

“Don’t be Wil. It isn’t your fault. I honestly was expecting to get kicked out earlier.”

“Still, it’s not fair to you. You didn’t ask for this.”

“I know Wil, I’ll just wear my cloak next time I visit.”

He didn’t say anything to you after that. The rest of the walk home was shrouded in an awkward silence.

Another part of the village you loved was the library. It had tall shelves filled to the brim with all sorts of books and various cushioned furniture littered randomly amongst the maze of shelves. Whoever would walk into the library would immediately be hit by the strong scent of parchment and wood as soon as they would walk through the twin doors. You would usually browse books about redstone, but you had a different agenda today.

Today, you were looking for a book about leather working. You wanted to make a leather prosthetic wing so you could at least glide through the air. You weren’t sure if it would work though. From what you’ve read, nobody’s attempted to make a prosthetic wing. It made sense, being a hybrid was rare in and of itself, let alone a winged hybrid.

You missed flying more than anything. You would give anything to be able to be in the air again. You felt jittery and restless without flight. Sure, Philza took you on some flights with him every now and then, but it wasn’t the same. You yearned for the independence and liberation it gave you to fly alone.

After you found a book and checked it out with the librarian, you hastily set out for home. You were walking with a giddy smile on your face and a bounce in your step. Several people gave you strange looks as you passed them, but you were in too good of a mood to care. You finally figured out a way you could possibly fly again.

When you got home, you headed straight to your workshop to get to work on your prosthetic. Several blueprints were hung up around your desk, some for your TNT launcher (which you finished a few weeks ago) and others contained ideas for an automatic farm. Your pride and joy was hung up in the center of your bulletin board. It made you extremely happy just by looking at the prosthetic sketch.

Your redstone lamp illuminated the space in front of you as you focused on cutting a large strip of leather in front of you with great concentration. You needed to get the measurements exactly right, equal sized wings are integral for stability midair. The prosthetic was going to be about the same size as your left wing with thin iron rods giving the wing structure. You planned on making it identical to a bat’s wing with a few minor changes in shape to match your other wing. Once it actually was structurally sound and working, you would add proper joints so you could wear it around and decorate it. Until then, you’re making adjustments.

When you were done, you moved on to crafting and melding together the iron rods. Putting on your goggles and thick leather gloves, you used a bit of lava your family kept stored in another room in the basement to fuse the thin iron rods together. You carefully dipped one end of two rods into the bucket before pulling it out at a certain time to hold the molten ends together until they cooled. You repeated this process until you were melding the last piece on.

“HEY BITCH, DINNER’S READY. GET IT WHILE IT’S HOT!”

Yelping, you dropped the mold onto your desk. You picked it up in a panic without paying attention to where your arms went. Unknowingly, your sleeved arm was pressing up against the scorching iron of the bucket of lava.

“FUCK YOU YA FILTHY GREMLIN, A LITTLE WARNING WOULD’VE BEEN NICE!”

He started cackling. “FUCK YOU TOO! NOW GET UP HERE BEFORE I EAT YOUR DINNER.”

“YOU BETTER FUCKING NOT. I SWEAR TO- FUCK!”

You felt the nerves on the side of your forearm screaming as you yanked it away, leaving the crisp remains of a part of your sleeve stuck to the iron bucket. Two pairs of footsteps boomed down the steps and got louder as they rapidly approached you.

Wilbur’s deep voice worriedly called out to you. “Shit, (y/n) are you alright? Let me see.”

Before you could protest, he gently grabbed your wrist and pulled the sleeve of your jacket down. Adjoining the light burn, small horizontal scars and some fresh cuts lined your forearms. Shit, they were never supposed to find out.

Wilbur’s hand froze, gripping your wrist with an iron grip. You hissed at the feeling of some of your cuts reopening, causing him to quickly retract his hand. He now had his hands hovering over your arm unsure of what to do with them.

“(Y/n), wha-” Tommy cut himself off once he saw the panicked look on his older brother’s face. Following his gaze, his wide eyes met with your cuts.

You sighed, prying the goggles off from your face and pulling the gloves off from your hands. You put on a calm exterior, contrary to what you felt on the inside. They were never supposed to know. “Listen, you guys weren’t supposed to find out about this. None of you were. Please don’t tell Dad or Technoblade, I don’t need more people knowing.”

Tommy spoke up with an incredulous look. “(Y/n), what do you mean? We can’t just not tell them.”

“I know. Please, do it for me? Everything’s finally going back to normal and this will just make everything worse again. I promise I’ll stop, I swear.”

The two brothers looked at each other silently contemplating what they should do. On one hand, you were their sibling and you were hurting yourself. They needed to tell their dad that you were cutting. You only had two lives left and you could kill yourself doing that. Philza and Techno could help. On the other hand, they wanted you to feel normal in your own home. You were right in the fact that everything was starting to feel like it did before the incident. Plus, they would gladly help you through it.

They looked back at you with apprehensive expressions, speaking at the same time.

“(Y/n), we’re not gonna tell Dad or Techno.”

“We’re telling them.”

Tommy whipped his head up to look at his brother angrily. “Wilbur, we need to tell them.”

“Tommy, no-”

“Are you fucking stupid? Of course we have to-”

“Tommy. We don’t because I’ll be taking every sharp object away from them tonight. We’ll watch them and check their wrists to make sure that there’s no new cuts and they stay clean. We’ll help them.”

“But- they,” Tommy gave a frustrated sigh. “Fine. But we at least have to tell Techno about this. He can help us.”

Wilbur glanced at you with apologetic eyes. Before he could speak up, you interrupted him. “...Alright, as long as Dad doesn’t find out. He has enough to stress out about and he doesn’t need to worry about me again. Now, can we go upstairs for dinner? We’ve been down here for long enough already and Dad’s probably wondering why. Tell him that I’m gonna go clean up.”

Without giving them any room to argue, you speeded up the stairs and into your room. Closing the door and leaning your back on it, you let your calm facade drop into a panicked one. Shit, what if Tommy tells Dad? What were you supposed to do then? He’ll take away what little freedom you had left and you’ll be sinking into the depths of your depression again.

Your thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock and Philza’s voice. You held your breath as you prepared yourself for him to tell you that he knows your secret. “Hey hun, Wilbur and Tommy told me that you burned yourself,” you let out a relieved sigh. “Do you need me to look at it?”

Panic once again flared in your bloodstream. “N-no Dad, it’s just a little burn. I’ll be down in just a second I’m changing.”

“You sure? I can get you a potion.”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“...Alright,” he sounded skeptical. “Just hurry up, dinner’s getting cold.”

The sound of his retreating footsteps sounded like music to your ears. You closed your eyes and took a few deep breaths before you moved to put on a long sleeved shirt.

Dinner was uncharacteristically quiet without Tommy, you, or Wilbur talking. Philza tried to carry the conversation with you four, but only Technoblade gave full responses. You, Tommy, and Wilbur only supplied a few words to a conversation when prompted.

Technoblade was suspicious. Sure, you and Wilbur were quiet sometimes, but Tommy? Tommy’s always loud and rambunctious. Something’s wrong, but what? What could’ve happened when Tommy and Wilbur went to go get you for dinner? They weren’t gone for long. He did hear you screaming profanities at Tommy for scaring you and overheard Tommy telling Philza about how you burned yourself, but how is that something that would shut you three up? He was going to confront his siblings after he finished tonight’s dishes.

Meanwhile, you, Tommy, and Wilbur were in your room. You were giving them your iron dagger.

“Is this all?”

“Yeah, Tommy. That’s all, search my room if you don’t believe me. I wouldn’t mind, I don’t have anything to hide from you anymore.”

They did just that. Looking under your bed, in your drawers, in your closet, and in the chest you kept for your supplies. You watched them propped up on your bed. While you were angry with yourself that you were so careless, you felt warm that they cared about you. They were great brothers.

After they were done turning your room upside down, Wilbur plopped down next to you and Tommy threw himself over your legs. You three laid there for a while just enjoying each other’s presence. It was nice to spend some time with your brothers, you didn’t get much free time to spend with them because you spent most of your time in your workshop.

The silence was broken by Tommy. “...So, how do you wanna go about telling Technoblade?”

“I’m… not exactly sure. Do we even have to tell him?”

Wilbur pursed his lips. “Even if you didn’t want to, I’m pretty sure he knows something’s up. He’s good at picking up on social cues.”

“Well if that’s the case, I might just wait until he comes to me. It’ll be easier.”

Your door swung open to reveal your piglin hybrid brother. He looked at you with a single eyebrow raised as his ear flicked. “What were you planning on telling me?”

Tommy and Wilbur looked at you expectantly. You shifted your body closer to the wall making room on your bed for him. He walked over and stiffly sat on the edge of your mattress. He gestured for you to talk to him. You slowly slid your sleeve down and showed him your arm. Besides his eyebrows slightly crinkling, he was as stoic as ever when he reached out to grab your wrist for a better look.

On the inside, the voices were almost as loud as when you died. They were nearly incoherent as several angry voices mixed together yelling at him for not noticing anything was wrong with you, the kid he vowed to protect when you first stole his crown and replaced it with a homemade paper one. Outside of the voices, he was furious at himself, he was supposed to protect you. He ran his fingers along the raised lines, gently tracing over every scar and scabbed over cut as if memorizing where every single one lays.

His monotone voice was gruff. “How long? Why?”

“About eight months now. I-I didn’t feel anything for a while after I respawned and I realized that pain helped me feel. It helped ground me when I hallucinated or had panic attacks.”

“...Do you feel anything now?”

“Yeah, I’m getting better Tech. I’m hallucinating less and I’m getting better at managing anxiety attacks. At this point, it's just a habit that I can’t drop.”

“Do you want to drop it?”

You fell silent. You never really considered stopping before. Before, you would do it to give yourself something to focus on when you were overwhelmed, but now you would do it out of habit. It somehow felt wrong when you skipped a session and it usually threw your entire day off. You would feel drained for the entire day if you didn’t do it. It was one of the only consistent things in your life.

“(Y/n), c’mon you don’t want to keep doing this, right?” Tommy asked before Wilbur reached over and slapped him upside his head.

“I think,” you breathed out, unsure of yourself, “I want to get better.”

Techno looked at his brothers. “Did you two take their blades?”

Tommy held up the iron dagger and wove it around haphazardly in the air. Techno reached over and pocketed the dagger before discarding his golden crown and placing it on your nightstand. He took off his weighted fluffy cloak and neatly draped it over a nearby chest. He maneuvered his body so that he was laying on your other side and wrapped a lazy arm over your chest.

With Wilbur on your right side with your wing draped over him, Tommy laying on your stomach with Wilbur reaching down to hold him, and Techno pulling you close to his body, you were pleasantly warm. You were slowly drifting off, being lulled to sleep by Techno’s slow heartbeat. You blissfully fell asleep surrounded by your brothers’ love.

Inspo for the cuddle pile (credit goes to og artist, zillychu): https://zillychu.home.blog/tag/heart-squad-cuddle-pile/

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spideymarvelws · 4 years ago

Note

can you do some technoblade x teen platonic reader headcanons about techno sorta being the reader’s mentor and being one of the only people on the smp who could actually defeat technoblade in a sword fight?

behold... another main character

Main Masterlist / Add Yourself To Your Taglist

Warnings : Violence, Death, Some cursing

Word Count : 4.0k

The Blade and The Survivor (1/?)

Technoblade x GN!Platonic!Teen!Reader

You’ve only ever heard the story’s of the famous blood god growing up

Your brother was the first to introduce you to the legend, the legend of a man who never died

Who’s fought battles that no person could ever dream of and walked out victorious every time

The well known anarchist who’s taken down government after government

You were hooked from the very beginning and after every tail he would tell, you would beg your brother to teach you how to fight like him

While your brother wasn’t the best, he knew his way around basic weapons from your grandfather and agreed

He would bring you out to a nearby plains biome anytime you were free and teach you all he knew

And while it wasn't much, you were grateful for every piece of information and put your all into everything he taught you

He even reenacting some fights from the stories to make it interesting for you

You would always play along, acting as the infamous blade and running around with your brother

Sometimes you would shout “blood for the blood god” while killing cows or chickens

But you refused to kill pigs.

In fact you got a pet one and named it Bladey

For your birthday your brother got you a saddle and you made a carrot on a stick using the crops he stole from the farm so you could ride it across the village

He also gifted you a wooden sword and axe while he wielded stone

for safety of course, he wasn't about to give a child stone tools

Along with a shield that had the banner of your village

But out of every weapon, you were the best with a bow

You had a natural talent for it, every arrow you ever shot always hit its target

Your brother would always ruffle your hair and compare your aim to that of the blade’s, making you beam even brighter

“Who knew we have an archer on our hands, the blade could never compare,”

But all of this was done in secret

The village you lived in was safe, small and homey

Everyone knew one another, so the possibly of someone committing crimes or turning against someone was unlikely

The villagers were peaceful with one another

And with the iron golems patrolling every corner

you loved to give them poppies from your mother’s garden as a thank you

There was no need to learn to fight when you lived in a place that never needed it

The village ran on balance, equality amongst each person so that everyone could be amongst one another in peace

Plus, at the time you were the youngest in the village, considered a baby by everyone

And while you had the kindness and curiosity to match it, there was always something missing

Training was the only thing that fulfilled it

Your brother thought that your practises would disrupt that balance so he never told anyone about your activities

And that stayed true until your last night in the village

You, your brother and bladey were making your way back to the village after a long day of training when you noticed thick, black smoke rising from where it stood

You both started walking carefully to the area, you walking behind your brother with the pig in your arms for comfort

In the distance, you noted the shadow of pillagers and iron ore scattered across the grounds

You went to scream as you got close and run to your house, but your brother slapped his hand over your mouth and pulled you with him behind a nearby tree

But one of the pillagers heard the noise of leaves rustling and began to approach the both of you.

Your brother was quick to take out his sword, pushing you behind him

“Listen to me Y/n, I want you to run okay? Run and never stop until you know you’re safe okay?”

You shook your head, “What about you? What about our parents?”

He smiled sadly, shakily ruffling your hair, “I’ll be right behind you... Now go!”

The sound of swords clashing and the screams of your brother were the last things you heard as you ran, tears falling from your face

Bladey squealed in your arms, wiggling and turning to get out of them, sensing the danger but you kept your grip tight, following your brother’s orders and running as far as pos sible

Needless to say he didn’t follow, neither did the rest of the village that was left in ashes and ruins after the attack

You couldn't find the heart to turn back, to fight along side your brother

You fled like a coward. Guilt, pain and hatred riding on your back

But you didn't give up hope, plotting revenge against the mobs who destroyed your home

Who killed your family

You walked for days, stopping at villages, trading with them and improving your supplies

And getting a lot of carrots

Your wooden swords turned into iron, along with the rest of your tools

Your leather helmet turned into a full set of iron armor

But you kept your old shield, repairing it every time it lost durability

You even crafted a crossbow that you learned was the main weapon pillagers used

You dreamed of pointing it at there neck, watching the sharp arrowhead puncture their skin and bleed out on the floor

You tended to sleep through the day and fight threw the night, taking out your anger on the mobs that spawned around the wood houses you made to keep yourself warm and isolated

Times when you weren't fighting and training, you spent in the library of any village you found, learning about anything you could

It was there you learnt about the rare ore diamonds, hidden deep in caves

You also learned about enchantments, that made your armor and weapons even stronger

Soon enough you were geared up with full diamond armor and a set of diamond tools

But it was never enough, you always needed more

So you went to nether after repairing a ruined portal you came across

And began exploring

Gathered potions

All the materials you could find

Along with netherite

And fighting every mob you happened to pass by except piglins

For such a young age, you were stacked, maxed out to the point of boredom that you couldn't go further

Even Bladey had his own turtle shell, adjusted slightly to fit his head and allow him sight

You often wondered if this was what it was like to feel like technoblade

And throughout your journeys, you kept the stories your brother told you by heart, learning as much as you could about The Blade

You followed in his footsteps, using his successes as even more motivation to continue on your quest

And ready to finally get your revenge

It was easy to take down the pillage post, taking the banner and making your own shield that you kept as a trophy in your inventory as a reminder of what you lost

But it wasn’t enough, the loss of your family laid heavy and your heart

So you started protecting the villages you visited in exchange for lower prices in trades

You believed that was your purpose now, you had nothing else to do but fight for the people who couldn't fight for themselves

You wanted to help in ways that you couldn't all those years ago

You would wear a black cloak over your armor, the hood covering your head and a mask concealing your face

You couldn't imagine wearing a skull mask, even if it was for the aesthetic

You looked like death itself

Death with a cute pig side kick

Soon enough, word got around of a teenage warrior roaming the lands labelled ‘The Survivor’, catching the attention of Wilbur and Tommy who had just been exiled from L’manburg

“Why would we need them if we already have techno on our side?”

“Because we need all the allies we could get Tommy, plus we don’t want Shlatt to get to them first.”

You would be passing by Pogtopia on your horse with Bladey tucked into you lap sleeping, following a map to another village that needed help when a tall man stepped in front of your path, making you halt

“Why hello there, Survivor, care for a little chat?” he said ominously, leaning against your horse

You payed no mind to him, hitting his hand of your horse, rolling your eyes and moving around him

You’ve meet people like him on your travels before, people who only needed you for your skills and selfish reasons

At least, that how he came off and you didn’t care to stay and find out if your assumptions were true

“Hey, hey, hey, look, I’m sorry if I came off so forward but- I need your help,”

That made you stop.

“Need help with what exactly?”

He went on to explain his situation about a place called L’Manburg, an evil dictator named Jshlatt and his exile along with someone named TommyInnit

At first you said no.

You were only interest in keeping your own kind safe, protected people who needed it

And from the looks of it, it seemed that the two men put themselves in there position so they should be the one to take themselves out

That and you had more pressing matters to attend to than government

“What do you need? What would you want in return?” he started to beg, walking along side your horse as you started to ride away

“I already have all I need,” you croaked

“Well that seems boring. Don’t you want a bit of adventure in your life Survivor? A little bit of flavour to spice up it up? It must be so boring just fighting the same thing over and over again, why not work for a group? A collective?”

You grew tired of his voice, letting out a deep breath you began to consider his words

As much as you didn’t want to admit, he was right

You had been travelling around the lands, going insane, doing the same thing over and over

And while it helped people, it was growing tiring

Maybe one war wouldn’t be so bad, and perhaps you would learn some new stuff along the way

And the alliance with this so called L’manburg would be good for the long run

“If I agree... would you shut up?” you finally cut off his rambling and stopping your horse

He blinked in surprise, “Wow! If i had known talking would make you cave in, I would've brought up Tommy instead.”

You sighed, “I’ll help you okay? As long as I get free access to L’manburg afterwards along with all the supplies i need,”

“Done, done and done.”

The first day wasn’t as bad as you expected it to be

Wilbur was actually pretty chill, letting you make a new home out of the ravine they stayed in

Niki was also really kind, bringing sweet treats from Manburg every time she visited

It was nice to settle for a while, you couldn't remember the last time you slept under the same roof for more that a day

Your horse, Jewel along with Bladey seemed to settle well along with you

You also met Tubbo and Tommy, a lively duo that overwhelmed you at first but there energy was nice to see in such a grey environment

What you didn’t expect was to meet him

You would be mining a small space in the ravine for yourself and your pets when you heard a monotone voice sound from behind you

“Heh?! Who’s the kid?”

You spun around, raising your sword to the intruder but froze when you noticed the familiar skull mask, along with pointy piglin ears hidden behind bright pink hair

He didn’t seem fazed by your weapon, leaning against the stone door frame with his arms crossed

“You’re- you’re him.” you muttered in awe

Before he could respond, Wilbur popped out from behind him, “Oh, yeah. That’s Y/n, Y/n, Techno. Techno, Y/n,” he nudged his side, “They’ll be helping us take back L’manburg,”

Techno only nodded, “Nice.” he tilted his head, “Aren’t you that Survivor dude? That’s pretty pog.”

Cut to you standing frozen in place, jaw dropped to the floor, eyes wide in amazement

“You- you know who I am?” you squeaked, quickly sticking your sword in the ground and leaning against the handle, stumbling slightly

An attempt to seem cool in front of your idol

An attempt that didn't really work out

He let out a hum, “Heard the name from around yeah,” he pointed to your sword, “Might not want to stab your sword in stone, It’s not that affective.”

And with that he left

Leaving you in shock

If only your brother could see you now

After that interaction, you started to follow him around like a lost puppy, watching in awe at every little thing he did

You felt like a kid again, the warmth in your chest that you lost so long ago restored because the person who tied you and your brother together was here

Because you were training and fighting along side your childhood hero

He would act annoyed at first, always shrugging you off or moving to other rooms to avoid you

You were like a parasite

He could never shake you off

He didn’t want to grow close to anyone, he was here to take down yet another corrupt government not to look after some orphan

That was Phil’s thing.

But after time he grew a liking to you, enjoying your presence while he was farming potatoes or visiting his cow farm

You acted different around him, the hard and emotionless exterior you showed to Tommy and Wilbur completely vanished and left an innocent, happy child

He always wondered why

People never did that with him

He was a feared name across the lands of the smp, everyone usually kept there distance and became extremely cautious in his presence

But you didn’t seem to get scared, in fact, you were a talker, constantly asking question after question even if he gave no response

It was nice not to be alone after so long even though he would never admit it

Even the voices started to take a liking to your bubbly and curious personality

Why is she asking the same question

Maybe you should answer her blood god

She seems nice

You really do take after your father

He saw a part of himself in you

Unlike Tommy and Wilbur, you weren’t fighting for government, you were fighting because you had nothing else to do

Because you were bored with your everyday life being, essentially, an assassin

The thought always made him chuckle

He left like he could trust you over them because your weren't driven under a government

At least that’s what he told himself

He also wanted to see why they valued your alliance so much to give up half there riches to you from L’manburg

“Duel with me.” he said to you one day, out of the blue as you both made your way across a plain biome looking to animals to kill for food

“Heh?” you said under your breath, clearing your throat while heat rose your your face at his suggestion and the noise of surprise that escaped your mouth

Techno couldn't deny that his heart warmed just a little at the small things you began to pick up from him

“Fight with me,” he drew out his sword, turning around and facing you with the weapon raised in the air, “I wanna see what you’re made of ‘Survivor’. So come on, lets fight,”

This was the first time techno actually talked to you directly, uttered words other that demands, silly excuses or grunts of acknowledgement

“I-” you let out a deep breath, shakily taking out your own sword, “Okay, okay,”

After establishing some rules, the duel began.

He let you take the first hit, barely dealing him damage but you got the second hit as well, knocking him down two hearts

He was quick to regain himself, taking three hearts with his sword and a free hit with his bow

That gave you the idea to take out your own, running a good distance away and getting three shots in

It was a close fight, you didn’t mind if you lost. Fighting Technoblade was already an honour as it was

Then you jumped of a piece of stone, landing a crit and watched his items fall to the floor

Technoblade was slain by Y/n

You let out a short breath, eyes widening in shock that you had just won

You just killed Technoblade

“I was only going easy on you- I- What enchantment do you have on your sword? You have creative mode don’t you? Yeah, you have creative mode... there’s just no way-”

You bit your lip, trying to suppress your laughs as the blood god ran over to pick up his items with a red face

“Hey! Hey don’t laugh! This isn’t a laughing matter!”

“It- it kind of is.” you said shyly, putting away your sword and eating some steak to regain the health you lost, “If it makes you feel better, I had one heart...”

“oNe hEaRt! She had one heart chat! What is this-”

His words had you rolling on the floor, wiping your eyes of the tears falling from your at how hard you were laughing

“What- What do I have to do for you to keep this between us-” he whispered after you calmed, looking around the the space, making sure it was just you and him

You shrugged, “Nothing really- I- uh, i didn’t mean to kill you... I’m sorry-”

Sorry? Who the fuck says sorry for killing someone

Who says sorry for killing him?

If anything you should be gloating, getting a billbourd and displaying the chat message for everyone to see

He’s never been gladder that nobody else was connected to the chat at the time

“I was going easy on you.”

“I- sure, sure okay...” you thought about it for a second, “If so... then why don’t you teach me the things you didn’t try? Like techniques and stuff...”

He froze at your suggestion, “You want- you want to learn from me?”

“Yeah!” you beamed, “You were... a big inspiration for me growing up and, I would love to learn from the source and not just through tails and stories.”

He thought about it for a bit, usually he would rely on his voices but they were all just insulting him

He didn’t see the harm in it, out of all the children on the SMP, he tolerated you the most

That and you had potential, it was rare to find someone with such skills and who acted humble with them

He sighed, patting the top of your head with a huff, “Sure... Sure why not.”

“Wait, seriously?”

“Yeah sure, I mean what’s the harm in it right?” he ruffled your hair

The action made your eyebrows rise and when you looked back up at the piglin hybrid, all you saw was the smile of your brother looking down at you

“Hey, everything alright?” he questioned, noticing your sudden glossy eyes

You quickly rubbed them with your knuckles, “Yeah, yeah I- I just forgot something at Pogtopia,” you said, backing away with an embarrassed smile, “I’ll meet you back there,”

“Sure, sure... I’ll just continue hunting,”

As you ran away he let out a deep breath, taking out swords and looking down at it with a scoff

“Chat... we never speak of this... again.”

After that, the both of you were inseparable

Going on adventures with each other, looting and exploring together

Where ever he went, you followed in his footsteps as he taught you about whatever he could

He even took you to his secret base and allowed you to help him in gathering supplies to help the fight

“What’s with the pig by the way?”

“It’s my emotional support pig.”

“And his name is bladey?”

“...”

“It’s a short for bladder...now what were you saying about poisoned arrows?”

And while you appreciated the action, your favourite times where the calm ones

When he would take you up to a hight tower or hill so the both of your could relax, maybe eat some mushroom stew as he told you stories of his own adventures

You opened up to him as well, telling him about your family and your village, how you were travelling around with so sense of direction

It was strange how easily he trusted you, maybe it was because you had similar experiences as him

You understood him and he understood you

You also began to make good friends with the rest of Pogtopia along with everyone else who started to betray shlatt and join there side, becoming more open with the reassurance from Techno that they weren’t bad people

You fit in well, a lot more that he did

You had potential for a bloodless life, he saw that

He didn’t want you to make the same mistakes as him, he didn’t want you to live the same isolated life

And while you agreed with his thoughts on anarchy, he didn’t want to you to have any part in what he was doing.

So when L’Manburg was taken back and Tubbo was but in power, he felt a sense of dread opening his enderchest and taking out his six wither skulls

Don’t let the wither’s hurt them

You’re going to hurt them more that they are

You won’t be able to protect

Protect them at all costs

It wasn’t just the voices that felt the urge to keep you safe

Over the months he’s grown a liking to you, treating you like his own student and teaching you the things he wish he knew at your age

But he could also be the one to corrupt you.

And he didn’t have the heart to find out which way it would go

You caught sight of the skulls in his hands before he switched to his sword, a hard look on his face as everyone began fighting each other

“Techno?” you walked up to him, “Are you-”

“Yeah... yeah I am.” he puffed out his chest, pulling you the side, “Look, things are about to get messy and when they do I want you to run-”

You knew where this was going, flashbacks of your brother fighting one of the pillagers to save you as you ran away to safe yourself, sacrificing himself for you

“No.” you cut him off before he could continue.

While you knew Techno was going to come out of this alive, you had the power to help him now, to help everyone, you didn’t need to run anymore

You considered Techno family now, well the closest thing you had to it and you weren't about to loose that

Not again.

“I’m staying with you Tech,”

He shook his head, “If you do, L’manburg would never look at you the same, you’ll be an outcast once again-”

“Then do what you have to do, but I’m not running away. What happens here is because of everyone’s belief and I believe in safety and protection so that is what I’ll provide.” you took out your sword smirking, “Plus, we all know what happened last time when you tried to fight me,”

“I thought you promised to never speak of this again!”

“I’m sorry I had to-”

“Okay kid, okay...” he took a deep breath, “Just stay clear of dream and his crew... and the withers... Actually? here take some golden apples-”

“Just go be an anarchist Techno,” you pushed him forwards, rolling your eyes, “I’ll be fine.”

“Actually, take this God apple and a few more potions-”

“I already have some-”

“Well take more. And some extra armor... just in case-” he threw the items at you before running away and setting up the soul sand, not wanting anyone to catch on to what he was doing

And with one final look around following the conclusion of his speech, he placed the skulls, unleashing ultimate chaos on the land once called L’manburg

...

Sorry this took so long! I always get ahead of myself with requests and end up writing a lot more that planned but i hope you enjoyed! I was making this so long that I had to spit this into part two, maybe part three to cover the rest of the lore and to be able to develop more on their relationship besides backstory

That and i really want to write the execution scene but this was already 4k words...

Feedback always appreciated🥰

#technoblade x reader #mcyt x reader #dream smp x reader #technoblade x y/n #technoblade x you

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echos-newlegs · 4 years ago

Note

Hello and how are you? I was wondering if you would write prompt 14.“It’s not bad to cry, in fact I think it makes a person stronger.” for Rex? PG is fine, maybe Rex the one crying. Possibly with a Jedi reader and female pronouns? Or gender neutral if you prefer. Please and thank you, but if not no worries!

A Life With Just You

Of course! Thank you so much for the ask! Got a tad carried away with this one because I really wanna comfort someone rn. (Specifically my friend struggling with some family issues.)

Rex x Fem!Jedi!Reader: "It's not bad to cry, in fact I think it makes a person stronger."

Warnings: Mentions of character death. I may have swore in it??? Honestly I don't remember.

Words: 2.2k

Tag List:

@murdertoothpick @andiebell2023 @kaitou2417 @tacticalsparkles @baroclinicinstability @captain-rexs-girlfriend

(This has nothing to do with Ahsoka, it's just the only sad Rex gif I could find rn)

You guided down the halls of the ship with soft and gentle foot steps. You were looking for a certain someone. Someone you knew for a fact was hurting. One of your closer friends, Captain Rex.

Some Jedi you were 'close' with, often questioned you for hanging out with a clone on your free time. While others like Anakin, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan, and even Master Plo Koon himself. Were all thankful you took the time out of your day to make Rex, and other clones feel like actual people. People instead of cloned weapons.

You had checked everywhere you thought he would be. The fresher, the barracks, training hall. But you hadn't found him, yet. It was honestly concerning you. Especially with the recent loss of his brother, Fives. The subject was even a tough one for you, so you couldn't even begin to imagine the pain that Rex was going through. Especially with witnessing it all.

You went to stop by your room. Put your robes up so you wouldn't be carrying them. Relieving some of the weight on your shoulders. Though you froze as you tapped in your codes. Feeling a gentle touch to your shoulder. A touch that had you turning your head to meet the eyes of the slightly taller blond.

"There you are," you spoke. Turning to smile at the captain of the five-oh-first. The door to your room swishing open. "I've looked everywhere for you." You admitted.

The captain only nodded. A small huff leaving his nose. "You have?"

He sounded almost shocked. The way he phrased it sort of hurt you. It made you feel as if he thought he didn't deserve it. Or that you were lying.

"Of course, Rex, oh dear.. Come inside, would you?" You spoke. Your gentle words easing their way into his heart. A small smile gracing his handsome face. You had to fight every urge in you to not kiss his forehead in the open hall. Doing such would risk someone catching the simple act of affection.

"I couldn't say no to you," he murmured. Voice soft and quiet.

He isn't normally loud. Not like his brother Hardcase was, or even Jesse is. But he isn't ever this soft spoken as he is now. If anything his voice is more stern, or even shy. Not secluded and upset like now. The change of tone to his voice only making your chest squeeze more with pain.

You nodded, forcing a small smile back as the two of you snuck into your small room. Taking his hand to lead him to the couch once the door was shut behind the two of you.

"Did you want some tea? Water?" You spoke, but before you could even step foot towards the kitchen he was pulling you down onto the sofa.

You had to admit, you loved that he could resort to you for comfort, but you hated he hadn't removed his armor yet. Or even let you remove your own. What little you wore, at least.

"Rex," you spoke quietly. Hands moving to his back as he laid on top of you. His arms strong arms around your waist. Face buried in the crook of your neck.

"Rex, look at me?" You asked. Hands sliding up to cradle the back of his head, but he didn't budge.

"I can't," his voice was merely a whisper. His body trembling ever so slightly as he clung to you. As if he let go you would disappear from his grasp.

"Rex, what's wrong? You can talk to me, you know?" You reassure him. Rubbing his scalp with one hand. Feeling as he slightly relaxed at the small touch.

"What if I lose you, too?" The words came out of the blue. Yet you expected it. You could almost feel his insecurities and worries leaking from his exhausted brain. Moving to press a soft kiss atop his head.

"Rex, you have me, I'm all yours." He grumbled under his breath at those words. Grip tightening, and it had you shifting to avoid being pinched by the plastoid on his arms.

"No," he snarled a bit. "I mean- I do, I know. Because you have me, but that’s not what I mean." He told you. Keeping his face hidden from.you as he spoke.

"Mesh'la.. What if I can't save you? Like I couldn't save Hardcase, and Fives, and- And all my brothers. What if I lose you, too?" That was the first time you'd heard him say Fives name since the incident. Rubbing his neck as he eased against you.

"Then you'll have to live with it." You were blunt. You didn't know what else to exactly say. You couldn't tell him nothing would happen, because that would most likely be a lie. Even with your bluntness, it seemed to ease him.

"You can't save everyone, Rex." You told him. Shifting upwards. Which had him moving himself as well. So he was now sitting next to you. Facing forwards on the couch. His face, facing away from yours. Tear tracks running down his sun kissed skin. Eyes puffy with sorrow and regret.

"Rex, look at me," you spoke, asking again. Reaching out to run your fingers over his cheek.

"I look ridiculous, don't I?" He asked with a laugh. Turning to face you, slightly. Though his eyes avoided yours.

"A soldier like myself, crying over the inevitable." His words made you nearly tear up. You absolutely despised how people made it seem tears meant signs of weakness. That it meant soldiers weren't soldiers. When in fact, you thought it brought out who people really were.

"Rex, look at me." Your voice was more stern this time. Young both hands to cup his face as his eyes slowly panned over to stare back into yours.

"Listen to me, it's not bad to cry, okay?" You told him. Wiping some tears from his face using your thumbs. "In fact, I think it makes a person stronger." You informed. Leaning forward to press your forehead against his. Watching as he brought a hand up to hold one of your hands to his face. Using the other to cup the side of your own face.

"What did I do to deserve you?" He muttered back. Both of you smiling weakly.

"Rex, you deserve the world," you responded, making him chuckle a bit. Moving your hand and bring it to his lips so he could kiss your palm.

"Then I guess you're my world," he cooed against your hand. Smiling softly as your own bashful smile grew.

"Oh, is that so?" You chuckled. Watching as he pulled your hand down to his lap to intertwine your fingers.

"As a matter of fact you are, you make me want to win this war. Every time I feel like giving up, I think of a life without fighting, with you." He almost whispered. Still sniffling a bit. Eyes shyly looking around. Then back onto your eyes.

You had a look of pure love and adoration on your face. You never really liked being a Jedi, you were basically forced into it. So the fact Rex wanted to settle down. Start a life with you. For you. When the war was over? That had your heart racing. You were the one tearing up now and smiling like an idiot.

"Cyare, are you okay?" Rex asked. Mimicking your actions from before and catching a single tear that rolled down your cheek with his thumb.

"I love you, so much, and you have no idea how much you wanting to live a life with me, means to me." You gushed. It was so random, and ideal. The words making Rex's eyes go wide. He always thought you would think his words were nothing but words. That your guys relationship was a one time deal, during the war and only during the war. But this had his hopes up and his mind planning your future more already.

"No, you have no idea how much it means to me." He corrected. Kissing your lips softly. Your arms wrapping around his neck while he hand the side of your face with one hand. Then your hip with the other.

"Beautiful girl," he cooed, kissing your lips once more. "Starting a life with you is all I ever dream of, and you wanting the same with me? That drives me absolutely wild." He told you, and that had you smiling even more.

You tugged on the armor of his chest piece. Kissing the corner of his lips. Your eyes fluttering shut as he held you close. "Can you take all this off? I wanna hold you." You licked your lips as you waited for him to comply. Though it really didn't take long. Especially since Rex is now in the mood to feel you. Without his armor hiding your gentle touch and soft skin from his own skin.

The first time he felt the softness of your skin was the day he decided that was his new favorite feeling. Stripping from the plastoid and his gloves. Then watching as you did the same. Dropping your robes over the back of the couch. Then taking his hand and leading him back to the your bed.

It was like dragging a love sick teddy bear around. His larger hand locked with yours. Thumb grazing your skin. "What type of home would we have?" You knew questions like this you probably shouldn't ask, but then again. You probably shouldn't even be holding the hand of a captain. Let alone the captain of one of the most well known clone units.

He sighed. Climbing into the bed with you. Lying on his side, you doing the same. Both of you facing one another with arms and legs intermingled. Though far enough apart you could still see one another's face.

"Maybe a farm," he told you. Rubbing your side with soft swipes of his hand. Eyes looking slightly about you as he thought about it. Tucking his one arm under his head as a cushion.

"A farm?" He nodded at your question. Eyes gazing down to you.

"Yeah, you remember Cut? He was the clone that left the GAR. He settled down. Had a farm, wife.. Kids." The word rolled off his tongue like an unasked question. Wonder dancing in his eyes at just the mention of little ones.

Rex had always had hopes of having a family of his own. Little pups running around. Maybe even an army of little ones, if he was lucky. He never brought it up, though. Scared of being shot down at just the mere mention.

You smiled though. Sensing his worry at just the mention of the word. Leaning forward to kiss his chin.

"You want kids?" You asked. Noticing how he shifted and grew anxious at the question.

"I mean, no, well, I wouldn't mind," he spoke a bit quickly. His hand on your hip halting its movement.

"Not until the wars over, of course. So I know they'd be safe. Be able to have a normal life." He admitted. "But only if my partner wants them. Of course." He muttered. Glancing down to meet your eyes. Worried he said too much or not enough.

"Hmm, kids would be fun." Those simple words from you had his lips curling up in a grin.

"Yeah, they would be." You snickered. Kissing his lips once more.

"I'm sure your partner would be lucky to have little Rex's running around." You teased, rolling your eyes slightly with a grin.

"Only if your my partner would I feel lucky," he spoke gently. Caressing your face again. Your eyes staring up into his with a small smile.

"What?" You heard him just fine, but his words still shocked you.

"I want a family with you, on a little farm. Out and away from the city. Where we can just live out happy lives. Away from the war." He told you. Rolling the two of you over so he was hovering above you. Hands on either side of your head.

"And?" You pried. Expecting him to continue the ramble. Waiting for him to gush on about the future he had for the two of you. All stored away in that mind of his.

"And, would you do me the favor of making me the luckiest clone-" you shot him a look. Rex clearing his throat with a small smile. "Man," you smiled at his correction. Awaiting the rest of his spew. "In the galaxy, by living a life with me after the war?" He asked. Watching as you stared up to him with a partially opened mouth.

He was a bit worried you would say no. Even if he knew you wanted it just as bad. That you just admitted to loving him nearly five minutes ago, but the thought of rejection always resurfaced in his anxious mind.

"Rex, I'd love to be the luckiest girl, living by your side. In some shitty farm, with an army of kids." You joked with an eye roll. Nearly gasping as he leant down to capture your lips with his own. Your arms moving to snake around his neck to pull him closer. Eyes falling shut as the kiss continued to deepen.

Your life was complete. Even with the raging war, the deaths that kept coming, and the thought of dying yourself. Rex was there for you, and you were there for him. It was all the two of you needed to keep fighting. To keep living.

Even without the domestic life, and a public relationship. The two of you had more than you could have ever once dreamt of. You had comfort, love, and each other.

#captain rex x reader #captain rex #commander rex #rex #the clone wars x reader #clone commander #clone wars x reader #clone wars #the clone wars #star wars #the bad batch

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live-the-fangirl-life · 3 years ago

Text

The Last One

The Court - Throne of Glass x FRIENDS - Fic Series

S10, E17/18 : Rowan, after realizing he's still in love with Aelin, chases her down, refusing to let her go. Meanwhile, Elide and Lorcan welcome their baby...or babies, into the world.

Episode chosen for Rowaelin Month 2021. Day 12: Delayed Love Confession

Fic Masterlist | Main Masterlist | Read on Ao3 | Rowaelin Month Masterlist

Warnings: Language, Mentions of Sex, Mentions of Birth

7860 words

*******

Rowan woke up to the bed shifting. He cracked an eye open, still cloudy with sleep, and watched Aelin sit on the opposite edge while she pulled her shirt over her head, concealing the bare expanse of her back.

“Hey.” He croaked, voice still rough.

She turned and gave him a soft smile, whispering, “Go back to sleep, I have to go home.”

Rowan wanted nothing more than for Aelin to never leave his bed, but he knew she had things to do so instead he said, “Oh, okay.” He reached a hand across the sheets and grabbed hers, “Last night was amazing.”

She finished putting on one of her shoes and looked back at him with that same soft smile, “It really was.”

Rowan tried to read the emotions that flashed across her face but then she was standing and bending over to draw him into one last kiss. Her palm rested on his cheek while his gently cupped the back of her head before they pulled away. Rowan kept his eyes on Aelin as she left his room and he didn’t fall back onto his pillow until he heard the sound of his apartment door clicking shut behind her.

***

Elide was scared. Scratch that—terrified. Elide was terrified, but she kept her calm as best as she could while she held Asterin’s hand.

Elide had thanked all the gods she could name for Asterin coming into her and Lorcan’s lives. After getting married and enjoying the first few months of bliss, she and Lorcan decided to try having a baby, but after months of negative pregnancy tests and too many doctors visits, they were told it likely would never happen for them. Devastated, they thought through their options and settled on adoption. But even then, they knew it would take some time.

Elide remembered some afternoons spending hours sitting by the phone desperately hoping it would ring and be someone from the adoption agency to tell them they’d been picked. When they’d finally gotten the call and met Asterin, a young woman who was looking for the perfect parents for her baby, they knew it was meant to be.

Now, standing in the delivery room, Elide held Asterin’s hand as the woman powered through another contraction.

“Breathe, breathe, breathe,” Elide coached encouragingly, “good.”

“Are you fully taking over, or do I get to say breathe?” Lorcan asked as he walked to Elide’s side beside the bed.

She scoffed and tilted her head to meet his eyes. “No. Last time, you said it like a sociopath, and it creeped her out.” She turned back towards Asterin who looked tired, “Can I get you anything? Ice chips?”

“No,” Asterin shook her head, “I’m okay.”

Elide nodded and smiled, “Alright, I’ll be right back.”

As she started to walk out of the room, Lorcan’s hand shot out and gripped her elbow, stopping her.

“Where are you going?” He asked. She could almost detect a hint of nerves as he spoke.

Elide raised a brow, “To the bathroom.”

Lorcan lowered his voice so that only Elide could hear. “You can't leave me alone with her.”

“What?” She asked incredulously.

Lorcan ran a hand through his long hair, and now she could definitely see nervousness etched across his face. “This is exactly the kind of social situation that I am not comfortable with” he grumbled.

Elide snorted, “What kind of social situation are you comfortable with?”

He leveled a stare at her. “It's just that we've never spent any time, you know, alone together.”

Elide rolled her eyes at her husband, “You’ll be fine,” she took a step and turned back, giving him a small smirk, “No, you won't, but I'll be back in two minutes.”

Lorcan sighed but grumbled okay.

He walked back over to the woman lying in the hospital bed, trying his best to seem calm, but by the grimace she shot him, he wasn't doing a very good job.

“So, uh,” He grasped for something to say, “any plans for the summer?”

“I don't know, maybe travel? I wanna do some flying again.”

Lorcan hummed, still not sure what to say. If Elide had still been in the room, she’d have laughed at how ridiculous he looked. Standing well above six feet, with his hands fidgeting and swaying on his toes from being so uncomfortable in the moment.

“So, you ever wonder which is worse, you know; going through labor or getting kicked in the nuts?” Lorcan asked the first thing that came to mind and immediately regretted it. He should've just kept his mouth shut.

“What?” Asterin asked, her eyebrows scrunching in disbelief.

“I mean, uh,” He rubbed the back of his neck, “One of life's great, unanswerable questions. I mean, who knows? Maybe there's something even more painful than those things?” Lorcan cringed and suggested, “like this.”

***

Lysandra walked into Fenrys’ apartment to see him holding two small fuzzy animals.

“Good morning,” She said hesitantly.

“Hey!” Fenrys grinned, lifting up the creatures.

“What's that?” Aedion asked, following Lysandra into the room.

Fenrys grinned, “It's my house-warming present for Elide and Lorcan.”

Lysandra and Aedion shared a look.

“It's a baby chick and duck,” Lysandra said, unnecessarily. “You know they’re living in the suburbs right?”

“Uh-huh,” Fenrys nodded, “And I named them Chick Jr. and Duck Jr.”

Aedion snorted, “I didn’t see that coming.”

“Yeah, I figure they'll love it at the new house, you know?” Fenrys set the animals down, “It has that big backyard. And then, when they get old, they can go to that special farm that Lorcan took the other chick and duck to.”

Lysandra raised a brow at Fenrys and hummed, unable to say what she actually wanted to say.

Aedion barely held in a grin as he nodded sagely to Lysandra and mocked, “Yeah. It's a shame people can't visit there.”

Fenrys was cut off as Rowan showed up and joined them in the apartment,

“Guess what?” Lysandra whirled on Rowan, smiling, “we’re almost all aunties and uncles!”

“What?” Rowan asked, confused.

“Yeah,” Fenrys said, “Asterin went into labor last night. Elide and Lorcan are at the hospital right now!”

“Oh, my gods.” Rowan grinned at the thought of a massive Lorcan holding a tiny baby. He shook his head, glancing around, “Is Aelin here?”

Fenrys glanced towards Aelin’s room, “Uh, I think she's still asleep. Hey, how did it go with you guys last night? She seemed pretty pissed at you.”

Rowan couldn’t—wouldn’t—suppress his smile as he thought about the night before. Being with Aelin again was better than he remembered, and he cursed himself for all the time they’d missed out on.

“Yeah, we, uh, we worked things out.”

Lysandra’s eyes widened as she watched him, “What's that smile? Did something happen with you two?”

Rowan chuckled, “Hey, I'm not one to kiss and tell,” then he muttered, “but I'm also not one to have sex and shut up.”

Apparentally, his last words weren't as quiet as he thought.

Aedion groaned, wincing “Dude, that's my cousin.”

Rowan ignored Aedion as Fernys laughed, “Oh my gods, You and Aelin?”

“I know, it's great.” Rowan didn't think his grin could get any wider.

Lysandra hugged him, squealing, “So what does that mean? Are you guys getting back together?”

“I…” He trailed off, frowning. They hadn’t actually talked about it before Aelin had left earlier that morning. “I don't know. We didn't really get to talk about it.”

“But do you wanna get back together?” She pushed.

Rowan didn’t hesitate as he said with certainty, “Yeah, I do. it just felt so right. When I was holding her, I mean, I never wanted to let her go. I want to be together.”

Lysandra, Aedion, and Ferys all had matching smiles as they listened to Rowan.

Then Fenrys spoke up and Rowan felt himself deflate.

“So is she still going to Paris?” He asked, still holding the small animals.

Rowan had been so caught up in the happiness of last night and that morning that he’d completely forgot the reason why he and Aelin had been so emotionally worked up their argument caused the tension to finally snap, leading them to spend the night together.

Aelin had been offered an amazing job. A perfect job. Perfect, except for the fact that it was in Paris and not New York

She'd had said goodbye to each of their friends. Except him. She’d cried and laughed and reminisced with all of them. Except for Rowan.

He’d been so upset, so angry. How could Aelin not have anything to say to him, after all these years, after all they’d been through?

When he’d confronted her, she’d told him, devastated, “If you think I didn't say goodbye to you because you don't mean as much to me as everybody else, you're wrong. It's because you mean more to me.”

He’d stopped her, not needing to hear anymore as he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her in for a searing kiss. She’d been shocked, unprepared for Rowan’s actions. She’d stepped away, searching his face, before pulling him towards her and kissing him again.

Gods, how could he have forgotten that she was leaving?

“Wow, I hadn't thought of that. I hope not.” Rowan didn't know how he would deal with Aelin leaving now. He’d just realized that he still loved her, and now he might lose her. But how could he expect her, or ask her, to stay? What kind of person would that make him? A desperate one? A man in love? Or an overreaching, entitled one who thought he could step in the way of one of the best opportunities she'd ever been given?

He would have to talk to her before he spiraled any further.

“Oh, this is so great!” Lysandra exclaimed, unaware of Rowan’s churning thoughts, “You guys might get back together, Elide and Lorcan are getting their baby, and there are chicks and ducks in the world again!

They all looked towards the sound of a door opening to see Aelin emerge from her room.

“Good morning,” She smiled at them and ignored the pointed looks and wiggling eyebrows of her friends.

“Hey,” Rowan smiled at her.

She walked up to him and greeted him quietly, “Hey.”

“How’d you sleep?”

She smiled, “Good, you?”

He matched her grin, “Good.”

Fenrys snorted, “I bet you did!”

Aelin flipped him off, shooing him, Lysandra, and Aedion away. Once they’d left, Rowan cupped her face and swooped down to kiss her. It felt like coming home.

When they broke apart, they both wore soft smiles.

“Last night was wonderful,” Aelin told him, rubbing a hand down his arm.

“Yeah, it was.”

She kept her eyes on his as she told him, “I woke up today with the biggest smile on my face.”

He tried to keep the satisfaction off his face but failed and she huffed a laugh, rolling her eyes before softening her features again.

“I know, me too,” Rowan told her, moving one thumb to brush along her cheek. “It was...you know, it was like one of those things you think is never gonna happen, and then it does, and it's everything you want it to be.”

She nodded, “I know,” Aelin leaned up to press another soft kiss to his lips before pulling him into a hug to say into his ear, “it was just the perfect way to say goodbye.”

In that moment, at her words, Rowan felt like his heart shattered into a million little pieces.

***

The hospital room buzzed with excitement.

“It's just a little bit more, honey.” Elide held Asterin’s hand as the young woman pushed again.

She sobbed, more in frustration than anything else “Help me! This hurts!”

Lorcan stood a step back and asked, “Is it really that bad?”

Both women glared at him with a ferocity that made him want to be swallowed up by a hole in the ground.

“Yeah,” Asterin answered through gritted teeth, “I think it's time to kick you in the nuts and see which is worse!”

Elide sighed as she was reminded of the words Lorcan reluctantly relayed to her earlier. She looked back at him, “No tact.”

The doctor cleared his throat, drawing all their attention towards him, “The baby's head is crowning.”

“Oh my God!” Elide cried, walking around to see, “That is the most beautiful top of a head I have ever seen! Lorcan, you have to see this!”

Lorcan had never looked more uncomfortable. “I'm okay.”

Elide whirled on him, “Lorcan, you don't wanna miss this. This is the birth of your child!”

His child. The words rang through him and sparked some sense of resolve. He shook himself of his discomfort, outwardly at least, and stepped up behind Elide to see what she was seeing.

“Wow.” He murmured reverently, “Disgusting.”

Elide scoffed but Loracn gripped her shoulders and kissed her forehead.

“Here we go,” The doctor said, glancing back up at Asterin “Start pushing.”

A shill cry broke through the air and Elide and Lorcan watched as the doctor held up a beautiful little baby. When Elide ripped her eyes away from the infant as the nurses cleaned it, she looked up to find Lorcan already staring at her with tears in his eyes. They didn’t have to say anything, they both felt the same overwhelming sense of love.

“It’s a boy.” The doctor said, leaning back and adjusting his gloves.

“A...a boy!” Elide beamed at Lorcan as he stood open-mouthed before showing her the widest smile she’d ever seen on the man.

“A boy.” He breathed.

“Oh, you did it!” Elide went back to Asterin’s head and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She leaned closer to the girl and whispered, “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Asterin smiled at them both, “I'm really happy for you guys.”

“How do you feel?” Lorcan asked.

She sighed, “So tired.”

The doctor sat back into position, saying, “Well, you don't have that much time to relax. The other one will be along in a minute.”

The hand Lorcan had been rubbing down Elide’s back froze, as did both of their breathing as they slowly turned to face the doctor with eyebrows up to their hairlines.

“I’m sorry,” Elide said slowly, aware that Lorcan hadn’t resumed breathing yet, “who should be along in a what now?”

The doctor gave them a weird look, “The next baby should be along in a minute.”

“One.” Lorcan finally regained his ability to speak. “One baby. We signed up for one baby.”

“You know it's twins, right?” The doctor asked slowly

Elide laughed hysterically, “Oh, yeah! These are the faces of two people in the know!”

“I…” The doctor trailed off, “I can't believe you didn't know it's twins! This has never happened before.”

“Oh wow,” Loracn snorted incredulously, “That makes me feel so much better.” He ran an agitated hand through his hair.

“Wait,” Elide faced the doctor, “did you know it was twins?”

He nodded slowly, “Yeah, it's here in the paperwork we got from the clinic.”

Elide then spun around to Asterin, “Anybody tell you?”

Asterin furrowed her brows, “I don't think so. Not explicitly.” she insisted. “they did mention something about two heartbeats. But I thought that was just mine and the baby's. They kept saying both heartbeats are really strong, and I thought well, that's good 'cause I'm having a baby.”

Elide let out a shaky breath trying to wrap her mind around what was happening. “This is unbelievable.”

Lorcan gripped Elide’s arm and tugged into the corner of the room. “Can I see you for a second?”

Elide had never in her life seen Lorcan look more unsure of what to do. His hands were shaky as he gripped hers. “What do we do?”

She took a deep breath and looked directly into his eyes. “What do you mean what do we do?”

“Twins.” He stated urgently, “Twins!”

Seeing Lorcan so frazzled oddly calmed Elide down. “Lorcan, you’re panicking.”

“I sure as fuck am, join me!”

She cracked a half-smile, “Lorcan, take a breath, it’s going to be okay.”

“Elide, we are not ready to have two babies!” his eyes were still wide in shock and fear.

“That doesn’t matter!” she hissed, grabbing his arms and making him focus on her. “We have waited so long for this. I don't care if it's two babies. I don't care if it's three babies! We are taking them home because they are our children!”

Lorcan’s face softened and she watched as a steady resolve found its way across his face and through his body. They took a breath together and he pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead gently. When he pulled away, he had a small smile reserved only for her. “Okay.”

“Okay,” she repeated, her arms still wrapped around him.

“Okay.”

“Okay!”

“Okay!” he laughed, and this time it wasn’t fear clouding the sound, but joy.

“It looks like we're about ready over here.” the doctor called, and Elide and Lorcan walked back towards Asterin.

When another cry sounded, the doctor lifted the second baby, declaring, “It’s a girl.”

“A girl?” Lorcan asked quietly, a smile growing.

“Indeed.” The doctor replied, passing her to be cleaned up.

Spinning towards Elide, Lorcan said excitedly, “Well now we have two different ones!” then he whirled back to the doctor and put on his stoniest glare, “And that's enough!”

***

Lysandra, Aedion, Fenrys, and Rowan sat in the coffee house, Cadre Coffee, as Rowan told them what Aelin had said earlier.

“And then she hugged me and said it was the perfect way to say goodbye.” Even repeating it now, felt like chewing on broken glass.

“What did you say?” Fenrys pried.

Rowan sputtered, “Nothing. What do you say to that?” What could he say to that?

“Rowan,” Lysandra pleaded, “you've got to tell her how you feel.”

“I can’t do that to her.” He sighed, defeated. “I can’t lay that on her right before she’s supposed to leave.”

“Rowan,” Aedion leaned forward, making sure he held the silver-haired man’s attention, “Aelin doesn't know that you wanna get back together. If she did, she might feel differently. She might not even go.”

“You really think so?” he asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.

Just then, Aelin breezed into the coffee shop.

“Hi, guys!” She waved before walking up the counter.

Rowan watched her a moment. “Alright, you know what? You're right. I should at least tell her how I feel.” He could do that. He had to do that.

"Rowan, wait!" Fenrys called from behind him.

Rowan spun around, "What?"

Fenrys grinned, "Can you get me a muffin?"

Rowan gave him a one-finger response and took a step towards Aelin.

“Aelin?” Nox, the barista who’d worked at the coffee house for as long as any of them could remember, got her attention.

“Yeah?”

“I know you’re leaving tonight, but I just have to tell you. I love you.”

Rowan stood frozen in place, mouth open, as he watched the scene unfold.

“I... I don't know if that changes your plans at all, but I thought you should know.” Nox nodded earnestly.

“Nox, Oh,” She placed a hand on his shoulder, “I love you too. Probably not in the same way, but I do. And, and when I'm in a café, having coffee, I'll think of you.” She kissed his cheek before waving towards the group and leaving the coffee house.

Rowan sat down, meeting the shocked gazes of his friends. “Oh, my gods!”

Lysandra snorted, “Unbelievable!”

"Hey," Fenrys leaned forward, "you know what might help?"

Rowan glared at him and scoffed, "I'm not getting you a muffin!"

***

“We're going to take Asterin to recovery now.” The nurse told Elide and Lorcan as they each held one of their babies.

“Oh wait,” Elide caught Asterin’s hand, “There's something that we want to tell you. We decided to name the girl-baby Asterin.”

She smiled, “Oh, that’s just like my name!”

Elide held in a laugh. It was clear Asterin was either still on some medications or just very, very tired.

“Okay,” the blonde woman said, “I'm gonna go and get some rest. I'm really glad I picked you guys. You're gonna make great parents. Even Lorcan.”

Despite his eye roll, Elide saw the pride and gratitude in Lorcan’s eyes.

“Bye, Asterin.” Elide called as she was pushed out of the delivery room.

“Bye.”

Moving closer to Lorcan, Elide cooed, “Oh look at all their teeny fingers and toes.”

“I know,” he smiled widely, making him look younger, “You ready to trade?”

“Okay!” They tried maneuvering a few different ways but eventually gave up. Switching babies when you only have two hands is not an easy feat. “Alright, let’s see…”

“Maybe later?” he suggested.

“Perfect.”

***

At Elide and Lorcan’s apartment, Lysandra found Fenrys hunched over the coffee table.

“Hey, what are you working on?” She asked, walking into the living room.

He grinned, “It’s a ‘Welcome Home’ sign for the baby.” He held up the large sign which read Welcome Home Baby in red paint beside a funky-shaped red blob.

“Uh,” Lysandra squinted, “Is that supposed to be the baby?”

Fenrys rubbed the back of his neck, looking sheepish. “No, I sat in the paint.”

She snorted just as Rowan walked in.

“Hey,” He nodded at them.

“Hey, so did you talk to Aelin?” Lysandra asked.

Rowan ran his hand through his hair and sighed, “No, and I'm not going to.”

“What?” Lysandra asked incredulously at the same time Fenrys jumped up and asked, “Why not?”

Rowan dropped into a seat at the kitchen table. “Because she's just going to shoot me down. You guys saw what happened with Nox.”

Lysandra scoffed and lightly hit him upside the head. “How can you compare yourself to Nox? I mean, sure, he's sexy in a more obvious way.” She smirked as Rowan glared. “You have a relationship with her, you slept together last night. For gods’ sake, you’re Rowan and Aelin! You’re Rowaelin!”

Rowan huffed, standing up, and told her harshly, “Yeah, and she still wants to go! It's pretty clear where her head is at.” He sighed, shoulders slumping. “Look, even if I were going to tell her, I don't have to do it now. Okay? I'll be seeing her again. We've got time.”

“Gods, Rowan!” Lysandra tried to make him see reason. “No, you don't! She's going to Paris! She is going to meet somebody. Do you know how many hot guys there are in Paris?”

The door opened before Rowan could get another word in and Aedion strode in carrying a rolled-up paper.

“Hey,” He said as he walked over to Lysandra to kiss her before setting the paper on the table.

“Hey, babe,” Lysandra smiled. “Whatcha got?”

“Oh,” Aedion brightened and unrolled the piece of paper. “I made a little something. If I had more time to work on it, it'd be better, but.” He shrugged, revealing a precisely drawn sign reading Welcome to the World, Baby Lochan.

“Damn, Ashryver,” Rowan nodded appreciatively “that’s really good.”

Fenrys scoffed, still standing next to his sign, and rolled his eyes, grumbling, “You know, the baby can't read, Aedion.”

Lysandra laughed as Aelin opened the door and strode in.

“Hi. You guys, my car just got here,” she said dejectedly. “I can't believe they're not home yet! I have to catch my stupid plane. I wanna see the baby!”

Fenrys spoke up, “Elide called a few minutes ago from the car. She said they should be here any minute. And apparently, there's some big surprise?”

As if on cue, Elide carefully pushed the door open and stepped inside carrying a small baby.

Aelin couldn’t hold in her gasp and none of them tried to hide the misting in their eyes.

“Oh, my gods!” Aelin beamed as she walked to Elide, resting a hand on her shoulder.

“Oh, El!” Lysandra gushed, rushing forward.

“So tiny,” Rowan murmured, coming up next to Elide as Fernys and Aedion joined the small group, too.

They turned as they heard another set of footsteps enter, turning to see Lorcan walk in carrying his own small bundle.

“Oh!”

“What the—”

“What?”

“Oh, my gods!”

“Holy sh—”

Five different exclamations happened simultaneously as all their eyes darted between the two babies.

Rowan shook himself and clasped Lorcan on the shoulder, “Okay, awkward question. The hospital knows you took two, right?”

Lorcan glared at Rowan but neither man could keep the grins off their faces as they looked down at the infants.

“Yes, Whitethorn, it’s twins.”

“They’re precious,” Lysandra cooed, making funny faces at the one in Elide’s arms. Aelin, having said hello to that baby, stepped next to Rowan to gaze down at the one Lorcan held.

“This is a boy,” Elide told them, gesturing to the one she held. “And that’s a girl,” she nodded to Lorcan’s.

“Her name is Asterin,” Lorcan told them, not looking away from his daughter’s face.

“Oh, hey, that pregnant lady’s name was Asterin.” Fenrys nodded.

Aedion snorted, “It’s a shame you two didn’t spend more time together.”

Aelin aww’d and patted Lorcan’s arm, the two of them sharing a rare, warm smile.

“The boy we named Cal, after my dad.”

“Oh, you guys,” Aelin whined, “I can't believe this. But I have to leave now, or I'm gonna miss my plane."

“I’m just so glad you got to meet them,” Elide said, watery, pulling Aelin into a hug.

“Me, too,” Aelin told her. “I'm just sorry I'm not gonna be around to watch you two attempt to handle this! Alright, I can't say goodbye to you guys again. I love you all so much.”

I love yous were exchanged and Aelin walked to the door.

“Rowan?” She caught his eye, “come here.”

He nodded and followed her into the hall, shutting the apartment door behind him.

“Rowan, I,” She paused, grabbing his hands and looking into his face with such genuine sadness it made his heart crack and made him want to pull her into his arms and not let go. She took a breath and continued, “I just want you to know, last night...I'll never forget it.”

He cleared his throat, willing the lump in it to disappear. “Neither will I.”

He cupped her cheek and she leaned into the touch. Aelin pulled him in for a hug, holding on tight. When she pulled away, Rowan used every ounce of strength to unwrap his arms from her body, to step away as she walked down the hall and away from him.

When Rowan walked back into the apartment, Lysandra sat next to him and asked, “So, you just let her go?”

Rowan couldn’t reply, he just replayed the last two days over in his head.

“Maybe that's for the best.” Fenrys chimed in, taking up the empty chair. “You know? You just... Look, you gotta... You gotta think about last night the way she does, okay? Maybe sleeping together was the perfect way to say goodbye?"

Lysandra groaned, “But now she'll never know how he feels!”

Aedion walked over and said not unkindly, “Maybe that's okay. You know? Maybe, maybe it’s better this way? I mean, now you can move on. I mean, you've been trying to for so long, maybe now that you're on different continents…”

They kept talking but all Rowan could hear was a buzzing in his head.

“I don’t want to move on.”

He said it quietly but they all stopped talking and looked at him.

“What?” Aedion asked, unsure he heard Rowan correctly.

“I don’t.” Rowan shook his head and stood up. “I want to be with her.”

“Really?” Fenrys asked, excitedly

“Of course really!” Lysandra answered for him.

Rowan kept nodding. “Yeah, I’m gonna go after her. I have to.”

“Yeah, you are!” Lorcan cheered from the living room. Rowan didn’t even have time to find his friend’s enthusiasm funny.

“Finally!” Elide added her own cheer, smiling between Rowan and the babies.

“Come on,” Lysandra urged, standing up and following Rowan to the door. “My car’s downstairs, I’ll drive you to the airport.”

“Okay!” Rowan faced his friends again, “wish me luck!”

A chorus of Good Lucks followed him out the door.

***

“Hey,” Fenrys called excitedly to Lorcan and Eide once Rowan and Lysandra had left, “can I give you guys your house-warming present now?”

The couple shared an amused look before Elide told him, “Now, that you can do.”

“Great! Hang on a minute.” Fenrys left their apartment to walk across the hall to his.

“Okay, my little feather babies where are you?” he muttered as he caught sight of the empty box he’d put them in earlier. “Oh shit.”

He hastily looked in the kitchen, living room, and bedrooms. “Chick Jr? Duck Jr?” he called, running a hand through his hair anxiously. “Don’t hide from mama!”

***

“Lysandra, slow down!” Rowan urged as they almost took out a bicyclist.

She rolled her eyes, “Do you wanna get to Aelin in time?

“Of course I do, but I want to be alive to do it.”

Lysandra huffed at his dramatics but eased up on the gas. Slightly.

Finally arriving at the airport, Rowan and Lysandra rushed past the hoards of people, trying to maneuver their way towards Aelin.

“Rowan!” Lysandra called as he made to run down the hallway. “Where are you going?”

“To talk to Aelin.” Obviously.

“What?” She grabbed his arm, pulling him towards the ticket counter. “What, are you just gonna walk up to her at the gate? Have you never chased anyone through the airport before?”

“Not since the last time I chased the love of my life—no I haven’t Lys!”

She rolled her eyes as she kept dragging him away from the terminals. “You have to get a ticket to get past security, Idiot.”

Oh, right.

“Shit, we’re never gonna make it.” he hissed as they got caught behind the human embodiments of snails on their way to the counter.

***

“Miss, your boarding pass, please.” The gate attendant asked Aelin as she approached.

“Right, of course.” She dug through her purse then frowned, not seeing it. Flashing an apologetic smile to the people behind her, she took her purse off her shoulder and rummaged through it frantically. “Shit, shit, shit.”

The attendant cleared his throat. “Your boarding pass.”

Internally cringing, she put on her most charming smile. “You know, I had it,” she forced a chuckle, “Oh, you wouldn’t believe this—”

He looked unimpressed. “Miss, if you don't have your boarding pass—”

“I have it, I have it! Okay, I don’t have it, but I remember that I was in seat 32C,” she leaned in closer and winked, “because that’s my bra size.”

He sighed again. “Miss, you must have your boarding pass.”

Aelin huffed and stepped out of the line. “Okay, fine! But you know what? If I was in 36D, we would not be having this problem.”

Muttering to herself, Aelin scoured all her bags, finally brandishing the ticket and rushing back to the counter. “Here it is!”

***

Finally getting up to the ticket counter, Rowan slammed down his wallet, demanding, “I need a ticket.”

Lysandra pouted. “Just one? I drive you all the way down here, and I don't get to see how it works out?”

“Fine, fine,” he corrected irritatedly, “two tickets, I need two tickets.”

Lysandra sighed dramatically and leaned into Rowan, giving him her most overexaggerated doe-eyes. “We're on our honeymoon” she stage-whispered to the woman behind the computer.

The ticket agent merely raised a manicured brow and asked, “Destination?”

Rowan already had his credit card ready, “whatever’s cheapest.”

Lysandra sighed again, “I’m so lucky.”

Rowan leveled a glare at her and she tried not to laugh.

Once inside the terminal, Rowan sprinted toward the first departure timetable he could find. “Okay, flight 421 to Paris. I don't see it, do you see it?”

Lysandra stood next to him, eyes scanning the board. “No, did we miss it?”

“No, no, no. That's impossible,” Rowan told her. “It doesn't leave for another 20 minutes.”

“Maybe we have the flight number wrong? Hang on, let me call Elide.”

She stepped aside, impatiently waiting for Elide to pick up her phone.

“Hello?” the new mom answered.

“Hey! It’s me. Here’s Rowan.” Then she thrust the phone into Rowan’s hand.

“Elide, do you—”

“Oh, my gods, Rowan, wait until you hear the cute little noises the twins are making. Listen.”

“What? No, Elide.” Rowan cursed as he heard unintelligible baby sounds. “Elide, Elide, Elide, Elide—”

“Oh sorry,” she said, “They were doing it before.”

“Elide! Listen, please. I need Aelin’s flight information.”

“Oh, sure, hang on.” he could hear ruffling paper as he paced back and forth. “Here it is, it's flight 421. Leaves at 8:40.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought, its not on the board.

“Flight 421,” Elide repeated, “leaves at 8:40, Newark airport.”

Rowan froze, his heart sinking. “What?”

“Newark airport.” Elide gasped. “Where are you?”

But she already knew the answer.

“JFK.” he breathed, utterly defeated.

***

If Rowan wasn’t so upset, he would be fearing for his life as Lysandra sped through the streets at breakneck speed.

“Lysandra, forget it, okay? Newark is like an hour away. There's no way we're gonna make it in time.”

“She’s got her phone,” Lysandra braved a glance at him, narrowly avoiding another car, "you could call her.”

Rowan scoffed, “I am not doing this over the phone.”

“You don’t have any other choice!” She insisted before reaching for her own phone and calling Aelin.

It rang once. Twice.

“Hello? Lys?” Aelin’s voice rings out from the speaker and it was like a tether Rowan desperately wanted to hold onto.

“Aelin?” Lysandra answered, relieved. “oh, good. Hey, by the way, did you just get on the plane?”

“Yeah, I did.”

Leaning over, Lysandra hissed, “For what it's worth, we would have caught her if we were at the right airport.”

“Fan-fucking-tastic.” Rowan sniped.

“Uh, Ae, hang on,” she tried pushing the phone into Rowan’s hand but he adamantly refused to do this without being able to look Aelin in the eye.

“Lys? Is everything okay?” Aelin asked, worriedly.

Glaring at Rowan, Lysandra struggled to find a reason for calling. “Uhm, actually no. No, you've...you have to get off the plane.”

“What? Why?” Aelin sounded bewildered.

“I just,” Lysandra sighed, shooting another glare at Rowan, “I have this feeling that something's wrong with it. Something is wrong with the, uh,” she paused again before snapping her fingers and declaring, “with the left phalange.”

“Lys, babe, I'm sure there's nothing wrong with the plane. Look, I have to go. I love you, and I will call you the minute I get to Paris.”

***

On the plane, Aelin hung up the phone only to feel the man beside her tap insistently on her shoulder.

“What was that?” he asked, looking anxious.

“Oh,” Aelin waved a hand dismissively, “that was just my friend. She told me I should get off the plane because she had a feeling that there was something wrong with the left phalange.” She chuckled, sure it was just Lysandra’s way of finding an excuse to talk to her again before the flight took off.

But the man started to fidget. “Okay, that doesn't sound good.”

“I wouldn't worry about it.” Aelin again waved him off, “She's always coming up with stuff like this, and you know what? She's almost never right.”

“But she is sometimes?”

“Well…” Aelin trailed off, thinking about all the things Lysandra has had an intuition about.

Her hesitation was apparently enough to send her seatmate into a tail-spin because he instantly got up and tried to grab his suitcase, only for the flight attendant to stop him.

“Excuse me, sir, where are you going?” The woman asked, curtly.

“I have to get off this plane, okay?” he insisted, then gestured towards a wide-eyed Aelin. “Her friend has a feeling something's wrong with the left phalange.”

He said it loud enough that other passengers began to panic, while Aelin sheepishly shrugged at the annoyed flight attendant.

“There is nothing wrong with the plane, sir.”

He finally got his bag down and cried, “The left phalange!”

The attendant looked incredulously between the man and Aelin, “There is no phalange.”

“Oh my God. This plane doesn't even have a phalange!”

Aelin watched, wincing, as more passengers overheard and insisted they, too, get off the plane. Person after person marched out the aisle and soon Aelin loosed a long breath, “This is ridiculous,” she watched another two people leave. “Yeah, okay.”

Grabbing her own bag, she followed the crowd off the plane.

***

Rowan doubted he’d ever felt as frantic or desperate as he did right now.

He and Lysandra finally made it to Newark, bought another ticket, and raced to Aelin’s gate.

“Where is she?” He muttered, almost pulling out his hair with how forcefully he raked his hands through it.

“I don't see her,” Lysandra answered.

“Aelin!” Rowan shouted, not caring about the stares he garnered. “Aelin Galthynius!”

“Oh!” Lysandra gasped, pointing towards a crowd, “There she is!”

“Aelin!” He yelled again, pushing past people as he tried to run onto the boarding gate.

“Woah,” the gate attendant stopped Rowan, “excuse me, sir, do you have a boarding pass?”

“I just need to talk to someone,” he pleaded.

“I’m sorry, you cannot go any further without a boarding pass.”

“Gods, please, I just need—”

“AELIN!” Lysandra shrieked, getting everyone’s attention including a specific blonde who rushed back out the gate and stood gaping at Lysandra and Rowan.

“Oh my gods,” she looked back and forth between the two before her gaze locked and held with Rowan’s as she breathed, “What—what are you guys doing here?”

“All you,” Lysandra nudged Rowan then made herself scarce

“What? What is it?” Aelin demanded, pulling Rowan aside, “Rowan, you're scaring me. What's going on?”

“Aelin,” Rowan didn’t know where to start. “Okay, the thing is,” he trailed off again. How could he tell that he loved her? How could he wrap up ten years—more than that—of falling in love with her, even at times when he didn’t know it. How could he explain that to her?

“Rowan?”

He took a deep breath. “Don’t go.”

“What?” Aelin asked, shocked.

“Aelin, please, don’t leave. I am so gods damn in love with you. Please, don’t go.”

Aelin stood open-mouthed, her eyes shimmering with an emotion he didn’t dare name. “Oh, my gods.”

He groaned, “I know, I know. I’m an idiot and a bastard, and any other name you want to call me. I shouldn't have waited until now to say it, Hellas, I shouldn’t have waited until now to realize it, but,” he shook his head, locking his gaze with hers. “That was stupid, okay? I'm sorry, I’m so sorry, but I'm telling you now. I love you. I’m in love with you. Please, do not get on this plane.”

“Miss?” a throat cleared behind them, making Aelin blink and drag her watery eyes away from his. “Are you boarding the plane?”

“Aelin,” Rowan took her hand, urging her to stay, “Aelin, please. I know you love me, too. I know you do. Don’t go. Stay.”

“I,” Aelin looked between Rowan and the gate attendant with shock and regret etched across her face. “I have to get the plane,” she whispered.

“No, you don’t.” Rowan held tightly to her hand.

“Yes, I do.” despite her protests, she didn’t pull her hand away.

“No,” Rowan stepped closer, cupping her cheek and reveling in the fact that she leaned into his touch. “You don’t.”

“Rowan,” her words barely louder than a breath, “They're waiting for me, I can't do this right now, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.”

He couldn’t understand what was happening. Rowan couldn’t accept that she was walking away.

“Aelin.” he pleaded, one final time.

She took a shuddering breath. “I’m so sorry.”

Rowan stood unmoving, felt his breathing freeze and his heart cease beating if just for a moment as he watched Aelin walk away from him and board the plane.

He wasn’t aware of people moving around him or of Lysandra coming to stand next to him before pulling him into a hug murmuring I’m sorry. He wasn’t aware of his surroundings as he walked towards Lysandra’s car or his walk back to his apartment. All he knew was that he’d just watched the love of his life walk away and there would soon be an ocean between them.

***

Lorcan sealed the last box of his and Elide’s things.

“Wow,” Elide sighed, looking around the bare apartment. “Everything’s packed.”

“It’s weird,” Lorcan replied, looking around the space he and their friends had occupied for so many years.

“I know.” She stood on her toes and he leaned down to meet her for a kiss.

“So, uh,” Fenrys spoke up from the kitchen, “does this mean there's nothing to eat?”

Elide snorted while Lorcam tried his best to reign in his smirk. Turning, Elide told him, “I put three lasagnas in your freezer.”

He beamed, “I love you!”

She chuckled as the door opened and Lysandra walked in.

“How’d it go?” Elide asked

“So did you guys make it in time?” Aedion spoke at the same time from his place against the fridge.

“Yeah,” Lysandra sighed, “Yeah, he talked to her, but she got on the plane anyway.”

“Where’s Rowan?” Lorcan asked her, knowing Rowan would be hiding away, brooding.

“He went home,” Lysandra frowned and leaned into Aedion’s embrace. “He didn't want to see anybody.”

***

Sitting on his couch, Rowan noticed his answering machine beeping. More out of muscle memory than an actual urge to listen, he pressed the button.

“Rowan, It’s me.”

Rowan jolted, a mess of emotion flying through him as he listened to Aelin's voice filter through his machine.

“I just got back on the plane. I feel awful. Gods, Rowan, that was so not how I wanted things to end with us.”

End. Rowan braced himself, he had to get through this message.

“It's just that I wasn't expecting to see you, and all of a sudden you're there and saying these things...and now I’m sitting here thinking of everything I should’ve said that I didn’t.”

Rowan heard her take a shuddering breath.

“I didn't even get to tell you that I love you too.”

His breath caught, and hope filled him for the first time since he’d been standing in front of her.

“Because of course, I do. I love you. I love you. Gods, Rowan, I love you.”

He held his breath, he almost couldn’t wrap his brain around what he was hearing, what he’d longed to hear.

“What am I doing? I love you! I need to get off this plane—”

“Oh my gods,” Rowan listened, wide-eyed as he heard Aelin argue with a flight attendant.

“Excuse me? I’m sorry, I’m really sorry, but I need to get off this plane, okay? I need to tell Rowan I love him.”

“Miss, can't let you off the plane.”

“Let her off the plane!” Rowan screamed at his machine.

“Oh, please, you don’t understand. Isn’t there any way you can just let me off—”

Beeeeep.

The message ended and Rowan was left sitting on the edge of his sofa staring disbelievingly at his answering machine.

“No!” He jumped up, carding a hand through his hair, “No! Aelin! Oh, my gods, did she get off the plane?”

“I got off the plane.”

Rowan whirled around so fast he thought his neck might snap. Aelin stood in his doorway, suitcase in hand, staring at him with a watery smile and eyes that blazed with surety.

“You got off the plane.” Rowan breathed and strode towards her, holding her face in his hands as she grabbed his arms, each clinging to the other, not able to let the other go.

Rowan wasn’t sure who moved first, but the next moment he was kissing Aelin, It was as if all the years of pining, love, heartbreak, and friendship, barreled through them and into a kiss full of promise. All the mistakes of the past, all the time wasted, was over. Now, they could finally be Rowan and Aelin. Finally.

When they pulled apart, still unable to let the other go, Aelin leaned her forehead against his and told him, “I do. I do love you.”

Rowan brushed a tear from her cheek and smiled down with all the warmth he could gather. “I love you too, Fireheart. And I’m never letting you go, again.”

“Good," She nodded, gripping him tighter, “because this is where I want to be, okay? With you. Always with you. No more messing around.”

“That’s right,” he agreed, “we’re done being stupid.”

Aelin kissed him again. “You and me, alright?” She looked him in the eye and saw everything she felt mirrored there. “To whatever end.”

“This is it. To whatever end” He echoed, pulling her in for another kiss.

***

The seven of them stood in the now-empty living room of Elide and Lorcan’s apartment. The new parents each held a baby, Fenrys sat with Lysandra and Aedion near the large window, and Aelin leaned into Rowan who had his arms wrapped around her as they stood to the side.

“Wow,” Aelin murmured, looking around the bare space.

“I know,” Rowan said into her hair, “It seems smaller somehow.”

Fenrys glanced at the walls a minute before asking, “Has it always been purple?” His answer consisted of several snorts.

Lorcan and Elide strapped Asterin and Cal into their stroller. Elide sniffed, facing everyone else, “Oh, uh, I promised the landlord we’d leave our keys.”

She said it to Lorcan, but each of them walked toward the counter to place their own keys. Elide laughed, looking at seven pairs of keys to a two-person apartment.

“I guess this is it,” Lysandra commented mournfully.

“Yeah,” Aedion wrapped an arm around her shoulders, “I guess so.”

At Elide’s sniffle, Lorcan pulled her into his arms. Through the fabric of his shirt, they could hear her say, “This is harder than I thought it would be.”

Gathering herself, Elide unwrapped her arms from Lorcan’s middle before turning to hug Aelin who’d come to stand next to her.

“Do you guys have to go to the new house right away?” Aelin asked, “Or do you have some time?”

“We have some time.”

“Okay,” Rowan grabbed Aelin’s hand, “should we get some coffee?”

“Sure,” Fenrys smirked. “Where?”

They all laughed as they walked out of the apartment that had become so important to each one of them. Aedion helped Lorcan carry the double stroller down the stairs, followed closely by Elide. Lysandra and Fenrys were bickering, but smiling as they walked. And Rowan and Aelin had their arms wrapped around each other, not daring or wanting to let the other one go. They shared a smile, and with one last glance at the closed apartment door, they left.

*****

Taglist:

@acourtofsnakes @allthebooksunderthemoon @astra-ad-mare @becarefuloflove @bisexual-genderfluid-loki @booklover41802 @charlizeed @cookiemonsterwholovesbooks @danibutterr @doubt-less @emily-gsh @enormousbooklover @foughtconquered @fromthelibraryofemilyj @hakunamatatazz @i-have-but-one-brain-cell @in-love-with-caramel-macchiato @jorjy-jo @lemonade-coolattas @mariamuses @mayhemories @midsizewitch @miserablesmusings @morganofthewildfire @nehemikkele @rowaelinismyotp @rowansfirebringer @sayosdreams @sheharahu @sleeping-and-books @stardelia @story-scribbler @superspiritfestival @surielandiareendgame @swankii-art-teacher @tomtenadia @westofmoon @whimsicallyreading @moodymelanist @angelic-voice-1997 @realbookloverproblems @gracie-rosee @julemmaes @yesdreamblog @the-regal-warrior @rowanaelinn @thestoriesyoutell @autumnbabylon @sunflowermoonshinewrites @maastrash

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greenygreenland · 4 years ago

Text

Dream A Little Dream of Me: Norman x Reader (part four)

-part four because I couldn’t fit everything in part three-i went overboard, I’m sorry

-please enjoy I worked a month on getting this out, haha. it is a labour of tears and love.

---->PREVIOUS PART <-----

Summary: You need your memories back. But how will you get them?

Gracefield House

Not a single soul moved for what felt like centuries. The moment Ray, Gilda and Don arrived at the scene, it was clear that nothing else could be done. Mama smiled at her children viciously. She wasn’t here to play nice any longer. Today, she was the hunter and her children the prey.

“It was a clean break. She will recover smoothly,” Mama curtly announced. “And Norman?” You didn’t like the way she looked at him, or the way her grip seemed to tighten on your limp arms. Her gaze dangerously narrowed and she said, “Your shipment date has been set.”

Your heart stopped. Norman’s shipment date had been set? No, that couldn’t be. Your plan required at least another week until everything fell into place. Norman was the core of it all. Without him, what would you do?

And speaking of which, he was going to die. Die. Die. Die. He was going to die.

You squirmed in Mama’s grasp, hoping--praying that you could maneuver around this. Norman wasn’t going to die. You wouldn’t let him.

“Let me--let me go!”

It was reckless and it was stupid to think he’d be able to evade Mama’s sight just like that, but you had to try. Didn’t Emma say you’d all leave here together?

“Norman--!”

He blinked as if he’d woken up from a long dream. He forced himself to smile, but it came out as more of a grimace. Don’t struggle.

Don’t struggle? How did he expect you to sit around and do nothing? If anyone should be shipped out first, it should be you. Why? Because you wouldn’t be able to live with yourself if you let any of your family go.

Mama glared down at you with a cold smile. “You can’t fight me more than you can stop the sun from setting,” she said, heaving you higher off the ground. Your leg hit Mama’s arm and a cry escaped your lips. Norman flinched and Emma stood frozen in place.

You were always the strong one, not Emma, not Ray, and not Norman. Because you were one of the eldest, it was your responsibility to be the shoulder to cry on and to stand when no one else could. To see you holding back tears and gritting your teeth tight enough to make your gums bleed made Norman’s little heart break.

He didn’t care about his shipment date. All he wanted was to see you safe.

The rest of the day passed in a blur of faces, voices and regrets. The sharp pain in your leg long faded, leaving only a dull throb that stayed as a reminder of your failure. Yes, that was what you were, right? You couldn’t complete the plan even with Don, Gilda and Ray distracting Mama. You were pathetic. A waste of space.

The door creaked open and you sat up a little straighter. You smiled at the trio as they entered the room. “Hey guys.”

“How are you feeling?” inquired Norman. He took a seat by your bedside and gave your hand a gentle squeeze. Ray pulled up another chair. He hid his face behind his fringe to conceal his grim frown. It didn’t work though, and you merely smiled at him. He huffed irritably, as if he didn’t want you to know he worried so much.

“I didn’t think she’d go that far.” Ray quietly muttered. You knitted your brows together with a absentminded shrug. “And to think I was that close to getting her watch.”

Emma’s shoulders sagged. “I wish I had--”

“It’s fine Emma.” you said with a warm smile. “Broken bones heal, it’s not permanent.” She wrapped you in a tight embrace and you rubbed her back comfortingly. It was hard to look her in the eye anyway. The sadness she tried so hard to force down only added to your guilt, and you weren’t sure if you could think straight with all the regret.

“I’m sorry this happened.” you began. “Now that I’m hurt, you’re worrying for me.”

Emma pulled away as Norman gave a firm shake of his head. “None of this is anyone’s fault.” he stated. "None of us saw that coming, and even if we did, I’m not sure we’d be any good outwitting Mama on the spot like that.” He offered a gentle smile that made you feel just a little bit better.

-----

(University name), DAY TWO

Class went by rather quickly today, and maybe that was because you were sure you’d seen similar material before. Each answer came easily along with each mark on your paper like a memory from long ago. You’ve answered harder questions, much more difficult tests that held more weight than a simple grade.

“I was impressed by your extensive knowledge on world history,” said Mr. Baker. He was the world history teacher. Unlike the others, he was young, perhaps in his mid twenties. In the hour you’ve gotten to know him and the class, you’ve come to realise he’s a class favourite. For good reason, too. His jokes were phenomenal, the material entertaining, and the atmosphere, friendly.

It was like having a conversation between friends rather than teacher to student.

“Do you know what school you went to before you came here?” he inquired. You shook your head. “No. I don’t think I went to any school before this actually...but I’m not sure. I wish I knew, sorry Mr. Baker.” He offered a warm smile. “Maybe my jokes will remind you of something. In the mean time, don’t worry about it. I’m sure you’ll remember eventually.”

Eventually. You didn’t want to remember ‘eventually’. Living a life of ignorance was difficult as it was, why should you continue it? You adjusted your grip on a notebook and said, “See you tomorrow Mr. Baker.”

“Same to you, Letha.”

The cafeteria wasn’t hard to find. Students crowded in the hallways, pushing and shoving as they stuck close to hurry towards for their meals. You didn’t care much for the food. There wasn’t any way it could measure up to your, or Gramps’s, cooking anyway.

“Letha!”

You spun around as much as you could in the congested hall. Flanna raised a hand above her head and waved. She didn’t even try to hide the fact that she was looking for you. “Letha, you comin’?” There was no way out of avoiding the red-head. She had too much energy, and an eerily observant eye hidden under her smile.

“Hello to you too, Flanna.” you said, matching her step. Flanna grinned brightly. “Are you excited for lunch? My first day here, I thought it’d taste terrible. You’d be surprised how good it is, but maybe that’s because the school’s expensive.” She let out a snort that was lost to the chatter of the crowd.

The cafe wasn’t all too big. Despite the long tables stretching out across the floor, and the high ceilings and tall windows, it felt small. Crowded. The sheer amount of teens gathered in one area was daunting, scary even. It made your head spin, and your stomach lurch in disgust.

Was this what everyone dealt with every single day? How could they do it? This was madness.

Flanna patted your shoulder and led you towards the lunch line. “You get used to it after a while. Can’t say I have, but it’s not so bad.” She handed you a cup of fruit from a large cooler. You watched as she did the same and instructed the lunch lady on exactly what she wanted.

You copied her. It was all you could do to prevent embarrassing yourself.

Once you found a table, a long sigh left your lips. “That was actually...a bit stressful.” Flanna chuckled good-naturedly. “Oh, I get it, you’re shy, aren’t you? I had a friend like that back in ninth grade when I still lived in the countryside. Couldn’t even go in line without help from me.”

“What happened to that friend?”

“Moved away. Lots of people do. They like the city because it’s “full of opportunity”.” Flanna rolled her eyes. “I think it depends on what you want. I’d prefer a quiet life where all I have to do is take care of a farm. You know, sheep, chicken, cows. It’s easy because the only person who’s your boss is you.”

Flanna clearly didn’t favour modern life as much as her peers. She went on about the difficulties of technology and how they were “nothin’ but trouble” for simple folk. You couldn’t say much about that, but you wish you understood.

The rest of the day went by in a flash. It turned out, your last three classes were with Flanna. She didn’t talk as much in class, but she asked you a lot of questions about why you knew so much. Of course, you couldn't remember, but she didn’t know that. She didn’t know who you truly were.

FIVE MONTHS LATER

The setting sun illuminated the sides of your face as you glared at the frosty grass below your winter boots. You stood outside, wrapped tightly in your thick, fur coat. It was Gramps’s daughter’s before yours, so it smelled like him. The forest. A cosy fireplace. Hot chocolate. It did little to comfort your aching heart, and maybe that was because a part of it was still missing.

Standing in the last rays of sun reminded you of that boy with light hair and kind eyes. It reminded you of his touch that refused to leave your mind. He was scorched there like an emblem on wood.

“So why can’t I remember you?” Your words were lost to the harsh, frosty breezes. “Who are you to me?” He wasn’t family, that much you knew, nor a friend either. He was much more. Much closer to your heart than either of those.

-----

This wasn't a massacre. It was the shambles of a bloody war.

The remnants of limbs and broken bones lay strewn across the throne room, where pools of crimson stained the tile flooring with its iron stench. Part of you wished you hadn’t opened the door, and another said it was your fault for letting everything get this far.

Would you have been able to stop Norman if you ran faster? If you had stopped him earlier?

Your stomach flopped and turned. The smirk painted on Norman’s lips wasn’t right. It wasn’t him. He was satisfied, not with the massacre, but with how perfectly his plan had been executed. It played out like a game of chess. Each pawn he sent out had been eliminated, leaving only the most powerful pieces on the checkered board.

“I’m sorry,” Norman said. “It’s too late (Y/n).”

He wasn’t sorry and he sure didn’t feel an ounce of guilt for lying to you. Or at least, that was what you wanted to believe. Every fibre in your body screamed at you to run at him, slap him to the moon and back, or beat him to a pulp for lying and cheating you all. Yet you couldn’t do it. Not with the way he kept his eyes to the floor.

“I’m so glad you made it back safely,” he added. “It’s a shame you were a little too late.” Your gaze lingered on his for a moment longer before you cast it to Ray and Emma. They stood strong with you, yet you had a feeling they wanted to waver just as much as you.

Emma stared at the sticky crimson under her boot, eyes wide in disbelief. “They’ve...they’ve all been...?”

“Killed.” Norman plainly finished. “They killed each other and they’re all dead now. The Queen, the nobles, the Giran clan. All of them.” Despite the pleasant way he spoke, you had a feeling he didn’t mean it. The Norman you grew up with--no--the Norman you knew wasn’t like this. He was kind. Gentle. Sweet. He cared for everyone and everything, which was why he chose to be shipped out in the first place.

And why he always chose to be the sacrifice.

You heaved in a deep breath. If this were the reality of your situation, you had to accept it. Ignoring Norman for who he was and what he did wouldn’t do a thing.

“I reforged the Promise.” You made your way across the room, eyes straight and head held high. The smug glint in Norman’s eyes vanished.

“Everybody can escape to the human world and no one needs to fight. You don’t have to kill anymore, it’s over.” That was what you wanted to believe with every fibre of your being. But was it really all over? Could you escape to the human world and leave this place after what’s happened?

Norman shook his head, as if he knew exactly what you were thinking.

“It’s too late for that.” he plainly said. “No, it’s impossible. A monarchy that has lasted thousands of years has collapsed. Governance for the demons is impossible now. So is peace.” He glanced at the lifeless body behind him. “Iverk was the last one, and I killed him myself.”

You stiffened.

“We’ve put a lethal fissure in the demon society. A fissure that can’t be mended. All that’s left to do is,” he threw out a careless hand, “shatter it. All of the demons will die out. There’s just one more factor left. We can’t go back now. We have no choice but to wipe them out.” He straightened and it was like you were staring at a different person. There was no kindness in his eyes, or that light that you’ve relied on to keep you waking up every morning. “Don’t get in the way.”

You clenched a fist. “No.” Your voice came out strong, reassuring. “What is the point in wiping out a whole race just because we can’t see eye-to-eye? There’s hope and I’ve finally grasped it! For thousands of years, there’s been a cycle of slaughter and war that we have to break. I don’t plan on standing back, and I don’t plan on letting you become more of a murderer!”

Norman’s eyes were dark from under his cloak. “(Y/n)...”

You stood your ground. Defying him was the only way you could stay strong, the only way you could convince him. “We’ll find a way together! It’s not going to be easy, but I know we can do it!”

“(Y/n)...!”

“I’m not letting you sacrifice yourself again and I’m not letting you do this alone!”

Norman’s tight expression relaxed into an uncomfortably serene smile. “What are you talking about?” he lightly inquired. “Didn’t I tell you? I’m not going anywhere.”

You heaved in a sharp breath because he stopped telling you the whole truth ages ago. He stopped relying on you because he thought he had to do everything alone. “I can’t trust you. You’re a liar! You think you can fool me? I know something’s wrong with you, you’re just trying to hide it! Don’t underestimate the family you grew up with, stupid Norman. We can see through all your lies and tricks!”

You thought back to the day you walked into his office alone.

I know you Norman, don’t forget that.

It had been too long since you’d seen him and thought him dead. Too long since you were able to hold his hands in yours.

And because I love you, I don’t want to see you destroy yourself.

It was nice to see him again, yet there was something off about him. He hadn’t changed much besides growing as tall as a tree.

I admit, I don’t know why you act like you’re going to leave again...

The only difference was the hesitance in his stance. As if he were trying to hide something very painful in his chest.

...but I’ll do everything in my power to stop you.

Then he left your words open-ended, as if he knew he couldn’t possibly lie to your face like that. He knew you saw through him from the start. It was only a matter of time before he acknowledged it.

“Doesn’t it hurt?” you slowly inquired. “Because you’re so smart, you chose the reliable path. Because you’re so kind, you shoulder all the burden. I know you Norman, didn’t I tell you? You don’t want to slaughter the demons! And you don’t want to wipe them out either!”

That was the truth that shone in your heart. You wanted to believe in Norman because he always believed in you. If he didn’t then he wouldn’t have allowed you to go the Seven Walls. If he didn’t, then he wouldn’t have allowed you to walk without him.

“You shouldn’t lie to yourself,” you added. “What are you hiding? What are you so afraid of?” He raised a brow challengingly. “Afraid?” Norman wanted to laugh. “I’m not...”

“The Norman in front of me looks like a scared child.” You said it like it was fact, and judging by the way Norman’s gaze unfocused, you were right. He wasn’t just scared, he was terrified. Of the consequences, of how you would look at him again, of how the blood would never, ever wash off.

But it was okay, right? He was strong. Just a little longer and it would all be over.

You took a step forward. Norman firmly held out a hand. “Don’t come any closer.” His voice was void of any emotion, cold even. “I’ve come this far. I have no intention of turning back now.”

“Well that’s too bad!” you exclaimed. “Because neither do I! I’m not letting you go this time!” You grasped his hands in yours, giving it a firm squeeze.

“Yes, you’re strong, yes you’re smart and you’re amazing and all those great things, but you’re stupid too! And arrogant! Can’t you see that you aren’t alone? Don’t be afraid to believe in us! We’re here to share everything. The tough, the burden, the painful things and the scary!”

Emma nodded in agreement. “Yeah, we’ve done that since day one. It’s what we’re here for!” Ray locked gazes with Norman. He wasn’t about to be left out of this, not after Norman’s little stunt back in Grace Field. “Don’t be so reserved either,” he added. “Just spill it!”

You squeezed his hands tighter and stood a little closer. “You don’t need to protect us anymore! We want to walk with you, not behind you!” Answers were simple, but the journey was everlasting and dangerous. You understood what it took to get here even if you weren’t walking in Norman’s shoes. It was difficult. Terrifying. But with all the accomplishments under your belt?

It was time to reunite with him.

“Your family and siblings are your friends.” added Ray. “We don’t want a future where you end up suffering no matter what the result is. And you? What do you want? What do you want to do, Norman?”

He pulled away and the warmth left your hands. “No, it’s no good.” he stated. “You’re already too late. I’m...I’m in a place where I just can’t go back. You can’t walk alongside me--”

“We know.” you interjected. Emma nodded. “About the poison, Mujika and Sonju...”

“And the experiment in the basement.” added Ray. A hopeful smile inched itself onto your lips. “See? We’re not too late. It’s okay to be vulnerable. If you’re the real Norman, then let’s lose our way together. Let’s struggle too, and laugh.” You held out a hand and Emma and Ray joined you.

“Let’s live together.”

Norman didn’t struggle to keep his cool. You re-called the look in his eyes, the same one you saw that night he was told his shipment date. He cried, not just because he chose to get shipped out, but because he was scared. For you. For himself. For his family.

That stifling look of serenity washed off his face. His lips trembled, his shoulders shook, and his eyes watered. You all wrapped each other in a tight embrace. No one deserved to face all the ages of time on their own, no matter what it was, and more than anything, you’d do that for him.

“But...” Norman’s voice trembled. “It’s too late. It's pointless because of the drugs we were forced to take. We don’t have much longer left to live--we can’t live on.” He collapsed to his knees in a heap. “Help me... (Y/n), Emma, Ray... Please...”

That was when all the puzzles finally fit. After laying in wonder for so long with thoughts that kept you awake until the sun rose, you understood. The hesitance in his walk. The way he tried to hide his sluggish step. The way he acted like he was running out of time.

“You’re dying.” The words left your lips before you could even stop them. “It’s...the drugs from Lambda, right?” Norman tried to suppress a sob, but it came out in a way that sounded like he was chocking on his own lies and tears. You took a knee, gently placing a hand on his cheek. “Oh, Norman.”

He couldn’t stand the soft look in your eyes, or the tone in your voice that was like a warm summer breeze. You should have yelled at him. Should have stamped your foot against the ground and growled and slapped him. Yet you knelt in front of him, caressing his dampened cheeks with a touch that said it would all be okay.

Norman wouldn’t look at you--no--he refused to because he was just as you said: a liar. Why were you so kind to him when all he did was lie? He said he’d let you go to the Seven Walls. He said he’d wait for you. He said he wasn’t going anywhere and that he’d live, laugh and do everything to be there with you, for you.

Norman wondered what a murderer like him ever did to deserve you.

-----

The grass crunched under your feet. Towards the brick walls you walked, following the sun as it lowered deeper and deeper towards the ground. You had to keep reaching for it. You had to see it.

In times of trouble, it was your beacon of hope, the last bit of your old life you were sure you could recall. No matter where you were, it was always the first thing you followed. Towards the light. Towards that ray of hope.

You came to a stop at the edge of the school grounds, right where the gates separated you from the outside world bustling with life. The occasional car zoomed through the streets, interrupting the quiet air with its incessant honking and screeching.

The sun disappeared over the horizon, bathing the skies in navy blue and purple.

“Excuse me.”

The voice was light, warm, polite.

“You should really hurry home. It’s not safe out here at this time, especially since we’re students.”

You stuffed your cold hands in your pockets. “I really appreciate your concern,” --you turned to face him-- “but I’m fine. Thank you.”

A boy with light hair and kind eyes met your gaze. Something about him reminded you of something--no--someone. You couldn’t put your finger on it, but the boy did. He’d never forget you, no matter how many lifetimes he lived.

“(Y/n)?” He was breathless, frozen in time as you awkwardly knitted your brows together. (Y/n) wasn’t your name. It was Letha, the name Gramps gave to you because you couldn’t remember your own.

Your confused frown made the boy’s eyes well with tears. You stared, watching as he slapped a hand over his mouth to muffle a pained sob. He was a student here just like you, sporting the traditional sweater vest, white button-up with a tie, and black slacks to match. You’ve never seen him before, yet he looked so...familiar.

Gosh, why couldn’t you remember?

“It’s been over a year and,” he chocked, “I’ve looked everywhere. How could you--how could you do all that for us? You promised we’d live together, but you reforged the Promise and--and...”

The boy's knees wobbled, and out of instinct, you threw out your arms. He fell into you, right at the crook of your neck. You couldn’t see his face, but you knew his tears must have been frozen by now. It was cold out here.

“Are you okay?” Your voice was small, fearful almost. It made the boy cry harder. “I don’t know you, but why don’t we go inside? There should be a cafe down there, and they’re open late, so...”

“I’m sorry.”

You paused.

“I’m so sorry.” he echoed. “I wish I was there. I wish--I wish it were me--but instead...”

You patted his back as if you’d known him for a lifetime. Maybe you felt bad and that was why you hadn’t shoved him off, or maybe, it was because having him in your arms felt so right. Familiar in a way you couldn’t put into words.

Your gentle touch made the boy’s sobs relapse. He curled into you, wrapping his arms around your middle like you’d run away. Like you’d disappear. There was something so nostalgic about this hug and the way you both had your arms around each other.

It had happened before.

“The Promise,” the boy muttered, “you made it in exchange for--”

------

Bright, blue sky stretched out as far as the eye could see. It was beautiful, and oddly calm. Perhaps a little too calm. After running through a maze of illusions and riddles you struggled to solve, you arrived in this place. Alone. The ground was like water, and with each step you took, it rippled and fanned out.

Someone sat in the middle of this endless sky and water, hovering over it serenely.

“What is it you seek?” the demon inquired. You stepped forward. “I want to reforge the Promise.” The demon’s single eye gazed straight through you, as if you were nothing more than a sheet of paper held to the light. “Sure, (Y/n).”

You pursed your lips together. He was unnervingly calm, child-like even, and you had a feeling it had to do with his ‘reward’ after the promise.

“So what is it you seek?” questioned the demon. “You must give me a reward as well.”

Yes, that was the catch. But what could it be? This demon was a being higher than anyone in the land, a god that once split the world in two. He transcended time, yet remained relatively simple-minded and difficult to read.

“The reward,” the demon fiddled with an orb in his hands, “hmmm... It would have to be something important. Ambition. Desire. What someone longs for. What I would want is something important to the other party. Will you make a wish despite that?”

This was for more than your family and Norman. You had people relying on this one choice, this one Promise.

“Yes, I will make a wish despite that.”

It all meant more than the world to you. You had to liberate your family, the children who were raised like livestock and mass-produced like wild animals. And the mamas who fought to survive--you had to think about them too.

“I wish for all the cattle children to cross over...”

They didn’t choose that life of suffering. None of you did.

“And after that, for it to be completely impossible to pass between the two worlds.”

The demon continued to stare. You stood strong and proud with the weight of all humans in this Neverland on your shoulders. If he granted your wish, then the tide would turn and you’d be able to save everyone and everything.

“I will grant that wish,” he said. “And the reward I want are your---”

----

“Memories?” The words fell from your lips in a hasty breath. More than anything, you valued finding them. It was the only missing piece in your heart. The last portion of the unsolved mystery.

This boy--whoever he was--talked about you like he knew you. Held you like you meant something. Said that name, (Y/n), like it were his life line. He pulled away with a sniffle, settling his hands on your shoulders with a loving touch.

“You don’t remember me.” He lifted a hand and raised it to place on your cheek. But he couldn’t touch you like he used to. Not when you looked at him like he was far away and out of your reach.

“You don’t remember me.” the boy quietly repeated. He began to pull away, but you grasped his hand in yours. It was warm, soft. “No, I...I’ve seen you before.” There was a pained look on the boy’s face, as if he thought you were lying to him.

“Haven’t we been through this before (Y/n)?”

No, said your mind. Yes, said your heart.

“You shouldn’t lie to yourself.”

Your grip tightened around his hand, but not enough to hurt him. “I...I do know you. You’re...” You shouldn’t lie to yourself. You shouldn’t lie to yourself. You shouldn’t lie to yourself. But you did know this boy, and all this time, you yearned to see him.

Remember.

Who was he to you?

Who were you to him?

Remember.

Remember!

“I can’t remember your name,” your eyes welled up with cold tears, “but I know I’ve missed you all this time.” You pulled his hand to your cheek as he brought you close. The scent of parchment, aged books, and the woods. Yes, that was nostalgic, so much that it felt right. The final piece, fragmented and broken, began connecting again. It brought the dots and the gaps you tried so hard to fill together.

But something else was still missing.

The boy pulled your head to the crook of his neck and rocked you from side to side in the moonlight. Even the hazy streetlights were drowned out by the stars. You liked to think it was because this part of the city was quiet, isolated, from the rest of the world. And the rest of your worries.

“Norman.” he said.

You looked up at him.

“My name is Norman.”

“And mine is...(Y/n)?”

“Yes,” he said with a bittersweet smile. “I think the day I fell in love with you was when you got excited about something Ray told you. Ray is our family if you’re wondering, and so is Emma, and Gilda, Don...” He told you about people you once knew, and the life you once lived. Some parts he left out, and others he kept.

But you wouldn’t have known. Not when your memory laid in fragments.

“...And so we looked for you. I didn’t think you’d be here, but I’m glad you were.” He laid his chin on the top of your head. “You used to joke that I’d never be taller than you, but now I am.” A sad chuckle left his lips. “I wish things could be different and that you--”

Out of the corner of your eye, you spotted a flash of red hair. Your head began to pound and you nuzzled closer into Norman.

“What’s wrong?”

“My head hurts.”

He ran a hand through your locks, arms folded close around you as he hummed a sweet tune. It was sad, melancholy, and the only one you’d ever known your whole life. “I know that song.” you mumbled. Norman smiled softly. “Mama used to sing it to us all the time. When Ray had nightmares, she put him to sleep with this song.”

The pounding in your head increased and you squeezed your eyes shut. “I did too. I sang...to you.” Norman’s lips parted, but he settled on a nod and smiled instead. “You remember?”

“I think so.” The memory was hazy, as if someone were trying to make you forget for good. But you fought that urge, held on to the image of a room with white sheets and bed lined up side by side. “You were...talking to me...about a...I don’t know...”

“Go on.”

“You were crying late at night...so I...I sang to you.”

Norman kissed the top of your head. When he was in Lambda, locking in that room all alone running through test after test, he held fast to that memory. It kept him from giving up on what he fought for, and kicking the bucket for good.

“I missed you so much.” he wistfully whispered. “You can’t leave me again, or else you’ll break my heart for good.” You looked up to meet his watery eyes. “Why would I leave?” Norman shook his head. “It was in the Promise, wasn’t it? You can’t break it.”

The pounding began to fade. You tiredly smiled, but it was warm and thankful and happy. “That won’t stop me, Norman. I don’t think I could live without you.” He warmly chuckled, intertwining his hands with yours. “Me too.”

And it was then that you began to feel a little more complete, a little more you from then. You were sure you wouldn’t have to dream another little dream of your wodeerful Norman any longer, for he would be right by your side, where you both belonged.

You released his hands and cupped his cheek. It was a natural act you didn’t even have to think twice about. When you were you, you had done this more than a thousand times. Your lips connected in a sweet kiss. He tasted like coffee and tea rolled into one, and you had a feeling it was because he couldn’t choose which was better.

“I love you.” you said. He warmly smiled, but underneath, it was almost sly. “I love you too. Why don’t we do some catching up?”

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sock-ness-monster · 4 years ago

Note

Excuse is granted. Please. I beg of you. Infodump away

Thank you so much I love telling people about this guy

So, to preface this, I'll be telling this story exactly how it was told to me by our camp counselor at a Caveing camp I went to, so it's very much an oral history that maybe can't be fact checked but the broad strokes are genuinely 100% true

TRIGGER WARNINGS: DEATH, DARKNESS, CLAUSTROPHOBIA, GRAVE DESECRATION, CRICKETS

Now that that's out of the way (and please mention if there's any other TW's I should add) the story of

Floyd Collins, The Man Who Was Buried Six Times

This story begins in Kentucky in 19very early, a young Floyd was plowing his family's field when he suddenly dropped through the ground and discovered an unknown cave system. Super cool! Now, people back then did not have television, keep in mind, so caves were really big deals and they were a brand new and lucrative tourist escapade. Floyd's family seized the idea and quickly made a little tourist attraction out of it and started raking in the dough. But they weren't the only ones who had a cave you could tour, Kentucky's geology is super unique in that it has tons of limestone and sandstone which is perfect for underground rivers to carve cool caves out of. They are everywhere in Kentucky and the surrounding area, there was a lot of competition for who had the best, the biggest, the longest cave. And Floyd and his brothers were seized by cave fever and were exploring all around looking for new tunnels and chambers. A large part of this business, unfortunately, was not just walking people through the caves but was letting them take home souvenirs. People could carve their names in the wall, take a stalagmite or stalactite or whatever cool rock they found. Destroying the sensitive ecosystem of the caves. Floyd, the cool dude that he was, was one of the only people who was against this at the time. Good for him! Salamanders are important!

Anyway, Floyd and his brothers are always on the lookout for new opportunities, and there were tons in that area. But, not all of them would pan out. Floyd had heard rumblings about a new cave system called Sand Cave that wasn't far from his family's original cave, which by now had been dubbed Crystal Cave. It didn't seem that promising to most, but Floyd was hoping it actually connected to Crystal cave, and they could tack on so many feet to how big their cave was. So he set off to see if he could find a connection.

He had been surveying the cave for a few hours, and decided to call it quits. He was crawling through a tight tunnel upwards toward the opening of the cave when a rock slide pinned his ankle down tight. He was laying flat with his hands reaching upwards, and there was no way for him to reach back behind him to free his ankle.

He had gone on this expedition without telling anyone.

This was the first time he got buried.

Three days pass, and his brother Homer finally finds him. He tries everything he can think of to free floyd, to no effect. Realizing that this may be a bigger endeavor than he can pull off, he crawls back out to go and find help. It is January of 1925, what else is there to do but go to the newspaper? They publish the story of the man trapped in a crawl way, and it's a huge hit!? People are fascinated by Floyds predicament. They want to help, they want to see, they want to know more. It even makes it on the radio! The three biggest news stories of the time were

1) the war (oof)

2)Charles Lindbergh (will come up again later)

And 3) Floyd in the hole

Everyone in America is anxious to find out how they rescue Floyd. "They" being everyone from the local cave experts to the military corps of engineers to the freakin freemasons, they're all trying to figure out how to free Floyd. Who, ya know, is just chillin in the cave, because caves stay at a constant temperature of ~54° , not too bad for January. His brothers and a reporter take turns crawling down to deliver him the three essentials; food, whiskey, and news. The reporter, "Skeets" Miller, would later win a Pulitzer Prize for his correspondence with floyd in the shaft. Now, as mentioned before, it is a cold and snowy January, but people (nearly 10,000 according to some reports) are so fascinated by the goings on at Sand Cave that they travel from far and wide to be there at the triumphant moment when Floyd emerges. Weeks have gone by at this point. Radio stations are reporting every day, Charles Lindbergh is hired to take photographs of the terrain from above. It's like a big party up top.

They camp out around the cave mouth.

They build fires for food and warmth.

The snow melts.

The cold water trickles down into the cave.

Floyd....... starts to cough.

The cave's already sketchy structure is further compromised.

There's another rock slide.

Floyd is now cut off from contact with the up side world, and the engineers panic and go with a last ditch effort they had been debating beforehand. They can't go around they can't go behind, the only path left was straight down. They drill a hole that reaches the 150 feet from daylight to Floyd's prison. They are too late. He was estimated to have died three to four days before they reached him. His leg is still stuck, and half his face has been consumed by cave crickets. And they just.....leave him there. Whatreyagonnado they shrug, he's already gone we can stop now. They fill in the shaft again.

This is the second time Floyd is buried.

Homer, his closest brother, can't accept this as his final resting place. A few weeks later, they un block the hole and carry Floyd to their family's funeral plot and have a small service with just his closest friends and family present.

This is the third time Floyd Collins is buried.

A few years go by, and the Collins family sells their farm and cave. Unfortunately, they did not see the part of the deed that entitled the new owners to everything in and under the property. Floyd's body is now legally theirs. He is exhumed and placed on display in a glass coffin in Crystal Cave (which years and years later would eventually be proven to connect to Sand Cave).

This is the fourth time Floyd is buried.

If you haven't pieced it together yet, caves were a pretty big deal. We now enter a time in Kentucky history known as the Cave Wars, and they are brutal. How brutal, you ask? Well, to answer with one scenario that happens to be related to this story, the owners of nearby cave were jealous of the attention Crystal Cave was getting from their cool exhibit of Floyd's body, against his family's wishes. Why, the only logical thing to do is steal the man's body and throw it off a cliff. Crystal Cave's new owners would recover it, though minus the left leg. And the next logical thing of course is to put him back on display but this time with a bunch more chains.

This is the fifth time Floyd Collins is buried.

Then, the 60s roll around and Crystal Cave and Floyd are purchased by the National Parks Service on the grounds of being connected to the Mammoth Cave System (the longest cave system in the entire world now). Floyds family is still fighting for his body, and in the 80s they finally get their wish. Floyd is removed from the cave in a 15 day trip and buried at a real cemetery again.

This, is the sixth time he is buried.

A pillar is constructed in honor and perhaps in reparations to all he's gone through, but it is struck by a semi truck and demolished less than a week after its unveiling.

Floyd.......went through a lot. All he ever wanted to do was see some cool rocks and support his family. And to this day, cavers do their best to do right by him. When entering Mammoth Cave, they often ask the darkness to look after them. They aren't talking to the darkness, of course, that darkness that can never be described properly. They are talking to Floyd. Asking him to watch over them as they wish he had someone to watch over him. In the caves everyone is above you, but that's not what they mean. And when they hear a whistle through the tunnels, they like to imagine it's Floyd. Floyd, who was right. The cave was so much more than people thought, in so many different ways. To this day, there's a saying in the caveing community.

"Floyd Lives"

It's like the geology version of "Eddie Would Go". As long as we carry on his legacy of exploring bravely, daring to go where noone has gone before, and do our best to preserve the natural beauty and habitat of the caves, floyd will live on. Floyd lives in our memories and hearts and the drips of water that will one day be pillars.

I don't really know how to end this. Here's a picture of the man himself;

(the picture above is not the tunnel he was trapped in, to be clear)

#cave camp had just such a peofimf impact on me omg #the best week of my whole life #and to think i almost chickened out the night before leaving #i still keep in contact with those guys #we all have tshirts with you guessed it floyd on them #floyd collins #caves #geology #stories #humanity #infodump #*profound i meant #claustrophobia tw #buried alive tw #darkness tw #longish post

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bittydragon · 3 years ago

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The Ant King

Note: Huge thanks to Bittydragon for inspiring me to write this. I’ll be honest, this is the first fic I've ever actually written, as well as the only piece of creative fiction I've written in like two years so… fingers crossed it goes well hahaha.

TW: tight spaces, darkness, uh,,, bugs i guess. Near death experience

There are things you have to know about ants when you get an ant farm. Basic fundamentals. What to feed them, how to keep them alive, what type of ants you have, etcetera. Even if your intentions were… torturous. After all, you need to know what makes something tick in order to make it stop.

One of the more common facts about ants is that every colony has a queen. She orders her ants to keep her alive so she can make more ants. Simple biology, the continuation of a species. Every nest has a queen, or it dies.

Apparently, this colony didn’t get the memo.

These thoughts buzzed in grumpy circles around Wilbur's’ head as he followed his ant companion, Tommy, deeper into the ant-farm. They had been wandering these tunnels for what felt like days now, in the center of the farm so there were no glass barriers to show the outside world. They were deep too. Almost at the bottom of the compound. Wilbur was not one to show fear, but even he was beginning to get claustrophobic.

Tommy, who up until now had been jabbering like a toddler the whole trip through the ant-farm had also gone uncharacteristically silent. The whole trip Wilbur had wanted nothing more than a few seconds of quiet from him, but now he missed the carefree noise.

They were on their way to see the ant King. A type of ant that, as far as Wilbur knew, didn’t exist. So either they were on a wild goose chase, or Will was way out of his depth.

The further they went, the more he was convinced it was the latter.

“Tommy do you-” Wilbur paused, his echoing voice in the tunnel almost felt like a taboo. An affront to the maddening silence that stalked them. He lowered his voice.

“Do you think… Will I ever get back to normal? Will the ant king change me back?” He hated that little quiver in his voice. He hated the uncertainty. The waiting.

Tommy continued to march forward silently, pondering the question.

“I dunno big man, I think you’ve changed heaps since you got here.” He turned his head to flash Wilbur a grin “Then you’ll be out there and all nice n shit. It’ll be poggers.”

The tunnel was dark, but not dark enough to hide the flash of uncertainty in Tommy’s eyes.

Wilbur's heart sank. “Thanks mate.” He mumbled, and they trekked on, once more in silence.

By the time they saw light, it felt like they had been walking for days. Wilbur was almost glad he was about to meet possibly one of the most powerful ants in this colony. They rounded one last bend, and they were there.

Before them stood a huge double door set in the wall. Two vines with some kind of glowing fruit framed the door, shedding light on the small space. In front of the door, leaning on a spear made from a twig was another ant with a pair of large white rimmed goggles.

“Well… This is it I guess.” Wilbur muttered. He cleared his throat “Hey, um. I-i’m here to have an audience with the King? If that's alright.”

The guard ant didn’t respond, continuing to stare at them with no discernible expression.

“H-hello?” Wilbur glanced at Tommy, who shrugged.

“Excuse me? Anyone home?” Wilbur snapped his fingers in front of the ant's face.

He seemed to startle slightly, before slumping down a bit and letting out a loud snore.

“What the fuck” Tommy said.

Before anyone could do much of anything, one of the massive double doors creaked open and a voice came through.

“George, I swear if you fell asleep again, I'm going to rip off your antenna and use them as- oh.”

Another ant entered the room, this one also carried a twig-spear and had a strip of white cloth tied around his forehead. As soon as his gaze landed on Wilbur, his expression soured.

If looks could kill… Wilbur thought nervously

“It’s you” The new ant spat “Took your sweet time getting here Soot. Earthquake slow you down? Didja get a taste of your own medicine from your big pals out there?”

Wilbur pursed his lips, and the ant snorted. “Yeah. Thought so.” He walked forward and gave George a hard shove, sending the other ant sprawling with a startled yelp.

“Sapnap what the hell?!” He snapped, before spotting Wilbur and Tommy. “Oh hey. That guy is here.”

“Yeah he’s here, idiot.” Sapnap smacked George over the head with his spear “And we would have known a lot sooner if you hadn't fallen asleep on duty again!”

“OW! Sapnap stop! Get off me!”

Wilbur cleared his throat, drawing their attention “Sorry to interrupt, but me and my friend have been walking for a long, long time, so could we please have an audience with the King?”

Subpoena glared “Yeah. He’s waiting for you. Against my advice, he wants to see you.”

Oh. That… didn’t sound great.

Wilbur tried not to think about the implications of that statement as he approached the double doors. Tommy moved to follow, but was stopped by the guards.

“Hey!” He groused “Let me through dickheads!”

“I'm afraid the King only wants an audience with the great and powerful Wilbur Soot” Sapnap said with a smirk.

“But I want to go too! Let me in! You stupid ugly bitch ill fight you! You may have a fancy stick but just wait until I pull out my knife-gun!”

“Tommy its fine.” Wilbur interrupted “I’ll be fine mate, promise. Just wait here. I wont leave without saying goodbye.”

The last thing he saw was Tommy’s antenna drooping sadly, before the doors swung closed behind him.

If Wilbur thought the tunnel was dark before, that was nothing compared to the room he was in now. The darkness was so thick, so absolute, that it made no difference if his eyes were open or closed.

“Hello?” Wilbur called “Uh… your majesty? I was told that you wanted to see me.”

His voice echoed slightly in the huge space, but there was no reply.

Wait. What was that? Something rasped ever so slowly across the opposite wall. Something big. As it moved, the moss where it had been standing glowed a dull green.

Bio-luminescence Wilbur reasoned. Trying to distract himself from the fear creeping up his spine. Touch activated, it seems.

He swallowed dryly “L-look, just tell me what you want. I’m not here to cause trouble”

The thing moved again, its raspy scuttle reverberated through the chamber.

“Wilbur Soot, not here to cause any trouble” A thoughtful voice hummed from the dark “Now that’s a first.”

The bio-luminescent moss was lighting up more of the room. If he squinted, Wilbur could make out a... leg. Probably.

Wilbur inches slowly to the side, the moss lighting up his own path. “Okay, I get it, I've done morally questionable things in the past, but I've learned a lot from my time here. I’m sorry.”

“For now” The voice replied. The thing was moving on the other side, matching him step for step. “What's to say you aren't faking remorse to get out of here? And maybe you really are sorry. How can I be sure you wont change your mind the second you're back to normal? It's too much of a risk.”

Wilbur continued to back away nervously “Your majesty-”

“Please, call me Dream. Everyone else does.”

“Right… Dream. I can say with 100% certainty that won't happen. I've seen people die in front of me. That’s enough to change anyone's stance on something.”

“And yet I'm still not convinced.” It was moving faster now, scuttling across the floor, walls and even across the ceiling. Wilbur's head spun with the motion. “And since we’re talking in hypotheticals, riddle me this: Whoever said I was going to let you out anyway? What if I just like to play with my food?”

Dream stopped suddenly, rearing over Wilbur, and with all of the lit up moss, he got his first proper look.

This ant was huge. Twice- no, at least three times the size of Wilbur himself. He looked a bit like a centaur, with a human torso connected to a pure white and thorax and abdomen.He also wore a strange white mask with a blank eyed smiley face drawn on.

Two huge claw arms- similar to those of a praying mantis- extended from Dreams waist and slammed into the dirt either side of Wilbur, startling him enough that he fell onto his ass. The king leaned forward with that lifeless grin, and Will closed his eyes, preparing for the end.

“But…” Dream said thoughtfully “A proper experiment should account and test for all variables, shouldn't it?”

“Y-yeah generally” Wilbur stuttered

“Oh good.” Dream hoisted him roughly to his feet. “I’m glad I asked you. After all, you know all about experiments, don’t you?”

Wilbur chose not to answer, glowering at Dream as the eyes on his mask briefly glowed a dull green.

A moment later, Sapnap and George marched in, dragging a cussing and struggling Tommy behind them.

“YOU STUPID MOTHEFUCKERS!!! Let me go or ill get married in rage!! Fuck you and-! Oh. wow that is a big fella.” Tommy stopped and stared in awe at Dream

“Sapnap, give Wilbur your spear.” Dream ordered.

A flicker of doubt crossed Sapnaps face but he obediently shoved the spear into Wilbur's hands.

“I’ll make you a deal, Wilbur Soot.” Dream purred, circling him. “I will let you go to your old life. You can do whatever you like; kill us, torment us, throw us away… it doesn't matter. All you have to do is kill one ant.” He gestured to Tommy.

“What?” Wilbur whispered.

“WHAT?!” Tommy roared “fuck you! I'm not your dumb-ass pawn, I'm going to kill you! Rrrrrrrrrrr!” he writhed, attempting to bite George who did a surprisingly good job of holding him still.

“Go on.” Dream cooed “It's just one insignificant ant standing between you and freedom. You've killed hundreds. What's one more?”

Spear in hand, Wilbur took a hesitant step forward.

Tommy's gaze snapped up “Wilby?” He asked, his struggling pausing for a moment.

Their eyes met, fear clashing with sorrow. Tommy seemed to see something in Wilbur's expression and hung his head in defeat. As if he had expected Wilbur to betray him.

Oh hell no. Fuck that. Wilbur angrily tossed the spear aside.

“No. I won't.”

“What?” Dream spat

Wilbur rounded on him “No! I won't kill him! Keep me here, kill me, hunt me for sport, whatever! Just leave him out of this! Tommy has been nothing but nice to me since I met him, even though it don't deserve it!” He rubbed his arm. “God knows I don't deserve it.”

“Hmm…” Dream hummed “Are you sure, even if it costs you your life?” One of Dream's massive claw arms grazed his side, a subtle threat.

Wilbur looked over at Tommy, who had a look of hope on his face.

“Yeah.” Will smiled, “I'm sure.”

I probably could have written more, but i wont. I hope you like this fic bitty! Thanks for reading :)

Edit: Fortune, this is amazing! Like, I hadn't really thought about this encounter in a lot of detail, but I honestly like this a lot! And Dream being a big boy since he's the king ant. Just yes. Thank you so much for this.

#submission #fan work #tiny!tommy #tiny!wilbur #tiny!dream #tiny!sapnap #tiny!george #giant!dream?#maybe?#mcyt gt #thank you again!#betmyfortune

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dameronology · 4 years ago

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everything i need {mando x reader}

summary: din has to rethink his life plans how that you’re by side - not that he’s complaining {i do have a taglist but it’s 1am and i simply cannot be arsed to find it, please accept my not very sincere and very tired apologies}

warnings: much language

enjoy!! sorry for the lack of imagines lately, i’m back at work and working as a director on two of my group projects so i am neck deep in covid-related paperwork.

- jazz

p.s this has not been proofread, because i am just that shit

Din Djarin had never needed a reason to find a home. Settling down permanently wasn’t an option in his line of work. Permanence had never been part of his plan.

Then again, a lot of things hadn’t been part of his plan. The Child certainly hadn’t; if you’d told him five years ago that his firstborn son was going to look like...well, like that, he probably would have drop kicked you into the next rim. It didn’t matter that he couldn’t imagine his life without the kid now, or that he would rain hell on anyone who would dare lay a finger on the toad-like toddler. His life had gone in a direction he never could have anticipated and his son wasn’t even the biggest detour. That was you. Din wasn’t even entirely sure where you’d come from or when you’d come into his life, but he would have first surrendered his ship and everything on it before even considering the notion of living without you. Whether it was simply luck, or whether there was some higher power who finally decided to give him a fucking break, The Mandalorian had a family. He was no longer a lone gunslinger with nothing to lose; now, he had everything to lose.

The fear that came with his newfound vulnerability was a small price to pay, however. In the quieter moments - when it was just you and him and the kid - he had no question in his mind that everything was worth it. Every fright, every concern, every agonising moment that Din spent overthinking and calculating a million and one ways to keep you both safe was completely and irretrievably worthwhile. It was a little unconventional but a family was a family. A clan of three.

You didn’t often get to take breaks. They came every few months, usually whenever Din needed had had a particularly had job. You’d found your place halfway between helping him kick-ass and babysitting the Child (who at this point, was essentially your son too). It meant that days you were running across rooftops in Nevarro with a blaster in hand, and others you were running around after your kid, holding a diaper rather than a gun. The duality was astounding.

The last few weeks had been a little hard. There had been one bounty who had been relentless, and another who had tried to take a hit at you. It hadn’t taken long for you to put the bastard in his place but the Mandalorian had taken it a little more personally than you. Before throwing him into the carbonite, Din had broken a little more than six of the target’s ribs and given him a nice shiner on his left eye. He never minded when he was the one who had a punch or two thrown at him but when it was you? Din never took to it lightly.

Once both bounties had been sent to their respective clients and you’d collected your rewards, Din had set the Crest’s path towards a jungle planet. It was one he had frequented a few years ago - before you, before the kid - and whilst it was a little desolate, it was safe. It was away from any Imps, any potential danger. It meant that you could both let your guards down for a bit and put your feet up. Plus, the Child had been dealing with cabin fever for the better part of two weeks and you were convinced you were going to lose it if you didn’t get the little fucker to some open space soon. Preferably one with lots of frogs, because he was not taking well to the freeze-dried food that you’d been fobbing him with him for the last few months.

You were laying in an open field, weight propped up on your elbows as you glanced out into the grass over your sunglasses. Din was making his way back towards you, trudging through the long blades; the low evening sun was bouncing off the beskar of his helmet, causing you to scrunch your face up. You could tell from the way he was talking that he was exhausted. He’d been on kid duty all day (it was your turn tomorrow) and somehow, that was more tiring that any bounty.

‘Where is he-’

Your question was answered before you could even finish it; the little creature suddenly appeared through the grass, hitting your shin with a thump. Digging his claws into your jeans, he scrambled up onto your legs, plopping into your lap and leaning against your stomach. He peered up at you with big brown eyes for a second, before twisting back around to rest his head against your chest for a nap. There went your evening plans.

‘Did he eat anything?’ You raised your arm out to Din, signalling for him to sit next to you.

Aside from his helmet, he had shed the rest of his armour. The material of the undershirt he was wearing was soft against your skin as you leant into his side, letting it a small hmph as you did. He instinctively wrapped his arm your waist - because even on a safe planet, Din was naturally protective - and pulled you closer, using his free hand to run a finger over the kid’s wrinkly head.

‘I saw him swallow a frog whole.’ His modulated voice replied. ‘It’s still disturbing.’

‘Not as disturbing as when he ate the fish whole.’ You grimaced, glancing up at him. ‘The thing was bigger than him and he gulped it down. Biologically, it doesn’t work.’

‘Nothing about him makes sense.’ He said.

‘The only thing that makes sense is that nothing makes sense.’ You joked. ‘But I guess we’ll find out a little bit more when we work out where the hell he actually came from.’

It was a subject you didn’t approach too much. You knew that one day, you’d have to hand him back over to his own species; it was all well and good to look after him when he was still small, but you had no idea what he was going to grow to be. Finding his home planet had sort of been a secondary quest for you and Din, between bounties. Given how slow the little bastard aged, time wasn’t too much of a concern. Knowing where to start was the problem.

‘I wish we could keep him forever.’ You quietly murmured.

‘Me too, cya’rika.’ Din gave your shoulders a light squeeze. ‘But we have to do what’s right for him.’

‘I know.’ You nodded. ‘What do you think we’ll do after we’ve found his home? His species?’

It wasn’t something that Din had given much thought. He was so used to planning everything in the moment - hours ahead, at most. He hadn’t thought in terms of days, let alone weeks or years. It made sense to, because you weren’t going anywhere. He had an opportunity to have a life outside of being a bounty hunter; you’d shown him that much. He’d found a home with you - a sense of contentment and belonging - but in a physical sense, he’d never thought about settling on a planet. When he was younger, the idea of having his own children and his own clan had played on his mind, but it had faded as the years went by. Maybe it was time to revisit the idea.

‘We could get married.’ Din quietly suggested. ‘Start a clan of our own. Something permanent.’

‘I didn’t realise that the word permanent was in your vocabulary.’ You replied.

‘It wasn’t. Not before you.’ He said. ‘There was a lot of things I never thought about before you.’

‘A clan?’ You intertwined your fingers with his, giving his hand a light squeeze. ‘In a few years, absolutely - but I am not doing it on that pile of junk.’

‘That pile of junk got us here.’

You rolled your eyes, shaking your head - but there was a smile on your face. ‘We don’t have to think about it now. One step at a time.’

There was silence for a minute, as you both pondered to yourselves. In the same way you hadn’t been part of Din’s plan, he hadn’t really been part of yours. When you’d met him, you’d never expected to fall in love with him. You couldn’t see his face, or his emotions or his feelings - but after a while, you saw him. It was though you had seen straight through the armour and right into his very soul without either of you trying. You were first person to see him as Din, and not as the Mandalorian. You understood his humanity, and the fact he wasn’t always a warrior; it meant he could let his walls down around you, and seek support and solace in a way he’d always thought to be terrifying. And it was, at first, but now it felt natural and healthy. He had you and you had him. Nothing else mattered.

‘I’ll go wherever you go.’ Din broke the quiet, eyes falling down to where the child lay in your lap.

‘You’d do that for me?’ You rested a hand on the side of his helmet; it was cold against your skin, but the gesture was there. ‘You’d give us all this up for me?’

‘I’m not giving anything up.’ He replied. ‘When I have you, I have everything I need.’

Din had always been blunt and straight to the point: sometimes it was a blessing, sometimes it was a curse. Right now, it was completely and entirely a virtue. It meant that you didn’t have to second guess his feelings for you, or worry about him leaving you. Everything he said to you was a promise. Talks of your future were mutuals goals, things to look forward to together.

‘I love you.’ You pressed a kiss to the edge of his helmet.

‘I love you too.’ Din replied.

‘So let’s retire right now and get a moisture farm on Tatooine-’

‘- don’t push it.’

#this is a certified pile of crap #i do apologise #it sounded better in my head and reading it back im just #no #din djarin x reader #din djarin imagine #mandalorian x reader #mandalorian imagine #mando x reader #mando imagine #din djarin fluff #mandalorian fluff #mando fluff #star wars x reader #star wars imagine #star wars fluff

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fleursdemeduse · 4 years ago

Text

Remembrance AU: Fighting For the Right Side

Warnings: Nightmare [Depiction of child death] ; Mention of death ; Allusion to mass murder and bombs

Words: 3.3k

You were quick to settle into your position in Pogtopia. Every day was primarily spent with Techno, but it was relaxing. You farmed, took trips to the bastion you two had met at, he protected you in fortresses, you two even went mining together. He was a comfortable constant in your world. Even when the voices got to be too much, you were with him. But that might have been what caused it all in the first place.

Settling into the small alcove Tommy said you could use, you decided that you could take this brief moment of quiet to read. You felt safe in the ravine, so much so that you had shed your armor back in Techno’s hidden stronghold.

Once sat in front of the fire, you tossed another small log in the flames. You'd have to go find more wood tomorrow but this was enough; The fire burning was bright enough you didn't need to light a torch and waste extra materials they might need, and the air warm enough you only needed a small throw blanket for added comfort to cuddle during the parts of your book the suspense physically got to you.

And so you got comfortable. You relaxed against the wall and you opened your book. Page 47.

Suddenly, sounds bombarded the child - a mad rustling, and then, twit twit, echoing over and over. They were familiar sounds, not particularly frightening, but unplaceable. A heartbeat was louder than anything else and the small nine year old could only wish that the sound were quieter. That everything was quieter.

The maze was an overgrown thing. Something so large that anyone who encountered it knew they could never escape. The shadows kept moving though; rushing faster than legs could ever hope to outrun. Faster and faster they crawled like vines all around. And soon the child was engulfed. Darkness spread to every limb, smothering wails that spilled from parted lips. There were no cries for help or alerts to any who would listen. Soon, nothing remained.

The crash had startled you awake. Your nightmare releasing it’s hold from you at the sudden sound. You relaxed quickly, however, seeing Wilbur in a heap next to the stairs. He must have fallen again. You pressed your lips together, remembering Techno’s words. “We used to have railin’s but Wilbur, he just really enjoyed fallin’ to his death.”

The brunet slowly got up and pat himself off before looking up at you and smiling. A smile like that could have made sunflowers turn to revel in its glow.

“Oh, hey. Sorry for waking you.” His voice was soft, probably to not wake anyone else if they hadn’t already been awoken already.

"Don't worry about it. It wasn’t a very good dream.” He nodded at you in understanding. “What were you doing out? On a secret mission?”

The teasing smile on your lips grew bigger when his smile soured and he scoffed, grumbling to himself about how every mission was technically a secret one.

Yours fell away when he started walking off, his softness darkened with the thought of what happened during his outing. You hesitated. You didn’t want to wake Techno. You two were only just growing closer and you didn’t know how the hybrid reacted to missing out on the little sleep he was actually getting. But you didn’t want to be with your thoughts. Despite not being even remotely close to the man now leaving you behind, you reached out for him. “Hey Wilbur?” He turned to look at you. "Can you stay? Just for tonight, please. I don't want to be alone after that."

You watched his brown eyes brighten and a boyish grin overtake his lips. It reminded you of Tommy’s. You briefly wondered if his mood always swung this dramatically. “I'll stay for as long as you need." He made his way to sit with you and you added another log to the fire, sitting up so the rock digging into your spine shifted away. Wilbur sat across from you, his presence immediately making you relax.

"So, Mr. Leader," You taunted once more, "What was the secret mission?"

In the coming days, you and Wilbur spent more time together. He’d tell you the most random facts about himself whilst you two worked, but you couldn’t bring yourself to pay it any mind.

"Hey [y/n], guess what?"

"Hm?"

"I was born on September 14th. That makes me a Virgo."

"Did you know I can play guitar?"

"I think everyone knows that about you, Wilbur. Why do you ask?"

"I just thought you might wanna hear me play you something sometime..."

"You know, I was once married to this wonderful salmon named Sally. You remind me of her sometimes."

“With you on our side, [y/n], I know that we’re going to win L’manburg back. And I promise you’ll have a spot in my cabinet.”

It was decided. Techno and yourself would attend the festival while Wilbur and Tommy hung back and watched from a safe distance. You were nervous. A bad feeling grew like a stone in your stomach as they all prepared.

"Hey [y/n], come here a moment, will you?" Sighing as you stood from the chest you were going through, you felt your back pop in a few different places and you hissed before walking to where Wilbur stood. It was silent in the ravine, everyone just as anxious about the festival as you.

"Yeah?" You asked, resting a hand on his arm as you peeked around him at the paper on the table. It was a map of Manburg with “x”s scattered across it.

"Are you prepared?" He glanced down at you, watching the crease in your eyebrows deepen as you examined the plans.

"Mhm." You hummed, finally looking up at him. His eyes were so warm when they looked at you, just like Techno’s. Even if he didn’t have a smile, they were always filled with that same warmth that made you feel important. The two were more like brothers than either cared to admit. "Why?"

"Can I tell you something and you keep it a secret from Tommy and Techno?" Everything around you felt like it had stilled. Everything waiting for the other shoe to drop. The stone suddenly felt heavier.

"What is it?” He continued looking at you and you found it almost hard to breathe. "Wilbur?"

His hand reached to cup your cheek gently. They weren’t calloused like Technoblade’s. They were the hands of a poet, of a musician, of someone whose hand reached for the quill not the sword. They smelled of gunpowder. Your heart felt like it was in your throat when you realized what all of those “x”s were.

“You would risk letting all those people die just so you could have L’manburg back? Why?”

His voice came out hoarse when he finally brought himself to speak. "Because if I can’t have it, no one can, [y/n]. I'm so sorry."

Your lips trembled. You thought of all of the innocent people who would never see it coming. You thought of Tommy and Techno, getting ready in another part of the ravine who wouldn’t know until it was too late. You thought of the man before you who probably felt like he was doomed to keep repeating this action again and again. When had blowing something up ever worked in his past lifetimes? He had to know that this was crazy, right?

Wilbur continued to stare at your frightened face for a moment. He looked so serious. His dark eyebrows drawn together and lips turned just the slightest bit downward. But his eyes? The warmth that filled them seemed to be slowly draining and being replaced with dark melancholy. You hated that look on him and drew your hand up to hold the one cradling your face. “You don’t have to do this, y’know. There is always another way.”

Wilbur stepped forward, pulling you into an embrace that smelled of cedar and leather. His hand left your cheek to instead hold your head to his chest. You didn’t like this hug. This hug felt like he knew things were going to go horribly wrong and he didn’t want you to see the aftermath of it. “If there were one, we would have found it by now.”

Your hands gripped the soft material of his trench coat and you pressed your face into his sweater. You didn’t want this. You were happy to help where you could, but you didn’t want to be a part of the destruction of a nation. You just wanted to help your friends overthrow a tyrant. “I wish I were as brave as you, Wil.”

The soft huff of a chuckle reverberated through his chest as he squeezed you tighter. “Did you know that that’s the first time you’ve called me something other than my name?” His voice was uplifted at the end. He almost sounded happy by the thought. It was squashed when he sighed, pressing his face into your hair. “I wouldn’t call it bravery, though. Still, I promise that we’ll all end up on the other side of this together.”

You tilted your head up a bit to look at him. “Where else would we be?”

He didn’t answer you, just held you tighter.

If there was one thing Wilbur couldn’t describe himself as, it was good.

In previous lives, he had been a cruel, sadistic god. He forced hundreds of people to compete for his entertainment. They were rats, moles, ants, sometimes even just humans while he played the part of omnipotent creator. He had been a king sometimes, or a hero. And time and time again, he was just an older brother. But no matter what, he couldn’t seem to save the people who loved him the most. He couldn’t protect the ones who looked up to him; be it because he found sick joy in their deaths, or because he wasn’t strong enough.

He never felt strong enough.

When Technoblade had told him of the strange person whom he had met in the nether, he almost brushed it off. There was no way he had met someone whom he hadn’t shared at least one lifetime with. There was no such thing as new players who weren’t just NPCs.

However, when you stepped into the ravine, inventory absolutely filled with different items that you just willingly handed over to the pink haired hybrid with a smile, he was utterly floored. The curve of your lips, the tone of your voice, even the look in your eyes were all new to him. He had never once met you.

He approached the two of you with hurried steps, wondering what kind of trick you were playing, only to freeze when you turned your gaze to him. He could hear his own blood rushing through his ears and, for a moment, he wondered if you could hear it too. The expression you wore unnerved him. It was as if you had seen every lifetime, every possibility. Yet you still had the nerve to smile shyly at him. When you waved at him in silent greeting, he knew Technoblade had been completely correct in his assumption. Your lives were missing from your wrist.

You were an investment.

But no one made him feel as powerless as you did.

You were able to try things over and over and over again. You weren’t held back by memories of mistakes or fears. The tiny flits of trauma they all seemed to feel were just… absent in your being. You were unapologetic about running errands in Manburg and doing reconnaissance whilst you were out, seemingly unafraid during the recounts you had given him of meeting Schlatt and Tubbo for the first time.

And this seemed to hold true in your interactions with Tubbo. He didn’t treat you with the same feral energy he shared with Tommy or the attitude he put forth for his leaders. When you weren’t spending almost every waking moment with Technoblade, the soft murmur of your soft voices being heard through the stone walls that led to the farm, you were interacting with one or both of the teenagers that helped fuel the rebellion. Tubbo told you about new ideas he had, or described to you his day, or even just explained to you things that even he himself knew he would have trouble understanding, despite Tubbo being the one to explain them. Wilbur noticed that you just did that. You listened patiently while someone talked, despite the knowing look in your eye that made him feel like you already knew exactly what they were about to say. And this seemed to carry over into your relationship with Tommy.

You paid rapt attention to the blond, reminding him that even if he was still technically a child, that doesn’t mean he didn’t deserve to be listened to. The oddest part he found, though? Tommy actually returned the favor in kind. It wasn’t so much that you would go on long-winded tangents and he’d be forced to sit there and listen. It was that when you asked or told the sixteen year old to do something, he did it without too much of a fight. That’s not to say he wouldn’t talk back to you, he did almost every time, but it was the point that he would still do what you said without much hesitation. And every single time, Wilbur felt the sharpest stab of envy.

He had questioned Tommy after the first couple instances of it happening before him. He had cornered the very person who had been his younger brother in many previous lives against the cold stone wall on one of the walk ways while you and Techno were out gathering things from the nether and demanded to know why. However, the young soldier just shrugged in response. “They just usually have very fun ideas.” He had stared long and hard at the blonde, the other fiddling with the hem of his dirty shirt. He made a mental note to ask if you’d be willing to do laundry for them when you next went to Manburg. “That and…”

“And?” Wilbur had immediately prompted, knowing the time he had to question the younger was running short.

“They just have that tone of voice. And something makes me feel like I should listen when they tell me to do something.” Wilbur rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to berate him. “Sometimes it feels like they know way more than they should. Like they already know what’s going to happen.”

The brunet’s words died on his tongue.

They all felt like that.

But if you knew so much, why did you never talk about any of your past lives like the rest of them did? If you knew what was going to happen, why were you so patient and let them make mistake after mistake?

The thought sat bitterly at the forefront of his mind as he pat himself off, having fallen off the side of the walkway yet again. He almost regretted removing the child-proofing, but he was an adult, and he didn’t need them, and he certainly wasn’t going to recant his insistence that they didn’t need them. He turned when he heard shifting and saw you slumped against the side of the ravine.

In the dim lighting, you looked different. You were cuddled under a thin blanket, eyebrows furrowed and mouth pressed into a pout that reminded him of a child. He must have awoken you. You looked rather cute like this, though.

He smiled at you despite himself. He was still a little hesitant about being around you. He didn’t need help in his daily activities like Technoblade, he didn’t need a guiding hand like Tommy, and he felt plenty listened to daily, unlike Tubbo.

But somehow, he didn’t feel as loved as you were.

“Oh hey, sorry for waking you.” The words had slipped from his mouth before he had had a chance to stop them. Now he’d be forced to converse with you. He watched your eyes look away from him, even in the dim light.

"It wasn’t a very good dream.” You didn’t have good dreams? What was there to have a nightmare of? He tucked that piece of information away for later, your eyes were back on him. “What were you doing out? On a secret mission?”

His mood immediately dropped, especially when he saw the mocking grin that planted itself on your face. It was as if this were a game to you. “Every mission we pursue is a secret one, you of all people should know that.”

The grin just grew and he felt his chest tighten. How could you act so lax when you seemed to know exactly what happened when he was out there? He turned to walk back to his desk to write about the events that had transpired and quell his anger. He wasn’t truly upset with you, he knew that, and he didn’t want to take that out on the one person that seemed to be holding together his fellow usurpers, but you almost irritated him. His soft steps reverberated through their base.

“Hey Wilbur?”

His steps faltered. Despite your previous mood, you suddenly sounded so small. Afraid. He looked at you from over his shoulder and was surprised to see your extended hand.

“Can you stay for tonight? I don’t want to be alone after that.”

A new feeling sparked in him.

You wanted him? The one who had been so helpful for everyone else, to the cause, even to him on occasion, needed his help? How bad had your dream been? You looked so distraught, so powerless. He didn’t feel so weak when you looked at him like that.

“I’ll stay for as long as you need.” Your eyes held a warmth that could rival the fire in front of them. You moved to feed it and he sat across from you. You two weren’t close in either sense of emotionally or physically.

When had that changed?

He felt compelled to check up on you more after that night, use you as the investment that he believed you to be. No one in Manburg knew of your status, and he was planning on using it to their advantage.

Or, he had been.

But you made him feel safe about sharing things about himself. You were easy to talk to, easy to work around, easy to listen to. You would have been so easy to use.

Maybe that’s why he told you of the plan he and Tubbo had come up with.

You had found your way into much more than his good graces, just like the rest of them, and he didn’t want you to get caught in the crossfire. You were so susceptible to influence, he feared you’d start to see him as a villain. He knew what people would say about him. He wanted you to know his thoughts and feelings before you could be tainted by their remarks.

He had shared memories with you before. They all had. Words seemed to fall unencumbered whenever you were around and they were all victim to it. But you hadn’t judged any of them on the actions they had taken in their previous lives. You didn’t even judge them on the actions they had taken in this one. Despite this, he was still scared you’d be turned against him if he wasn’t the one to tell you.

“I think everyone deserves a chance to prove themselves.”

It was his turn to prove that they were fighting for the right side.

#RemembranceAU #dsmp au #dream smp au #dsmp x reader #dream smp x reader #wilbur x reader #wilbur soot x reader #mcyt x reader #tw: nightmares #tw: death #tw: child death #tw: genocide #tw: bomb

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