#but we're both mentioned so second-hand to the other by our peers

[see-arcane]

I am truly thankful that she is to be left out of our future work, and even of our deliberations. It is too great a strain for a woman to bear. I did not think so at first, but I know better now. [...] I daresay it will be difficult to begin to keep silence after such confidence as ours; but I must be resolute, and to-morrow I shall keep dark over to-night's doings, and shall refuse to speak of anything that has happened.

Jonathan, no, don't give into the guys' peer pressure noooo

It is strange to me to be kept in the dark as I am to-day; after Jonathan's full confidence for so many years, to see him manifestly avoid certain matters, and those the most vital of all. This morning I slept late after the fatigues of yesterday, and though Jonathan was late too, he was the earlier. He spoke to me before he went out, never more sweetly or tenderly, but he never mentioned a word of what had happened in the visit to the Count's house. And yet he must have known how terribly anxious I was. Poor dear fellow! I suppose it must have distressed him even more than it did me. They all agreed that it was best that I should not be drawn further into this awful work, and I acquiesced. But to think that he keeps anything from me! And now I am crying like a silly fool, when I know it comes from my husband's great love and from the good, good wishes of those other strong men.

[...] Well, some day Jonathan will tell me all; and lest it should ever be that he should think for a moment that I kept anything from him, I still keep my journal as usual. Then if he has feared of my trust I shall show it to him, with every thought of my heart put down for his dear eyes to read.

Mina, no, you have to communicate now, in the present, you're you, you can un-acquiesce, you can break the curse, just talk to Jonathan now, noooooo

GOD this is masterfully infuriating work, Bramward Stokerbroker. Here we have on paper just how much this new status quo--the 'proper' status quo--grates against both of them. You can almost hear them grinding their teeth with the effort to keep smiling and nodding through this unanimous* decision. They know it is For Mina's Sake that they are doing this. Sure, they both hate every second of it and it breaks a loving rhythm they've shared for years together, BUT THEY KNOW BETTER NOW :)))

(Lucy is screaming in the afterlife. Renfield has his head in his hands.)

But all that aside, a thing I'm hooked on this read-around is the fact that, hey. We are reading this. Spoiler, but the entirety of Dracula is actually compiled together by Mina after the story closes. These are all written documents we're reading that the entire group has laid eyes on already. With everyone (bar Art and Quincey for some reason, thanks Mr. 3 Lines Allowed and Mr. Laconic :/, Jack is just talking and waiting for Mina to transcribe now, augh) on duty in some way to record the progress of things so that they can be read later as reference...I have to wonder now.

How honest are these pages the Harkers are putting down now versus what they wrote before joining Van Helsing's Scooby gang? Neither one is writing in shorthand. It's all plain English.

I had a class once where one of the assignments was to keep a daily journal. One page filled out every single day, about anything. Anyone want to guess how many personal secrets or honest feelings I put in those pages for the guy grading my class to read? If you said anything higher than 0 you're wrong.

The Harkers have an audience to worry about right now. An audience of Prof. Et Cetera, Dr. Asylum Director (whose asylum they're currently living in! the kind of place where Jonathan could've ended up and innumerable women have been imprisoned for being women the Wrong Way! whee!), Incredibly Wealthy and Empowered Lord, and Mr. Likewise Rich 'We Should Do Guns About It' American. Who all seem to like them, fresh-from-the-lower class, industrious and Dracula-confronting sorts that they are. Fast friends, all of them.

(Jonathan is still only Harker to them. Simultaneously the Man Who Survived Castle Dracula and the gofer guy doing the footwork and the paperwork/property hunt while Van Helsing hits the library and the others...well, I'm sure they're doing something. Other than re-reading the first half of Dracula.)

(...Which was compiled and transcribed by Mina. Who faced down Dracula in her jammies. Unarmed. At night. For Lucy. But she can't handle your scary stories about the houses full of dirt boxes, let alone join you on the hunt she was explicitly prepared and eager to help with. Can't risk it, little lady, off to bed now.)

This is where they are now that they've ~joined forces~ with Van Helsing and the Suitor Squad. After all they've done, all they're still relied on to do, the Harkers are with allies who have had their acquaintance for less than three days. And now, to appease those allies and their opinions and to keep everything placid with these nice, outnumbering, socially and monetarily endowed parties, they do what they've always done when faced with the fact of their being perpetually on the low rung of the ladder.

The Harkers accommodate. Including in their own diaries, as these too are now deemed forfeit important to the Cause, should the gang need to comb back through it all for clues.

That's why the Harkers are the only ones writing it down--because they already were. They're the kids in the group project who can be trusted to do the work. So just let them keep doing it. Keep an accurate record now, kids! You do such a good job of it, we'd only be getting in the way, ha ha. Remember that we can and will read everything you put down in the future.

Hence: All of what we read today. And will read in the dates to come.

The Harkers are writing under a (friendly) gun right now. They can purge some feelings, but not all of them. And not completely. And not in any way that certain doctors and upper class people of power they barely know might misconstrue as ungrateful or mad in any sense. The Harkers are good people. The Harkers are helpful. The Harkers are team players even if that means no longer being a team themselves. They chafe a little at this, but it's all so new to them! It's alright. God's will and Van Helsing's be done. They know better now.

With all this in mind, it makes much more sense why Jonathan chooses to use shorthand for a Very Particular Entry we see coming up. An entry that Mina alone could read and decide to enter in the distant future, after the storm had passed.

And why, in light of all that happens, he cannot trust himself to put more than a vignette's worth of lines down as time goes on. Not if he wants to keep himself from laying out some actual honesty for everyone to read. Mina's entries will be weightier things, while she still has the capacity to write--carefully. Always carefully.

[ash5monster01]

Learning to Love Part 5

Pairing: Rafe Cameron x FemReader!PlusSize

Warnings: 18+, langauge, angst, fluff, mentions of bullying, body image issues, fat shaming, fake relationship, eventual smut, minor enemies to lovers trope.

Summary: It's not uncommon for you to be shamed for your size, it is however uncommon to be told that no one would ever date you because of it. Rafe on the other hand is used to being called a jerk, that is until he is accused of seeing people for only what's on the surface. It's purely coicidental you two meet right after these accusations are thrown your way. So even though you two don't know each other, and probably never would've looked the others way before this, now you're both going to prove a point. It's simple really, prove others wrong and don't fall in love. Easier said than done.

word count: 2.5k

Part 4 ←→ Part 6

Masterlist

“You’re going to his place again?” Mila groans from the couch. She thought you were going to stay home after the insane shift you both had just worked. She had also managed to put away half a bottle of wine in the time you were getting ready to go to Rafe’s. He had to work a late night at the office and he had practically begged you to come over for an hour or two even though you were exhausted as well.

"Yes, he is my boyfriend and he wants to see me" you tell her and she pouts, refilling the glass in her hand. You realize she should just drink from the bottle at this point.

"Lame" she says and you chuckle, pulling a hoodie over your head.

"You're only saying that because I have a boyfriend and you don't. Now you know what it's like for me sister" you point at her and she rolls her eyes so hard you're positive they could've gotten stuck.

"True but also why doesn't he ever come here, is he to good for our little apartment or something?" you know she's wine drunk but her words still make you freeze. You hadn't considered going to Rafe's all the time hadn't benefited your end of the bargain for a while. Your neighbors, friends, peers, were all supposed to see that tall glass of water come in and out of your own apartment too.

"No, we're just used to me going there" you defend and she shakes her head like this says something about your relationship that you don't know or understand. Before you can ask her what she's thinking your phone rings and your sliding it out of your pocket.

"Hey Rafe, I'm leaving now" you answer and Mila perks up on the couch, eyes landng straight on you.

"Is that Rafe, tell him he sucks!" she says just loud enough that you know Rafe had heard.

"Baby, can you ask Mila why I suck?" he asks and you sigh as you turn and face your drunk friend who should be bothering some other boy tonight.

"He wants to know why he sucks" you tell her and she grins deviously before propping herself on her knees and leaning over the back of the couch.

"He sucks because he expects his girlfriend to be at his beck and call to every need, always making her go over there to satisfy him when he can come over here and tap that fine ass in her own space too" the deep blush that covers your cheeks from your best friends drunken rant is close to a firetruck as Rafe chuckles darkly on the other end of the phone.

"So Mila wants me to come satisfy your needs in your own space for once huh?" you hate that his words send nervous tingles through your body.

"She's had a little bit of wine, mixed in with some shots some customers bought for her" you tell him and he laughs loudly.

"Stay home, I'll be there in a little bit. She's right, this isn't just about me" and you nervously gulp while nodding even though he can't see you.

"Alright, I'll be here" you muster out and he mutters a goodbye that has you ending the call and shoving your phone back in your pocket. The second you look up you're shooting a glare at your bestfriend who's devious plan has just worked.

"He's coming here, you happy?" you ask as you walk into the living room, flopping onto the couch next to her and she grins, sipping at the wine.

"I guess I better open another bottle" she tells you and you shake your head as she stands to find another glass which you'll happily take to calm the nerves you have about Rafe being in your own space. It's only after one glass he finally makes an appearance with a soft knock on the door. Mila yells for him to come in as you prepare to entertain the boy for God knows how long. Yet when he opens the door and saunters in you find your mouth gaping. The Rafe you knew was always dressed to the nines, his leisure wear was still some sort of collared shirt and slacks, but the Rafe that just walked through your door is not. The thin fabric of his black t-shirt is stretched tightly over the expanse of his chest and the grey sweatpants he wears hang low on his hips, you catch his grin as he slips off the white converse on his feet that he had left untied, leaving him in only some socks.

"Damn" Mila says outloud and that has you blushing bright red once again. Rafe chuckles at your friend before walking over to you.

"Hi" you grin at him as calmly as you can and he smiles, slipping in the spot beside you on the couch.

"Hi" he says back to you, leaning forward where you catch the glint of the silver chain on his neck. His lips brush softly against your own and you try to remind yourself that none of this is real.

"Damn I need to get laid" Mila mutters beside you and this has you giggling against Rafe's lips before he pulls away. You watch as he nods at the glass in Mila's hand.

"You going to share?" he asks and she smiles at him, a sign she likes how comfortable he already is being here. As she had prepared for this she leans to the coffee table, pouring some wine into the empty glass she had set aside for him.

"Have at it" she tells him as she slips the wine glass into his hand and he smiles before taking a sip and wrapping his arm around you on the couch.

"So what're we doing? Movie night or something?" he asks and Mila smirks as she grabs the remote, happy to be third wheeling and get a front row seat to this relationship you've been experiencing.

"Exactly that, welcome to our apartment" she tells him before clicking a few buttons. You're not sure what kind of evil she is on tonight when she clicks The Notebook knowing this movie wrecks you absolutely every time. Rafe snuggles closer into your side as the movie starts and you accept your defeat, already knowing it's going to be a long night.

When the movie ends you have tears running down your face. Tears that make Rafe realize how empathetic you are to the characters on the screen. The notion makes him want to curl up and comfort you all night. When the screen finally goes black and the credits run down the screen Mila makes her great escape, leaving the two now empty bottles of wine that she mostly completed herself, sit on the table. "Well that’s it for me. Have fun you two, I expect another hickey like last time"

"What?" you splutter out, curious as to what hickey she had meant. You had a mark on your neck after the night at the hotel but you just chalked it up to drunken injury.

"Goodnight" Rafe tells her as she disappears down the hall and into her room and that is when you realize she was expecting Rafe to spend the night.

"I guess she thinks you’re staying the night" you whsiper into the quiet of the room and Rafe chuckles dryly.

"And giving you a hickey" he laughs and his smile makes a smile of your own break out across your face.

"If you're comfortable I dont mind" you tell him and Rafe raises his eyebrows at this.

"Comfortable with staying or giving you a hickey?" you blush at his words which only causes him to laugh even more. "Come on you, I can handle a sleepover. I'll jump on your bed if we need to make things convincing"

"You're insane" you tell him and he only smiles as he stands and reaches a hand out to help you from the couch. When he doesn't start walking you give him a confused look and before you can react he’s bending down and wrapping his arms behind your legs. Panic shoots through you at the idea of him not being able to lift you, your weight dragging him down, but what you dont expect is how easily he props you on his shoulder and starts down the hallway.

"Rafe, oh my God" you sqeual unbeknownst to Mila who has poked her head out of the room to see you two. She’s surprised you’ve allowed Rafe to carry you but happy you’re beginning to learn that a man can love you for exactly who you are.

Rafe finds your bedroom easily, carrying you in and dropping you in a heap on top of the bed. You can’t help the grin that’s on your face from how he had carried you with ease. Yes you were big but he was strong. Had you been looking at this size difference all wrong? Rafe jumps beside you, fingers tickling your sides that has you squealing into the late night air. It had to be almost 3am by now but you didn’t even care. Rafe had become one of your best friends and you never would’ve thought some aggravated deal would’ve gotten you into this situation.

“I like your room” he says once he stops, you both trying to catch your breath. You don’t miss the way he hovers above you, the chain now loose from the collar of his shirt. He finds himself holding a breath when your finger curls around it, giving it a light tug.

“Thank you, if I had known you were coming sooner I would’ve cleaned up a bit” you tell him, mindlessly playing with the chain.

“I don’t mind” he tells you and you smile, letting the chain go and moving to sit up.

“I’m gonna wash my face, you need anything?” you ask and he shakes his head, moving to the side to allow you to leave. As you wash your face he pulls back your covers, slips off his shirt, and crawls inside. When you’re back in the room you find yourself laughing at the way he lays leisurely in your bed, entirely at home with both arms propped behind him. “You comfy?”

“Never better” he grins and you shake your head before shutting your door and turning off the light. The lamp on your bedside table is the only illumination back to the bed where the most good looking guy you’ve ever seen lays topless in. You smile shyly at him as you crawl in beside him, lifting the covers over yourself, and realizing this is the first time you’ve spent the night with him sober.

“Goodnight” you tell him softly before reaching for your lamp. In just one click you two are enveloped by darkness. You can barely see him but you can feel the warmth that comes from the usually cold side of your bed.

“Goodnight sweetheart” he returns in the darkness and you try your best to pretend he’s not there and just fall asleep. It’s proven to be useless because you’re hyper aware that the most good looking man you know is trying to sleep beside you.

“Rafe?” you plead out and you feel the bed shift as he rolls on his side to face you.

“Yeah baby?” he asks and you sigh, nerves licking up your spine. So you do the only thing you do best, ramble.

“I know Mila was just teasing but if she doesn’t see evidence we did anything she’ll feel bad for intervening but then I feel like if she does see evidence she’ll have something more to tease us about. It’s silly I just don’t know how to do this whole fake dating thing, hell I’m barely good at real dating, and I’m pretty sure I’ve never had a real hick-“ you’re cut off by his finger pressing against your lips in the dark.

“You don’t shut up sometimes” he teases and you blush, which for once he can’t see. “Do you want to give me a hickey?”

“W-what?” you stutter out and he chuckles which makes your whole body warm over.

“Fair trade, since she thinks you had a hickey last weekend” he says and you heart triples in speed.

“I don’t really know how” you say and he tenses beside you, something you take as surprise but really he finds himself extremely turned on by your inexperience.

“I can show you” this is the last thing you expect him to say so you take a moment to let it soak in before answering.

“Okay” you say and the bed shifts again as Rafe sits up, rolling over to face you a bit better. You can barely makeout his form but still can tell how handsome he is.

“It’s easier then you think, just relax” and you almost laugh because how can he expect you to relax when he’s about to kiss your neck. He places a hand on your waist and your stomach jumps at the feeling. He leans some of his weight on you until his hot breath is fanning across your skin. “Ready?”

You nod feverishly, just wanting him to get it over with. He starts small, just a few pecks up the expanse of your neck and you try to keep your breathing regular. Then finally where you neck meets your shoulder he wraps his lips around the expanse of skin, tongue lapping smoothly over it, while he sucks. A small squeak leaves your throat as he continues. The minute he finds the sweet spot you have to surpress a moan but based on the way you’re breathing he can already tell you’re enjoying it.

As if you’re no longer in control of your body your hand meets the back of his head, fingers tangling into his hair and gripping slightly. What you don’t expect is the hum of delight Rafe sends into your neck from the action. He works you over as best he can, fighting the urge to kiss you literally anywhere else. When he finally gets the small moan he was searching for the hand that’s on your waist meets your waist band. The shorts you wear are pulled above your belly button and you know the further his hand goes down the more fat he’ll find. Yet you hate the anticipation you have mixed with fear. He truly could just reach down, give you the relief you need but your panic still wins. Loosening your hand from his hair he gets the memo that this is too much and as much as he’s disappointed, he’s more disappointed you don’t believe that his attraction can be real.

“That should’ve done it” he says as he releases from you and you nod even though he can’t see you.

“Is it okay if I don’t try, not quite yet?” you ask nervously and Rafe’s shoulders drop in disappointment which you can barely see.

“Yeah, it’s okay. Next time” he says with a teasing tone even though he was quite excited to have your warm mouth all over his neck as well. Especially since just the few small sounds you had made turned him on more than anything.

“Goodnight for real” you say with a light laugh and he gives a tight lipped smile that you can’t see and rolls back into his spot beside you.

“Goodnight for real”

a/n: listen my plus size girlies, I know the whole lifting you up thing isn’t entirely believable. I myself fully believe Rafe/Drew could never lift me. I’ve been trying to make this fic as accurate and believable for us bigger girls as possible, but don’t we deserve the cliches sometimes! Rafe is a fictional character, I can make him able to lift the biggest of us if he wants! I stand by that <3

Taglist: @sublimepenguinpeach-blog @fishingirl12 @houseofperfecttaste @abbybarnesstuff @carma-fanficaddict @jjmaybankisbae @exhaustedbutelated @diagnosedpsychosis @daivny @drewstarkeygf @vinniehackersbaee @emsgoodthinkin @apollo3475 @https-urwife @willowalexissss @kisstaya @hcneyedsstuff @lexiereblogs @drewsuncrustables @mveggieburger @marvel4life3000 @bibliophilewednesday @humungouspatrolwolf @ijustwanttoreadlols @jaijustreads @sleepjam @dilvcv @aaronhotchswife @sunshine1218 @lavenderhazeq

Comment if you want to be added to the taglist :))

[jennelikejennay]

There's an experience a lot of aspec people have where they do like the idea of sex, just not of themselves participating in it. So they get off from porn, erotica, voyeurism, etc but they don't want to be touched sexually themselves. Everything is better second-hand.

I could go on and on about this: about what the appeal is, about why it's so frequently taken as problematic or fetishizing, about how a person who feels this way (cough, me) can have sex in ways that are satisfying to them and the people they love. I even wrote a fic about it (although normally, I'm writing fics because of it, not about it).

But today I just want to talk about the name.

See I mentioned it and somebody said "oh that's called aegosexual."

A: Greek for not

Ego: both Latin and Greek for I

Sexual: latinate suffix meaning, well, sexual. Generally used with reference to attraction.

Not-me-sexual.

I hate it SO MUCH. Not as an aspec person so much as as a classicist. Who is coining these things and have they even been peer-reviewed?!

First off, the a- Greek prefix becomes an- before a vowel, such as in anemia and anarchy. Putting a+e together makes a diphthong ae which is pronounced differently in ecclesiastical Latin (ā), classical Latin (ī), American English (usually ā) and British English (often ē). So faced with aegosexual I simply don't know how to pronounce it. Is this one of those words, like Latinx or m/m, that we readily use online but suddenly hang fire when we have to say it out loud? A word that works in only one medium is nonfunctional. So somebody better decide how we're all saying it or we'll be having a gif/gif debate forever.

Second, there's a general rule that we use Greek roots with other Greek roots and Latin with Latin. Hence why we say astronomy and not stellonomy, stethoscope and not thorascope. I will admit that we break this rule all the time: homosexual rather than similisexual or homoerotic, automobile rather than automaton or ipsemobile. Still, all things being equal I would prefer nonegosexual or perhaps sinegosexual (without-me-sex) just for the sake of smoothness. I'm discounting anegoerotic because of the two vowels in a row problem.

But then I start thinking, why are we defining this thing by what it's not? I don't mean I'm not attracted to myself (I think I'm cute, transporter clones please call me). I don't mean I will grudgingly accept sex so long as it doesn't involve me. I mean I actively am into sex that doesn't involve me. I tried calling it third-person sexuality but in English we can't compound with English roots really.

So let's go back to the drawing board!

The Greek pronouns for self and others are taken: autosexual means you're into yourself, allosexual means you're into other people (as opposed to ace). But the Latin ones are all wide open, and Latin is what I want, to go with sexual.

Latin has tons and tons of pronouns. SO MANY PRONOUNS. Nonbinary Romans would be looking at an absolute banquet. Along with our usual me, you, it, etc, we have a raft of pronouns which work well for distinguishing different subjects in their long-ass sentences. So you have hic, this, but you also have ipse, That, you know, The One, Himself, Her Upstairs. It's mildly emphatic. Then you have iste, which means something like "that over by you," but sometimes also kind of "that one, ugh." When a sentence begins Iste Caesar you know the author isn't a huge fan of Caesar. Like saying "your Caesar, not mine." But it could be more like istud poculum, hey can you pass that cup, the cup over by you? All of these are of course available in all three genders, two numbers, and five cases, giving us 30 forms to learn for each. Yay!

The one I want for this purpose is ille. It's the most general kind of that. Rather than "this by me" and "that by you," ille is "that over there, not near either of us."

So what about illesexual? Attracted to something over there in which neither you nor I am involved at all?

illesexual

What do you think, is it too late to make this happen?

[the-castle-of-dimitrescu]

"She's perfect, Alci..." Raine breathed, sitting beside Alcina in her hospital room, gazing at the newest member of their family.

"Just like her mama." Alcina replied with a chuckle, turning her blue eyes to Raine, her smile contagious, as she held the newborn close to her chest.

Raine blushed at the compliment, leaning in to press her forehead to Alcina's before pressing a kiss to her lips, trying desperately to convey every ounce of love she felt in her heart for the woman before her.

"We haven't named her yet, you know." Raine noted, brushing her finger gently down the newborns cheek, smiling lovingly as a yawn escaped the infant.

"Elaina. Elaina Grace Dimitrescu-Williams. Or Williams-Dimitrescu, whichever you prefer, draga." Alcina replied, gazing down at their little one, a tired smile once more coming to her lips. "We can call her Ellie for short, as homage to Elliot." Alcina chuckled, which Raine quickly joined in.

"I told mum you were in labor last night. I'm sure she's beside herself wanting to see her." Raine hummed, sitting back with a contemplative look on her face. "Dad and Eli too. Not to mention the girls and Karl."

"Ugh, don't remind me of my idiot brother-in-law when we're sharing this precious moment, darling..." Alcina deadpanned, fixing Raine with a stare that earned a short laugh and an apology. "Be a good daughter and call Wendy and Sam. I'm sure they can't wait to meet their granddaughter."

Raine did just that, ringing Wendy as soon as she fished her phone from her pocket, the camera for their FaceTime already trained on the newborn in Alcina's arms.

Wendy answered on the second ring, her face coming on screen as Raine settled in beside Alcina, both of them watching as tears began streaming down Wendy's face, followed by muffled yelling for Sam to come and see.

"Good to see you too, mum." Raine laughed, the camera still capturing Eliana as Sam peered over Wendy's shoulder at the newborn. "Meet your granddaughter, Eliana Grace."

"Oh my God! Oh, she's absolutely precious!" Wendy sobbed, propping her glasses on her head so she could wipe at her eyes, while Sam continued to smile lovingly at the newborn. "Oh, I called Eli as soon as you texted me last night. He's here too, just give him a moment." Wendy signaled Raine to turn the camera so she could address them as she wiped at her nose with a tissue. "Alcina, how are you feeling, dear? Has my daughter been good to you?"

Raine groaned before handing Alcina the phone, the woman expertly balancing Eliana in one arm as she took hold of the phone with her other hand.

"She's been so wonderful the whole night, Wendy. A truly wonderful pillar of support, even if I almost crushed her hand and cussed her out during the process of delivery." Alcina chuckled, looking over at Raine, who was flexing her hand to prove it still worked, teasingly flipping Alcina off before slipping off the bed.

"Yes, well, at least it wasn't the hand that mattered, darling." Raine teased, arching a brow at Alcina before grabbing her wife's phone to call the girls.

"Oh, do remind the girls to be quiet when they come by to visit. I'll hopefully be able to get some rest before they make their presence known." Alcina winced, earning a quick 'noted' from Raine as she stepped out into the hall to call the girls. "And speaking of visits, when can we expect you to come and visit?" Alcina questioned Wendy.

"Whenever you'd like for us to come. Though these first few weeks are really about you and Raine bonding with her. And I'm sure the girls are going to be more than thrilled to meet their new sister."

"We would love to have you whenever you can come out. I can have Raine purchase the flight whenever you'd like."

"Please don't trouble yourself with our expenses, Alcina. We can cover our own flights." Wendy chuckled. "Oh! Eli, come see! Look at how precious your neice is!"

Alcina quickly turned the camera back to rear-facing so Elliot could see the newborn, a new smile on her lips as she watched an uncle meet his niece for the first time. Raine stepped back into the room then, seeing her brother's face on the screen. Watching his expressions as he spoke to Eliana for the first time, the way his eyes lit up as he simply looked at her, made her heart soar.

"You know, Eliana was the perfect name for her. We needed an 'Ellie' to go with 'Eli'." Raine chuckled, watching her brother's expression change again, his eyes glossing over with unshed tears before he moved out of the screen, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Oh, he's absolutely in love, dear." Wendy beamed as she came back onto the screen.

They talked for several more minutes until a nurse knocked to come in. Raine was absolutely over the moon as she watched Alcina cuddle their daughter close. And then those blue eyes were on her, her smile causing her nose to crinkle just slightly as she waved Raine over with a crook of her finger.

"Your turn, mama. Mother needs to get some form of rest before the three wildcards show up." Alcina chuckled, handing Eliana over to Raine, smiling as she watched her wife cuddle their daughter for the first time, her eyes overflowing with love as she looked down at the infant, gently rocking her in her arms as Alcina laid back in the bed, her eyes growing heavy with sleep.

Raine smiled as she closed the distance between them once more, leaning over to press a kiss to Alcina's forehead, whispering sweet nothings to her wife until she drifted off to sleep, her skin kissed by the soft glow of the sunrise peeking in through the blinds.

[dameronology]

you and me [joel miller] - 1/2

"now i've had time to think it over, we're much older and the bone's too big to bury" - jaded, miley cyrus. a.k.a the one where you and joel see each other again and don't know what the fuck to do

warnings: angst, swearing, break-ups, swearing again because my god there is a lot, mentions of alcohol, mentions of death, no tlou 2 spoilers but probably some spoilers from the show. ok i think that's it.

this is my first full length joel fic and tbh i'm not even sure i've got the hang of his character lol. also, it's been about four years since i played the game and i'm writing this from memory of that and the show so pls forgive any inaccuracies. hope you enjoy. xx

jazz

p.s there will deffo be a part 2 to this lol dw

2 0 1 8

Life outside the Quarantine Zone was different.

It was both better and worst; better because there was no military breathing down your back, but worst because the Infected roamed free. It made Joel more tense - even when he kept you firmly behind him, rifle ready to go and finger itching on the trigger - to know that they could be anywhere. Sure, the military sucked but the biggest threat now was the Infected, and you'd come to learn a long time ago that there was no point arguing with his overprotectiveness. It was warranted, after everything he'd been through, so you operated under three rules: he went first, you went second, and if anyone was going to die first, it was going to be him. That last part was the one you loathed the most but he wasn't going to make the same mistake again.

Still, there were moments outside the QZ where he could let his guard down. When you were far enough away from civilisation, and far enough away from any hoards, he would let himself exist beside you, peacefully and at rest. Those nights camping - sometimes on the way to Bill and Frank's, or on a smuggling run - were his favourite. Sometimes it was beneath the stars, or beneath a tangle of trees. It was a tiny insight into what things could have been like in another life, without outbreaks and infected and constantly being on the move. They were moments he craved but so often, you found yourself hating them. Mostly because you knew they would eventually come to an end, but also because it was proof that you could exist out of the QZ. You'd felt like the place had been suffocating you for months. For you, it felt like a death sentence. Joel didn't love them either but he liked that you were both safe there. He could easily find you amongst the walls and you only ever left together. The thing that he thought was keeping you together was actually, in your mind, the thing that was driving you apart.

You'd pose the idea to him (for the tenth time) on a cold night, about four miles outside of the Boston QZ. The two of you had set up camp in the thickness of a forest; your tent was older than your respective ages combined and the fire was dwindling, but you were both content. Joel was leant against a tree, an arm wrapped around you and keeping you firmly to his side, free hand ready on his gun.

"I don't think I want to go back."

Joel peered down at you, quirking an eyebrow. "The hell are you talking about?"

"To the QZ," you said. "I don't want to go back to the QZ."

"This again?" he sighed - but you couldn't ignore the way his grip on you grew tighter. Tenser. "We've spoken about this a thousand times. The QZ is safe. It's...it's our home."

"Just because our stuff is that doesn't mean it's home," you murmured. "After this run, we could just take our stuff and go. We know the way out, we know how to run at this point, don't we?"

"It's dangerous out here," Joel reminded you. "We know how to be out here for limited periods of time. Those routes, those safe spaces and uninfected areas will run out eventually. So will our resources."

You sighed, sniffing. "Yeah. You're right. It's a silly idea."

"Hey...look, baby, don't get all mopey on me now," he shuffled slightly to the side, gently placing his hand on your cheek. "The main thing is that we have each other, wherever that may be. We've just gotta stick to the QZ for now but I promise, I'll get us out eventually. Just hang in there."

"Of course," you gave him a smile.

"It's you and me," he quietly added. "That's what matters."

"You and me," you'd replied. "I promise."

Still, Joel couldn't deny that he'd seen the light in you withering - the light that seemed to come back every time you were outside of the QZ. He knew you were stubborn; that once you had an idea in your head, that was it.

That's why he wasn't surprised to find you gone two weeks later.

2 0 2 3

Joel, my love,

I'm sorry. I'm never going to stop being sorry, but I tried to tell you a thousand times and you never listened.

I couldn't live that way any longer. I wanted to leave the QZ the day I got there, but then I met you, and I stayed longer than I ever imagined. You made it bearable - more than that. I just couldn't carry on anymore, especially knowing that the outside world may not be all that bad. It would be even better with you, but I can't force you to do something so drastic when you don't want to. That's not fair on you, but forcing myself to stay wouldn't be fair on me. Putting myself first feels like the worst thing in the world right now, but I have to do this. For me. I hope you can understand. I love you and I don't think I'll ever stop. I hope we cross paths again one day. It's you and me, always.

Joel Miller carried two things with, always. Three things, actually; his rifle, the letter you wrote him, and the grief that you'd left in your wake. It wasn't your fault - and Joel didn't blame you, not one bit - but he couldn't help but feel like it was his. You'd told him you'd been struggling and as he often did with his own emotions, he'd forced you to swallow it down. He thought that would have kept you together but unsurprisingly, it had driven you away.

Life, as it always had, went on. People came and went - though you never came back - and before long, Joel found himself trekking through Wyoming for the second time. Ellie had consumed all his priorities at that point. She had healed more than one of his wounds, but the night she'd found that letter in his bag and began asking questions had re-awoken Joel's yearning for you.

"Joel Miller, a relationship man? I never would have thought," she'd joked. And she hadn't really stopped asking questions since. She'd wanted to know how you met, how you fell in love, and most of all, why you'd left. Though, it didn't take a genius to guess.

The first time Joel had been in Jackson, he hadn't actually spent much time in Jackson. He'd been in the workshop, then in the bar with Tommy, and then he'd left with Ellie not long after. Now that he was there for the foreseeable future, he found himself wandering one morning. Ellie was still dead to the world, and he'd taken it as an opportunity to see what the fuss was actually all about.

Joel had never believed in ghost towns; maybe that was what this place had been for a while, but most of his ghosts resided back in Texas and Boston. Not Jackson. He had no history here; no one except from Tommy knew he was. Maybe he liked it that way. Maybe that was his chance for a fresh start, for him, and for Ellie...and for you, apparently.

He felt like he had seen a ghost the first time he saw you again. Coming in from patrol with Tommy and Maria, you were leading a horse at the front of the pack. You didn't look any older - if anything, the freedom and comfort that Jackson had brought you had de-aged you slightly. You were radiant; beautiful and shining and with the spark that Joel had always feared he'd strangled out of you by forcing you to stay in the QZ.

He hadn't meant to call out your name. It just sort of happened. It had been a whisper at first, actually, growing into a shout as he crossed the town square and towards the gates. You'd recognised his voice straight away but you hadn't actually believed it to be him. It wasn't until you saw him coming towards you that you realised. It hit you like a truck; actually Joel hit you like a truck, because he hadn't really thought about hugging you, and you in too much disbelief to hug him, so you sort of just fell to the ground in a pile-of-you-and-Joel-and-snow.

"What the fuck, Joel?!" your words had been muffled, on account for the mouthful of snow you had. "What the...what are you doing here?"

"What the fuck are you doing here?!"

"You didn't answer my question," you shot back. Joel stood up, sticking out his hand to help you up. You were happy to see him - and he was happy to see you - but before the happiness, there was the other a thousand complex emotions that had risen in your time apart. "How on Earth did you get here from Boston?"

"Couldn't I be asking you all the same things?!" he'd demanded. He sighed, then, and faltered for a moment. "Shit. I can't believe it's you."

Joel took a deep breath, anger fading; he finally held his arms open to you, taking you into a warm, desperate hug for the first time in five years. Your bodies practically thudded together, arms tangled into one as you clung onto him. You didn't regret leaving - not one bit, now that you were here, not that you were free - but god, there had been days where you would have traded all of that freedom for one more day with Joel. There were no radios here, so you'd hadn't a clue if he was even still alive.

It had been worst for him, because he did have a radio. And he spent days waiting by it, hearing story after story about people being found dead, or new Infected being found by the walls of QZ. They had matched your description on more than one occasion, and after a while, he'd just assumed the worst.

Tommy cleared his throat. "I won't ask, but if you need a moment, the bar is empty."

You glanced at Joel. "Yeah. Thanks Tommy."

Trudging to the bar, with Joel in tow, you walked in silence. It wasn't that you didn't have anything to say, it was just that you didn't know where to start. You'd gone over this scenario a thousand times in your head but now that it had actually happened, you were speechless.

The bar was, as promised, completely dead. You stepped inside and locked the door behind you, heading straight to the whiskey shelf. A double Glen Morangie for you, and a double of the cheapest stuff for Joel. That had always been his favourite.

You took a seat opposite him, sliding the drink to him.

Joel's dark eyes flickered to the drink and then back up to you. "You remembered?"

"I didn't forget a single thing," you shot back. "I promise."

"It's funny - and forgive me if I sound shitty for saying this, but I hope you can understand my position right now - but your promises...I can't say they mean much," he murmured.

You faltered slightly, heart dropping in your chest. "I don't blame for you being angry at me, Joel. I left you and obviously that hurt but can't you see it from my perspective? I was drowning. You could see that I was fucking drowning and you just...you ignored me. You brushed it aside because of what you wanted-"

"- I wanted you," he cut you off. Joel downed his drink in one gulp, slamming the glass back on the table. "All I fucking wanted was you."

"You wanted me in the QZ," you reminded him. "I told you I couldn't stay. A thousand times, Joel, and you ignored me on every single occasion."

"And leaving was the solution?"

"Yeah," you said firmly. "Yeah, it was. I wondered for a while, maybe two years or so, and then I joined a bunch of other stragglers and we ended up here."

"And Jackson isn't suffocating?"

"When I can come and go as I please? When we have running water, electricity, houses and infrastructure?" you couldn't help but let out a derivative laugh. "For what it's worth, I've missed you."

Joel's angry guard quickly came down with your admission. He reached a hand out across the table, brushing a thumb over your palm.

"I've missed you too," he murmured. "The people on the radio...they always spoke about finding bodies and Infected, ones that matched your description. I assumed after a while you were dead."

"I'm sorry," you softly said. "I wish you knew how many times I thought about turning back. Even recently, I thought about it, but I was scared I was gonna come back and find you dead, or even worst that I would find you alive and that you wouldn't want to know-"

"- you think that me rejecting you is worst than me dying?" Joel raised an eyebrow, trying to fight back a smile. "You're always so fuckin' dramatic."

You smiled. "Yeah, I know."

"It hurt, y'know," he went quieter again, voice dropping to a whisper. "You leaving...I knew you spoke about it but I didn't think you'd do it. Not without me, at least. Not when I promised to try and get us out-"

"- you hurt me too, Joel," you admitted. "It was all well and good to say one day, I promise but when is one day? Every time I tried to tell you how I was feeling, you shut me down. You shut me out and then you shut me down."

"So you're sayin' I drove you away?"

You paused for a moment; you could have denied it, you could have said it was all your own doing and that Joel's purposeful ignorance to your suffering wasn't relevant. He wouldn't have believed you. There was no point in denying what he already knew was true.

"Yeah," you shrugged. "You did. And I'm sorry about it, okay? I'm sorry that I left, but I didn't do it because I stopped loving you, or because I wanted to get away from you. I had to get away from everything and there hasn't been a single fucking day since I left that I haven't thought about you, or missed you, or wished that you'd come with me..."

You stopped then, barely able to swallow the lump in your throat or ignore the tears that had formed in your eyes. Joel was feeling a too - maybe just not as visibly - but he so desperately wanted to take his words back.

"I don't know what I'm meant to do now," you continued. "Now that you're here...I don't know how long for-"

"- for the foreseeable future," he said. "I have a kid with me. She's not my kid, but she is my kid and....she's the best thing that happened to me since you. Don't tell her I said that."

You smiled slightly. "The foreseeable future, huh?"

"Yeah. This seems like the best place to be, compared to the rest of fuckin' country," Joel replied. "Especially if you're here."

"Right," you nodded, smile not faltering. "I'm glad you're here. Despite everything."

He raised an eyebrow. "Despite everything?"

"You gotta understand, Joel, I'm over the fucking moon to see you. To know that you're alive, and well, and that..." you paused, trailing off.

One thing you hadn't expected to feel when you saw him again was hesitance. Anger, and resentment, and fucking hesitance. It was something you hadn't realised you were harbouring, but knowing that the man you loved had purposefully ignored the way you felt - even five years ago - hurt. You just hadn't realised how much til now, and seeing him had wrenched all those unhealed wounds right up, tearing them from the back of your brain and making them fresh all over again. Especially when he'd had the audacity to be angry at you - maybe rightfully so - but then not understanding why you might be angry at him.

There was an elephant in the room: what happened now? Did you get back together? Forget about everything that had happened, so that you could be happy again?

No. That ship had sailed. It had sailed, and then it had hit an iceberg and sank, and it had whatever versions of you and Joel that had existed then down with it.

You grabbed your drink, downing the whiskey in one gulp in the same way Joel had just moments earlier. "I'll see you around Joel."

[teenage-idiot]

In the Blink of an Eye - 16

Avengers Age of Ultron | Quicksilver x Female Reader Fan-fiction.

*WARNING SPOILERS*

Contains strong language, sexual references and mentions of death.

1052 words

CHAPTER 16

We all walked up to the main entrance of the building together. Outside the front doors were two bouncers dressed in all black uniforms. There were a few other people just getting let inside as we approached. Once we made it to the entrance, we began entering in pairs.

We all had to use fake names that Bruce had come up with for us, along with completely different identities altogether. While going over the details of the plan I'd asked why we didn't need disguises as well, but apparently no one attending the party would recognise us, and we'd be in and out before Hydra even knew we were there. I trusted my team fully, and so went along with it. However, now I was actually here, I felt like I was out in the open, totally exposed, and vulnerable.

Pietro and I both gave our assigned names and were let in. He gave my hand a quick squeeze to reassure me we were doing fine, and I squeezed back gently.

"Everybody good?" I heard Cap say into my earpiece.

Silence.

"I'll take that as a yes then. Okay, Black Widow, do your thing."

I looked around and spotted Clint and Thor already in their positions, keeping an eye out, yet somehow managing to still blend in perfectly with everyone around them.

A voice in my ear soon pulled me out of my daydream.

"Quicksilver and y/n, east hallway secure," said Nat.

With that, Pietro and I made like we were going to the bathroom, and headed for the east hallway. He lowered his hand to the small of my back as we walked along, causing butterflies to erupt in my stomach.

'God, this is not helping,' I thought.

We entered the hallway and walked straight past the toilets, making a bee-line for the staircase. 

"Heading up the east hallway staircase now," I said.

"We're waiting for you on the second floor," Nat replied.

We made it to the top of the stairs and opened the glass door leading into the hallway where Natasha and Wanda were standing. 

"Be careful," Nat said sincerely, handing me the key card for the control room.

"You too," I smiled, taking the key card out of her hands.

I grabbed Pietro's hand and led him down the long hallway to the control room. I swiped the key card with haste and flung the door wide open.

"Keep a lookout," I said as I walked towards one of the computers.

I began trying to hack into the system, but surprise surprise, it needed a key code.

"Tony, little help here," I spoke, getting frustrated.

"Okay, just a second. Okay, I'm accessing the computer now. There, you should be good from here on out," he said.

"Thanks," I said, breathing a sigh of relief.

It took a little while longer, but soon I had gotten into the system and was able to deactivate the seventh floor alarms and security.

"Cap, systems are down," I said.

"Okay. You and Pietro wait there for further instruction," he answered back quickly.

"Now we wait," Pietro said, sighing after he said this.

"Uh, guys," I heard Maria say, "we have a problem."

"What," I heard Nat snap through the ear piece.

"The representatives are early," Maria answered.

"I thought you were tracking them," Pietro said as he gritted his teeth.

"I was, but there was a glitch and-"

"Don't worry Maria. Okay, Cap you guys better hurry up in there," I said.

There were a few moments of silence as I waited anxiously for a reply.

"Got it," Cap said.

"Okay they're out, now y/n do your thing," Bruce said.

I swiftly restored all the alarms and security systems back to the way they were, as if we were never there.

"Let's go," I said to Pietro, turning on my heels and heading straight for the door, leaving the key card behind on the desk.

Pietro grabbed my hand and practically dragged me to the fire exit on that floor. 

"Tony," he said.

"On it," Tony said.

Pietro tried the door and it opened smoothly.

"Shit," he cursed.

I peered over the handrail to see two security guards coming up the stairs towards us. We backtracked to the hallway, closing the door as quickly and quietly as possible.

"Thor, you guys better be distracting them!" I huffed.

I glanced at Pietro to see how he was doing.

"I really wish we could use your speed right now," I said.

"Me too, but you know everybody would see, then the mission would be totally screwed," he replied.

"Like it isn't already," I muttered.

We started going down the stairs, but only made it to the landing halfway down as the representatives were coming up the stairs.

I stood, frozen, not having a clue what to do. 

'This is it,' I thought, but just as I was thinking this, I felt my body being turned and before I knew what was happening, Pietro kissed me.

I was shocked at first, but soon melted into it, my eyes fluttering closed and my hands finding their place around his neck. His hands were around my waist, pulling me closer, deepening the kiss more and more each second. My fingers began to tangle in his hair, but then I heard a voice in my ear, saying something to me.

I pulled away from Pietro, and turned to see a security guard standing before me.

"This area is unauthorized, you two need to head back to the party," he said.

"Oh, of course," I said sheepishly, realizing the reason for the kiss.

I walked down the stairs, Pietro behind me holding my hand. We reached the bottom and I glanced over my shoulder to see the security guard was gone.

I breathed out sharply, relieved that we didn't get caught.

"You know, that was..." I paused trying to find the right word, "smart," I said.

"Oh," was all he could say.

We left the building in silence and got in a car with Nat and Clint.

The whole journey back I felt...strange. I couldn't quite explain it. I mean, I was happy that Pietro kissed me, of course, but it wasn't because he actually liked me. I felt empty. 

'Maybe it's just not meant to be,' I thought.

[turtlesaph]

Her Tears For This Kingdom:: Chapter 5

[Legend of Zelda Fanfic]

CHAPTER 5:: Four Stones- Part 2

Zora Domain was absolutely stunning! She had only visited here once in the past but she had been a child and hadn't actually had the time to really explore anything beyond mere professional courtesy and appearance; before moving to her mother she had spent some time with her father who had been a traveling weaponsmith. Her abusive rebel of a drunken father had worked hand in hand with a Zora blacksmith to create the magnificent Scale Trident; a work of art, her father used to boast. A load of bollocks, she'd say.

Bah!

Glad to be rid of that bastard!

She smiled up at Dokadama, her current traveling companion, and he smiled down at her. He was really friendly!

"Say, Dama, how come you travel? Do you enjoy it? Mmm, let me rephrase that; what started you traveling?" Her curiosity was piqued as they traveled along the bridge to Zora Domain. They were so close to tasty fish!

"My father was a respected Goron miner. But I wasn't really interested in the mining aspect. Sure, I love studying rocks but I love to study so much more! Nature and biomes are fascinating." He gave a chuckle as he was amused by the curious sparkle to her eyes. "What about you? You mentioned being kicked out of Gerudo Town; what'd you do?"

She blew a raspberry and splayed her hands against the back of her head as she looked ahead. "I was raised a little differen', s'all." She huffed out, trying to contain the feelings her past brought up. "My father was a weaponsmith, he traveled a lot to create weapons for those who commissioned him. But he was a drunk, got into fights sometimes. I was sen' away to live with my mother with the tribe however.. they were different from what I was use to. It was hard adjustin'.." She heaved a sigh. "I got into trouble. A lot. Eventually.. I did somethin' real stupid, got thrown out, told not ta' come back. My mother turned 'er back and didn't watch me leave. Not that I care!"

"That sounds awful." Dama said softly and she looked up to see him frowning as his brows were furrowed. "I couldn't imagine my dad doing that. He encouraged my dreams and pushed me to do them. I'm grateful to him for so many things."

"That must have been nice. A supportive parent would 'ave been a game changer. S'all good though. I'm happy with my life! I get to roam to my heart's content." She flashed him a cheeky wide-toothed grin before lowering her arms back down. "I'm starving!"

"We're almost there." He gestured ahead as they rounded a bend and they could see the last bridge spread out with the Zora Domain's main court spread out just at the end, the tall fish hovering over it like a guardian.

"Yummy fish here we come!" She skipped on ahead as he trailed behind.

They arrived at the entrance where two guards blinked at them.

"Welcome to Zora Domain, please make sure to try our delicious meals and enjoy a good rest at our inn." One guard said with a smile.

"Thank you so much!" Dama said softly, returning the smile as the two walked in; they didn't really seem all that fazed by a Gerudo and a Goron entering.

"Guests?! A Goron and a Gerudo?!" A voice above said as a form peered over the edge from the second level, studying them. It was an albino white shark Zora who looked at them with golden eyes. "Welcome, welcome!" As they came bounding down the steps towards them Elian realized this was the Zora Princess from how elegant she seemed and the small crown upon her head. "My name is Princess Ulu, welcome to our home; can I help you in any way? We don't usually get Goron or Gerudo travelers."

"You're most kind." Dama said from beside her as they both bowed to the princess. "Please do not fuss over us, princess, we're just travelers who want to try your tasty fish." He flashed a smile towards Elian, mimicking her words from earlier. "And any tasty rocks you may have for myself."

"Of course! We try to keep stocks for all other people so that when they do visit we can feed them accordingly!" The princess giggled before gesturing behind her towards the store. "Please, tell them it's under my name and to feed you appropriately. Enjoy your stay." She nodded before turning to head back up the stairs towards the second level.

"She's generous! And really, REALLY pretty!" Elian said softly in awe as she stared after the Zora princess, her cheeks a little flushed.

"Yeah, she's very sweet. I've heard tales of her grace and beauty. Come on, let's get something to eat."

They headed towards the food area and got something to eat before retreating to the inn to enjoy their meal as they talked. He told her stories about Death Mountain and his people and she shared some of her own, stories of the adventures and crafts of her father and even some of the tailoring her mother had done.

Suddenly a warmth was rushing towards them and they both stood to see an ethereal form floating just before them with long ears pressed down against her wild long mane of hair. She had a gentle smile and very odd clothes with animalistic features neither had ever seen before. "W-what are you?!" Elian asked with a gasp as she stared up at the tall woman with wild eyes.

OH! THIS WILL BE EASIER. I CAN DELIVER TO YOU BOTH RATHER THAN INDIVIDUALLY. She looked at the Goron with a gentle expression on her face. YOU WHO KNOWS THE MOUNTAIN AND YOU WHO KNOWS THE DESERT. She flicked her gaze towards Elian before laughing softly. I AM TALIRU, ONE OF THE ZONAI, DESCENDANTS OF THE ANCIENT GODS, THE SISTER OF THE DECEASED KING RAURU OF HYRULE. I WAS GIVEN THE TASK OF PROTECTING THE FOUR STONES; TWO OF WHICH YOU ARE THE DESTINED HOLDERS OF.

She held out her hands as the two floating stones drifted down towards the open palms of the gawking pair and they took a moment to study them. Her Goron companion had a strange sphere that glowed a soft orange and it matched her own glowing gold hexagon item in material and size. But each had a different symbol etched into the strange material of the stone.

I PRESENT TO YOU, SON OF THE MOUNTAIN, NALAK'S SPIRIT. She pointedly looked at Dama, focusing her attention solely on him for this moment. IT GRANTS THE HOLDER THE ABILITY TO BREAK ANY STONE OR ROCK WITH YOUR BARE HANDS, YOU WILL NO LONGER REQUIRE A TOOL TO PERFORM THIS FUNCTION. IT INCREASES YOUR STRENGTH AND DURABILITY, ESSENTIALLY.

She then turned, gesturing her hand towards Elian, smiling at her like she would a child she loved dearly. AND YOU, DAUGHTER OF THE DESERT, WILL HOLD VELA'S RESOLVE. IT GRANTS THE HOLDER THE ABILITY TO WIELD FIRE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS; YOU WILL NEVER BURN FROM THE FLAMES OF OTHERS NOR WILL YOU OVERHEAT IN HARSH ENVIRONMENTS SUCH AS A VOLCANO.

She then spread her arms wide, peering at them both with shifting glances.

THESE STONES YOU WILL EACH KEEP IN YOUR POSSESSION AND ARE THE ONES DESTINED TO HOLD THEM. YOU MUST FIND THE OTHER TWO; ONE WHO SOARS HIGH ABOVE AND THE ONE WHO MOVES WITH THE TIDE. TOGETHER YOU WILL UNITE AGAINST THE ONE WHO WILL CHALLENGE EVERYTHING YOU HOLD DEAR.

"Wow! Are we ta' be like.. warriors or something great?" Elian asked with a sparkle in her eyes.

CHAMPIONS TO YOUR PEOPLE AND TO HYRULE. NOW GO. YOU MUST FIND THE OTHER TWO.. She faded away.

"Wow, what do ya think of that Dama? You, me and two others are like.. champions!" Elian's excited gaze flicked to her companion's who had a worried expression on his face.

"Yeah, that sounds.. like a handful. Ugh. Dad's not going to be proud of me getting mixed into some deep stuff. I get the impression whatever this destiny thing is will be a real headache."

They could hear a commotion just outside and so they stretched and went to go see what was going on; a male version of the princess was speaking with his guards as they carried several wrapped forms. Elian was familiar with a body and recognized the four wrapped forms as deceased Zora they were bringing home. The prince, judging from how similar he was to his sister, was speaking with his people before suddenly he stopped, his eyes having shifted to stare at Elian's before flickering to the Goron she was with.

"You! You two!" He screeched as he ran over to them, staring at them both with wide wild eyes. "This surely must be fate! Hello, I am Prince Meki of the Zora and you HAVE to be the two other champions! I've never seen a Gerudo and a Goron traveling together, yes, yes." He seemed to nod to himself.

"Funny you mention that." Elian smiled up at Dama before they both held out their respective stones. "We actually were jus' told about it by a spirit. What does it all mean?"

Meki rubbed at his jawline as he ushered away the others to give the pair and him some privacy to discuss this. "You are to be champions to your people and to the world from a great evil I've heard. I was just there when the other two were selected, my Zora friend and father's guard as well as the Chieftain of the Rito." He snapped his fingers and grinned. "Hyrule's King wants you to go to the castle to await him, he's currently up in Death Mountain searching for the Goron Champion." He gestured a hand towards Dama.

Dama and Elian shared a look before they sighed. "Fineeee, we'll go ta' the castle! Better be some good food." Elian said with a huff before smiling. "All 'n all this sounds exciting! An adventure!" She placed her hands onto her hips as she grinned wider.

Dama fiddled with his scarf before putting his sphere onto a chain beneath it, securing it there. She followed his example, attaching her hexagon to her left earring.

"Please, head to the castle immediately. I will send a messenger to the mountain to inform the great King of Hyrule that the other two have been located." Prince Meki bowed his head a little. "It is an honor to meet you both, I wish you the best with anything you do, champions."

"Thanks." Elian gave him a thumbs up. "Oh, I'm Elian and this is Dokadama but he prefers Dama."

"I shall remember those names." Meki smiled at the rambunctious Gerudo before he turned to leave.

So the two were left alone and they looked at each other. "I suppose we should head to the castle." Dama said softly, her smile was infectious and so he smiled at her. The pair gathered their things and headed towards the bridge that led them from Zora Domain. They didn't even get to be there long before this stuff was dropped on them. But now they were on a quest! Elian loved that with every fiber of her being.

They walked for a while down the various bridges, talking as they went, enjoying the beauty that the Zora Domain offered. The place was definitely a must visit again on each of their lists.

Something up ahead just as the edge of the domain's shift to the next region caught them both off guard. A figure shrouded in a deep black cloak. They held up a broadsword and it was lazily being examined by the wielder. As soon as they appeared around the corner the figure turned its head, pointing the blade at them with a deep chuckle.

"W-who are you?" Elian asked as she held up her hands in fists at the prospect of a fight.

"You have something I require." The voice sounded deep, rough, forced. "And you're going to give it over without a fuss lest I have to cut you up into ribbons, little girl."

"Something you.. require? We're just travelers." Dama said with a deep frown as he looked between Elian and this mystery ambusher.

"Cut the bullshit. I overheard your conversation with the prince."

They're here for the secret stones! Elian immediately growled as she crouched, exposing her teeth in a feral expression. "The first real adventure I get on my own an' ya want to cut it short? No can do, buster. You'll have ta' fight me."

The figure seemed to chuckle at this. "With pleasure."

And then the fight was on; the figure dashed across the path, slicing the sword in a wide arc at Elian who had drawn her own twin daggers at her hips that are embroidered with rubies, shifting them up to parry the attack before sliding back from the blow's momentum. This person was far stronger than her but she seemed a bit faster with her smaller frame. She grit her teeth as another swing that would have met her left hip connected instead with her twin daggers, the clink of metal on metal vibrating in the very air.

"You're strong, friend." Elian growled as the figure slashed again, this time Elian jumped back to avoid the wide arc.

"Be careful Elian!" Dama's voice behind her said as he was watching the fight with a nervous look in his eyes.

Elian never had anyone worry over her and it startled her, causing her to miss a parry; the stranger's sword sliced into her stomach before a strong punch was landed to her chest, throwing her onto her back with a grunt. She rolled onto her side and pushed herself up, feeling the blood oozing from her stomach wound. She pressed a hand to it as she put one of her daggers up; she couldn't wield both with this kind of injury.

"Din, please, Dama, don't distract me!" She yelled before another swipe could barely be held at bay by her dagger. She was shoved back, sliding before she ran forward, taking her own swipe. However a boot planted against her chest and she was flung back.

"I don't want to kill you, it wouldn't be satisfying." The stranger said as they walked over, crouched over Elian and put their boot down onto the elbow of the arm holding the dagger. They leaned down and reached for her earring and took off the stone and held it up. "Ah, perfect, what I'm here for." She lifted her gaze to the Goron and gauged him. While he was bigger and stone he would prove to be a tougher fight. They'd forgo that for now.

"It's been fun, little Gerudo."

They turned and vanished around a bend, taking the stone with them.

Dama rushed over to Elian immediately, pulling her to her feet. "Are you ok?"

"That bastard took the stone I JUST got! Do ya THINK I'm alright?" She was seething.

"I meant you're bleeding, Elian. We need to get your injuries treated."

"No worries." She tended to her own injury with the skills of someone accustomed to it. It didn't take long before it was dealt with and they could continue their travel. "We need to hurry. Get ta' the castle and warn the others. Someone knows about the stones and they're crafty."

He couldn't argue with that. They sped up their journey to meet with the other two at the castle.

-x-

Night had fallen and Zelda was about to retreat to bed when she saw the Zora guard outside in the gardens, admiring the beauty that existed there. She went outside to join him and smiled when he turned. "My mother planted and tended to this garden throughout my life." She reached up, brushing her hand along the stem of a beautiful Blue Nightshade.

"She must be quite skilled. These seem well tended to."

"Yeah, she was. Now I help tend them along with the gardeners."

"I d-didn't mean to offend, it slipped my mind that her majesty pa-"

Zelda chuckled softly. "It's alright. It's been a few years. Do not worry about it." She lowered her hand before turning. "Can't sleep?"

He shook his head, sighing as he pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his dark eyes. "Sleep has eluded me for quite some years, I'm afraid. I get what you call insomnia but to a larger scale. There isn't much that helps with it. I just have to tire out my mind and body to force it to require a reset."

She mused this before smiling at him, brushing some of her hair behind her ears. "I know the perfect cure. Come, come, to the kitchen." She turned and he watched her walk for a moment and quickly followed after her. She led him to the castle kitchen before rummaging in a drawer. She pulled out a package and then went to the cupboards to take out some other items. She blended them into a mixer and added in the mixture, using water as a base to steep them together.

Ah, a herbal tea of sorts, he noted. However some of the combination was.. curious. Would that even taste good?

She prepared a cup of it before turning and offered it to him with an extended hand. "Try this."

He accepted the cup and took a deep sip. The liquid rolled down his throat and he gasped. It was wonderful! Absolutely delicious! "Whoa, princess, this is delicious! You must share the recipe with me!"

She gave him a wink. "Only if you promise not to go sharing it with the entire world. It's a family recipe. My mother used to make that for my father when he'd be unable to sleep and then for me as well when I was in school. It will help you sleep."

"May I take a glass to my room and enjoy it there?"

"Of course. Take the entire pitcher, it won't go bad to sit out. Just let a maid know to put it up when you've had your fill."

"Thank you, princess. You have been a most gracious host."

She smiled and left the room and so he indeed took the entire pitcher back to his room. And just as she said after a cup he was already feeling drowsy and so he retired to his bed and slept like a child.

-x-

Ganondorf had returned to his quarters after leaving the princess to her guests. He spent the night reading more books before eventually heading to sleep. He woke up the next morning to find Zaifana standing at the foot of his bed with a grin on her face. He groggily yawned, stretched and threw back the covers enough to lean up. "Zai, what are you doing, it's so early."

She lifted her hand to reveal an item within it. His eyes widened as he climbed out of bed and came around it to inspect what she was showing him. It was one of the stones, he could tell, judging from the soft golden glow and intricate symbol on it. "Zai, you did it! You acquired one! How? Where? Tell me!" He rapid fire asked, his gaze flicking up to hers to study her expression. So she did. She told him what she had learned and what had happened.

Now with the knowledge of whom all four were he knew he could claim the other three pieces within a sequence.

"So the Rito is the Chieftain Loculi, the Zora is the Zora King's Guard Ero, the Gerudo is the exiled wanderer Elian and the Goron is the son of a miner Dokadama." He repeated as he grinned, now holding the Gerudo stone within his hands. "This stone specifically will grant the holder resistance to fire and heat along with fire wielding. Fascinating.." He turned it as he looked at the strange symbol.

"I injured the Gerudo girl but I did not kill her. I did not want to take a sister's life, even if she is exiled."

"You have done well Zai, thank you. Now we must collect the other three." Ganondorf put the hexagon into a hidden stitching of his robe's inner part, patting the robe before grinning at his second in command. "They will all be gathered here soon and I will arrange a way to steal them all at once."

"Let me, Gan. I will bring them all to you."

"No need. I have a much more.. different approach. A monster they will not be able to defeat." He said with a dark and deep chuckle.

"Gan? What exactly are you planning? You know you can talk to me about anything." He could see the nervous tint to her eyes as she studied his expression. He smiled before patting his bed and the pair sat down together. He lifted his hand and summoned the sword that could speak. He held the blade out so that she could inspect it.

"Zai, meet Lord Ghirahim, spirit of my sword, a gift from my mothers."

I assume this is your second in command, young king. The sword said with a deep chuckle.

"It is. Ghirahim, meet Zaifana, my trusted friend and right hand. Now. Lord Ghirahim here says that I need to get into the Temple of Time, the old relic of a building nearby that's sealed. The only way to open its doors is with these four stones as well as the Sage of Time. We'll find the Sage last, however the keys are a priority."

"What exactly.. is inside this temple?" She tilted her head as she folded her arms against her chest.

The Triforce. Both gasped as they didn't realize that would be hidden so close and that it wasn't merely a legend but a tangible item. It is a means to elevate your people to a higher lifestyle. You could use it to return the desert to its original state; plains lush with vegetation and water sources ever flowing. And that's just a start to what could be achieved with utilizing the Triforce.

Ganondorf's face split as a deep grin grew and he laughed. Finally! "Yes! I seek this power. It will be within my grasp."

"I will help you to get this if it means bringing bountiful resources to our people." Zai stood and stepped away, turning to bow to the floor to her king. "I will be your sword to achieve your goals, my king."

One more thing to note. Ghirahim spoke up, causing both to peer at the sword with interest as Zai rose to her feet. With the champions awakening and the stones being distributed this means the sage will awaken. But that also means that the destined hero will arise to face the one who seeks the stones for personal gain. You will be viewed as evil for your actions from henceforth.

"I will accept that if it means helping my people." Ganondorf clenched his fist, rising to stand as he growled deeply. "No longer shall the Gerudo live in squalor."

Zaifana matched his fervor by raising her own fist to the ceiling. "Long life to our king!" She cheered.

You mortals are fascinating to me. I shall retire back to silence. Ghirahim's voice trailed off as he went back to his silent state.

Ganondorf lifted the sword before allowing the darkness to consume it once more. He then grinned as he looked at his best friend. "We have much to do. Go, tend to your own interests, I will set the stage in motion to retrieve the other three pieces. See if you can find any information regarding the Sage of Time and the Triforce."

"My king." She thumped her chest before leaving him alone with a bow of her head.

As soon as she left he let out a wild and deep laugh, happy with the turn of events. So he had knowledge concerning the four stones and their wielders while also already having one of them, the one that was held by the selected Gerudo. On top of that the treasure within the Temple of Time was the TRIFORCE! Of all treasures. Oh the plans he had!

It was time to set things in motion. First he'd start by attacking the nearby town of Amorath so that when the King of Hyrule returned he would be met with that chaos. Ganondorf stretched out his power and summoned several Phantom Ganon minions to the ideal locations for them; one would wreak havoc on Amorath, another would hit Kakariko Village nearby and another would target Hyrule Castle itself. With only summoning three their powers would be boosted and he would be able to control them more accurately from his current position, like puppets. He made sure his door was locked before sitting down and began his task.

[consulting-cannibal]

I came across your stuff (totally in love) and I'm just... a bit... confused... about you and Rob B? Like, how did that entire... thing start... ? (so many ellipses) (*「･ω･)ﾝ？

thanks! BUT I DON’T KNOW

so to finally figure it out, i’m going to sit down and actually go back to The Beginning and create a brief timeline wherein i try to work out what happened and when SO PREPARE YOURSELF (i’ll put it under a break for ur consideration)

ok so 2013: 

i went to my first (and supposed to be only) SPN con in england. i was excited about meeting friends (and…….very MUCH misha,) but deeply, deeply fell in love with R2M. still no spiral but their ability to do humorous improv on-stage murdered me

did NOT see swain perform because i was too jet-lagged and had never heard them before, i was scared i was going to fall asleep during the show

2014: 

started going to U.S. cons. did my first swain piece–which friends shared with them because i was too scared

found out the band had it saved on their phones and i died

later this year, at a swain show outside of a con that i wasn’t at, rob saw that same piece on a friend’s phone case. he showed it around, and later found me on twitter. swain was one of the first accounts to follow my small and sad twitter at the time lol

I DID THE FIRST GOD’N’GABE!! which was a result of continuing to watch r2m panels on my own accord

also this happened:

2015:

i made THE SECOND GOD’N’GABE!! rob insisted he was a fan of my work, and told me how much he’d been signing the books. he got both volumes from me throughout the year!

kings of con was announced and i BECAME A HUGE SUPPORTER

apparently there were people showing him my stuff all throughout this year because he remembers things i’ve done that i hardly remember myself

2016:

a friend and i cosplayed characters from his short film The Sidekick!! because of this film, i found out he’s a big fan of comics, and also in a really similar head space as myself

i went to my first swain show outside of a con and got……..very inebriated. the only thing i vividly remember was telling him that i was scared of him. he also asked me about the third g’n’g because he’d done a pose for it at a european con. he did not seem to take my fear seriously.

i did the Covers With Friends cover!! which he’s on multiple times! i also went to my first meet and greet, which was with swain, and he mentioned it–even though i was improperly credited. he had no idea :’u

g’n’g 3 was released at that same time!! we did an art trade. but shortly thereafter i got VERY SICK. i found out this deeply worried him and i felt v bad

KoC was released while i was in CA, and by pure chance, i was able to go to it. i felt so at home there, and knew more people than i thought ;u; didn’t talk a lot because i was scared to take up time, but we ended up standing around and drinking in the same place anyway lmao

KYLE THE DRAGON WAS BORN! found out i became a running joke in the greenroom at cons as “the one that can turn a joke on stage into a shirt and a mug that the next person in line to ask a question is already wearing”

throughout 2015-2016 i found that rob’s face is something kind and familiar to me, so i started painting him. a lot. i found this is what someone traditionally calls a “muse” but never thought that way?? i found that i suffer from chronic pain, and i just meditate when i paint him because he’s familiar 

throughout these cons, you guys have mentioned me to him on stage or showed him works of mine, and in equal parts i’ve gotten to know his music and work a lot more, too. we hang out with a lot of the same people and have some similar issues, so i think it was just a pretty natural happening?? there are more things but i think those are the highlights

(this is when i was super drunk. i……………………am like 90% sure he’s laughing at me here. again, did not take my fear very seriously)

[natsaffection]

My sweet Student. | part 2 | N. Romanoff

MINORS DNI!!! (18+!)

warnings: Age gap (natasha = 42 | Reader = 21), drinking, oral (n receiving), fingering (r receiving)

Word count: 3.100

A/n: Second one!

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"Tell me Y/n, have you made any preparations for tomorrow's farewell party?" The two of you had started a FaceTime call to go over the next few hours when Kate threw the question into the room. You just look up at her in amazement, "What kind of celebration?" Kate laughed, "Farewell party! It's a farewell party..For our principal. He's changing, remember?"

Right. There was something. He has become a bit conspicuous in the last few months, what his 'arts' are in bringing. So he was simply replaced.

Nevertheless, a celebration is thrown in his honor..For whatever reason.

"Is this a mandatory event?" No way, you will go. Just because of a certain person. "No, but come on! It is for the teachers, so your favorite-"

"Shut up, Kate! I'm not going!"

And now you're standing in the room where the ceremony is taking place. Kate has done it again. After all, you have to be the one to bring a drunk friend home....

You walk up to the buffet to see what's on offer, and at least you're having a good meal for once. So you grab a plate and grab everything that fits in your hand.

You go back to Kate and see that you are sitting at a table with other classmates. With drinks, of course.

"Here I am just gone for two minutes, and you're about to get drunk again? Seriously?"

Kate looks to you and holds her glass up to you, "Oh come on! Tomorrow we have fourths! We can afford it then..." You carefully wave her hand away so as not to spill anything,

"No thanks..."

You sit down and look around. Teenagers were everywhere, living their life. Teachers talking to their peers and the main character of the evening, the principal, shaking hands.

But not the person you came along for after all. Great..all for nothing.

"Kate, I'm going to get some more food, okay?" She just nodded and you walk back over.

You picked up a new plate and- "Any recommendations?" You hear the question and notice a person stopped at your side, "Um..The things over there, are relatively good-" Your words caught in your throat as you saw the person coming from the side,

"M-Ms Romanoff!" You remembered again that you were holding a plate and gripped it tighter again, so it wouldn't fall off.

"Evening Y/n, what so stirred up?" She smiled and grabbed a plate as well to take the slices you mentioned, "These, right?" You just nodded and watched her take one. "Now then. Don't drink too much and be ready for class tomorrow, got it?" She walks past you without waiting for your answer, "Got it..." You walk back to Kate and the others as if in a trance, sit down, and this time accept the Glass you were offered.

After a while, the events were yesterday and you were just a swimming wreck. There weren't that many drinks, were there?

"Should I get some more?" Asked one next to you, "I think we should take it easy, don't you?" You talk so slow because you're surprised by your tongue, Do you even have one left?

"Naaah, I'll go get some more..." The girl next to you stood up and so did you, "I'm coming..with you!" You both trudge down the hall, arriving totally exhausted at the table where the drinks are being handed out. "We'll have the same ones again!" You only hear an 'all right' and the guy who took the alcohol in walks to the back.

"Didn't I tell you something earlier?" You turn around innocently and see Natasha again,

"Hi..."

She looks at you skeptically, "Hey, how's it going?" You don't realize until now that a duty person is now standing in front of you, and you're about to get some purely smuggled alcohol, "Nothing! We're not doing anything..Noup..ah a.." You try to lean in, but miss expertly and stand up straight again. Natasha had her eyes on you the whole time, "I see..Let me guess, if I ask you a question now, you won't have an answer, right?"

You think about the question. Who has been drinking here? You seemed to be able to answer it correctly. "Was that the question already?" you repeat, and Natasha just grunts,

"Okay. Home with you. The evening is over." She threw hard at the young one who was about to come with the drinks, and he took off again. After that, She showed you the way, "What's there?"

"The exit, Y/n."

You look in the direction and just didn't understand what she wanted you to do. "Okay, I get it." She sets your glass down and puts a hand on your back to guide you.

“I'm old enough, hey! Help!"

"Y/n, I'm not arguing with you! Either you leave the premises on your own now, or I'll force you to!"

Force? Force what?

- - - - - -

You wake up by your inner clock, knowing that something was wrong. Did you set an alarm clock? What time is it anyway? You sleepily look for your cell phone, which should normally be somewhere on the bed, but you don't find it. You open your eyes annoyed, and then it hits you.

This is not your room. Oh God, this is not your room!!! You frantically sit up and look around. It was definitely bigger than yours, but nowhere can you find any clues as to whose it is.

You stand up slowly and exhale calmly when you realize that you still have your clothes on. That's it.

You go to the door and slowly open it. In front of you is a long hallway, which you follow and arrive at a small staircase. Are you alone? No. You probably hear a radio from the kitchen and go to it. Then, as you stood at the door, it was over,

"Good morning troublemaker."

It was none other than your teacher. You're in your teacher's apartment.. You look around frantically, not knowing what to do, "Sit down, we have to leave in a minute."

"Where to?" Thank God, you were able to say that in a relaxed way. Natasha now turns to you and had two plates with omelets on them. "It's Monday today. You have class." She puts the plate on the table and walks out the door beside you. So you were now alone in the kitchen and your stomach was literally begging you to eat this food. You look back, not seeing her anywhere, and now sit down to eat. When Natasha came back, you reply, "I have to the fourth." Whether that's true or not, you don't know. You just trust Kate for once. Fuck, Kate. Does she know you're okay? Wait, are you okay?!

"Good for you, but I'm not, so let's get out of here together." If you weren't in such an awkward situation, you'd laugh. She sounds like your mother.

"Wh-why am I here? And not-"

"Home? Well..you just wouldn't tell me. No matter what, you were just completely unreliable!" Why is she so angry?

"Can I ask why it upsets you so much? You could have just left me there!" Not that you're complaining...

"Y/n, you didn't even know your last name. I could have done something with you otherwise, and now eat." She leaned against her kitchen counter with her arms crossed.

"Yes mother..." You were about to bite in, "That sounded a little different last night." As you choked, "W-what?" Natasha stood back up, "You were pretty talkative yesterday. Didn't know you could utter fluid sentences in front of me."

Shit. And that's exactly why you don't drink. You can't control or know what you're saying, "M-Ms Romanoff, no matter what I-"

"See? Now you're stuttering again, and.." She came up to you and leaned in front of you, "That was a joke. Only your reaction proved it to me." She got up again and left the kitchen, "In three minutes I want to see you ready in my car."

You looked transfixed until you hear a door slam shut and you jump up. You walk out of the kitchen and look for directions to the garage. When you arrive, you sit down in the back seat and wait for Natasha. Who, after a few seconds, gets into the car as well.

"As I expected..." She whispers and drives off.

You look out the window, embarrassed, trying to find connections as to why your teacher had taken you home. I mean, she could have looked in the class book to see where you lived, so why didn't she?

"Can I..ask you something?" Natasha didn't take her eyes off the road, "Always."

"Why didn't you drive me home?" You turned into a street. "I already told you that."

"You could have just-"

"What if I didn't want to?"

Oh, God, you have to get out of the car. Is she going to kill you? She's definitely going to kill you.

"You know..I didn't spend half my life studying for nothing, only to be led astray by a little girl afterward. I know what's up, y/n."

You stop at a traffic light, and She turns to face you slightly, "So. I'll just ignore the fact that you whimper in your chair every time I walk in. Or you hold your breath when I talk to you. Do you want me to keep going?"

She's got you figured out. Of course, she did. "N-no..." She started again, looking down the road, "You do know it's forbidden to have a relationship with your teacher?"

Natasha knows it too. Still, she's curious (For the first time in a long time) if you're aware of that, and if you get scared and shut down.

"I know..I'm sorry..."

This still surprises Natasha. So you knew and yet you don't shy away and repress your feelings for her.

"Can you blame it then? You know exactly what you do every time!"

"What?" She knows exactly. "The way you look at us, for example! Roaming the halls-"

"Darling, that's my job." She interrupted. "And I'm not looking at you all. I'm looking at you only.“

You're dreaming again. Wake up, wake up, wake up!

"We're here." She turns back to you, "If I hear even one sound from you today, whether it's me or my colleagues, there will be consequences, do you understand that?"

There will be no consequences. Not yet. But Natasha wants to test you. She wants to see how you react, if you'll let her.

So that soon she will have you in her hands.

You are lucky that nobody saw you when you got out of the car. Because you were pale as a snowman. You were already panicking in front of her, but now?

You go to your first classroom and sit down like a robot. You unpack your things and try to concentrate on the material. Natasha's announcement in your car still stuck deep inside you. Because when the teacher asked you something, you just shake your head and try to keep yourself down. You just have to survive four more hours, after that you can go home.

The break then came faster than you could look, and Kate had managed to get to school for once. You were sitting at a table when she came up to you,

"Dude! I thought you were dead! Where were you yesterday?!"

"Where was I? I was at Ms. Romanoff's house!!!" Kate sat up straight and remained still in her movements, "What?"

"Yes! She took me home!" She continued to look at you and started to grin, which made you even more upset, "No.... No! But it was just as bad!" Now she started laughing.

"Oh come on! That's always been your dream, hasn't it? I mean, we'll see your reaction then..." She couldn't stop laughing and she almost infected you as you panicked again, "Like we'll see then?! We don't have today with her!"

"Yes we do..It's right here." She looked at her phone and showed you the schedule for today. She has..We don't have Russian or history today! She changed the hours...

"She switched with someone..."

"Now it's too much y/n..Maybe she needed an extra lesson for us..You know how we get behind that.."

True. But also not. You didn't know that she traded her hour especially for you.

"You're right..thanks." Kate smiles and leans against you "Always happy to.."

When the time came, and you were now back in the familiar room, it confirmed what Kate had said. Everything was going normally. Questions were answered, Natasha went over your material, and everything went according to plan.

According to Natasha's plan.

She wanted to make it look normal. But she knows how to get her hands on her prey perfectly. She's got her eye on you. You don't realize it, but your body is responding to her again. you didn't know where to put your legs. In front of you? On top of each other? You don't know, and Natasha found that amusing. She just literally waited until the lesson was finally over.

And when it was, she called you to her. You stopped and took another deep breath as you turned and walked to her table.

"From what I hear, you've stuck to it. Good girl."

"Please stop. This is torture..."

Natasha leans back in her chair, "Stop what?" You roll your eyes inwardly. You can't take any more of this. You want her to finally do something.

"Please..."

"Y/n, just open your mouth like I taught you."

You just stand in place, wondering what to do. Stay or run? Definitely run!

"I want you..." She's got you just about. Now all you have to do is open your mouth. Literally.

So Natasha spreads her legs in front of you. The worst that can happen is you leave. So why not try?

If she's honest, she's a little suspicious and thinks you're really just going to leave. To her surprise though, you kneel down to her and wait for her again.

"As to be expected. Well then. Show me what that smart mouth can do." You look at her and then down at her. You grab her pants with trembling hands and slowly pull them down.

Natasha didn't take her eyes off you for a single second.

You have now got all the annoying stuff down from her, and now look at her glistening pussy.

You immediately put your mouth on it and start moving your tongue up and down. YOU could hear Natasha let out a sigh and lean back further. This made you proud and now give more pressure on your tongue.

"Further to the left..." You do as she said, thinking maybe that's where your sensitive spot is, but you could tell you'd never given oral before. And Natasha noticed that too,

"Okay come here.." You look up at her, and Natasha already found this sight just fantastic. You stand up and she leads you to her lap. She leans you against her chest and one hand slips into your panties.

"It's your first time, isn't it?" Your body was already on fire. Every touch had a different effect on you, "Y-yes..." Natasha literally howled. Fuck, you're a virgin...

"It's okay..First." She slides down further again and begins to play on your nerves with two fingers circling. The motion made you jump and Natasha continued to hold you on her lap, "Sit still Y/n." You whimpered, not knowing where to put your voice. Natasha found your clit and played with it, your reaction spoke for itself, "Sensitive right? Don't worry..let it out, yeah..."

You couldn't hold back anymore and let out a moan. Natasha didn't let up and continued to play with you. You claw at her under arm and let your head fall back,

"N-Natasha..I don't know-"

"Shh, call me mommy, little one. Come on, I know you can." Her other hand now creeps under your shirt and finds your chest, which is now being played with as well.

"N-not there...!" But Natasha ignored your whimpers and now also gave more pressure on your clit and nipple. She loves your movements and reactions. She's already addicted to you.

"Nata!-" you were interrupted as Natasha slapped your clit, and she covered your mouth because of the volume, "That's not right..What should you call me?"

Oh god.

She took her hand away again and waited, "M-Mommy..Its Mommy! Please, don't stop.."

"That's it. It feels good, does it? I know what you need. I can give it to you anytime.."

Her movement quickened. She wants to see you come, she needs it, "M-mommy, i-something happening!" She had to chuckle, "Let go Y/n, come on." She had to force herself to cover your mouth again or everyone would catch on to what you two were doing. She made a mental note to catch up somewhere else to hear your noises.

Natasha feels the wind against her palm and waits a bit longer before taking her hand away completely. "Good..Thats it."

She took her fingers from you and lick them clean. Now it was final. Now she can't give you away, after that intense taste.

"How do you feel?" She asked you while putting your hair out of your face. And all you could do was whimper, "I..I don't know.."

"It doesn't matter..you were great. So let's do that again from before.. You are aware that it is forbidden to have a relationship with me?" You just nod. "Well then. This stays between us, understand? You're mine now."

-

-

-

-

-

-

.🌚.

[archersartcorner]

03/07/18XX - Ginter and Volo begin making their way to the Icelands. Ginter reflects on Volo's progress.

--

Part 6

<<Prev - Next>>

IDs under cut.

[ID: A digital, non-colored, sketchy comic, separated into 6 images.

The comic primarily features two characters. One is Ginter, an older man with a squared face; light wrinkles around his mouth and underneath his eyes; jaw-length, spiky hair; and a close-shaven beard. He's wearing the canon Ginkgo Guild uniform, nondescript undergarments with an apron over top, the Guild symbol in the center of the apron, with the fluffy hat. He's bearing a large backpack on his back, with a bedroll tied to the top of it. The other character is Volo, a teenage boy with a triangular but rounded face; fluffy, neck-length hair, mostly dark in color, but lighter at the ends, and side-swept to cover Volo's left eye; a wide nose; and full lips. Volo is wearing a short kimono, with traditional wrappings over his chest, and he is also carrying a backpack with him, although it's much smaller than Ginter's.

The first image shows Ginter and Volo, walking through Hisui. Volo is attentively looking to his left, his right hand wrapped around Ginter's left arm, his left hand holding his backpack strap. Next to him, Ginter affectionately peers down at Volo, holding his backpack strap with his unoccupied hand as well. Text, from Ginter's journal, reads, "We're on our way to the Alabaster Icelands, Volo and I."

The second image shows a non-detailed sketch of a figure, back turned to the viewer. The figure is wearing a uniform coat and hat, his face blurred out. His right hand is held behind his back, left hand raised in front of him. Text, again from Ginter's journal, reads, "About five years ago, a man was found by the Pearl Clan. He was wearing strange clothes, had a strange accent, spoke a strange language, and had no recollection of who he was prior, just his name. And the Pearl Clan took him in. From what I've heard, he's now been chosen to be Sneasler's next warden.

The third image contains two panels, side by side. Both contain Volo. The first panel is a side profile of Volo, who's still staring off in the distance. Text reads, "So I'm hoping they'd be more open to helping Volo." The second panel shows Volo looking off-panel at Ginter, smiling, left hand pointing to what he was previously staring at. Volo says, "Ginter? Berry tree."

The fourth image contains two more panels, side by side again. The first panel shows Ginter, staring off panel at the mentioned berry tree, smiling as well. Ginter says, "So there is. Good catch, kiddo." This transitions into the second panel, where, in Unown font meant to designate a difference in the language being spoken, Ginter reiterates, "Good job!" The second panel shows Volo getting headpats from Ginter. He smiles happily at the received affection, three small hearts drawn around him. More text from Ginter's journals is written in between the panels, which reads, "Fortunately, as averse as the Diamond Clan was, they did teach me a bit more Hisuian, their dialects at least, and I've taught Volo more of my own language."

The fifth image contains four panels, two on top and two on bottom. The first panel shows Ginter and Volo looking away from the viewer, at the tree. Ginter asks, “So which are these ones, kiddo?” Volo replies, “Aspear! Ice - ice berry.” Ginter continues, “We’ll need some of these then. Good job!” In between the first and second panels are more text from Ginter’s journal, which reads, “Sometimes, we’ll just start pointing at things, tell each other the word for it in our own languages. It’s become a bit of a game at this point. Volo’s face will light up when he remembers a word correctly. No, more so, he gets happy when he hears me praise him, when I tell him he did a good job, give him a pat on the back or the head.” The second panel is a close up of Volo, who’s shyly looking away, smiling. Volo says, “Ah… th-thank you…” The third panel shows Volo and Ginter again, Volo attempting to reach up into the tree to grab some berries. Ginter looks on at him in sudden surprise. Volo says, “Um - I can help!” Ginter says, “Oh!” More journal text reads, “How long did he go without praise? Has he ever heard it?“ The fourth panel shows Volo’s hand, just barely unable to reach the berry. Volo says, “Almost… almost…”

The sixth image contains three panels, side by side. The first panel shows Volo’s hand again, lax and no long stretched, and Ginter’s hand that has snatched up the berry Volo was attempting to grab. The second panel shows Ginter and Volo, Ginter smiling down at Volo, one hand on Volo’s back, the other holding the berry, and Volo is shyly smiling, most of his face obscured by his hair. Volo says, “Ah - sorry…” Ginter replies, “Hey, you didn’t do anything wrong, kiddo. Why don’t you grab the basket from my pack and I can toss the berries to you while I pick ‘em?” Volo responds, “Okay!” The third panel shows just Volo, looking at Ginter off-panel, still smiling. Ginter says off-panel, “Thanks for your help, Volo.” Journal text reads, “… I suppose it’s up to me to give it to him ten-fold, then.”

END ID.]

[ivfrankenstein]

— IT’S YOU, I WATCH TV WITH;

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: college!Aaron Hotchner x fem!Reader

𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘: Sharing a meal is the language of love; as long as you are a student, you try to share everything you have with your best friend, that's how you live.

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: mentions of sex, alcohol consumption

𝐀/𝐍: i`m a simp for college!hotch <3 inspired by few good edits with Thomas Gibson from “Love & Human remains” (1993)

“We have the whole house to ourselves”, Y/N holds the shoulder strap of the bag with one hand and opens the front door with the other.

It takes a while to get the key in, and she feels Aaron breathing on the back of her neck as he waits, but he doesn't say anything — the beginning of a long-awaited vacation, he's too satisfied to be outraged about anything.

Finally, the lock clicks and the floorboards slightly creak under the weight of the arriving guests.

“It must be a dream after two roommates, huh?”

The hallway opens right into the kitchen; Aaron leaves the bags on the banquette against the wall, and follows Y/N — she walks around the table in the middle of the room, throwing a bunch of keys there, goes into the living room.

Hotch lingers near the kitchen cabinets, looking inside — not to forget to buy cereal, tea and coffee — opens the refrigerator — milk and something for dinner. He can hear the quick stomping of her feet — she has already made it up to the second floor.

The rooms are separated by a wide archway, and the first thing that catches his eye in the living room is a large gray couch; it makes Aaron smile — crumpled up, clearly seen a lot, softer than the others.

“Hey, Aaron?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think”, Y/N says as the sound of her voice grows closer, “the owners might have thought we are on our honeymoon?” he turns toward the stairs to the second floor, Y/N's face peering out from the top.

“Why would they?”

“Well”, she straightens up, with only the tips of her pant legs in his field of vision, “two young people”, she goes down the stairs, “renting a house for two weeks, in the summer?”

“I doubt anyone would want to spend their honeymoon like that, not a good choice. Besides, we called about four people first.”

“Right...”, she nods in agreement, and jumps off the last step; Aaron watches her, she senses it; smiles somewhere to her feet and asks, “What?”

“I must confess, I'm glad it's just the two of us here”, he says with a little smile.

Y/N squints curiously; not that there isn't room for such revelations in their relationship, but it's not the case, and she knows it because Aaron spreads a smile and then makes a pitiful face.

“After final exams, graduate school admissions...” He finally explains, “I have no desire to go to this festival. It was Bruce's idea, and since neither he nor his friend is with us, maybe we don't need to?”

Y/N laughs, looking at him, “Oh, Aaron Hotchner”, she exhales fondly, “That's why we're friends, i guess.”

Hotch bites his lip, waiting for her verdict. He's been convinced more than once when he's been told that he and Y/N are alike. And now, he could have sworn, the devils that jumped in her eyes were the same as his own.

“I thought I'd have to offer you this myself”, she smiles slyly, Hotch exhales.

“Never”, he takes a step toward her, spreading his arms, and she immediately throws herself into an embrace, wrapping her legs around his waist, “Let's go, we need to resupply right away!”

“Aye, aye, sir!”

[...]

Ding-dong. Ding-dong.

“Y/N, will you get that? It must be those guys, it's the 16th,” no answer follows, and Aaron rises from his seat, continuing, “We planned to join them at the party tonight.”

“Yeah, yeah, I remember,” Y/N stands half-bent against the oven, towel dangling amusingly from her shoulder, “What to tell them?”

Ding-dong. Ding-dong. Ding-dong.

They both turn toward the door in sync.

“That you're sick?” Hotch returns his gaze to Y/N — her cheeks are burning pink from being behind the stove for so long, her hair is frizzy in a mess. She sets the towel aside and heads for the door, but Aaron rushes ahead of her.

“Hey, birdies, are you coming?” a chipper voice is heard from the threshold; Y/N slips under Aaron's arm, and he puts his palm on her shoulder.

“Why are you in sweatshirts?” remarks the other.

“Um, Y/N’s sick, so we're staying home” Hotch politely explains for two, “Yeah and it's rainy, better not take any chances.”

“Yeah, right you say that,” the first guy agrees, “You get sick, and it's not so easy to heal afterwards.”

“Well, but maybe at least you, Aaron, will join in?”

“No, no, thanks, I'm not leaving Y/N, huh,” Y/N feels his palm slip off her shoulder and start drawing circles down her back; she glances at Hotch sideways and catches a barely noticeable twitch of an eyebrow — a show-off.

“Oh, excuse me,” she deftly wiggles out of her friend's almost bearish grip, “Kettle's going crazy!” and hurries off to disappear into the kitchen.

“Aaron, someone's been asking about you,” the boy begins conspiratorially, “I didn't bring it up in front of Y/N,” he tries to keep his voice down, “Nancy, our neighbor, if you remember. Asked me to know if you'd be in today, and if you will, to find her.”

Hotch’s face didn't express a single emotion in this short time. He pressed his lips together for a second, and then said in the same calm tone that was typical of him,

“Thanks for the message, Leo. But I must say that I am an insufferable nerd and couldn't meet her expectations...if I was going to go, and since I'm not going, there's nothing to talk about.” he neatly dotted the question; Y/N even smiled proudly, hearing their conversation perfectly.

The boy nodded quickly a couple of times, they exchanged awkward smiles, and after alternately shaking hands, the door finally slammed shut.

“We can go if you want,” Y/N stands with her back to Hotch, makes a hot chocolate, “..or you, you know, could go and find,” she doesn't finish, hoping that the meaning of her words is already clear.

And Aaron understands, watches her until she not sees, and smirks, “It doesn't matter. And I don't want to.”

A silence hangs, interrupted only by the clatter of the spoon against the edge of the mug, Y/N turns around with two drinks in hand “Then, Mr. Insufferable Nerd, get the pie out.”

After a while, Hotch takes a seat next to Y/N on the sofa, having previously placed the cut pie on the table in front of them, claps his hands, quite pleased with himself and life in general, takes a bite of the piece he took, “Nothing better!”

“Sometimes I'm surprised at how deceptive appearances can be and that you are such a homely creature!”, she pronounces.

Aaron chews and swallows, staring into the dark TV screen, “Homely creature...”, he repeats, “These are the smallest crumbs of what I have of a truly home life”, Y/N lowers her gaze, she feels hurt for him, “And even that is because of you, Y/N. How can I neglect that?”

She meets his brown eyes, and there is not an ounce of bitterness or anger in them, and it only makes her yearn; she knows about the home he grew up in and how, and she sees him, in spite of that, as the caring, gentle man he has become.

Y/N feels an inner need to touch him, and bumps her forehead against his cheekbone, embracing him from the front, Aaron smiles at the feeling of warmth from her body, snuggling closer to him. Now that they are both comfortably ensconced, he fumbles to find the remote to turn on “When Harry Met Sally”.

[...]

In Aaron’s memory their journey from the bar was remembered by the lines from “Big in Japan” — neon on my naked skin, passing silhouettes of strange illuminated mannequins — it was playing on the music channel when Y/N turned on the TV the moment she walked in the house.

The mood remained extremely energetic; they had a couple of drinks there, and it was decided to take two more bottles of the “wonder potion” with them. Both of them are light drinkers, but Y/N was impressed by the strawberry taste of this one — to be honest, the evening was really good, and they wanted to drink some more.

Of the lighting there was only the one coming from the TV screen and the clips were coming one after another; against the backdrop of an intoxicated mind this duo was blending into something strange and funny.

Hotch stood off to the side, with his back to the fridge, watching Y/N while taking short sips from an open bottle. Y/N kept spinning around the living room, trying to clean up, and singing along to Cyndi Lauper — is it alright? I drove all night, crept in your room, woke you from your sleep to make love to you, is it alright? — She glanced occasionally at Aaron — always so shy for her singing.

Then she went for a quick shower; without her and her magical aura, the atmosphere around him ceased to be so triumphant. It was Y/N who always managed to enjoy her own company, and he... well, Aaron just felt lonely.

He hadn't yet shared his thoughts about serving in the FBI with her, and about everything else, too. She won't graduate until two years from now, and he just wants to be useful, right?

The upstairs floorboards creaked, alerting him that the shower was free.

He crossed paths with Y/N on the stairs; she changed into her short, striped t-shirt that barely not fit..like.. everything; she liked to sleep in it, but rarely wore it longer than breakfast.

“Are you going to bed?”, he asked.

“Certainly not! I'm kind of–”, she pointed at him with her fingers, “sobered up a little. Did you leave the strawberry wonder in the fridge?”

“Yes, but do not drink without me, or I'll find you drooling on your pillow when I get back.”

Y/N watched with a look full of disgust as Aaron drooled demonstratively and exclaimed, “Ew”, slapping him lightly, “Go, Aaron!”

“Ouch”, he chuckled.

Y/N tried not to laugh and went downstairs — how does he manage to remain awfully charming even being so, ugh.

When Hotch returned, Y/N was lying on the sofa, and he was ready to joke that he was right, but she was awake, staring at the ceiling, holding the bottle to her chest.

“What’s wrong, honey?”, he asked, “I was sure you were here dancing like the last time, good song.”

“I’m out of my head when you’re not around, you out of touch,” she quoted the refrain, “Sad.”

Aaron took the bottle from her hands and took a sip, Y/N lifted herself up, level with him, “Used my shampoo?”, she touched his wet hair, brushing back his bangs.

“Yes, don’t be mad”, he replied peacefully, without breaking eye contact.

“Mad? Didn't I tell you I like it?”

“Really? No, I didn't know.”

They shared a soft smile.

She was quiet for another moment before saying “Can I be miserable for a while and tell you something?”

“You will never be miserable to me,” he said in all seriousness, “And you can say anything that comes into your head, darling”

“Sometimes I'm afraid of losing it all”

“Why?” he only asked.

Y/N shrugged her shoulders weakly, “I think you know the reasons”

“Look,” Aaron pointed to the space around them, “It's just us here, and I personally don't have a single reason to change it. Nothing will happen, you'll see.”

Y/N tried to smile, but it was really an unhappy smile, and then Aaron continued, "I'm the one who can't stop thinking that you might get tired of all this,” he admitted and visibly wilted, “I'm a boring and not really fun person, that's true.”

“I love your jokes, Aaron”, said Y/N absolutely easily, “I love them”

“Would you like to dance with me?” he felt a slight tingle all over his body; sometimes no other words had more effect over him than these short phrases of theirs against each other.

“Yes”

And they danced and danced and danced. Aaron remembers the persistent smell of strawberries and the shades of pink all around.

“How did they get you into the theater circle? You're a clumsy dancer!”

“You didn't have to dance there. But you hurt my feelings anyway!”

They spun in a dance, and Aaron didn't even notice himself as he picked Y/N up by the waist and lifted her up. Laughter drowned in the music, and his hair mingled with hers as their foreheads met, Aaron rubbing the tip of his nose against hers. Gentle, sweet and slowly. That's how it felt. His lips found hers, and they reached out again and again, reluctant to pull away.

They were in tiny bubble of their own.

In the morning Y/N found herself in a cloud of blankets; she awoke to the sun shining insistently through bedroom window. Aaron continued to sleep on her shoulder, she could feel his warm breath on her bare skin and occasionally catch his lashes twitching.

The room was stuffy, and Y/N was hot, even though she was wearing only a thin lace bodice and old cotton shorts — she didn't like them, but in the haste of the night that was all she could find. She managed to get out of bed without waking Aaron. The clock on the windowsill showed 7:39.

“Can't sleep, either,” she heard a whisper behind her; Y/N turned around, Aaron was up on his pillow, a hand under his chin.

“Morning,” she said.

“Morning,” smiled Hotch; “Always so beautiful,” he thought, but never dared to voice it.

“Sure you don't want to sleep anymore?”

“Nope”

“Okay, then how about a bath?”

Aaron nods and sits on the bed, Y/N crumples in place contemplating his bare back, she can't remember if he's wearing anything below the waist — oh, thanks, she's never been more excited about his blue pajama pants!

Somehow she doesn't feel uncomfortable being in front of him in nearly all her underwear, but she can't look at Aaron without blushing. There's little redness on his collarbones and neck, and her ribs ache pleasantly — the bodies remind of yesterday.

After brushing their teeth, they return to bed, hangovers as scheduled. Their legs intertwine.

“I found an apartment option,” Aaron is the first to break the silence, Y/N tilts her head to look at him, but Aaron looks somewhere in front of him, “Breathe out, Y/N,” after a brief pause he adds.

“Shut up, Hotch,” she says without anger, rather tensely.

Aaron turns sideways to face her, tucks a lock of hair behind her ear — it's time to speak.

“It's a nice apartment, there's enough room, we can both have enough,” he watches her expression change.

“I don't understand, what are you saying?”

“I'm saying it's not a bad idea to live together, and it'll be easier for you to learn. If you want to, of course,”he gives her time, and then adds, “I want to.”

“And when did you decide all this?”

“Before exams.”

Her eyebrows go up, “So you knew yesterday and you didn't tell me?”

“I said that nothing would happen”

“But why?” she instinctively puts her fingertips against Aaron's chest, as if trying to make sure he's really here and saying it.

“We already do so many things together, it's not such a big deal to do a little more, huh?”

Y/N smiles with a corner of her lips, “Maybe.”

“Now, I’m begging you to kiss me, or do I have to do this myself?”

“Never!”

[sweeteastart]

Ahaha im already so late on this challenge but let's keep going ! The second list is still @amyhayanora 's so check her out if you have time ✨

Day 4 - Friendship / Dawn

In the tranquil streets of Daybreak Town, bits and pieces of an excited conversation could be heard. A high, speedy voice described an event - the fight that happened prior in the day- loudly .

Anis was - as always - a ball of energy. Lively sentences were thrown in the air as his two closest friends we're listening to his story. Thought it was one they were used to hearing - another fight that occurred on this day like many others - both were laughing wholeheartedly.

The teenager had this way of speaking, of explaining even the most boring thing in a way that made it interesting. Not only interesting, he had a cleaver tongue that always bring out the fun in any story.

Truly, Strelitzia and Faey never went a day without smiling when the boy was with them.

Day 5 - Dragon / Memory

" And you, Myrti, do you have an memory from your teenage years ?" Asked Kairi, twisting around. The position looked uncomfortable as she tried to look up to her as she stayed sat on the ground.

The women in her twenties hummed as she tried to remember. Her memory was still a bit foggy since became a somebody again. Someone nudged her in the side, gently drawing her attention. Elrena who sat close to her smiled largely. She clearly thought of something. That mischievous grin, Myrti knew it all too well.

The moment the simple word "dragon" left her mouth, Myrti understood. Her face turned a pink-ish tint before she could bury it into her hands. Ahhh.... She remembered. Thought, she wished she didn't.

"Dragon ?" Asked Alex with a strange glow in his eyes.

"Well when we were still young, Myrti, me and Lauriam used to be in a unit. We would go around the worlds to gather lux for our Union. Well, we were young and rather stupid. It's not too surprising that despite the olders members of the Union warnings we tried to fight Maleficent."

Elrena started to laugh at the memory -and Myrti's now bright red face-. The younger keyblade wielders winced at the mention of the woman. They could already picture how much the three unexperienced wielders would have been oblirated by her.

"When I tell you we barely managed to knock her out and ran like crazy..." She laughed again. The blond woman could easily remember Myrti's face after they had run for their lives. "It was magnificent. You should have seen Myrti's face. We ran like crazy and turned a bright red by the time we were back in Daybreak Town. And our master... " She couldn't continue as she went into a fit of laughter. "... She was so mad yet kind."

"We were so stupid... " Sighed Myrti. A grin was making its way on her face.

Elrena let out another laugh before peering into the other's eyes "Yeah but it makes for a good memory."

Day 6 - Scars / Sleep

For as long as they could remember, sleep never came easy to them. Short or plainly sleepless nights were all Pêche could manage. Now -more than ever- they couldn't breeze through it in one go at all. Time after time, they would wake up in cold sweat, the covers sticking to their skin.

Slowly and painfully, they straightened up each time. Their skin was on fire, each of their scars burning them to their deepest part. Unconsciously trying to make them remember their story, the hurt behind each.

It filled their minds with worries. Worries that made them anxious. Reevaluate their decisions and actions. Convincing them the tranquility and quiet of the nights would disappear. Only to throw them back into the loud, painful cacophony of the day.

And so sleep remained out of their reach. So very close but always one inch too far. Each time they sat and looked out the window, to the large and shining moon, hoping the exhaustion would finally catch up. Maybe -when they would finally succumb to it- they would be able to have one or two more hours of sleep.

[peakyblindersxx]

whiskey business - john shelby x reader (part 8 of ?)

gif by @thesoldiersminute can i send you a cake or something cause fuCk!!!!!!!!!!! he's beautiful

a/n: to everyone still reading this fic, my sweet angels, ily!! this fic is so near and dear to my heart and @stxdyblr-2k has just done such an amazing job with it i can't even thank her enough. as per the last part, this one is also mostly her, just me editing but i hope you guys love it as much as i did!!! don't worry, there's gonna be a lot more :) and i apologize for being not as active, i'm gonna try to get a couple of requests up that i'm really excited about this week tysm for being patient with me <3

love, abi xxx

read part one two three four five six seven | my masterlist

prompt: ada has some talking to do, and you're not about to deny her.

warnings: fluff, semi-angst, tommy being the cocky mf he is (let's be real, it's only acceptable cause he's so damn fine), john being cute and in love and jesus i am head over heels

tagging: @datewithgianni, @mayaslifeinabox, @deepdonutkid, @springsoulofengland, @lilymurphy03, @operation-spot

You had planned to go to Ada's after work, but she obviously had other ideas. She didn't even bother walking in and asking to speak to you; instead, choosing to bang on the window closest to your desk and yelling at you to "fucking hurry up!" Your boss opened the door for you expectantly, not offering you any protection; he was firmly in the Shelby's ever growing pocket and as long as he could go home to his children, his sickly wife and their six bed in the country, with a full time nurse and nanny, he had no interest in crossing Thomas.

"Ada, I was coming to see you after work, I swear."

"I know. I was going to let you but..." She trailed off. "We need to talk. I don't know what the fuck is going on with you. John said he'd seen you last night and you asked after me."

John had indeed seen you last night. It was strange waking up with him, used to leaving almost immediately after he was finished with you. Your small bed could barely comfortably fit you both, having to intertwine your limbs with John's to not fall off the edge. You had awoken to John pressing a kiss to your forehead before lazily trailing his fingers between your legs, waiting for you to open your eyes before settling between your thighs, tongue swirling around your clit, making you cum before sunrise.

"Do we have to do this in the street?" You practically begged, the shouting having attracted onlookers.

"I wanted to talk to you before anyone else in the family gets to you because I need you to be honest."

"Ada-"

"No, I'm doing you a favour here, so you fucking listen. Right now, between you and I, no bullshit. No tactics. No white lies. You have to tell me exactly what we're dealing with." She looked frantic, scared for some reason.

You nodded, walking her down the side street, careful not to link arms with her. You knew she was doing you a favour; this wasn't about forgiveness or friendship, much more was at stake here.

"To what extent was Thomas involved?"

That took you off guard. Ada read the confusion on your face and sighed impatiently, her subtle plea for you to keep up.

Shit. You remembered your conversation with John, how she thought this was her brother's way of pushing her out of the company.

"Don't spare my feelings. What did my brother say to you?"

"He said it was in our mutual interest that you didn't find out. He didn't care who John slept with but cared who you trusted so I had to trust him. He said there was no point in upsetting you over one of John's conquests who he'd tire of in a month."

"That all?"

"Pretty much, I didn't know Arthur knew. He never talked to me about it, did laugh at Thomas' digs now that I think on it-"

"Did you know Isaiah and Michael knew?"

"I thought they were aware but no one ever talked to me about it."

"Of course they wouldn't." She hissed, frustration causing a nerve on her neck to jump.

Ada and you had spoken for years about the rampant misogyny of her brothers and any men you two came into contact with. Although you were both far more reserved than you used to be as rebellious and adventurous thirteen year olds, you'd both grew increasingly angry at how you were treated. She'd long written off her brothers as womanisers, who saw women as purely sexual and entertaining, objectifying them. You both long despised how they dehumanised women. She was amazed that Thomas had attempted to settle down and managed a somewhat loving marriage, but resented him for his carelessness and need for power which inevitably killed his wife.

"Ada, I just want to say..." You licked your lip nervously, unsure of how to continue.

"You need to talk, Y/N. No bollocks."

"Before last night, he'd never been to mine or called. I always went to him."

The muscle in her jaw tensed.

"You slept with him last night then?" You met her question with silence and she rolled her eyes. "The second he said he saw you I knew you had, he wanted to tell me that he was going to continue seeing you and that he hoped I'd be able to accept it one day."

"We never intended to hurt you. It was meant to be fun at first, but now..." You cut yourself off with a sigh, unable to admit you'd fallen for her brother.

"Isn't fun for me. It's fucking embarrassing." She paused, lighting a cigarette, nervous to offer you one, conflicted within herself. She raised her eyebrow, prompting you to continue, the mannerism so similar to her brother’s.

"It should never have happened. I am never going to be able to fix this, I'm so fucking ashamed for doing this to you, Ada."

She sulked, silently drinking in your words.

"Obviously it's not going to be the same, yeah? I'm really fucking upset. I'm so fucked off with you but Poll's really worried about a coup. She thinks you're being used as blackmail against John to keep him on side with Tommy while he expands."

"Makes sense."

"You're part of a much bigger game, you know?"

You nodded. "Yeah, and I knew I would lose from the start. Fucking tragic, Ada."

"My brothers keep pushing, keep growing the business. They keep chasing this prize but I don't think it even exists."

"If it does, it isn't worth it if this shit is the cost. I didn't mean to play into his hands."

"You couldn't have known." She said with a shrug, " 'Siah thinks John loves you."

"He told me last night." Several times, this morning also. You would never tire of hearing him moan those words into your neck or being yelled from your front door as he left for the office.

"You love him, don't you?" She said bluntly, a statement more than a question, your face suddenly hot with embarrassment.

Everything you'd suppressed for months, everything that you'd hidden, every time you lied smiling, every knowing glance from a stranger, every degrading comment from under Thomas' breath.

"I do, an awful lot."

She pauses, relighting her cigarette, "The worst thing about the entire situation is it could've been fine if someone told me. I wouldn't have loved it, obviously, but-" Ada sighed, rubbing her temple with her free fingers.

"I thought you'd hate me."

"How could I? I'd be more angry that you'd drop your standards for my brother. Seriously? Him? Mate…."

"Come off it, I've always thought he was charming. He's funny, smart-"

"Don't gush over my brother, it's grim. I'm just so fucked off you all lied to me." She peered at you through her cigarette smoke. "If you love him and he loves you..." she pressed her lips together as she tensed her jaw, "I could get over it. If it'd make you both happy. But that's going to take a long time. A long time."

"Ada-"

"Look I have meetings and shit to sort, I have to run." She interjected, checking her wristwatch, adjusting the cap which sat atop her trendy short haircut. You caught her arm before she could turn away.

"Thank you. For understanding."

She shrugged you off, "I don't get it, I'd never do that to you. But you also don't get to choose who you're attracted to. I'm really hurt, but I do love you and John a lot. He mentioned that after last night you helped him, got him cleaned up. I have to believe that you both do love each other. So I have to believe that this is a good idea for you both and not stand in your way."

"I love you, Ada. Can we hang out soon, just us two?"

She shook her head. "I need some time, I'll be in touch, yeah?"

You nod, stretching out your pinky finger. She sighed and linked it with hers, as you'd done since you were children, a silent signal to each other after a fight that you still had the other's back.

"Right, I've got to get back to this meeting, Tom is getting done by Polly for nearly getting John killed. I need to be there in case one of the lads needs patching up."

"Your aunt has a nasty left hook, I'll give her that."

"She'll be pleased you think so, she wanted Tommy to slice you to bits for crossing me."

"Fuck’s sake, thanks for the warning, I'll keep my head down. Good luck with the meeting."

Ada nodded and you watched her walk away, a Blinder suddenly appearing by her side seemingly from nowhere. This city was crawling with them. They clambered into Ada's car as you watched the car disappear into the distance before walking back to work. Thankfully, with your head still attached to your shoulders.

*******

Ada arrived at Thomas' estate, following the swell of shouting voices to his exquisite library. It was eye roll worthy and typical Tommy to choose the location of his post-fuckup debrief to be where he had the best view of the gardens, river and rolling hills. She could bet he'd sit in a corner and stare at the view, zoning out their aunt's lecture.

An armed blinder she vaguely recognised opened the door. Thomas was making a statement today with the armed guards, she noted. Her brothers really were fucked up. Arthur was an alcoholic killer who couldn't understand that Thomas would betray them all eventually, Finn was letting the tokyo and the razor chasers that circled him distract him from keeping the family together, John was apparently in love with her best friend, and finally, Thomas nearly got Arthur and John murdered last night with his foolishness. At this point only herself and Polly were holding everyone together, keeping everything silently moving along.

The door opened, and she was the last to arrive, Polly glaring as she murmured an apology, standing next to Finn. His eyes were bloodshot, grey-purple smudges under his eyes, he'd obviously had a heavy night. The last thing the poor lad needed was Polly's shrill yelling and the blinding sun streaming through the large immaculately crafted windows, which he'd tried to block with the brim of his cap. John caught her eye, acknowledging his sister with a nod, which she returned with a small tight smile.

Ada couldn't bear to think about the reasoning behind her brother's smug interjections in between Polly's rant to Thomas who was listening wordlessly, smoking.

Y/N and John? It didn't make sense. They had a similar sense of humour, sure, but she was far too intelligent for him. He also had a swarm of children, while Y/N preferred a wild night out only staggering home at daybreak.

It made far more sense for Y/N to end up with Michael, or if it had to be a brother, Finn. They were younger, so had less responsibilities and commitments so they could keep up with her. But John? Of course she knew he was believed to be the Casanova of her brothers, he was kind, he was an excellent father, yet he could never keep anyone around long, usually John was chasing someone new after a month or so. That's why the revelation that John had been involved with her best friend for almost half a year had taken her completely by surprise. Maybe that was why she was open to them being together. That had to be it. This relationship was completely out of character for John; she needed to believe that he was serious about his feelings towards Y/N and wasn't going to fuck her over. Because if he did, John would be a dead man.

"I don't know why you're all bleating at me. Yeah, I overlooked some details in the planning of last night's meeting-"

"Such as warning us that they were really fucked off because you'd helped bomb their warehouse." John pointed out.

"What do you want me to do? Apologise? Grow up, John." Tommy snapped back.

"They had loaded guns against their heads, they deserve an apology." Ada interjected, John giving her an appreciative flash of smile. She did love her big brother. Despite the fact that she'd pretty much only been yelling at him for the past month, John never dismissed her feelings and only apologised. It was confusing to admit to herself, but when Isaiah told her that he was confident John loved Y/N, she felt a wave of relief. At least he cared about her; it was the bare minimum but the Shelbys were notorious for not even meeting the bare minimum for acceptable social interactions.

"They didn't fuckin’ get shot." Thomas stated, his voice matter of fact and condescending.

"Do you ever hear yourself speak?" Polly spit back at him. "They didn't get shot this time. But it was too fucking close."

"It won't happen again, Polly." Tommy sighed. "What else can I say? Sorry lads, take the weekend off?"

"It's a good start." Arthur countered, "You're also paying for the extension on my house and my wedding."

"Fuck’s sake Arthur I was joking. But fine. Sure."

"You can't buy your family off." Polly scoffed at him.

"Think of it as compensation, a settlement." Thomas coolly corrected his aunt. "What do you want, John? A fucking farm?"

John hesitates while Finn whispered suggestions to him, Ada meeting his stare, John raising a brow to her in question. She sighed and nodded her approval.

"You can pay off my mortgage Tom, give me the kids' birthdays off-"

"So you'd never come into work then?" Finn cut in, Ada elbowing him in the ribs. She usually enjoyed Finn's remarks but she knew where John was heading; she could barely breathe.

"Tom, you're also to leave Y/N completely alone. If you have a problem with her, you come to me about it." He said firmly.

Arthur and Tommy traded knowing looks, obviously more aware of the ins and outs of his relationship than Ada was.

"Also if you're paying for Arthur's wedding I want the equivalent in cash." He adds.

Tommy shrugged. "Whatever. As long as we can move past last night and focus on today's order of business."

John nodded, satisfied. He knew Tom wouldn't care, but just saying out loud that he was involved with Y/N and having his family aware was a relief. He hadn't realised until he finally admitted how stressful keeping his relationship a secret was. Now, he could stop worrying about Tommy interfering.

Polly rolled her eyes, lecturing the brothers on their lack of moral backbone to allow themselves to be bought off, but dismissed them. She caught Ada's arm in hers on their way out, pulling her far from earshot.

"So Y/N and John are together now?" She asked, her face firm and scowling.

"Polls, I talked with her, she's aware of what she's done. She apologised and meant it. What more can I ask for?"

"Her not to have fucked him in the first place."

"She said that. Look, Polls, they're happy right? John seems happy-"

"He always is when he gets a leg over."

"You know she looked after him last night? Fixed him up after the meeting."

"Meeting? It was a fucking set up." Polly hissed but her face had softened. "She cleaned him up?"

"Antiseptic, bandages and all."

Polly looked subtly impressed, although she'd never admit it. "He went to hers? Not yours?"

"He wanted to talk to her." Ada shrugs, "I saw her this morning and-"

"What do you mean? You bumped into her?"

"I went to her work." Ada admitted, her aunt shooting her an exasperated glare.

"Why do I bother? Nobody listens to me."

"I had to talk to her, I'm glad I did. She reckons she loves him, he told her last night that he loves her, so..."

"We are talking about John? Our John?"

"I know Polls, I'm as amazed as you."

Her aunt huffed, unimpressed. "Are you okay with it though?"

"I guess, I just want them to be happy. I've told them to give me time with it."

"She was a good friend growing up, but people change, sometimes for the better, often for the worse."

"Poll, it's Y/N; she's my best friend. At the end of the day, we'd do anything for each other."

"Sweet Ada, you're going to be so miserable if you keep letting people walk all over you." Polly said wisely, kissing her goodbye affectionately. "I hope you're right. If she makes you cry again I'll kill her myself."

"Thanks, Polls."

She knew her aunt wasn't joking.

[milkybonya]

i'm not the same boy you knew back then

Warnings: food mentions and some angst, party mentions

Pairing: Yedam x (gn)reader

Summary: where Yedam broke your heart in high school because he didn't know how to act but now he's desperately in love with you and wishes you still felt the same :")

word count: 5.8k

inspired by Walls by All Time Low (it has explicit language! be careful~~i've put a link for it at the veryyy end of this fic)

[a/n]: I GOT SO CARRIED AWAY FOR THE FLASHBACK PART OF THIS OML I'M SORRY FOR THE CHAOS AND MESS BUT I HOPE YOU ENJOY

Hey there it's good to see you again, It never felt right calling this "just friends". I'm happy, if you're happy, with yourself.

"Isn't that Yedam?" your friend, sat beside you, asks. They point to somewhere behind your head, and naturally, you turn around to follow their finger with your eyes.

As the doors to the lecture hall swing shut, a familiar boy begins to walk quickly down the steps. While grinning, he decides on a spot near the back, far away from your almost front-row seat. You let out the breath you didn't realize you were holding and face the front.

"Since when did he go to our university?" your friend asks, also facing the front now.

"I have no clue," you admit.

You'd purposely accepted an offer at a faraway university to avoid having to see Yedam ever again after high school. High school had become one of the worst times of your life thanks to him.

-

Yedam's pov

As soon as I enter the hall, I find [y/n] with my eyes immediately. They look at me with a mix of shock, disgust and hatred, but seeing them fills me with so much joy that I can't help but smile.

Deciding not to bother them, I pick a spot near the back and sit down. I wonder to myself if switching to [y/n]'s school was the right choice...

-

[y/n]'s pov

It was obvious you were too much for me. Oblivious, I was young

Back in high school, you had the fattest crush on one of the school's most popular kids, and you hated yourself for it. It wasn't like you could control your feelings... but your heart was set on him. His smile made you feel so warm and you felt happy despite him not having the slightest clue who you were. You always watched him from afar, peering at him as he walked into the classroom while waving at all of his friends before taking a seat at the back.

By some chance, you got paired with him for an assignment. You thought he would be disappointed, since he had never spoken to you, but contrary to his somewhat intimidating aura as a result of him being a popular kid, he smiled warmly at you as you introduced yourself.

"I know you're [y/n]," he said quietly, looking down at the assignment instructions in front of him.

"How do you know?" you asked him.

He looked up and leaned in closer to you to whisper into your ear, only after being sure that no one was watching.

"It may not seem like it, but I do know my classmates."

When he moved back, he flashed you a grin before returning to the assignment instructions again. Your heartbeat was flooding your ears.

After meeting up several times to do the research and plan out the presentation together, you and Yedam somehow grew closer. You had always thought he was some sort of chic, cool guy, but he turned out to be super soft and sweet. The two of you laughed at each other's dumb jokes and procrastinated late into the night sometimes, only beginning your work when the café was about to close.

On one of those days, Yedam asked if you wanted to go to his place to finish the assignment.

"It's due in two weeks and we still have so much to do... plus we're so busy that we can only meet once a week," he explained, pouting slightly.

You agreed, feeling somewhat nervous and excited at the prospect of going to your crush's house for the first time.

His parents were home but asleep as it was late for them, so the two of you quietly went to his room.

In-between muffled giggles and late-night snacks, the two of you managed to get a lot of work done before you felt as though you'd hit your limit. After yawning and stretching, you told Yedam that it was time you went home.

"Do you live far from here?" he asked you.

You, in fact, did live quite far from his house, but you felt bad telling him this, so you lied and told him you lived close by.

He pouted and looked down.

"I was going to ask if you wanted to just sleep here... but I guess it makes sense for you to go home," he said, helping you pack up your things.

Yedam... wanted you to stay the night? How could you miss such an opportunity! Your crush! Wanted you to stay the night!!

Yedam noticed that you'd stopped moving, holding your pencil case in your hand as you thought about what to say.

"Is everything okay?" he asked you.

"Yeah... I actually... live kind of far," you mumbled, not wanting him to get mad at you for lying.

"You do? Then why did you say you live close by?" he asked, also taking his hands away from your backpack.

"I didn't want you to walk me home or anything," you explained. Yedam smiled at you, shaking his head.

"Don't worry about it now... do you have any clothes to change into?"

"Just my gym clothes... but they're dirty," you told him, shyly.

"Do you want to take something of mine to wear?" he asked you, already standing up to look through his closet without waiting for your answer.

You were going to say no, again, not wanting to bother him, but he had already pulled out some of his comfier clothes for you to wear.

After changing into them and walking back into his room, you avoided Yedam's eyes as he quietly lost his mind over how cute you looked.

"Um, so..." Yedam started, scratching the back of his neck.

"Would you be okay with sleeping in my bed? I'll go sleep in the livingroom-"

"No, no! I'll go sleep there-"

"No, I can't let a guest sleep on the couch!"

Both of you sighed, not being able to win against one another.

"Listen, it's either you sleep in my room and I go to the livingroom, or we both sleep in my bed," he said, pointing to his bed behind you.

You froze, trying to consider your options as your heartbeat grew louder.

"Well... I guess we're both sleeping here then," you said, in a tone that tried to sound confident but was a little shaky.

You plopped yourself face first into the bed to hide from your embarrassment, feeling the bed shift a few seconds later as Yedam joined you.

"Scooch over towards the wall. I'll sleep on this side so you won't fall off the bed at night," he said, pointing to the side of his bed that faced the rest of his room. You smiled at Yedam's kind gesture as you moved over.

He had turned off the light and it was dark now, and both of you lay side-by-side on your backs, staring up at the ceiling.

"Are you... asleep?" he asked you quietly a while later. You shook your head at first, but then realized he couldn't see you. So you said a quiet "no".

You felt Yedam shift as he turned to face you. You carefully turned your head towards him too, wondering what he was up to. It was hard to see in the dark, but he was just admiring your face. You looked away, feeling embarrassed, until you felt him shuffling closer to you.

It was a little nerve-wracking watching his figure tower over you in the dark. Blinking up at him, you parted your lips to ask him what he was doing, but he spoke first.

"Am I allowed to... kiss you?" he asked, quietly looking down at you.

Yedam... wants to ???? Your crush wanted-

You found yourself nodding before your thoughts could entirely be processed, and watched as Yedam lowered himself onto you with a small smile. His heart soared as he watched your reaction -- your eyes were squeezed shut so tightly out of nervousness.

Before his soft lips met yours, he found your hand under the blankets and held it in an attempt to ease you of your nervousness. He didn't know that it only made your stomach feel the effects even more intensely.

Your lips touched for only a moment, but it felt like a whole eternity. When he pulled away, he moved off of you quickly and shuffled over to his side of the bed again.

"I'm sorry.. I'm so sorry," he mumbled, looking away from you. You were confused.

"What's wrong?" you asked him.

"I... I was supposed to tell you I like you first but then now you're right beside me--wait not that I like you... wait I mean I do, but I didn't want to tell you like this--"

Hearing his unsure confession was all the confidence you needed to pull him closer, accidentally tightening his hoodie strings as you pulled him in to carefully press your lips against his again. He completely melted into your hands, then, wrapping an arm around your back and holding you close.

That was probably one of the last good memories you have of him.

After that, Yedam turned into a different person the next morning, avoiding your eyes and missing any trace of a smile on his face as he pushed a plate of breakfast towards you.

"Let's not walk to school together, okay? I'll be leaving first," he told you, leaving you alone in his own house.

You had no clue what was going on and no appetite to eat. After waiting a few minutes, you walked to school after him. You had no idea how to even get to school from his house, so after getting lost and arriving late, you finally managed to make it.

When you tried to approach him in class, he would turn his back on you and ignore you. It made you feel so small that you stopped even trying.

It was really hard for you to show up to school after that, because of how terrible you felt, but you still tried your best. Your friends knew something was wrong and they did their best to help you, but it didn't stop you from thinking about Yedam and why he was acting so strangely.

Until he texted you one day in the middle of class, asking you to meet him in an empty classroom.

You told yourself you shouldn't pay him any attention, especially after he ghosted you like that, but you still followed after him, curious to see what excuse he would give you.

In the classroom, you couldn't see anyone, so you thought Yedam hadn't arrived yet until you heard him call out your name from behind a file cabinet. By the windows.

"Come here, [y/n]," he said, motioning for you to approach him. He was smiling at you again, just like he did on those days when you'd study with him in the café. You told yourself to just turn around and leave, but your feet guided you to him.

You frowned up at him.

"What the heck have you been doing?" you asked him, tears already threatening to leave your eyes.

"[y/n], I-I'm sorry... you know how it is for me, with my popular reputation. Some kids saw us at the café and posted pictures of us, saying that I was going around dating a loser-"

He was holding onto your hands while wearing a pitiful expression, but you coldly pushed him away after hearing him out.

"So you've been acting weird because I'm tainting your reputation? Yedam, we never even dated! You gave me some... half-assed confession and... kissed me in the middle of the night and then ghosted me," you told him, sternly.

"I know, I'm sorry... It's so pathetic but I really do like you... I'm just really bad at this, I know, but I'm telling you now I like you-"

"In an empty classroom. Behind a file cabinet."

"Please, [y/n]. Date me for real... I promise I won't let you down."

You and your kind, innocent heart believed his promise. You believed him because his eyes were sparkling and he was holding onto you so tightly.

Yedam told you that you had to date him in secret, and that was just one of many red flags. He explained that if his friends found out, he would be teased and you would be hurt by their words, too. Nonetheless, you agreed. At school, you never spoke to him. All you got were stolen glances, Yedam winking at you every time you turned around in your seat. Somehow, that was enough to make your heart flutter.

You could only see each other in each other's homes, since even the risk of being caught out on a date was too much for Yedam to handle. The two of you would intertwine hands while watching a movie. You'd rest your head on Yedam's shoulder, or sometimes he would rest his head in your lap and you would gently stroke his hair, watching as his eyes squeezed shut tightly while he indulged in the feeling of your love.

Sometimes the two of you would listen to music together, quietly sharing earphones while staring out the window.

Sometimes you would just talk for hours into the night.

Yedam's smile would never leave his face when he was with you.

Except for when he was at school.

And you could handle it. At least you thought you could, until the final straw.

For Yedam's birthday, a few of his friends had gathered in his home, celebrating. You were also invited, of course, after you begged Yedam to let you come. He had told his friends that he invited you as a gesture of thanks for working on the assignment with him... it broke your heart to hear this lie, but you shrugged it off, again.

Everyone was feeling excited as they all started a game of spin-the-bottle. You felt incredibly out of place and already angry, even more so upon seeing a girl getting all handsy with Yedam, stroking his thigh with her hand and playing with his hair. She was constantly glued to him, but you shrugged it off, again.

After the bottle's mouth faced Yedam, the girl beside him dared him to kiss someone. How childish, you thought to yourself. You watched as Yedam locked eyes with you and started to stand up, making his way towards you with a small smile, but the girl beside him stopped him.

"Where are you going, damie? Isn't it me who you should kiss?"

Yedam looked back at her and then at you.

"I-"

"C'mon, it's your birthday!" she said, dragging him back down.

That literally is not an excuse and makes no sense, you scoffed to yourself, rolling your eyes.

The next few moments were a blur, but Yedam ended up kissing her and you felt like a piece of paper being torn in two. We can't even look at each other in public, you thought to yourself. You fought back tears and got up to leave. No one seemed to mind or care about where you were going, since none of these people were your friends anyway. Even Yedam was preoccupied, his lips on the mouth of this other girl.

You couldn't just shrug things off anymore. This was it. Now, it was your turn to ghost Yedam.

You hadn't told him, but your family were planning to move to another city soon. You told them to plan the move for earlier so you could leave that dreaded place and leave Yedam. Ignoring all his calls and texts, you transferred out the next week, and that was that.

-

I'm gonna break down these walls, I built around myself. I wanna fall so in love, with you, and no one else, Could ever mean half as much, to me as you do now. Together we'll move on, just don't turn around, Let the walls break down.

You can't focus in lecture as everything that happened with Yedam flashes before your eyes. Just as you're starting to live a normal life without him, he has to show up and allow of the trauma to resurface.

As soon as your class ends, you quickly pack your bags. Your friend does the same, understanding exactly what is going on. But it seems like Yedam and his feet move a little faster.

Just as you're about to leave your row, you look up to find Yedam standing at the end of it, a small smile on his face.

You sigh and turn around, telling your friend to do the same so you can leave through the other side. But Yedam just follows behind you quietly. He doesn't say a word and just follows you as you and your friend as you leave the lecture hall to go to your next class.

Suddenly, you stop. Your friend and Yedam stop, too.

You turn around, your fist clenched into a tight ball.

"Yedam, can you please stop following me? Do you not have classes of your own or things to do? Please leave me alone," you told him, turning your back on him again and walking forward.

Your friend didn't follow you, though, but looked back and forth between you and Yedam. So lost in your thoughts, you walk to class on your own, not noticing that your friend isn't following you.

-

Yedam's pov

After they say those words and leave, I feel my heart breaking in two. Of course I know how much I've hurt [y/n], but their words make me realize that I'll never be able to completely understand. I almost start crying right there and then...

"Yedam, right?" their friend asks me. I look at them and nod, confused.

"Listen, [y/n] hates your guts. They're not going to talk to you and hear you out, so I'll do it instead. I know [y/n] might regret it if they don't hear you out, even if they don't want to."

I smile at [y/n]'s friend. That sounds exactly like [y/n]...

"You've probably heard a lot of awful things about me, and it's all true. But... [y/n] probably didn't tell you about those nights we spent in each other's rooms... the times that we did get to spend with each other alone.... sorry, what I'm trying to say is that I've always loved [y/n]. Not even 'like', but I've always loved them. And I don't think I'll be able to stop... I know I was such a terrible boyfriend back then. I don't think I can say I even was much of a boyfriend... but I've changed. I can promise that I've changed. I know it must be so arrogant of me to ask if they'll give me another chance but..."

I trail off, my brain shutting down as I struggle to find anymore words to express myself. [y/n]'s friend nods after I trail off.

"I see... well, I've heard about your promises. I heard they couldn't be trusted but if you've changed, then maybe that has changed, too. [y/n] has a really kind heart, but I won't let them date a jerk ever again. So unless we both know for sure that you're different now, we are not letting you date them."

With that, [y/n]'s friend walks away and leaves me there.

-

[y/n]'s pov

In class, you feel completely empty, unsure of how to feel. You only notice that your friend had not been beside you this entire time when they take a seat in the spot beside you, apologizing that they're late.

"Where were you?" you ask them, looking up as they sit down.

"I was talking to Yedam," your friend tells you, never one to lie.

Your face fills with disgust at the mention of his name.

"Why would you do that?" you whisper loudly, causing some heads in the lecture hall to turn your way. You mumble an apology before returning to your friend.

"I wanted to hear him out," they say, casually opening up their notes.

"What did he say?"

"So you are interested, huh?" they ask you, teasing.

"No, I'm not!"

"I know, calm down! He just said something along the lines of how he's always loved you and does now, too, and that he's changed--"

"That is the most garbage thing I've ever heard," you say, interrupting your friend with a scoff. They smile, shaking their head at you.

-

When you return to your dorm after all your classes, you find a small gift bag hanging on the door knob to your room. Curious, you pick it up and notice it has your name written on the side.

You could recognize that handwriting from a mile away.

As if it's the side of a hot pan, you drop it, watching its contents spill to the ground. A pack of your favourite snack falls out, along with a neatly handwritten note, a CD player and earphones.

I guess it wouldn't hurt to look, you tell yourself.

Picking everything up and walking into your room, you sit on your bed and read the note over.

[y/n]!! ah, it doesn't make sense for me to be cute or excited in this note, does it? >.< please forgive me.... i'm a little nervous... here is that snack that you've always loved... do you still love it now, too? and here is something that i wrote for you~it's on the CD. just press play and i'll let the song do the talking... i wrote this after you disappeared.

- yedam

This song better be god tier if he's coming to leave it at my door, you think to yourself.

As the song fills your ears, it seems to fill your empty heart too. You can tell it's full of Yedam's sincere feelings and thoughts... or he's just doing a good job of acting while singing. You can't seem to tell, but you still tear up a little.

You hear the door to your room swing open, as your friend, who also happens to be your roommate, barges in.

"What are you up to?" they ask, placing some things on their desk. They turn around immediately when they hear you sniffling.

"ARE YOU CRYING?" they shout, sitting beside you and wrapping their arms around you.

"This... song... Yedam..." you croak, just handing them the earphones.

When they listen to it, they also go quiet.

"It sounds really sincere..." your friend tells you, quietly.

"I'm not the only one who feels that way?" you ask your friend, looking at them.

"You know him better than I do, so you're probably right," they tell you, standing up.

"Why did this boy have to show up and make a mess of my life again," you groan, hiding your face in your hands.

"Well, I have just the solution! I know you're probably going to think about him and not get any work done anyway, so should we just go to a party?!" your friend tells you, jumping up and down.

"A party?" you wrinkle your nose in disgust.

"It'll help you stop thinking about him! Please, we never went to any parties last year!! Let's go, just this once!" they beg.

After thinking it over, you agree. What's the worst that could happen?

-

Wearing one of your favourite fits and feeling good, you walk alongside your friend, who already has a groove in their step as the two of you make your way to the house where the party is set to be held. It isn't that hard to find, since you're just following the bright lights and loud music in the distance. It's a wonder the people in that house aren't being arrested for causing such a ruckus...

Finally there, you step inside and try not to bump into any weird people. The music is so loud its deafening, and you shrivel up at the sound of it. Your friend wraps their arm around you, pulling you in close and guiding you to the snack/drink area so you can take what you need and go to a quieter place.

Your friend did beg you to come today, so they won't force you to dance or do any things you don't want to do...

Now equipped with everything you need, you make your way to the basement, where it's a lot quieter despite being so busy.

"How's this for a change?" your friend asks you, grooving along to the distant sound of the music from upstairs.

"It seems like you want to dance," you tell your friend.

They shake their head.

"I'll stay with you toniiiiiight!" they cheer, hugging you tightly. You laugh.

"It's fine, just go up! The crowd doesn't seem too scary or weird down here," you tell them as you watch two people play mario kart in front of a TV.

After asking you 1000 times if it's really okay, they leave you there with a drink in your hand. You continue watching the two people playing mario kart, secretly rooting for the boy in orange because his fit looks really nice, even if you're only looking from the back.

He ends up losing and you let out a "noooo!" loud enough for the two to hear. When they turn around, you discover that the boy in orange had been Yedam all along!

I take back rooting for him... he deserved to lose!

Widening your eyes at the sight of him, you quickly turn away and try to navigate your way towards another room. To your surprise, as soon as you walk in, Yedam is in there, holding the door open at the other end and panting.

"[y/n]," he calls out softly, smiling slightly. You can tell he's testing the waters and wondering how to react.

You try to walk out of the room, but the door behind you has been shut by some drunken idiot! He's pressed up against the frame and no matter how much you push, the door just won't open.

"[y/n], if you want to leave, it's okay. I don't want to bother you," Yedam tells you, stepping aside from the other door and motioning for you to walk through.

You sigh.

"No, it's fine. I guess we're here for a reason now, or something," you mumble, sliding down the wall until you're in a comfortable sitting position.

Yedam smiles, closing the door behind him.

"Still caught up in all that destiny stuff?" he asks you, joining you in sitting on the ground but also keeping his distance.

You scoff in response. How does this kid remember everything about me?

"So... what are you doing in my house?' he asks you.

"Your.... house?"

"Yeah, this is my house. You didn't know?" he asks you, looking bewildered.

You think about your friend. They must have brought you here while knowing it was Yedam's house...

"Um... nevermind that. How... have you been?" Yedam asks you, wringing his hands.

"Me? I've been doing great until now. How about you?" you spit out your words sarcastically, but Yedam doesn't seem to mind.

"I've been... well... I'm not sure. It would be cheesy for me to say I've been feeling lost without you, but that's kind of how it is," he tells you, chuckling nervously.

"Yeah, super cheesy. It also doesn't make sense, Yedam," you tell him, avoiding his eyes.

"I know it doesn't, but to me it does. I know our relationship was a mess, but those times that we spent together were... something else. Probably some of the best times of my life, honestly," he tells you.

"And why... are you telling me this?" you ask him, curious to see how he'll respond.

"Because I know I'm in the wrong and there's no excuse for my past childishness, but... I've missed you. And I still do. I know I was really caught up in my reputation back then and I didn't open myself up to you properly, but I want to do that now."

He runs his fingers through his hair, and something inside you turns. You didn't realize just how much you loved it when Yedam did that until now... he looks so pretty--

No. What are you thinking?!

"I haven't missed you though, Yedam," you say.

He smiles sadly.

"I know. And there's no reason for you to. But I'm just... asking for a second chance in case you think there's anything left."

You gulp and look up at the ceiling. You hadn't even considered the possibility of dating Yedam again, but talking with him now is different. He's less cautious and seems to be a lot more comfortable with you.

Someone knocks on the door behind Yedam and Yedam tells them to come in.

"Oh, am I interrupting?" the boy asks, slowly backing away.

"It's fine, I'm just talking to [y/n]," Yedam says with a smile, gesturing towards you. You greet the boy and his eyes light up.

"[y/n]?! The one you always tell me about? Gosh... it's so nice to meet you!" the boy says, shaking your hand and sitting down in front of you.

"You put up with a lot of Yedam's antics, I've heard," he says, laughing. Yedam laughs along, but you're still in shock.

Yedam had never told anyone about you... but now this random boy knows everything?

"It was more than antics. I was... really bad to [y/n]. I'm surprised they haven't left yet," Yedam admits, leaning back.

"I transferred to your old high school after you transferred out, and this boy was always sad. He didn't talk to anyone but me, only because the teacher asked him to show me around. He told me everything about you and eventually told the rest of his friends, too. You were his biggest and only heartbreak... I swear everyone at our school knows about you," the boy explains.

"What did you tell them?" you ask Yedam.

"He told us how he had been dating you in secret because he was afraid to ruin his popularity, but that he regrets it a lot. A lot of his friends left him after finding out you dated Yedam," the boy explains. Yedam nods along.

You're in shock. The boy who was so secretive and insecure exposed himself as a heartbreaker?

"Anyways, I'm sorry to be interrupting. I'll leave now!" the boy says, standing up and closing the door behind him.

"You... told everyone?" you ask Yedam. He nods.

"I feel like it was the only thing I could do for you. You deserved to be known as the one who held my heart," he says, holding his chest and laughing at his own cheesy words.

You find yourself laughing along and loosening up.

A moment of silence stretches between the two of you, and Yedam breaks it by standing up.

"Do you wanna play mario kart with me? You seemed to be having fun watching," Yedam asks you quietly.

You nod, also standing up.

The two of you play for about an hour, screaming and yelling at the TV just like you used to in your bedroom when you'd play games together.

"I won!" you declare in glee, turning to Yedam to do your signature high five with him. His hands meet yours, and you only realize what you're doing only after its already happened. You awkwardly move your hands away, facing the screen again.

"I'm sorry..." you mumble.

"No, I'm sorry! It's really okay, [y/n]... if you feel uncomfortable around me, you don't have to--"

"Your song touched me a lot, Yedam. And now I feel like... I want to try again. Just like this game," you say, pointing to the screen that has try again written in the corner.

"Are you sure?" he asks you, slowly.

You nod, deciding you've made up your mind. You've seen a lot of green flags already -- enough to decide that it's okay to move forward.

Yedam smiles and looks down at his lap. Then his head lifts up quickly, his eyes lighting up.

"I can take you to that café you always wanted to go! They have one in this city... and there's a museum next to it too! Do you want to go there? I.."

As he continues talking, you realize that all of the things he's saying he wants to do were things that you never did with Yedam, even after one year of dating him. It was always stay-at-home dates and ignore-each-other-when-we're-at-school. Somehow, you feel excited, wondering what things will be like.

"[y/n]! I've been looking everywhere for--oh, Yedam? Hi!" your friend greets you both.

"Did you have fun dancing?" you ask them. They nod, pointing to Yedam with their eyes.

You get up and whisper into your friend's ear.

"We have a lot to talk about, but I think..."

Your friend doesn't even wait for you to finish before they say, "well, I have to leave early now. Yedam, can you walk [y/n] home? Great, thanks!"

With that, they disappear and you shake your head at your friend's strange behaviour.

Yedam is all smiley while still sitting on the ground.

"Do I get to walk you home now?" he asks you, standing up.

"I wonder what would've happened if you walked me home that day, too..." you mumble, thinking about the day you slept over at Yedam's in the same bed as him.

"What, do you want to sleep over today, too?" he asks you.

You shake your head.

"I don't want things to turn out like that again."

"You mean, you don't want me to kiss you like I did then?" Yedam teases you, sending you a wink.

"You--shut up!" you yell, chasing after him with a pillow.

This boy literally broke my heart, you think to yourself. He is testing his limits...

After you both calm down, Yedam walks you home. It's a little quiet at first, until Yedam speaks.

"Can... I hold your hand?" he asks you.

"This soon?" you say, still grabbing his hand anyway. He looks down at your hand in his and smiles.

"Yeah... you don't know how long I've been wanting to do this for," he admits, swinging your arm up and down as you walk.

You shake your head at him.

"Let's run!" Yedam declares, racing forward with your hand in his. You trail behind him, the sound of laughter escaping your lips and ringing in Yedam's ears. It leaves a bright blush on his face as he thinks to himself about how much he's missed your laughter.

The two of you slow down, panting.

"I'm so tired," Yedam wheezes, laughing at how weird he sounds.

"Do you want me to kiss it better?" you tease him. He raises his eyebrows at the comment. Maybe it's the adrenaline from all the running or the feeling of the night air, but a courage surges through you as you snake your hand around the back of his head and pull him towards you, pressing his warm lips to yours.

You pull away shortly after, feeling breathless again. A blush dusts Yedam's cheeks as he stares at you with wide eyes.

Your own stomach is full of butterflies, but you ignore it and walk forward.

"Are you not coming?" you yell to the boy behind you. He laughs and chases after you.

[a/n]: i just want to say that i do not condone getting back together with a toxic ex so soon... i was just really excited while writing and sped up the plot >.< but don't ever get back with someone who has hurt you unless you are 100% sure! please take care of yourself!!

[hot-wiings]

The One Where Denki And Mina Think Katsuki Needs To Be A Softer, Nicer Boyfriend, And An Insecure Katsuki Agrees, But [Y/N] [L/N] Doesn't Want A Nicer Boyfriend, She Wants Him.

Requested By: @spicyhokage

Edited: 1-6-2021

It was late when Katsuki came in through class 2-A's dormitory doors. Being his second year at UA the school was allowing students to go back into student internships. With Best Jeanist still off the streets, Katsuki wound up interning with Fatgum, using the link between Eijirou and him to get in. Katsuki hadn't expected to be out for so long, there had been a bad villain that showed up at a different agency and it was a perfect match for both his and Fatgum's abilities. Fatgum had allowed Katsuki to work on it with him, nevermind the fact that Katsuki had already planned a study date for your upcoming test Monday, he jumped at the chance to work with the heroes.

Katsuki knew, or at least he hoped, that you wouldn't be that mad or upset at him for ditching you at the very last minute. It was a leg up in the hero industry, it was a helping hand, he could make more connections and improve his skills. As a student hero, you should know how important this is. He'd want you to make the same choice if it was reversed.

Despite abandoning your date, Katsuki wasn't heartless. He bought a bouquet of hydrangeas as an apology. Apologies weren't something he was good at, but he hoped you would accept it. Katsuki was hoping you would be up waiting for him in the dormitory lounge when he came back, but he knew that one was a longshot. He'd rather have you in bed resting, or making up for the studying he promised to help with but hadn't. Katsuki was hoping he'd find you in the dormitory lounge waiting for him, but instead, he found two of his peers.

"You were out awfully late, weren't you?"

"Shut it, pink face. I need to go see [Y/N] and then head to bed, like a smart student. You and dunce face do realize that we have a big test Monday, don't you?"

Katsuki marched right past Mina and Denki, who were sitting on the couch, towards the elevator to get up to your dorm. If he was right, Mr. Aizawa would be asleep by this hour, and getting into your dorm would be no issue. Katsuki stopped walking towards the elevator when he hears Minas' voice speak out again.

"Did you really get hydrangeas for her? You ditched her for your internship and you got hydrangeas? Girls like roses Katsuki. If a guy ever brought me hydrangeas, I'd kick his butt to the door. Queens deserve better."

"What the fuck are you implying raccoon eyes?"

Katsuki turned back around to yell at Mina for implying that he wasn't good enough for you. He nearly crumpled the flowers by clenching his hand. Mina didn't know what she was talking about. He had brought you hydrangeas several times before, you never complained about it. Denki spoke up to try and intervene Katsuki from blowing up on Mina.

"I think what Mina meant to say is that we're just worried for you. You really like [Y/N], right? Take it from a guy who gets dumped by girls a lot. Pretty girls like [Y/N] don't need to sit around waiting for guys like us. While you're trying to further your career you're ditching her, not to mention, when is the last time you showed her affection?"

"For starters, dunce face, don't call my girlfriend pretty. Secondly, there are no guys like us and girls like [Y/N], there's me, her, and all of you fucking extras that need to get out of my relationship."

"Fine, don't take our advice. Just so you know, [Y/N] isn't in her dorm, she's in the kitchen."

Mina practically sings her words out, and Katsuki changes his course of route from the elevator to the kitchen. He had a scowl on his face the entire time, courtesy of Mina and Denki. He had to restrain himself from beating them with the bouquet. Katsuki reached the kitchen door and he took a minute to recompose himself from his previous anger to a calmer version of himself. He pushed the door open with a calmer smile on his face but stops after opening it halfway.

"What's the answer to number two?"

"Uhm... 6?"

"That's right! Here's your reward."

Katsuki clenched his fist, practically ruining the flowers. He ditched you and your study date, he shouldn't be getting so mad at seeing you and Deku study together. You can have friends other than him. You can be around members of the male gender other than him. Even if it is shitty Deku. You're allowed to have a life outside of Katsuki, but as Deku broke apart a cookie and threw it right into your mouth, a sweet reward for getting the question right, he was ready to toss hands with the boy.

"We're gonna ace this test Monday. Thanks for studying with me Deku. I hate studying alone and you're great at math. Usually, Katsuki helps me, but he got busy."

"It's no problem, [Y/N]. Seriously, I'm always here if you need me."

Katsuki quietly pulled the door shut instead of going in and interrupting you and dumb Deku. Maybe Mina was right. Katsuki thought about it more as he walked back to Mina and Denki. He didn't really show you affection that much, and he did spend a lot of time in the gym or at his internship. His idea of a date was training together or studying. You probably hated the flowers but chose not to speak on it. If he didn't change, change now and fast he was going to lose you to that shit-munch. He needed to show you he was the better more deserving man. As Katsuki stared at Mina and Denki he uttered the words he never wanted to say to them.

"I want your fuckin' help."

"Bring [Y/N] roses. Girls love roses. Not a daffodil, not baby's breath, not a tulip. Roses."

Roses were Mina's first piece of advice to Katsuki. According to her, girls only cared about getting roses, and every other flower was inferior. She also said apology flowers must be paired with chocolates. Katsuki personally thought that was bullshit. He had been bringing you different breeds of flowers throughout your entire relationship and never once had you vocalized disdain for it. But Mina is a girl unlike him, so she must have had some kind of special insight. You must have just not wanted to make him feel bad for messing up. Katsuki knew he was inexperienced in the dating area, but he hadn't realized he was screwing up so badly.

Katsuki did exactly what Mina said. Saturday afternoon, Katsuki showed up at your dorm with a bouquet of yellow roses and a box of chocolates, the milk chocolate kind. According to Mina, milk chocolate was better than dark chocolate. He knocked on the door after checking his phone for the time. He knew you didn't like getting up early on the weekend, and you had been up late studying the night before. Twelve-thirty seemed like a reasonable time to stop by.

You opened the door, slippers on your feet, eyes barely opened, and a crinkled forehead as you tried to slightly open them to see who you were staring at. You had a pair of shorts on and one of Katsuki's sweatshirts. One you promised you hadn't seen and swore he must've lost in the dorms laundry facility. Katsuki smiled down at your sleepy form, you were adorable. Once you registered who it was you yawned and crossed your arms as you lazily leaned against the door frame and let a small smile cross your face.

"What're you doing here? You were out so late last night, you must be exhausted."

"I could say the same about you, you look like the epitome of tired. How late were you up?"

"No later than two. When did you get in?"

Katsuki didn't want to tell you he came in at midnight. You would've asked him why he didn't come to see you, and he didn't want to say that he saw you and Deku studying together. He didn't want to admit that he felt pained at seeing you together so close. Pained at you needing and using Deku as you would him. Katsuki held up the roses and chocolates and thrust them into your arms.

"I didn't even check the time. I brought you apology flowers and chocolate for ditching you. They're roses!"

"O-Oh, they're yellow."

You took the items he thrust into your arms and moved further into your dorm so he could come in. You set the chocolate down on the bed but kept observing the flowers. Katsuki was quite proud of the flowers he picked out. They were pretty and blooming, and he thought you'd like them. Yellow roses would look good in your dorm room. You, on the other hand, were not ecstatic with the flowers. You bit your lip and tried to make your smile bigger. Did he know what yellow roses symbolized? He had to of known, even Denki would know something this simple. Maybe you were reading into it too much, they're just flowers. It was a gift, not a death sentence to your relationship.

"I'll have to go to the kitchen and see if there's anything I can put them in."

Katsuki could sense you being standoffish. He assumed you were upset at him for ditching you the previous night. He did the flowers right, he would just have to go the extra mile to make you happy with him by serving your needs.

"I can go to the kitchen and find a vase! You just shower or get dressed, or whatever, and I'll even bring you up some lunch."

"You don't have to do that. I can get dressed and do it myself."

"I don't have to do it, I want to do it."

Katsuki cupped your cheeks and pressed a quick kiss against your lips. They were soft and sweet. Katsuki could taste the residue sugar from the cookies you had been eating the night before and he pulled back with a frown, making you frown just as much. He wasn't mad that you didn't brush your teeth, although you should have. He was upset at the reminder that Deku was with you when you were supposed to be having a study date. He was upset that Deku was the one who stayed up with you until two in the morning. He was upset that Deku was acting like a better boyfriend when he was just your friend and nothing more. Katsuki should've been doing more, he should've been doing a better job.

"I really am sorry for ditching you yesterday. If you want, we can redo the date today."

"I really missed you yesterday. I did some cramming with Deku, but I don't think he's as good of a teacher as you are."

"Of course dumb Deku isn't as good as me. I'll grab my books before I come back, we'll have a nice do-over date."

Hearing you say that Izuku wasn't as good as him made him feel good. It was slightly reassuring to Katsuki, yet he couldn't stop this budding feeling every time he thought about you and Izuku studying last night.  

"Buy her something nice. Something nice like jewelry. I always see you buying her practical stuff, that's boring. Girls like pretty shiny gifts from their boyfriends."

Mina's second piece of advice had been to buy you some jewelry. According to Mina jewelry was an acceptable gift for a boyfriend to buy his girlfriend. Katsuki had been buying you practical and weird gifts throughout your relationship. He thought they were good, he thought they were sweet and enjoyable. He supposed he was wrong. With every piece of advice from Mina, Katsuki was getting punched in the gut. He thought he was treating you right, he thought he was doing this whole relationship thing right, but he wasn't. If he didn't fix things fast then dumb Deku would steal you away from him.  

Katsuki felt inside of his pocket for the necklace he bought you. He had Mina help him pick it out that morning. It had been sitting there in a pretty little black box with a red bow waiting to be opened. He wanted to give it to you when he gave you the flowers, but he didn't want you to view it as an apology gift, he wanted it to be viewed as a sweet, 'I was thinking of you', gift.

By the time Katsuki had gotten back to your dorm room, you were all showered and dressed in fresh clothes. You were wearing comfortable clothes, and Katsuki had to smile again. You looked simply perfect. With your hair pushed back by a headband, sweatpants, and another one of his sweaters which you practically swam in, you looked angelic to him. Katsuki put a bag containing your lunch on the small table you had in your room, he placed the vase containing your new flowers there too before pulling out your lunch. You grabbed his book bag from him with a smile and began to pull his books out and place them alongside yours in a neatly organized fashion to create a nice study space.

"What'd you find for lunch?"

"There wasn't much in the fridge to quickly grab, so I made some curry."

"I love it when you cook. It always tastes good."

You smiled at Katsuki and placed a quick peck against his cheek before taking a seat next to him. His chest swelled with pride as he watched you freely dig into the container of food. You liked his cooking, and as he watched you feast in it he knew you weren't lying. At least he did one thing right on his own. One more wrong thing and he was sure he was going to blow a casket.

"Aren't you gonna eat?"

You stared at him with half-lidded eyes and spoke with your mouth half full, barely pronouncing your words but Katsuki still knew what you were saying. He stopped staring at you and began working on his own dish. Every once and a while Katsuki noticed your eyes go from your food to his face and then to the flowers before diving back to the food. He supposed you really liked them. It felt good knowing he was doing it right. It felt good knowing you were happy and content with him for the moment.

You wiped your face off and just as you were about to clean up your lunch mess Katsuki jumped up and took care of it. He grabbed your lunch containers and closed them before tossing them back into the bag he brought them in. He took a wet wipe and wiped up your table and then proceeded to toss the dirty wipe in the trash bin.

"Ready to study?"

"Yup! You're a really good teacher, I really look forward to our study dates."

You walked over to your bed and took a seat on the ground whereas Katsuki laid across your bed in a position where he could have a book out and also easily look over the edge to see what you were doing. This was how you always did your study dates. Katsuki would work and watch to see if you were slacking off, then you would switch books and quiz each other. Slowly the clock clicked away, each passing second made Katsuki grow antsy. He wanted to give you the stupid neckless he had inside his pocket. Katsuki huffed as he slammed his book shut and pushed it off of the bed. You craned your neck back to see what Kastuki was doing before narrowing your eyes, no way did he think he could stop studying while he made you work.

"What are you doing? Are you studying up there?"

"No, c'mere."

You huffed as you pulled yourself up off of the floor and crawled onto the bed next to Katsuki. A mixture of blankets and skin touched you as he wrapped his arms around your body and pulled you so your back was flush against his chest. He let his head rest inside your neck, and you struggled to pull out of his grip.

"What are you doing? We're supposed to be studying."

"I don't wanna study right now. The test is Monday, we can still study tomorrow."

You bit your lip as you contemplated his offer. He had a point. The test was Monday morning, and it was only Saturday, not to mention that you had studied with Deku yesterday. The offer was just so out of character for Katsuki, part of you wondered if it was a trick and thought he was going to pull out a piece of rolled-up newspaper to hit you with like he did for Eijirou. You let yourself sink into his arms, you had been up to this for a while, you deserved a break.

"Okay, but only a small break. got it?"

"Mm. I got you something."

Katsuki pulled away from your body to dig in his pocket and pull out the small black box. You rolled over so you could face him and your gift with a growing smile on your face. You loved Katsuki's gifts. Whether it was intentional or not, he always got you something you needed. Whether it was you complaining about cold hands or your lack of working pens, the next day you would find gloves and a pack of pens with a note from him saying something stupid, like 'You better use these to take your shitty notes' and 'If you get arthritis in your hands you can't become a hero'. It was always a surprise and a delight. Katsuki handed over the box and you tore the bow off before opening it.

"It's a necklace!"

"Oh, it's very cute."

You tried not to frown as you looked over the necklace. You tried you're best to put a beaming smile on your face. It was still a gift and you needed to show your gratitude. It wasn't as conventional as your other gifts, but it was still pretty. Maybe it had a special meaning? Maybe he saw it and thought of you? It was just so unusual. He never bought you jewelry and the style was obviously not his.

"Did you pick it out yourself?"

You tried not to make it sound like you were fishing for an explanation as you smiled and clasped it around your neck to show how much you 'loved' it. Katsuki contemplated telling you he picked it out himself but seeing as you were friends with Mina he wasn't sure what she'd say and he didn't want to look bad.

"Well, I got a little help. Figured a female's perspective wouldn't hurt."

Suddenly you felt sick to your stomach. Not only had he given you a necklace, an unconventional and unusual gift compared to the ones he usually gave, but he let a girl pick it out. There was no special meaning, it was just pretty. Your mind went back to the flowers. The yellow roses. He bought you yellow roses. Your whole relationship he brought different breeds and types, never roses. Especially not yellow, the color that represented friendship.

"Thank you, I love it!"

You wrapped your arms around Katsuki, bringing him into a big, tight hug. Although you were with him physically, mentally you were in other places. That dark place in the back of your head was telling you why he gave you these offhanded weird gifts. The dark place in the back of your head was filling you with untrue silly thoughts, yet you couldn't help but let your head entertain them and wonder. The more you wondered, the more you wanted to rip your neckless off.

mina

Pop music could be heard blaring loudly from a BlueTooth speaker connected to Mina's phone as you walked into her dorm room. Without knocking you barged right in, Mina supposed there really was a reason you and Katsuki were together. You were both bluntly rude and sometimes you didn't even realize it. You flopped down at the foot of her bed and looked up at her before greeting your pink friend.

"Hey."

"Hi."

Mina didn't look up from what she was doing, she continued flicking through the pages of some fashion-forward girly magazine as she replied to you. You ran your fingers through her soft duvet as you looked around her dorm room. It looked like Claires threw up on the walls and it gave you a major headache. You and Mina had two different style sets, two sets of style very far apart.

"Did you study for the test tomorrow?"

Unlike her room, that was a subject that would give Mina a headache. Mina roughly flipped another page of the magazine she was holding as she let out an exhausted breath.

"No, and before you scold me neither did Denki. I swear Katsuki is rubbing off on you."

At the sound of his name, your hand went up and touched the necklace he got for you. You only wore it in case you saw Katsuki today, you planned to wear it for the next two weeks, then you'd pretend you lost it. You weren't a necklace kind of person, and it wasn't even sentimental. Mina tossed her magazine down on the bed and a smile played on her face as she saw the necklace between your fingers.

"That's a cute necklace? Did Katsuki get it for you?"

"Yeah, he did."

You answer Mina's questions and inquiries as you let the gem on the necklace slip out of your fingers. You couldn't help but let your face slip into a frown. You couldn't help it, the more you thought about the necklace, the further you fell into dark thoughts. It wasn't even the fact that it wasn't sentimental like all of the other gifts he gave you, it was the fact he let some girl pick it out. You weren't a controlling person, not remotely. If Katsuki wanted female friends he could have them, he did have them. While he wouldn't call Mina a friend, she was. Mina was a girl you felt comfortable with, however, you had already had a girl in mind of who you thought helped him, a girl who wasn't Mina. A girl you didn't feel comfortable with, a girl you knew you shouldn't feel comfortable with.

"Well, it's very pretty, if I had a boyfriend who brought me gifts like that I'd be over the moon. So I take it things between you and Katsuki are good then?"

"I guess, um, I just... I think Katsuki is cheating on me."

You started off in a stutter before you bluntly spoke out your words. The moment your voice hits your ears you cringe at yourself and cross your arms. It was such a ridiculous thought. A horrendous and dark thought that, lately, kept crossing your mind more often than it should be crossing and occurring.

"What? Why?!"

"He's just acting so strange and weird."

You pulled yourself up into a cross-legged sitting position on Mina's bed to talk to her. Mina moved and adjusted her own body, completely immersed in what you were saying. You played with your hand as your next words came out.

"Whenever he's out late he always, and I mean always comes to my dorm before going to bed. He didn't come to my dorm last Friday, instead, he shows up at my dorm Saturday afternoon with flowers."

"Flowers are sweet and romantic though. The fact that he bought them for you means he cares."

"Katsuki always brings me a wide variety of flowers. Hydrangeas, snapdragons, hyacinth. It's out of the ordinary and romantic, but this time he bought roses. Not just any roses, yellow roses. What kind of statement is he trying to make with that one?! Everyone knows yellow roses mean friendship and red means romance. Even Denki knows that."

Mina scratched the back of her head nervously. She supposed she should have explained to Katsuki to get red roses. Katsuki was unaware of things in the romance department. Mina needed to try and dial things back before Katsuki found out what you're thinking.

"Katsuki isn't very romantically smart, you're his first serious romantic relationship."

"Yeah, but we've been dating for nearly a year, and that's not even it. We were studying yesterday, and you know how strict Katsuki is when he's studying, you've seen him with Eijirou. Katsuki was not strict at all, he made me stop studying to cuddle. To cuddle! Can you believe that?"

"Well... Maybe he's trying to be sweeter to you, I mean look at the necklace he got you, it's so romantic."

"Don't even get me started on the necklace! Katsuki always brings me sentimental and meaningful gifts. He buys me pencil led when I'm low, and notebooks when he sees my paper is getting down to the end, he buys me gloves when he notices mine are lost or have holes. They're stupid and meaningful and I love it."

You ran your fingers through your hair distressed and upset. Yanking your hands through a few new forming snarls from laying on the bed, practically pulling some hair strands out.

"The necklace isn't meaningful, it doesn't have sentiment, and he didn't even pick it out himself! Some girl picked it out for him."

"Why, didn't he say who? It doesn't mean anything. The girl is probably a friend."

"I think I already know who the girl is. It's some stupid brunette from Shiketsu High. They met during his supplementary lessons, they met again after their internship heroes started working together regularly. She saw him when we were walking to get coffee and she just had to stop and talk to him, she was obviously flirting with him."

You had never felt more awkward at that moment. She was blatantly flirting with him, whether she knew that you were together or not, you didn't know. You didn't expect Katsuki to talk about his relationship during his internship, he was supposed to be working, but you didn't trust her. You knew from that moment the brunette was going to be trouble. She was interested in your boyfriend and that spelled out trouble to you.

"'had a little help' he says, staking her claim on what's mine I say."

"[Y/N], I don't think katsuki would cheat on you. He wouldn't do that."

Mina felt completely nervous. She hadn't realized you and she had such different opinions on romance and what was wooing and not. Katsuki was romantic, he was doing nothing wrong, she just didn't see it from your point of view. Mina had worried Katsuki for nothing and gave bad romance advice which resulted in you worrying. Katsuki was going to kill her, she needed to fix this.

"[Y/N], Katsuki loves you a lot, don't worry, okay?"

"Okay, you're probably right, I'm thinking too much. I'm going back to my dorm, try to get some studying in before the test tomorrow."

Despite the pink girl's words you still didn't feel good. As you stood up and walked to her door, you still felt a rush of negative thoughts and emotions. You still felt winded and emotional. You still felt hurt and fearful of your relationship. You felt the same as you did when you walked into her dorm.  

You nervously tapped your leg up and down on the ground repeatedly as Mr. Ectoplasm and his copies passed out the scored math tests to the class. You supposed a quirk like that must be very useful as a teacher. You kept making little glances over at where Katsuki was sat and your heart clenched. You felt so ridiculous for suspecting he was cheating. You felt completely horrible. Mina was right, Katsuki loved you. Katsuki loved you and he would never cheat. The simple thought that he would was wrong, yet, this lingering feeling told you he was. 

Maybe you should talk to him about it. Maybe you should tell him and express your fears and worries. It was better to talk about things like this, it was better to express yourself rather than locking it up and away, where it could fester and damage your relationship. You looked back over at Katsuki, who caught your glace this time and smiled at you. The smile made you feel sick and guilty for feeling this way. You would tell him how you were feeling after class. The sooner it was out in the open the better. 

You turned back to your test sheet and frowned at the result. You got a forty. Forty. After all that studying you had received a forty. You wanted to be mad at Katsuki for not making you study harder, but you had studied with Izuku first hand. Maybe Ectoplasm would let you take a retest. Ectoplasm dismissed you all and you quickly folded up your test paper in half so no one could see your result as you exited. After you packed up your school bag you stood out in the hall and waited for Katsuki. 

The nerves in your stomach churned. You didn't want to tell Katsuki the negative thoughts that were running through you, you didn't want to tell him how you had dark thoughts and worries about him cheating, but you had to tell him. You had to put your thoughts and theories to rest. Katsuki came out in the hall with his own test papers in hand and you both began to walk to your next class. 

"What'd you score?"

"Got a ninety-two. You?"

"A forty."

You sighed as you clenched the paper in your hand. That was a D. Katsuki was on the fritz. He was trying to take Mina's advice. He wanted to be nice and softer to you like Mina told him he had to be, but he couldn't. You should've studied harder, he should've made you study harder. Katsuki gritted his teeth and took a deep breath to calm himself down before responding. 

"You'll do better next time!" 

"What is wrong with you?"

"What do you mean?"

You looked at Katsuki like he grew two heads. This wasn't your boyfriend, and you slightly wondered if Toga had infiltrated UA. He was never kind like this, he wasn't a positive person. He was supposed to yell at you. Tell you to study better. Tell you you needed to get good scores if you were going to become a hero with him. 

"It's just a bad test score, not every score can be a baller."

"I failed my test, you're supposed to yell at me. Tell me I'm stupid, tell me to study more. Tell me anything but that fake positivity shit! You are not acting like yourself, are you cheating on me? Is this guilt? Are you guilty?"

"No! Fuck, no!"

Katsuki dropped his bag and wrapped his arms around you. That wasn't how you meant to tell him about the thoughts you were having. You wanted to tell him calmly and respectfully, you hadn't meant to flat out accuse him, your thoughts just need up tumbling out that way. Katsuki's own reassuring words came stumbling out in your ear as he tightly gripped you against him.  

"You are perfect and beautiful, and so important to me. I would never cheat on you, I would never fuck up what I have with you. Why would you think that? I don't wanna make you feel that fuckin' way."   

"I know that. I know you wouldn't, but you have been acting so weird and different." 

"I need to be nice or else I'm going to lose you. I got insecure, but shit, I should be. You are so perfect, and you deserve roses and jewelry and the world. You deserve someone who cuddles you instead of studying and who doesn't make you feel like they're cheating and fuck-" 

You pull out of Katsuki's tight grip and cup his cheeks. Your fingers skimmed over his skin tenderly as you stared up at his red eyes and noticed how watery they were. Your heart broke, you thought he was unfaithful but he was really just scared of losing you.

"I don't want you to be soft and nice. You already give me the world Katsuki. You make me study because you care about me. I don't want you to get me roses and Jewelry, I hate it, and I love the stupid little gifts you get me. You don't give me affection and cuddles, but you do other things, like waiting to walk me to class and making me food." 

"You don't want me to be nicer?"

"No! Everything you do is already perfect. Everything you do shows me you care about me in your own way. I love the way you are, I don't want you to change."

Katsuki pulled you back into his arms and pressed a rough kiss against your forehead. He was doing everything right. He was better than dumb Deku, and your test score was proof of that. He wasn't going to lose you, Denki and Mina were wrong. 

"Come to my dorm tonight, you need to study better dumbass."

It didn't matter that the whole class watched the exchange between you both. It didn't matter that Mina had screwed with your relationship and felt very relieved to have gotten off scot-free, for now at least. It didn't matter because all Katsuki cared about was the fact that he was a great boyfriend, the best. He didn't have to be softer, nicer. He didn't have to change, you liked it. You loved him, the way he was. That was all that mattered.

[bringmebackdude]

I Can't Quit You Baby

(gif not mine)

Pairing: Slash x fem!Reader

Concept: Slash has been hooking up with a rich girl, but this time "no ties" starts to bother him.

Word count: 1,454

A/N: Actually I've been thinking about making a fic out of this one, haven't read or seen one like this with the guys and mixing a rich girl with Slash seems very interesting...(if you have, please let me know, I'm not trying to steal any content by mistake!)

(light smut, fluff)

His agitated body dropped next to hers, both chests going up and down from exhaustion and the heat that filled the considerably small room. Their bodies still felt the shivers of pleasure, there was a comfortable silence during the recovery. (Y/N) sat on the edge of the bed looking for her bra, which she spotted right next to Pandora's tank, his snake, alongside her panties. It was a usual scavenger hunt for her clothes, she and Slash wouldn't care where they left their stuff when lust came between them. He lit a cigarette while watching his companion with a frown, slightly smirking seconds later when he laid eyes on the lightning-struck tattoo she had on her left buttock. "You're leaving already?"

"Wasn't two hours enough for you, big boy?" she chuckled, sliding her legs inside the pink skirt.

"It's just that you usually stay longer...y'know" shrugging and letting the smoke escape from his lips, he sat on the bed. Carefully pushing some of his rebel curls back, so he could give a better look to the girl's half-naked body. "And it isn't two hours if you count the smoke breaks."

"I have stuff to do, and I'm already late," her tone was calm, but she buttoned down her blouse in a rush, shoving her panties in her purse after.

"Daddy invited the president over tonight?" he asked mockingly.

"Ha-ha, very funny," she finished tying her boots and walked towards him, holding his face between her hands "You would love to go to one, wouldn't ya?"

"I'd die for," using his reliable sarcasm, he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I'll see you soon," always her same goodbye, not forgetting about the quick peck on the lips before taking her belongings and walking out of his room. "Bye, Pandora! Bye, Duff!" Slash heard the main door close, letting out a sigh, all the fun was over sooner than he thought. He was quite happy with the dynamic between him and (Y/N), no need for compromises, just sex whenever they were in need. She was funny, hot, friendly, listened to the same music as he did, and not to mention she was rich. Also, her dad hated Slash, which made the friendship more exciting for both of them. Two lovers of trouble, together, were no good. That's exactly what he wanted, a good fuck and then leave. But somehow, it slightly bothered him that she didn't ask for more. All the girls were looking for something serious with him, why not her?

"She left early, huh?" Duff's head poked out of his door before he made an entrance to the curly's bedroom. He shrugged again, taking a puff on his cigarette "Yeah." "Oh dude, I'm so jealous you can bang that anytime you want. Do you mind if I shoot my shot with her?" "It's not up to me. She's probably out of your league" Slash replied. The guys enjoyed having her around, she wasn't stuck up like other ones, but still, she had a very strong character, which would sometimes cause fights between her and Axl. Of course, she had developed quite the friendship with Duff. The blond giraffe was funny as hell. "If she's a Motley Crue girl, there will be no problem to get her" rested his body against the wall and crossed his arms with a smirk. He knew it was gonna piss the guitarist. "What do you mean?" "Izzy and I ran into her a couple of nights ago after a Motley Crue concert. No big deal." "What were you doing there?" Slash interest grew, he threw the cigarette to the floor and step on it. She goes to see Motley but not us? (Y/N) knew that they were making noise around Los Angeles, he talked endlessly to her about many gigs, still, she never attended one. The unusual feeling of resentment invaded him. He shrugged, making his way out of the room "Chicks are horny as fuck at the end of a rock concert, dude." Duff laughed walking through the hall, knowing the effect that his comment had caused on his friend. As much as Slash would deny it, everyone in the band knew there was something much more than just a friendship going between the two of them. Ever since the night they met her, the proprietorial side of the curly had shown. Besides (Y/N) being rad, she would sometimes arrive at their apartment with boxes of beer when she knew it was their rest day, lent them some clothes, or even offer transportation. Although she would disappear very often and for several days, it was a friendship worth keeping. At this point, the guys were just waiting for them to become something a bit more official, but the two lovers were too proud.

﹆

Her foot stomped on the floor when she tripped on the amp next to the sofa, the dark empty apartment echoed with giggles from the two of them, their mouths refusing to separate. Slash felt the doorknob of his room, quickly opening the door and pulling the girl inside, both wasting no time in starting to take their clothes off. She let her skirt slide down her legs, showing off her pink thong. He, on the other side, was almost naked when he took his pants off, the guy had no problem being commando most of his life. He laid her body delicately on the bed, sliding his mouth towards the female's jaw, where he left traces of saliva from his wet kisses along with a few bites. The rough touch of his blistered fingers running through her body, making her skin crawl as the touch entered between her legs, a smirk appeared in the guitarist's face when he felt how wet she was already, something he never got tired of. A moan escaped from her lips when his mouth positioned on one of her nipples, sucking hard. "Baby" her hands running through his curls, slightly pulling from these, "I need you," she whispered. Needless to say, that unleashed the lust he carried inside.

...

His tanned hand grabbed the delicate one, feeling his fingers locked with hers, a simple but cute thing that Slash usually didn't do. She bit her lip, hiding the smile that the sudden action had provoked on her. "So... Duff told me he saw you at a Motley concert." "Oh yeah, I think it was last weekend or something like that," she shrugged, peering up at him. "I didn't know you liked those types of bands..." trying hard to hide his jealousy, he kept an unworried face. "One of my girlfriends took me with her, and you know I like rock," covering her breasts with the blanket, she reached for a cigarette and took the lighter from the nightstand. "Why?" "Why what?" "Why is this whole interrogation happening, dumbass?" she chuckled, letting the smoke come out right in front of his face. Slash coughed, rolling his eyes before stealing the cigarette from her hand, to which she smiled. "I don't know, it's just that you never come to watch us perform." "So?"

"So? We are friends, and you've never attended one of our gigs, you just drop us off and we're way better than them," he scoffed irritated. The female looked at him with confusion, not understanding where this was all coming from. "Honey, you never invite me to any of your events, I thought this was only hooking up and hanging every now and then," she replied with furrowed brows. He never seemed to have a problem with that. "Well maybe I want more..." with his arms crossed on his chest, he avoided her fazed stare, the last thing he needed was for her to notice his cheeks blushing. The words slipped out of his mouth. Did he regret saying that? No, he didn't, all this time he had been craving more but his pride was too big to admit it. After a few seconds of letting all this new information sink in, slowly a mocking smile was drawn on her face, sliding in bed to be closer to him,"Why didn't you say anything before?" "Cause I guess I didn't realize it completely until a few days ago...whatever, this is stupid" his slight embarrassment was adorable for her, it was a completely new side of the tough carefree guy she knew. "No, it's not," she stopped him before he could get out of the bed."I think we could work something out," a shy smile was attached to the response that was going to change their path from now and on. "I'd like that" he pulled her closed, wrapping his arms around her waist as another round was waiting for them.