#but… niccolo smells like a kitchen

[berthoover]

im sure a million people have done this for them but

[selarina]

Dusty-Eyed Thief

-> Levi Ackerman x Fem!Reader

Synopsis: He was a thief, she was a princess. Can I make it any more obvious?

Content Warnings: royalty!au, enemies to lovers, fluff, banter, a budding forbidden romance, class differences, strained father-daughter relationship, mild violence, very unedited

Words: 3.5k words

Author's Notes: I know the Levi fandom is dead but I wrote this so so long ago, figured I'd give it a place here

The kitchen is your sanctuary. It engulfs you with its tranquility, the blaring sound of clanking pots only adding to the rhythmic routine of it all.

The steam from the cooking dishes hugs you on this cold, cold night as you weave your way through the maze of workers. You smile as you're hit with the first blend of splendid smells. You make your way further into the kitchen to find the buttery treat that's meticulously packed by Niccolo and placed beneath a hidden, faulty tile on the floor. Niccolo is truly a blessing sent from the Gods.

Despite its tranquility, it is an unusual place for a lady to spend her time, yet you frequently find yourself here – costumed in an apron, playing the part like you belong.

At first, you were naturally worried about being caught, but that only lasted for a spare few minutes as you soon grew accustomed to the sequence of it all. And you found that while dressed as a commoner, you were nearly invisible in this castle. You took full use of it, maybe to the point of misusing it.

A few workers recognise you on occasion, but they refuse to report you to the King in an attempt to protect their own peace. Arguments between you and your father elicited a barrage of petty retorts, coming in from both ends, which heavily affected the workers that were unfortunate enough to be witnessing it.

You're certain your father would not approve of your ventures, despite the peep of fondness he has reserved for you. Actually, you're convinced that it is deep disdain he holds for you; it's only been coated with fondness to suit his purposes.

You actively have to stop yourself from thinking about him; you do not want those thoughts to permeate through into your sacred space. And besides, you have to stay alert.

Applying gentle pressure on the strings, you open the package to discover that he made you some cookies today. You have to contain yourself from jumping in glee, settling for a wide grin for now.

You want to procure some milk to have with the cookies. You close the package, although not packing it fully as you place it near the nearest window. It seems safe placed in a fairly unoccupied corner of the kitchen.

As you return with the milk, a pair of hands cover your eyes. The hands are roughly placed against your eyes, and you feel out worldly for a second — blank, confused, intrigued before you push him off, digging your nails into the culprit's hand.

You hear him yelp before you catch his face, the culprit. He is a boy with dusty blonde hair. He pulls his hands back into his chest, soothing it over with his other hand.

Another deep voice reaches your ears, and you perk up, your eyes flitting over to the open window as you try to find him. Was that window always open? What is happening?

“Why do you keep making this easy for us?” The other man's voice is adorned with pure mockery.

You’ve never moved faster in your life. (Well, except for that time you were on the verge of being traded for an assassin’s payment.) You rush up close to the window, looking down before you see him, he's standing on… you're not sure. He seems to be standing on thin air, but you know that is not the case.

Your eyes flit over to his blue eyes; you find hints of green in them as you stand there for a second, just staring at him. You're not sure what to do. He's probably a thief, a thief with pretty eyes. As you stare you think his eyes might be green, although you conclude a moment later that it could be a play of light. You can't tell if his eyes are green or blue.

He’s handsome too; you made that conclusion as soon as you saw the rest of his face, and you curse yourself for thinking that when you’re literally in front of a thief that has stolen your only source of joy. He's standing beneath you, but he holds a gaze that makes you feel like you're being towered by him; he seems a bit intimidating. Instinctively, you mold your eyes to mirror his, sharpening them as you were taught, as you practice.

You feel liquid trickling down your hand, and you realize you’ve dropped your milk. You only make note of it when feeling his eyes trail down.

You immediately rush to squat down to pick up the broken pieces of glass; you do not wish for any of the kitchen staff to get into trouble, although you are certain they will when they have to tally up the kitchenware by the end of this week. You make a quick note to discreetly pay Hange to buy it and replace it for you.

In your haste and state of disorientation, you prick your hand against the pointy edge of a fallen piece. And you instantly curse yourself.

"PRINCESS," Niccolo yells out to you, and your identity is out within mere seconds. You can guarantee Niccolo would have been more discreet if the situation hadn't been so strenuous. You look down and see a tinge of vermillion seeping out of the cut in your hand.

You look up to catch a glimpse of the two men, who appear to be leaving amidst the chaos. You see them in your peripheral sight, but you’re too late by the time you turn to look, all you witness is a retreating figure, making it out the window with a swift leap.

You are waiting for the sound – his body hitting the ground, broken bones, anything.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five seconds, and still nothing. You scramble to the window, only to see trees and utensils that are washed and stacked on a white cloth left to dry under the scorching sun.

“It’s the princess, get the doctor," a couple of kitchen staff make it to your side.

There’s an immediate sense of panic seeping out from within you. You’re certain your father is going to make your life difficult if he were to find out, which would happen if you were to be tended by the palace doctor. The prickling sensation grows; you need to see a doctor. You decide you’ll deal with it.

You’re also plagued with a sudden sense of intrigue. You can’t place it quite well, not at this moment, but you want to know what the color of his eyes were. You want to ask him why he stole your food but also, you want to be him. In most ways, it's all you've yearned for. You want to leap out that window and disappear into nowhere, wherever that is.

—

You run straight towards the arriving horses. You're greeted with a smile and a frown. You focus on the smile, one that adorns your brother’s face, giving him a quick hug before you move to face the frown. "I heard about your little culinary mishap, my dear. To make reparations, you are to attend the ballroom event tomorrow evening, and you must ensure that you do not flee as you have done these last several times that you believe I have not noticed," your mother’s voice is stern, declaring it as finality.

You decidedly agree, knowing you will find ways to leave halfway through the event, and she will ignore it as she always does. For, unlike your father, she does not believe you to be the bane of her existence.

"Now, come here and give me a hug, my lovely and incredibly irritating daughter," as though she was reading your mind and cementing your notions about her.

You reach your arms out to embrace her. You place your chin towards the crevice of her neck and you’re hit with the smell of rose and iris, maybe even amber. It smells distinctly the same as when she embraced you after the first of your many disagreements with your father. You remember how you kept a straight face during the altercation, but immediately broke down at the sign of him finally leaving, only to find comfort due to her presence.

“I shall arrive at the stupid ballroom floor and I shall look pretty doing it. I shall catch the eye of every person in the room and you will forgive me for any mishaps I will ever commit. Won’t you, mother?”

“You’re to catch the eye of every person at a secret debutante, are you?”

“Debutante? Why is it a secret?”

“It’s a secret for it adds an element of sincerity, does it not? Your brother can court an honest woman.”

“I hardly think any woman’s honest in a society that is designed against the very notion of honesty, and especially not in a room that is swarmed with eyes waiting for any acts that are even slightly misplaced. But, I do wish you the very best, brother.”

“Thank you for your wishes. If opportunity permits, we may even find someone for our dear older sister. You’ll be next in line for picking then. Isn’t that ever-so enthralling to hear?”, the mockery reaches your ears crisply. Maybe much too crisply, because you find your mother glaring up at him.

You laugh at that, knowing that you are within the shields of the walls of your castle, but most importantly with your mother.

“I implore you to take your time, brother. You will need it to court for a suitable wife, would you not?” You try to hide your obvious nervousness at the breach of a topic you have been avoiding for much of your life.

“I suppose you are right, sister,” he looks down at you with a reassuring smile.

You do not want to be tied down by marriage any time soon. You have yet to process the fact that this is not your forever home. Your forever home is beside a man that sees you as a china piece to display, apparently. But you find brief solace in the fact that you come from the most reputable family in this kingdom and you will not be disrespected in any form, for it would not bode well for them.

—

The ball is the pinnacle of opulence. It's primarily filled with tones of rose gold, complementing the white and golden hues of your ballroom. You sense the presence of grey and teal amongst the crowd; you presume they're worn by accolades to instate their titles. The royal family, on the other hand, is required to constantly stand out, which is why you find yourself snug in a golden embroidered gown.

You suspect your mother has overstepped the mark with her preparations. You move the curtain that separates you from the ballroom slightly to catch a glimpse of her. Her strong and ethereal countenance reveals little about who she is, simply asserting that she should be feared and admired in equal measure.

You think of your sister’s tales of a knight in shining armor that might have reached you, if only for a fleeting moment, it’s enough for you to believe that maybe you could find a man who is respectful, charming, and filled with the tender ache to cherish you and only you, always. It only lasts for a transient moment of weakness. You’re drawn back to reality when your sister reaches for your arm and loops it with her own.

"You look absolutely lovely," she remarks, as a matter of fact, whilst sporting a sweet smile. "Who are you, and what have you done to my unlovely wretched sister?"

"Very amusing," you quip promptly as if it's habitual to do so.

"Sister, if you were to stray away early this evening, I certainly would not ask for you to procure some pastries. Although, I would most definitely not mind them after a night as strenuous as this.”

“Only if you help me escape”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” she quips letting go of your hand. She has a faint smile on her face as she straightens her posture. And just like that, she transforms herself to be the elegant first daughter of the King, the one every maiden in the kingdom is taught to be like.

“You look radiant, sister. I’m sure there isn’t a man in this kingdom who wouldn’t fall head over heels to court you, and yet again, I implore you to take your time. I’m not saying this for my sake, not this time at least. I hope you find a kind man, the one you always told me you wished for” You try to smile, but it is hard to ignore the bleak truth that’s hidden within your words.

“Thank you for saying that” She seems to sense it too but her smile doesn’t waver; in fact, it grows, as though your words made a difference to her. That would be a first. You too can’t help but genuinely smile.

After about an hour of dancing and chatting away with people, you find that it would not be that hard for you to escape all on your own. You’re not the first diamond of a daughter or the most eligible bachelor of this season. You’re the second daughter and fourth child of the royal family that people will worry about impressing next season.

To not frighten your sister, you make it through the swarm of men waiting for their turn to dance with her; you inform her that you will take your leave, as discreetly as you can. You meet your mother’s eyes one last time before you leave. Every single time you escape you try to meet her eye, just to catch her when she sees you leaving but somehow you’ve never caught her.

You make your way to the kitchen, briefly showcasing your teeth to perform the act of duplicating a smile at every passerby that meets your eyes. There are a lot of people. You're frankly exhausted and your head is throbbing. Maybe some tea will help with the ailment.

You know that there won’t be kitchen staff present there since there is an exclusive kitchen for events as grand as this since it requires a massive scale of utensils.

You make it and it is murky. You reach out for the candle holder, placed at the entrance. You wince at the coldness of the brass. It holds three candles. You light all three of them, with muscle memory.

"Is your hand okay?", you hear the same deep voice and you frantically look around to spot him.

"Where are you?"

"Princess," you hear from behind you. This is honestly more frightening than the stuff you've read from your brother's atrocious shelf of literature.

You compose yourself. You will not falter and show weakness in front of a thief. "You are to greet me with respect. I am of the royal family," you punctuated every last word.

"I called you princess, didn't I?", he walks over to face you eye to eye, face to face.

"Gray'', you blurt out. You blurt it out far too quickly to calculate the embarrassment it would cause you. You feel it but you don't show it. It's one thing being part of a higher society has taught you.

His eyes are a stark sterling gray and that was rather unexpected to you. You thought about it extensively, maybe too extensively for the last two days. You concluded and expected it to be either green or blue.

His eyes remind you so much of thunderstorms. You happen to like them. They're distinctly heavy in color, but there's a variation that resonates something akin to…gentleness?

You're not why you're focusing much too much on his eyes, but they are beautiful and you could stare at them all day and night if you were allowed to. Maybe that's not an exaggeration.

"What?" he blurts out, rather confused. His eyebrows are bunched together like he's trying so hard to make sense of what you said. You refuse to bring ruin to your already faltering dignity, so you ignore the questions altogether to make room for your many questions.

You do not like not knowing things, not having reasoning for things. It bothers you immensely, for everything has a reason, does it not?

"Why are you here? Why were you here yesterday? Why did you steal my food? Do you do that often? How did you survive the jump?” Not giving him time to interject, you continue with your ramblings. “I have been thinking about what you said to me yesterday and it came to my attention that you implied this act of yours happens often. If so, why?"

This person bores a blank statement to their face. Either his facial features are impaired or he’s blatantly disrespecting you.

"You will answer me," you beseech him to answer. No, you're insistent. He doesn't budge, so you assemble all of your memories of your mother's severe glances to replicate it. You demand.

"Yes, I do it frequently, and no, I'm not answering the rest of your questions." You wait for a few seconds to see if he would budge. He does not.

"What motivates you to steal anyway?"

He stares, "Why was a princess like yourself dressed in a commoner's clothes?"

"I inquired first."

"I think you're more interested in my response than I am in yours." His eyes glint as he ever so slightly smirks, "Would you really like to play this out?"

"Very well. Just wanted some sweets really.” His mouth twitched upwards at the sight of you losing your temper. What a haughty man. “Does that answer satisfy you enough to answer mine?”

"Okay, princess.” He tilts his head a little when he mentions your title, it doesn’t sit right with you. And his tone is only a little condescending, you ignore it.

“Well, go on.” You urge.

"I was stealing food for my fellow people. The cookies were quite delicious. We thank the royal family for their utmost generosity," he says. His face is blank as you’re left baffled. You don't have time to be annoyed by his obvious mockery for something that could be seen as trivial as your long-gone cookies, for you find the way he said it interesting, to say the least.

"What do you mean?"

"Hmm? Dunno, we wanted something to sweeten the whole meal of dust and dirt we had for lunch. Do you get it now?” For the first time, there’s a hint of annoyance with you.

“I’m sorry. I–” You pause, your posture slackens for the first time today. “I don’t understand.”

His brows raise, but his face remains blank. “Yeah, I don’t expect anything else from a ditzy princess with all of her dresses and her little castles.”

You cinch your brows, “I am not ditzy,” you enunciate every single word of that sentence.

You only get a little dumb when you’re angry really and you’re trying not to get there right now as you force yourself to breathe through your nose. For some reason, you feel the need to prove you’re smart and capable. It’s odd, this may be the first time you have felt this way. You don’t generally feel someone asking for more of you. They expect you to be ditzy, not the opposite. “And we only have 3 castles…” Your voice trails out as he stares back at you. You said the wrong thing, you know how shallow you sound. You think his eyes must be hurting with the way he seems to narrow them down in judgment, every time you seem to speak.

“Well, since you seem to have 3 castles. You wouldn’t mind if we decided to take a small share of what you have, would you?”

“I don’t mind, I didn’t— I don’t— Uh—” You hear a noise, someone’s outside the door. You swivel your head to look.

No one. Nothing. An empty corridor is all that meets your eyes.

You sigh as you turn back, only — you see nothing. Your eyes squint around skimming the dimly lit kitchen. It’s almost like you were talking to a ghost of a man. Only the plain utensils and leftover food seem to be proof of his existence.

You blink in confusion, your heart racing as you search the dimly lit kitchen for any sign of the gray-eyed man. "What in the world..." you mutter to yourself.

[lunaekalenda]

Sooo, I saw someone else do this, and I really loved the idea. Since ur my fav writer👀 (*winkwink), I would absolutely die of happiness if you did an aot boys househusband headcannons. Idc which aot boys as long as Reiner is in it (fr tho he's the most househusband material 😩).

aaAAA i feel honored, thank you so much!! i hope you like it <3!!!! o(≧∇≦o)

❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁

❁ shingeki boys!

❁ eren, armin, reiner, jean, connie, levi, porco, niccolo

❁ little implied mentions of sexual themes 

❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁

eren:

- he tries his best, don’t judge him.

- if you’re out for more than a week, he’ll die of hunger.

- “honey how am i supposed to cook pasta?”

- “just put it in boiled water.”

- it wasn’t that difficult, but he left it in water for too much time while playing some video games and it is now a mass.

- he stays by your side while you cook, watching it cautiously, but he ends having you against the kitchen island.

- “Eren, i’m cooking, please.”

- his mouth bitting your ear playfully.

- “i’ll be satisfied just with you, no need of food.”

- usually he orders a pizza after that because the food ended being a mess.

- “Eren Jaeger, the next time you distract me from cooking...”

- but, he cleans really well.

- he’s really constant and he keeps doing it until it shines.

- he usually cleans while you work, and he leaves the automatic vacuum working before leaving for his work,

- but, once he puts his headphones on and connects online with his friends...

- his desk is a huge mess, full of energetic drinks’ cans and empty packs of snacks. he cleans it once he’s finished playing, but sometimes he forgets,

- he’s waiting for you on the couch when you arrive late, dressed with his shorts and with his hair tied in a man-bun.

- “i was waiting for you, i missed you so much today...”

armin:

- he’s really clean because he doesn’t mess or mess up things, so you can have the house organized.

- he only makes a mess when he's studying for important exams.

- a lot of books on his desk and around his chair. A lot of papers with appointments.

- "just leave this, i promise i’ll clean it once my exam is done!"

- he cleans it, unless he arrives really tired from the exam, then he goes to sleep automatically.

- when he's alone, he cleans the pets' houses and gets rid of their furr

- also takes naps with his cat while waiting for you.

- he’s really good at ironing, he’s really fast at it.

- his shirts are always impeccable. 

- he’s also trying to learn how to cook.

- trying.

- “i made breakfast but i think i burned the pancakes”

reiner:

- he's a huge man and he seems clumsy, but no

- he's incredibly good at tasks.

- he wakes up early, even earlier than you, to prepare you a bath and breakfast for you two.

- “Rein, you don’t have to do this, you can sleep until your work hour”

- his work has night turns, but he shakes his head and keeps doing it for you.

- when you try to wake up early to do the same for him, he’s already awake, pulling you closer to him again.

- “why were you up so early.” he says , his sleepy voice caressing your ears when he speaks. 

- he’s also really clean, and it is not new, Bertholdt says he was like that when they shared a flat.

- his breakfasts are the best of the world: strawberry smoothies and fruits salad with fluffy pancakes.

- when he has free day, he likes to buy little things that remind you to him when he walks with the dog.

- “I bought you this chocolate lip balm because you said your lips are getting hurt because of the cold.”

- he also loves kids so much. he wants to have a family. 

- “just imagine a little girl waking us up at morning to accompany her to school.”

jean:

- he's so clingy he would do tasks just to be next to you.

- like, doing the laundry in the washing machine room, so small for two people, and be really near to you...

- and at the same time, he wants to show you he deserves to be your husband.

- he works a lot just to show you he can be your husband and the daddy of your children.

- "look babe, try my spaghetti"

- they were actually good, if he cooked a little bit more he will master it for sure.

- "imagine if we make here a garden with a couple swings for our babies?"

- he started working o a cute garden for you two spend the summer days out.

- he put white roses and pink dahlias, and a table with a couple chairs.

- he also put some lights for the night, to power them on and be a even more incredible garden.

- he also proposed to you under this lights.

connie:

- he lazy

- he just wants to watch tv, eat and sleep.

- but, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t do tasks.

- not a lot of them, but he does.

- like he does, but not all of them.

- “i don’t know how to use the washing machine.”

- “then mop the floor.”

- “but that’s so boring, baby please...”

- when he goes to the supermarket, he buys cups of instant ramen and sodas.

- “Connie we need real food to survive. We can’t eat everyday instant ramen and cola.”

- “but you look the color of the lettuce and i don’t know why, so imagine i take a poisoned lettuce because i didn’t analyze the color and we both die”

levi:

- he cleans the house in deep every two days. 

- he also keeps it organized.

- actually the thought of having kids bewitches him but scares him, just thinking about all the toys in every part of the house.

- he’s a really clean man, and you also clean up the house while he works.

- he likes to spoil you with his acts, like preparing you bubble baths, helping you to sew your clothes and making you braids.

- fortunately, your bathtub is big enough for the two of you bathing together.

- he likes to caress your waist and torso quietly, just the sound of water and your quite breaths.

- his hands on you makes your skin feel electricity.

- he enjoys that moments of privacy and intimacy.

- also drying your hair when you’re about to go to sleep.

- "if you sleep with it wet you'll catch a cold, dummy"

porco:

- he usually avoided the chores, but when you moved with him, he started to pay more attention to what he had to do.

- he’s more fixed on the way your hands take his clothes than on the things he has to do to wash them.

- “i’m paying attention!!”

- his excuses are always that you're a distraction for him.

- "but you're so gorgeous... i need you. now."

- "porco it's the fifth time you say that today..."

- "and not the last."

- you can't say no because you're as needy for him as he is for you, but you try to hide it.

- at the end, he needs help for all the tasks.

niccolo:

- he cooks sooo well

- every time you arrive home, he’s cooking something.

- pizza, seafood, cakes...

- the house always smell so nice...

- you don’t know how to cook that well, but you help him cleaning all the things he uses for his plates.

- and you help him giving him what he needs.

- “could you pass me that knife, please?”

- his hands always touches yours when he takes the knife

[chloe-writes]

Retirement headcanons for the vets

AOT Headcanons for when the veterans retire

— Life after chapter 139, during the technological advancement of Paradis.

• Hange

- Starts making chain mail and puts it in their fellow veterans' mailboxes. Chain mail cointains: "Pass this to 5 people or you will die in your sleep tonight. Eren ignored it and he is now dead."

- Is trying to convince Erwin to get his eyebrows waxed.

- Onyankopon taught them how to use a telephone. They have been calling the vets non-stop just to say 'hello' then drops the call.

- Takes photographs of the most random things, like weeds by the side of the road.

- Tries baking for Moblit's birthday but ends up burning the cake. Tells Moblit that they 'intentionally' burnt it for nutritional purposes.

- Proofreads and edits the book Erwin is writing.

- Owns a pet grasshopper.

• Erwin

- Makes a book about his life in the military.

- Uses the typewriter with one hands.

- Owns a business with Levi. A library-tea shop.

- Lives in a cottage in the quieter areas of Paradis.

- Manages his garden with the help of Moblit. He also has a particular favorite flower in his garden.

- Doesn't shave his 5 o'clock shadow. A regular from his library-tea shop told him he looked better with it, and Erwin agrees.

- Checks the newspaper every morning.

• Miche

- Adopts stray dogs.

- Walks about 12 dogs at a time every morning, causing people to stare at him because the dogs always make a scene.

- Changes his look for a difference. He shaves his little mustache but instantly regrets it.

- Visits the library-tea shop regularly. He orders tea, grabs a book and pretends to read it. He just wants to look mysteriously knowledgeable and cool to the other customers.

- Goes fishing often.

• Moblit

- Becomes an artist after the war. Draws potraits of the little kids in Historia's orphanage and gives it to them.

- Willingly helps Erwin with his garden.

- Assists Niccolo in the kitchen because he wants to be a chef too.

- Lives in a flat/apartment above a bakery because he loves the smell of freshly baked bread in the morning.

• Levi

- Despite being grown adults, Levi adopts the 104th and makes them work in his library tea-shop with Erwin.

- Acts annoyed when Hange speed pushes his wheelchair, but actually secretly enjoys it.

- Took a street kitten in. The kitten was grumpier than Levi himself.

- Learns how to knit.

- Made mittens for the vets, but delayed giving it because he was too shy. He didn't want them to think he'd grown soft.

- Ignored Hange's chain letter. But he couldn't sleep that night because he was genuinely scared that he would actually die.

A/N: I find Hange with the chain mail so canon!

[ Masterlist ]

[kai-uh-arcadian]

hey! could you write something about reader which always overworks itself so much that they barely is able to stay on their feets and Pieck which is worried and tries to stop them doing this while always taking care of them anyways?

Overworked

Pieck x Reader

Hi!! I really really reaaaaally hope this is what you meant, I was not quite sure (‘:

Word Count: 1.7k

Cw: Minor cursing (if any?)

Disclaimer: This is my first ask and my second story/fic/head canon/ whatever/ type thing ever, so feedback is appreciated :D

I’d LOVE to do more of this so asks are also appreciated :DDDD

Enjoy!!!

* Wholesome fluff!!!!*

Ships involved: Pieck X Reader, Minor Sasha and Niccolo

——————————————————————

- “Darling, where are you?” Your phone read as it lit up

- Her name in your phone is “Pieck <3”

- Short and simple ik

- You were about 5 minutes away, she has your location, no need to respond plus you’re too tired to even move your arms from the steering wheel

- (I imagine you’re about 21-23 years old)

- You arrive at your shared apartment

- “Piecky I’m home” you manage to chirp out

- She greets you with a kiss

- “Welcome home,” (((‘:

- (You’ll never get over her greeting,,,, your heart is going to explode)

- “11:30 again? Honey.. don’t you think this is a lot of overtime?”

- You came in at 11 this morning 😀

- “It’s the busiest time of the year for Hange and Co, Mr. Acker-Smith seems to be very adamant on getting things done and he needs me” You sigh and pull her into an embrace

- “Even though I’m so proud of you my love, I need you too ya know” she pouts

- ))):

- She gave you the puppy dog eyes

- (You almost quit your job right then and there 😳😳)

- “I need you too” your hands lightly massage her back, snuggling your chin onto her shoulder

- You’re completely engulfed in the smell of her fresh shampoo mixed with a bit of food smell

- “Did you eat?” You pulled away

- “Yeah a while ago, I couldn’t wait for you but I just made you food”)))):

- (Babygirl is pouting again)

- “You truly are the best” you gave her a quick peck and she led you to the kitchen

- Pieck makes you sit down at the table after you insisted helping yourself but she likes serving you

- She sits with you as you eat, talking about everything yet nothing at all. You’re complaining about how Eren fucked up something so you and Mikasa had to do damage control for 20 minutes while Pieck is complaining about how Porco kept micromanaging/nitpicking everything everyone did today— he’s apparently “not even the boss!?”

- You finish and Pieck takes your plate

- “Baby, I can wash it” you try reaching for the plate which ends up with you getting a light slap on the hand

- “Honey, just go take a shower. I’ll take care of all this don’t you worry about any of this!!!” She gives you one of her signature genuine smiles— absolutely nothing but pure love in those eyes

- (You just wanted to cry from pure joy and true love)

- ?????How did you get so lucky?????

- Well you couldn’t do anything BUT shower, so you did

- You came out in your pajamas you daydreamed about this afternoon on your lunch break

- Pieck sat on the couch in one of your shirts with two wine glasses on the coffee table in front of her

- “Want to watch a few episodes?” Pieck said from the loveseat as she scrolled through CrunchyRoll before selecting Attack On Titan season 4

- Hehe aka the show that you’re binging together((;

- You made your way to the couch and just melted into her arms

- About 20 minutes and 2 1/2 glasses in, you’re laying in between Piecks legs with your back against her front while she’s absentmindedly raking her fingers against your scalp

- Did you just die??? Is this heaven and an angel is stroking your hair??

- Yes you are dozing off 🥰

- Pieck finds your little head bobs here and there adorable

- She finds your light snores even more adorable

- Yes she’d take a quick selfie before gently kissing your temple because she wants this moment forever

- As if your soul was ripped back into reality, your alarm for 9:30am (you have work at 11am)

- You’re confused as fuck

- Your shared bed is empty

- You don’t remember setting an alarm

- You didn’t even drink that much to black out but what the fuck happened?!?!?

- You slip on your house shoes and begin to search for Pieck

- The search quickly ended after you opened the bedroom door and was slapped in the face by the smell of food

- You’re about to enter the kitchen but stop before fully making your presence known because you hear Pieck humming to the music lightly playing(((((,,,:

- You rest your shoulder on the frame just admiring your lover with messy hair, in no pants, in your favourite t-shirt, slightly dancing to the music as she is cooking some eggs

- “What are you doing my darling??” You giggled as she jumped at your sudden morning voice happily interrupting her song

- “Ah~ Good morning dove” she walks over to you for your daily morning kiss “I was going to bring your some breakfast in bed” she motions to the tray on the counter

- ))): baby looks so sad she couldn’t surprise you

- “You were just so tired last night that you just fell asleep. You were out cold, I tried waking you up but it was no luck so I just carried you to bed, I wanted to do something nice for you I feel so bad you’re overworking yourself” she’ll say while she lightly grabs your face and traces your chin to your jawline

- ????bitch is strong

- Canon 97 pounds of pure muscle

- Ok so what did you do to find someone like her??????

- “I love you, I don’t know what I did to deserve you” you’ll rub the small of her back as you begin to grab some plates for the both of you

- “You being you is enough honey” she’ll reply

- Ahsjdhdhdh

- As you both eat, Pieck will catch you up on what you missed on the few episodes she watched while you were absolutely zonked last night. She’ll show you the few snapchats she took of you and sent to Annie, Ymir(who showed historia), and Reiner

- Living with Pieck is an absolute dream. Chores with her do NOT feel like chores. You guys have a system, you’ll wash the dishes and she’ll clean up all the dishes you used to make food and she’ll put the leftovers away (of course you switch off time to time)

- You’ll sing and dance along with each other in the own comfort of your shared kitchen

- “Ah I’m gonna go get ready” you’ll say putting the last dish on the rack

- Pieck is a sly dog. She knows what she’s doing when she gives you those puppy dog eyes

- “No you don’t” shed wrap you in her arms tightly

- 🥺🥺🥺🥺 type of bitch

- You seriously consider quitting like you don’t need to pay rent or any other bills right????

- )))): “baby I have to. I don’t want to. But I’ll be back tonight”

- With that you went to go change and came down in business casual attire

- “Okay my love I’m going I’ll see you tonight I love you! Thank you so much I really appreciate everything you’ve done ” You’ll pepper her with face kisses before she hands you your lunch that she packed

  - 2 1/2 weeks have past. It’s the end of the month. You know what this means

- NO MORE OVERTIME. NO MORE GRAVEYARD SHIFTS. NO MORE RUINED SLEEP SCHEDULES.

- You knew that this Friday was the end of literal hell month

- Your insane amount of effort did not go unnoticed though. The second you stepped into the office today, Mr.Acker-Smith pulled you into his office and gave you a performance review

- It resulted in a $2 raise :D

- Today was Friday, you get to go home at a regular time today since you prepared to finish up all your work late last night so you could spend some time with Pieck

- After work, you stopped by Niccolo and Sasha’s local restaurant to pick up Pieck’s favourite pizza, then you got her favourite wine and flowers from the grocery store

- You arrived home about an hour before Pieck

- She doesn’t know that you get off early (aka normal time) today, so you wanted to surprise her

- You quickly changed out of your work clothes

- You got everything set up/cleaned up. Dishes were washed and put away, your guys’ laundry was folded and put away, the kitchen was quickly vacuumed and everything in the house was straightened up

- You went full maid mode so maybe Pieck could put on a maid outf—

- Anyways

- By the time you were about to plate the pizza, you’ll hear her walk in

- “Darling I’m home” she’ll say

- 😭😭😭 I HC her saying “I’m home” to you even when you’re not there🥺🥺

- She’ll arrive in the kitchen, hands full of wine, pasta from Sasha and Niccolo, and YOUR favourite flowers

- You both crack up laughing and are just like this

- Great minds think alike😀

- She’ll place everything down and say “darling!!!! When did you get home?!” As she goes to hug you

- “About an hour ago, I wanted to surprise you just to thank you for being my biggest supporter this past month. I say it all the time but I am the luckiest to have you. You absolutely do go the extra mile”

- She’ll tear up a bit

- “I was just so worried about you, I’m so glad you didn’t have a burnout. I know you’re tough my love but I almost offered my boss if I could get more hours so you wouldn’t have to work so much”

- ))))):

- You’ll both go take a shower together, just to enjoy each other’s touch/presence and make up for some lost time

- You’ll change into comfy clothes and go to the kitchen to grab pizza and pasta

- You don’t care that it’s room temperature now. You’re just glad you’re with each other

- Pieck will turn on AOT for background noise as you both munch and drink

- You guys get too caught up in conversation, laughs, and lots of kisses to realize that your bottle she bought you is empty and about 1/4 done with the bottle you bought Pieck

- Next thing you know, Piecks laying on your chest on the couch as you both snooze away

- Tomorrow will be a bit of a hassle to clean up but neither of you will care

- If only someone could take a picture of you guys as you are now

- It’s trivial moments like these that make existing so much better <<3

[marsbutterfly]

Hi <33 if no one has asked Eren yet, I would like to ask him for a love letter.

I use She/her pronouns and he could call me by a petname like "babe" or just my nickname "Be". I love cooking especially with someone because for me it's a very intimate thing to do. So the scenario could be him remembering about something we tried to cook together, but ended up making out or making a complete mess in the kitchen. Some facts about me are...I am very sensitive to smells, physical touch is my love language and INTP is my personality. It can be nsfw, but if you prefer to write sfw that's fine. Thank you for your time and congrats on the 1k! If someone already asked for him, please just ignore me

Eren's Love Letter

Today Sasha brought some lobster made by Niccolo over to training but all I could think about was the food we cooked together the other day. Though there was not much cooking going on at first.

It made me so happy when you said you wanted to show me how you make your famous peach pie, it makes me feel like a part of you is living inside me and I can take you anywhere.

The mess we made on the counters with our flour fight was my second favorite part, cleaning it not so much. I know you sometimes get distracted in the kitchen and just accidently overwhelms yourself so I wanted to make sure you know I will always look out for you.

That being said, holy shit that was some high quality sex! 

The way your breasts perfectly fit into my hands and the little noises you let out when I gently played with your nipples, especially when I put whipped cream on them and start licking it.

Or the way you lifted your skirt only to show me how wet you were, that part made me go completely insane and I realized I couldn’t hold myself back any longer.

Being inside of you has always driven me completely insane. The way you squeeze your pussy around my cock makes me see God in person and I feel like drool is gonna drip down my face.

Fuck and the way you know exactly how to use your tongue when I’m about to come? Chefs kiss. There is nothing I love more than to see my cock in your mouth before you pull it out only to show me your cum covered tongue.

Eating your pussy after fucking you was  and still is my favorite part. You are the most delicious meal I have ever tasted in these 19 yeas I’ve been alive.

Touching you and feeling so connected to each other truly gives me an insane amount of joy and I hope you know I would do anything for those moments with you.

I love you so fucking much and I think about you every single day. My dick is already hard thinking about how well I’m going to fuck you tonight when I get home.

I miss you and I’ll see you soon.

[free-pancakes]

Don’t Worry, I’m Here

So I ended up writing a part 2 to this

And crossposted both chapters to AO3

sorry for all the recent angst, i blame the recent chapter lol

Summary: Alternate epilogue-like ending if SNK chapter 138 didn’t occur

(italicized portions reference chapter 1!)

Chapter 2

“It’s your turn,” Erwin said with a warm smile. “I’m thinking they all need you right now.”

“Maaaaan, this is a lot of work isn’t it? Why did he ask me to watch over everyone! I thought I’d finally get to take a goddamn break when I got here…”

“Stop joking around, Hange, we all know you’re happy to do it,” Mike said. “And at least he can’t smell you when you cross over—can’t believe you alone could stink up the whole afterlife,” he teased.

Hange playfully shoved Mike into Erwin as they burst into laughter. She smiled big at the both of them. “See you morons later!” she yelled back.

“Hange-san, don’t forget to check on Connie and Niccolo for me! Let me know how good Connie’s pranks have gotten, and if Niccolo has gotten any better at tolerating him,” Sasha added.

“Of course, dear,” Hange said with a smile. She waved back at the three as she opened the door to go see everyone back home.

— She breathed in the cool, summer morning air and walked down a cobblestone path in town, smelling the decadent aroma of bread lingering over the bakery just ahead. She peered through the window, seeing Connie poking holes through bread dough, making something that looked like a little mask for himself, squishing it onto his face. Niccolo turned around the corner holding a box of pastries and threw them straight into the air, croissants showering down from the ceilings. “Connie, stop startling me like this!” he whined as he looked at all the pastries now all over the place, a massacre of flaky crumbs on the floor. The sound of Connie’s laugh was music to Hange’s ears. She took another whiff of the sweet smell and laughed as she watched Connie sadly pick up the croissants while Niccolo lectured him—“They’re doing well, Sasha,” she whispered to herself.

As she continued on her stroll, she saw Onyankopon walking alongisde Pieck. After hurrying over to walk alongside the two, she waved hello at both of them—sometimes she forgot they couldn’t see her whenever she came to visit.

“That’s so sweet, Onyankopon,” Pieck said as he flipped through a small book in his hand. “Oh, it wasn’t just me—without Armin I would have never gotten this all to work out.” Hange’s eyes glimmered with happy tears—she was so proud of her successor. She wanted to see him, but unfortunately it would probably have to wait for her next trip down here.

“I’m sure Hange-san would have loved it, no way we couldn’t publish all her hard work on titan research. Something that generations can learn about—real truth in books for them to read, to understand why they all dedicated their hearts,” he said, balling his other hand into a fist, gently tapping his chest with it, right over his own heart. Hange placed her hand on his shoulder and squeezed.

“And what do you have there?” he asked Pieck with a curious look in his eye. “Oh, just another record for Levi,” she said as she ran her hand over the smooth case. "I think he’d like this album.” Hange whispered a small thank you right by Pieck’s ear, happy that she continued to help Levi, and that their little record player was being put to good use.

Onyankopon patted Pieck on the back. “Well, please send the Captain my regards, and let him know that Hange’s texts should be published soon!” Pieck gave him a little smile and waved as she walked towards the forest path. Hange was about to follow her to see the little grump, but she stopped herself, sad to wait a little longer to see him. “Not yet, a few more I have to check on first,” she said to herself as she turned left, heading in the opposite direction from Pieck.

A familiar, warm voice echoed behind her, “Hi Pieck!”

Hange spun around to see Jean and Mikasa walking up from the forest path passing right by Pieck. "Just the people she was looking for!" Hange exclaimed, and smiled warmly watching her favorite little pair walk hand-in-hand.

“Date night I’m assuming?” Pieck asked. Jean blushed, scratched the back of his head, and responded with a nervous chuckle. Mikasa smiled back at him and left a little kiss on his cheek. “Yes we are, Pieck,” she said with a shy smile. “Are you visiting the Captain?”

“Yes, heading that way now. Are the kids with Levi?” Pieck asked excitedly.

“Absolutely, and Historia’s son as well!” Jean said.

Hange couldn’t help but feel overcome with emotion watching the scene. She was so happy to see them all happy, alive, and well. As the group parted ways, Hange followed Jean and Mikasa up a winding path, snaking up the green grassy hills just beyond the edge of the town.

“A graveyard?” Hange asked aloud, both hands instinctively gripping at both sides of her head. “That’s your date night?? Jean, what are you doing?? This is not what I taught you!” She tried grabbing at his shirt to turn them right around. “This isn’t even an Ackerman-related issue, this is just common sense, you idiot!” She ran around them in a frenzy, so distracted that she didn’t even realize who they were actually trying to visit.

“Thanks, Jean. Sorry to ask you for the detour. I know our reservations are—“

Jean quietly pushed a small bouquet of sunflowers into her hands, and stared into her eyes, his expression telling her that he wanted to be here too. Mikasa gave him a quick peck on the cheek and she placed the flowers down onto the grass as they sat down together, knees bent and elbows resting on them. He wrapped his arm around Mikasa as they stared at the headstone, Hange’s name etched neatly into the rock.

“These were her favorite, yknow?”

“I know.”

The wind whistled by their ears, leaving cool kisses on the tops of their heads, bringing them a moment of sweet relief from the heat as the sun began to rise higher into the sky.

“Sometimes, I feel like she never left,” Jean whispered.

Hange sat behind the two of them, arms encasing them in her embrace, and kissed the tops of their heads. She smiled at Jean’s words—“I never did,” she said softly into their ears. She tried to wipe the tears from Mikasa’s eyes with her sleeve. “So don’t be sad.”

Time was almost up, so Hange hurried her way down the path, and stole one last glance at the two. She smiled when she saw Jean lay his head on Mikasa’s shoulder. She couldn’t wait to do the same with the other Ackerman on her mind.

She stared at the little cabin, pangs of heartache clawing at her chest—her one and only regret. But the pain melted away as she heard the sound of children’s laughter escaping through the open window. She walked in to find a little boy and a little girl stumbling around, toddlers still getting used to their legs, their little minds still figuring out how fast they could go before falling over. Her heart melted as she watched the two.

She wondered where Levi was, but he didn’t keep her waiting—he never did. He walked through the doorway of the kitchen into the room where the two kids were running around, holding two mugs of tea. He then walked out onto the front porch and set one of the teas down next to him, steam rising from the cup, drawing Hange towards it with its familiar aroma. Just the way she liked it.

She turned to Levi, looking him up and down, drinking in every bit of his appearance, from every wrinkle in his white, button-up shirt to every strand of hair on his head. She laughed as she counted a few grey hairs peeking through the deep sea of black, and gently ran her hand through this hair. He looked rested, a rare sight for her to see, and nothing could make her happier. She left kisses on his cheek and wrapped her arms around him—she never wanted to let go.

Sunlight wrapped around Levi’s body like a hug, the cool breeze softly ruffled his hair and left cool kisses on his face—sweet relief in the summer heat. “Thanks, Hange,” he thought. He pressed his fingers up to his face, feeling the soft, smooth fabric of her eye patch covering his right eye and smiled.

“You’re welcome, shorty,” she whispered as she held onto him tightly.

As he went back inside, she followed him and sat down right next to him as he pulled out his little journal.

“My notes?”

She stared at Levi, his eyes filled with happiness as he read over every inside joke she scribbled into the margins—she was a little embarrassed about him reading all of that, but overall happy nonetheless.

The two toddlers suddenly jumped up onto his lap breaking him out of his trance. “Uncle Levi, can you please tell us a story??” they chimed together, staring at him with cute little puppy-dog eyes. He nodded.

“Yay!!!” They yelled in unison. They both sat on either side of him on the couch and stared up at him with eager eyes.

Hange sat right next to the three of them, ready to hear Levi’s story—she wondered what he’d come up with. She was ready to laugh at the inevitable constipated look on his face as he tried to conjure up a story for them.

“Once upon a time there were two best friends. They were the strongest heroes everyone knew. They climbed giant walls and looked at the vast lands in front of them from the top of it, knowing it’d all be theirs once they defeated the big, bad titans!”

Hange chuckled at the kids’ excitement.

“They jumped on their necks and cast a spell and they’d disappear!”

“Good call, Levi, I was scared you’d start saying we slashed them up or something,” she said with a small laugh.

They did this for many years until all of them were finally gone. The two best friends were happy and searched for more land to see and explore until they found the big blue ocean. Water that was salty and laid home to many creatures both friendly and dangerous. Now there were more bad guys on the other side of the ocean but they were a little different than titans, and they looked like you and me so it was much harder to defeat them. So the two best friends tried to find a way to win. They went on adventures together trying to figure out their secrets until they almost died trying to do that.”

Levi hesitated.

Hange’s eyes softened at seeing him like this, so she wrapped her arm around him, laying her head on his shoulder.

“And one day one of the best friends asked the other if they wanted to live in the forest together, and leave their younger, smart and powerful comrades to defeat the bad guys.”

He paused once more, and took a deep breath.

“It’s okay, Levi, keep going—the kids are waiting,” she whispered.

“And the other best friend said yes. Their comrades won the battle and the two best friends lived happily ever after in the forest. The end.”

He looked down at the two children, who nuzzled their heads into his lap and were now fast asleep. Jean’s kid snored loudly and drooled over his pants, and he couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight. “Oh Hange, I wish you could be here too...” Levi said aloud. He felt tears well up behind his eyes but he blinked them away.

“Don’t worry, Levi. I’m here.” Hange tried to wipe away his tears with her sleeve before she began to wipe her own.

His mind went to the last page of his book of Hange’s notes:

“I hope Levi could live a long life and be happy for the rest of his days. Nothing brings me more joy than seeing him experience happiness behind his dumb scowl. And Levi if you come across this someday, remember that I love you and goddammit try to smile or something in front of someone other than me!”

Levi of course memorized these words, and repeated them in his head as he ran his fingers softly through the children’s hair as they slept.

She drank in the bittersweet moment—watching him smile through his pain. He was trying so hard for her, and it made her heart ache. She hoped that he was genuinely trying to find happiness through all of this. But she knew it was nothing he couldn’t handle. She was always watching him, after all.

Hange felt a pull at her shoulders—time was just about up for today. She peppered his face with kisses, hoping that he might feel them.

A gentle breeze blew through the open window, leaving sweet, cool kisses on his face. He swore he could hear her voice, whispering “Love you, Shorty,” in his ear.

“Love you, Shorty,” Hange whispered as she stood up to leave. She visited him every week, but it was still difficult for her to leave each time.

“Stupid four-eyes,” he thought. He breathed in memories of her and promised he’d try to live the rest of his days happily and smiling just as she wished for him.

“Til next time, Levi,” she said softly, as she closed the window behind her.

[chaotic-nick]

Mine: Miche Zacharias

This was written for my wattpad oneshot book, back when I didn't even consider writing for tumblr (glad, I did because the difference in my stories now is just growing wider)

Also, the reason why I'm posting this is because of this. They just have the same energy!

-Begin-

"You think she's got a boyfriend? That Reiss girl?" The four all behind on their midterms had the audacity to leaned on wherever was closest to them while ignoring Miche's annoyed gaze at them. Had he known that they'd be ogling at the comm students, he should've sent Niccolo and Colt to the other kitchen.

"Frieda Reiss's sister, huh? She's lesbian, in a relationship with Ymir— don't ask me how I found out," he rubbed his chin, remembering how much it hurt when Ymir's fist collided on the bone there.

"What a waste."

His aggravation as their TA was fueled more when he noticed that their looks were more concentrated on (Y/n) almost undressing her in her every move. Blood boiling even more when one of them pulled out his phone and searched for her name.

"AND CUT!" She yelled at Jean's command, following him to where Sasha and Historia were for the storyboard.

His head buried in the book he lost already interest in, perched up. Eyes boring on his back. Right now, all he wanted to do was run up to (Y/n). Tackle her in a hug that she loved so much, while rubbing her head against his stubble, and tell him to back off. 

"I'm gonna ask her!"

"Hey (Y/n)," Jean called to show her camera, equally— if not more tired than her. Leading for her to nod, hitting Jerome with the tripod rested on her shoulder when she turned.

"He-hey," his efforts didn't dwindle despite the pain on his forehead. Confidently joining he where Marco and Jean were"Can I ask you out?"

"I'm sorry, I'm lesbian . . ."  she looked at him and quickly at Marco "and I'm— I have a boyfriend."

'It was almost perfect,' they all thought, sighing. 'Ymir would've been proud of her and disappointed at the same time.'

"Lesbian and a boyfriend? I'm Jerome." His arrogant smirk with that tone only received a disgusted look from her and a "'kay,". Turning around to watch the raw footage.

Ignored.

Though Miche was fuming now. Maybe hot-headed enough to cook something.

"Boy or girl they don't really need to know what you're up to—" 

Marco moved, placing himself between (Y/n) to push him off."We're here for our school work, she'll entertain you if she's not tired. Please." His always angelic smile felt off when given to men like Jerome.

"Niccolo," Called Miche when he was dismissed by the group, only asking Colt to chop vegetables.

"Yes, Sir?"

"I'll tell the professor you're done, can you do something for me?" His wallet was already open to pull out folded notes.

"Sir, I cleaned the ovens yesterday, I— should I get you a sandwich?" He was relieved that he wouldn't be scored or being the only one whose cleaning skills were up to both Miche's and the professor's standards. 

"Not me, deliver it to my girlfriend."

"Huh?" He accepted the bills Miche thrust in his open hand, still processing his words. "You have  a girlfriend, sir?"

"Niccolo?"

"On it!"

----

With the smell of ingredients wafting from the massive pantry on the side, and the very few students cooking up their meal, Sasha'a stomach grumbled loud enough for Historia to worry about catching it on the mic. (Y/n) could still hold off expressing her hunger out loud after Jean promised that he'd all pay for their lunches.

But having a roach lingering on her back who gave himself hopes that she'd pay him a sliver of attention was different. She could summon the demon of a high schooler and punch him straight, but he wasn't worth it at all.

"CUT! Thank you very much," as soon as it left her mouth, he was back. Already his phone was open.

"What about your Instagram? You do have a snap do you?" She was disgusted now, loathing every passing second he was there.

"I find the word 'Loyal' very very sexy, and you should, too."

"C'mon, please? We can be friends,"

"Thank you again, Niccolo." Miche crouched to scribble a quick note, rolling the top of the bag to stick it on top.

"I didn't deliver it to her yet," he reminded becoming more confused as he stood there. "Should I go to another building?" His answer was an arm-waving 'No,' the other crumpling a failed note before he wrote another.

When he put his pen back in his pocket, the sticky notepad thinner thrown in the drawer, he slid the paper bag to Niccolo. Finger pointed at (Y/n)'s back hunched over a camera, pacing around to rid her off Jerome."One last thing, give it to her."

"Oh my god," Said Niccolo when it made sense. Head falling off his neck when he looked at (Y/n) and then back at Miche.

"She's starving," said Miche, turning around to wash the soaked pots. "Thank you again, Niccolo."

"Ye-yes, Sir!"

"Besides," she finally snapped. Jean and Marco standing behind her, ready to push him away. "I don't date iPhone users." From glaring at Jerome, her eyes lit up when Niccolo came. He, too, ignored his classmate to avoid the second-hand embarrassment he was giving everyone.

"She said 'no', move on." He gave her the warm paper bag, telling her to be careful with the bottom part. "You are (Y/n), right? Your boyfriend asked me to give this to you."

"Thank . . . you, Niccolo, right?" There was a smile ghosting on her face, throwing side-eyed glances at Jean and Historia when she noticed who he looked at. "You can ask Sasha for a copy when we're done, she and Marco are the editors. Excuse me," she moved to pack her bag, reading the note before it became wet from the steam.

'Can't blame them, you look very beautiful when you're working. This is my territory, tell me when I can burn them. I love you,'

"Cheesy mother—" her glare turned to a cheeky smile when Miche winked from across the room. Turning around before she asked how long he had been standing there.

"Is that a burger?" Came Sasha's chin on her shoulder, following her when (Y/n) ran to get fetch belongings.

"No, Sasha." She yelled, chasing after her outside when she ran out with her backpack.

"Great I don't have to pay for her lunch." Sighed Jean, picking up her tripods, waving at Miche.

"I'll take (Y/n)'s share." Joked Historia, running out after them for the fun of it. Somewhere at the end of the corridor, they all heard an abrupt stop, a screech from their shoes and guessed that the two fell over.

"How can you compete with that? Her boyfriend got her lunch." Nudged Mark when Jerome returned with his head down. 

"Yea, can't even feed myself dinner."  He shrugged, crouching down to retrieve his apron. When he looked up, Miche's green eyes stared straight through him, reminding him that they should be gone at four PM.

'He doesn't need to look so demonic what the fuck?'

---

(A/N): //from my wattpad book//

-I like ignoring the pain the anime inflicts. Anyways, i headcanon that College AU Mike/ Miche would be a culinary student with Niccolo being that one junior who follows him or just is taken in.

-Also, I'm the designated tripod person whenever our major subjects come around, and I have a habit of hoisting it up to carry it on my shoulder. I spent only a year in uni, but I miss my old life.

[theotherackerman]

My Mind Turns Your Life Into Folklore

My Mind Turns Your Life Into Folklore

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER: Any recognizable elements belong to Attack on Titan.

NOTES:

Flashback: Mikasa, age 21 Current time: Wednesday January 20th

chapter twenty-three: the story of us

One year ago, Mikasa did not handle her upcoming father’s birthday very well.

She had gotten drunk.

More drunk than she had ever been.

The room was spinning, couldn’t feel anything sort of drunk.

If it worked for Eren, it could work for her.

She didn’t want to feel.

She didn’t want to think.

Every change of the minute brought her father’s birthday closer.

She had tried to call Eren but Ymir had snatched her phone away.

So Mikasa didn’t call Eren.

Instead, she wandered off into the backyard where Levi found her.

She sat down in the snow, not really feeling the cold.

“I know. You’re hurting. You have been, whether you want to admit it or not. You’re having issues because you’re not allowing the pain you feel to be felt. You’ve been through a lot, Mikasa. Give yourself a break,” Levi said as he offered his hand out to Mikasa.

After a moment, Mikasa took Levi’s hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet.

Ymir came out of the house moments later and helped lead Mikasa back into the house.

“She okay?” Ymir asked.

“No, but she will be,” Levi replied.

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

Eren woke up with his limbs tangled with Mikasa’s. He was unsure how he was going back to not sleeping with her every night. He loved waking up to her in the morning. She was sound asleep as he had woken up before his alarm had gone off. He watched her peacefully sleeping in his arms. He was still so in love with her.

His alarm went off. He swiped it away.

Mikasa mumbled something under his breath that he couldn’t make out before she was nuzzling into his chest, trying to go back to sleep.

“I’m going to shower,” he told her as he began to move.

There was some sort of noise of protest as she held onto him.

“Unless you want to join me,” he whispered into her ear.

She gave him a gentle shove.

“That’s what I thought,” he laughed as he stood up.

It was a strange little morning routine that they had already fallen into. He took his pills and then made his way towards the bathroom.

Eren noticed after he had returned to the bedroom after his shower that something was off about Mikasa. He remembered the whole reason he was here was because of her dad’s birthday looming ever so close.

She was always off on that day.

On her mom’s birthday, it was even worse.

No matter how happy of a day they all tried to make it, Mikasa still had the same feelings.

Eren didn’t blame her, couldn’t blame her. He knew how his mom’s death had affected him. He knew her birthday was also looming closer every day. With the towel still wrapped around his waist, he sat down on her bed.

“Hey, you okay?” he asked as he reached out and touched her face.

Mikasa nodded.

“You’re still a shitty liar,” he told her.

“I know,” she muttered as she looked down.

His thumb caressed her cheek. “We’ll make it through today and tomorrow...then we’ll go from there. One day at time, right?”

Mikasa nodded again, still not looking up at him.

Eren leaned in and briefly pressed his lips to hers. A gesture that he was still there, he still loved her, and that he wanted her.

If Eren was being completely honest, he had never wanted anyone else and he wouldn’t ever want anyone else. He had resigned himself to a life free of any romance after he had left her.

She kissed him back right before he pulled away.

He had left her.

She had gone through this without him last year.

And he had known it would be bad.

It was bad every year.

What kind of fucked up person would do that?

Eren wasn’t fully aware of the fact that he had grabbed Mikasa and pulled her into a hug until she was squeezing him back.

So he just held her.

After a moment, Mikasa finally spoke.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Always here for you,” he muttered as he rested his head on top of hers.

“Did you use my shampoo?” she asked.

“Yeah…..”

“You smell good though. It’s fine. Your hair is so much longer now.”

“Is that bad?”

“No, I like it. Is this scar new?” she asked as she traced a mark on his chest.

Eren nodded.

“Car accident?” she asked.

“Probably. There’s a small one on my neck too,” he said before he took her hand, he used her hand to trace the small scar on his neck. “That was from glass. I was unconscious when they took it out.”

“Luck you. I got to feel your dad pull the glass out of my face,” she muttered as she traced the scar on his neck.

“I’m sure he was at least trying to be gentle. The doctors were pretty mad at me for drinking and driving.”

“Good,” Mikasa said before she pulled out of his embrace.

“Hey! Well, you’re right. I kind of deserved it back then.”

“I’m going to go take a shower,” she said as she stood up.

“I mean you could have joined me…”

Mikasa tackled him, causing him to fall backwards onto the bed. He tried to wrestle out of her grip but even with him working out, she was still stronger. He also became very aware of the fact that he was still just wearing a towel. Mikasa quickly pinned both of Eren’s hands above his head.

Eren’s eyes met hers again.

“I’m going to take a page out of Niccolo’s book and say this is pretty much the hottest thing I’ve ever seen,” he told her.

“Thought you were stronger now,” she replied simply. No blush flooded her cheeks like Eren had hoped for.

“I just let you win.”

Mikasa rolled her eyes as she released his wrists.

“You really shouldn’t have done that.”

“Why?”

Eren’s only answer was to grab her and flip them so he was hovering over her. He could feel his towel slipping but it did stay in place. He knew another move like that and it would fall.

Mikasa biting her lip and refusing to look him in his eyes did not escape his notice. He stood up as he held onto his towel. He secured it as Mikasa got off of her bed.

“Told you I’ve gotten stronger,” he teased her.

“Yeah, yeah. So you’ve said. I’m going to go shower by myself.”

“Don’t sound so sad about it.”

Mikasa didn’t even bother to respond to him.

Eren waited until he heard Mikasa’s footsteps disappear before he sighed.

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

Jean had no idea what to expect from Pieck. The woman was a constant surprise when it came to what she did.

So when she had shown up with takeout and wine, he had been surprised.

“Figured Connie would probably still be here so I decided to keep it PG tonight,” Pieck said as came into the apartment. “And I brought a bottle of whiskey for him.”

“Did I hear whiskey?” Connie asked as he came out of his room.

“You did. New brand. Thought the bottle was cool,” Pieck shrugged.

“Pieck, this is why you’re the coolest girl he’s ever brought home,” Connie said as he took the bottle from her.

“Does he bring many girls home?” Pieck smirked.

“Yes,” Jean said.

“No,” Connie replied at the same time.

Jean glared at Connie which just caused Pieck to laugh.

“He always seemed to get shot down at galas. So I think I’m going to believe Connie,” Pieck smirked.

“See? Coolest girl. Alright, I’m going to get hammered and then write this essay,” Connie said before moving the bottle in a small toast before going back to his room.

“Let me guess, you thought it would be something much more sexy that I was going to bring you for stress relief,” Pieck said before she sat the bag of food down on the table.

“Very domestic of you,” Jean smirked as he sat down at the tiny kitchen table.

“Shut up, don’t get used to it. I had a good shoot today so here I am. Plus this place has the best tacos around and it happens to be two blocks away from here.”

“Best tacos, huh? Just look like normal tacos to me."

Pieck rolled her eyes before she sat across from him. "You're the man who thought a twenty dollar wine was expensive. So maybe I don't trust your judgement when it comes to food."

"Well excuse me. I didn't have my mom take me to a winery."

"Maybe she should have."

Jean rolled his eyes before taking a bite of his taco. His eyes lit up.

"Told you. World's best tacos."

"Alright, fine. You win this one."

"I told you."

"...you got any more tacos?" Connie's voice called from down the hall.

"Yes, come get some," Pieck replied.

Their conversation slowed as they continued their meal. Pieck found herself liking being here in Jean and Connie's company. Besides the talk of exams and essays, Pieck would sometimes forget they weren't in the same age group as her.

And despite how much she tried to avoid it, Pieck really did like Jean. Once she got through that cocky, asshole persona he used, she found herself really enjoying her company.

But she wouldn't tell him or anybody else for that matter that.

They would all tease her about it.

This all should have been a red flag for her.

Evidence that she was getting in far too deep with Jean. Here she was bringing him food and alcohol because he had had an exam.

After dinner, Pieck found herself sitting on the couch with Jean watching some cheesy sci-fi movie he had found.

"Saturday there's this frat party Marco and I are going to. I'm not staying long," he said casually.

"Okay?" She asked as she raised an eyebrow.

Why would she care?

"So uh..if you wanted to like…"

"Spit out, Jean."

"I mean this is kind of becoming a routine thing and if you know you were expecting for us to…"

She reached up and grabbed his face. "You're cute when you're embarrassed," she teased him before she let go. "Go get drunk. Party. Whatever. I'm keeping my weekly date with Porco and Marcel anyway. But if it isn't past your bedtime, maybe I'll swing by."

"I won't be asleep," Jean said as he leaned back against the couch.

"Hmmm...will Connie be here?"

"Shouldn't be. He's got a thing with Ruth. He spent an hour on the phone with Sasha trying to pick out the perfect gift."

"What for?"

"I don't know. He likes to spoil his girlfriend and get them gifts for no reason. He's always been like that."

"Huh."

The talk of a relationship was making Pieck uncomfortable. Did Jean want that from her? She couldn't give that to him. It just wasn't something she was capable of. Maybe she should break this whole thing off.

"He's right though," Jean said after a moment.

"About what?" She was clearly confused.

"You are the coolest girl I've brought home."

Pieck held back a laugh, "I've never been cool in my life."

"But you are. I mean you have a studio, you're a working artist. You can play multiple instruments. There's no way you're not cool."

"I'm also unbelievably boring."

"I doubt that."

"I am. I go home, I have a glass of wine, I watch TV, and I go to bed."

"Better than what I do. Just study all the time."

"Oh please. Aren't you going to save the world or something?"

"Just because I'm a political science major doesn't mean I'm going to save the world."

"Hmmm...somehow I doubt that. You seem like the type."

"What type?"

"The type to do something stupid. I should go. It's getting late," she said as she stood up.

"Or you could always stay," Jean muttered.

She stopped and looked back at him. "Why do you want me to stay? You feeling alright?"

"Just a stressful day. That's all," he shrugged.

"Okay, well, I've got a shoot in the morning."

"Right. Yeah, I'll see you later."

Pieck nodded and left, closing the door behind her.

Jean groaned once she was gone.

"Dude, you're so screwed," Connie said from the other room.

"Tell me something I don't know," Jean muttered as he sat down on the couch.

"So Sasha and Niccolo aren't talking."

"Why's that?"

"Guess he flipped because we're still friends and exes. It's not like I didn't grow up next door to her."

"Weird. So is he out of the group?"

"Not yet. Ymir is waiting for the word to take him out though."

"I'll help her hide the body."

"Are you going to talk to Pieck about everything?"

"You know she's the first girl since Mikasa that I actually like to be around? I mean the other girls I've been with have been good for a fling but Pieck is…"

"Someone you want to wife up?"

"Yes! I mean no. I don't know. She's just different."

"Then you should tell her. I'm pretty sure she feels the same."

"I hope so."

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

Her friends were very good at getting Mikasa to not think about the fact that her dad’s birthday was the next day.

At least until it was time to sleep.

She tossed and turned. Eren held onto her, never complaining.

Eren pulled her close to him. She turned over so she was facing him.

“You’re okay,” he assured her, wrapping his other arm around her.

She didn’t feel okay. She felt like she was breaking all over again.

There was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Eren said.

The door opened, Annie stepped in first. She was wrapped in her comforter.

“Scoot over,” the blonde said. Eren pulled himself and Mikasa over to the other side of the bed. Annie plopped down on the open space just as Armin was coming in with his own blanket. He climbed into the bed and sat down next to Eren.

“Armin?” Mikasa questioned. “When did you get here?”

“About twenty minutes ago. My classes are canceled tomorrow,” he explained.

“So we’re having a sleepover in your room tonight because fuck being alone. None of that shit here,” Ymir added as she came into the room with her own blanket. She turned Mikasa’s tv on with the remote. “No one kick me,” she warned as she lay horizontally across the end foot of the bed.

Historia came into the room next, dragging a blanket with her.

“Annie, let me use you as a pillow,” Historia remarked as she climbed into bed. She rested her head on Annie’s shoulder.

“Ymir, can I use you as a pillow?” Sasha asked as she climbed over Ymir so she was the opposite way with her feet towards Mikasa’s pillows.

“I don’t care. Just don’t poke me with your boney elbow,” Ymir said.

“Anyone squished?” Eren asked after a moment.

“I’m good. Toss me a pillow,” Ymir said as she held her hand out.

Eren reached back and grabbed a pillow. He tossed it to her and Ymir caught it.

“You know it’s a good thing you have a giant bed,” Ymir laughed as she put her head down on the pillow.

“Probably a good thing we don’t have more friends too,” Annie added as she rested her head on top of Mikasa’s.

Mikasa twisted so she could see the tv.

“Alright, so we will find the worst thing possible on tv,” Ymir informed them before turning up the volume.

“Give me that or we’re going to end up watching Hallmark movies forever!” Historia proclaimed.

“They’re horrible!”

“That’s the point but they are a form of torture I will not endure. Sasha, snatch the remote away.”

“Uh, no. Ymir is my pillow.”

Mikasa laughed a bit as her friends argued.

This was an improvement from last year.

[ayellowcurtain]

Could we get some Nicotino/Rames where Marti surprises Nico on his birthday? (Even though we don't really know Niccolo's birthday sadly)

Martino bites his nails, suddenly so insecure of everything he just did. This his Nico’s thing, right? He’s the romantic one and he’s so good at it. To him it happens so naturally. Maybe it’s the artistic side, constantly creating these scenarios. 

And it took Martino basically all night long to do what Nico did in a few hours when they first met each other. It looks good, but he’s not sure if everything will stay in place until Nico wakes up. 

He didn’t even try to plan a surprise party because he knows all the guests. Someone would open their big mouth. Luchino or Rami would be Marti’s best bets. So they’ll celebrate his amazing, perfect boyfriend later with everyone, but Marti wanted to have a moment privately with him. 

Martino looks around again, the house is warm and smells like coffee, the red string is everywhere, hanging around every corner, up and down. Every picture they ever took together is glued to parts of the string. Martino smiles to himself, he loves this part of them. 

Nico really thinks they were always meant to be, since day one. Sometimes it’s mindblowing for him to think about their love. That Nico chooses to be with him every day. 

Niccolò deserves to be celebrated, as much as one can be and Martino will do everything he can to shower him with all the love there is. 

He goes back to the kitchen, finally setting up the breakfast tray he planned. Nico likes his coffee way too hot, almost tongue-burning hot and so Marti only puts the coffee on his coffee cup when everything else is settled. 

When he’s about to take everything to the bedroom, he hears footsteps brushing against the wood floor lazily. Nico sleeps with socks on and Marti doesn’t get it, it’s like constrain your toes in the most uncomfortable way. 

“Good morning...” He had his back to Nico still, but he already could hear his smile mixed with his sleepy voice. 

Martino turned back around because he had to see if Nico liked it. If he didn’t make a lame job and got proud about it. Nico took his time, walking around, stopping at every picture. His hair was all over the place, he was still shirtless, probably still so warm and soft it made Martino sigh just thinking about it. 

He didn’t seem underwhelmed, he looked happy and Martino got happy too, patiently waiting for the birhtday boy to walk around their home with no rush, holding carefully every picture of them. 

“You’re a lot better at this, but I had to try...” Martino explains and Nico looks at him, smiling softly like he does, making Martino’s knees melt a little bit, having to lean back against the table so he doesn’t fall to the ground. 

“No, you’re perfect.” 

“I don’t believe you.” His words get Nico’s full attention, walking to him slowly, still mostly asleep and Martino feels like he has to explain himself, “You’re my boyfriend.” 

“That’s what should make you believe me even more, not less.” At this distance, Nico can see over Marti’s shoulder the fancy breakfast he made, “Someone woke up early today, I’ll take that as a big gesture of love.” 

Martino hopes he’s not blushing, but the chances are small. “You should. Like I said, you’re a lot better at this.” 

Nico brushes his nose against Marti’s, smiling, his warm hands finally meeting Martino’s cheeks, looking at every detail of his face as if he hadn't memorized everything by now. 

“I love you.” 

“I love you. Happy birthday, Ni.” 

“Thank you, my love.” Nico whispers against his lips and Marti closes his eyes instinctively, feeling when Nico smiles before kissing him slowly, still mananing to take his breath away. 

[amachja-moved]

@biggergiants​ // niccolo (plotted)

------------ First, there is the smell of petrichor. In the forest, under the canopy of endless trees growing skywards and arching over their heads, senses expand tenfold; the earth under the sole of their feet soaks in the rain of the afternoon, occasional drop of water dripping from net of leaves into their hair, soil smelling rich and musky and grassy as they walk deeper into the woods. Then, there are the sounds, the squish of leaves and earth under their boots, the scurry of animals in the bushes and flutter of birds in the branches. Sasha glances over her shoulder as she leads the way, looks back at her companion and the frown knitting his brow together. “You’re gonna love it, I promise.” She counters Niccolo’s glum with a smile, tries to crush his apprehension with trademark carefree attitude.

Not many of Sasha’s friends can pride themselves on having experienced Dauper’s summer festival. Then again, none of Sasha’s friends had ever even seen Dauper, for the very good reason that Dauper now lies abandoned at the heart of the forest - inhabitants driven out by the threat of titans the day Ragako fell, never to return. But the villagers had survived, now scattered across nearby towns and land, and there is woodland around, still -- this may not be their native forest, but this shall not stop them from honouring the few traditions they can still hold on to. 

The offer is far from innocent. In fact, it is more like a loaded gun - one of those Marleyan guns that hold a chamber with several bullets, but she left only one in the magazine. When they press the trigger, when Niccolo steps into her and her people’s world, what will happen then? He is the enemy, he is the other side, as much as they are for him. Shared meals by the harbour, shared moments in a quiet kitchen while she nibbles at his defenses and he chips away at hers don’t make a peace treaty. 

Sasha drapes herself in the soft fabric of her shawl and links her hands behind her back, skips a few steps to join his side. “I bet it ain’t much compared to what you have in Marley, but I also bet you’ve never had grilled boar like the one we cook.” Bait him with their common language, their common tongue, and a complicit grin, rope him into a semblance of normality, far from his ovens and everything that might remind him that he is, in fact, a prisoner of war. 

[a-pirate-my-hearties]

1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 14, 15, 17, 23, 24, 27, 28, 31, 36, 39, 44, 47, 48, 55, 56, 58, 62, 68, 76, 86 🙂

1. coffee mugs, teacups, wine glasses, water bottles, or soda cans? Coffee mugs, definitely! I already have too much of them and it doesn’t look like I’m planning on stopping anytime soon xD

2. chocolate bars or lollipops? Chocolate bars. I like lollipops too, but chocolate is the food of gods.

3. bubblegum or cotton candy? Bubblegum.

7. earbuds or headphones? Earbuds, I find them more comfortable.

9. favorite smell in the summer? My favourite mango ice cream, the air in the forest nearby where I live when it’s not too hot, the aroma of fresh strawberries for the first time in the season.

14. favorite non-chocolate candy? Nimm2, the orange ones.

15. favorite book you read as a school assignment? Ugh, I’ll pick one from high school, because if I had to answer the same about uni, it would be too difficult ;D Probably “Master and Margarita”.

17. most frequently worn pair of shoes? Knee-high black leather boots (because winter).

23. strange habits? That’s a tricky one, because my habits are probably not that strange to me, they are just habits... I don’t know if that’s weird, but I’ll always shoo everyone out of the kitchen when I cook - exactly like my late granfather (on dad’s side). No bitchin’ in my fucking kitchen. No disturbing. But besides that nothing comes to mind, really. I’m sorry. :D

24. favorite crystal? Amethyst! Always.

27. favorite activity to do in cold weather? A hot bath. :D If I’m feeling particularly active (who am I kidding?), then a walk, because I’m an allergic person and cold air helps me with the hay fever I have all the time.

28. five songs to describe you? Moonspell - White Skies, Darling Violetta - A Smaller God, Aurelio Voltaire - Tempest, Niccolo Paganini - Caprice No. 24, Clan of Xymox - Jasmine and Rose

31. what outfit do you wear to kick ass and take names? Anything that’s leather/velvet/lace. So probably a tight, black leather pencil skirt, knee lenght, paired with red/emerald velvet crop top. Hair up, high heels (preferably black or red), silver jewellery - wide braceletes, heavy with emeralds/amethysts/rubies. Matching earrings. Heavy makeup, preferably smokey eye and a red lip. That’s for a metaphorical ass kicking. For a literal ass kicking I’d need to modify a bit - that skirt needs a slit or two to move my legs comfortably. No high heels, just flats shoes or some platforms. And yeah, there’s that. Imagine how badass. :D

36. what is the first meme you remember ever seeing? I can’t remember! My old brain doesn’t reach that far.

39. lemon cake or lemon meringue pie? None, I dislike lemon sweets.

44. favorite scent for soap? Ugh, I don’t know, blueberry?

47. favorite type of cheese? Either hard cheese or Camembert.

48. if you were a fruit, what kind would you be? Probably mango. Sweet, juicy, tasty, but not for everyone (people tend to complain about the taste, there’s always too much of something) and a bit exotic.

55. favorite fairy tale? Beauty and the Beast.

56. favorite tradition? Decorating the Christmas tree. No matter how old I get.

58. four talents you’re proud of having? Writing, makeup skills, general colour-coordinating skills, the ease for learning languages/operating around the languages I don’t know.

62. seven characters you relate to? Anne Shirley, Wendy Darling, Elizabeth Bennet, Captain Hook, Hermione Granger, Regis (The Witcher), sometimes also Geralt

68. worst flavor of any food or drink you’ve ever tried? I believe licorice candy? Like the salty one? Oh my god, what an abomination.

76. what’s your favorite potato food (i.e. tater tots, baked potatoes, fries, chips, etc.)? Fries and chips :)

86. cookies or cupcakes? Both is good ;)

Thank you for the ask, my darling :)

[haqita-kimoji]

Darts of Pleasure - Chapter 3 - Sorry

Pairing: Levi Ackerman x Original Character (Sophie Poulain)

Genre: Romance, light fluff

Warnings: Manga spoilers, s4 spoilers, don’t read when you’re not updated with the latest anime episode

Word count: 1.6k words

a/n: I feel my writing is amateur-ish at best hence any feedback is very much welcomed. Posted on wattpad and AO3 as well.

Chapter 3: Sorry

Sophie was unsure if it was the general anxiety of being in the presence of someone she was attracted to, or the specific anxiety of actually conversing with Humanity's Strongest Soldier that is Levi Ackerman, but for some reason, she felt her heart pounding as she brewed the Marleyan tea. She set the tea set carefully on the tray, adjusting the angles of the teacups and the teapot for the millionth time ensuring it was exactly how she thought Levi would want it. Noticing the anxiety practically dripping from her forehead a cheerful voice teased her from across the kitchen counter, "Hey Shrimpy!"

She rolled her eyes turning to the familiar voice, a smiling amused Niccolo smirking towards her. Dodging between the other kitchen staff, he stopped next to her, "Having tea with a Paradis Devil is making you all weak in the knees ay?" Sophie rolled her eyes, averting her gaze back to the tray, repeatedly tapping the edge of the tray as if she was sending a distress signal in Morse code.

Both Sophie and Niccolo were never close back in the Marleyan army but now that they work together in Yelena's squad, they were indeed two peas in a pod. His pet name for her was "Shrimpy" due to her petite short stature. Breathing a huge, fake sigh of relief, Niccolo continued to tease her, "Shrimpy, you should let him put his slippery tadpole inside of you."

Sophie groaned, shoving Niccolo by the shoulder as she walked to the sink to wash her hands with soap, hoping to cleanse herself from any dirt or smell. She knew Levi's reputation as a Clean Enthusiast and would not want to leave a bad impression on him in terms of her personal hygiene.

"Niccolo, can I be real with you, can I just be honest with you?" Sophie blurted out, looking to her friend.

Taken aback by the sudden shift in her tone, Niccolo quickly replied, "Okay?"

Dramatically Sophie walked to him, placed one palm to her waist and another beside the tray, then looked Niccolo straight in the eye and announced with a lustful expression, "I want Captain Levi to place me on my knees, spit in my mouth and slap me on my forehead with his fucking dick! I don't care how big, how small, how medium it is—- I need him to envelop me in all his LEVI-ness."

Niccolo nearly tripped at the filth coming out of the supposedly innocent lips of Sophie. He sat down on a nearby stool, his elbows on his knees, his head bowed, and palms against his forehead. His voice distinct and very annoyed, he uttered, "I'm going to get Onkyankopon to baptize you in the sea this weekend. The Paradis Devil got you good huh?" Sophie smiled sheepishly to her friend, feeling gratified at his reaction, but she was glad to get it off her chest. The curiosity she felt of the mysterious Ackerman had drove her crazy ever since she landed on the island and the sudden invitation for tea was perfect for her to get to know the Captain better.

Walking timidly with the tray on her hand, the hallways of the office quarters were strangely deserted. In the rarified atmosphere of the office floor it was always quiet, but on that day it felt spooky. No voices or footsteps echoed off the stone walls. Due to the eerie atmosphere, Sophie found herself sprinting down the hallways muttering repeatedly to herself the map to Levi's office, "Second floor, turn left, first door to the right."

When she arrived in front of his door, she exhaled a long breath to calm her nerves, and with the heavy tray barely balanced in one hand, she knocked on the door carefully with three sturdy knocks. She heard footsteps and his sultry deep voice calling out to her, "Come in."

Before she could reach for the knob, the door opened and she was not ready. The door swung inwards and she was instantly thrown off balance with the heavy tray on the other hand. Falling through the doorway in a great splash of tea, she landed on the hard floor with the loud cracking of the teapots, now broken. Sprawled on her stomach, her white button-down top soaking in the brew of tea, Sophie hovered her head upwards to see a part of polished black shoe inches from her head. A man's shoe, its toe as poised as if ready to kick her in the face for what had transpired.

She saw herself reflected in the dark shine of the shoe: her tea-drenched bangs swinging by her forehead, her cheeks flushed and her mouth hanging slack as she panted on the floor, beyond embarrassed at what had transpired. Her chest heaving. The fall had drenched her white button-up blouse, leaving the linen sticking to the curvature of her body. Thank goodness for the military's linen-cotton undergarments for the female cadets.

Biting her lips and noticing the mess she made, Sophie forced herself to follow the black shoe up to the ankles sheathed in white socks that are now stained with tea. Beyond was the hem of a trouser cuff, and her gaze followed the sharp crease of his black pants up toward his knee. Meticulous tailoring and cut revealed the contour of his powerful thigh from where the trouser inseam led her eyes to his bulge and she felt hot wetness between her and the floor.

Sophie bit her lips wallowing on the mess she made on the Captain's office floor. Even in the buffed, murky leather of the shoe, Sophie could see the blush of embarrassment on her cheeks deepen. She gulped. Levi's voice broke the trancelike spell, pleasant and bemused he said, "Are you okay?"

Sophie forced herself to look up through the veil of her long, fluttering eyelashes. A face loomed, looking at her endearingly. Those were the features she saw so often in their meetings and at the mess halls. His steely eyes were grey; his forehead was fringed by his raven-black hair. His expression was mild, monotonous at what had transpired.

Still sprawled on the floor, Sophie gasped as she made eye-contact with Levi. "I'm sorry!" she squeaked. "I did not mean to---"

"It's fine," Levi said monotonously, his gaze never breaking from her.

Slowly spreading her fingers against the floor, she tried to push herself up but remembered how the hot liquid would make her white blouse reveal more than she wanted in front of the Captain. The dark-steely grey eyes watching her were as focused and unblinking, they were measuring and recording every inch of her body.

"Let me help you up," the raven-haired man insisted, reaching down to her. Sophie timidly nodded, his fingers closed around her own were surprisingly cold. An amazing strength lifted her as his lips, those lips she's always dreamt of kissing, inches from her face said, "I'll clean up the mess, you should freshen up in the bathroom." Levi pointed to the door of his bed chambers which was connected to the office room, Sophie shuddered at the thought of being in his private quarters.

She merely nodded too embarrassed for words, her arms folded across her chest as she headed to the bathroom. She looked herself to the mirror mortified at how indecent she looked, her soaked white button-up top revealing the curvature of her cleavage, her ponytail messy and drenched of tea.

A quick knock was heard on the door and it caught Sophie off-guard, she jerked back in shock. Levi's deep voice was heard as he slid to open the bathroom door slightly, "Here's a towel and a set of my clothes, I'm sure you'd fit into my size." Sophie hummed awkwardly acknowledging him and he timidly placed the items on the bathroom counter, careful not to look where she stood.

When the bathroom door closed, Sophie looked back to the mirror, told herself to get herself together, and slapped her cheek for assurance. She cleaned herself up, dried herself, and slid into the clothes he had given. The blue button-up blouse and black slack smelt fresh and it fitted loosely to her body. Muttering words of encouragement to herself, she stepped out the door to see the Captain seated on a lounge armchair upholstered in black leather.

While Levi was disappointed that his romantic high tea meeting did not transpire as planned, he did get more than he bargained for witnessing her curvature under her soaked wet blouse from the fall. As Sophie walked to him in his own change of clothes, it had only increased his desire for her. She glanced quickly at the mess she made earlier by the door but she found the floor was clean as if the accident she committed never occurred.

Stopping inches from each other Sophie broke the silence, "I'm really sorry Levi, I mean Captain Levi. I genuinely---"

"Come join me on the rooftop?" Levi interrupted her, one hand lifted a bottle of wine, and the other held out two wine glasses.

"Wine under the moonlight?" Sophie giggled nervous, dazed in the sheer abruptness of how the night is unfolding. Levi looked back at her blankly, unsure what to say. He figured maybe with a bit of alcohol the awkwardness between them would subside and they'd be able to have a conversation.

"I mean sure, I'd like that." Sophie pursed her lips and exhaled slowly.

As they walked together to the door, Sophie smiled timidly at him, looking him in the eye, begging internally for him to stop her stride. Levi felt the intensity in her gaze and was tempted, he wanted to keep the door shut, threw her body against it, and ravaged her right there and then but he held himself back. He was a gentleman after all.

[buoyantsaturn]

Riding Bikes Across the Street Without Looking Either Way (1/1)

summary: “Ah, Nico, pour me a drink would you?” Hades said. “I’d do it myself, but the bottles keep moving out from under my hand.”

Nico stopped about ten feet away from him, scratching uncomfortably at his forearm as he muttered, “Don’t you think you’ve had enough?”

word count: 5,083

WARNINGS: physical and emotional abuse, self-harm, alcoholism, violence

read on ao3

It was a few days after Christmas, but Nico and Hades still felt the effects of the anniversary of Bianca’s death, clinging to them at every moment and wrapping around their hearts and squeezing like a rubber band. This time of year was always harder on them than usual - Nico more than Hades, though Hades liked to play the victim rather than the victimizer when he started drinking.

Usually it was just the occasional off-handed comment - “If only Bianca were here,” with a pointed look Nico’s way, just in case he hadn’t been feeling guilty enough already - but sometimes his words were much more pointed - “She would still be here if it weren’t for you,” more often than not said with a drunken slur to his words. He never started throwing punches when Hazel or Persephone were in the room, as though even the alcohol wouldn’t let him forget that he couldn’t leave witnesses to his abuse. It was just his words against Nico’s then - and the bruises that Nico struggled to hide from his sister. 

The passing of the holiday usually brought them both out of their bad moods. Nico finally regained the energy to leave the house, at least for long enough that he could attend Christmas Mass with his family, and Hades’s drinking tended to slow down on Christmas Day. 

When Hades came stumbling into the house late on the twenty-seventh, though, Nico’s heart stopped. If Hades was still drinking so heavily, then things would only get worse for Nico. 

“Nico!” Hades called, and Nico flinched, but didn’t move. “I know you’re awake, Niccolo! You come when I call you!”

He would rather run and hide, actually, but he knew that if he didn’t listen to his father, then Hades would just keep shouting until he woke Hazel and Persephone, and Nico didn’t want them to interact with him in this state. Nico rose from the couch and followed the sound of Hades’s voice until he found his father leaning against one wall, staring down the table of expensive liquors across from him. 

“Ah, Nico, pour me a drink would you?” Hades said. “I’d do it myself, but the bottles keep moving out from under my hand.”

Nico stopped about ten feet away from him, scratching uncomfortably at his forearm as he muttered, “Don’t you think you’ve had enough?”

Hades lifted his head slowly, his eyes locking on Nico and narrowing. “What did you say to me?”

Nico’s hand tightened around his arm, the sharp pain of his nails digging into the skin reminding him of the pain that would come if he didn’t keep his mouth shut, but it wasn’t enough to stop him. “You’ve had enough.”

With one hand on the wall to brace himself, Hades started toward Nico, tripping over his own feet on the first few steps. “Is that any way to treat your father?” he snarled. 

Nico’s head snapped up, and he glared, gaze unbreaking, into his father’s eyes. “Is this any way to treat her memory?”

The sting from the open-palmed slap on Nico’s cheek should’ve been expected, but he was surprised nonetheless. He tried not to show it on his face, or in any part of him, and kept his face turned away even as Hades grabbed the front of his shirt to yank him forward. Nico could smell the alcohol on his breath as he hissed, “You don’t get to tell me how to treat her memory, you little shit. Not when it’s your fault she’s dead!”

“It wasn’t my fault,” Nico whispered, unaware that he’d said the words out loud until Hades slapped him across the face once more - the other cheek, to even things out. 

“You look just like her,” Hades said, his voice softening, though his grip didn’t. “You, Bianca, Maria. You all look the same. But I’d rather have either of them than you. It should’ve been you.” He hefted Nico up by the front of his shirt and tossed him aside, toward the display of liquor. “Pour me a drink and get out of my face.”

Nico did. And then he ran. 

Nico hid in his room for a few hours, unable to sleep, but unable to make himself get out of bed, either. Not when there was a possibility that Hades was still stumbling around on the main floor of the house, waiting for his favorite target to reappear. It wasn’t until sometime after three in the morning that Nico finally crept out of his room, just with the intention of heading to the bathroom, but on his way back to his bedroom, he heard the rumbling snores that signified Hades had finally passed out. 

Nico tiptoed down the stairs, unsure of where Hades had fallen asleep but wanting to be cautious in case he wasn’t out cold. He found Hades sprawled out on the couch, still fully dressed all the way down to the loafers he’d worn to work. Carefully and quietly, Nico sneaked closer to his father in order to retrieve his laptop from the coffee table. When he knew he was in the clear, Nico hurried back toward the stairs, though he hesitated in the hall as he passed the liquor display.

He glanced back over his shoulder. Hades was sound asleep, so there was no way he would notice if something happened to one of the bottles. And there was a full wine cellar underneath his feet that very moment. What could be the harm in taking a couple of bottles? 

Nico tucked his laptop under his arm and grabbed the two glass bottles - decanters, he thought Hades had called them once before - and carried them away. He took them to the kitchen and set them on the counter, putting his laptop aside before he opened the first decanter and poured its contents down the drain. A moment later, he did the same with the second decanter, then replaced the bottles exactly where he’d found them before he retrieved his laptop from the kitchen and ran up the stairs, his nervous pulse pounding in his ears. 

One Week Ago

FROM: Percy; You need to get out of there, dude. And now that Hazel’s at school, you don’t need to stay behind just for her. I don’t want you getting hurt anymore.

A Few Days Ago

FROM: Percy; Merry Christmas, Nico! Any updates?

Yesterday

FROM: Percy; Can you at least text me back so I know you’re not dead?

Today

TO: Percy; i think i messed up. big time.

Nico would have slept the day away if Hazel hadn’t come to wake him. She burst into his room sometime after noon and jumped on his bed, startling him awake and causing his heart to stop until Nico realized who it was. 

Not Hades. It’s Hazel. It’s okay, I’m safe.

His heart rate spiked for a moment as he realized that he had no idea what his face looked like after taking a few hits the night before, so rather than sitting up, Nico tucked his face into his pillow and dragged his blanket up to his ears. “What do you want?” he groaned.

“I’m only here for another few days,” Hazel reminded him, poking him in the sides in an attempt to get him to move. “What’s the point in hanging around here if you’re just going to sleep all the time?” Hazel flopped on top of her brother. “Spend time with me!”

“Okay, okay!” Nico shouted as he attempted to roll Hazel off of him. “Give me a minute to wake up, would you? I’ll meet you downstairs in a few minutes.”

“Ugh, fine,” Hazel replied. She hopped off the bed and started toward the door, but Nico stopped her before she could reach it.

“Hey, uh… Dad isn’t here, is he?”

“No, he left for work a few hours ago.”

“Did he seem...mad?”

“No.” Hazel leaned back against the closed door and rolled her eyes. “Hungover, but not mad.”

“Okay.” Nico took a breath. “Get out, let me get dressed. I wanna go out for breakfast.”

“I think you mean lunch,” Hazel pointed out. “But as long as you’re buying, I won’t complain!”

Finally, Hazel left the room, closing the door again behind herself, and Nico dragged himself out of bed. He grabbed his phone off the nightstand where he’d left it to charge while he slept, and opened up the camera. His cheeks were slightly pink, though that was probably just from sleep, and he didn’t notice any visible bruises even if he could feel them. His mouth stretched out in a yawn, and his jaw clicked as though realigning from the slaps he’d taken.

He got dressed quickly and went downstairs to find Hazel. “Ready to go?” he asked, and Hazel followed him to the door. “How do you feel about stopping by the store while we’re out? We could get some snacks or something for you to keep in your dorm this semester.”

“I can buy my own snacks,” Hazel told him.

“Fine,” Nico said. He stepped into his shoes and grabbed his keys. “Anything else you need? Shoes, a new coat? Do you have enough money in your bank account? Because I can transfer--”

“I’m good, Neeks,” Hazel told him, shoving at his shoulder as she started out the door. “Besides, if I need anything, I’m barely an hour from home. I can just swing by here when I have time, or you could bring me anything I forgot. Part of the reason I chose this school was because it’s so close to home, you know.”

Nico swallowed around a lump in his throat. “Right. I knew that.”

They stayed out for a while, spending about an hour at the restaurant where Hazel had lunch and Nico had breakfast, then Nico allowed Hazel to drag him around from store to store at the nearest mall. They didn’t end up buying anything, despite how often Nico offered, and returned home just in time to stop Persephone from cooking dinner. Nico took her place in the kitchen and made a meal for three after Persephone told him that Hades was “working late” again that night, which Nico took to mean swung by the bar after work and won’t be home for a few more hours.

Hazel went off to her room to finish up some packing to prepare herself to head back to her dorm, and Persephone insisted that she wash the dishes since Nico cooked. That freed Nico up to bring his laptop down to the living room and work on his writing. He hadn’t started his online college classes until Hazel had, and like her he was between semesters at the moment, but that just gave him more time to do some free writing. It was one of the only things he’d ever felt like he was good at - whether it be academic papers, fictional stories, or articles for his high school’s newspaper - but he still couldn’t decide what exactly he wanted to do. In the meantime, he typically spent his free time writing whatever came to mind - fiction, this time.

He’d gotten himself so caught up in the story he’d written that he hardly even noticed the passing of time. Hazel had come by at some point to spend more time with him, but when he’d been mostly unresponsive, she’d said her goodnight and headed off to bed. He could only guess that Persephone had gone to sleep as well, though he knew for certain that Hades had not yet returned home. Regardless of how zoned out Nico was, it was hard to miss the slamming of the front door and stomping footsteps that signaled his drunken father’s arrival. 

When the front door finally did slam shut, Nico’s blood went cold. He wanted to run for the stairs, but then he would have been in a direct line of sight from the foyer. He knew he wouldn’t be able to hide from Hades forever, anyway. 

“Nico!” Hades shouted, and oh God, he sounded angry. “Niccolo Vincenzo, what happened to my scotch? Nico!”

Nico considered the chances he would be able to run upstairs unheard and barricade his bedroom door. He even thought about calling the cops to finally get Hades caught in the act, but then Hades shouted for him again.

Nico stood, and went to his father. He kept a safe distance between them again, larger than before, but he knew it wouldn’t do much to help. He kept his gaze down and locked the fingers of his right hand around his left wrist, prepared to keep his mouth shut. 

Hades lifted one of the decanters and held it out for Nico to see. “Look at this! Do you see something missing?”

“The scotch,” Nico murmured. 

“Speak up!” 

“The scotch is gone,” Nico tried again, louder this time but maintaining a monotone voice. He squeezed his own wrist. “Are you sure you didn’t drink it all?”

“This bottle was half full last night!” Hades screamed. “I know my limits, and I know I didn’t drink all of it, so tell me what happened!”

Nico dug his fingernails into his skin, but that didn’t stop his next words from spilling out. “I poured it out!” he shouted back, squeezing his eyes shut. “I dumped it all down the drain! It’s gone, and you’re never getting it back!”

He should have kept his eyes open, so he would have seen Hades approaching. He could have watched as Hades adjusted his grip around the neck of the bottle in his hand, and would have had plenty of time to run, but instead his eyes stayed firmly shut until the last moment. After a few moments of no response, Nico looked at his father just as Hades swung the glass bottle, connecting to the side of Nico’s head with a sickening crack!

Nico’s body crumbled to the floor, and Hades stepped over his motionless body on his way to the wine cellar.

Nico’s head was pounding. He didn’t want to open his eyes, because he was almost certain the room was spinning around him. He started to move, pushing his palms against the carpet, but as soon as he lifted his head off the floor, he felt nauseated. He swallowed down the bile rising in his throat and forced himself to stand, immediately feeling woozy and leaning against the wall for support. 

He took a few minutes to breathe through the pain, and reached up to assess the injury to his head. At the slightest brush of his fingers, Nico flinched as the throbbing pain was accompanied by a sudden sting. He took another deep breath against the pain and squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t look at his hand - wouldn’t have been able to see it in the darkness anyway - but he knew that the warm stickiness he felt could only be one thing. He wiped the blood off on the thigh of his jeans.

Nico started moving, though he couldn’t quite see straight. Or maybe he just wasn’t walking straight. “Can’t do anything straight,” he joked to himself, but the vibration of his own voice in his head just exacerbated the pain.

It took much longer than it normally would have to make it up the stairs and down the hall to Hazel’s room. He didn’t bother knocking before he went inside - she wouldn’t be awake to welcome him in anyway - and he’d finally started seeing clearly by the time he was standing over Hazel’s bed, shaking her awake. 

“What?” she mumbled, still mostly asleep. “What’s happening?”

“Hazel, wake up,” Nico demanded. “There’s no time to explain, but you need to finish packing. I’m taking you back to your dorm right now.”

“But...why?” 

“Please, just trust me on this.”

Hazel sat up in her bed and rubbed at her eyes. “Okay, fine. Can you turn the light on?”

“No,” he said without a reason why. After a second, he said, “Dad and Seph can’t know.”

Hazel hesitated.

“Please,” Nico begged. 

Hazel got up. They packed up her things by the light of their phone’s flashlights, and moved her suitcases and other belongings quickly and silently out to Nico’s car - it had been a gift when he graduated high school, whereas Hazel had asked for a trip to Rome, which left her without her own means of transportation. Once they’d loaded the car as full as it could be, they started to drive.

When they pulled onto the highway, Hazel finally said, “Okay, we have time now. Tell me what’s going on.”

Nico tapped his fingers against the steering wheel anxiously. “It’s...hard to explain.”

“Try me.”

He huffed, and tried to give himself time to craft an answer. How could he explain without letting out the truth of his abuse? If Hazel found out he’d been hiding those beatings from her for so long, she might never forgive him. “It’s...Dad’s drinking problem. He normally starts to get better after Christmas, but that didn’t happen this year. I don’t trust him.”

“You just have a bad feeling?” Hazel questioned. “We had to move me out of the house in the middle of the night because you have a bad feeling? Tell me what happened, Nico!” She reached over and flicked him in the ear, causing Nico to flinch and swerve across the center line. Luckily for them, no one else was dumb enough to drive at that time of night, and Nico was able to correct himself immediately, though he still chose to pull the car over onto the shoulder. He took his hands off the steering wheel, watching them shake for a moment before they dropped to his lap and curled into fists as though they would stop the adrenaline from pumping through him. 

He didn’t look up at Hazel, because he knew he wouldn’t like what he would see if he looked in her eyes - concern, anger, fear, probably, or maybe she just thought he was going insane. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he whispered, staring down at his lap.

Something brushed against his hair, and Nico flinched away from the sting that accompanied it once more. “You’re bleeding,” Hazel said softly, as though she hadn’t intended for the words to be spoken aloud, then panic seeped into her words as she continued, “Nico, why is your head bleeding?”

Nico looked up at his sister finally and saw everything he expected to see in her eyes, except...there was something else there, too. Sadness, maybe, almost like grief. There was enough grief in this family as it was, and Nico didn’t need to add to it. He glanced out the window and realized he’d stopped under the orange glow of a streetlight. If he’d just kept driving, he could have kept this hidden just a little while longer.

“I don’t want to talk--”

“No!” Hazel shouted, and Nico felt himself curling inward. “You’re bleeding from your head! You could have a concussion or something! You shouldn’t even be driving right now! If this is why we had to leave, then you will tell me! Who did this to you?”

“Hades!” Nico screamed back at her. “Hades did it! He came home drunk, again, and he yelled, and he… He hit me.”

“He couldn’t have possibly drawn blood with his bare hand--”

“No.” His voice had quieted down once more, and he could no longer find it within himself to look at Hazel, so he stared at the glowing lights of his dashboard. He would need to get gas, soon. “With a bottle. A glass bottle.”

A moment of silence passed as Hazel processed the words. As she struggled to pull her phone out of her pocket, she announced, “I’m calling the police.”

“No!” Nico lunged for the phone and ripped it out of her hands. “You can’t do that, because if he finds out-- I can’t let him hurt you, Hazel, I have to protect you, like I should have protected Bianca--” Nico buried his face in his hands, wishing he could claw through his skin, into his brain, just to stop his thoughts from swimming. “Oh God, he was right, it should’ve been me. Bianca would have protected you better than I ever could. He wouldn’t even miss me, so he wouldn’t be like this in the first place. God, this is all my fault.”

Suddenly, the door to his left was ripped open, and he was pulled from the car. When had Hazel gotten out? Had he even buckled his seatbelt in the first place? Why was Hazel wrapping her arms around him, pulling him close and squeezing? Didn’t she know he killed their sister?

“It’s not your fault,” Hazel sobbed into his chest. “None of this is your fault!” She snaked her arms up to grab Nico’s face, careful not to move her fingers too close to his injury, and she forced him to look at her. “Say it. Say the words, it’s not my fault.”

“But… if I hadn’t--”

“No! Say it’s not your fault.”

“It’s… It’s not my fault.”

“What isn’t your fault?”

Nico tensed. How was he supposed to answer that if Hazel didn’t tell him what to say? How was he supposed to know what would appease her? What if he answered wrong? “I… I didn’t kill Bianca.”

Something akin to horror shone in Hazel’s eyes, and Nico feared for a moment that he’d answered wrong, but rather than running, Hazel just hugged him once more. “Why didn’t you ever talk to me about this? I love you, Nico, I would have tried to help.”

“I had to protect you.”

“We could have protected each other.”

It took a bit of arguing to get Nico back in the car. Hazel insisted on driving, considering both Nico’s physical and emotional state, but Nico refused to get in the passenger’s seat. “I’m fine,” he lied, over and over again, until Hazel got in the car and threatened to drive off without him.

They arrived at Hazel’s dorm building just as the sun started to peek over the horizon, and got to work moving her belongings into the dorm. Her roommate was still gone for the holidays, so they didn’t have to worry about bothering anybody as they came in and out. It hardly took more than half an hour to get everything settled, but Hazel was reluctant to let her brother leave.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” she asked, hugging Nico tight.

“I’ll be fine.” Gently, he removed her arms from around him and put a bit of distance between them before he said, “Listen, Hazel. I need you to promise me something. Don’t go back there, ever again.”

“But what about the rest of my stuff? Everything that didn’t fit in your car?” 

“I can move it into a storage unit, if you want, or I can bring it all here in a few hours.”

“And what about you? You’re not staying there, are you?”

Nico shook his head. “I’ve been talking to Percy. He said I can crash on his couch for a while before I figure things out.”

“You’re going to New York?”

“Yeah. And as soon as you graduate, I want you to move out there with me. I want you to be as far away from here as possible, and I don’t want to worry about what you’ll do if you have no other option than to go back ho-- Back to Hades.”

“What about Seph?”

Nico hung his head. “I can’t think of everything, Hazel.”

“But if Dad’s drinking is just going to keep getting worse, we can’t just leave her with him, can we?”

“She’s an adult, just like us. She can leave him, too, if that’s what she decides, but I don’t have any say in what she does.”

Hazel frowned. “But you have a say in what I do.”

Nico scrubbed his hands over his face. “No, that’s not what I meant, and you know that. I’m just trying to--”

“Protect me, I know, I know.”

“Look, until we know who’s side she’s on, I don’t want you talking to Seph, okay?” Nico instructed. “If there’s an emergency, call me first, and if it’s… I don’t know, urgent, call Seph only as a last resort. I don’t want anything getting back to Hades. We need to cut him out completely.” Hazel looked like she was about to argue, but Nico jumped back in again. “I know this is a lot for you right now, so out of the blue, but I need you to trust me on this. I know that… That I don’t seem all that stable right now, but I think we both know why that is, so I just need you to be on my side here. Please.”

“But...for the rest of our lives? They’re the only parents we have! I mean, what if something horrible happens that we need to know about? Or like… I’m going to get married someday. I always thought I’d have at least one parent at my wedding, and now with my mom gone… He’s the only family you and I have left, Neeks.”

“We have each other.”

“You know what I mean. People can change. Make a deal with me, okay? In a year, we call him, and if nothing’s changed, then… I’ll reconsider cutting him out for good.”

“Hazel--”

“When I get engaged, then.”

“He’s not going to--”

“Don’t you want Seph to know when you get married?”

“When I said ‘cut them out,’ I meant cut them out! I’m trying to--”

“Frank can protect me!” Hazel interrupted, not wanting to hear Nico repeating himself again. “And Frank and I can protect you, too! I’m not just going to give this up, Nico, so level with me here. When Frank and I get engaged, I’m telling Seph. I want you to be there with me.”

Nico grit his teeth, and one hand circled his other wrist. “When we’re both engaged,” Nico tried.

“What are the chances that we’ll both end up engaged at the same time? You’re not even seeing anybody, Nico, that’s practically impossible.”

“That’s my offer. We come back when we’re both engaged - or married, whatever - and we come together. Not any other time. Do we have a deal?”

Hazel didn’t look happy, but she sighed and nodded. “Yeah, deal.”

Nico sneaked back into the house. He had no way of knowing if Hades or Persephone were home, and he wanted to get in and out as soon as possible, preferably without being seen. He glanced toward Hades’s office as he crept past it, ensuring that his father wasn’t inside, though with his focus drawn away, Nico didn’t notice Persephone standing in the hall directly in front of him, and he walked straight into her.

“Nico?” she said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you up and about so early. Were you… sneaking back inside after doing something you shouldn’t?”

“I didn’t-- I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Nico tried to deflect, and looked away from her. He could see the stairs, and wondered if Persephone would be able to stop him if he made a run for it.

She gasped, and took Nico’s head in her hands, tilting it to better look at the wound just above his ear. “Nico, you’re bleeding! If you took after your father more I’d guess you’re just coming home from a bar brawl, but you’re not old enough to get into the bars… Honey, what happened?”

He considered the possibility of taking a shower before he left - it would probably stop others from noticing his injury - but he didn’t have the time. “I don’t-- I can’t tell you...here.”

Nico allowed Persephone to follow him up to his bedroom, the only place in that house where he could truly feel safe, and Nico told her everything. More than he’d told Hazel; he told her that Hades had been abusing him for years, physically and verbally, and finally that he’d knocked him unconscious the night before. He let slip that he’d moved Hazel back to her dorm and gave her strict instructions not to contact Hades or Persephone, or to come back to the house ever again. 

“I’m leaving, too,” Nico told her, maintaining the monotonous voice he’d used throughout his speech. 

Persephone, on the other hand, had been in tears from the beginning. “When?”

“As soon as I’m packed. Don’t try to stop me, either, because it’s too late. There’s nothing you can do.”

Persephone pulled Nico to her and kissed the top of his head. “I’m so sorry, Nico. If I had known… But I understand. Wherever you end up, please, somehow, let me know you’re safe. I promise, I won’t bother you after that.” She squeezed him tight for just a moment, then released him. “If you ever change your mind, I’ll be here for you.”

He was packed and ready to leave by noon, but he had one last thing to do before he left. He stepped into Bianca’s bedroom, which hadn’t been touched since the day she died - aside from the occasional dusting, or when Nico or Hazel had sneaked in to borrow from Bianca’s closet. He took a lap around the room, as if to say goodbye.

There was a small box sitting on her desk, tucked into the corner and covered in a layer of dust - clearly the room wasn’t being cleaned as well as they thought. Nico picked up the box. It would hardly be missed, and it could easily be slipped into Nico’s backpack. He opened the lid and looked inside - there were a few pairs of earrings, a necklace with a tangled chain, and a single silver ring. 

He remembered the day Bianca had given it to him, and the day he’d given it back - the day of her funeral, when he’d set it on her pillow after they’d returned home from the cemetery. Someone must have moved it, and Nico was for once grateful that someone had disturbed this room. 

He slid the ring on his finger, and took the box. 

Nico went out to his car, and didn’t see Persephone before he left.

As soon as he was on the road, he called Percy.

“Nico?” he answered right away. “What’s up, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m alright,” he replied. “I’m on my way over.”

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[the-blind-assassin-12]

Nicky's cousin is getting married, and you need a dress! Is my badass boy any help in the mall?

Plus One 

A/N: this one was really fun to write. like, just imagine Nick covered in glitter, first of all, because that’s enough to make me giggle any old time. So this is not associated with Made Man. It’s a standalone piece. Is Nicky any help in the mall? We shall see. 

Word Count: 1,547

Nick opened the heavy, ornate envelope, already knowing full and well what was inside. His cousins could hardly shut up about the upcoming event at family dinner last Sunday, the girls all clustered around one end of the table with his aunts and Nonna, clucking like hens about dresses and favors, decorations, desserts and floral arrangements. Gold glitter fell freely as he pulled out the lace embellished invitation and response card, covering his hands and his jeans, sticking to the table top and falling to the floor. Goddamn it, Adriana, gonna be covered in this shit for months now . He tried fruitlessly to wipe his hands clean on his tee shirt, only resulting in giving the black fabric a golden shine. Just like Mariella’s. Can these girls do anything without glitter? Clicking his tongue and shaking his head, he read the scrawling script on the elaborate announcement.  

You are cordially invited to the wedding of the year. Given by Mr. & Mrs. Christiano Tortano as their daughter Adriana Tortano weds Michael DelAngelo, son of Mr. & Mrs. Vincenzo DelAngelo, on the fourteenth day of August in the year two thousand and nineteen. The ceremony is to be held at St. Gabriella’s Cathedral at two o’clock in the afternoon, reception at the Venetian Manor to follow. 

Blah, blah, blah. Nick dropped the glitter coated page on top of the envelope and looked at the response card. There were little lines next to “declines with regret” and “accepts with pleasure” for him to denote his attendance, and he laughed to himself thinking about how quickly he’d gain black sheep status if he didn’t show. I’d regret it for the rest of my life if I declined, he mused, imagining his grandmother’s rant, half in English, half in Italian and full of swear words. What caught his eye though, wasn’t the extravagance of the decorative paper or the over abundance of gold glitter, but the line above the decline/accept portion that read: Mr. Niccolo Tortano & Guest.

Huh. He hadn’t thought about getting a plus one to his cousin’s wedding. Nick had had girlfriends for his last two family affairs, and so it had just been a given that they would attend as his date. But it had been a few months since he’d parted ways with Catherine Zerillo, and he hadn’t found another place holder just yet. 

In truth, he hadn’t been looking for one. Word on the street was that you were finally through with that punk Bobby Scrabonia, and he could finally ask you out. Nick had a thing for you- had for a while now, ever since your family moved in next door to his father. You'd talk from time to time and it didn’t take long for him to know he liked you; you were funny and smart and he thought it was cute when you rolled your eyes, which you did often. But one or both of you were always seeing someone and he wasn’t about to go after another guy’s girl. Not even a dumb punk like Bobby. 

But now that you were single and he was too, he found himself wondering why it had taken an overly glittered piece of paper to realize he should ask you out. A wedding as a first date though? That’s somethin’. Before he could talk himself out of it, he imagined what you’d look like all dolled up and there with him, how you’d smile as he twirled you recklessly on the dance floor… how it would feel to spin you back into his arms and finally hold you close. 

He called you the next day to try his luck, greeting you by name when you answered. “Hey, hi, it’s Nick. Tortano.” 

You laughed as his words fell quickly over one another. “Hi Nicky, how’s it going?” 

“Good, real good, listen I called to uh… ask a favor.” 

“Oh yeah?” Nick heard a rustling sound and imagined you switching the phone to your opposite ear, swinging your hair over your shoulder. “You don’t seem like the kinda guy asks a lotta favors, must be serious.” He could see the look of mock severity in the set of your eyebrows and the quirks of your lips. 

“Ha. It uh, well, it kinda is, yeah.” He ran a hand through his hair, his own mouth curving into a smile that he couldn’t stop if he tried. “You know my cousin Adriana’s gettin’ married, yeah?” 

“Ha! Yeah, Nick, I might have heard something about that.” Your eye roll was a sure thing here- you worked with Adriana and Nick was sure that she hadn’t stopped talking about her wedding since Michael put that chunk of diamonds on her finger. 

“Yeah, well, I uh...I wanted to see if you’d wanna go. With me.” 

There was a pause before you spoke and he held his breath. “Nick. I... “ you laughed. Was that a nervous laugh? She wants to say yes. He let the breath back out. 

“It doesn’t have to be like-”

“Nick I don’t have anything to wear to-” 

You spoke over one another.  “Nothin’ to wear? Whaddyou mean nothin’ to wear? You always look...you always look nice.” Nice was an understatement. You always looked gorgeous to him. 

“Not to something like Adriana’s wedding, Nick, haven’t you heard?” You put on a fake accent- he wasn’t sure if you were trying to sound French or British...or whatever else…as you said ”It’s the event of the year!” Again he felt that involuntary smile climb his face. 

“A dress? That’s all you’re worried about? Don’t worry about a dress, just say yes.” 

“Come on, Nick, what do you mean don’t worry about a dress? I can’t show up at The Venetian Manor in...well, in anything I own.” 

“Alright, fine.” Nick put his hands up as though you were there in front of him and could read his nonchalant gesture. “Fine, I guess you can’t come to the ball if you don’t got a dress, right Princess?” 

“Not a princess, Nicky, just your dad’s neighbor’s daughter.” 

“Yeah...yeah, alright well, I’ll uh, I’ll let you go then, just... okay. I’ll see you soon, okay?” You ended the phone call and he already knew what he was going to do. 

.  . .  . . .  . . . .

Two days later, he got a text from Vito- Her car��s outside. He’d asked his brother to let him know when you’d be visiting with your family, and he was ready, grabbing the bag that he’d picked up immediately after your phone call, and heading the 5 or so blocks over to his father’s neighborhood. She can’t say no now. 

Nick stood on your mother’s doorstep, bag in one hand and the other raised to knock on the outer edges of the screen door. The barking of your sister’s teacup yorkie followed by shouts of “Shut up, Pinkie!”, Opera music and the unmistakable smell of Sunday Gravy wafting out from the kitchen, and finally your footsteps coming down the steps. He licked his lips and smiled as he saw your socked feet descend the staircase, followed by your legs, hips, and finally your face, hair piled messily on top of your head and a shocked expression on your face. “Nick?” You spoke his name through the screen before you even opened the door, a smirk pulling up one cheek as you reached for the door handle. “What are you doing here, Tortano?”

“Hey, nice ta see you too, Princess. I thought I’d ask you one more time if you wanna be my date for Adriana’s wedding.”

You absently smoothed some fly-aways back and let out a breath that was part exasperated sigh, part laugh and what he hoped was part appreciation for his persistence. “What’d I tell ya, huh? I have nothing to wear to the ball, Nicky.” You hadn’t noticed the bag in his hand. 

“That really the only reason you won’t go with me?” You nodded. “Well then,” he set the bag down on the doorstep and pulled out the dress that he’d gone directly to the mall to pick up for you after your phone call. It was black, long enough to hit your knees with a low cut back and high halter top, and he’d asked the girl in the store for help with the size. “How ‘bout now. Will you go with me now?” 

You bit your bottom lip, one hand on your hip, and let out a burst of air. “Nick, did you…” your hand raked over your face before you reached out and touched the chiffon material in his hand. “You really picked this out for me, huh?” 

Nick nodded, dark eyes fixed on you. “Yeah. So now that you have something to wear…” 

You narrowed your eyes before shaking your head, an incredulous smile on your face. “Okay, Nick.” 

“Okay yeah?”

You nodded again. “Okay, yeah, I’ll go with you.” 

“See how easy that was?” His grin flashed like a thousand watt lightbulb. 

“Yeah. Easy.” You shook your head again.

“Alright, well, here you go.” Nick placed the dress back inside the bag and handed it to you. “I’m sure you know when it is and all, Adri’s told you?” he asked facetiously and you laughed. “Alright princess, I’ll see you for the ball.” 

@something-tofightfor @its-my-little-dumpster-fire @suchatinyinfinity @agent-bossypants @lexxierave @songtoyou @thesumofmychoices

[cvertures]

    “it was the end of an age of virtue, and the authorities shuddered as immorality and hedonism intensified. finally, pope sixtus v declared an end to protestantism. visitors swept through italia like a flash flood. their cruelty was boundless, and as time passed transgressors realized there would be no reprieve.       my great-grandmother's great-grandmother's great-grandma ran the kitchen at the cathedral di napoli. her name was francesca. as francesca prepared her famous ragu for the inquisitors, she heard a knock at the cathedral door. niccolo, a handsome cordwainer, begging for sanctuary from the inquisition. knowing this kid faced torture or death, francesca hid niccolo in the pantry. she promised to keep her ragu warm until the local vicar declared the city cleansed.        after three long days, the inquisitors finally left napoli. niccolo survived on the promise and smell of the ragu. they fell in love and vowed to pass on the sauce to their children and their children's children till the end of days.”