#did i mention i love smug fear? lol

[tokibuns]

someone's feeling frisky

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

If humans are good and the Na'vi have no reason to fear them, do you think the Na'vi might suffer from. Like. Cuteness agression?

Like how we are with kittens. Ever seen a video of like a sleepy kitten? Just an eepy kitty? Such a cute little ball of fur that is so cute i want to start putting kicking and punching things. That but w humans

Human: *is tired and takes a nap in the most comfy place they can find*

Unfortunate Na'vi: oh my Eywa theyre so small they're using a leaf as a blanket oh my Eywa

How else can humans be cute?? Hmm

Imagine them w human babies( projecting Spider rn.)

Just holding this tiny, helpless little creature in palm of your hand?? It trying to put your fingers into its mouth? It giggling at something you did? Idk abt yall but i thoroughly enjoy being a babys fav person and the Na'vi would also. No better feeling than a baby preferring you over anyone else.

THIS IS SO FUNNY. I love like, healthy cultural differences but we do need to focus more on humans being literal aliens. The Na'vi are like oH MY GOD SPACE PEOPLE- oh but they're... so small.

Even in a relationship between the two species, there would just be stuff. Like a Na'vi obsessing over how small and cute a humans fingers are, just like making them compare hand sizes all the time and playing with their little fingers lol.

Idk about you guys, but if I know even the slightest thing about a subject I cannot stop myself from interjecting as though I am the worlds foremost expert if someone mentions it. So like a Na'vi has a human mate or something, and introduces them to a Na'vi of another clan that has never met a person. They're like "Wow your hair is brown! I've never seen that!" and the Na'vi mate butts in like "It can actually be any color." Like slightly wrong but so eager to share information lol. What telephone game style rumors would be spread to far reaching clans via the Na'vi lol?

As for the babies, well that's what for the nights and days of life is for. Spider being literally the entire clans fav and Neytiri who is still actively uncomfy with him is still smug about being his favorite.

[pavardscherie]

― what i deserve ;; pablo gavi & pedri gonzalez ;; first snippet

⤷ pairing: pablo gavi x f!reader ;; pedri gonzalez x f!reader ⤷ summary: your relationship with gavi ended after he cheated on you. a year has passed, pedri always checked up on you with small messages until he invited you to one of the home games. somewhere between losing your heart to pedri; gavi still attempts to get you back. ⤷ warnings: curse words ;; injuries ;; mentions of blood ;; hand around throat ;; explicit sex scenes ;; asshole!gavi ;; cheating ;; violence in fights ;; spanking ;; dom & sub ;; dirty talk ;; teasing ;; very deep feelings & conversations ;; slight triangle thing but not most of the time ;; second chances kinda ;; friends to lovers ;; not proofread & probably horrible written kiss scenes lol ⤷ izzy's non-sense talk: a little, first snippet of what's coming, soon soon. my obsession with pedri is becoming unhealthy. loved the responses on the pov, so we're starting this & i really hope, the responses are good lol

Gavi was forced to watch, how Pedri's strong arms engulfed you in a comfortable, and tight hug. Lips pursed, blowing gentle kisses on the crown of your hair. Lips stretched out, a sweet smile appearing on your crimson-red colored mouth.

He never felt anxious around people, being in the middle of a crowd always was a large part of his current occupancy. But he was, as soon as you appeared close, and yet, so out of reach, to him.

Before you stepped into his life again, Gavi didn’t miss an inch of you. And even if it sounded brutal to state speak the truth, as the fame rose around the midfielder, he quietly enjoyed the attention of multiple women more than being bound to one. He was too young, too dumb to even realize what he threw away.

You could be in the middle of the stands, like the past games, wearing a jersey with his name on the back, with his number, and screaming his name so loud and cheerful. Instead, Pedri’s name decorated the Barcelona jersey, and he dedicated each goal to you after the Pedri Potter gesture. A heart in your direction, giving Gavi a reason for the aching pain in his chest afterwards.

It was brutal to see Pedri with you, he wished him the entire happiness of the world — just not with you by his side. You belonged to him first, his property, he marked all the places Pedri touched at night. The thin material of his jersey in one hand, Gavi pulled it up to wipe away the beads of sweat across his face.

And yet, he did not think about the fact that he flashed his trained stomach to the cameras, and the quick glance of your eyes in his direction. Merely seconds to take in the muscular package, before your attention focused completely on Pedri’s gentle touch again. Unfortunately for you, your gaze drifted way too slowly over Gavi’s frame, and he caught the small glance. Lips curled, a smug smirk plastered across his face when he realized, you still felt something, anything, for him.

A little spark must still burn in the pit of stomach, in the far corner of your chest, when he stepped into the room. The cold mask you applied over your sweet face for him didn’t match the genuine personality your carried like featherlight weight on your shoulders.

But Gavi walked out on you way too many times, taking a piece of your love with him each night. You wasted all your tears on him, until they dried quicker than they could fall down your cheeks. Somehow, over the months, it became easier for you to say goodbye to people than greet them in your life. You never wanted to feel this kind of pain again, attempted to lock yourself away from any feeling related to loving someone, because the fear of being pushed into the dirt over again, would be too much for your innocent soul.

Unfortunately, your plans failed ultimately when you accepted the first invitation to the game at Camp Nou. Pedri declined the choice you made, breaking down walls that were created over months, and opening his arms to let you fall again. What a fool you were, to believe, you could avoid Gavi, ignore his presence, or completely forget the feeling that still lingered, locked away, inside of you.

But he broke your heart too often, too careless; and the chance of winning you back slipped away when he walked out the door of your apartment that one night.

Rough fingertips placed underneath your chin, tilting your head upward to connect your unfocused gaze with Pedri's attentive stare. "Am I allowed to kiss you, or do you fear getting called my girlfriend by the newspapers?" The question was a gentle whisper, not just asking for your permission but also, the desire of wanting to know your deeper thoughts about what happened between the two of you.

Declining the gesture, the addictive taste of his pillow-like lips; would cause an unwanted amount of friction; and new questions in Pedri's head about what your honest intentions with him were. Accepting the kiss without sharing a doubt would put a title over your person, giving the confused fans and reporters exactly what they wanted for another headline about the popular midfielder.

It would cause Gavi at least a slight amount of pain, a piercing pain in his chest while witnessing the loving interaction between his best friend, and the woman he refused to keep by his side.

And somehow, the last thought of fucking up Gavi's confidence, his unchanging opinion about getting you back without doing anything, gave you enough confidence to stand on your tip-toes, lipstick-covered lips pressed against Pedri's. His arm draped over your shoulders, pulling you into his chest within the first second and gently kissing you back.

The fans that stayed behind for the celebration, hoping to capture the attention of one of the younger players, shared their opinions with loud screams and cheers. Words flew through the warm evening air but never reached your ears. The camera's around the pitch clicked, taking multiple pictures with flashlights to capture the perfect moment of the surprising action.

All over the newspapers, where you never wanted to read your name or see your face. Yet, you felt a warm, comforting feeling bubble in your stomach as Pedri pulled you as close as possible.

[riddle-me-ri]

Ok, here's another one. Zero Year, Arkham, BTAS Riddler

He is having a conversation with Reader, who he isn't on friendly terms with, and third Rogue. Rogue wanting to point something out says.

"It doesn't work! It's like asking Y/N if she would sleep with you"

"Eh." Y/N said.

"Excuse me?"

"Just because I hate his guts doesn't mean he doesn't have a pretty face."

A/N: hahaha this is brilliant! I hope you don't mind I took some liberties in the wording of the conversations but I hopw the idea still reads rip. This was such a fun exercise to write other Rogues! Thanks for requesting! Also N/N is nickname since Harley loves to give people nicknames ❤🖤 Also this is untitled cause I wasn't sure what to title these scenarios lol

Trigger Warnings: Suggestive themes and strong language

Zero Year/Capullo Riddler:

“You really don’t perceive me as a threat? The man that brought Gotham City to its knees?” Ed argued.

“Well, Gotham doesn’t really have the best legs to stand on…” Joker quips back. 

You roll your eyes, it’s never-ending feud between these two.

You just had to be stuck in an Arkham padded cell. Between the both of them. You weren’t even insane, they were just overpopulated at Blackgate, but if they didn’t get you out you were going to become insane eventually.

“Y/N, tell that absolute clown-”

“Hey don’t forget handsome!” 

Edward growls in frustration. “Tell him how I’m Batman’s superior foe. How I threw Batman into hiding! How I ran this city for months!”

Joker laughs. “You’ve gotta better chance convincing her to fuck you Eddie boy.” 

“Eh..well..”

“Huh?” Both men rushed towards the wall that separated them from you.

“Please tell me you’re joking…” You hear Joker mutter. 

“I mean…Don’t get me wrong he’s a smug pompous asshole…

Unknowingly, Edward and Joker both shrug and nod. The one thing they could agree on. Well that and Batman. 

“...but he is a cute pompous asshole. Not to mention his face is totally sit-able.”

For one rare moment the Joker was actually speechless for a minute. He laments, “please tell me your joking…”

“I’m afraid she’s dead serious, my friend. As she should be. Once I no doubt escape before the clown…I’d like to take you up on that offer…”

Arkhamverse Riddler: 

“Edward, it’s not going to work.”

“Oh please, what do you know, Crane? Only someone of my parallel intellectual prowess can see the immaculate results it will produce."

Crane blinks and rubs his temples. "Edward, how is building a race course full of obstacles going to prove you're more intelligent than Batman?"

"It calls for quick thinking! He can't possibly predict every twist and turn. The moment he thinks he's solved a puzzle, another one comes right up before a moment's notice! Only a cunning genius of my caliber can pull this off." 

"I'm afraid it'll be like you trying to court Y/N to bed. It's just not going to work.."

"Ah..well…" you interject.

The two men look away from Ed's blueprints on the table to steal a glance at you. You were steadily scrolling through your phone, not lifting your head once.

"W-What was that?" Johnathan inquiries not sure if he heard right. 

You look up to the master of fear and shrug your shoulders. "I mean yeah he's a greasy egomaniac, but he is handsome in a dirty rugged kinda way." 

Johnathan blinks as if still trying to compute this new development. He looks over to Edward who has gone uncharacteristically quiet. 

Edward's face was a deep shade of red and his eyes were as wide as saucers. Riddler.exe has stopped working, good luck trying to reboot. 

BTAS Riddler: 

"Harley, hitting the toy with a mallet won't help you solve it…"

"Sure it can! It fixed all my other problems!" Harley wounds back with her signature mallet. Before she can strike the puzzle toy, Edward snatches it out of the mallet's path.

"Harley..that's cheating…"

"C'mon, Eddie! I've already tried everything! It's like Y/N sleeping with you! It's impossible!"

"Well not…impossible…" You mutter.

"Did I hear that right, N/N? You'd sleep with Ed?!"

"I mean yeah he's an obnoxious know-it-all, but he's so adorable!"  

Harley fake hurls at your admission. 

Meanwhile Ed is walking away, lowering his hat to try and hide his reddening face from the both of you.

[iamlittlelostsoul]

Love can hurt sometimes...

yey! am finally finishing all your req!!! although this sorta ended up sorta like a collab between the two of us. Thank youuuu @whatevermywpis >< for giving me this idea and helping me write this Xddd

I hope you along with everyone else enjoy it!!!<33 I'm so sorry for not updating for so long school had me on a noose xdd but i'm free now for a whilee :DD

not me recycling my malleyuu drafts that's been rotting for ages lol xdd

Pairing: Silver x gn!cursed!reader

Theme: Romance and Angst

Overview: "shush, now love....I know I know but I can't help it. I love you and I can't give it up even if it costs my life. Aw, please don't cry smile for me just one last time...please?"

______________________________________________________________

Silver has heard tons about you from their dorm leader Malleus

It all started with Malleus finding out and meeting with a person that actually lives in the cold abandoned Ramshackle dorm.

Then he goes missing and comes back with the brightest grin on his face as he talks about the things he did with his newfound friend.

It was an adorable sight how Malleus was over the moon talking about his human friend to Lilia, Sebek, and himself. And to Malleus love and excitement he decided to introduce them to his new human friend he's been talking about.

And you were exactly how he imagined from the fae prince's stories.

"Hello, I'm [Mc]! It's really nice to meet you all" they cheerily greet them with a polite bow.

Surprisingly he managed to stay awake the whole time and somewhat and someway you two became closer and you were patient enough to not get mad at him whenever he randomly falls asleep, you'd even go so far and let him sleep on your lap.

Which deepens and strengthens the bonds you two share.

You two have been meeting up often, helping in school tasks, events, or simply just dining together of course you two still include Malleus and the other two. And Malleus is pretty happy that his friend's been getting along with his two retainers and Lilia.

Lilia's been giving him weird looks not the bad kind whenever he was to be with you alone or with the others. He believes Lilia and sometimes Malleus's been scheming something as they hang out with you they'd often excuse themselves yet leave him behind with you....not that he minded it though.

You were nice and sweet and a very fun person to hang out with, you were patient and knowledgeable even when you happen to not belong from their world you seemed to fit in naturally.

Time and time again he always felt so different when he's with you. No it's definitely not the bad kind! It's more nice and comfortable probably something more than just friends.

"You like them." Lilia says with a smug grin interrupting his thoughts.

"I do" Silver says unhesitantly.

"No no romantically~" Lilia says in a rather teasing tone.

"I do?" Silver says cocking his head to the side he's not sure if this is a question to himself or to Lilia...but a part of him sorta knew he does like them. No- he loves them. He always did and now that he realizes it he can't stop the red hues spreading across his cheeks which earned a small chuckle from Lilia.

His heart beats aloud. Ever since Lilia mentioned it, ever since he realized his true feelings. His heart kept pounding so hard that he kinda fears you can hear it every time you and he hangs out.

Lilia and Malleus has been pushing him to go confess. And they've been doing everything necessary to console him that they definitely like him back too. They've even helped set up a date so he could confess his feelings to the [girl/boy] he likes.

The only issue is he couldn't somehow muster his courage to confess much to Lilia and Malleus annoyance (they're not mad just a lil stressed they're playing the long game).

Several times passed by and he finally somehow gained courage in doing so after a long sermon from Sebek on how he's stressing out Malleus-sama yada yada yada.

It was past Midnight and they met up by the garden behind Ramshackle dorm. Their usual hangout place.

"Silver hey!! How's your day been?" They gingerly asks him.

Silver smiled at the sight. He could barely see them and he can't help but be a lil mesmerized at the sight of his beloved laying flat on the grass their face leaning to the side covering half of their face as they remain staring at the fireflies dancing on a row of Dasies, the light from the fireflies and moonlight illuminating their figure and he felt as if he fell for them once again. "Oh...same as usual" he chuckles as he sat beside them.

They stayed like that for several minutes, silent although not awkward but rather comforting.

"Soo...I would like to tell you something" they both spoke in unison startling them and made them chuckle.

"You go first" They said.

"No No you first!" Silver says back.

"Ehh?? No you first!"

They sat there in silence for a moment before Silver takes a deep breath and broke the silence

"So..."

"So?"

"I...have something to confess"

"go on" they urged him.

"I like...no love you" he confesses.

"..."

"..."

"It's ok if you don't like me back...I just wanted to get this off my chest" he says as he watches their features get a lil startled.

"No no! Silver....I...love you too." they said covering their face as it gets a tint of red but something in their eyes shows a hint of sadness.

"You don't have to force yourself to like me." he mutters.

"No no!! It's complicated...I do love you...it's just that..." *they take a sharp breath. "I'm cursed..."

Silver took a moment to process their words. "You're...cursed?" he repeats as his eyes widens and his mouth went hanging open.

They nod as they sat up and face him.

"...How heavy is it? Maybe we could find a cure, I'm sure Malleus-sama and fath-err Lilia-sama is willing to help." He says his eyebrows creasing as he looked at them filled with worry. He felt a tightness in his chest as he awaits for them to answer his question...on the back of his mind he could already tell where this is going.

"I don't really recall when or where I got it...but it's definitely not here in NRC or the day I arrived here. But umm...It can't be cured.."

"It...can't?"

They nods. " It can't..."

"B-...but...don't say that! I'm sure we'll find something! There's a plenty of books and spells here i'm sure one of them will be the cure."

"It can't....that to make it simpler I'm sorta allergic to magic..." they said as they looked away placed a handkerchief on their cheek and wipes away some concealer revealing some dark heavy cracks like tattoed on their skin. He could already tell it's covering them from head to toe with how heavy it looks.

Silver stares...he couldn't muster a word...Allergic to magic?...what how?...but-....

"yeah...i'm sorry. It's none of your fault, I promise. I love hanging out with you and everybody else Malleus, Lilia, Sebek, Ace and Deuce and all of them!" They said.

Silver could tell they were trying to keep a brave face for him...and it hurts...he should have said it sooner...he should have done more with them...he should have notice something was wrong and found a cure immediately...but it's all too late. He couldn't utter a word...his face remain stiff and his heart felt as if it's being squeezed the life out of it.

'It hurts' he thought. 'They must be hurting really badly and I couldn't do a thing' he thought once more as he unclenches and clenches his fist his head hanging low and thank seven he is sitting down if not he might have stumbled and fell.

"Don't be down Silver...I really don't blame any of you..Not you, Malleus, our friends who overblotted, or anyone else. It's my choice to remain close with you guys...I love hanging out with you all and most especially I love you." They said as they cup his cheeks, their eyes gets watery and it wavers as it stares at his.

"I don't want you gone..."

"I don't wanna leave either"

"How long....how longer do you think you'll last" he managed to say his chest felt so stuffy and it's so hard to breath but he tries...he tries so hard to keep a straight face to not worry them and hurt them further.

"...not so longer than several more minutes" they hesitantly said as they leaned their head on his chest.

They stayed silent for a while with Silver hugging them in his arms, his head hanging low on their shoulder nuzzled on their neck.

"Will you kiss me?" They said their hand digging on his silvery locks.

"Yes" He answers back with no hesitation as he leans away for a bit and stares at their eyes longingly.

He presses his lips on theirs, he felt them gasp their body stiffen for a moment before relaxing. They kiss and it felt like time stopped and everything around them disappears. Silver watches them as their eyes flutter shut as their body shivers with delight as he deepens the kiss.

It felt as if it was just the two of them their fingers laced together while his other hand wrapped around their waist and theirs on the back of his head pulling him closer desperately as if their life depends on him. If only it was then maybe they would have lived longer.

The kiss lasted for about a minute...before he felt their body go cold and the hand holding onto him goes limp.

He kisses them back awaiting for their response. None.

He kisses them again and squeezes their hand pulling them closer, yet they didn't answer back.

Ah, it looks like he can't keep his poker face on anymore. Tears gently falling as he held their corpses that slowly turns into dust, no more was the person he fell in love with. No more was their laughter, their playful bantering, their voice... it so quiet now.

"It feels so simple... loving you, always..."

"It feels so painful... I hate it so much."

Love is such a lovely thing...so mysterious, so sudden...but sadly not all love ends with a happy ending...it can really really hurt sometimes....

[emiewritesthings]

spiderman ☆ jay halstead

summary: in which y/n has a fear of spiders and jay is always her first call 

warnings: language, violence against spiders (rip lol)

“Pick up, pick up, pick up.” Y/n chanted to herself as the phone against her ear rang in search of a connection to the other line. Admittedly, her hands were shaking and each breath felt like a million tiny daggers poking in her lungs, as her eyes stared at the closed bathroom door.

“Y/n?” Jay’s voice finally shot through the ringing in her ears, and a relief filled sigh left her lips. Her want to jump for joy was ignored as she remembered that she was not on the floor right now, and in grave danger of injuring herself if she lost her balance. “What happened to ‘I’m never talking to you again, Jay Halstead’?” The man’s smirk was audible to the woman that couldn’t see his smug face, and as much as she wanted to check him for it, she also wanted his help and therefore needed to appease him with some kindness.

The words he’d reference had been spoken a couple days prior when the younger woman had a few too many and upon walking her home, Jay had refused her the opportunity to get a kebab. Although Y/n’s memory was a little pathy due to being the tester of Molly’s new cocktail menu, she did remember violently crying and declaring her hatred for the man that was keeping her drunk self away from her one true love.

“Ah, well, that was before satan decided to crawl into my fucking house.” She screeched as she thought about the beast she had encountered just moments before she’d ran into the bathroom following the release of a hearty scream. She had half expected her neighbours to come check if she was okay, or even ring the police considering the noise that echoed around her small apartment. But any such action was yet to be taken, as far as Y/n was aware.

“Satan, huh?” Jay looked over at Hailey who was driving silently, only being able to hear Jay’s side of the conversation, much to her dismay. The blonde didn’t fully understand the male detective’s knowing look, not having half the relationship Jay shared with the firefighter, but knew that the ‘satan’ in question wasn’t the red horned pitchfork sporting kind.

“Don’t fuck with me right now, Halstead. I am still recovering from witnessing it scuttle under my sofa.” She breathed out a rugged breath, wiping the back of her hand against her forehead where beads of fear spawned on her skin. Jay had to hold back his laughter, knowing that the woman on the other end of the line would undoubtedly get annoyed and hang up.

“So this Satan in question,” Jay swallowed his smile as he turned on the speaker, allowing Hailey a front row seat to the ever humorous Y/n y/l/n show. “Is it spider?” Snapping her head off the road for a second, Hailey mouthed ‘seriously?’ silently, cracking up so bad that Jay had to mute the call for a moment to stop her struggles to contain said amusement from floating down into Y/n’s ears.

“A spider the size of godzilla!” Y/n bit back, already not liking that Jay wasn’t taking her very real problem unseriously. Just at the mention of the culprit had her underarms sweating and a shiver slicing its way down her spine. The flashback made her try to take a step back, which in her current circumstance had her letting a string of curse words flow off her tongue as she grabbed onto the wall, preventing her fall. Hearing the commotion, Jay unmuted the call.

“Where are you right now?” Jay asked, knowing that from the way her voice sounded she certainly wasn’t lulling on her couch or even lounging on her bed. No, she sounded… echoey?

“Hiding in the bathroom, where else would I be?” She shrugged off the question in a whisper, as if the sound of the voice may lure the creature towards her safe haven and attack her. Which to a rational person was ridiculous, but to Y/n a growing fear. “I’m standing on the edge of the bath, just in case it gets under the door, you know?” Jay didn’t know, but imagining the beautiful young woman balancing up high scouring any slight movement lightened his mood considerably.

“How are you trusted to fight fires if you are scared of a mesley spider?” Jay snorted, knowing the horror stories of the disasters Y/n had quite literally ran into as part of her profession, and yet the thought of being face to face with a harmless eight legged insect kicked in her flight instinct?

“I do not need your sass right now, Jay. I need you to bring your gun.” She insisted with a stern tone, which soon softened upon requesting his services. “You think you could come get it for me?” She pleaded and Jay instantly could imagine her eyes large and doe like, a look that resembled the call of a siren, only at least the latter led a sailor to death, the former on the other hand just tortured him every living moment. Letting out a sigh in thought - though both of them knew ther

“If I show up and it’s just a bit of fluff again-.” Jay started, reminding them both of the time that the woman had called for help in the early hours of the morning, for the man to drive thirty minutes to find it was indeed just a black piece of fluff from her sock. Y/n cringed at the memory and the embarrassment she had felt towards the man that - at the time - she hadn’t known that long.

“You won’t, I promise.” The man knew she was crossing her heart - even if he couldn’t see it. Looking towards Hailey who just nodded, confirming she was fine making a diversion, Jay agreed reluctantly.

“I won’t be there for another twenty minutes.” Y/n let out a squeal of joy at her knight in shining armour, her arms wanting to wrap around his body and squeeze him had he been there and not somewhere else in the city. The sounds were infectious, both detectives sat in the moving black truck unable to stop their lips tipping at the sweet sounds,

“You are the best, thank you, thank you, thank you!” Saying their goodbyes and once again ensuring that he wouldn’t be long, Jay hung up the phone and relaxed into his seat. However, he was forced to take a break when he felt Hailey glancing between him and the road. Frowning, he met her gaze and instantly groaned at the look that rested there.

“Don’t you dare.” Hailey shook her head with a wide grin, as Jay turned to look out the window - internally grateful for the spider in Y/n’s apartment that had given him the perfect excuse to see her.

–

“Y/n?” Jay called from the doorway once the key - which Y/n had gifted to him once when he was plant sitting and never asked for back - had unlocked her front door. Jay’s eyes widened at the mess her living room was in, the coffee table flipped and the sofa on its side, signally Y/n’s messy escape.

Shaking his head in amusement, he stepped over a stray pillow, and headed straight towards the closed bathroom door. Approaching, he could hear her humming to herself, clearly having become seriously bored and in desperate need of some form of entertainment.

Bringing his fist up to the white chipping paint that coated the wood, he let his knuckles rasp against it a couple times, observing as the noise stopped and an ominous silence followed.

“Who is it?”

“It’s the spider coming to kill you, thought I’d knock to be polite,” Y/n rolled her eyes immediately, instantly moving to unlock the door and pull it open just a crack for her left eye to peer through.

“Real funny.” She scoffed, though internally she was glowing at her rescuer finally arriving to get her out of the miniature bathroom that definitely was running out of oxygen. Moving closer and leaning down so he was closer to the eye staring at him, Jay just grinned.

“Almost as funny as you locking the door to keep a spider out.” Staring at one another - well sort of - for a moment, Y/n wanted to argue her reasoning and maybe if she had one she would have, but alas she let it go. Grumbling to herself, she dropped the matter and moved on to the more pressing one.

“Did you get it yet? Did you kill it?” She begged, voice wavering to a point that Jay began feeling sorry for her. Sure, the whole Y/n and her eight legged kryptonite had been a running joke for many years - and a very funny one at that - he had become increasingly aware that for her there was no humour in the matter. It was a fear, a phobia, something that made her blood run cold and skin sweat. The feeling of being in danger was one like no other, and Jay would never ever wish that upon anyone especially not a woman like Y/n Y/l/n.

“Not yet,” Her sigh was deep, going to say something but Jay continued. “Thought it would be good for you to help me get rid of it. Exposure therapy or whatever.” The suggestion - to Y/n - was absurd. Instantly she had disappeared from the small space between the doorframe and the door itself as she backed up into the bathroom repeating ‘no, no, no, no’ over and over. Jay recognised the panic in her voice and began to think suggesting the idea was a mistake.

“I can’t, I just-” Y/n shivered. “I can’t.”

“You can,” Jay assured shortly, wanting to compel through his words that he had all the faith in the world in her. Sure, he’d be lying if he said he didn’t like that she always turned to him when one of the bastards was causing havoc around her place. He liked that she saw him as the saviour, as the one person that she could turn to and trust even on a matter such as spider catching. It made his insides glow, a sensation he’d become addicted to, but equally seeing her not almost fall deep into a pit of anxiety at the mere mention of a spider served him much better. “And you will.”

There was silence that followed. Jay didn’t think he could take any more of the guessing, as he pushed the door open further so - for the first time since his arrival - he got a good look at the woman. She was conflicted, that was the first thing he noted. Y/n Y/l/n was all around a confident woman, someone that carried themselves with an aura that made others see them as untouchable. But like anyone else she was still very much human, a being with feelings that for Jay were open to read any time of the day.

Not saying a word, the two exited the bathroom and suddenly the hunt had begun. Y/n grabbed a pillow that Jay had earlier hopped over, and held it protectively in the air, as she glued herself to Jay’s side. Her eyes darted back and forth, back and forth in search of the critter that had to be somewhere in this hell hole.

“Here, spidey spidey.” Jay called with a wide grin, a result of the contact of Y/n’s hand wrapped around his bicep and the humour of the tense environment that had formed. Sending him a quick glare, Y/n’s grip didn’t budge as the two finally approached the last place she had seen their target. Walking around the tipped couch, Jay kicked around a couple pillows and the splayed out throw, but still there was nothing. “Maybe it’s gone.” Jay’s optimism was a rare sight, but it was soon forgotten as Y/n let out a deathly scream.

“Holy fuck!” Releasing Jay, the pillow in her hand smacked down on the floor again and again and again, all whilst a scream of fear vibrated through her mouth. “Not today satan.” Lifting the pillow she clearly wasn’t satisfied by the dead still black dot that was smudged against the pink case of the pillow that she abandoned on the floor the moment she spotted. For soon her foot cast down against it one, two, three times.

With her hair having fallen out of the loose band that had tied it back and into her line of view from the violent act she just commited, the sigh of relief that she released blew the strands around. It took a few more seconds to realise what she had done, before she was suddenly turning towards the frozen in shock man.

Without warning, Y/n jumped into Jay’s arms, a squeal of excitement emitting from her chest as her arms squeezed around him tightly. The man was so confused as to what he had just witnessed that his hands barely moved to support her.

“I did it. Holy fuck, I did it!” Y/n wasn’t sure what made her do it. Maybe it was the adrenaline, maybe it was the possible carbon dioxide poisoning from being trapped in the bathroom or maybe just the surfacing of years of repressed emotion, but her head was soon leaning forward and pressing a kiss firmly against the lips of Jay Halstead.

If he had been distracted before, he certainly wasn’t now. Jay’s attention was vacuumed up by the feeling of the soft lips that currently caressed his own. Her hand was behind his hair, gently strumming the hairs on the back of his neck with her fingers softly, gently, enticingly. Just as he felt he finally became conscious in his body again, Y/n had dislodged herself from the kiss and was staring at Jay in awe of her own actions.

“Oh- shit.” Awe soon turned to panic, as her mind caught up with her body and she thought over what she had just done. Her eyes blew up with uncertainty, desperately searching Jay’s that seemed to be untelling for once in their friendship. “Shit, Jay I’m so-.” But she didn’t get a time to apologise, before Jay was bringing her back and reuniting their lips and their feelings once more. The second time around the kiss was harder, more passionate as if both of them needed to prove to the other that the first was no mistake.

Pulling back, their foreheads were softly pressed upon the other’s, identical smiles on both their faces.

“Thank god.” Both of their smiles flipped, as the new voice was thrown into the touching moment breaking the thick adoring tension that surrounded them in their own little bubble. Not letting go of the woman that was pressed against his body, Jay turned both of them to look to the now open front door where the male detective’s blond partner now stood. “Could you two not have done this 30 spiders ago?” Shaking her head in amusement, Hailey let herself in and looked around with horror. “The spider really was godzilla, huh?”

[alucardsinep]

This is not an ask game because i don't know any BUT!

I am very kindly asking you to post your 5 favourite sk8 (or just matchablossom) official arts :3 and explain why you like them, for science.

YIPPEEEE i love science and such a kind ask must be answered of course :3 had to sit on it for a while to Think but here!

thisis not an ordered top5 list but this is the best one. i love married gay people. smug bastard. the entire fandom went insane when this dropped and with good reason. it was a good day also theyre both dressed like homosexuals and/or middle aged dads which either way i love for them

2. THE BEST renga art in my opinion. gets extra bonus points for langa being a mint choccy enjoyer and the color scheme in general being Very Good

3. miya my beloved <3 one of the best official arts of all time imo. nothing but the best for my favourite catboy :3 meow

4. SO SORRY i couldnt find better versions of the last 2. but this one is just so good and silly. mr women want me fish fear me and his trophy husband with his cunty sunglasses. i love them

5. AGAIN with the sample text but. 1) rekimiya sibling dynamic canon to me and 2) old man shadow ragequitting mintendo bitch game. this is canon to me. miya is a pro gamer and reki is proud of him :3 draw your ocs like this ⬇️

BET YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS THE END lol no here are two Honorary Mentions of fun outfits that did not make my top 5

first ones this renga. they rly said trans/nb rig(ht)s

AND THEN FINALLY WE HAVE these absolutely iconic fits. teenage mb you will always be famous. theyre getting an ova and i love that for me personally <333

[favoniuscodex]

detention. [tartaglia x reader]

prompt: high school delinquent tartaglia w/ student council president reader pairing: childe/tartaglia x f!reader word count: 2.1k warnings: mentions of sexual harassment, (very little) blood, childe enjoying fighting other people like always, but overall very lighthearted! a/n: bye i got carried away with this one, this is certainly not a short scenario lol. part of my 900 follower event!

“you’re in here?” an all-too-familiar voice says incredulously, causing you to cringe. you look up from the homework in front of you and make eye contact with the incredibly smug ginger-haired boy who leans in the entrance of the classroom, ocean-blue eyes twinkling with amusement.

“it’s no surprise that you would be here,” you retort, before going back to your schoolwork. you furrow your eyebrows as you hear his footsteps approach you and bite back a sigh as he chooses the seat directly next to you. he drags the chair out from underneath his chosen desk noisily across the linoleum floor and you take a deep breath as you hear its metal legs groan against the dilapidated flooring.

“so,” the boy persists, sitting down in his chair backwards and leaning forward on the backrest, looking over at you. “how’d the princess end up in detention?”

“shouldn’t you be using this time to do homework?” you deflect and he genuinely laughs, as if the thought was preposterous for you to suggest.

“sorry, sweetheart, i don’t exactly have…” he pauses, before turning the worksheet underneath your palms towards him and sliding it to the edge of your desk. “what the hell even is this? this is definitely some alien language.”

“it’s multivariable calculus,” you explain and look over at him with a stoic expression, only to see his eyes widen and a smirk form on his face.

“you know how to do that shit?” he breathes in awe, folding his arms on the backrest of the chair. he lets out a huff of amusement as you grumpily move the paper back to its original position. “that’s kind of hot.”

you rip your gaze from him and stare at the paper in front of you, doing your best to ignore his comments. your eyes instinctively widen a bit in shock and you feel heat rise to your face and childe lets out a soft laugh in response.

“ajax,” you begin in an attempt to collect yourself. “some of us actually desire to pass our classes.” your voice is level as you brush off his flirtations, but you feel your heart beating wildly. the boy, childe, knew how to flirt with you just as well as he knew how to annoy you.

“ah, princess,” the boy chuckles, his voice dropping low with condescension. “it’s tartaglia. you’re asking for trouble when you call me that~.” he’s amused at your words, leaning in closer to you.

“i’m not calling you by your dumb soundcloud rapper name,” you insist as you attempt to focus on finding the surface area of some hyperboloid given by the equation on the worksheet before you. the noise of your mechanical pencil scratching at the paper in front of you fills the air between the two of you as childe stares at you in shock, before letting out a sharp laugh.

“you’re adorable,” he confesses, but you simply huff in displeasure and lean in closer to your worksheet, trying to block him out. “for real though, how’d such an insouciant girl like you end up in here?”

you choose to ignore him, before you process his words and look at him in confusion. “w... what do you think insouciant means?” you almost sound aghast at his words and childe shrugs in response.

“hm,” he responds, as if he’s actually pondering, before a smile returns to his face. “don’t know, don’t care~. guess i used it wrong, huh?”

“yes.” you respond, but before you can continue your work, ajax reaches over and snatches the mechanical pencil out of your hand.

“answer the question and i’ll leave you alone,” he says, holding the pencil out of your reach as you fruitlessly try to grab it back.

“fine,” you respond bitterly. “i punched someone in the face.”

you glance at him and watch his eyes widen, a grin spreading over his face.

“holy shit, that’s so hot. i never thought you’d do something like that. jeez.” his face flushes with excitement as he leans forward, unceremoniously dropping the pencil in front of him. his words are excited and you suddenly wish you had lied and told him you were late to class. “so, like, did they ask you one too many times for homework answers? were you stopping them from trying to take your president seat? did they beat your score on the last chem test? there’s so many possibilities…”

he sighs almost dreamily. you grab your freshly retrieved pencil far too tightly in irritation and return to the paper before you. “no,” you respond, your voice uncharacteristically sharper than the usual tone of distaste you held towards childe. his smile suddenly drops, noticing that the air between the two of you had turned from slight irritation to full, seething anger. his eyebrows furrow in concern.

“princess,” he says lowly, words cautious. “why’d you punch someone?” his words are authoritative, but you knew that if you said you didn’t want to talk about it, he’d find a way to drop the topic. plus, he’d probably find out eventually. the event had happened in a busy hallway after all and you were the refined student council president who had never broken a rule before in her life.

you let out a sigh of defeat, closing your eyes briefly, before turning in your chair to face ajax. his cerulean irises pierce into yours with a seriousness you had never seen before and you decide that maybe, despite all of the ways he annoys you and makes your heart beat faster, you can trust him. after all, he’s always kept all of his promises to you, throughout all the times he’s stopped to pester you whenever he saw you, whether it be in the hallway, in class, or outside of school.

“okay,” you begin, letting out a nervous huff of air, running your palms across your thighs in a comforting motion. “i... punched a guy who… wouldn’t take no for an answer. he crossed a few boundaries and… got a fist to the face because of it.”

your friends had always complained about how childe was bad news, constantly running into trouble with others and winding up in detention half the time because of it. if you had counted correctly, he had been suspended twice for reasons you hadn’t bothered to ask about, because in your eyes, the boy was no more than a harmless pest, always smiling, cheerful, and persistent in trying to flirt with you and in trying to become your friend. despite your half hearted attempts to shoo him away, ajax would always bounce back and increase his flirtations, never failing to make your heart beat faster.

but now, as you watched his fists clench on his thighs, his knuckles turning white and his fingernails digging sharply into his skin, you realize that the ajax you had experienced was a far cry from what most people experienced. his expression looks murderous and you realize that maybe he had actually earned the fearsome nickname of tartaglia. you suddenly appreciate the fact that you weren’t on the delinquent’s bad side, because the rage that swirls in his baby blues makes your blood run cold. it also makes your heart beat faster, but not in fear.

you silently question why you were finding tartaglia’s attractive. such a reaction was a massive red flag, but you figured you could probably use it to decorate your walls, splay it across the length of your bed, and stare at it in admiration. you begin to ponder what other decorations you could use in your bedroom, including a six foot tall redhead with the clearest blue eyes you had ever seen, but childe’s words snap you out of your reverie.

“who did it?” his words are steely and foreboding, uttered in a lower tone than you’ve ever heard him speak with. normal people were of the mind that snitches get stitches, but luckily, you were a goody-two-shoes who loved to rat on everyone. you smile giddily, cheeks warm from admiring the rage that churned within the man before you, and part your lips to respond. however, the trill of the end of day bell interrupts the two of you, signaling the beginning of detention.

childe lets out a huff of contempt and interrupts you before you can once again try to say the words. “yeah, okay, whatever, don’t worry about it. just... work on your homework or something.” he says dismissively and you’re briefly confused until you see him whip out a textbook.

holy shit, he actually goes to class? you wonder, before seeing him flip open the pages, put the book in his lap, then nestle his cell phone with in the pages in a haphazard attempt to seem like he is studying. you watch briefly as his fingers fly across the touchscreen and his thumbs type out an angry message to some person you couldn’t see the contact name of.

the teacher at the front of the room commands your attention and you pay attention to their words before returning to your homework, only bothering to glance over at him every few minutes. his position remains unchanged for the rest of the detention session, furiously typing nearly the entire time.

when detention ends, he leaves wordlessly. rather than pestering you to accompany him somewhere, he simply slams his textbook shut, tosses it hastily in his backpack, and storms out of the room without making eye contact with you.

---

school begins the next day and you are standing at your locker and grabbing your textbooks when a familiar, chipper voice interrupts you. 

“heya, princess!” he greets, peering around the metal door of your locker. 

“hey,” you respond unamused, before turning to look at him and ask him what he wants, but the sight of the boy causes you to freeze in your tracks. his eye is mottled with purple, yellow, and blue bruises and his bottom lip is busted open. his hair is disheveled and there’s a proud look in his eye as he smiles at you, before wincing at the action as his lip begins to bleed once more.

“what happened to you?” you ask incredulously before turning to rifle through your backpack for a tissue to give to ajax.

“ah,” childe responds in a mischievous tone. “let’s just say you won’t have to worry about a certain problem anymore.”

“you’re still here,” you instinctively respond as your fingers finally grasp the packet of tissues in your backpack. upon actually digesting his words, you nearly drop the tissues before hastily pulling one out of the packet and holding it out to him. “wait, what? did you fight him?” you stare at him with eyes blown wide open and he smugly smiles at you in response before cheekily taking the tissue from your hands and wiping the blood off his chin.

“yep!” his voice is far too cheerful for the situation at hand, but you can’t help but crack a smile at his words. “a knight always has to protect his princess.”

your face flushes with heat and you instinctively look away from him, unsure of what to make of such a bold flirtation. you let out a nervous giggle, taken aback by him being so forward about literally beating the shit out of a guy on your behalf. “you’re insane,” you say, but your happiness can’t help but leak into your words and grins at you, eyes shining with admiration.

“go to dinner with me.” he blurts out confidently, but a faint nervousness hides in his expression. despite his best attempts to seem nonchalant, you see right through it, but such vulnerability in his appearance causes you to respond without hesitation.

“okay.” you respond softly and a shy smile begins to creep over your face as ajax blinks at you in surprise.

“oh... cool,” his words are dazed, as if he hadn’t expected such a response, but his smile only grows wider. “awesome, yeah, cool.” his attempts to play it cool fail, especially as he stumbles a bit when he tries to lean on the door of your locker, only to have it swing out from under his weight.

“a princess always has to thank her knight, after all,” you respond with a soft giggle and childe’s expression softens, a smitten expression crossing his face. the warning bell for first period rings and childe holds out a freshly bandage hand to you.

you place your hand in his and he holds your hand with such a featherlight touch that, if not for the bandages that brush against your skin, you would have doubted that he ever could have hurt anyone. besides, you knew he only would hurt people who were asking for it.

[liquidlucc]

You Learned to Swim in France

AKA A fluff piece based on talking to strangers about the love of your life lol 

Read on AO3 Here! 

Moving in with Harry had been so natural Draco had hardly even realised he’d done it. Had hardly noticed when all of his clothes ended up at Harry’s; day by day, the good robes hung up next to Harry’s Auror robes in his wardrobe.  His shampoo and conditioner had to come to Harry’s.  He always showered there anyway and he wasn’t using the man’s 3-in-1, absolutely not, he’d rather actually die. And so what if he spent more nights at Grimmauld than he did at his tiny London flat? Well. By the time his lease renewal had been up, he’d… Well, he couldn’t exactly say he didn’t realise that he spent almost no time there, and after a quick conversation with Harry, which had mostly consisted of Draco babbling and the stupid, smug look never leaving Harry’s face as he’d insisted, ‘Of course you’re moving in, you daft git. Who else is gonna drag me out of bed to make him breakfast?’ 

Living with Harry full time was different than coming over, obviously. But… Draco hadn’t realised how different it would truly be until he was there. Some mornings were much of the same, good morning blowjobs and tea, laying in bed till noon. But then there were the days that they would go to the shops that Harry frequented, and that was where Draco was most out of his element. It was great, going to all these places, meeting the people who knew Harry as a regular, making comments about how this is the man they’d heard so much about, and it was confusing. 

What was even more confusing was that the muggle chip shop owner on the corner knew he’d spent his summers in France, and had even greeted him in french one morning. 

Or how the woman who owned the bookshop knew that Draco had an affinity for old romance novels, something he’d only ever told Harry. 

Or, even worse, how the workers at the clothing boutique near Harry’s work had heard of him! And known he had an affinity for green, had helped him pick out a lovely scarf and- 

“Why does everyone around you seem to know about me?” Draco had been dying to ask, and even the question didn’t seem like quite enough. He wanted to know how they knew so much, why they knew such small details, like his favourite colour, the type of tea he liked, where he learned to swim. Still, as he always did, Harry seemed to understand. And, even more, he looked a bit… sheepish about it. 

“Well. Uh.” He started, clearing his throat as he set a glass of wine aside, their dinner mostly gone. This was the time of night that they usually spent watching those weird muggle shows on telly, or listening to the radio.  Just enjoying each other and  the closeness and ease that living together allowed.  But Draco couldn’t help himself. It had been eating at him for weeks. 

“I talk about you, sometimes. Maybe a bit more often than I realised.” Harry finally explained, and Draco felt himself flush, grabbing his fork and stabbing at a piece of veg on his plate simply for something to do with his hands. “It’s not meant to be oversharing or anything. I just get a bit excited is all. People will be talking about the news, about what tea they need at the shops, something like that, and I just… I think of you. And I have to mention how my boyfriend learned how to swim in Paris. Or how you only like Earl Grey if it’s been prepared perfectly, and the second it goes cool you won’t touch it. Or how you take your showers so hot I’m surprised your skin hasn’t burned from it.” He looked genuine, if embarrassed, and Draco couldn’t help the way his heart melted, just a little. 

Because Harry remembered all those little things, things said casually, offhand, on dates or during pillow talk, moments when Draco had let Harry in, if only a little, to who he’d been before, to life between the moments of fearing for their lives as teens. And Harry had grasped at that, taken it in and catalogued it in his mind, and the next time someone brought up that they liked their eggs a certain way, well, it was only instinct that led Harry to tell everyone who would listen that Draco absolutely hated eggs, unless Harry made them. 

“I try not to do it when we’re in wizarding spaces, I know how they can be, and I don’t want to make you uncomfortable or anything, it’s just… instinct.” He repeated, shrugging, as Draco stood, making his way around the table. 

“You’re a sap, and a git. And an utter fool, for thinking of nothing else to talk about but me.” Draco laughed as he made his way over, running a hand through Harry’s curls and looking at him as though he were the only thing in the world. The traffic outside their window disappeared, the sound of the neighbour dog howling like mad, the clinking of cups being cleaned by a charmed sponge, it all seemed to fade away as he looked into those green eyes. For a moment, he thought he must understand, to some extent, why Harry went on about him so much. 

He’d gone on just as much about Harry. The broom shop he went to knew that Harry could handle whatever he had on hand, even if it was just a charmed kitchen broom. The grocer knew that Harry was lactose intolerant, but still ate enough cheese toasties to feed an army. And so really, was it any surprise that Draco was so, so obsessed with this man, he’d scream it from the rooftops, tell everyone and anyone who would listen just how lucky he’d gotten, to have him, to know about his life and who he was. 

He kissed Harry then, slow and sweet, and for once, Draco, who normally felt so cool and collected, felt so full of love he might just burst. 

And he had a feeling that no matter how long it had been, they’d still go on talking about each other to strangers, to friends, to anyone who would listen.

[anissanightyoung]

I see red | Mingyu

warnings: implied murder, domestic violence, emotional manipulation/abuse

word count: 602

a/n: with the warnings mentioned, please remember this is only fiction. I don't condone such actions and I don't believe anyone from svt would be able to do this. To put it simple, if you don't like it, don't read.

Also, I can't decide which format I like lol

masterlist here.

The eerie silence is killing you. And you can’t stand looking at him any longer.

You feel nothing but disgust.

“Mingyu.”

He turned around, shocked at first but rushed to hug you. “Y/n! I didn’t know you’d be home early,” he said, looking at you with so much love and adoration, “I’m sorry for the mess, and I know I promised I wouldn’t do it again, but I -”

“You what?” He sensed the hostile tone in your voice, and he knows better but to either keep shut or give you a good answer. It doesn’t matter though, he reached way past the end of your patience.

“You call my best friend a mess? You said Vernon would be the last.” He held your hands in his squeezing them to calm you down, and you can’t help but cry at the scene in front of you. It reminds you of what he did to Vernon; how he saw you catching up with your college classmate, how happy you looked that day, and he got low thinking he never saw you that happy with him. “I had to do it, you understand right? I did it because I love you and I got scared I’d lose you,” he said, as an excuse.

You’re not even sure why you did it, but you turned a blind eye, believing Mingyu wouldn’t do it again. You dangerously gave him too much trust.

“Please y/n, I saw Chan, okay? I saw him -”

You exploded. He was about to give you another bullshit excuse and this time, you’re not having it. “What, Mingyu? You saw him what? You saw him do something that he shouldn’t or you saw him do something you just don’t approve of?”

Mingyu is crying. Great, even if he did something unforgiving, it still aches your heart to see him cry. He hugged you again, sobbing like a child on your shoulders. But you have had enough.

“This is not normal, Mingyu. Get treated and if you get better, maybe I'll come back.”

“What?” you were stunned by the sudden tone of his voice at what you said. You can sense the panic, fear, and anger. He released you from the hug and shook you by the shoulders. “What does that mean? Are you leaving me?”

“I specifically told you to get treated.”

“But you weren’t sure if you’d come back!” His hold on your shoulders is getting tighter and tighter and it’s hurting you, so you pushed him off of you. You ran towards the front door but he quickly caught up to you, spun you around, and locked the door. He pushed you roughly towards the nearest wall, locking you in between his arms. He slowly looked up to you; for a minute, you got scared at the threat in his eyes. This was no longer your Mingyu; in fact, he was no longer your Mingyu the moment he did that to Vernon.

“You’re not going anywhere, sweetheart,” he smirked at your shocked expression. He grabbed you by the hair and dragged you towards the bedroom. You couldn’t fight him well because of his painful grip. Once you reached the room, he tossed you on the bed violently. You were about to slap him when he beat you to it, the palm of his hands stinging your cheeks.

“I’ve always loved you being feisty, but you,” pointing a finger at you, a smug look plastered in his face, “you need to be taught a lesson.”

He grabbed your hair again and forced you to look at him. "You're mine, y/n."

[seiyasabi]

Trouble In Paradise

(This is a Yandere Kyoutani x Cute Fem Reader x Yandere (Platonic) Older Bro Iwa-chan  fic :)) This takes place after high school, in a universe where everyone still plays volleyball. 

TW; Jealousy!, turns into dubcon/noncon!!!!, !unwanted choking!, As I’ve said in the past-every character I write for (in my head) are like two feet taller than you!, Possessive behaviour!, he’s highkey soft for u but is still a bastard lol (love him), marking kink!, creampie!, daddy kink!, mentions of Oikawa lowkey being a Yandere too, etc.. 

Kyoutan deserves the world ;)) I love him ajadskhafkah also, sorry if my use of ‘chan’ is cringey, I think it’s funny af tbh, and since I’m Japanese, I’ll do what I want lmao. Anyways, sorry if this sucks, I tried like 5 different ways to write this, and this was the only one that ended up being somewhat decent. ) 

Skipping to the loud gym, your skirt swishes against the fat of your thighs. Your cute ass can be seen peeking out from under the pleated fabric, leaving those around you to coo at your pretty self. Without meaning to, you catch the eye of those around you. 

Seeing the gym’s doors, you push them open with an excited vigour, happy to finally be with your big brother and boyfriend. 

Immediately when you enter, you see Oikawa being swarmed with his fanclub, leaving a straight shot to the rest of the team. Spotting your bad-boy bf, you squeal in delight, gunning at him at top speed. He’s currently sitting on the bleachers, your brother seemingly scolding him for his RBF and bad attitude, but his eyes snap up in an instant, recognising your voice from anywhere. 

An uncharacteristic smile is present on his pierced face, standing to his feet, he readies himself to catch you and twirl you around. That’s a plus of being in shape; picking up your supes cute gf whenever you please! 

That is, until a certain pretty boy steps in the way. 

Tooru has his arms out, in a stance that will allow him to catch you with ease. Before you could slow down and avoid him, he yoinks you up and off of the floor, holding you in a tight embrace, “(Your Name)-chan! I knew you’d come visit me! I’ve been waiting all day for you, Cutie!” The glares from your boyfriend and brother are instantaneous. 

Iwa looks ready to scalp the brunet, whilst Ken looks ready to scrap-possibly even catch a body. Oikawa’s fans look absolutely bloodthirsty, jealous of your cute self being in the arms of the equally cute male. 

Pouting, you push at the pretty boy’s chest, “Put me down! I’m not here for you!” He coos at you, moving in to kiss you on the cheek, only for you to push him away by his face, “Stop it, you’re being weird! Put me down, I wanna see Ken-Chan!” 

By this point, your boyfriend and brother have made their way to you, ready to rip him to shreds, “Put my sister down, Shittykawa! Don’t be a perv!” He karate chops the starlet on the head, causing him to drop you in surprise. 

“Iwa-Chan! You’re so mean to me! Now look what you did, (Your Name)-Chan is hurt-” Kentarou catches you in an instant, cradling you in his scarred arms. Oikawa’s mouth gapes in shock, brain not computing the fact that the dyed haired male moved at lightning speed. 

“No, she ain’t,” He gruffs out, smooching you on the cheek. You giggle, hugging the tatted male tightly. Your (size) breasts smoosh against his buff chest, as you start to pepper kisses all over his face, “She ain’t ever gettin’ hurt if I’m here,” He places a kiss on your lips, relishing how you immediately kiss back. 

“Ken-Chan! I missed you so much!” He rolls his eyes, the tips of his ears turning red. Readjusting his hold on you, he cradles your ass instead of your thighs, causing you to gasp, “Kyoutan, don’t be a perv!” 

He smirks, readying himself to respond, only for your brother to beat you to it, “Yeah, ‘Kyoutan,’ don’t be perving on my little sister!” Redirecting his smug look, he sticks his tongue out at your fuming sibling. 

“Bite me.”

The look on Hajime’s face is priceless, “Biting you isn’t the only thing you need to worry about-” 

“Haji,” His attention immediately snaps to your sweet face, which is currently pouting, “Don’t threaten him! He’s precious to me!” Before Kyoutani can say something smart, you rest your head against his neck, practically nuzzling him, which also shuts him up. 

The spikey haired ace is immediately offended, “I-wha-(Nickname), aren’t I precious to you? Aren’t I your most wonderful older brother?” You giggle, nodding your head. 

“Yes! But Ken-Chan is baby-”

“(Nickname)-Chan, aren’t I baby?! I feel so left out!” Oikawa and his fangirls are off to the side, watching the interaction. Whilst Oinks looks positively offended and left out, the girls are angry that you’ve stolen the captain’s attention. 

“No, you’re the ugly side character,” Hajime states nonchalantly. 

“Yea, yer uglier than the dirt under (Your Name)’s shoe,” Offended noises and indignant hand movements follow their words, as his fans start to shout in anger and shock. 

You lightly whack Kyoutani on the shoulder, scolding him with your eyes, “Haji, Kyoutan, don’t be mean! Tooru is pretty,” The setter preens in delight, “But, he’s dumb. So, he’s the dumb, but pretty, character!” 

His hands grasp his chest as if you’d stabbed him, “(Nickname)-Chan, my heart, it’s breaking-” He fake gags, causing your brother and boyfriend to roll their eyes, “The only way to fix it…. Is to get a kiss!” He bolts towards you, causing you to shriek in surprise. Placing you on your feet, you’re quickly placed behind the dyed haired man, ‘Mad Dog’ making an appearance. 

Practically frothing at the mouth, he snarls at Oikawa, whilst Hajime sticks out his foot, effectively tripping him. Once falling, the pierced male yanks him up by his shirt collar, and hauls him up to his feet. Now face to face with the scary male, Oikawa gulps in fear, “I’ll kill ya, put ya in the ground, Pretty Boy. Once yer dead, Iwaizumi’ll dance over yer corpse.”

“Yes, I think I will,” Hearing his bestie agree with the sentiment, Oinks finally realises that he messed around too much. 

“Now, yer gonna apologise to (Your Name), or I’ll shave yer head,” Now fully standing, Kyoutani moves out of the way, allowing the setter to apologise face-to-face. 

Dropping to his hands and knees, he starts to bow at you as if you’re royalty, “I’m sorry, (Your Name)-Chan! I promise I didn’t mean to offend you! Please don’t let Mad Dog-Chan and Iwa-Chan kill me!” Giggling at his over the top words, you nod your head. 

“It’s okay, Tooru-Chan,” You pat his head reassuringly, “I know you love your fangirls more than me,” This causes the gym to erupt into cheers, as the other girls start to swarm the male. You can hear him scream in fear, but are quickly pulled away from the crime scene, and taken out to the car park. 

Your brother holds you close to him, glaring at your boyfriend who looks equally as angry. There’s a heavy silence between the three of you, as you’re squished into a hug by your brother. 

“Haji, why’re you holding me so tight? Don’t you have to get back to practice?” He doesn’t answer, instead speaking to your boyfriend. 

“Take her home, Kyoutani. I’ll deal with him now, you can deal with him later,” He nods, taking you from your older brother’s arms, and practically carrying you to his motorcycle. Setting you on the back of the bike, he opens the back hatch of the bike, and pulls out your pastel pink helmet. Placing it onto your head tenderly, he flips the eye cover up, allowing you to see him clearly for a moment. 

Smiling up at him (he can only see your eyes crinkle), you speak, “Hi!” His pissed off face immediately dissolves, causing him to smile at your cute self. 

“Hi, Baby,” Grabbing his rough hands, you interlace your fingers between his. 

“Aren’t you going to practice, Kyo-Ken?” He rolls his eyes, but gives your hands a squeeze. 

“Nah, I gotta take my Baby Girl home, so I can show her who she belongs to,” He gives you a wink, leaving you to splutter in surprise. 

“You-you can’t say that in public!” Chuckling, he releases your hands and flips your eye cover down, before chucking on his own helmet, and settling on the front of the bike. 

Pulling Your arms around his waist, he waits for you to settle against him. He relishes your tight hold, as you practically cling onto him for dear life. 

Starting up the engine, he kicks up the kick stand, and speeds off to your shared apartment. 

-

Your body bounces off of the mattress, as you let out a small scream. A giggle escapes your lips, as you smile up at Kyoutani, “Ken-Ken, are you still mad?” He nods, his hands pulling off your cropped sweater, and pushing up your skirt to expose your pastel yellow panties. 

“That ugly bastard should’a know better than t’a put his disgusting hands on ya,” He practically growls, undoing your bra and letting your pretty tits flop out. Kissing up your neck, he sucks hickies onto the previously unblemished skin. A small moan leaves your lips at the feeling, as he starts to pinch and twist your nipples. 

“Daddy!” He releases your neck with a ‘pop,’ smirking down at you. 

“Yes, Princess? Do ya need something?” He rubs the skin on the inside of your thighs, purposefully missing your dampening cunny, “Do ya need yer Daddy to touch yer Princess parts?” 

Nodding, you plead with him, “Yes! Please touch me!” 

Chuckling, he pulls your panties off of you, letting the cool air of your shared room caress your cunny. Running a single finger up your slit, he barely taps your clit, causing your hips to jerk up and off of the mattress, “Yer such a sensitive baby, I love ya so much.”

“I love you too, Daddy! Please fuck me!” He hums, mulling over your words. 

“Want me to show everyone who ya belong to?” You nod your head rapidly. 

“Yes! Yes, please!” Kissing you on the lips sloppily, he reaches down to pull out his cock from his Adidas sport shorts. His tip is pierced, and when he rubs it against your clit, you practically see stars. 

“My good, cute, polite girl,” He gathers your slick on his tip, before he pushes in. Your walls burn as you try to accommodate to his thick size, practically sucking the air from your lungs. A wanton moan is heard from you, as he waits for you to accept him comfortably, “Relax, Princess. Let me int’a yer pretty cunny.” 

“Da-Daddy,” Your arms wrap around him, clawing at his shirt covered back, “You’re too big!” He shushes you softly, rubbing your clit with two fingers. Your juices slowly drip out of you and onto his cock. After a moment, he begins to move, practically rearranging your guts. 

“You’ve taken me before, Princess. I know ya can do it, just let me in,” He starts to thrust into you at a medium speed, rubbing your clit at the same pace. Your eyes glaze over, practically rolling into the back of your head. 

His cock is heavy and girthy inside of your slick walls, spearing you open with each thrust. Moans and keens leave your throat, as you grip onto him. Your hips meet his, your juices spraying onto the both of you. 

“Look at my pretty baby, so fucked out already,” He uses the hand that’s not on your clit to grasp your throat, causing your body to go rigid and eyes to go wide. 

“Ken-” He shuts you up with a kiss, swallowing your words. You try to push his hand off, but it’s to no avail. He continues to fuck into you, your cunny still sucking him in, even as you’re scared of his actions. 

“Fuck, yer practically milking me for all I’ve got,” He removes his lips from yours, his grip becoming a bit tighter, “Ya want yer Daddy to cum in ya? Yea ya do.”

Now, you’re really pushing against him. You’re not on the pill, “Ken, pull out!” He shushes you, rubbing on your clit even harder than before, trying to make you cum before him. Kentarou relishes the small tears at the corner of your eyes, loving how cute you look. 

Without you wanting to, you cum with a small gush of liquid, a whine echoing through your chest. He follows not long after you, filling you to the brim with his virile cum. 

With a grunt and a huff, he pulls out of you, loving how his cum looks leaking out of you. Removing his hand from your throat, he looks down once more, realising that you don’t look very happy. 

“You didn’t listen to me,” You rub the hand mark around your neck, as you sit up, moving away from him. 

“Awe, don’t be like that, Baby,” He reaches out for you, but you move away from him. 

“I don’t want to be near you right now, Kyoutani. You didn’t stop…” Moving off of the bed, you stand to your feet. Going to your dresser, you grab a week’s worth of clothes, including your work uniform. Pulling on a new shirt, you fix your previous outfit, as you start to cry. 

“Wait-I-ya-ya aren’t leaving me, are ya?” For once, the spitfire male is at a loss for words. 

“No, I just need time away from you. You say that Tooru is bad, but you hurt me a lot just now. I’m calling Haji, and I’m going to stay with him for a little while,” Your brother has your daily items there, just because you’d sleep over sometimes, so you aren’t too worried about not having soap and such. 

Grabbing your phone from your purse by your bedroom door, you call him, Ken watching you with wide eyes, “Haji, please pick me up. Kyoutani and I got into a fight.”

-

Hajime helps you into his car, before turning to the still shocked male you call your boyfriend. He hasn’t said a word, if anything, he looks shocked beyond anything else. 

Shutting the car door, your brother finally speaks, “I knew you were no good for her. Your jealousy got the better of you.”

“I didn’t mean to, it-it just-”

“Got out of control?” Your brother raises an eyebrow, arms crossing over his chest, “Yeah, I’ve noticed. You hurt my little sister,” He moves closer to the dyed haired man, eyes flashing with anger, “You choked her out. Why? Because Oikawa made you jealous? Despicable.”

“It isn’t like that! We-we were having se-” He holds up a hand, stopping your boyfriend from continuing. 

“I don’t want to hear it. Just know that if you come near her without her allowing you to be in her presence, I’ll kill you. I never wanted you to be with her, and you just proved my fears correct.”

Realisation dawns on Kyoutani, “Wait- is this why ya wanted me to come home with her? So I could fuck up?” 

Hajime smirks, “Of course. My little sister is too good for you. Now, fuck off, before I do something you won’t like.” 

Ken watches as you go, tears brimming his eyes. He should’ve known your brother would find you too precious to be with him. He most likely asked Oikawa to help him, seeing as the pretty boy was in the car with you, looking as perfect as ever. 

He fucked up, and now Hajime has won their rivalry. 

[fairydollsteps]

Oikawa Tooru as Your Boyfriend

Okay so I am currently writing this while have a writer block so this going to suck a lot.🙂 And also short cause I kinda don’t understand his character but whatever.

I feel like he would be the most annoying boyfriend ever but still loveable. You got to have a lot of patients to deal with him being whiny and childish.

Oikawa has always been confessed a lot by many girls for his appearance but he has never ever confessed to someone with genuine love. And you are the lucky girl that he confesses to.

You are probably the type of girl that says “I am not like the other girl” cause you did not chase him for his looks but only care and love him genuinely for who is he.

At the beginning of the relationship, he knows what he is supposed to do as he has some experience from his previous relationship but still though, he would constantly need your attention 24/7 and can be childish at some times.

 Which makes you understand why Iwaizumi is always hitting. Yeah you are also good friends with Iwaizumi

Oikawa would ignore his fangirl if you express discomfort with their presence. But he would still receive gifts from them like sweets and biscuits and he would share them with you.

He would give you so many different kinds of nicknames like cutie pie, sweetie, honey, and baby. He would say in the public so is up to you if you like it or not.

If you did say you do not like certain nicknames he said earlier, he would understand but would use it if he feels like annoying you.

His phone is filled with selfies of you both on a date or at school. Legit he would just take a photo of what you are doing. Sleeping, eating, studying, standing, walking, and everything else you do. Oikawa probably uses the photo to see you when he misses you.

Speaking of dates, your first date with him would be probably having an ice cream date. Oikawa saw a newly open ice cream shop that seems affordable and deicide to take you there as date together.

Is simple but is memorable and sweet for both of you guys. You got cream on top of your nose and Oikawa probably took a picture of it.

Oikawa loves kisses from you or any other affection from you. He would cherish them all and nuzzle himself into your embrace, thinking as his safe place.

Like I mentioned before, you have to be patient with him and makes a lot of sacrifice for him when it comes to volleyball.

 Volleyball is a very important sport for him that he works hard to perfect his skill. So you have to understand and support his passion. Don’t worry, he would also return the favor to support what you are passionate about.

You are his number 1 supporter. Oikawa would absolutely love it if you cheer him on his games. He would be thankful to you for always being by his side.

You are one of the people that he allows himself to cry to. He can feel at ease while explaining his irritation and anger about Ushijima and his prodigy kouhai. You would also have to stop himself from training too much and comfort him.

Oikawa's love language would be Word of Affirmation, Physical Touch, and Act of Service.

Word of Affirmation: Despite his smug attitude, he is very insecure and self-conscious of himself. If you don’t talk to him, Oikawa would overthink and fear that you may find someone more present and that can give you all those attentions that you deserve which he can’t provide. He has already lost his previous girlfriend because of passion and now he doesn’t want to lose you too. So always reassure and give him soft kisses and he would feel comforted and happy. Maybe fall harder for you lol because of how sincere you are.

Physical Touch: Oikawa adores your touch and craves them a lot. It could be holding each other hands, kissing, hugging, and son. He wants all of them. He is definitely the small spoon while cuddling you. 

Act of Service: Oikawa may be a man of words but also for action. He knows that words can’t prove everything so he takes action to show that he loves you. He would walk you home so he knows you are safe, buy your favorite snacks, tie your shoelace and take care of you when you are sick.

Overall, Oikawa may be a cocky and annoying boyfriend but he loves you genuinely. Whenever he has some time, he would always use it to be by your side. He is just so smitten for you, a complete hopeless romantic so don’t break his heart.

Thank you for reading this cringy work. I still have a writer block but thank you for your time to read it. Have a good day and stay Safe!

[asterroidd]

tempt fortune

↬ Pairing: Levi Ackerman x Reader

↬ Word count: 4.5k

↬ Warning/s: swearing, mentions of sex, alcohol, slight NSFW (?)

↬ Synopsis: Too deep in an argument with Hange in attempts to prove you are—in fact—not a virgin, you’ve accidentally lied blurted out that you and Levi are in a relationship.

↬ Notes: Tysm for the request anon! I had way too much fun with this prompt lol.

↬ Minors do not interact. Go away, shoo shoo!

8th prompt:  “I can’t believe you told them you were my fiancé.”

   The night was murky and dark with only the shine of the moon serving as a way to illuminate the streets of the city. Trees stripped bare as a sign of the forthcoming change of seasons, and a milky white fog had encompassed the city’s canals and dark alleyways. The crisp, cold air makes the hair on your skin stood up and shiver despite the layers of clothing you wore.

    Though, that feeling will dissipate away as soon as the bitter taste of alcohol hits your taste buds and enter your system.

    Earlier that day, Hange and Petra had invited you to a night out to the local pub to wash away the fears and tension of being soldiers of the Survey Corps. A guilty pleasure of some sort, just a way to rid the jitters of being eaten by a titan outside the walls. Despite the three of you being veterans, neither of you could ever shake the feeling of death’s cold hands resting on top of your shoulder.

    That said, two of your best friends walked alongside you. Arms hooked with one another for warmth and for comfort. Soon enough, the three of you arrived at the destined place: the pub.

    There are a couple of tables already taken, but the place is not too full. Even with that, the pub is still quite energetic; with men hollering and throwing their heads back as they chat with one another, weak threats that are carelessly thrown around by drunk individuals looking for a mock fight, and of course the iconic clink of glasses against one another as toast.

    “What are we drinking tonight?” Petra asked. She claimed a seat at an empty table, in which you and Hanji followed suit.

    “Whiskey!” Hange announced to which brought a grin on your face.

    "Getting wasted, I see.“ You shrugged your jacket off and placed it neatly by your side. "Isn’t it Petra’s turn to treat us?”

    The female in question instantly whipped her head to face you, a shocked look evident on her face. “I don’t recall making such promises.”

    "You sure did!“ Hanji added. "We made a bet weeks ago. Debating whether or not Erwin grooms his eyebrows every morning.”

    "In which we won, by the way.“ you said with a smug look on your face. "The commander does indeed groom it and even has a special comb for it.”

     “Not fair!” Petra pouted, pushing her bottom lip out and giving Hange the puppy dog eyes in attempts to save her poor wallet. Which was futile, the brunette stuck her tongue out and shook her head. While Petra and Hange continued with their debacle, you took it upon yourself to call the attention of a barmaid. She gave you a beaming smile, her golden locks neatly tied into a bun and crow’s feet visible beneath her eyes. She approached the table wherein the three of you are situated.

   “Two bottles of whiskey and three mugs please,” you spoke, not even bothering to wait for her to speak up. She nodded before strolling towards the counter to prepare your order.

   Petra slumped her weight onto the table as she heaved a sigh in defeat. “Fine. It’s my treat tonight.”

   You and Hange cheered in delight, successfully evading a huge loss of money given that whiskey is quite expensive. The continuous catastrophic storms that beleaguered the farmlands had made an extensive disastrous effect on the supply of barley and wheat. Which, like a domino effect, limits the supply of whiskey within the walls. Increasing the price of the said beverage more than two-fold.

   It was a good thing that you put faith in your instincts and thus won the bet.

   “How’s the research going, Hanji?” Petra changed the topic.

   The brunette let out a drained sigh, “Levi had to kill Hughes.”

   “Hughes?” You piped in. “The eight-meter class aberrant titan we caught last time?”

   Hange nodded, “He was a good man. An honest man.” She spoke of the titan as if it was her long lost husband that died in a war.

   Then, she started blabbering on and on about the experiments she had done to the beast; piercing its eye to count the regeneration time, plucking one of its teeth out to see if it would disintegrate, and many more.

   You would’ve stopped her then and there if it weren’t for the barmaid approaching your table with a tray of glass and two bottles of whiskey. You internally cheered, Hange had told stories about Hughes a couple of times already that you basically had memorized it all.

  The three of you wasted no time in popping one of the bottles and pouring the bitter liquid into the cups.

  "To friendship. And condolences to Petra’s wallet.“ You raised your glass up to which the two mirrored. With one satisfying clink of the glass, you swallowed down its contents in one gulp. Your face contorting in an unattractive expression as the alcohol slid down your throat.

   "I was planning to buy a book that I wanted. But it looks like it would have to wait for the time being,” Petra said, pouring another glass of whiskey.

  "Pshh,“ your brunette friend snorted. "You have Oluo to buy anything you want.”

    Instantly, blood rushed to Petra’s face upon hearing the male’s name.

    You joined in the teasing. “Oh yeah. You two are a thing. Now, aren’t you?” 

   “We’re not!” your friend slammed her fists on the wooden table. “We’re just friends!”

   “Oh really?” Hange swished the whiskey around the glass. “That’s not what I heard the other night.”

   She leaned in close to whisper. “I heard moans coming out of his room.”

   Petra sucked in a breath in shock, her eyes widening in shock and mouth slightly agape. “I- it’s not…it’s–” she said but she was a stuttering mess.

   “Already in that stage, I see.” You playfully nudged her. It was an ongoing comical joke in the base that Oluo and Petra are in a romantic relationship after the male flat out publicly confessed to her one night in the mess hall. The room immediately erupted in a mess as howls and catcalls are heard. Ever since then, both of them are continuously teased.

    “Say, (____)…” Hange trailed off, her fingers curling around the shot glass. Gulping the remaining liquid down her throat before continuing, “Are you a virgin?”

    You let out an inhumane sound in shock. Borderline choking as you tried to swallow down the whiskey caught in your throat. Petra saw your discomfort in which she assisted you by lightly patting you on the back as you coughed air out.

   “What kind of question is that?” you said after your body stopped jerking.

   Hanji gave you a lop-sided smile. “Just that we are nearing our thirties. Who knows when we’ll breathe our final breath? The least we could do is experience getting laid before that happens.”

   “Well, are you a virgin?” You answered with a question.

   Hange rests her chin on top of her open palm. “Nope, though it was a one night stand.”

   You sweat buckets, you never had someone popped your cherry before, let alone a serious relationship that is romantic.

   Are you the only one left that hasn’t got laid?

   But it’s not your fault! You were just too caught up with military services that love never crossed your mind

   Or did it?

   Your mind wanders off to daydream about the small and petty crush you have with a certain captain.

    There is just something so captivating about the way his silver eyes met yours the first time you saw him. How his raven hair looks neat every time and you could only guess how soft it would be to touch. Not to mention his impeccable skill with the 3dmg maneuver gear and its blades.

   Yes, it was none other than Captain Levi himself. But it was all just a petty crush! A small rosebud of admiration that had blossomed as you fought alongside the male and got to know him better each passing day.

    “Well?” Hange snapped you out of your thoughts. “Have you or have you not gotten laid?”

    You cleared your throat, you didn’t want to look foolish in front of your friends. Given that the two of them had their own fair share of experience in the topic. They would tease the hell out of you and soon enough, the whole base would do as well.

   Lieutenant (____), the virgin soldier. You don’t want things to be that way.

    “O-of course I did,” you puffed your chest out more to elicit fake confidence.

   Petra cooed, “Really? With who?”

   You thought of the closest male in your personal bubble. “Levi!”

   To say that the two were shocked was an understatement. They were both flabbergasted. Never in a million years would they expect that you and Levi had a relationship, let alone sexual intercourse. The two, in fact, never saw him and you close enough that would draw out a romantic vibe. So they are completely blown away and confused at the same time.

   “Bullshit,” Hange said. “Shorty is one lonely man that has no love in his system.”

   “I-is too!” you stuttered out, hand flailing around in panic. “In fact, he is my fiancé.”

   Okay, that might be a stretch.

   Petra slammed her hands against the table to which garnered half of the customers’ attention. “Get out! No way!”

   “Yes way!” You countered. So far so good, now all you had to do is convince them that you and Levi are actually a thing. Which was easier said than done since you would need to bribe or annoy the male enough that he would give in to your pleas.

   Though, Hange is still unimpressed as evident with her pouting lips and furrowed eyebrows. “Prove it then, show us that the shorty and you are actually a thing. I would bet half of my salary this month if you could show us that Levi is capable of love.”

   “Bring it on four-eyes!”

   And so begins the downfall of your life.

    Levi had a sick feeling in his gut; a hunch that for the next few hours, he would have a shitty day. However, he couldn’t say for sure what would cause such disturbance to his day. His gut feelings were never wrong, it was an innate sense that he had ever since he lived in the Underground. So he was sure something would happen, he’d have to be more careful.

    That said, he instantly regretted the way he jinxed himself.

   There you are, standing outside of his office at two in the morning. Your fingers fiddled with the hem of your shirt, constantly shifting your weight from one foot to another as you refuse to make eye contact with Levi. Bashful eyes kept staring down at your feet whilst you find the words to make one coherent sentence.

   “I have something important to discuss with you,” you murmured to which Levi quirked a brow. What did you want now that it couldn’t wait until the sun rose up in the sky?

   The male crossed his arms across his chest, leaning his weight on the doorway. “What is it?”

   “Please pretend to be my lover.”

   Levi blinked, his eyes widening and mouth hanging open slightly. Though, he regained back his usual composure in a split second. He narrowed his eyes at you.

   You want him to do what now? Is this some kind of prank or sick joke that you thought of?

   Taking note of his silence, you decided to explain to him your situation that needs his immediate cooperation and attention.

   “You see…” you sucked in a breath. “I kind of lied to Hange and Petra that I got laid and it was you who actually took my virginity. Hange didn’t believe a word that I said and uhh-… Things got out of hand and I told them I was your fiancé.”

   What?

   Levi sighed through his nose, an exasperated expression on his face. “So this is what it’s all about.”

   “Yes. And now I need you to play along and pretend to be my significant other.”

   The male scrunched his face up in disgust, “I can’t believe you told them you were my fiancé.”

   You fought back a sob, “Please. I beg of you, Levi.”

   “No.” Levi shook his head. “No way. Don’t drag me in your own bullshit.”

   The male was about to close his door but you grabbed him by his sleeve. Clutching on it until your knuckles turned white. You couldn’t just let him shut you out without agreeing to play along. You’d do whatever it takes just to get Levi to pretend to be your lover.

  "I’ll buy you the expensive black tea.“

   His ears twitched, now that piqued Levi’s interest. You smirked as he froze, you knew that he has a soft spot for tea. And tasty, expensive ones at that matter.

    Levi chewed on his bottom lip while he pondered over his next words. The male was supposed to be keeping his hands busy by signing and writing the documents that started to pile high up on top of his desk due to Hanji dumping her workload on him. Levi sighed through his nose, fingers massaging his temple. "How long?”

   “What?” You tilted your head to the side.

   “Tch.” Levi clicked his tongue. “How long do I need to pretend to be your lover?”

   Levi swore that the minute he let go of those words, stars danced in your eyes.

  "We just need to convince the others.“

  "And then?” He asked.

  "And then? What. . ?“

  Levi internally groaned and rolled his eyes. Was it really worth the risk?

  "Are you expecting that we keep the act up?”

  Oh, so that is what he meant by it.

  "Well,“ you rubbed your chin with your fingers in deep thought. "We could stop the acting after a few weeks? We’ll just tell them we’re too busy and shit that we couldn’t maintain the relationship anymore.”

  Levi shrugged. “Sounds good enough to me.”

  You squealed in delight as you threw your arms around his neck, showering him with gratitude and compliments.

   Looks like black tea does the trick.

   The sun already rose from its slumber, showering the lands with its soft rays of light. Levi had a scowl ever-present on his face as soon as he stepped out of his office room. He knew that something was wrong. Something out of place as he sensed the change in the atmosphere of the base that would normally be heavy and tense.

  Still, he persisted on shrugging the thought off and continued with his daily morning routine: which is to quickly brew a cup of tea before the mess hall becomes full with people. Levi walked down the halls, a handful of soldiers are already awake and fully clothed with the Survey Corps uniform. They gave him one brief and firm salute as he passed by them. Though, Levi swore that he could hear them whispering amongst themselves.

  When the male arrived at the mess hall, he was surprised to see most of the superiors—along with his squad—are mingling with one another at a table. His mind screamed danger, telling his body to turn around and hide in the comforts of his office. However, Levi wasn’t going to give up his morning cup of tea just because he felt uneasy.

   He slid inside like a shadow, going unnoticed by most of his friends that was too energetic today for his tastes. They were chatting loudly about miniscule things; the weather, training later on the day, gear inspection that needs to be done, and the like.

   Levi wished that he would be overlooked, that their banter would be noisy enough that he could peacefully grab a cup of tea and run back to his office. Though that wishful thinking of his soon come crashing down when Hange’s cheery voice called out to him.

  “Mornin’ shorty! Come sit here beside us! We already have tea brewed for you!”

  Levi internally groaned, gripping the empty cup in his hands tighter. The brunette just had to have an innate sense in locating where Levi is. Reluctantly, he left the porcelain behind and walked towards the table. You were nowhere to be found, which was a huge relief for him since Levi doesn’t want to see your face first thing in the morning.

  “What’s with the shit-eating grin?” he took a seat beside Erwin.

  “(____) told me something important last night,” Hange wiggled her shoulders.

  He narrowed his eyes at her, “What do you mean?”

  Levi heard Erwin laughing beside him, the blond’s shoulders bouncing up and down. He then placed one palm on top of Levi’s shoulder.

  “Congratulations, Levi! Didn’t knew you were engaged.“

  Hold the fuck up. What?

  Then it dawned on him. He remembered you outside his office in the wee hours of the morning, begging him to play along with your petty bullshit just for the sake of preserving your dignity among your peers.

  Levi couldn’t believe that he would start acting right away. He haven’t had a sip of his morning tea. 

  “Yeah,” he said, eyeing the cup of tea that Eld placed in front of him. Levi doubts that any of them could perfectly brew tea that would meet his standards.

  “What?” Oluo joined in the conversation. “So it’s true then?”

  Levi grumbled, taking a sip of the leaf infused hot liquid. He relished the dark and malty taste of it sliding down his esophagus before responding. “Any problem with that?”

  The male shifted in his seat, “N-no, sir… Just that I am shocked.”

  “We all are,” Erwin chuckled. “We never expected it.”

  “You are a man of a few words, after all.” Petra added. “Still, we are happy for you, captain!”

  Levi stayed silent, if he knew that by accepting your bribery would open Pandora’s box of headache and irritation in his life, then he wouldn’t have agreed to it. Still, he was hopeful that only those close to him are informed of the arrangement. That you wouldn’t go so far as to spread the news around the base. 

  Scratch that. Everyone knew that Levi is your fiancé.

  By the time midday rolled around, Levi was the center of attention much to his displeasure. Of all the years he had served in the military, never did he expect that one small arrangement done at two a.m. would have dire consequences.

  All for the black tea. Levi chanted in his mind. Dealing with this bullshit for a box full of expensive black tea.

  Whispers could be heard, though he paid no attention to it, dead set on finding you to ask what in the ever-loving fuck is going through your brain for letting everyone know.

  Ah, speak of the devil. There you are, by the horses’ stables. Your hands reaching up to caress the nose of your horse, a giggle escaping your lips as its tongue darted out to tickle you.

  “(____),” he called out.

  You whipped your head around to the sound. Then your smile grew wider as you saw it was Levi.

  “Hey!” you replied while wiping your wet hand on a towel. “What’s up?”

  The male groaned, you are too casual about it.

  “Care to explain why does everyone in the base knew that we are engaged?” The word rolled off his tongue like venom. “I thought it was only Hanji and Petra?”

  Your smile wavered down, replaced by a bashful one. “Well uhh-…you see. Hanji kind of started the rumors which quickly spread like wildfire.”

  “So it’s not my fault,” you threw your hands up.

  Levi sighed exasperatedly. He should’ve known that the source would be four eyes. The brunette had caused more trouble than Levi could count within his fingers. He recounted countless times where she knocked on death’s door willingly when Hange placed her head inside a titan’s mouth. Who does that?

   A maniac with a death wish, and that is what Hange is.

  “Never mind that,” you trailed off, motioning the male to come closer. He rolled his eyes before obliging. “I have a plan that could finally get Hange off the radar,” you continued.

  “And that would be?”

  You looked side by side, eyes scanning the surroundings in case someone is eavesdropping. Once you considered the coast was clear, you told Levi the plan. “Hanji would be dropping off a stack of paperwork later this evening.”

  Levi doesn’t already like where this is going.

  “We could pretend to have sex in your office, loud enough for her to hear it. That for sure would convince her.”

  You wanted to do what now?

  “Wait, hold on.” Levi shook his head, slowly trying to digest your words. “You want us to have sex?”

  “We’re not really going to do it!” you slapped his shoulder blades. “Just create some noise and thuds here and there to make it seem like we are doing it.”

  The male internally groaned before hesitantly agreeing with your plan. If it means that this stupid fabrication of a relationship would be done, he’d follow suit.

  You could hear the loud pounding of your heart inside your ribcage as you sat on one of the chairs in Levi’s office. Patiently, waiting for the fated moment where Hange would be knocking on the door. Butterflies flew around in your stomach, you couldn’t believe that Levi would actually cooperate with the stupid plan you had just conjured up at a moment’s notice.

  The thought of him moaning and grunting made your core burn with desire. As much as you want to calm yourself, you couldn’t help but stir up images and scenes in your mind as to how Levi would look like while having sex. You don’t know which was a better view: him on top of you or you riding him.

  Heat rushed to your cheeks at the thought. Why does he have to be so goddamn sexy that you couldn’t resist the man?

  “Oi,” Levi called out to you. Though, his eyes never left the paper in his hands as he scanned it. “Quiet down will you? Your foot tapping against the floor irritates me.”

  Oh, it was a mindless action of yours when you get too nervous. By bouncing your legs up and down, it helps you calm down and ignore the growing pit of anxiety in your stomach. Nonetheless, you mumbled a quick apology to the male then resorted to fumbling with the collars of your uniform.

  Soon enough, you heard the soft humming of Hange outside, her footsteps increasing in sound as she draws near the door. You and Levi looked at each other, it was showtime.

  You abruptly stood up, arms flailing around as you glanced between the male and the door. Wait, what do you need to do again? And why is Levi still sitting in his chair and not doing anything?

  “Levaii!” Hange knocked. “I got more paperwork for you!”

  The doorknob rattled, but you instantly had the metal in your grasp in attempts to keep the female out of the room.

  “Huh…?” you could hear Hange utter. “Levi?”

  In a panicked state, your mind blanked out as words fail to escape your lips. You shot a pleading look to Levi, to which he rose a brow.

  Help me you bitch! You mouthed.

  He shot you a confused look. It’s your plan, do it, the male mouthed back.

  You gulped down your saliva, shaky hands gripping the doorknob tighter as the brunette jostle it. Time seemed to stop as you suddenly remember one hole in the plan. One important thing that you have overlooked that could potentially blow your cover.

  You don’t know how to moan.

   A soft whine emanated from your throat. The things you have to do just to preserve your dignity.

   “DON’T COME IN! WE’RE uh-… WE’RE HAVING SEX!” you shouted on top of your lungs, too distressed to rethink your words all over again. But now it was too late.

  “W-what?” Hange’s voice was muffled by the wooden door.

   “Levi. Moan. Now.” You whispered, practically begging the male for his help.

   “Why do I have to moan?” he stood up and made his way around the desk to approach you.

   “JUST-… Just create one sexual sound! A grunt, a moan, a whine! I don’t care. Just make a sound.”

   Levi shot you an irked expression, his nose crinkling up. It’s not that he doesn’t know how to moan (unlike a certain someone), but because he had the initial thought that you would be moaning and Levi would be just hitting the wooden desk over and over again to elicit sex noises. Still, he felt his heart strings being pulled as he looked at your eyes with tears threatening to fall out of them. Your tearducts filled to the brim with the salty liquid. Levi would be a good guy for once, right? 

    He would surely regret his future actions. Big time.

   With a sigh, the male pulled you along with him to the couch. His hands guiding your hips to sit on top of his lap whilst he smashed his lips with yours. Air got caught in your throat as Levi’s hands roamed around—exploring every inch of your body—while his mouth moved in attempts to get yours to move also. You never expected that he would be pressing his lips against yours in a heated dance—a wet one at that matter. Levi’s tongue kept darting and swiping at your bottom lip, which was an oddly delightful sensation that it makes you want to—

  “Hngghh…”

  Moan.

  Your hands curled up, clutching Levi’s shirt and wrinkling it up in the process. Pleasure clouded your mind as hormones took over your system. Testing the waters, you opened your mouth—just a slight—so that his pink muscle could enter your wet cavern. And heavens above, it was such a blissful experience.

  Levi exhaled into the kiss to which the air slightly ticked your cheeks. He used one hand to bring your head closer to his so that he could taste more of you, while the other started peeling the jacket off of you, going just past your shoulder blades. A quiet moan slipped past your lips once again.

  “Okay, I call bullshit. I am entering,” Hange announced, prying open the doors only to gasp loudly upon seeing the scene before her. “OH. YOU WERE SERIOUS?”

  Levi broke away to glare at the brunette, “Tch. Do you mind? Four eyes?”

   You are in such a daze that you find yourself staring at Levi’s lips. In that brief moment, you already missed the feeling of his mouth against yours. 

   The female blinked, too stunned as she stared at the both of you. One powerless lieutenant, with your first few buttons undone and jacket slipping down, sitting on Levi’s lap. Your lower area flush against the male’s ever-growing erection. Not to mention the bewildered expression that you have with a lewd undertone. Hange swore that she saw a string of saliva between yours and Levi’s lips.

   “Ah yes. I’ll just place these here, no biggie. Hehe.” The brunette let out an awkward laugh, placing the stacks of paper in the corner of the room. “Have fun you two!”

  That said, Hange left the room. Her steps were heavy against the cobblestone floor as she rushed away from the vicinity. A grin on her face as she thought of spreading the news that you and Levi are doing at the moment in his room. Not even minding that she lost the bet with you since you had proved to her that indeed the captain is capable of love. A juicy information such as this is worth half of her salary for the month.

   Levi brought your attention to him by kissing you once again. This time, with more force as he pried your mouth open once again with his tongue alone. It was a slippery battle; one-sided, in fact, considering that you weren’t fighting back. You simply let him wrestle with your tongue, yours and his saliva mixing in the process.

  Damn, you really couldn’t hold your moan in this time.

  “Would you look at that?” Levi pulled away. “You know how to moan, after all.”

  You swore, the tips of his lips curled upwards in a small smirk and there was a dark glint in his eyes.

  “Wh-Wha—” you were a loss for words. “What did you—…What was that?”

  “It’s a kiss, dumbass.”

  “That’s not what I meant! Y-your tongue—”

  He rose a brow at you. “What about it?”

  You sealed your mouth shut, heat rushing to your face in embarrassment. “Just… just don’t do that again.”

  Levi kept a firm grip on your waist as you wriggled. “Shut up, you obviously liked it. You even opened your mouth.”

  “Did not!”

  “Then why did you moaned into the kiss?”

  You suck in a breath, cat catching your tongue.

  “Though so…” he murmured, diving into your neck to pepper it with light kisses. Head too filled with pleasure, you gripped his shirt in your closed fists as you let out one shaky breath. It takes all of your nerves just to swallow that one moan threatening to come out.

  “Hng- Levi. You could stop now, Hange saw us already.”

  He hummed, pulling back slightly to gaze into your eyes. There was a hint of lust hidden within his silver orbs. You gulped, finding yourself wrapped around his fingers.

   “Why won’t we make your lie come true?” Levi sunk his teeth in your neck.

   Guess who is getting laid tonight.

[siren-dragon]

Cultural Studies -- The Cat Returns fanfic

Hello again, guess who wrote another one-shot! Anyway, this prompt came to me (along with several others, lol) so I decided to write something for it. Also, big thanks to everyone who enjoyed my first story. Also, Haru’s outfit is based on the yukata from the Love Nikki game and I may draw something for this story at a later date. Anyway, please enjoy!

AO3 story link    Tagging: @mysticsoulgirl

Prompt: Summer Fireworks Festival

=======================================================

Though the Sanctuary, and by extension the Cat Bureau itself, experienced many a visitor wishing for assistance with one thing or another- it wasn’t exactly a stationary place. True, anyone could follow Muta from the Crossroads and through the twists and turns of Japan’s alleys to locate the entryway arch, but that wasn’t truly the Bureau’s physical location. Anyone who was in need could find the Sanctuary entrance, all they had to do was merely look for it. So, while Baron was not unaccustomed to a variety of clients (even if the quantity seemed to have diminish over the years), it was always a study in new cultures when a guest appeared. Even when the cat figurine made a point to be open and courteous to a visitor, there were often a few things he gained new knowledge of.

“A fireworks festival? I’m afraid I’ve not heard of such a thing before.” He spoke, handing Haru a now size-appropriate cup thanks to the Bureau’s magic.

The dark brunette offered a small word of thanks and a bright smile before continuing. “Really? Oh, they’re great fun. Originally it was started as a festival for the dead; to mourn the lost one while celebrating life. But nowadays it’s just a fun activity to watch while eating festival food with friends.”

“Did I hear someone mention food?” Muta spoke, closing the front door behind him. “Hey Chicky, you bring any snacks with you today?”

From the upstairs balcony came a snort of displeasure. “You ever think of anything aside from your stomach,” Toto drawled, rolling his eyes at the cat’s one-track mind.

“What was that birdbrain?!”

“Oh, come on, think of a new insult piggy-cat!”

Before the fight could escalate anymore Haru, now a more convenient size for Baron’s home, rose from her seat on the sofa and lifted a bag where the scent of sugar and fresh fruit wafted throughout the room. “If you two are going to fight, then Baron and I will eat this by ourselves- including the mulberries I got special for you Toto.”

Both cat and crow immediately silenced themselves before tossing a glare at the other, “You got lucky, big chicken.”

“Sure thing, marshmallow.”

Baron sighed, taking out the necessary cutlery before Muta decided to forego the use of utensils. “Muta, have you experienced such festivals in the Human Realm?”

“What festivals?”

“The fireworks festival coming up this weekend,” Haru clarified as she handed Toto the collection of mulberries she brought.

It was here that the ex-con feline grinned, “oh yeah. Gotta love summer festivals in Japan with all their fried food and sweets. Best time to be a cat.”

Toto snickered, “why am I not surprised; you only think from your stomach.”

“Shut up!”

“There’s also games where you can win prizes and some shops as well. And at the end there is large fireworks show everyone watches to celebrate the summer season.” It was here that Haru’s excited smile seemed to dim slightly, “I was going to go with Hiromi, but she has a family reunion to attend. And my Mom will be out of town during that weekend- so I’ll just be watching it from my house.”

As a figurine being made out of wood, anything associated with fire was typically something Baron tried to actively avoid. And while he would deny it fervently later onto a rather smug looking Muta and Toto, the slightly disheartened expression on Haru’s face sent a rather unpleasant sensation through his chest sent nearly all thoughts of self-preservation out the window. It reminded him of their previous adventure in the Cat Kingdom; with her clad in a fine, pale-yellow gown and wearing a look of absolute despair despite it having been her so called “wedding day”. And so, it was not 2 seconds later that he found the words tumbling from his lips without any kind of second thought.

“Perhaps we can accompany you to this festival instead, Haru.”

That certainly caused the brunette to stare at him in surprise, yet a spark of joy danced within her caramel eyes. “Really? You guys would want to go with me?”

“Hey, if there’s food then you can count me in.” Muta shrugged, finishing his slice of chiffon cake.

Toto nodded, “I’m sure it’d be a great experience; what with the lack of clients to the Bureau.”

Haru beamed brightly with sheer delight, “Thank you everyone, I’m sure you all will love it!”

When Haru had finally left for the day, a definite spring in her step, Muta couldn’t help but turn a sly grin to his fellow feline. “Well, that was rather generous of you to volunteer us for something you didn’t even know about till 30 minutes ago.”

“I’m not sure what you are inquiring Muta. It was quite clear that Miss Haru was looking forward to this festival and it would be unbecoming of a gentleman to allow her to merely remain home alone and miss the event entirely.”

Toto nodded, “I have to say, I agree with Baron on this one. But I don’t think it was that difficult to persuade you after that melancholic expression crossed her face.”

Baron gave a displeased frown to his colleague’s rambunctious laughter, which did nothing to hide the slight tint of pink beneath his cream-colored fur. Honestly, since when was chivalrous behavior become a source of mockery? And yet… the sight of Haru’s joyful smile was more than worth it.

“So, are you going to wear a yukata?”

“A what?”

That answer only made the hefty white cat laugh louder.

 ======================================================

“Muta… are you quite sure that this garment is placed on correctly.”

“If the picture is anything to go by, then yeah. Besides; you can’t wear a suit with tails to a summer festival- you’ll stick out too much.” The large cat answered, glancing down at the newspaper advertisement in his hands before looking back to his much shorter friend. “Hmm, I think that’s right.”

“You idiot, tie for the sash is supposed to be in the back.” Toto commented, taking the advertisement with his beak to compare the image to Baron’s new attire. “See, there isn’t a giant bow in the front.”

“Okay first, it’s called an obi and second, stop butting in birdbrain!”

“I wouldn’t have to if you knew what you were doing, fluff-ball!”

Baron was going to attempt to silence their bickering before the sash about his waist loosened slightly causing the robe to flutter open and expose part of his chest and collarbone before the ginger feline took hold of the garment’s sides and quickly held them closed. He briefly wondered if it would perhaps be better to merely wear his typical suit before a knock sounded on the door- halting Muta and Toto’s argument. The crow quickly flew toward the door and swiftly opened the door to reveal Haru. She too was clad in a traditional yukata of navy blue with ivory and cream-colored stars swirling around a crescent moon at the hem of the dress before continuing upward. The sash wrapped around her waist took on a pale blue color while the right sleeve of her dress shifted colors; with the stars now dark and the fabric white shade. Though her hair was cut short, it was still pinned back by a blue, yellow, and orange silk flower with the latter two colors matching the shade of his own fur. To be perfectly honest, she looked quite breath-taking.

“Baron are you wearing a yukata?” She grinned, noticing his change of attire immediately which only made the statuette cling to the folds of the loosened robe all the more tightly. “I didn’t even know you had one!”

“Well, Muta saw fit to inform me this is the traditional attire for a summer festival so it is a recent addition to my wardrobe. However, I seem to be having a bit of trouble actually dressing.” He answered, unable to prevent the sigh from leaving his lips at his current dishevelment.

Haru giggled, placing her small bag on the sofa before approaching him. “Don’t worry, it’s always challenging for a first-timer. Here, you just need a little bit of adjusting…”

Despite his attempt to remain calm at the innocent offer, Baron couldn’t help the heat rushing to his face as Haru approached and began shifting the obi about his waist he had attempted to tie on earlier. He still kept his hand clenched about the folds of the yukata as Haru expertly straightened the robe, to which he gave her a very grateful smile. Soon he was now properly clothed, even wearing the haori properly before Haru stepped back to admire her handy work (though Baron felt a slight twinge of disappointment at her shift away from him). “There we go, a perfect fit.”

“Thank you, Haru. And may I say, you look lovely as well.”

She beamed at his reply as she moved to retrieve her bag. “Thanks Baron. But if you wanted to wear a yukata, I could have helped you find one.”

Muta shook his head, “that would have ruined the surprise Chicky. Plus, nothing was more amusing than watching Baron try to put it on.”

“As always, your assistance is greatly appreciated Muta.” Baron replied dryly, remembering the past hour where both his friends tried to guide him in how to wear the clothes.

As they walked through the archway of the Sanctuary, Muta walked ahead of them now on all fours while Toto took to the skies. However, as soon as Baron exited alongside Haru, he grew till he was once more a head taller than the dark-haired young woman instead of a foot-tall figurine. But the fact that his feline appearance remained gave Haru pause- knowing most would not really take the appearance of a half-cat man kindly (even if people believed it to be a ridiculously realistic mask). But it seemed her thoughts were rather evident on her face, because Baron was quick to assuage her fears. “Do not worry Haru, there is a spell in place masking my real appearance. You are the only one who can see the truth.”

“I didn’t know you can use such spells, Baron.” She asked curiously.

He nodded, offering his arm to her which she gladly accepted. “Yes, though I am afraid they are only temporary. But I thought this would make our evening engagement far more enjoyable without any disturbances from bewildered onlookers.”

“It’s no trouble at all, actually I think it’s a good idea. It does make me curious as to how your disguise looks.”

Baron paused and gestured to the glass window of a shop they were walking past, “see for yourself.”

Turning to the window, Haru looked at Baron’s reflection nearly jumped in alarm upon not seeing the familiar feline characteristics she had come to cherish. Instead, the face of a young man who looked a few years older than herself gazed back at her from the reflection. His hair was a light tawny blonde the same shade as Baron’s fur, perfectly coiffed to suit the Creation’s usual debonair attire. Where once fur and whiskers existed was now fair skin and a rather amused smile taking in her slightly bewildered expression. Yet despite the disguise, Haru took comfort in the fact that Baron’s eyes were still the same shade of mint-green.

“That is rather impressive, if a bit shocking at first.” She laughed a little nervously.

Baron frowned, “does it bother you too much?”

“No, it’s not that,” she answered with a shake of her head before beaming up at him. “I just prefer you the way you are, that’s all.”

It was the second time in the past few days that Baron found his words failing him once again at her kind, yet honest words.

 ======================================================

Perhaps the first thing that caught Baron’s attention were the vibrant banners illuminated by dozens of lights and lanterns. The street was lined with colorful booths, each hosting a different attraction as friends and families traveled back and forth to every single one. It was a rather jarring change from the peace and quiet of the Cat Bureau, but as he glanced down at the excited grin on Haru’s face as she enthusiastically explained each booth’s function, Baron couldn’t help the pleased smile drifting across his face. “So then, what would you recommend we do first?”

“Food, I’m starving!” Muta cried from about their legs before he bolted down the street, causing several people to laugh at the rather large cat obviously following the scent of frying food. “Takoyaki, here I come!”

Haru laughed, “well, food always is a good choice. Though we’d best pace ourselves, festival food is great, but not exactly healthy.”

“Then I shall follow your lead, Haru.” Baron added, glancing around briefly with a bit of confusion drifting across his face, “I must admit, I thought a fireworks festival would have more of that particular attraction.”

“That happens at the end of the night, mainly because it’ll be darker and it’ll give us a chance to see most of the booths before we have to find seats to watch the fireworks. But we’d best find Muta before he manages to pilfer too many snacks.”

Baron chuckled, “I think it’s more of his charming attitude that wins him such favors.”

Haru couldn’t help but laugh at that, and judging from the faint cawing above their heads, Toto heard it as well. “Well, we’d best hurry before that charm gets a bit carried away.”

The couple soon found their way further into the festival and managed to find Muta, who looked rather smug at having charmed a piece of taiyaki from a group of teenage girls. True to her word, Haru managed to procure a few treats for them all to try, ranging from takoyaki to kakigori to some onigiri before they walked to where Toto waited upon a nearby but isolated tree. Muta had nearly claimed all of the takoyaki while Toto took a liking to the plain onigiri and the roasted chestnuts Baron was eating. Though Baron was not overly found of the deep-fried food, he couldn’t deny that the kakigori Haru offered was quite delicious.

As the sun soon sank below the horizon and the sky turned dark with the coming night, many people started moving away from the bright lights of the festival stalls to await the oncoming fireworks display. “We don’t really want to be too close to all the larger crowds, so we’ll stay on the outskirts instead.” Haru informed them, taking a seat beside the grass. “And I wanted to thank you guys again, for coming with me.”

“Nonsense Haru, this was most enjoyable and we were happy to accompany you.”

“Even though you had to forgo your suit?” She replied with a teasing grin.

Baron gave a slightly sheepish look, “I will admit that dressing did pose quite the challenge, but well worth the effort.”

“Even still, thank you for being such a good sport about it. And I’m glad you had a good time.” Haru chimed happily, turning to look at the ever-growing groups awaiting the final event of the festival. “Hopefully we’ll be able to see everything with so many people…”

“Well, we merely need a seat with a view; and I believe I may have a solution.”

“What do you mean by that?”

The ginger gentle-cat only offered her a hand with a secret smile, “Just trust me.”

At the familiar words, Haru rested her hand upon his and watched as the world around them seemed to stretch upward as her height plummeted to its usual size whenever she visited the Bureau. Toto then landed beside them, offering a place upon his back with Baron holding on tightly the Stone Creations black feathers and Haru wrapping her arms about his waist. Once they were situated on the now gigantic crow, Toto rose high into the air (though not before snatching Muta in his claws much to the large cat’s displeasure while muttering something that sounded like “always a showoff.”) before gliding through the evening sky.

They were only flying for a few minutes before a high-pitched whistle sounded only to be followed by a large explosion of white and gold lights as the fireworks show began. Haru watched in silent amazement as they soared the atmosphere as each of the colorful illuminations danced around them like falling stars. She a joyful laugh at sheer sight of the fireworks show from a literal bird’s eye perspective, “alright, now this is a view.”

“I must agree,” Baron added, though it was hard to hear over the sound of the fireworks.

Moving her head forward, Haru placed a gentle kiss upon Baron’s fur-covered cheek before leaning to rest her cheek against his back. “Just for the record, this is the best fireworks festival I’ve ever been to.”

And for the third time in Haru’s presence, Baron found himself at a loss for words as a pleasing warmth started to overcome his face. Yet as he turned to watch the brilliant lights display with the young woman beside him, he had to admit that it certainly was an enjoyable evening.

[t0wnspersonb]

Reignition (Kozume Kenma x Reader)

Word Count: 2,147

Anonymous said:

Hi! I love your work so much! I was wondering if you could do a Kenma x reader? Where theyre really good childhood friends, but she moved to miyagi (karasuno) for highschool. So then they meet at the training camp and have rekindled feelings?? Sorry if yhis doesnt make sense! Again, I love your work so much!!!!

~~~~

I don’t know why I made this one so long lol. This was a lot of fun to write, anything that has to do with the training camp makes me so happy lmao. I hope you like this one anon! I hope I was able to write it how you wanted!

Another reminder that requests are closing on Saturday! I’m going through them all slowly but surely, after I finish these requests I probably won’t be taking them again for a while, so I can write up some other stories of mine to share with you guys! Anyway, I hope you guys are having a good week!

~~~~

You sighed in exhaustion as you walked through the doors with the chaotic duo. You were never going to babysit these two ever again, no matter what Daichi or Sugawara said.

 If it wasn’t for them you would have already been at the training camp with everyone else, helping Shimizu and Yachi with the manager duties. But fate just wasn’t one your side this time, fearing that the two would ditch their supplementary exams and try to go to Tokyo on their own, Daichi had requested that you stay with them until the exams were done.

 Which meant that you had to also suffer through a crazy drive with Big Sister Saeko, and as much as you loved her, you just so happened to love your life just a tad bit more to never want to suffer through that again. 

 Now you were just exhausted, luckily from the looks of it the practice matches were going to be wrapping up soon, which meant food, showering and a good night’s sleep.

 You sighed once again, your eyes flickering over to your team, you could feel multiple pairs of eyes on you as the three of you walked further into the gym.

 “Thanks for watching them Y/n-chan.” Daichi called out as you approached everyone.

 “You owe me senpai.” was all you said as you walked passed them towards Shimizu and Yachi, wanting to get caught up on what happened while you were gone; completely oblivious to two pairs of lingering eyes coming from the Nekoma team.

 “Must be nice having three managers,” Kuroo muttered, his eyes focusing in on your small figure. “I wonder if that one is new like the blonde one.”

 Of course, everyone’s eyes lingered on your figure a tad bit longer than necessary, curious as to why Karasuno managed to have three managers, and well, because you were incredibly cute. It was fitting that you too would be part of the team, considering there were already two other cute managers.

 The lucky bastards. 

 “Shoyo had mentioned earlier that they convinced one of their managers to come back to the team…” Kenma said quietly, his cat-like eyes following your every movement. “That’s probably her…”

 Of course, Kenma had noticed how good looking you were, but the air of familiarity was too much. He couldn’t help but wonder if he had met you before.

 “Why must the universe be so cruel!?” Yamamoto cried out. 

 Kenma sighed to himself. There was never any peace.

 ***

 “Ne, ne Shoyo! Who was that other manager that walked in with you!?” Inuoka asked curiously.

 Even though Kenma never removed his eyes from his game, he couldn’t help but to sit up straighter, ears perked up. Of course, he was curious too, you seemed incredibly familiar to him. 

 “Oh Y/n-senpai!” Hinata grinned. “She’s a second year at Karasuno, she’s been a manager since her first year.”

 “How come I didn’t see her at the practice match?” Inuoka pondered aloud.

 “Y/n-senpai’s health is very fragile! She was sick for a while and her parents made her quit. But she loves volleyball so much that she begged to come back to the team. Plus, she’s really pretty and a good manager!” Hinata gloated, eyes shining brightly.

 Y/n… Kenma ignored the sudden race to his heart. He knew that name, he knew that name very well. In all honesty, he had never expected hearing it again, much less seeing you again.

 It had been years.

 He couldn’t help but wonder if you remembered him too. 

 Of course, he would remember you, his first love. The one that got away, the other person that he used to play with when he was younger other than - oh that’s right, Kuroo.

 Did Kuroo recognize you too?

 You did look different from when you were younger now that he thinks about it. 

 But then again, he looked different too. Kuroo maybe not so much. Just bigger, still just as annoying though.

 “Well I should get going. We’re playing you guys first thing in the morning!” Hinata said, waving goodbye.

 First thing in the morning?

 Then maybe… he could see you again, right?

 ****

 It was too early, way too early; especially with how rowdy the boys were already being.

 It wasn’t just your boys either, but four extra teams on top of yours? 

 How were you going to survive this training camp?

 “You’ve been sighing a lot this morning, Y/n-chan. Are you feeling okay? Do you need to go rest?” Shimizu asked, a slight concern to her voice.

 “I’m fine senpai; I’m just thinking about how lively everyone is. It’s going to be a long trip isn’t it?” You grimaced, eyes scanning the sea of boys that were currently eating breakfast right now and -

 “Oi! Yuu! Leave Tsukki alone before you break his glasses!” You called out to the libero, pointing the ladle in your hand at him accusingly, eyebrow raised as if daring him to challenge you. 

 The said male apologized, releasing his grip on the tall blonde and sitting down.

 You sighed again, ignoring the giggles of the other managers around you.

 “Y/n-chan is the best at handling our first-year duo and second year duo. They always listen to her, and she’s always looking out for them.” Shimizu explained, a small smile grazing her lips. 

 “Unwillingly.” You stated, “apparently my title as a manager has ‘babysitter’ in it. If I knew Daichi-senpai was going to make me watch those four when he can’t I wouldn’t have come back.” You started saying as you began serving the boys that finally came in for breakfast.

 “I guess I do have some practice,” you begin saying, eyes fixated on the food in front of you as you serve. “when I was younger, I used to play with these two boys that were -” your eyes widened as you looked up to the next set of boys you were about to plate.

 Kuroo looked at you in shock for a moment before a wide grin stretched across his face. While Kenna stood there frozen, although his heart rate was through the roof. 

 “Oya oya oya. If it isn’t little Y/n-chan. I didn’t even recognize you the other day. Who would have thought you’d be a manager at our rival school?” Kuroo said slyly.

 “Tetsu… You look the same.” you grimaced.

 “Oi why are you making that face!?” Kuroo huffed angrily before his eyes slid over to Kenma who was just… staring at you.

 The sweetest smile grazed your lips, your eyes wide and bright and… were you blushing?

 “Kenma.” You said softly.

 He could have died right there, it felt like all the bars in his health evaporated into nothing as soon as you looked at him and said his name. 

 He definitely died and went straight to heaven; especially with a smile like that. 

 “Y/n.” he mumbled softly, eyes flickering away from you, burning holes into his food, ignoring the two pair of eyes that were now staring at him.

 “You’re still just as shy as before.” you laughed softly as you served your childhood friends.

 “We’ll have to catch up sometime Y/n-chan.” Kuroo said before walking off to find a table. 

 “Kenma.” you called out before he could scurry away with Kuroo. He glanced at you once more, pausing for you to continue.

 “I’ve missed you. We should catch up soon.” you said quietly, a soft blush beginning to coat your cheeks.

 “Yeah.” he nodded at you once more before walking off, leaving your heart racing and your cheeks flushed.

 Even after all these years... could that be considered true love? You wondered, ignoring the giggles, and pointed looks all of the other girls were giving you.

 But internally you were squealing as well.

 ****

 The next couple of days you did exactly what you said you would do; you caught up with your childhood friends. 

 When you had finally returned for the week-long training camp, you were glued to the Nekoma team, much to Karasuno’s annoyance.

 Right now, you were handing out watermelon, a sweet smile glued to your face as you made sure your boys got some and then making sure that Nekoma did as well. 

 “Do you want seconds Kenma?” you asked, sitting next to the pudding haired boy. His eyes slid over to you before he shook his head and took out his phone, pulling up a mobile game.

 You scooted closer to him, your head finding his shoulders, eyes glued to the screen.

 You felt Kenma stiffen at the sudden contact, but soon relaxed as you guys drifted into comfortable silence. 

 This was all too familiar, you would always watch Kenma play video games when you were younger, it was entertaining and it didn’t involve strenuous work, which meant it was great for you due to your fragile health. 

 Plus, you got to be close to him, that was another bonus.

 Kenma ignored the racing of his heart and tried to beat down the smugness that filled his body as he received envious looks from the others. 

 The two of you were always close, you were the one person he didn’t mind receiving affection from, although it never really appeared that way.

 “Oi Y/n-chan, can you fill up our water bottles before the next match?” Kuroo called out. 

 “I’m not your manager Tetsurou. But I guess.” You rolled your eyes at him, heaving yourself up and dusting off your shorts.

 “I’ll go with you Y/n.” Kenma said quietly, putting his phone back into his pocket as he stood up.

 You couldn’t help the blush and smile that spread across your face at his offer, that just meant you got to spend more time with him, you’d fill up Nekoma’s water bottles any day if it meant more time with Kenma.

 Kenma was quiet as you talked about everything and anything as you guys walked towards the water fountains.

 It wasn’t that he was ignoring you, rather, his head was consumed by thoughts of you. He wanted to voice his feelings, he could only assume that you liked him too, from the way you acted around him, the way you treated him.

 Even though you guys were apart for years, it felt like you had never left his side. Everything was familiar, everything was comfortable, he liked that, he liked that a lot.

 “- As much as I admire and respect my senpais, it’s just not fair that they want me to teach those two on top of babysitting them and -” 

 “Y/n.” Kenma interrupted your animated storytelling, his slender fingers gently grabbing at your hand that held a water bottle.

 You looked up at him in surprise. 

 Why…. why was he looking at you like that? You could feel heat beginning to creep up into your cheeks, your stomach twisting with butterflies.

 Kenma’s piercing eyes bore into your own, there was a softness to them, but there was also a hardened look of determination.

 “What’s wrong?” You asked quietly, placing the water bottle down and you turned your body towards him completely. 

 He grasped both of your hands in his, eyes flickering down to stare at them before they softly trailed up your arms until they rested gently on top of your shoulders.

 “Do you like me?” he asked, peering down at you.

 “W-What are you talking about?” you asked nervously, eyes flickering away from his intense gaze. “O-Of course I like you Kenma, you’re my best -”

 “That’s not what I mean.” He cut you off. “If you don’t like me then you can push me away, but I’m not going to hold back anymore.” 

 “What do you mean hold back -”

 Oh.

 Oh.

 He was kissing you. Kenma’s lips were surprisingly soft and slightly cold, but they fit perfectly against your own. The kiss was lingering and gentle, hesitant almost.

 But it was your first kiss.

 Your first kiss with your best friend, your crush since childhood, your first love. It was… it was perfect. 

 This was perfect.

 All too soon he pulled away, taking a small step back to give you some space.

 Both of your faces flushed.

 Someone cleared their throat loudly, causing you guys to jump further away from each other.

 “I was wondering what was taking you guys so long.” Kuroo grinned wickedly. “If I would have known you guys were sucking face, I wouldn’t have come.”

 “Shut up Kuroo.” Kenma scowled.

 “So… did you guys finally confess to each other?” he asked, ignoring him completely.

 “Y/n is mine.” Kenma said simply, finishing up the last water bottle, grabbing your hand gently and tugging you away. “Since you’re here Kuroo you can take the water bottles back to the gym.” 

 A soft giggle escaped your lips as he tugged you away, causing a small smile to erupt on his face.

 “Damn you Kenma!” Kuroo yelled out. 

[pomegranates-and-blood]

νοσταλγία (Chapter 38)

νοσταλγία Masterlist

Pairing: Ivar/Reader

Word Count: 5.8k

Warnings: The usual, plus like a heap of angst (or my poor attempt at it), a lot of stuff around broken bones, and mentions of injuries. And holy shit a lot of Persephone/Hades talk. A lot of it.

A/N: I hope you like this, and I’m sorry if tis is ooc, everything I write for Ivar feels ooc lately for me, and tbh I don’t know how to get better lol. Thank you for reading!

You never really considered, when you decided to tell Ivar about the Greeks, that maybe your lies were never for the sake of others.

That maybe pretending to love Narses was not for him to be safe and comfortable enough to lay all he had at your feet, but for you to be able to pretend it was something purer, softer, gentler than revenge what drove you to start that hopeless war against the Christians and their God.

That maybe the reason why you would have wanted to hide from Ivar the survival of the Greeks was not for them to be safe from him, but for you to allow yourself to live in a fantasy where the borrowed time, the winter, could last a lifetime.

You never considered it, and now you live with a weight on you that for once is caused by you telling the truth. Sometimes you wonder about the irony of it all.

You insisted to Ivar that nothing changed, that nothing had to change, but we don’t change the past or the present by telling a different tale.

And so things have changed. In the few days that have gone by since Ivar learned of their survival, of your meeting with Galla, a lot has changed, but at the same time, enough remains the same for you to pretend otherwise.

Pretend you don’t notice Ivar falter and hesitate at the sight of your gentleness, pretend you don’t feel the sting of pain when he sometimes rejects your affection, pretend you don’t feel your chest pull tight in pain and something else -something like nostalgia- when his eyes gain this haunted look even in the middle of something as innocuous as having dinner together.

This morning, his eyes are bluer than you’ve ever seen them, and he’s very obviously struggling, much more so than the day you saw him snap a bone out of place.

You eye him carefully as he tightens the iron braces around his legs, following his movements from your place at the foot of the bed, sitting with your legs hidden from the cold under your body and under a fur you’ve draped over them. Your refusal to get up has been deliberate, if only an attempt to lure him into choosing to not over exert himself by pretending everything is as usual.

Carefully, you start, “I don’t think you should-…”

“Ah, but I didn’t ask what you think.” He interrupts, not looking at you.

He can be annoying and infuriating when he wants to be, you know that. Knowing it doesn’t make the swell of irritation within you any lesser, but it does help you push past it, and insist,

“Just…come back to bed. If not for your sake, for mine. I don’t want to see you in pain.”

“No,” He states, unflinching, unwavering. But there’s a raw edge to it, a tinge of desperation in his resolve. Ivar stabs the crutch on the ground with more strength than needed, squares his shoulders and lifts his head. “I don’t get to stop my wife from sneaking out of our kingdom while I’m gone, I don’t get to decide when she decides to leave me,” His nose furrows in anger, and yet all that overcomes him is determination, “But I get to control this.”

“So you’ll break your bones just to hold on to control?” You call out, but he doesn’t reply with anything other than a grunt, leaving you alone in your room.

____

After more than half a day spent working with the women at the apothecary, and pointedly ignoring Valdís’ glares when she questions just why her son insists on her dipping him on the river holding him by the ankle; your relative peace is interrupted by a familiar-looking thrall coming into the home asking for a solution for the pain.

You step out from near the hearth, and Freydis shares a glance with you and steps back from the man, who looks at you with wide eyes.

You almost feel sorry for the way he seems to either fear you or your husband’s wrath so much so that his words stumble over each other as he tells you Ivar fell while inspecting the walls and broke his leg, but your sympathy for him is quickly overshadowed by concern -and more than a bit of righteous anger, because you told him so- for the man you married.

You dismiss him with short orders, and when you turn around Freydis holds a batch of comfrey in her hands, not hesitating, not even needing your words, to help you gather what you need. Her blue eyes shine with warmth when you thank her.

You are in your room waiting for him -but pretending not to by busying your hands with a mixture of chickweed seeds and primrose- when you hear the familiar pattern if Ivar’s steps, though they sound slower and more faltering than usual, and are accompanied by sounds of pain that make you grit your teeth.

“What are you doing here?”

If you weren’t told he had injured himself, that…warm welcome would have certainly let you know something was wrong.

“Have you forgotten this is my room too, love?”

“You aren’t subtle.” Ivar says, unnaturally-blue eyes set on you, even as he steps further into the room.

You answer with a shrug, “Never pretended to be.”

“They’ve put a cast on it already,” He tells you, and you can’t help but notice him not directly acknowledging the fact that he broke a bone. You eye the lower part of his left leg for a moment before meeting his gaze again. Ivar insists, “I don’t need you here.”

“I want to be here,” You reply, before changing the subject and asking, “You’ve sent scouts to find out where my people are, haven’t you?”

Ivar straightens where he stands, making himself taller and bigger, even though it makes the pain he is in all the more apparent. You have half a mind to scold him, but you bite back the words.

“Want to know where they are?” He taunts, but your answer is instantaneous,

“No.”

You make him falter for a moment; you witness the faint trembling of the mask he so cruelly wears. And there’s an inkling of regret within you, a voice telling you to remember that all you have done -and continue to do- is take away certainties from Ivar. Even if it is defeated and painful certainties, for the man you love it is better to hold on to scalding iron than to have nothing to hold on to.

Then again, he took much more than certainties from you, you think, but your soft heart keeps you from following that line of thought too far down.

He doesn’t say anything else, choosing instead to move carefully to the bed. You hear him working on the heavy iron contraptions, and you try to keep your attention on your work, but your every sense is attuned to him.

“Your Goddess, and what Hades did to keep her,” He starts suddenly, startling you with the choice of topic. Still, you are grateful he no longer insists on trying to get rid of you. “You never thought it a trick, I know that.”

You never told him that. Granted, you never told anyone that, about how you always wondered if the temptation wasn’t really hunger, if the trick wasn’t one at all.

But it doesn’t surprise you anymore how Ivar seems to be capable of seeing you bare of all lies and pretenses. He has since that first time you met, since those first conversations.

You shrug your shoulders, and turn to him, still holding the mortar and pestle in your hands.

“We can be forced to do many things. Go somewhere, even if that is another realm; accept a title, even if it is one that implies binds of marriage. But we cannot be forced to be loyal to someone.”

“So you think she chose him.”

“Chose to love him, yes. For anything else, she didn’t have a choice.”

“Who did, then?” He asks, moving to settle better where he sits with a grunt of pain that you narrow your eyes at. “Your Hades certainly didn’t either, she still leaves him each spring. That isn’t a deal that sounds like a choice, hm?”

“You cannot change nature with a trick, Ivar.”

“Ah, but it wasn’t a trick,” He lifts a finger to point at you, annoyingly smug about his retort. “I think you insist on saying there wasn’t a choice to make because you don’t like accepting the choice made, wife.”

“Your mother worshiped the Goddess of death and you still insist she was good and pure?” The Viking woman sneers, fingers toying with the carved statue of your Goddess.

“My mother worshiped Despoina, there’s a difference. The God of death is Thanatos. Despoina, she is the Queen of the Underworld.” You reply cautiously, because you know she has to know the difference, and you have the strange feeling of walking into a trap. Eventually, eyeing Sieghild with a smirk when she purses her lips, you press, “What. You surely have something to say about that.”

She shrugs, reaching for her ale and drinking before replying, “Our queens are not usually married to their captors.”

“He gave her a crown in exchange for her hand. Would you refuse?” You scoff back, as if the answer should be as clear to her as it is to you. “Hades offered her himself and his kingdom, Sieghild. A king and his reign are no small bride price.”

She starts to show a smile that tells you that in her own language of runes and one-eyed Gods she sees a deeper meaning to your answer. When you were a child you would almost fear her tales of tortured Gods and strange creatures, but now you see in those tales of fall and triumph the same honor and the same glory that Sieghild sees in them, and you delight in talking with her about her Gods and your own.

“In your Godddess’ place, would you want a king or a kingdom, little one?” She teases, and you take a sip of your wine with a smile on your lips.

“Are we not talking of the Gods?”

“Humor me.”

After a moment of consideration, you offer, “A kingdom would limit me. A king would offer me countless kingdoms if I so wanted.”

The Viking laughs, in that way of hers that speaks of a life of freedoms women in your home could never dream of, green eyes piercing on yours when she asks darkly, “And you still believe Kore was stolen?”

Unable to hold back the anger born out of uncertainty, you snap, “Since when are you so certain of the stories of my Gods, Viking?”

Ivar offers a smile, surprisingly enough not a smug or a taunting one, and instead one that is almost tender.

He considers you, head titled to the side, before he states, “I wasn’t talking about any Gods.”

And you’re face to face with too many truths for you to breathe easy, so you clear your throat and return your eyes and attention to your work.

“Willow should help with the pain, as it did last time.” You tell him instead, gathering the small vial of dark liquid and almost cringing at what you remember to be the most bitter drink you ever tasted. You hand it to Ivar, who surprises you by not arguing and downing the awful-tasting tisane in one gulp.

As you return to your small table to gather rolls of thick linen and the mixture you’ve known by heart for a while, Ivar lays down on the bed, but he is far from willing to succumb to the pain or sleep, and watches you raptly as you move about.

His eyes narrow at the things you bring with you to the bed.

“And what is that for?”

“Salves and presses always work best, especially with injuries like these,” You explain simply, noting the way he immediately sets to argue and rushing to insist, “I want to help, and you have no reason not to let me,” You state, unwavering. For emphasis, you raise your chin and remind him, “I’m the best healer in Kattegat.”

“I didn’t marry you because you were a healer, I don’t need your help.”

“I could argue once again that there ought to be a reason why the woman you married is a gifted healer, but I know it would be pointless, since our marriage was fated by the Gods only when it’s convenient to you,” You point out, the slightest tone of tease in your voice, “Instead, consider this from my perspective.”

Ivar’s chest expands in a slow breath, but he bites, “Which is?”

“That the man I love is in pain, and I know how to help.”

“You already gave me the…the tisane that worked last. It is done with,” He offers, the tell of irritation and anger at being put on the spot like this clear in his tone as he speaks, “You don’t have to…touch them, or s-see them.”

“Ivar…”

I didn’t want you to…to see. Thought I could make you forget. He told you once, the mark of pain heavy on his stance and his expression, and an uncharacteristic resignation lacing his voice.

It surprises you, even though you know you should know him better than to expect any different, that a part of him, however quietened in these months of faint moments of pain and scarce episodes of what he perceives as weakness, still tries to keep his condition from you.

You know that rationally Ivar knows he can’t exactly hide it from you. From the way he walks, to the very clear tell of the blue hue of his eyes, there’s not much he could ever do to keep you from noticing.

But he admitted to it himself, to wanting to keep you from noticing the graver problems with his legs, to wanting to hide from you the way sometimes the pain gets to be too much to bear. In these last few days, it has become more and more apparent, with him adverting his gaze when you mention the blue tone of his eyes; refusing to let you see him bare even if he has seen you countless times since you’ve crossed that barrier days ago; and even now, after everything, not letting you do the one thing you’ve been taught to do all your life.

“You know you don’t have to,” He tells you, looking pointedly over your shoulder, refusing to meet your gaze but still too stubborn to lower his eyes. “J-Just leave it be, it will heal, everything will be n-normal soon, and I-…”

You interrupt him with a soft call of his name, silencing his protests and making his eyes finally meet yours. Your chest pulls tight at the apprehension and the uncertainty you see written in them, but you do not falter.

“Trust me?” Is all you ask, voice quiet and eyes set unwaveringly on him. Your stomach tightens as you watch the conflict in his expression, and pale blue eyes search yours looking for something you aren’t sure he finds because you don’t know what it is.

Eventually, Ivar takes a breath, a breath that you think was supposed to be a deep breath but sounds only shaky and sharp, and nods his head. You exhale slowly, knowing what it means that he allows you this, that he trusts you with this, and move further down on the bed so you sit on your side next to the length of his legs, your own folded underneath you.

You need only lift the left leg of the pants a little over his knee, but Ivar tenses and coils his body tight as if you are baring him of any armor. In a way, maybe you are.

Hands carefully folded over his stomach, you catch a glimpse of a tremble in them before he tightens his hold on his own fingers, knuckles white and the trembling once again under careful control. You spare only a glance, before completely focusing on his exposed leg.

It is frailly thin, though you didn’t really expect any different, and it looks knobby and bears many scars, some deeper than others.

You linger on the badly-set bone that has long since healed in a bad position, and wonder how long it has been since a proper healer has tended to a fracture like this. Still, the latest of the breaks has been properly set and the linen put around it seems strong enough.

You take it off trying to move Ivar’s leg as little as possible, and think what kind of cast the men and women that have taught you to be a healer would use for this, wondering what improvements or changes they would make to work around the braces Ivar wears, that you know are not made with comfort for a broken bone in mind.

“T-Talk,” Ivar orders gruffly, startling you from your work on the comfrey and the ganglong you are so lucky to have found all the way in Scandinavia. You lift your head to look at him, but Ivar doesn’t meet your eyes, looking intently at the ceiling. At your silence, he insists, “It is never good when you’re quiet. Talk.”

“About what?”

“Anything.”

“Are you in a lot of pain?”

“I said talk, not ask questions.” He replies shortly, clear tell of gritted teeth in his voice. You don’t know if because of annoyance or pain, but you are smart enough to figure that it is best not to ask.

“Well,” You mumble, blinking a couple of times before you find something to say, “I once was mentored by a man that could know where a bone had been merely splintered with but a touch. I am…not nearly as proficient yet,” You smile slightly at the memory. He was from so far East that the people that traveled with you used to whisper he was from another Empire, and he had strict ways but he was a good teacher. You continue, “I’m using a plant he taught me to work with. Helps with healing, and with swelling. Not so much with pain. Comfrey helps with that,” You recall another memory and chuckle to yourself as you press the salve onto Ivar’s cold skin, and continue, “I…I was taught comfrey is incredibly useful when healing broken bones when I just started working as a healer, and I was still young, and…careless. Once, my mother was badly hurt in a battle. She had some of her ribs badly bruised, and was also nicked by a spear. They wrapped her torso with treatment for her wound before her bones, of course,” You mention, wrapping the press of herbs with a linen around Ivar’s shin. You are careful not to jostle the leg too much in fear of causing him further pain, but he doesn’t complain, and you continue, “And I was, uh, I was really worried about her ribs, so I made her an infusion using comfrey. Turns out, comfrey isn’t very safe for people to…consume. Sieghild was awfully sick for more than a week, threatened to poison my food as retribution for almost a month,” You fasten the cast he had before once again around the thin calf, and your voice turns wistful when you finish, “And she never let me forget it. Every time I made her an infusion, she would make me list the ingredients I used for it.”

You finish your work and after rolling the leg of the pant back down, you move the warm blankets and furs to cover both his legs and yours.

You look back up at Ivar, moving up on the bed so you are almost level with his face, and for as long as he needs to, you lay there, eyes on his and comfortably close even if a part of you grows anxious and searches desperately for something to say to make him lose the cautious and almost afraid edge.

His hand first settles on your wrist, lingering for a few beats before it moves up to grasp at your fingers, and you squeeze back without hesitation, lifting your joined hands to press a kiss against his knuckles, smiling up at him.

The warm specks of a dying sun linger on the room and make it feel somehow warmer, and smaller, more yours.

“I won’t do anything to the Greeks,” He starts suddenly, startling you. You hadn’t considered he would, if you are honest. Whether that makes you incredibly naïve or it makes him something other than the man that chained you, you don’t know if you want to hear the answer. Ivar takes a breath, the only indication he intends to continue talking before silence reigns between you for a few heartbeats. His voice is quiet but unwavering when he promises, “I love you, and…I know I have to let you leave.”

For a moment, with his voice so strikingly alike what it sounded like the night you told him of the Greeks, where he repeated out loud certainties for you to reassure him of and him to hold on to; you wonder whether he is trying to give you a few certainties of your own.

You try offering a smile that speaks of jest, though you are certain something much more saddened than what you intend is the result.

“They are technically your people too, you know.”

He doesn’t acknowledge your words, looking intently ahead and taking a deep breath before offering,

“You insist it is easy, you insist that…that nothing changed. That I should accept whatever time is left and forget that I promised to allow you to leave me,” His voice grows angrier and angrier the longer he speaks, but when he takes a breath, the anger is overshadowed by something else, and Ivar continues, “It isn’t easy, but I-…sometimes I forget. Sometimes you look happy here, with me, and I…I forget you’re leaving me.”

Your throat feels tight at his words, and your heart beats quickly as if trying to outrun the pain that fills your chest.

At the pain you hear in his voice, a pain you put there, it feels like your heart, no-longer-yours and trying to leave your chest with each of its beats, asks you to admit the shame and the failure and the damnation of I wish I never had to leave.

But you can’t, you can only remain quiet and advert your eyes to the side even if Ivar isn’t even looking in your direction.

“I’m…I’m being torn apart,” He confesses in a breath that shakes past his lips, eyebrows slightly raised as his expression trembles, as his strength crumbles and breaks your heart along with it. “I want to-…Sometimes I forget you are leaving, and I can pretend you won’t have to make a choice, and I am…” You cling to the way his words hang in the air between you, not realizing you lean closer and stall your breathing as if to hear the confession, not realizing until that moment how desperate you are to hear that he feels happy. But he doesn’t say it, shaking his head and returning the hardness to his tone, “But at the same time I need to remind myself that you are going to make a choice, that you will leave, because if I don’t…”

The words hang between you, but you don’t have the courage to ask him to continue, and you also don’t have the words to reply with, so silence too hangs between you soon enough.

Ivar turns on his side with a grunt of pain, and you don’t hesitate to move closer and lift your arm, his head a comfortable weight against your chest and his breaths, though labored and still hinting at a pain you cannot even imagine, familiar and warm against you.

“You should sleep,” You tell him softly, your fingers running through his hair in what you hope is a calming manner. Judging by the way his eyes flutter closed, you dare believe it is. Without thinking, you promise, “I’ll stay with you.”

You intend it to be the promise to remain in this bed for as long as he does, to keep him company and do what you can with your voice and your touch to soothe away the pain; but the moment the words leave your lips it feels like a weight dropped on you, like the reminder of the choice you will have to make.

For a moment, a fragile moment that you barely give time to be before you smother the foolish fantasy away, you pretend this is a promise you can make, and that it can mean forever and not a night.

If Ivar notices your poor choice of words, he doesn’t give it away.

Still, at your silence he speaks out, voice rougher with the pull of sleep, his words a little drawled out.

“If it wasn’t…pomegranates, what is it that keeps her there?”

You know to him they are just tales, but his curiosity for the world that has made you who you are and the Gods you’ll always hold dear to you never ceases to be…endearing, in its own way.

“I don’t know,” You answer truthfully. “This isn’t what we discuss at the temple, this isn’t…this isn’t what we are taught.”

“Were you never curious?”

“I didn’t have time to be. I left Greece when I was still a child, and when I returned…it seemed fitting, that she was truly stolen of a choice.”

“You told me some say she walked into the Underworld.”

“Yet she was still trapped, that part never changes.” You smile sadly, and for a moment when you blink you see warm eyes and olive skin and a sad smile that speaks of a man fully aware of your lies and choosing to love you anyways, choosing to trap you anyways.  In that moment, you understand why her story meant comfort to you all your life.

She was the maiden taken forcefully from her home, forced away from her mother and her land; you were a child clutching a wooden statuette of her and watching your birth mother burn, with Sieghild’s rough and unfamiliar hands guiding you on a path away from Greece.

She was the woman forced to marry a man she didn’t love, by deals of the Gods that ruled over her life and by her own mistakes; and you were a monster, a desperate one at that, whispering promises of love in Narses’ ear, earning what you wanted alongside heavy chains to be put on you.

She was queen of a world that was so unlike her, and a wife to a man many called a monster, alone and nostalgic; and you were dragged here by Ivar and told that by the will of his might alone he would make you wife and queen, no matter how much you fought against it.

And…and then she was a woman laughing under a red veil, lips stained with pomegranates and blood, and the winter meant home and love and belonging; and you learned to look into Ivar’s eyes and see a future even when you knew you couldn’t.

Chosen by Persephone, they always called you, since long before your birth. Child of the flower fields of Eleusis, they thought you to be destined to be yet another Hiereia under the warmth of Attica’s sun; they didn’t see the hunger, the heart that belonged elsewhere, they never imagined you to be one destined to delve into another realm to become its queen and never wish to return.

Lost in your thoughts, in your revelations, for so long that you don’t notice the passing of time, you only gauge how long you were lost by the way Ivar’s weight is a little heavier on you; by the way he is relaxed and pliant against you, even if shaken occasionally by a shiver or a tremble of the aftershocks of pain.

“Maybe they don’t tell us about whether or not she had a choice because she didn’t,” You whisper, voice so quiet you barely hear yourself. In the deep rise and fall of his chest, even if still interrupted by the quiet staggering in its pattern due to the pain, you are told he isn’t conscious anymore. Still, you continue your soft caress of the side of his face, and you continue speaking, “Or maybe it’s because she did, and she chose…chose love. Seems awfully selfish, though, doesn’t it?”

Your mother, the mother of sad smiles and a lost war, always told you that between love and duty one must always prevail. Between the earth under our feet and the sky over our heads, between what we must do and what we want to do, we must always choose.

Maybe she was never speaking of her plight, or in some prophetic way of yours, when she told you those things. Maybe she too wondered what temptation truly meant, whether there had been a trick at all; and she was whispering the truth about the Goddess of spring disguised as a warning.

You doze off, your fingers still carefully running through Ivar’s hair and your senses still attuned to him and his pain.

You wake up not because Ivar does, but because you hear something. For a moment, you think it to be him, but as the daze of sleep leaves you, you realize what it is.

The cry of a hawk.

Your blood runs cold, and with shaking hands and a heart that beats furiously in your ears you move your body from under Ivar and walk to the small balcony that overlooks Kattegat.

The sky is darkening, once again too late for a hawk to be hunting. Once again, it is too close, and its cry is too familiar for it to be anything other than Galla’s trusted beast.

You watch with wide eyes as the hawk flies above you, shrill cries piercing your head and your heart.

And a part of you that has been for too long too cowardly to face not the choice, but what the choice you’d make would say about you and who you are; that part of you begs and pleads in that moment.

You plead for more time, but the Gods have granted you time already.

And you once pleaded for a choice to make, and now the Gods demand you make it.

“His name will be Zephyr.”

“Why that name? He isn’t the fastest, or the strongest, out of the winds.” You mention casually, and Galla doesn’t take her eyes of her beast, smiling widely as it takes a piece of meat from her fingers.

“Because Zepyhr brings forth life, opportunity, change,” She chuckles, before knocking her shoulder with yours teasingly, “I may not be as versed as you in the worship of Demeter and Kore, Hiereia, but I know the gift that spring is.”

“And so you hold a special place for the one that brings forth the winds of the spring?”

She shrugs, fearless as she reaches under the hawk’s head and scritches at its feather’s, making it ruffle them and accept her affection. It never ceases to surprise you, how easily the beast has taken to her.

“Zephyr is the one that makes change happen. He is the one that time and time again guides Despoina home.”

You accept her words with a sigh, and reach for the piece of venison on the plate at her side, offering the raw meat to the animal, and smiling when it takes sit, though much more guardedly than when Galla offered the same.

“You hope it can guide us home?”

She chuckles, goes back to petting it, “I know he can.”

You stand there and watch Zephyr circle the longhouse, the cries louder once he sees you standing there. But all you can do is watch.

There was a girl, you don’t think you’ll ever forget her. You saw her first and last while working as a healer in some dusty city near Kufa. You were ambushed during the night, the cavalry of some enemy army broke past the defenses and were nearing the camp.

The hooves of their horses marched wildly over the dry earth, and Sieghild was cursing in her own tongue as she guided you both to the safety the soldiers provided.

But this girl, this thin and frail Arab girl, stood there, not moving, not breathing.

The ground trembled under the enemy’s might, the soldiers around you barked orders and prepared to defend, but she…she stood there, and watched them come.

Like she could keep time frozen in her small hands if she didn’t move, like she could hold on to life for as long as she held her breath.

You called for her. She still didn’t move. You screamed when the horses trampled her. She didn’t move again, and you didn’t even find her body in the aftermath.

And now you stand there in the small balcony, looking at the darkening sky like that wide-eyed girl looked at those incoming horses, frozen like she was.

You hear Zephyr’s call echo through the high skies of Kattegat and it sounds like the hooves of a hundred war horses wildly marching on cold ground.

You told Galla if she was ever to need you to send Zephyr to the skies, and you promised you’d be there. She needs you; they need you, and you promised you’d answer. You are their Anassa, their Hiereia; for the titles you bear and for your mother’s legacy it is your duty to answer their call.

Your hands tighten on the wooden railing, but still you turn your head to gaze into the dim light of your room, Ivar still resting on the bed you share. He trusts you; he loves you, and in another life you wouldn’t have hesitated to promise him forever. You are his wife, the woman he loves; for all the love you have for him you wish that you could be only that.

It was never Stithulf, it was never pomegranates; what forced a choice, what forced a change.

It was spring. From the first of its winds, it was spring what would force you to choose.

You just hoped winter would last.

____ ____ ____

....so yeah, s p r i n g.

What do you think will happen?

I might post 39 on tuesday just out of guilt for ending on a cliffhanger, but we’ll see.

Thank you so so much for reading, please let me know what you think!

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