#dirty blond hair to match the dirt on her face

[gonzodangerfeels]

Me: boy go to your mother for flexibility lessons.

[bbkoolkatz]

pairing: barbarian prince! katsuki bakugo x fem! reader.

content warnings: FEMALE READER! physical fighting [training] smooching, shared bath, husband undressing wife [without permission] husband cleaning wife [literally, because you we're dirty] other than that there's nothing major... yet... sigh...

completely forgot I was supposed to upload this Saturday... so here ya go! can't wait for the next chapter *evil giggle* hope ya enjoy!

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 2; 𝖔𝖓𝖊 𝖒𝖚𝖘𝖙 𝖑𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖓 4.3𝔨+ 𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔡𝔰

chapter 1

"he says, you are too stiff, frú mín!" ragna called, perched on a nearby boulder, "it makes you slow!" translating katsuki's barked criticisms.

he lunged forward, swinging the wooden blade at your feet, throwing you off your footing.

katsuki stood before you, as you stumbled, sweat glistening on his toned body with the harsh sunlight, beaming down on him, "hold your ground," he growled, lifting his sword to charge at you again. you took a breath, chest heaving as you gripped the handle of the wooden practice sword, raising your weapon to meet his.

the clashing of pine echoed through the clearing, the vibration rattling through your arms, into your chest and your knees buckled slightly under the force. but you grit your teeth, stubbornly refusing to fall.

you quickly adjust your stance, the muscles in your legs trembling as you tried to balance. katsuki's hot gaze narrowed, a smirk of sorts splayed on his face.

"again!" he barked, stepping forward a bit to launch an attack. the wooden sword came at you in an arch, the force of his strike sending a jolt up your arms, and your grip slipped, leaving you with barely any time to parry.

"too slow!" he spat, his voice hitting you like a whip as he struck again, aiming for your side.

your flesh rippled as the flat end of the training sword connected with your ribs, knocking the air out of your lungs. you stumble back, clutching your side as you gasped for breath.

"your enemies won't show you mercy," he circled you, pacing, like a predator stalking it's prey. forcing air back into your aching lungs, you straightened yourself, salty sweat dripping down your brow to sting your eyes.

ragna tilted her head, observing, lips twitching to form a smile on her beautifully sculpted face as she translates your husband's words for you.

"again," you rasped, voice hoarse but determined to make him falter just once.

katsuki raised a brow, eyes narrowing at your resolve as he charged forward without another word, sword swooshing through the air.

stepping aside, you doged his strike as you brought your weapon up, aiming for his shoulder. katsuki—obviously—blocked effortlessly, the impact reverberating through your bones, but you pushed forward, pressing your advantage as your heart pounded in your chest.

your strikes came faster, more fluid, as though the rhythm of the fight was finally clicking into place. your arms burned with every effort to move them, your breaths coming in short, sharp gasps, as you kept fighting.

your husband's eyes gleamed with a vicious light, his lips curling into a wild, feral grin as he matched your pace, his movements precise and unrelenting as ever, pushing you to your limits.

every fiber of muscle in your body screamed in protest and katsuki's blade collided with yours once more, the clash nearly sending you to your knees. you grunted, planting your feet firmly in the dirt as you pushed back with all your strength.

katsuki's grin widened as he kicked you off balance, sprawling you out on the dirt field in under two seconds... you lay there for a moment, squinting up at the endless expanse of sky until the familiar, wild tuffs of blonde hair loomed over you, casting a shadow over your exhausted frame.

"get up," he ordered, offering no hand to help... you huffed a puff of breath, rolling onto your side to push yourself to your knees, the hard cracked earth grounding you as your muscles throbbed under your skin.

gods you wanted a bath right now... a nice, cold, spring water bath... wack! and you were on the ground again. "your mind isn't focused!" ragna cackled your husbands words, holding her stomach and covering her mouth in a feeble attempt to hide her amusement.

"you're getting better, my lady," she smiled, leaning over your—once again—sprawled out body on the ground. you brought a hand up to wipe the sweat off your forehead, "i'll die before the rebels get me," you laughed, a hoarse, gravelly sound scraping it's way out of your throat.

☆.｡.:*❀.｡.:*☆ 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔫𝔢𝔵𝔱 𝔡𝔞𝔶

smoke curled lazily from the chimneys of the villagers homes. the smell of freshly baked bread mingled with the earthy aroma of tilled soil as the pang of the blacksmith's hammer rang in the distance, a rhythmic pulse that echoed like a heartbeat of the clan.

"are you sure about this, my lady?" ragna queried, a little skeptical as she stepped in stride beside you. you nod, assuring her of your decision, "if i'm to be part of this clan, ragna, i can't just sit at stronghold and watch," gaze sweeping over the bustling activity as you adjust your shawl around your shoulders.

ragna's plush lips cracked little smile at your determination. your first stop was the weaving circle, where several women sat on low stools, their fingers deftly threading wool into intricate patterns. their chatter hushed as you approached them.

the women exchanged awkward glances, muttering amongst themselves, before a middle aged woman with streaks of gray in her braid, gestured to an empty stool next to her, for you to sit.

the work was meticulous, the rhythm of the loom soothing your nerves as your fingers fumbled over the threads, earning quiet murmurs of disapproval from the others... the elder woman stood behind you, gently guiding your hands to correct any mistake, until she finally nodded her approval.

after weaving a few pieces of cloth, you moved to the fields, where men and women worked side by side, their hands covered in soil as they prepared the land for planting.

you knelt beside an old, wrinkled man, his gnarled hands moving with ease as he dug rows into the soil. he glanced down at you, brows furrowing as you picked up a tool and began to mimic his movements. he said nothing, slowing his movements for you to get a better look and follow.

"keep your back straight, my lady," ragna instructed, crouching beside you as she translated the old man's quiet words of advice.

sweat beaded on your brow as soil clung to your skin with each swing and dig, that sent a dull ache through your arms and back. the work was grueling, but with every row completed, you were closer to finishing and getting in your bath...

when night came, you found yourself in the kitchens, where women bustled about, preparing meals for the workers. the aroma of herbs and roasted meat overwhelmed your nostrils, as the heat of the ovens welcome you inside.

"hæ! þú ert hér! loksins hér!" a young girl beamed, running over as she saw you enter. "she says, hello, you finally made it," ragna chuckled, patting the girl on her back. "ég er celeste," the young girl introduced herself, gently taking your hand in hers to guide you over to the bubbling cauldrons. "it seems she's excited to see you, my lady."

"it seems so," you giggle softly, at the girls eagerness.

-

"don't stir too much, or you'll ruin it," one of the cooks muttered, correcting your technique as she leaned over your shoulder.

ragna smirked, her translation tinged with amusement as she leaned closer. "you've been given a passable teacher, my lady," nudging your shoulder with her elbow as you playfully rolled your eyes.

the women around you began to soften their guarded expressions as they watched you work. they shared stories of past harvests, of children born and loved ones lost, their words painting a picture of a people as complex and enduring as the mountains that sheltered them.

by the time the sun dipped below the horizon, painting the sky in hues of amber and violets, you were exhausted. the day's labour lingered in your body, but the tension that had once filled the air around you, felt lighter.

upon your return to the stronghold, you saw katsuki waiting at the entrance, his arms crossed over his chest as he glanced at the little dirt, smudged on your face and clothes, and the weariness in your steps. an almost imperceptible smirk crawled over his thin lips as you walked up to him leaning against the stronghold's walls.

ragna stepped forward, translating his words, "you look like someone buried you alive," he snickered, his tone gruff, minus the usual edge to them. you shy away, looking at the ground.

he lifted your head by your chin to look at him, eyes drifting down to your chapped lips then back up to your tired eyes.

he kneeled down in front of you and you turn to ragna, "what is he- woah!" his fingers sink into the back of your thighs as your hip bones pressed into his beefy shoulder, with your ass on display—next to his face—you prop yourself up, your hands pushing against his flexing back muscles, as he walked with you through the giant wooden doors and up the stairs to your chambers.

his eyes flickered with something as he threw you over his shoulder—pride, perhaps, or respect?—adjusting your weight with a low grunt.

katsuki shoved the heavy doors of your chambers open with his free arm, carrying you inside without so much as a struggle. he set you down on your feet with surprising gentleness, with warm palms resting comfortably on your hips, his narrow crimson eyes scanned over your dirt-smeared frame.

"þú ert skítug..." he muttered under his breath, his voice deep and laced with something you couldn't quite place. his expression was... unreadable as he motioned for you to stay put.

"what?" you whisper, softly shaking your head in confusion. he didn't respond, simply moving toward a small chest tucked away in the corner of your room. he rifled through it briefly before pulling out a clean linen cloth.

you watched him with a mix of curiosity and wariness as he stepped toward you again. he gestured at your dirtied clothing, the meaning clear even if his language wasn't.

"oh, i can do it myself," you insist, raising your hands defensively, though exhaustion made your movements sluggish. katsuki narrowed his eyes even more, with pinched brows. his patience visibly thinning...

"sitja kyrr," he commanded, firm as he gestured for you to stop resisting.

you huffed, crossing your arms in protest, legs trembling slightly under your weight, which didn't go unnoticed, his sharp gaze flicking to your unsteady stance before letting out a low grunt. without waiting for your permission, he stepped closer and began unfastening the ties of your shawl and outer layer.

"hey! i'm perfectly capable o—" you started to argue, but he silenced you with a sharp glance and growled, "kyrr."

his fingers worked quickly but carefully, his rough hands brushing against your skin as he peeled away the layers of dirt-streaked fabric. you felt your cheeks heat as he removed the last of your garments, leaving you exposed to his unwavering gaze. he didn't leer or linger, though; his movements were efficient, his focus entirely on the task at hand.

once you were bare, he reached for the cloth and dipped it into the warm water waiting in the tub. he wrung it out, motioning for you to step closer. he brought the damp cloth up to your face, carefully rubbing the dirt stains off, he moved down your arms, to your chest—where your heart pounded against your ribs—rubbing down your torso, to your soft legs all the way down to your aching calves. it felt like he was scared he'd hurt you with the softness he used to clean you off.

"farðu," he said, gesturing to the stone tub, impatiently.

you hesitated for a moment, the language barrier making his commands more intimidating than they probably were. but the promise of warm water was too tempting to resist, and you eased yourself into the tub with a sigh of relief.

the heat soothed your aching muscles immediately, and you leaned back against the smooth stone, letting your eyes flutter shut. that peace was short-lived, however, as katsuki shed his clothing and stepped into the tub with you.

"wait—what are you doing?" you stammered, your face flushing as you quickly averted your gaze.

he ignored your meaningless words, his expression neutral as he settled in behind you. his hands found your shoulders, rough palms gliding over your smooth skin.

"katsuki, i—" you started to protest, but his fingers pressed into a knot of tension in your shoulder, and you couldn't stop the sigh that escaped your lips. his hands were firm but careful, his touch surprisingly soothing as he continued his task.

"þar," he murmured, his voice low and steady as if explaining something to you. you didn't understand the words, but the tone carried a strange reassurance, as though he was telling you to let him handle this.

you relaxed slightly under his touch, the tension in your body melting away with each pass of his hands. he moved methodically, scrubbing away whatever dirt that'd been clinging to your skin and hair. when his hands found their way to your back, you leaned forward, giving him better access.

it wasn't until his fingers brushed over the curve of your waist that the atmosphere in the bath... changed... his touch lingered just a moment too long, his fingers pressing lightly against your skin as though testing your reaction.

you turned your head to glance at him over your shoulder, your breath catching when you caught the intensity in his gaze, his vermilion eyes burning with a heat that matched the warmth of the water surrounding you both.

"is something wrong?" you murmured, your voice barely above a whisper.

he didn't reply—not with words, at least. instead, he leaned closer, his hand moving to cup your jaw as his lips brushed against yours in a tentative but firm kiss.

your initial surprise melted away as the kiss deepened, the heat between you both growing as his hand slid to the back of your neck, pulling you closer. the water lapped gently against the edges of the tub, the only sound in the quiet chamber besides your mingled breaths.

when you finally pulled away, your heart was racing, as your face flushed from more than just the warmth of the bath. katsuki's lips parted as if to speak, but the words never came. instead, he rested his forehead against yours, his breaths coming slow and steady as if grounding himself.

"ég hef eitthvað handa þér." he rasped as you leaned into him again. what on earth did he just say? you have absolutely no idea... but you'll ask ragna after your bath.

☆.｡.:*❀.｡.:*☆

katsuki had dragged you out of bed at the crack of dawn and brought you out into the forest, in the outskirts of the stronghold, which was eerily quiet, save for the rustle of leaves and the occasional snaps of twigs underfoot. katsuki walked ahead, his broad frame cutting through the bramble with ease. you followed cautiously, your breath visible in the crisp morning air. he hadn't spoken much—if at all—since dragging you out of bed and motioning for you to come with.

now, the towering trees gave way to the dark mouth of a cave. its yawning entrance loomed before you, cold air seeping out like a ghostly warning. you hesitated, turning to katsuki by your side.

"komdu," he barked over his shoulder, the command abrupt but not by any means harsh.

still, unease prickled at your skin. you stepped into the cave, following him into the deepening darkness. the light from the entrance grew faint as you moved further in, swallowed by shadows that seemed to press against you.

"katsuki?" you whisper, but he offered no reply, only a grunt as he suddenly stopped, causing you to bump into his back with a mphf.

before you could question him, the ground vibrated beneath your feet, a low rumble echoing through the cavern, resonating in your chest. then, two massive orbs of glowing crimson pierced the darkness ahead, locking onto you with a huff.

your breath caught in your throat, as the rumbling grew louder, accompanied by the sound of scales shifting against each other. a massive head emerged from the shadows, scales shimmering faintly in the dim light. the dragon's maw opened, revealing rows of sharp teeth as it let out a deep, guttural growl.

"þetta er hann," katsuki said, gesturing to the creature with an almost casual wave.

you gaped at him, words escaping your brain. a dragon? you weren't sure what you had expected, but it certainly wasn't a fucking dragon.

"what is that?" your voice came out as a weak murmur, tinged with both awe and terror. you had to make sure you weren't seeing or hearing things...

"drengr minn," katsuki replied, based on the look on your face, stepping closer to the dragon and placing a hand against its massive snout, the beast huffed, as if in acknowledgment.

your legs threatened to give out as katsuki turned to you, motioning for you to come closer. you shook your head, frozen in place.

"komdu hingað," he called, his voice firm.

reluctantly, you stepped forward, your pulse thundering in your ears. the dragon's gaze followed you, unblinking and intense. when you were close enough, katsuki grabbed your hand and placed it against the warm, rough scales of the dragon's snout.

the beast rumbled again. it was almost... a purr.

"ekki hrædd," katsuki muttered, his voice softer now, though it still carried their usual edge.

katsuki pulled himself up onto the dragon's back, his movements sure and practiced. he extended a hand to you, waiting. you hesitated, but the weight of his expectation—and the dragon's unyielding stare—left you with little choice. with a deep breath, you grasped his hand and allowed him to pull you up and plop you down in front of him.

the dragon shifted beneath you, its massive body uncoiling as it prepared to take off. your hands instinctively grip katsuki's forearms, your heart hammering in your chest.

without warning, the dragon launched itself out of the cave and into the sky with an ear piercing roar, as you screamed your lungs out.

the ground fell away beneath you, the wind tearing at your hair and clothes as the beast's wings beat powerfully. for a moment, fear threatened to consume you. but then the view unfolded around you—the sprawling forest below, the endless expanse of sky above, and the distant peaks of mountains on the horizon.

your grip on katsuki tightened as the dragon banked to the left, the motion sending a thrilling jolt through your body. he turned your head slightly, a faint smirk playing on his lips as he barked something over the wind. though you didn't understand him, his tone was definitely teasing, almost amused by the expression on your face.

slowly, the fear ebbed, replaced by a tentative awe. the dragon's movements were surprisingly smooth, its powerful wings carrying you effortlessly through the sky.

"oh my gods," you murmured, your voice barely audible over the wind.

he glanced down, raising an eyebrow in question.

"this is..." you trailed off, searching for the words. "unbelievable," you grin, your mouth drying out with the wind.

he didn't reply, but his smirk widened, his chest puffing slightly with pride as though he understood you.

as the dragon soared higher, you found yourself loosening your grip just enough to look around, as katsuki snakes a strong arm around your waist to keep you from falling over. the world seemed smaller from this height, a patchwork of green and brown stitched together by rivers of silver. for a brief moment, you forgot your fear, your uncertainty, and the weight of everything that had brought you here.

when the dragon began its descent, the rush of air grew fiercer, and your grip on katsuki returned. he muttered something under his breath, seemily reassuring you of something.

by the time you landed, your legs felt like jelly, and your heart hadn't yet stopped racing. katsuki dismounted first, extending a hand to help you down.

you took it, your knees wobbling as your feet touched the ground. "þú stóðst þig vel," katsuki rasped, low and seemingly approving.

-

your body vibrated with excitement as you stood outside the stronghold, feeling the cool breeze brushing against your skin. today, is the beginning of your journey back to your kingdom.

katsuki, stoic as ever, walked with his dragon, its massive form thumping its way around. the beast moved like molten lava, each muscle rippling under crimson scales as it emerged fully into the sunlight, its fiery red eyes scanned the clearing as it's massive body cast a long shadow on the ground.

katsuki turned to you, his intense gaze holding a question.

"farðu upp," he urged, gesturing to the dragon's massive back.

you hesitated, your stomach knotting at the memory of the flight earlier. while breathtaking, it had also been utterly terrifying.

"i'm not sure i can do that again," you confessed, nervously laughing as you shook your head in refusal, "i'll stick with the tetsugami."

he frowned, his brows knitting together in mild frustration. "ekki vera veik," he snapped, though the edge in his tone softened slightly as he stepped closer. "þú lifðir það áður."

"you do know that i have not the faintest idea of what you're saying..." you counter, looking him up and down, crossing your arms.

he stared at you for a brief second, his lips fixing into a scowl. after a moment, he let out an irritated breath and muttered something to himself.

he motioned for the dragon to stay put, his sharp whistle echoing through the clearing. the beast settled onto its haunches, its wings furling tightly against its sides as it let out a snort. katsuki didn't argue further, instead taking a few purposeful steps towards you.

"ég mun horfa ofan frá." he grumbled, the words curt but resigned.

you furrowed your brow, piecing together his meaning. he wasn't thrilled, but he accepted your refusal.

hours later, preparations for the journey were complete. you stood at the edge of the stronghold, the weight of the coming trip settling over you.

in the thick of the tall trees, a sound of heavy, slow and deliberate footsteps, accompanied by a metallic scrape that sent delightful shivers up your spine, echoed.

you avert your gaze from your husband, and toward the noise coming from behind them. your eyes widened as the tetsugami emerged into view. it's rust-red carapace glinting in the sunlight like aged armor. it's body was crab-like in shape with a wide, flat shell that curved protectively over it's back.

it's seven remaining legs, each the width of a tree trunk, moved with surprising grace despite the size and weight of the creature. the absence of its front right leg didn't seem to hinder it's movements; it's gait was steady, with powerful legs sinking into the soil with each step, leaving deep impressions behind. its pinchers clacked excitedly as it shifted its weight, the sound reverberating like distant thunder as its antennae twitched, scanninng the air for potential threats, while it's small, bead-like eyes glimmered with an eerie intelligence.

strapped to it's surface were supplies for the journey—barrels of provisions, rolled up tents, and neatly stacked crates secured with thick leather straps.

"þetta er tetsugami," mitsuki stood proud, her voice calm and matter-of-fact. you turned toward her, recognizing the words enough to know she was introducing the creature. her expression softened as she gestured to the beast, inviting you to approach.

you hesitated, glancing back at katsuki, who was already climbing onto his dragon's back. his crimson eyes met yours briefly before he turned his focus to his mount, silently leaving you to make your own choice.

you stepped closer to the tetsugami, its sheer size making you feel small in comparison—as if the huge people you now live with weren't enough... its mandibles clicked rhythmically, a surprisingly soothing sound as you placed a tentative hand on the edge of its shell. the surface was rough and cool, like weathered stone, but it radiated a subtle warmth from the sunlight it absorbed.

"he's beautiful," you murmured, more to yourself than anyone else.

the tetsugami let out a low, resonant hum—a sound that rumbled deep in its body, vibrating through your fingertips, like a contented purr, and it made you smile.

ragna approached from the side, her brows arching in surprise as she took in the sight of the beast. "quite the creature, isn't it?" she said, though her tone carried an air of caution.

you turned to her with a grin, "ride with me," you offered, gesturing to the sturdy harness slung across the tetsugami's shell.

ragna hesitated, her gaze flicking between you and the creature. "the tetsugami is only brought out for important people, my lady-"

"you are important," you insisted, taking her hands in yours, your voice soft and earnest, "it's a long journey, and i'd feel better having you by my side."

ragna's lips pressed into a thin line, her expression conflicted for a moment before she nodded, "v-very well," she gave in, sighing as you clapped to yourself.

with mitsuki's help, you climbed onto the tetsugami's back, settling into the cushioned saddle fastened securely near the center. the saddle was surprisingly comfortable, with a wide padded seat, designed for stability. ragna joined you, careful as she adjusted her position beside you.

the tetsugami let out another hum, chittering as it adjusted to the added weight. its antennae twitched again, and it began to move, its legs carrying it forward with a deliberate, swaying rhythm.

as the caravan set off, the sounds of boots crunching against dirt and the occasional clang of weapons accompanied the steady thuds of the giant crab's steps, broke the silence. the missing leg added an uneven cadence to its movements, a faint scrape with every third step that served as a reminder of its battle-scarred history.

katsuki's dragon took to the skies with a powerful leap, its wings slicing through the air as it ascended, leaving the rest of you to follow below.

the journey had begun.

»»————> 𝖙𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖘𝖑𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖘! <————««

"frú mín" - my lady

"hæ! þú ert hér! loksins hér!" - Hello! You're here! Finally here!

"ég er celeste" - I am Celeste

"þú ert skítug" - You're dirty

"sitja kyrr" - Stay still

"kyrr" - Still

"farðu" - Go

"þar" - There

"ég hef eitthvað handa þér" - I have something for you

"komdu" - come

"þetta er hann" - this is him

"drengr minn" - my boy

"komdu hingað" - come here

"ekki hrædd" - don't be afraid

"þú stóðst þig vel" - you did well

"farðu upp" - get up

"ekki vera veik" - don’t be weak

"þú lifðir það áður" - you survived it before

"ég mun horfa ofan frá" - I will watch from above

"þetta er tetsugami" - this is tetsugami

if you've already asked to be in the tag list and you're not there then please check your settings and fix it accordingly or ensure that you have at least one post on your blog and ask again.

»»————> 𝖙𝖆𝖌𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙!

@twoplayergaymers @ch3rryjampi3 @lxdystxrdustt @selfishgucci @sleepyfxce @depressed-waffle-time @abinformyobsessions @kodzubaby @cottagedumpling @msjaeger @condy-wants-a-cookie @who-xo @naiomiwinchester @your-mum3000 @weebperson2003 @koigeidi @lanadelgarf @misaki-kira8 @lightsinmycity @kit-katsukii @the2ndl @kalulakunundrum

mlist!

[thewintersoldierdisaster]

a/n: i’m almost shocked at how fast this fic got written?? thanks to anon who indulged my fun little request for a new hockey to write about (inspired by @wyattjohnston ‘s post earlier about how there’s only fics for certain hockeys in the nhl fic tag and also bc i have so much fun writing for new guys in the fic exchanges!!)- how could i resist vancouver’s own prince charming? hope you guys enjoy because i had fun writing! ☺️

word count: 2.7k

tw: single dad!brock, nanny!reader, dirty talk, minor daddy kink, fingering (f receiving), handjob, dirty talk, nipple play

summary: you’re nothing but the nanny for brock’s daughter, until one night all the lines get blurred

Kya snuggles closer to you in her sleep, blonde hair tickling the underside of your chin. Her cheek is pressed up against your collarbone and her little body is hot, making you feel all sweaty where she’s connected to you.

The TV casts the room in a faint blue light, the low volume serving as white noise along with Kya’s little puffed air snores.

You think about moving her to her bed, but she’s so soft and cuddly when she hasn’t been lately and you can’t find it in your heart to get up. Unfortunately, the four-year-old has your heart in a vice-like grip and you’d do anything for her. Including being a human mattress.

So you stay on the couch, stroking her back and humming softly when she stirs briefly. Eventually, the clock ticks over to the eleven o’clock hour and you know it’s only a matter of time before Brock’s home and your shift is over. Not that you have to go very far to get home - your pool house turned bachelorette nanny pad is practically spitting distance from the back door. If you tilted to the left a bit and angled your neck, you’d be able to see the little planter with multicolored flowers that Kya had helped you plant last week.

And by help, you mean crushed a few daisies in her little fists and ate a mouthful of dirt before you could stop her.

A+ nannying for sure.

You’re still thinking about it when a familiar voice startles you from your thoughts.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Brock’s voice rumbles through the dark room, laughter around the edges.

Without thinking, you reply, “just thinking about the handful of dirt I let Kya eat last week.” Then you wince, wondering why Brock’s presence always makes you say the stupidest things.

He laughs fully now, stepping around the couch and dropping into the armchair. He’s in his post-game look - rumpled suit pants and button down with the sleeves rolled up, bare feet with his loafers kicked off in a pile at the front door, and blonde hair darkened from his shower. His palm rasps over the few days’ worth of stubble growing on his chin and his face splits into one of those smiles that makes Twitter (and you) swoon.

“She’s gotta get vitamins and minerals from somewhere, right?” He teases and your cheeks heat.

This.

This is why he makes you say the stupidest things. Because he’s a real-life Prince Charming with the personality to match.

You smile back at him, a reflex. “There are some leftovers in the fridge, if you’re hungry and want to get in your own vitamins and minerals,” you joke back, shifting Kya on your chest when she starts to slip.

Brock shakes his head. “I’m good, thanks. I’ll take Princess Ky upstairs and you can get some rest,” he stands, arms out to grab Kya.

Weirdly, you shift and hold her closer. “It’s, um, I don’t mind. She’s been really snuggly today and it’s nice,” you shrug one shoulder. “She watched a little bit of the first.”

“Yeah?” Brock’s face lights up. He loves it when you bring Kya to games and he gets to wave at her during warmups.

“Mhm,” you smirk, “she was obsessed with Quinn.”

Brock narrows his eyes at you, scrunching his nose in disgust. “Real nice,” he shakes his head, “making fun of the guy that your best friend over there belongs to.”

Your cheeks lift in a smile, your arms holding Kya comfortably. “Don’t be jealous of my bond with Ky. Daddy’s still her favorite.”

Something flickers across Brock’s face, there and gone before you can analyze it. He chuckles, says, “I better be since I pay for all those chicken nuggets she inhales like a freaking vacuum,” and excuses himself upstairs to change.

You watch him leave, chewing at your lower lip while you study the curve of his ass in his slacks, feeling awful even as you’re appreciating his form. Kya mumbles in her sleep, nonsense words and a ‘Daddy’ and your name, eyelids twitching as she dreams.

Brock’s back a few minutes later, comfortable in sweats and a threadbare t-shirt. Still barefoot, now he smells like mint toothpaste in addition to the locker room soap. “Sure you don’t want me to take her?” He asks, sitting down on the couch with you, a cushion’s worth of space between your bodies. “Feels like I should let you off the clock and hold my kid now that I’m home.”

“I really don’t mind,” you promise him. “Kya’s…she’s exactly what I want my own daughter to be one day.” You think maybe you’re over sharing, but it’s late and Brock just looks so domestic and comfortable. It’s easy to pretend when he looks like this. His eyes soften as he studies you and the way you’re holding Kya.

“She’s a pretty cool little girl,” he agrees warmly, reaching out to run a hand over her head. His palm

makes her hair staticky, fine strands lifted into the air. You blow at them gently, giggling when they stick to your face even after you try smoothing them back with a hand.

“You know,” he says too casually after a comfortable pause, “she, the other day when you were off, she said that she never wants you to leave.”

A little piece of your heart breaks with his words because you know one day you’ll have to leave. It’s easy right now, nannying for Kya while you get your Master’s, but what happens next year when you’re finished with school and you have to find a real

job.

Your face must show your distress, because Brock coughs slightly and rushes to say, stumbling over his words, “I didn’t mean, she’s four. You know, they say stuff all the time. When you do have to leave, it’ll be okay. She’ll be okay.”

He means well, you know that, but it doesn’t help and to your horror, your nose starts to burn and tears well in your eyes. You don’t really want to cry in front of Brock, not over something that’s at least a year away, but you feel the dam starting to break.

“Um, I do think I’ll head out for the night,” you say quietly, trying to not let your voice crack. You shift Kya in your arms and transfer her to Brock’s, making sure she stays asleep. “She really should be out for the night. So, um, I’ll see you in the morning.”

He takes her easily, arms practiced with adjusting her weight against his chest and her head on his shoulder. You jump up from the couch and wave over your shoulder, heading for the back door, ignoring Brock’s whispered shout of your name.

It’s so silly, to get so emotional about Kya outgrowing her need for a nanny, her need for you. But you’re more attached to Ky and Brock than you’re willing to admit, even to yourself.

Right now, your best option is to play your sad music playlist and cry, just to get it out of your system before getting back to normal in the morning.

The music helps. The crying helps more. The two glasses of wine help the most.

And then there’s a knock on the door, scaring the ever living shit out of you. It’s so late your visitor can only be one person.

“Brock?” His name is a question on your lips when you open the door, your brow furrowed.

“Hi,” he looks upset and your brain works sluggishly to figure out what could be bothering him. “Can I-?”

He gestures a little and you nod, stepping back automatically. “Yeah, of course. It’s your pool house,” you say. “Is Kya asleep?”

He nods, holds up the baby monitor. You can see Kya’s little body sprawled out on her bed and a smile curls your lips - she sleeps like a starfish, arms and legs akimbo. “She’s done for the night,” he replies quietly, setting the monitor on the little table you have next to the door for your keys.

Brock’s been in the pool house before, a million and one times. But this time, the air crackles like it does before a thunderstorm, your nerves on edge.

“What are -“

“I’m sorry.”

You and Brock speak over each other, words getting jumbled in the air. You giggle a little and Brock smiles, his shoulders relaxing.

“I’ll go,” he says, still smiling. His hands run through his hair, the strands flopping over his forehead before getting pushed back into place. “I’m sorry, for what I said. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“Oh,” you aren’t expecting the apology and you start to excuse him, “I didn’t -“

“You did,” Brock cuts you off. “Your eyes are all red and I’m so sorry. I just thought, Ky loves you so much, that you’d want to hear what she said about you. I wasn’t thinking about - about you leaving.”

“I’ll have to eventually,” you shrug, the wine dulling the sharper edges of your emotions.

Brock’s jaw works and you wait for him to speak, patient like he’s Kya. A few seconds go by and he scratches at the back of his neck. “I’m not good at - I want you here, as long as you want to be here. I don’t care if Kya is a grown woman with her own kids, I’d want you here.” He pauses and his words sink in, battering at the boundary you’d built around your heart.

“What?” You whisper, hands fluttering at your sides. You suddenly don’t know what to do with them.

“I…I think, no, I am. I am definitely falling for you,” Brock says, tone firm and eyes soft, crinkled at the corners. Those damn blue eyes that have starred in a fantasy or two of yours. He reads your silence as negative, apparently, because he frowns and continues, “if I just made this uncomfortable, we can forget it ever happened.”

“No!” You nearly yelp, Brock’s eyes widening at your sudden increase in volume. “No,” you repeat quieter. “I don’t want to forget this happened. I’m just … surprised. I didn’t think you thought of me as anything but Ky’s nanny.”

His smile is contagious and you’re both grinning like idiots at each other.

“You haven’t been Ky’s nanny in my head for a long time,” he confesses. “Just been hoping you felt the same way.”

“Definitely feel the same way,” you giggle, feeling hysterical.

“Can I -?” He steps forward, into your space, and you nod, knowing what he’s asking. And then all you know is Brock’s mouth on yours, his hands warm on your waist, his hair soft under your fingertips. His tongue traces the seam of your lips, teeth nipping at your bottom lip when you open your mouth. A groan fills the air and you’re not sure if it’s yours or his.

Your chest crushes against Brock’s, bodies flush against each other. His cock is prominent against your thigh, hard and hot through the layers of fabric separating the two of you. For months, you’ve fantasised about this, wondered what it would feel like to get your hands on Brock and it’s better than you ever imagined. Hot and hard, his lips soft against yours, his hands gripping at your ass, dragging you closer and closer. Your hips chase his, involuntarily moving for relief.

“Brock,” you whine his name, surprising yourself with the neediness that colors your tone. He growls against your jaw and lifts you, arms braced under your ass, settling you on the countertop in your tiny kitchenette. He steps into the space created by your spread legs, your thighs at his hips, ankles locked at his lower back.

“Shit, wanted to do this for months,” he mumbles against your skin. His lips mark a hot trail down your neck and over the heated skin of your chest. His hands are down the back of your shorts, kneading at your ass.

His cock presses against your heated core and you moan, loudly and unashamed. Brock’s laugh is clearly delighted and he presses himself against you harder, drawing a strangled moan from your throat.

“Making such pretty noises for me,” he croons, dragging one hand up your side to grope at your breast, rolling your nipple until it’s a stiff peak. “What other noises are you going to make for Daddy?”

“Oh my god,” you keen, arousal flooding your panties. “Brock, oh my god, I need you to touch me.”

“What’s the magic word?” He replies, ducking his head to suck at your nipple over your shirt. The scrape of his teeth and the wet fabric makes you shiver, clit throbbing.

“Please,” you wail, grinding your hips against his.

“Please…?” He trails off and your heart pounds in your chest, pleasure coiling low in your stomach.

You sigh, a shaky exhale. “Please, Daddy, touch me. Please make me come,” you whisper the words in his ear, nipping at his earlobe.

Brock whips your shirt off, tossing the fabric to the floor. You’re not wearing a bra and normally you’d be self-conscious, but Brock’s staring at you like you’re the first woman he’s ever seen and you’ve never felt hotter. “Christ,” he mutters, palming your breasts and kneading them tenderly. “So fucking gorgeous. Just, just fucking stay with me forever, please?”

You nod, agreeing. “Yours, I’m all yours, I promise,” you cradle his face in your hands and kiss him deeply, leaning in as close as you can.

Somehow, his shirt ends up on the floor with yours and your fingers can trace each muscle on his chest and stomach. You drag a nail over his nipple and his skin erupts in goosebumps, so you do it again, skimming your nails over his skin and scratching at his biceps.

“Mark me up,” Brock encourages you, lifting your ass off the counter with one hand so he can tug at your shorts and panties. “Make sure everyone knows I’m yours.”

He’s certainly doing the same, sucking bruises onto your skin. There’s a bite mark over your breast and it feels like his fingers dug bruises into the flesh of your ass.

“Just want you,” you blink away a sudden rush of tears, still in disbelief that this is happening. “Been thinking about you for so long, Brock.”

Your fingers dance down to the waist of his sweats, pushing at them until his cock springs free and you can get a good look at it. It’s just as perfect as his face, thick and long and hard as steel.

“Come on, honey,” his fingers swipe at your clit, making you inhale sharply and arch your back. “Put your hands on me. Touch me.”

You obey, wrapping your hands around his cock and stroking him. Softly at first until Brock grunts and wraps his hand around yours to increase the pressure and speed. “Like that,” he instructs you, leaving his hand in place and using the other to smear your arousal over your clit and inner thighs.

“I don’t have any condoms!” You gasp, Brock’s index finger teasing at your entrance. The thought hits suddenly, annoyingly.

“Doesn’t matter,” he replies, kissing the moan from your mouth when he plunges his fingers into your cunt. “I’ll make you feel good just like this.”

Brock’s a man of his word.

He makes you come twice, once on his fingers and one on his tongue. The first time you make a mess of the counter, dripping all over the place. The second time he’s got you laid out on the couch, his stomach splattered with his own come from the handjob you’d given him.

And then he cuddles.

Wipes between your legs with a towel and wraps

you in his arms under a throw blanket. Kisses the crown of your head and tells you all the filthy things he’s thought about doing to you.

“Hey,” you pipe up, amusement bubbling in your chest, “do I get a bonus for every blowjob I provide?”

Brock’s surprised laughter vibrates at your back, shaking your entire body. His arms wrap around your chest and squeeze. “No,” he deadpans, sounding like he’s struggling to hold back his laughter, “but we probably should talk about your job.”

“Tomorrow,” you insist. “I love taking care of Ky. So we’ll work on a transition.”

The transition from Ky’s nanny to Brock’s wife and Ky’s mom takes about six months less than you anticipated.

“Best job promotion ever,” you tease Brock at the altar, Kya practically glued to your side and shouting her excitement when you kiss for the first time as husband and wife.

[melit0n]

The Fire doth Sing of Iron and Devotion.

- Synopsis: Swathed in the cold draperies of night, hunkered down with their herd of cattle, two land-locked cowpokes rest their weary heads. As stars glimmer in silver and merigold, far, far above them, the fire crackles with that which goes unspoken, and that which sleeps under wit and the strum of a guitar.

- Oneshot for @moonchild-in-blue and I.

- Word Count: 6.4k

- Warnings: None.

Above the sun-stunned, rusty land, raw from the trebling hooves of amblers, sprouting with pale greens that scale towering rock faces, the moon shines. Shines like a silver button punched into velvet, like those on the shawls passing genteel ladies wear. It peaks from behind clambering trees–branches bent on puncturing the great darkness above–and grins in a luminescent crescent at the sight before it. 

Echoing on the plains, coddled bells clank and jingle with the heavy steps of creatures weary from wandering. In the dark of the night, they have nothing to guide them other than the soft clop of hooves and the low whistle of voices that they’ve come to know means safety. But, for now, they rest their hides on the warm ground below: the same land their strong shouldered, distantly dying cousins once did. 

Closely, they huddle, minds eased by the knowledge of familiar hands and voices nearby. Sleep would find them quickly–glossy eyes drooping and muscles easing–if not for the constant sound of a flint. 

Footsteps, light with the familiar clink of metal, approach the noise. “You got that fire started yet, or are we sleepin’ with the shadows tonight?”

Small sparks, the promise of something bright and warm, light up Mel’s face like the glow of fireflies, glinting in her murky blue eyes. Her brows are taught with focus, and there’s the beginning of an annoyed frown making its way across her slightly tanned skin. “...Almost.”

“Not to be crude, pardner, but,” Darya crouches, loose threads of soft, inky hair–pulled up underneath her hat–tickling Mel’s face. She places a hand on her shoulder for balance, leaning over the somewhat pathetic attempt to create light. “You said ‘almost’ ‘bout half an hour ago.”

Mel blows a strand of dirty blonde hair from her face–of which dutifully floats back down to its exact position moments later–and grumbles, “Ain’t my fault I’m used to the oil lamps Mr Langley gives us now.”

Darya adjusts her feet under her, engraved boots–a tapestry of foreign fruits and stars–scuffing up dirt and dust. “Well, ya’ know how to strike a match to light the lamps: surely this ain’t harder than that.” She says it with a grin: graced with pearly whites that light up any dimly lit room she’s in. Too bad it isn’t enough to light up the whole valley–would certainly save the two some trouble. 

“‘Course I know how to strike a match,” A puff of dust erupts from the ground as Darya lowers herself to the ground, the brim of her slate grey, tinged blue, hat grazing over Mel’s. “If we had the matches, I wouldn’t have to be doin’ this.” 

“Shoulda’ bought some when we were in Boulderstead.” Darya laments, crossing her legs and trying to ignore the dull, irritating press of tiny rocks through her chaps.��

They’d only passed by two towns on their way home, Boulderstead and something with ‘creek’ in it–tumbleweed towns that were easily forgotten–and missed the opportunity to buy some both times. After their forgetfulness, Darya had expected to be able to visit an old friend’s homestead for supplies–and maybe a soft bed to sleep in for the night–only to find nothing but arid dirt and the remains of what once was. 

Nowadays, nothing seems set in stone nor lead: half their maps and memories are wrong–farmsteads and friendly faces replaced by iron and fields of juniper green turned to paper mache towns that look like they’d blow over when the first snow comes. 

So, for miles, it has only been the wayward pair, their horses, and their employer’s–one Mr Langley’s–prized herd of cattle. 

And, for miles–for each night they spend out here–one is quietly pleased at the prospect of their partner getting roughed up and needing a hand to hold. 

Iris–Darya’s well loved mare–softly neighs from behind the pair, the metal of her bridle clinking along with the steady shink of the flint. In the quick blink of light, Mel shrugs. “Shoulda’, woulda’, coulda’.”

Darya’s hand reaches upwards and sends a pat to Iris’ white and chestnut shoulder. Though, she’s sure most of the white has tinted a dull red–stained by loose soil and sand. “Would ya’ like me to have a knack?” 

In the corner of her eye, Mel watches as Darya leans forward–hands open in offering. She attempts a few more times but, with hands sore, she happily hands them over, the valley finally falling quiet. “Go right ahead.” The noise quickly begins again, bouncing off of the trees and towering rocks. “I think we collected damp wood–somehow–so I doubt it’ll li-”

The dry moss sparks with life, taking mere seconds to begin smouldering with smoke. Habitually, Darya cups her hands around her mouth, and leans further forwards to give the budding flame a helping hand. 

Comically, Mel’s eye twitches. “You’re kiddin’.”

“Well, what can I say?” A proud grin, accented by beauty marks, stretches across Darya’s face as she leans back, amber and morning-sun-yellow dancing in her deep, umber eyes. “Got a way with words, a paintbrush and fire.”

Mel shifts, nudging Darya in the side playfully. “You talk any longer,” she drags her numbed legs from under her and leans back on her hands. “And you’ll be gettin’ too big for your britches.”

Darya shows her palms, as if placating a skittish horse. “Only speakin’ the truth, pardner.”

After so long in the dark, it takes a few moments for their eyes to adjust to the growing light. The fire scrambles up the wood with semi-controlled hunger, marigold fingers sliding across the collapsing bark, kept away from the dry grass by hastily gathered stones that surround the growing embers. 

With the stygian draperies of the night already lain across the land, the warmth is a welcome one across their faces–the frigid fingers of the midnight hour kept at bay, relinquishing their hold and peeking from behind the tree line in front of them.

The shadows are the same wherever they go, though, Mel still finds herself off-put by the wisps as they waver with each crack and pop of the wood. The other farmhands back home always make stories of them–outlaws possessed by the Devil and turned to something further than man–and both would be liars if they said they weren’t somewhat unnerved by their creeping forms.  

Intently, from between the flickers of the flame, Darya eyes them, wary of outlaws and bandits, but simply finds herself–elongated and transparent–pressed against the trees. 

Fatigued sigh escaping her mouth, Mel grasps for her hat–a light tan embroidered with fading flowers, battered by use and playful cows–and wipes over her face. As she peels damp wisps of hair from her forehead, Darya chuckles.

“‘N that,” Darya follows along, beginning lifting her own, feather inlaid in the band, off of her head. “Is why you should put your hair up.” As she does, she reveals the small braid tucked inside it. Looped and weaved in the twist, small flowers lie: soft, small stars carefully stitched in the silken fabric of her hair.

Mel pauses for a moment, eyes meandering over her, before flicking back to the fire and attempting to comb out her hair. “Naw, I always feel exposed with it up.”

“Exposed?” Darya turns to Mel, an amused smile spreading across her face. “What are you, a deer?” Both huff out a laugh as Darya tilts her head. “Why though? You always look real pretty when I braid it. Mrs Langley says so, too.”

Mel drops her hat to her lap, deciding to make the other hand another makeshift comb. “‘Cause I’ve a forehead the size o’ Europe.”

Darya attempts to stifle another laugh. Key word: attempts. “Naw,” 

Mel keeps a blank, unamused expression. “You’re laughin’.”

Another puff of air that sounds suspiciously like a laugh escapes Darya, before she raises a hand to wipe at an imaginary stain near her mouth. “I ain’t. You- you don’t.”

“Don’t lie to yourself- look at it!” She draws her hair back–strands as taught as a rope. “You could write half the Good Book on this thing.”

Suddenly, Darya’s face drops: frown highlighted by the flickering shadows of the fire. She reaches forth and speaks in a tone like she might just start praying. “Mel, hold- hold on.” She squints, bringing her hand to Mel’s chin. “Stay right there. I think I see sum’…”

As her head is twisted and turned like a sickly child’s, a feeling of worry builds in Mel’s chest. “What?” To the left, “What is it?” To the right, “I get nicked by sum’?” And left again.

Darya leans closer, squinting, and Mel becomes painfully aware of how warm her fingers are on her face. “Hold on…in the beginnin’, God created-”

Apprehension gone, Mel’s shoulders fall and all anxiety seeps out of her just as quickly as it built up. “Quit it.”

Darya’s laugh echoes and bounces against the creaking trees, and it doesn’t take long for Mel to join her. They stay that way, sure they sound like a pair of cackling coyotes, but they know no care for it. 

When their laughter finally ceases, both of them mutely realise how close they are. 

It isn’t an uncommon thing–they can’t count on two hands how often their hands have found each other as they traverse the streets–but, even so, a warmth, almost scalding, floods their faces.

Mel can feel the twitch of Darya’s fingers against her face, and a small part of her begs her to lean in. 

She doesn’t. 

Instead, she grins, something halfway between sly and knowing–teasing–and apprehension as she removes her hands. 

Wanting to relieve the tension, Mel coughs into her hand. “How, uhm, how are the cows? We still got all twenty of em’?”

Darya hums, smiling and returning to fiddling with the feather on her cap. She’s adamant it’s some type of Hawk’s wing feather, though, it’s a long running joke that she picked it up from a chicken. “All swell. They’re tired, I don’t blame them, but well. Mr Langley insists we usually have the dogs to keep ‘em in check, so I’m surprised they’ve stuck to us without ‘em.”

“I guess after a while they realised we’re their only way back home.” Mel shifts again, swiping a few stones from under. Naturally, it does barely anything. “And Miss Langley’s acorn calf? She still swell?”

“I’ve been checkin’ on her the whole ride. If I’m honest, I’m mightily surprised she’s made it this far: strong heart, that one. Though, I might tie her and her ma’ up to Iris,” Mel sets her hat beside her, “so they keep up for the last quarter-” and pulls herself up and off the ground. “-where you off to?”

Mel twists, loud cracks emitting from her tired bones, mumbling, “Jeeze, m’ gettin’ old.” She shakes her legs, ridding herself of the numbness, and turns to Darya, a grin spreading across her face. “Gettin’ sleepin’ stuff.” 

Darya begins to drag herself back up. “Fair enough. Where is Pip, anyways? You let her wander?”

“Mhm. Hope she ain’t gone too far.” After a few dry, sad attempts, a lifting whistle echoes out across the plains, quickly followed by the slow, repetitive thumps of hooves. 

A while back, a group of cows would’ve probably been following her, but, after a year or two with the pair, they began to recognise the different calls used.

Unfortunately, it also means they recognise when the horses are being called over for food, as well. 

But, before long, Mel’s horse–Pip–appears from the shroud of night like an aimless ghost; dapple grey coat, mane plaited with flowers, highlighted in the firelight.

With a whinny, Iris walks over to greet, dust being kicked into Darya and Mel’s eyes in her wake. 

Both of their saddles are heavy with supplies: a change of clothes, each of their respective rifles and lassos, as well as tinned food and canisters of water. Normally, they wouldn’t be so stuffed, but their usual pack horse–a well loved mule named Red–decided to go lame a day before the pair headed out. 

Yet another inconvenience that has dug into them during their long trip. 

Metal jingles as each unties their respective gear, both careful not to undo any knots that would send their carefully arranged items tumbling to the ground. Bit by bit, they’re placed down on the dusty, rock ridden ground–a place sometimes as uncomfortable as sleeping on a bed of nails. Even after so many days spending more time on it than not, it still made them yearn for the hammocks in the yard back home more than anything. 

Still, it was the best they had.

“Hey, Melie?” Darya unties her base–a thinning bedroll that has a hole too many in it. 

“Yeah?” 

“You,” Easily, she places it onto the ground, looking between her saddle and a compressed knitted blanket. “You got dinner?” Eventually, she chooses the blanket, keeping it folded to work as a makeshift pillow. 

At the word ‘dinner’, Mel pauses her attempt to rid her bed of any small rocks, brows twitching in confusion. “We already had dinner?”

Iris and Pip huff what is almost a laugh from behind the pair. Darya looks to her, incredulous. “When?”

Mel jerks a thumb back, “Back up on the South ridge when it was startin’ to get dark! We wanted to watch the sunset, so we took a break, remember?”

Darya’s eyes search the darkness for a moment, like her pupils will pull a memory out of it.

Mel chuckles, beginning to smooth out her makeshift bed, placed close to Darya’s. “I think you gotta get your memory checked, Moony.”

“I think you gotta get your fire makin’ skills checked.” Darya scoffs, shifting her feet out of her boots.

“You won’t be sayin’ that when I put a sidewinder in your sleepin’ bag.” 

Darya flops down, craning her head and watching Mel work. “You wouldn’t.” She speaks, comically aghast and playful, like a wife learning her savings have gone to whiskey and bargaining chips. 

Mel hums, “I would.” As she smooths out her crinkled sheets. 

Darya smiles, laughing. “You love me too much.”

Mel stays quiet, lips pursed, a silent sign of some sort of unspoken agreement, and Darya feels the itch of a ‘told you so’ on the tip of her tongue. But, as both smooth out their beds for the night, she decides to keep it hidden beneath another smile. 

With ease, Mel slips her own boots off and watches the fire intently. Sleep tugs at both of their eyes–heavy as lead and light as rain–but both know neither will be welcomed into her arms tonight. 

At least, not for long enough.

They need to take shifts for the cows, anyways. 

Both stare, silent, at the flickering fingers of the fire, bodies dreading the inevitable five step trek to find more fuel from it. They’d both gathered some and placed it in a pile a little more than an arm's reach away, but after sitting down–even if that’s all they’d done all day–it feels painfully distant.  

Rocks dig into their skin through the thin excuses for beds.

Quietly, Darya listens as Mel shifts back and forth, probably attempting to dislodge the small things like she does every night. 

“You alright there?” Darya hums, hat back on her head–tilted over her eyes–and a tired lilt in her voice. 

Mel sighs, annoyed but not willing to put in any more effort. “I’ve got rocks under me.”

Darya scoffs, a smile on her lips, “What a surprise that is.”

The conversation falls comfortably flat afterwards. As Mel picks at the embroidery in her hat, something she’d need to re-stitch soon–a long put off task–the stars twinkle quietly above. With no other noise than soft breathing, both think the other has managed to fall asleep.

That is, until Darya whispers, “Mel?”

She mumbles back, “Still here.”

“Do ya’ know how close we are to home?”

Mel’s eyes inch from her hat and towards Darya’s form. She’s taken her hat from her face and rested it against her chest; Iris sniffing at the feather. 

“Don’t tell me you lost the compass.”

She scoffs, “How would a compass tell us how far out we are?”

Contemplative, Mel takes a few moments to respond before sighing despondently–a noise that easily makes Darya laugh. “Sorry. Just tired.”

“Been a long ride; don’t fret.”

Their eyes stay glued to each other’s, and Darya yearns to fill the silence. With what exactly, she’s unsure, but she takes a breath to speak it. Fortunately–or unfortunately–Mel beats her to it.

“‘M surprised.”

Darya’s brows furrow, craning her neck to get a better look at Mel. “Why?”

“You’re usually the one with a sense of direction.”

The memories of countless hours lost to Mel’s horrible mental compass brings a grin to Darya’s face. “Well, you’re the one who likes stars.”

Happily, Mel continues the back and forth. “You’re the one always lookin’ up at the night sky.”

Darya twists, moving to her stomach. “Can you blame me?” Distantly, they hear the sound of approaching hooves. “The moons’ as pretty as a peach.”

“Prettier than me?” Pip nips at Mel’s hat, playfully attempting to tug it away, before walking towards the treeline again, probably for a second dinner.

They’d tie the two horses up, but, after years of trekking so many miles with them, both have proven to be pleasingly loyal. Again, spending more time with them than not, a mutual trust had been formed, and they’d both decided to let them have free rein, without fretting over losing their ride far from home.

“That’s still up for debate.”

There’d been an occasion, maybe a year ago, when they’d been watching another local farmer’s cows–one Mr Rawlings–because his hands had refused to work. Said they saw a Ghost rider, no skin left on his face and a voice calling across the plains like the Devil Himself, and didn’t dare step back on the land until the Priest blessed it. So, with only a mild fear of that which goes bump in the night, they were happy to take up the additional job for some extra cash. 

Iris nudges Darya’s head. Humorously, Darya looks up to her. “Whadya’ want?”

So, in unfamiliar fields under an ever watchful sky, the pair certainly had a fright waking up to seeing both their horses gone. In a panic, they ran like bats out of Hell back to Mr Rawlings to report their stolen animals. Two hours or so later, the pair came trotting back home, an unconscious outlaw tangled in one of their stirrups and reins. 

Again, she prods Darya until she finally moves herself upright. “What are ya’ up to, hm?” 

Having seen them find their way back home with no issue, dragging a bandit behind them, both decided to give them a little more freedom. 

Happily, she settles down behind Darya, her usual spot–flask of water sloshing as she tucks her legs in. With a resounding sigh, she places her heavy head down on Darya’s pillow.

As the mare gets herself comfortable, both can’t help but laugh. “I don’t think you’re gettin’ that back tonight.”

Darya huffs, her hand beginning to paw blindly for something. “At least my horse doesn’t try to sleep on me every night.” She frowns, clearly not finding what she was looking for, and leans over Iris. For a few seconds, she almost seems to hesitate as her next words stumble out of her mouth. “I’d be a real shame if we had to share a sleeping bag, ey?”

Mel’s eyes stick to Darya’s form before letting them wander her surroundings in search of something else to fiddle with. “Oh, truly.”

The hollow knock of wood, followed by a soft, ‘aha’, tells Mel that Daryas’ found what she’s looking for.

She lifts the battered instrument over Iris, body knocking on the horn of her saddle. Somewhat more confident, she speaks, “Y’know what I heard?”

Mel’s eyes focus on a brittle-looking branch. She stretches out her arm, “What’d you hear?” before grasping onto it, and dragging it over the dry ground. 

A very out of tune chord resounds in their ears. “That you get warmer faster with less clothes.”

Mel twirls the stick around in her hand, unknowing as Darya watches for her reaction. “Oh, yeah?”

Another pluck of a string–more harmonious than the last. “Ey. You, uhm, you gotta be huddled up with someone, though.” She strums a somewhat familiar chord; one of late nights together on a porch with the burn of whiskey on their tongues. 

She hums. “I’ll keep that in mind for later.”

Darya grins to herself at the prospect. Even though she knows it's only sarcasm, she can’t help but sense a drop of sincerity. 

As Mel draws patterns in the dry dirt, somewhere across the plains, a bird calls out. Maybe the Hawk, scouring each blade of grass and hare’s burrow for its missing flight feather. 

“So…” Darya draws the ‘o’ out. “Where are we at?”

“Let’s see,” Mel shifts her eyes up from her swirling shapes and towards the clear sky, darting between the hundreds of silver eyes that stare down at them from the great darkness above. “That big bright one is Mars- uhm, y’know the twins? Gemini?” 

She turns to find Darya’s eyes, finding them already fixed on the velvet expanse above them.

“The two stick-figure lookin’ ones? Holdin’ hands?”

“Aye.”

“Lookin’ right at ‘em.”

“Okay, um,” Mel squints at the sky, attempting to discern the different shapes and patterns–different stories woven with helium and spur silver–that cover the night sky. “Cancer? Right to the left of it.” Darya nods, “Look between the two for a big bright one; can’t miss it.”

Darya grins as she picks them out. “I see ‘im.” she giggles to herself. “Y’know, I really don’t know how people get a crab outta that.”

“You ain’t never even seen a crab.”

Darya whips her head around, a grin on her face as she bends her torso over Iris, careful not to hit her head with the neck. “Have too! Mr and Mrs Langley were given sum’ for their anniversary.” Iris flicks her ears against Darya’s face as she leans back. “‘N ain’t no way does that,” she plucks a harsh string. “Look like a crab.”

Mel peers back up at the sky, contemplative as she tries to imagine the animal in place of the glimmering stars. “...Looks more like a lobster to me.”

“Don’t you tell me you’ve seen a lobster.”

Mel crosses her arms, smug. “Maybe I have, maybe I haven’t.”

“Just tell me how much longer we gotta be out here for.”

Mel looks back, humming, “We follow Mr Ares straight to get back home. Maybe…another day or two's ride?”

“Thank God.” Darya’s shoulder fell in relief, a sigh escaping her. Although they had both diligently attempted to keep track of the time, after so long surrounded by sand, pillars of binding red rock, and half-built rail-tracks, the days felt as if they melded—hot and red with a halcyon sky above—together.

“What,” Mel throws her stick into the fire, listening as the dry wood crackles and pops. “Am I really that bad company?” She asks in mock offense. 

“Naw,” finally, her guitar seems to be tuned. Both are sure it won’t stay that way for long. “Just missin’ my bed.”

“You n’ me both.”

Bit by bit, Darya begins to string together a song, fingers moving back and forth between different chords before settling with a sequence she likes. She’s been playing it for a long while–as long as the two have known each other–along with her violin. Although, that one stays tucked up at home, far away from bucking horses, bullets, and pawing bandits. 

Mel places her elbow on her knee, resting her head on her hand. “I like that one.”

Darya scoffs, smiling. “You like all my tunes.”

Mel imitates the sound, mocking her. “Because they’re all nice. I keep tellin’ you to ask the keeper if you can play them at his saloon. Everyone’d love it.”

She begins a more complicated plucking pattern, fingers dancing across the fingerboard. “One day.”

“Is that gonna be one day in this life or the next?”

“Perhaps the next. For now, I think they’ll stay for our ears.”

There it is again; that warm feeling. Quiet as the wind and as warm as whiskey. One that isn’t the amber arms of the firelight, or the food sitting at the bottom of her stomach. As Darya hums, Mel can’t help but think she’s never seen someone as lovely. 

Suddenly, the pacing changes, her humming becoming as smooth as fresh butter. “New one I’ve been cookin’ up. Thoughts?”

“Sounds like you.”

Darya raises her dark eyes for a moment from the strings, iris’ flickering with the firelight. “And what would that be?”

Mel doesn’t hesitate. “Ocean waves crashing against a limestone shore.”

“Right, well, I know for a fact that you ain’t never seen the sea, same as I.” A cow moos from far off. “How could I create a sound about somethin’ I’ve never heard of?”

“You can still imagine it, no?” She shrugs.

Darya hums; soft, like the wind chimes their employers have in their orchard. “True, true.” A pause. Maybe another hesitant statement that lingers on her tongue long enough to turn the words sour to her mind. “We should go someday.”

“To the sea?” Even focused on her music, Darya can hear the grin on Mel’s face. Subtle, and half-hidden by her hand, but still there. 

“Mhm. Mrs Langley has one of those big shells–a conch–on a shelf in their livin’ room. I’d like to find one for myself.”

Quiet, Mel nods in wordless agreement. They’d heard that Mrs Langley was born by the ocean, and keeps the sea foam and sand close to her heart. In the orchards, filled with white blossoms and apples, come summer, the branches are littered with wind chimes; woven with seashells and string. Both swear it’s the second prettiest sound they’ve ever known.

Darya takes in a breath, “Did ya’ know, you can hear the sea in em’? Like how people say they hear voices in the wind. Real neat how they carry a piece of their home with em’.”

“Doesn’t everything?”

Darya raises her eyes from her guitar for a moment. “True that, true that.” Before glancing back down.

Before long, the two fall into another comfortable quiet, lulled by the pop of wood, the twang of Darya’s guitar, and the far off moos of sleepy cows. 

“Hey, Melie?”

“Mhm?” Mel’s eyes have drooped closed, hopeful to grasp at sleep that seems to never come. 

The guitar’s wood hums when she places it down. “You got a story for us?”

She cracks an eye open, Darya’s form a blur for a few moments. “Depends on if you wanna sleep tonight.”

Darya huffs. “Oh, come on, your stories ain’t that scary.”

She peels the other eye open, once again wide awake. “Only because I keep all the good ones to myself! You scare like an afeared chicken to a loud noise, anyways.”

“Says you.” She begins putting her guitar to the side, strapping it back to Iris.

“Aye, says me.”

“Well?” She looks to Mel. “Go on.”

Mel straightens herself, clearing the remnants of drowsiness from her eyes as she dramatically clears her throat. “Alright…they say,” she begins, hoarse and preacher like. “Far out where-”

Darya tucks herself behind Iris’ head. “-Nevermind, I’m goin’ to sleep.”

It takes mere seconds for the short charade to break, both, somewhat sleep deprived, laughing at each other.

 “Alright, alright.” Again, she clears her throat. “They say, far out where the sky ends and there’s nothin’ but burnin’ blue, is a town of tumbleweed and cow bones.”

Darya shifts back up, sitting cross-legged and leaning over Iris. “So, our town?”

“Ain’t that bad.” Mel stretches, attempting to get comfortable again.

“Debatable.”

She raises an eyebrow. “How so?”

Darya shrugs. “Because you’re there.”

Mel waits a few seconds, turning the words around in her mind. “That a compliment or an insult?”

Darya grins, sly and joking. “Well…”

“Y’know,” Mel begins, toneless, “I ain’t really in the mood for storytellin’ no more-”

“-No, no,” Darya chuckles. “Carry on.”

Mel raises her eyebrows again, seemingly waiting for another interruption, before a pleased smile stretches across her face. “Now, nobody knows its name no more. Long lost to the dust and the tramplin’ hooves of those which have gone early. But, even ghost towns were once livin’.”

Darya knows the type of town she speaks of well. Places of rotting timber and fading paint, with inhabitants who’d rather pretend to be dead than confront the odd passerby. Places where the grass grows as tall as a man, and homes are more bones than flesh.

“This town is just like any that have come before it. The drunkards still holler nonsense at God’s hour,” A laugh gets caught in Darya’s throat. “The banker still shifts shadily in the alleys, and the farm hands still drink their whiskey on the porch.”

“You sure this ain’t about our town?” 

Pip shakes her head, rattling her bridle as Mel brings a hand to soothe her. “Sure hope it ain’t.” Darya listens as she chews on her bit, a noise somewhere between the shink of a reloading shotgun and the grinding of brittle teeth. “Anyway, in this town, a young woman lives.”

She brings a hand to her own horse’s head, threading through her tousled mane. “What she like?”

“She’s as pale as a Charolais, sings like a bird up on a vine, and lives with her husband, a cow wrangler, up on a hill.”

Distantly, one of the cows lets out a low bellow, one that sets off some of the others in the herd. It’s something between another snore and a tired sigh, but it still makes their ears perk. Makes their eyes squint into the darkness beyond. Makes their fingers twitch for their rifles. 

All remains still. 

Both let their eyes wander back to their fire. It’ll need some more wood soon. 

“So, one of these days, she’s out in the market, buyin’ flowers for her husband and bartering for a nice chicken; it’s his birthday the day after tomorrow, and she wants to treat ‘im.” Mel brings her hands up close to the fire, Darya watching as she creates shadow puppets. “After she’s all set, she sneakily walks back home–didn’t tell her husband what she was buyin’, and prepares to creep her way to the pantry to hide her spoils. But, when she rounds the corner to her kitchen, she spies another woman.” Darya gasps dramatically. “Another woman and her man.”

She rolls her eyes, “Typical.”

“Mhm. Now, in a fit o’ rage, ‘fore her husband can even catch a glimpse o’ her, she rushes inna fit through town, and no matter what nobody does, they can’t stop her from runnin’. She runs, and she runs, and she runs, until the night swallows her whole.”

“Let me guess:” Darya cracks her back. “She ain’t never seen again?”

“Stop tryna’ spoil yourself–we’re gettin’ to the good bit.” she shushes. “Eventually, after months o’ searchin’, after sendin’ every other able bodied man out to look for her, they deem her dead. And, of course, with his God given wife now gone, the husband decides to remarry. With this woman-”

“-The same he was cheatin’ with?”

Mel nods. “Aye.”

“Go on.”

“With this woman, he has a child. He grows tall n’ strong, n’ fights any ailment and Devil and his black hat throw at him. He helps his pa’ out in the fields–cattle wranglin’–” 

“Are we gonna make an appearance in this story?”

“If you let me finish, then maybe.” Mel jokes. “N’, on a lush Spring day, a herd of mustangs are passin’ by.” She shifts her hands over each other, creating a horse within the fading flame of the fire. “And he spots the prettiest mare he’s ever seen: pure white, aside from a pitch black star in the centre o’ her chest.” Behind her, Pip finally decides it's time to lie down, and falls ungracefully into Mel’s lap. Gently, she threads her hands through the loose strands of her plait. “After spendin’ so long seein’ his pa’ wrangle cattle and horses, he sets his eyes on her, waitin’ until she’s away from the herd. She’s real calm, calmest Mustang he’s ever known, and lets him wrap a lead round her neck. He decides to push it, and gets on her back.”

Darya glances to the fire, blindly searching with her hand for something to fuel it. Eventually she finds another branch, and carefully places it in. 

“He calls to his dad, wantin’ him to see his achievement. But, spooked, the mare begins trottin’ away. Then she canters. Then she gallops, and she don’t stop.” Mel pauses, hoping to attain some dramatic effect like the drunkards telling any other drinker of all the men they’ve shot. 

“They ever find him?”

“His pa’ searched for him for hours, but, just like his wife, they found not a thing: no clothes, no blood, no bones. They say,” she exhales, a cold puff of mist fading into the darkness. “He found a way to where the sky ends.”

Another pause. This time, Darya can’t tell if it’s for effect or not. “That it?” Darya scoffs a laugh. 

Mel raises a hand in placation. “Naw, there’s more, there’s more. After the disappearance, death, of their son, the couple is distraught. His pa’ spends more time with his cows and horses than he does with his own wife. So, in order to try to reconnect with him, when the sun is high in the sky, and the weeds walk in packs in the winds, she goes to the market to find one.”

“Oh, here we go.”

“She’s wandering the stalls, looking over each creature, and she eyes one she likes. White as the moon above with a-”

The two speak in tandem. “-black star on her breast.”

Mel nods, laughing lightly. “She’s cheap, marked down because of her temperament, but when the lady approaches her, she’s as calm as a Spring breeze. So, she buys her, and takes her home, makin’ sure she’s broken in before riding her out to show her husband. Of course, he’s as angry as a fresh wound when he sees her, and tries to take her back to the seller. But, he refuses to take her–’a deal is a deal’. On the few times she’s being ridden, he’s always with her wife, mumblin’ the Devil’s talk to her, and sure that she can understand. However, one day, his wife goes out on her own.”

Across the plain, a jackal howls. 

“How they find her?”

“Like usual: they don’t. The horse comes back, still with her saddle and bridle, and they joke that the money spent on that horse was well: she’s as loyal as a Church wife.” She makes a little halo with her hands. “Done with this horse, a demon he’s sure has come to taunt him for not lookin’ after his wife, he takes his shotgun, goes to her paddock, and gives her lead.”

“Then?”

Mel leans back, smiling to herself. “Calmed at the prospect of that thing finally being dead, he gets his cart ready to throw her out to the tumbleweeds–let the scavengers have at her. But, when he goes to get his horse, there she is: standing in the paddock where he’s sure he left her to bleed out. So, he shoots her again.” Mel rustles something metal–maybe her canister–on Pip’s saddle. “And again.” Another tink of the metal. “And again. No matter what he does, she’s always there. The townspeople call him raving mad, and ignore the gunshots that go off each night. When they finally stop, they hope he’s finally come to his senses. He came to them alright. Spilled them in red over dust and dried hay.” She lets go of the saddle. 

“And the horse?”

“Found a way to break out of her stable. ‘Always temperamental, that one’, they had said. ‘Don’t know why he ever kept her.’ Some travelers say, far out, where night meets the land, a white mare roams with a wild herd. Stare into her eyes, and you might just see somethin’ human.”

Mel exhales, hands unfolding and brought to her knees as she watches Darya’s face for approval. 

She stays blank. “You gon’ give me one of those ‘good ones’ you’ve been storin’ up or what?”

“Oh, come on!” She throws her hands up. “Needs a bit more tinkerin’, but it ain’t horrible.”

“Jokes,” Darya leans to her right, grabbing something. “Just jokes, pardner.” The fire crackles as a new log is fed to it. The embers dance in the air for a moment, sunset stars burning up before their very eyes, before disappearing back into the flame. 

Mel shakes her head, leaning back and attempting to shuffle into her bedroll. “So, if you get a bedtime story,” even half asleep, knowingly, Pip shifts herself, laying her head on Mel’s chest. She heaves at the sudden weight. “Do I- Do I get a bedtime lullaby?”

Rolling her eyes, Darya leans back over Iris, unhooking the guitar once again. “Hold your horses.”

The metal of Pip’s bridle clinks and Mel grasps it. “Holdin’ ‘em.”

Guitar back in her lap, Darya begins strumming again. It’s a soft tune, strummed gently with the occasional, high pitched twang of one of the strings. “What’s this one sound like, then?”

Mel’s eyes droop close. She can already feel herself overheating. “Like home.”

“Really?”

“Mhm. Like waves crashing against limestone, too.” Mel grunts, attempting to get comfortable as Pip subconsciously shifts more of her weight onto her. She sighs as she finally finds a comfortable position. “N’ that’s close enough to Heaven for me, too.”

From over Iris’ head, Darya’s eyes wander to what she can see of Mel’s form, another sentence–maybe a final comeback–pushing against the back of her teeth. She lets it fizzle out like the embers of the fire, and hopes the warmth in her chest will do the same. 

She knows she isn’t asleep yet–her breathing hasn’t yet gone soft–but her fingers grow idle on the frets. With dust climbing up her chaps, she places her guitar aside with a low thump. With one last glance at the fire, she gathers some dust to put it out before unhooking her rifle, and leaning against her horse. 

Grinning, she wonders to herself that perhaps, in another life, they too are the lovers the constellations speak of. 

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

Writing this made me realise I need to practice third person a bit more. Usually, when I do, I focus on one main character and their thoughts, perceptions and actions in the scene (e.g., in WDJ) but, doing it here made things feel one-sided, so I ended up with a slightly odd narration style which I'm not really use to.

Minor frustrations aside, this was stupidly fun to write! I've never done anything Western based, so it was really cool to do some extra research on Western Jargon, clothing, speech patterns and history. It may not be entirely accurate, but I loved working on it, so I don't mind all too much.

[c4rl4-k1nn13]

Penny and Carla with prompt number 29!! :3

Number 29 - Penny and Carla - "I thought you died!"

Carla sat on the rock in her new school, she had been there for a week now, her shoe got covered in the powdery dirt below as a sigh escaped her lips. She hated the new school, people could do whatever they wanted, there was barely any rules to break. Another reason why Carla hated this place so much was because of how alone she felt. Sure, Kidd was there doing things for everyone, Monty was going to be here, Cindy yelling at boys to be her boyfriend, Nugget eating goo, Felix- Or well, Ted? Just stood in a corner and there was also some new kids! But everyone was so boring.

Until a small blonde haired girl walked into the school beside Monty. Her hair was slicked back into a bun, seeming almost plastered to her head, her dress was a familiar shade of blue that matched the scrunchie in her hair, and her movements were almost robotic.

Carla felt a small spark explode in her stomach, like a fire cracker when you turned it on. She locked eyes with the girl that just walked in, dirty brown eyes meeting the girl's shiny emerald ones.

"PENNY!?" Carla stood up, her foot kicking back some dust behind her into Austin's face, making his start coughing (she didn't care though). Carla wrapped her arms around the girl, trying not to cry at the realisation that Penny wasn't actually dead.

"I thought you died!" She chuckled, her tone seemed to be a mixture relief and shock, to which Penny's eyes lit up, hugging her back.

"Monty repaired me.." Penny smiled, pushing a now annoyed Carla away from her.

"Of course he did." Carla joked, her voice turning into sarcasm. Monty just winked at her, making Carla pull a disgusted face at him.

The blonde girl laughed at the interaction between the two, and Carla just felt her stomach warm up. Like as if a small lantern got switched on in her chest.

"I'm glad to see you, Carla."

"Me too, Penny."

[recromage]

Can’t be tamed!

——

Chapter 1

——

Looking in on the arena a hoard of folk can be seen. From the big to the small and even the unseen. All of whom can be seen cheering, screaming, and yelling. People can be seen making bets, calling on even cheering for their choices, and trying to earn some money.

'Oh, you look at that. The battles are beginning again, let's have a look. Shall we?'

When looking into the small room not much can be said about it. The walls are plain beige the floors are made of dark brown wooden planks. There is a couple of tables manned by people each taking care of the person in front of them. Some look to be headed to the higher levels handing over big sums of money; while others hand over smaller sets, no doubt headed to the standard seats. Looking around there are chairs full of people of all kinds, one no doubt waiting to get in and others not so fortunate.

The less fortunate look to be sad as if they can tell what's to come. Why, there is a boy (he looks to be the type to have been a nobleman if we were back in said ere.)with what appears to be a young girl by his side. She looks to be chained, shivering, and to be telling herself that everything is fine; oh the poor girl. She looks to be no older than ten years old, with pretty blonde hair and blue eyes. It amazes me what you humans do to one another.

The boy looks to be striking up a deal with a big man. The man clad from head to toe in lavish garments happened to be a big man, a big chunky man. Ugly in the face, double chin, and has ugly hanging skin; I dare say he's giving off goblin king vibes. The man hands the boy a stack of cash after 'assessing his new goods' and gives the boy a half hug while directing him down a hallway.

'Let's follow them, yeah?'

The man leads the boy down a set of stairs leading to what looks to be a vast room so filthy you would wonder just how long it's been since it was last cleaned. the walls are coated in a mystery substance and the smell is just awful. The room is lined with cells so rotten you might get an infection just from grazing it, never mind looking at it. Most cells seem to have a person in them, some with more than one person in them. Each of the beings in the cells looks to be beaten, bruised, and as filthy as can be; like they have yet to discover what a bath is. Covered in rags with holes in them, scars and cuts running along their beings; It's times like these that I pity humans.

Hidden in a cell lies a group of kids each as filthy as the last and some more than others but each appear to have been through the ring. Clad in black lays a woman with tattered caramel skin, brown eyes and hair to match. Hair tied in a low ponytail while a pair of thick rimed glasses lay upon her head. With a scowl on her face and the scars to match I think it's a safe be to stay away from her.

Another woman lay beside her, sporting a not so clean bandage wrapped around her leg. With dark skin, long black hair, and bright blue eyes anyone could tell she was a looker. Wearing a white now gray shirt with patches of dirt hear and there in it. Black spacious pants and the most tattered sandals one can have, you would question why she's even wearing them.

Not far in the corner wearing nothing but a long sack a young girl sits rocking herself back and forth in a repetitive manner. She can be seen with dirty, dirty blonde hair, green eyes shut so tight she might give herself a headache. The lady looked to be so scared like she had the life drained from her. Rocking back and forth, back and forth, muttering about how she was going to die, how she barely survives. Even with her occasional blinking of her eyes on can easily see that her eyes are bloodshot and full almost like she had been crying all night.

The final girl there hard to miss but hard to see stands in the dark. This young lady standing at the (not so tall) height of 5'3 (160cm, 63in) can be seen looking all around. Left to right, up and down, this young lady can be seen looking all around. For what reason other than escape, that or the por girl has gone insane.

Dressed in rags and covered with dust, dirt, and grime smeared all over her; disguised her long white hair and skin as pure as freshly laid snow. Eyes that shine brighter than any jasper could ever be; with long lashes and such thin brows you'd think she to be cared for. Her ears were small in size but pointed to her sides; Lips plumber than a plum, and even rosier than a cherry. In different circumstances, one might think of her to be a queen with her head held high and a fire in her eye.

The young blonde scared she may be watched as the fat man had a man open up the cell and pushed her in. The boy and the man stand together laughing, one for he got a new toy and the other because he got rid of his old one. "You back at it again you old goblin?" said the albino. The 'goblin' in question stopped laughing and turned to the lady "Of course my dear, how else do you expect me to have my fun?"

The lady gave him a nasty look and said "And you wonder why no one likes you?" "What do you mean, everyone here likes me!" "How could they not? I am their king!" he exclaimed. Some men in the back could be heard cheering and other clapping 'Quite obviously they are the ones betting. Hm?' "Your no king, just one heck of a nasty man!" "I AM KING!" the man shouts, after a few seconds the mans coughs and puts himself back together. "You had better watch you mouth, you may be my favorite toy but I can easily make you the next contestant." the man says as he turns around an left.

The poor blonde from earlier having appeared to have been long forgotten moved closer to the wall catching the albino's attention. The girls eye went big when she realized she'd been spotted. "Oh narly! Did I scare you?" The albino said getting closer to the blonde. "Just a little, BUT IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT!" The blonde exclaimed. "Nonetheless I'm sorry if I startled you, my names Elvira, what's yours luv?" Elvira said. Maybe it was the way she was so nice to her or maybe it was just the way she carried herself but our little blonde just felt the need to answer the albino. "Ema, my name's Ema miss Vira" Ema said with a laugh Elvira looked to Ema and said "No need for the 'miss', like I said I'm Elvira" she said pointing to herself. "That's Rex" she said pointing to the brunette, "That's Alexandria, Alex for short" she pointed to the raven "And the lady rocking is Haven." " She's a bit crazy 'cus she's been through more than us, at least mentally." She said.

"We may not be a big bunch but we're probably the closest thing your going to get to a family while your stuck in here." Elvira said with a smile. "A family huh? I like the thought of that." Ema said with a small smile on her face. "So, we should probably let you in on what's to come yeah?" Elvira said. Ema tilted her head in question but stayed silent. Alex got up from her laying position and began to speak. "I don't see why, she'll die if not today then when she's chosen." "Most of these creeps like to see a little girl running for her life" Alex said with a dead stare. "Though that may be true it does not change the fact that she should be warned and prepared!" Elvira said with a smile and small glare directed at Alex.

"Ugh fine" Alex said letting out a sigh. "Every night sometimes in the day but usually at night eight the 'King' or someone come and get someone." "When they come you do not want to be the one they grab." "They drag you to the side lead you through the walls until they finally throw you into the ring with people who know what they are doing." Alex said with a grunt. "You had better hope that  they don't put you with vets-" Alex got cut off "What are vets?" ema asked "Huh? Vets are the ones who have been here and survived the longest." Alex said.

"If you have powers or a quirk then survival gets a whole lot easier though" Elvira chipped in. "Thank you for your unnecessary words, but yes it can be a lot easier if you have a quirk." said Alex "Do you have a quirk?' questioned Elvira. "A quir-' Ema didn't get to finish her sentence before a buff man came in and dragged her and Elvira away. The 'family' behind her screaming behind her.

"Let go, let go, let go!" The only thing anyone could hear from the two young girls. The man just laughed while he dragged them to a tall gate. The 'king' sat there waiting on them "Took you long enough, I hope you fight as well you cause problems." said the king. With the wave of a hand the buff man tossed them out of the gate. As soon as they hit the ground yells erupted from the arena yells of "We got some beauts this time!" "They don't look like they could even land a hit!' and "My moneys on the big guy!" can be heard all around.

The two girls got up and looked around one thinking 'I might just die today' with a scared look on her face. While the other thinking 'Well I can't get out now, I've got a new kid and the gang isn't here, can't leave by myself.' Looking up and around Ema could make out the wall so tall it makes them look like ants. Vira looking around could see many folk from the power hungry men and woman to a peculiar bunch chillin gin the back. One is sporting a light blue haircut with hands all over his body, a black top and black pants to match. Another is a raven sporting a black coat, white tank top, and black pants with a belt. 'He has some interesting scars.' Vira thought.

Another was a women a blonde to be precise, with a crazy look and a smile on her face. The lady is wearing a blue skirt, long black socks, a beige top. 'Is that a school girl uniform?' The last man sitting with his group was made up of a dark purple to black mist. Wearing black pants, a white under shirt black tie, grey vest, and a metal brace laying on his collar.

The group appears to be looking around in all directions. The blonde watching a male who appears to be showing off to the crowd. The raven's not even paying attention, more focused on his phone. The misty man though hard to tell was staring at the lanky man and back at the crowd. Despite everyone looking in their on directions the lanky blue haired man was staring directly at Elvira.

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Word count: 2038

[more-than-a-princess]

@xdcwntherabbithole asked: 4 from Akane if you're still accepting these 🙏

Spot-the-muse starter prompts - Accepting!

4. getting soaked as a passing car drives through a puddle

On the rare occasion that the Hope's Peak cafeteria closed, it was up to the students to ensure they were fed. Some mishap with Teruteru's cooking had shut it down for the rest of the day, leaving Sonia to venture out of the dormitories in search of dinner. Cooking for herself wasn't an option: a safety issue, the school cited to the Novoselic Royal Family, after Sonia had nearly burned down the student kitchens twice and had to call paramedics for both herself and those 'lucky' enough to taste her meals more times than she cared to admit.

Instead, she ventured out to do one of her favorite culinary treats in the city. When she wasn't homesick for European fare, she indulged in Japanese izakaya-type meals: everything skewered, deep-fried, or accompanied with a generous about of noodles or rice, ideal to take home and spread out over her low table in her dormitory room and consume with a bottle of strawberry or melon soda. Followed by a remark (or several) about how her life had turned into a Japanese anime in the best possible way, only to conclude with an elaborately-decorated single-serving cake she'd picked up from a local bakery. Wrapped in its own cardstock box and tied with a satin ribbon, she carried that far more delicately than the plastic bags that held her dinner. The heavy paper bag and matching ribbon handles warranted it, she supposed, and according to the average income in Japan her sweet treat was truly that: a treat, though expensive versus cheap items never really registered for her.

What did register for her, however, was water: the cafeteria disaster had happened the morning of a heavy rain, and only in the late afternoon had the clouds finally parted to make way for a few hours of sun. And puddles, particularly ones that Sonia had ignored beyond side-stepping them on her path back to school. Unfortunately, the passing cars were not so careful, and in the span of a moment Sonia had gone from pretty, dry, pristine, and cheerful to sopping wet, messy, and shocked. The Ultimate Princess, and her dinner, were now dripping in muddy, gasoline-infused water that streamed down her blonde hair, her once-immaculate face, her tidy dress and heels. Ruined. All ruined.

"What," Sonia stammered, coughing and rubbing at her eyes. She smelled of dirt and oil, not unlike the way Kazuichi did when he got a little too close for her comfort. "just happened? How could they!?" She cried, to no one in particular though she'd garnered several curious onlookers. It wasn't every day that a foreigner found themselves the target of sidewalk deluge. It was both an injustice and a moment of embarrassed panic for Sonia, whose eyes scanned the crowd before falling on a pair of familiar ones. This girl...she knew this girl. The day at the park!.

"This wasn't how I intended on meeting you again!" She waved to her, rather ridiculously as dirty water streamed down the sleeve of her jacket while she did so. "Is it not done in Japan to avoid puddles in the presence of pedestrians?" Considering how much the Japanese adhered to etiquette in nearly every aspect of their lives, Sonia would find it surprising if so.

[countrymusiclover]

1 - Matching Rings

Part 2

Her Life Means Everything

Tag list @mrs-fanfiction-2001 @the-big-bad-klaus

6 years ago

Caroline and I chased each other around the yard squealing at the age of ten years old. My hair blows in my face before she tackled me into the ground rolling us around in the dirt. Being a twin is nice in my opinion because you know you'll always have a loyal friend since they are your family. It was horrible when our father left but I had my sisters shoulder to cry on throughout the long nights. "Girls, come here I have a birthday present for you two!" Our mother called from the back porch.

Caroline got to her feet first her blonde hair bouncing as we raced towards her. "What is it mommy?"

Splashing my brown boots in the mud I sit down beside our mother watching her reveal a small box from behind her back. She lifted the lid revealing two small rings laying inside of it. "These are matching rings to represent your friendship as sisters. As twins that will always have each other's back."

"For my little princess Maddie..." She slipped one ring on my finger making me smile at her. Then she slipped the other on my sister's right ring finger making her giggle. "And for my other princess Caroline."

Sitting at the foot of my sister's bed now I am almost in tears seeing a bite on her neck that was killing her. A couple months ago she had been turned into a vampire. Grasping my hand in hers she started sniffing tears too. "Care, you're gonna be okay. You aren't going to die I promise...you're my twin sister so I refuse to let you die."

"Mads...I am dying. A werewolf bite can kill a vampire.." She mumbled laying her head tiredly on the pillow until I heard foosteps approached her room. The stranger has dirty blonde hair and blue eyes that locked onto the two of us.

My sister bared her teeth in her weakened state. "Get out of here, Klaus!"

"He's the immortal hybrid..." I accidentally gasped feeling my face heating up. "He's kinda attractive."

My twin gives me a look of disgust before Klaus and I faced each other with me moving to sit on the other side of her bed. "I don't believe we've met. My name is Klaus. What's yours love?" He asked sitting down in the spot I was a few seconds before.

"Maddie, her twin sister." I replied when he lifted my hand to his lips kissing it before I let it drkp back onto the bed eyeing my sister who was still holding my other hand that I wore our ring on which is my right hand.

He reaches forward seeing a bracelet on her other wrist. "I love birthdays." 

"Yeah, Haven't you like.. a billion, or something?" My sister asked.

He locked gazes with her glancing to me only once. "Well you have to adjust your perception of time when you become a vampire, Caroline. Celebrate the fact that you're no longer bond by trivial human conventions. You're free."

"No, I'm dying." Caroline whimpered nearly breaking my heart in two.

Klaus and I locked gazes softly before he leans down whispering to my sister about her choice. "And I could let you die, if that's what you want. If you really believe your existence has no meaning. I thought about it myself, once or twice, over the centuries, truth will be told. But I'll let you know a little secret. There is a whole world out there, waiting for you. Great cities and art and music, genuine beauty. And you can have all of it. You can have a thousand more birthdays. All you have to do is ask."

"I don't wanna die." She whimpered before he rolled his sleeve down lifting her head up so she could bite him.

He whispered pushing her hair away until the bite healed. He gently layed her back down to sleep following me when I left the room. "Here you go, sweet heart. Have at it. Happy birthday Caroline."

"Why haven't I met you until now Ms. Maddie?" He asked leaning in the doorway of my sister's bedroom arms crossed over his chest.

Looking at the ground I bite my lip feeling my heart skip a beat when he says my name. I can't deny that his British accent might make me weak to my knees. If my sister ever knew that she would be disgusted. "My sister didn't tell me anything to protect me. I only know she's a vampire. Why do you ask mysterious stranger?"

"Knowing that do you think your sister would allow me to spend more time with you. Get to know you..." He asked with a small smirk unknown to me that he could hear my heart quickening at his question. Klaus already had a feeling that Caroline was protective of you. Yet in the brief moment you had only spoken your name there was something that drew him in. Where he needed to know who Maddie Forbes was.

Playing with loose strands of my hair I bite my lip taken back by his question. Growing up my sister and I are complete opposites. She was the outgoing one with confidence even though he always gets mad when Elena Gilbert is everyone's first choice and not her. And then there's me, the little shy younger sister by only a second. I haven't even had a real boyfriend yet. Just simple crushes here and there but none got to be my first kiss. "She's protective of me so I'm not sure about that. Recently she's been fighting this guy called the big bad hybrid. So you'd have to be a pretty good guy to get her approval."

"Ah I see. Well it's getting late I should let you get some sleep." Klaus stepped forward tucking a piece of hair behind my ear then heading out the front door. "Goodnight Maddie."

Once he's gone I rushed to the front closing it behind me when I leaned against awe struck. Twirling the ring on my finger I felt myself smiling ear to ear. "Thank you universe for letting me meet him." Tomorrow Caroline was going to tell me everything. I have to know who he is.

Comments really appreciated ❤️

[harrypoppinss]

Our darling girl

Dad! Arthur morgan x reader

Summary: Your husband makes arrangements to take you and your daughter out for a day in valentine

Warnings: fluff, first time mom, soft Arthur Morgan

Today was a beautiful day at Horseshoe Overlook. The trees were swaying with a light breeze, the clouds were swirling around in the blue sky, and the little girl who was attached to your leg was kicking the dirt as you finished splaying wet clothes across the hot rocks. You wiped your hands on your skirts, before reaching down to ruffle her dirty blond hair, earning a huff of protest out of your daughter, Isabella. She had Arthurs’ eyes, her fathers hair and your facial features, and she definitely had his witty personality and comments.

“C’mon hun, your dads back,” you announced to her, this grabbed her attention, making her head perk up in the direction of the hitching posts. While she was distracted you bent down, picking her up under her arms and slinging her to rest along your hip. This opted a sqeal out of her, her tiny hands clinging onto your blouse for dear life. A small smile made its way to your lips as you walked towards Arthur who was patting down his mare, whispering a praise for how well she had rode today.

Once he spotted the two of you walking over towards him, his face immediately lite up. You always found this adorable, how he would get all soft and sweet around your little girl. He let Spots’ reins fall from his grasp, letting him graze amongst the other horses of the camp. He tucked his grooming brush back into his Stachel and closed the gap between the two of you. His big hand came to rest on Isabella’s head as he placed a soft kiss to her hair, followed by planting one on your lips.

Isabella made a sound of a gag, her tiny hands trying to pry the two of you apart. Arthurs smile matched yours as the two of you parted, before he shifted his attention over to her as she reached out towards him once she was done babbling about how gross it was. Arthurs hand tucked themselves under her arms as he stole her from your side, only to place her on his. With one of his hands bracing her up, his free hand grasped yours, squeezing it softly, “I was thinkin’, we could all go to Valentine together for a bit- they’re supposed to be switchin’ the horses from the stables.” Arthur stated, before you could answer your daughter decided to beat you to it.

She jumped in Arthurs arms, grasping onto his shirt, “really?!” You were always amazed by the fascination this child had with horses, it reminded you of Jack. Those two were always together, that’s probably where her fascination bubbled from. “Of course darlin’ girl, we get to see the horses,” he said, before finishing the sentence by looking over your way. “Thats if… your mother lets us go,” he said. Wow, you thought, he was really making you answer this. You raised an eyebrow, before a grin seeped onto your lips. “Well c’mon, we best be goin’ before we miss it,” with that Isabella squirmed excitingly around in her Fathers arms, trying to get down from his grasp. He let her, and she bolted it towards your mare.

“That girls somethin’ else,” Arthur said with a droopy smile on his lips as he wrapped an arm around your waist, watching as your Mares ears perked up at the sound of her small voice. She lowered her head, allowing Isabella to pet her nose. Nodding your head in agreement you watched as she looked your way with big eyes, the kind that resembled Arthurs’. “I reckon we shouldn’t keep her waitin’ before she tries to climb up there herself,” Arthur joked softly, before unraveling his arm from your waist and taking your hand instead. The two of you walked over towards the small girl, before you hoisted her up by her waist.

“Who do you wanna ride with sweet girl?” You asked her, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. She looked between you and Arthur before reaching out towards him, again. You shot him a grin as you raised an eyebrow, “you’re a daddy’s girl ain’t ya,” he cooed softly at her, making her face light up in a big smile, her front tooth missing. That much was true, ever since she was born, she would always settle her cries if Arthur held her, if he rocked her gently back to sleep.

You mounted up on your mare as you watched him set her onto his saddle, climbing in behind her. You both nudged the sides of your horses, sending them into a trot towards the town of Valentine. The ride there was spent with her asking hundreds of questions about the horses like “how many are gonna be there” and “is one your horses gonna be brought out”. It was adorable and slightly overwhelming at the same time. You were still fairly new to being a mom, and sometimes letting Arthur take the reins and answer the millions of questions she had was the best way to do it.

He did have experience with this, with raising a child. After he told you about Issac and Eliza you were absolutely heartbroken for him. Before you two started trying for a baby, you had to reassure him that you weren’t going anywhere, that no one was going to take you away from him. And you were ecstatic to see how well he was with Isabella, how well he would take care of her, and how well he was with kids in general.

Her face practically lite up when we entered Valentine, Arthur had to sprawl an arm across her stomach to keep her from toppling over out of the saddle. And oh boy, did she let out on hell of a squeal when she saw the Stable hands taking the horses out by the Reins and letting them stretch their legs. The two of your dismounted at the fence, and Arthur helped her out of the saddle, holding her on his hip as you stood on the other side of her, listening as she would babble about how pretty she thought the horses were, or how silly they could act.

One of the Stable hands offered for her to stroke one of the extra horses’ nose and she immediately agreed, whispering a soft praised to the animals as she did. That’s something Arthur had taught her, to always be nice to the horse. She never struggled in the area, often you caught her trying to sneak an extra peppermint to the horses. Even Dutch was amazed that The Count let her stroke his nose every once in a while. You and Arthur both thanked the stable hand profusely, and after about an hour or two, her little eyes started to drop with sleep, clinging onto her daddy’s shirt, her head resting on his shoulder.

Arthur softly placed her in the saddle, mounting up behind her as the two of you trotted your way back to the camp. You eyes casted down to her sleeping figure, one of Arthurs big hands keeping her upright in the saddle. He caught your gaze, offering you a loving smile filled with adoration. “Maybe… maybe she needs a sibling,” you said after a few moments. His eyes nearly popped out of his head, his lips parting at the suggestion. “Oh I agree sweetheart,” he said, his eyes scanning over the way your hips rocked in the saddle, “she definitely needs a sibling.”

[mayraki]

“the adventures of babysitting” - jj maybank

-> hvitstark’s gif!

summary: when the cute boy who mows the lawn for the kook family you babysit shows up, weird and unexpected events start to happen.

masterlist

Babysitting wasn’t something you planned to do when summer started, but when you saw that lonely dollar that you had in your pocket you decided to change that. And what better way, than to take care of the rich kids when their parents are too focused on their golf sessions?

It didn’t took you long to find a parent like that, since in Outer Banks, 90% of the parents had the stupid necessity to go golfing every day, leaving their poor kids on the house. Well, “poor” is a matter of speech, because if you had a pool the side of your entire house and free WiFi to play any game that ever existed, you wouldn’t complain.

“The food is in the refrigerator. Maybe start making it at 12 pm, she likes to eat early.” Mrs. Johnson was saying while she had her big bag on her shoulders, ready to leave the house. “Lily!” She yelled so loudly that you squint your eyes for the sudden scream. “Oh, and before I forget, in a couple of hours the boy that’s going to cut the grass is going to show up. But you don’t have to do anything, he already knows his way around the front yard.” You nodded with a little smile.

“Great!”

“Lily! Get down here, now!” She yelled so firmly that you could tell the fire on her eyes, making you feel a little bit intimidated by the rich house wife. As soon as she went back to you, a smile appeared on her face again changing her expression completely in a matter of one second, making you feel a little bit scared. “Do you have any more questions for the day?”

“No! I’m fine, we’ll be fine.”

“Y/n!” You heard the little girl calling your name while she was running to welcome you with a hug.

“Lily! Come here you little angel!” You picked her up so she could wrap her arms around your shoulders.

“Lily, behave.” Mrs. Johnson said and Lily nodded.

“Yes, mommy, like always.”

“No cookies until lunch is over, got it?”

Lily nodded again, this time more quicker. “Got it.”

Not trusting her daughter, Mrs. Johnson turned to you. “Got it?”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it.” Mrs. Johnson gave Lily a kiss on the forehead before walking towards the door. “See you later Mrs. Johnson!” You waved until you saw her outside and she was no longer in your sight.

“Do you want to see my barbie?” Lily said once her feet touched the ground.

“Sure!”

“Cool! Let me look for it.” She grabbed your hand to walk you to her room. “I did a makeover that took me the whole week. Because when I got her she was so ugly, the change was necessary.” She was saying like a professional fashion icon. Her sass was one of your favorite things about her. “That’s what my mom says all the time. If you don’t like something, you change it so it fits you.” After a walk that seemed to took forever since the house was bigger than the whole frontyard itself, you arrived at her room. While Lily was looking for her barbie to show you, you went over her room like it was the first time your eyes were seeing it. The wall colors looked like an unicorn had throw up in them and then a fairy had her glitter thrown at it. The main color was pink, her bed, her night stand, her desk, even her TV was the color pink. You never hated that color, but her room was making you feel nauseous. It was all so colourful and an interesting thing to look at, but the thing that always caught your attention was the thousand posters of the movie ‘Frozen’. Elsa, Anna and all of those characters you couldn’t remember the names where in her wall smiling. They were so many of them that you started to feel creeped out by them. “Here she is!” Finally, Lily found her barbie as was already walking towards you with her toy in her hand waving it like she was trying to get something out of her. She handed the barbie to you with the biggest and proudest smile ever, but the moment you grabbed the toy the smile disappeared from your face for a second.

“Oh my-” the normal long hair that Barbies have isn’t longer in this one, it was short and it looked like some punk girl from the 80’s with he hairs all lift up. You didn’t even know if it was punk, she looked like she touched a wire with a fork! She had a short dress that looked like it had been on dirt, washed but then she fell on grass, making it look even more dirty and destroyed. Her skin was painted red and blue with some pink dots all over her body. She definitely didn’t had a good day. You looked at Lily and noticed the proud smile and the excitement on her eyes as you were watching the barbie, so you put your biggest fake smile on your face not wanting to break the poor girl’s heart. “She looks wonderful!”

“I know! I’m good at it!”

You quickly nodded. “Yeah!”

“Maybe I can be a fashion designer when I grow up!” Lily started clapping and grabbed the barbie from your hand while you were nodding non stop not knowing what to say.

Models from the future; I’m so sorry and good luck.

You thanked the Gods for Lily not wanting to show you anymore of her creations, instead she wanted to watch a movie, and as soon as she said that, you already knew what she wanted to see.

“Let it gooooo! Let it goooooo!” You heard Elsa sing while Lily’s eyes were glued to the TV, her body was slowly moving while she was whispering the song. You knew she loved the movie so much she never wanted to outsing Elsa, and deep down, you were grateful for that.

“Yes, please Elsa,” you said in a whisper not wanting Lily to hear you while you were sitting down in the couch behind her “let it fucking go. Stop it.” As soon as you tilted your head backwards annoyed, a sound came from the front yard. “What was that? You asked with your eyes glued to the door, but there was no response from Lily, since her little mind was too focused on the movie. You headed to the window to cheek what it was while all the horror movies and serial killers documentaries went through your mind. With your heart beating a little faster you opened the curtains and wondered with your eyes your surroundings, but nothing was there. You were calming down until you heard your phone rang in your pocket, making you jump from the scare.

“What’s up bitch?” Your best friend, Hannah, said on the phone once you picked up.

“Hi, I’m babysitting.” You said still checking the front yard.

“Oh, got it, you have to watch your tongue.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think this kid is listening to me right now, Elsa has that covered.” You did quick look on Lily, who’s eyes were still glued to the TV.

“Ugh, I hate that movie.”

“I don’t. But the amount of times I watched it here isn’t helping on that.”

“What are you doing right now?”

“Checking if the guy- oh my god.” You stopped as soon as your eyes noticed a boy standing in the front yard. Because he was too far away you could only see clearly his blonde hair and his dark brown boots. He had a white shirt on and some light brown shorts, he was far, but the way he was moving and carrying himself was what attracted you and made your eyes stare at him twice, making sure you were seeing correctly.

“What?”

“The guy that cuts the grass for this family is...” you did a quick turn to Lily to check if she was listening, but she was still too focused on the movie. You turned back to see the boy, but before you could continue your sentence, Hannah spoke before you.

“Hot?”

“Oh, more than that.”

“Who is it?” Hannah said intrigued.

“Can’t see, he’s too far.”

“What is he doing?” You saw how his arms tensed when he grabbed some machine you never saw before. They were so strong that you suddenly got the need to walk towards him touch them, but that would be extremely weird.

“I don’t know, turning the machine I guess.” You tried to focus more on his face and try to figure out if you knew him, but he was too far for your poor sight.

“Go talk to him.”

“What? No!”

“Why not? He’s hot, you’re hot. Perfect match.”

“He is definitely a...” Again, you turned around making sure Lily wasn’t hearing. Even if she wasn’t, you choose your next words carefully. “major babe.”

“Major babe?” Hannah let out a tiny laugh. “What are? 30?”

“The kid is still here!” You whispered loudly.

“What is a major babe?” Fuck.

You turned around to see Lily standing there with her Barbie between her hands. The movie was still playing but it looked like your conversation gained her attention even more.

“What? Oh, nothing.” You shook your head with your phone still against your ear. “Don’t worry about it baby. Keep watching Elsa.”

“I want to know what that means.” Lily said with her firm tone, letting you know she wasn’t going to let it go.

“I think you’re in trouble.” Hannah said on the other side, and you knew she was trying to not laugh at your current situation.

“Bye!” You ended the call before leaving your phone in your pocker to kneeled down and be closer to Lily’s face. “A major babe is someone who is... cute.” You said trying to choose the perfect words. Explaining something like this to a six year old isn’t something that you would ever choose to do.

“Cute?” Lily asked confused.

“Yeah, pretty.”

“Like Elsa?”

“Yeah? Yeah!”

You thought the conversation was over when Lily let out a giant smile and nodded convinced. But then, she opened her mouth: “So you think the guy who cuts the grass is pretty?”

“Well-” You got up trying to take those thoughts out of her mind, but before you could say anything Lily started clapping excited.

“You do! Y/n and JJ sitting in a tree-” She started singing but you stopped hearing once you heard the name ‘JJ’.

“Wait, JJ? The guy’s name is JJ?” You said confused, hoping it wasn’t who you thought it was.

“Yeah! He comes every week since last year!”

“JJ? JJ Maybank?” You were praying Lily was going to shake her head and say it was another JJ, but deep down you knew there wasn’t any other guy with that name.

“Yeah!” Lily said happily, unaware of your thoughts and your not so happy face.

Well, fuck.

“Oh my god.” You said when it finally hit you. “Sweetie, I think Anna is dying.” You said gently turning Lily towards the TV.

“Oh no!” She went back to the movie. You turned to the window and moved the curtain while a sigh came out of your mouth.

JJ Maybank. The guy that was known for being the life of the party, getting into trouble or starting a fight. He would almost every time leave the party with some girl around his arm. You weren’t going to lie, you wished sometimes you were that girl. Having a crush on a boy that doesn’t know you exists isn’t... the best. You met JJ at school when you were a kid and that’s when it all started, when he defended you from some Kook kid that was annoying you at lunch. The crush didn’t grew more, the opposite, it went down passing the years. But that didn’t stop you from looking at him when he showed up at the party you were at or feeling nervous when he was around. You weren’t the type to do so, but there was something about him that made you feel as awkward as you could ever be.

The fact that he was in the same house as you made you feel something inside your stomach, making you move uncomfortably in your sit while Lily was watching, for the second time, Frozen. You don’t have to talk to him, there’s nothing to worry about. You were thinking over and over again trying to calm yourself down. Or maybe this is your opportunity to talk to him. You thought in Hannah’s voice, since she knew about your crush she would often say that you should start a conversation with him, or at least introduce yourself.

You didn’t know if he knew who you were. You only talked once, back when you were kids and you thanked him for defending you. That was it. You remembered it, but you were sure he didn’t.

C’mon, what are you waiting for? Go offer him some water! Hannah’s voice was saying in your head like she was next to you giving you the courage you needed to do so. And somehow, it worked. After making sure Lily was safe while watching the movie, you walked towards the kitchen and poured water on a cup to bring outside.

As soon as your hand touched the door to open it, you felt the heat of the sun touching your skin and you heart beating faster, already knowing your next moves.

You saw him getting ready to cut the grass with the same machine you saw before. His skin and hair were glowing under the sun making your heart beat faster than before and him looking more beautiful than he already was.

“Hey!” You said loudly once you were a couple of steps away from him.

JJ immediately turned to you making your heart drop to your stomach. He furrowed his eyebrows confused while trying to figure out who you were. “Hi? Are you the babysitter?” He pointed at you and you nodded with a smile.

“Yeah. Y/n.”

“JJ.” He let out a tiny smile. Fuuuuuuck.

Silence came between you two while your brain was trying to remember what you came outside. “Oh! I bought you some water, it’s pretty hot out here.” You handed him the cup which he took gratefully.

“Thanks.”

“Yeah, I don’t want you passing out. I don’t want to deal with that.” You said and immediately regretted it, why would you say that? That makes you sound like a terrible babysitter!

But as soon as he let out a genuine laugh, your mind gave you a break.

“Sure. So, since when did you started working with this family?” He said before giving a sip to the water.

“Last week.”

“I haven’t seen you around much. You live in the Cut, right?”

You nodded. “Yeah, I do. My dad owns the store across the beach.”

JJ didn’t respond immediately. He stood there watching your eyes carefully, so much, that your heart started beating faster once again. “Really? He has some good boards, dude.”

“Thanks. He’s really proud of them.”

“Make sure to tell him. Thank you for the water.” He gave you the now empty cup and you shook your head with a little smile.

“Don’t worry about it. If you need anything just tell me.”

JJ let out a tiny laugh. “You take care better of me than Mrs. Johnson.”

You smiled back while on the inside you were freaking out. “It’s no-” you were saying but the water hitting your body cut you off.

“What the fuck?” JJ said as soon as both of you noticed the water feeling like rain against your body. You looked up to see if it was, but the sky was as as clear as you last saw it.

“Where is that water coming from?!”

“It’s the automatic water for the grass!” JJ said looking down and pointing at the tiny machine going off behind you. You turned around and looked at it confused, trying to not get hit in the face by putting your hands in front of your face.

“But it never turns on during the day! Do you know how to turn it off?!” You asked at JJ with the hope that he did, and luckily, he nodded turning around and leading to some part of the front yard you’ve never been before. When you arrived to where he was you noticed he was kneeled down and with a quicker twist of his hand, the water was off. “What the hell was that?” You said turning to where the water was coming from.

“I don’t know.” JJ said and looked down to his body all wet. You turned to him and did the same, but not to your own body, to his. The way his shirt was glued to his torso would mark his abs and let you nothing to the imagination. You immediately looked down once you realize you were staring, you felt so embarrassed like you weren’t supposed to see what you just did. “Maybe this will help with the sun and I won’t pass out.” He said with a smile once he looked up at you and you smiled, thankful he didn’t notice you staring at him and his fit body.

“You’re dripping.” You said. “You have to dry yourself otherwise you won’t be able to work with those heavy clothes. C’mon.” You pointed at the house and started walking, but his voice cut you off.

“I’m not sure I’m aloud to go in.”

“Do you want to get your work done or not? Because I don’t think you’ll be able to.” You did a quick look to the drops of water goind down. “It’s your decision, but I think Mrs. Johnson won’t be happy if she comes back and her grass isn’t done. Do whatever you want.” You said knowing that it was going to convince him to go with you. You did this tactic with Lily sometimes, making it their choice and having the control over the situation. Like you suspected, as soon as you made a couple of steps away from JJ, you heard his feet moving and getting closer to yours. Seconds later, he was already next to you.

“Maybe we should go to the bathroom, I don’t want to make a mess.” You said the moment you stepped inside the house. Lily, who was now sitting down on the couch, looked at you two with an exaggerated surprised face and walked to where you two where.

“Oh! What happened?”

“The water of your front yard went kinda crazy.” You said grabbing your sticky shirt and trying to get it away from your skin.

“Really?” Lily asked and then turned to JJ, who nodded.

“Lily I want you to stay here watching the movie, ok? We need to get dry.” You said leading the way to the bathroom. “Don’t open the door to anyone, did you hear me?”

“Yes!” Lily said while quickly nodding and then leaving to continue watching her movie. “Stupid Hans!” She yelled at the TV.

“She really likes that movie doesn’t she?” JJ said with a smile once he turned around to follow you.

“Yeah,” you nodded. “we watched it three times today.”

“Ouch.” You let out a laugh before entering the bathroom and quickly grabbing the towel and turning around to face JJ.

“Here, have the towe-” You were saying but once your eyes noticed JJ’s naked torso, your tongue went completely numb. “Oh.”

“Is everything ok?” He asked noticing your shook face, but then a little grin escaped his lips while he grabbed the towel from your hand.

“Yeah. Yeah! Everything’s fine.” You said quickly shaking your head a little bit, trying so hard to not let your now red cheeks make you feel embarrassed.

“Aren’t you gonna change?”

“I’ll wait for you to be over and then I’ll do it. Don’t worry about it.”

He nodded and the continued drying his body. “I still don’t know what happened with that.”

“Maybe the clock failed?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe. Anyway, thank you.” He handed you the towel. “I have to continue with work.”

“Yeah!” You quickly nodded. “You go.” You watched how he turned around letting you have a perfect veiw of his back, which made you feel like when you saw his torso naked without any warning. You looked away once he left the bathroom and slapped your forehead with the palm of your hand, already overthinking everything you just did.

As soon as you were finished you walked towards the living room to check on Lily who was now finishing the movie just one more time. You grabbed your phone from your pocket to see the time and realized it was lunch time, so trying to focus every thought of Lily, you called her so she would follow you into the kitchen. You grabbed everything that was on the refrigerator like Mrs. Johnson has told you while your mind was making the recipe for Lily’s meal. You were trying so hard to keep your mind focus and not thing of the cute guy that was still working on the front yard, a couple of steps away from you.

“Did you really fell for Hans because I didn’t. It was pretty obvious.” Lily said while watching you prepare her lunch.

“You think? I didn’t see it coming.”

“I didn’t like Hans since the beginning.” Lily nodded proudly of herself.

“You didn’t? I thought he was really cute and charming, maybe that what’s wrong with princes.” As soon as you said that, a thought came into your head. You stayed still like everything in your life just made sense and you understood it in that exact moment. “And maybe that’s why I like the boys I like.” You continued, talking more to your lard than to Lily. “They’re charming and sweet, but then they forget about your face even if you’re wearing a tiny mask, or they kiss you without even consenting it.” You were saying while your head was inside the refrigerator, looking for the mayonnaise to complete Lily’s lunch. “Or they even think because they have money we will automatically fall for them!” The moment that you said that you realized that you were babbling all to yourself about boys while Lily was listening to you, so you turned around shaking all your thoughts away. “Anyway-” you were about to change the subject but when you opened the water from the kitchen sink it all exploded and went all over your face and clothes. “WHAT THE HELL?” You yelled putting your hand in front of your face to prevent the water hitting your eyes.

“I’ll call JJ!” Lily said once she noticed the water wasn’t stopping.

“What- no! I got this!” You tried to stop her but it was too late, she was already out of your sight. “What’s the fucking problem with water today?” You asked trying to turn the water off, but no matter what you did with the switch, it wasn’t stopping.

“What happened?!” You heard JJ asking once he arrived next to you.

“I turned it on and it went crazy!” You turned around to see the water all over the floor. JJ kneeled down and opened the doors down the sink and just like before, stopped the water. You let your hands rest beside your body and let out an annoyed sigh at the feeling of sticky and wet clothes against your skin.

“Just like before?” JJ asked getting up to lock eyes with you.

You nodded. “Yeah. I think the thingy is broken.” You pointed at the sink looking at it confused but when you heard JJ let out a tiny laugh, you turned to him. “What?”

“The thingy?”

“Yeah, where the water comes out.”

JJ nodded still with a funny smile on his face. “Do you know how to fix it?”

“Do you?”

“Dad has tools!” Lily yelled, appearing on the conversation for the first time. You turned to her and she had a big smile on her face while her fingers were playing with each other. “Maybe Y/n can show you where they are?”

“Oh, yeah,” you nodded remembering the time you helped Mr. Johnson fix something for Lily. “I think they’re next to the bathroom. C’mon.” You said looking at JJ but then you turned to Lily. “While we repair that finish your lunch.”

She quickly nodded before you left her behind. “Ok!”

Even if you had JJ behind you, you felt his eyes on you as you were walking. Maybe they weren’t on you, but somehow, your mind had convince you they were making you feel uncomfortable under them. You were hearing his steps behind you, they were so close you could feel the air he was pushing with his arms while walking. The hallway was darker as usual since having JJ in your mind you forgot to turn on the light, but you knew the house like the palm of your hand.

“I think this is the room- yes it is!” You said entering the room next to the bathroom. “Tools tools tools...”

“Here.” JJ said behind you while grabbing a big dark brown box.

“Oh, ok. Better get that thing fixed so you can get back to work.” JJ nodded so you walked to the now closed door. You looked at it confused since you didn’t remember closing it. “What? Did you close the door?”

“No I didn’t.” JJ said.

“Then why the hell is it closed?” You asked before grabbing the handle, but it wasn’t opening. “And locked?!” Your heart dropped to your stomach the moment you realized you were locked and Lily was outside alone. “Oh my god, Lily? Can you open the door please? Lily?!”

Your heart started to beat faster but then, luckily, she spoke from the other side. “Are you guys locked?”

“Yeah! Can you open it from the outside?”

“I don’t know!”

“Can you check sweetie?”

“She’s a six year old? What can she do?” JJ asked behind you not faced by the situation at all.

“Well? Do you have any ideas genius? Lily is out there on her own!”

JJ lifted the box of the tools and let out a grin. “We have tools?”

“You can’t use them! Do you want to break the door?!”

“Do you want to get stuck in here until Mrs. Johnson comes back? Because I don’t think she’ll be happy to know that you left the little girl outside all by herself.” You let out a tiny sigh when JJ used the same tactic you used on him moments ago. You hated when they were used against you.

“Lily, are you still there?” You asked turning to face the door.

“Yeah. Are you two fighting in there?” She asked softly.

“No, sweetie, why would you think that?”

“I don’t know...”

“Do you want me to break the door then?” JJ asked lifting his eyebrow.

“Maybe you can do something without breaking it?”

“I’ll try. But I’m not a magician.” He said getting closer to the door to grab the handle. You noticed he put a lot of strength in it, but you didn’t understand what he was doing. “I think I got it, but I need your help.”

“What do you want me to do?” You walked to stand next to him.

“Grab the handle and pull it really hard when I say so.” You did as he told you and then looked at him, waiting for his words. “Ready?” You nodded. “Go!”

You pulled the handle with all your strength just like JJ told you while JJ was pushing the door to open, and before you could think of something else the door opened. You and JJ had so much strength into it, that the sudden movement of the door opening, made you two lose balance. JJ tried to grab your waist and prevent you from falling, but it didn’t work since your body was already half way to the floor, it only managed to turn you around by twisting you from your waist and not fall on your face. Once your back hit the floor, you felt a body algo hitting yours.

You opened your eyes once the pain in your back passed enough for you to move, to see some blue eyes staring at you. JJ’s face was so close to yours that you were feeling his heavy breathing against your skin. You felt like his eyes were casting a spell on you since you felt like you couldn’t move, and not because you had his body on top of yours. Even if would be normal for you to feel crushed under a body, you weren’t feeling his. You were so lost in his eyes that you forgot everything around you, it was just him and his breathing gently hitting your face.

“Guys-” Lily said softly next to you. That made you return to the moment and realize in the position you two were. He quickly got up and walked back nervously, like he didn’t know what just happened either.

“Lily! Are you alright?” You walked towards her and hugged her body.

“Yeah, I’m good.” She broke the hug to look at JJ, who was still standing in the corner nervously. “You two looked like Anna and Kristoff there.”

“What’s that?” You asked quickly, feeling your cheeks getting hot.

“Yeah, when they looked at each other. With so much looooove.” Lily said and then let out a silly laugh. You wanted the floor to eat you and throw you whatever it wanted, as long as it wasn’t there. Silence surrounded the hallway for a couple of seconds while you were trying to think of something to change the subject and pretend that what just happened, didn’t. But JJ spoke before you.

“Maybe I should get back to work.” He said and you nodded.

“Maybe you should.” The second you said that, he quickly walked passed your body to leave you and Lily behind. You watched his back and noticed he was looking down, maybe you weren’t the only one who got embarrassed. But what did happen?

The moment that you two locked eyes with each other you felt like there was nothing else around you, like you were melting under his eyes. You never felt something like that, and you never wanted to do it again. So lost in your thoughts that you didn’t realize Lily has taken you to the living room to play with some of her new toys. You were hearing her voice talk but non of her words were entering your body. You tried to keep your eyes on the toys but the second that you looked up, your eyes met with his. He quickly looked down and walked away, leaving your sight from the window. You sighed, disappointed.

It wasn’t that you wanted to stare at him... well, maybe it was. But you didn’t want to distract yourself from your work and taking care of Lily, the girl that had to be your number one throught until you left the house. So erasing your unwanted thoughts, you focused your mind into Lily’s game, who seemed to be super invested in.

“Barbie and Ken are going to get married tomorrow, I already planned everything.” Lily was saying the second your mind started to pick up her words. “I’m so excited!”

“I’m pretty sure Barbie and Ken are as well!” You said with a smile, playing along with her.

After a couple of minutes playing with Lily you were glad JJ wasn’t consuming your brain, playing with Lily did helped you get your thoughts straight and focus on what was important. It all seemed to be going back to normal, you weren’t thinking of what happened earlier, Lily and her funny game with her Barbies were definitely making you laugh, and the clock was getting closer to the end of the day, so you were definitely going back to your normal self, until you heard some steps getting inside the house.

“Hey, can I have another glass of water?” JJ asked standing next to the door. You looked up and him and slowly nodded, not opening your mouth. Without giving the opportunity to anything else to happen, you got up from where you were and walked to the kitchen. You heard the door closing and you sighed, glad that JJ didn’t followed you to the kitchen. You didn’t want to talk to him, you knew you were going to be your awkward self and probably embarrass yourself like you usually do, so better to avoid him and forget he even excited... if that’s even possible. You looked at the glass of water that you had now on your hand and stared at it for a couple of seconds. You didn’t want to go out and give it to him, so a better idea came into your head.

“Hey, sweetie,” you called Lily and seconds later she was in front of you with an innocent smile on her face. “can you take this to JJ?” She nodded and grabbed the glass of water before leaving the kitchen behind.

While waiting for her to come back, you closed your eyes when the last time you had JJ in front of you came back to your mind. Well, on top of you is the better choice for words. Your heart dropped to your stomach and the memory slowly came back to your eyes and the feeling of his breathing against your face. Not wanting to have that on your mind, you slapped yourself on the forehead with the palm of your hand. But that didn’t work at all, and what you saw when you opened your eyes didn’t help either.

“Hi.” He said while standing next to the kitchen entrance.

“Hi.” You said, surprised he was inside the house.

“My water?” He asked looking to your hand and noticing they weren’t holding anything.

You furrowed your eyebrows confused, trying to not think you telling Lily about JJ’s water was all your mind playing tricks on you. “I just sent Lily with a glass of water for you.”

“She said that you had it here.”

“What? Lily?” You called her but there was no response. “Lily!” You walked to the living room but she wasn’t there. Feeling your heart beating faster you walked outside hoping she was there. Once your eyes went over the entire front yard while your heart was slowly beating faster passing the seconds, your eyes finally landed on Lily, but that didn’t calmed you down, since she was standing right next to the pool. “What are you doing?”

“I want to take a swim!” She yelled once you started to walk towards her, followed by JJ.

“You don’t know how to swim! Your mom doesn’t let you in if she’s not here! Come back!”

“But I want to swim!”

“Lily you can’t! I’m pretty sure you will when your mom comes home.” You said but Lily didn’t respond you, instead she turned towards the pool. “Lily?” The moment she lifted her foot your heart dropped to your stomach. Your eyes followed her body falling inside the pool once she jumped and threw some water drops into the air, you saw it all like it happened in slow motion. “Lily!” You yelled like you never did before. You started running towards her ready to jump and grab her, but JJ being faster than you, with quick moves took off his boots and jumped into the pool.

Once inside, the water was making it difficult for you to fully see their movements. That was making your hands sweat and your heart to beat faster, it felt like it was going to jump out of your body. But then, you saw JJ’s head above the water, followed by Lily’s.

“WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?” You yelled once JJ left Lily’s body outside the pool. “Oh my god, you almost gave me a heart attack!” You patted her back while she was getting all the water outside from her body. You felt your heart getting heavy and slowing its speed while your breathing was letting out relief breaths.

“I’m sorry.” Lily said, once she stopped cuffing.

“Why- why would you do that Lily? You know you can’t swim!”

Lily looked up and JJ, who was breathing heavily with his body covered in water and his clothes sticking to his skin, but then she went back to looking at the floor. “I wanted- I wanted to be Anna.”

“What?” You asked confused.

“And I wanted JJ to be Kristoff.” As soon as she said those words you locked eyes with JJ, who seemed to understand the same thing as you on the same moment. Lily wanted to have a love like the characters of her favorite movie.

“Oh... Sweetie,” you kneeled down to be closer to her face. “And you thought that jumping into the pool when you can’t swim was going to make JJ your Kristoff because you wanted him to save you?”

She slowly nodded. “Yeah. And I- I also turned on the water earlier.”

“What?” You and JJ asked at the same time.

“The water for the grass- I did it.”

“Why?” JJ asked once you got up.

“And I broke the water tap. And I locked you two in the closet.” You opened your mouth surprised before looking at JJ, who was just as surprised as you.

“How?” He asked.

“Why would you do that?”

Lily shrugged her shoulders and that made JJ let out a tiny laugh while shaking his head.

“At least we know the house isn’t haunted.” He said, turning the conversation into something funny.

“You little devil.” You said, after letting the funny in the situation hit you.

“Are you gonna tell my mom?” Lily asked softly once she locked eyes with you.

“Lily, do you promise you won’t do it again?”

She quickly nodded with a smile. “I do.”

“Then this will be out little secret.”

“Thank you Y/n!” For the first time during those long hours, you felt like there was nothing else that could go wrong. You didn’t felt uncomfortable under JJ’s eyes, Lily was completely fine and JJ didn’t seem to bother that a little girl almost drowned for him... it all felt just alright. “And you calling JJ a major babe will be our little secret too!” Lily yelled and quickly added, noticing your cheeks go red and JJ letting out a grin once he locked eyes with you. “Oh, sorry.” Lily said softly.

“Shit.”

Well... it had to happen, just another thing going completely wrong.

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[starshipsofstarlord]

Princess | JJ Maybank

Warnings; jealousy, mentions of drugs, and use of drugs.

Find my masterlist here

She was rising through the ranks on figure eight, and soon, she would overtake the one, the only, Sarah Cameron. It was infuriating, no one had heard of this prissy girl in a while, and here she was, already beginning to replace the blonde.

“Uh.” Sarah groaned, noticing how even her brother was flocking over you, even Topper had returned to the dark side after his helpful stunt.

“What’s wrong Cameron?” JJ asked her, following her eyeline, and carrying his gaze along it, until he found the centre of her irritable - a group of kooks, her own.

“The princess is back in town.” She groaned, noticing how you walked through your entourage, oblivious to any of the pogues that resided on this side of the island. It was as though you didn’t hold a grudge against their species, but that was her thing, you were just trying to copy her actions.

Hell, for all she knew, you’d hook up with a southsider too, and attend the parties at the boneyard as though you were one of their own.

She knew her attitude towards you was petty, but she just couldn’t help it. You now had everything that she had lost, she was even stared down by her dad and step mother, both of whom were mildly disappointed in the side that she had taken within the whole ordeal.

“I thought that was you.” JJ noticed how her mood had turned sour, and he was aware that it was his duty to cheer her up. If John B returned with their drinks, and saw that his girlfriend was displeased, he would be the one to take the blame as it was his company that was keeping her from boredom.

“That girl.” She pointed you out, JJ’s eyes scanning every dip and curve, each mark and mole, upon your body, memorising every inch of- “is the kook. Used to have the mantle of princess before I did. Don’t dirty your hands with her Maybank, she’s a spoilt brat, and whatever she wants, she gets.”

“A kook? Not my type.” He assured her, the whole form of your beautiful being crumbling in his eyes, all because of what you essentially were. A golden finger, in the dirt of his home.

🏹

The Cameron’s house was large, but you smiled, knowing that you lived in one with a bigger foundation, and more floors. Material items were value on the island, it gave way to status.

“Hi Mr Cameron.” You greeted him, with a pristine smile that would knock him dead. Rafe was beside you, content with your obliviousness to the things that he had done.

His father had told him to find a rich, pretty thing. They were the least suspecting ones, too occupied with spending cash and dolling themselves up. It is what he himself had done, after he had worked his way up to kook status, but the wife he now had, well she was as devious and power hungry as him. They fit perfectly.

“Nice to finally meet you y/n, I’ve heard a lot about you, not only from my son but practically the whole island. Is it good to be back?” He shook your hand, noticing the small smile slip onto his son’s face.

“It’s great, nowhere is quite like home.” The hierarchy on Outer Banks was its most predominant feature, no where else quite had an order that lacked most of itself in the same way.

“I need to talk to Rafe here for a moment, would you mind waiting here?” He expectedly asked, and once more, you could only plaster on a false expression, and happily nod.

“Not at all.” Was your reply, and as soon as they had disappeared, you were left awaiting for their return. You plucked at the skin around your nails, and tapped your foot, trying to reduce the enveloping silence that made you feel small and anxious.

Another person entered the room, making you slowly spin to greet them. It was Sarah, and a look of worry crossed over her face, it was quite amusing. The Sarah Cameron, was concerned for you.

“Rafe isn’t a good guy.” She spoke slowly, thinking that you were interested in her older sibling. It made you quirk your eyebrow in surprise, you had never expected her to talk about her family to you, or at all in general. “You can do a lot better.”

“Don’t worry Sarah, I don’t want him, nor do I want to be the so called ‘princess’ of this wealthy establishment. I hate figure eight, it sucks. It’s boring, it’s just parties here, and parties there, but they’re all sophisticated and you have to dress nicely. Sure, the luxury is great, the expectations of washing your hair every day, wearing perfume that literally burns my eyes, and having to dress so- ugh, it’s just gross. You can take the throne back if you want, it’s not too comfortable, it squeezes me in all th wrong places.”

Your paragraph of speech left Sarah in shock, you had been faking it all along. The laughs were all pretend, the smiles were all forced, and she no doubt had one thing left on my mind. “Then why, out of all the kooks, are you hanging it with my brother?”

Nonchantly you shrugged, a sparkle flaring in your eyes. “He thinks he’s gonna get laid, and so until he realises that he isn’t, and he can’t touch this hot bod, then I get free weed.”

“Well played y/l/n, well played.” Nobody had used Rafe and had to give nothing in return, yet you had found the perfect trick.

“He also thinks I’m a virgin, sooooo, my contract is going to last a while, I suppose.” She almost laughed at that, she wondered how you had given him that impression in the first place. Before you had moved, she had seen you makeout and consentually grope countless guys, leading them to dark corners and your empty car.

It wasn’t something that she had ever admit, but for the first time in her life, she thought that you’d make the perfect friend. You sounded just like a pogue, but instead you were living the ‘high life’, and rolling in the cash and smokes that were thrown your way, with no charge.

🏹

JJ on instinct, creased his face up at the sight of Sarah leaving John B and the others at the boneyard, only to walk over to an intruder. She had told him that she didn’t like her, however her stride and smile supposed otherwise.

“Who’s that?” John B leant over his friend’s shoulder, watching his girlfriend interact with a stranger.

“The kook princess.” JJ informed him, spitting the name out of his mouth, glaring at the kook that had the nerve to once again, walk onto his side of his island. And not only that, but to invite herself to the party.

“She got a name?” John B asked, and that was when JJ realised, that he didn’t know it. Before you had moved, you kept to your side of the island, but the times were changing, with relationships and friendships between pogues and kooks beginning. All you wanted was to be accepted, and if they didn’t like the fact that you were born a kook, then that was most definitely their problem.

“Hey, I’m so glad that you could make it.” Sarah greeted you, you shyly smiled, still not familiar with her being so polite to you. You’d notice her cast you the stink eye on more than one occasion, and how she would speak about you at school in the time prior to your move away.

“I still don’t understand why you invited me.” You honestly said, uncertain by her intentions. If she had other motivations, then you could deal with them, she wouldn’t be the first one to try and challenge you for your position. And either way, you didn’t want it, it were only a weight on your shoulders, but some kooks wanted you to remain their royalty, and so by their reputation, you did.

You pulled a blunt from your shorts pocket, and lit it, inhaling slowly and awaiting an answer from the relaxant. It calmed you, and made the thoughts of being the only kook here, excluding Sarah, go away.

“I want you to meet my friends.” She spoke, and you nodded, more entertained by the smoke that rolled out of your mouth than her intentions. Her hand grabbed your own, and she began to drag you through the sea of people, until she reached a small fire pit, where four people were sat.

You already knew of them, John B being the one on your side of the island the most. It of course was because of Sarah, and her successful attempts to seduce him, and sneak him into her room.

“This is y/n.” She told them, and you didn’t notice the way JJ focused on the weed that hung from the clasp of your fingers. He was surprised by the consumption you had of it, and watched intently as you went in for another puff.

You weren’t just a kook, you were a stoner. Perhaps the two of you had something in common after all, maybe you weren’t this spoilt brat entirely.

🏹

“Pass me the goddamn lighter J!” You beckoned at the blonde, who held the red automatic match out of your reach. On instinct, you crossed your arms, and poured, causing the boy to laugh.

“Don’t do that, you look like a spoiled kook.” His words only earnt himself a glare, and so he reached down, plucked your blunt between his fingers, and lit it. He took a puff before placing it between your own lips. “Technically we just kissed.”

“Geez, I really am spoilt.” You rolled your eyes, as the pair of you stood out of the chateau, where it was the two of you alone. Everyone else was inside, watching a movie, and they didn’t want to get high off the fumes, instead they’d rather remember the ‘cinematic details’, as Pope put it.

“It was a joke Princess.” He rubbed your head, messing up your hair, but he knew that you didn’t care. Appearances weren’t your most entailed feature, you only dressed up to the nines to please your parents. But here, with him and the rest of your friends, you could be yourself. You weren’t a kook or a pogue, instead you were just y/n.

“You need to stop going on about kissing me Maybank, otherwise I might think that it’s something you actually want to do.” You smirked, noticing how his cheeks reddened slightly, and the normally confident male gulped.

“Well...” before he could say more, you lightly pushed him, but he soon grabbed you, and the blunt out of your mouth. “Maybe I do.”

“Maybe I want you to as well.” You flirted with him, eyes darting between where he was licking his lips, and the blunt that was gently held in the pads of his fingertips. “Tell you what, if I gift you with a kiss, I get my property back.”

“Princess you gotta stop that, you can’t call me your property, I’m a person too babes.” You groaned at that, he knew full well what you were speaking about, but he had to be a tease in every conversation that the pair of you had.

“Shut your mouth pogue.” Your words weren’t what shut him up, instead you grasped the fabric of his baggy, sleeveless shirt, and pulled his mouth to your own, your tongue instantly prying its way towards his own, breaking through the seal of his lips.

Distracted, he dropped the blunt, and cupped both sides of your face. He was in heaven, finally he had given into the kook, and vice versa. He was glad to have learnt your name, and everything that you had to offer.

[ryozoro]

Hades Playlist - i.

NOW PLAYING : I n t e r l u d e [J. Cole]

cw; name calling, blood, mentions of murder, major spoilers

“Fate is a very weighty word to throw around before breakfast.”

Despite the red-light district thriving through the night, it looked just as beautiful during the early morning. Yn was roaming the streets on her pedal bike for the first time since winter break as she plotted different ways to surprise her big brother at his newly opened bike shop. She had already purchased his favorite breakfast meal from the little café she worked at, and all that she was left to do was see the said man. Getting out of thoughts and returning to reality, she stopped at the side of the traffic light to press the ‘crossing’ button and to text Draken to make sure he was at work before she made the trip.

“hey there pretty girl, ya wanna come ride something more interesting than the little kiddie bike yer on right now?” some bleach blonde junior high kid called out to her, smirking as he man spread and took up most of the space on the park bench. “I know ya hear me pretty girl,” he leaned and rested his elbows onto his knees, “maybe ya want me to come over and beg for yer attention, huh? Want me to come and make ya listen to me?”

She scoffed and waited for the light to signal for her to cross, but its as if the gods wanted to punish her and traffic kept flowing out of her favor. Getting restless, she pocketed her phone and tapped on her bar handles in hopes of the cars to all be generous and let her through; of course, this did not happen and the young fuck boy in training had began to approach her alongside his friend who were hyping him up and recording the event.

“You might be older than me,” he walked up behind her and kicked her bike tire before circling around and leaning against the basket in the front, “but that doesn’t change the fact that I hit girls.” Yn had to refrain from spitting in his face because Draken always said ‘never start anything with others first, let them choose their fate.’ In other words, big bro just didn’t want her to put herself at risk due to minor inconveniences that were presented towards her.

Just as the light switched from a hand to a walking figure, yn politely smiled at the boy in hopes of him getting the hint that she did not wish to engage with him anymore, but – of course – that was just asking too much of him. He turned back and looked at the sign noticing it was their turn to cross, and he surprisingly moved out the way. Yn smiled realizing that her brother did know it best when he said that the ‘dumb young boys will leave you alone after they realize you’re not going to give them the time of day,’ and she moved to pedal across the cross walk with a large smile.

However, big bro’s words are not the golden rule amongst men and the boys did not leave her alone; in fact, they decided to run at her hit the back tire with a bat and caused her to lose control and fall in the middle of the walkway. The drivers were kind enough to wait for her to get up and cross the street with scraped knees and a dirty pull over. She turned back to glare at the boys, but their backs were already facing her as they leisurely walked away laughing. This wasn’t going to ruin her day, after all, she still gets to surprise her brother with her presence and might even have the chance to see his hot amazing friends whom you grew up around. After realizing that the former gang members might all be hanging around her brother’s workplace, she got up with a huge smile and skipped the rest of her way on the crosswalk. Once to the other side, yn hopped back on her bike without checking her bloodied shins and made her way on the quickest route to the shop.

Glancing up at the familiar billboards that danced in sky and looking down at the alleys being populated with street cats and new gen delinquents, she realized she was only a block down from seeing the man who has always put her first and raised her to strive to her fullest potential. Smiling as closed her eyes for just a second - she swears it – to bask in the excitement and next thing she knew, she was on the ground covered in coffee. She could hear faint voices but those were cancelled out by her skin screaming at her to get up and quickly remove any rubble and dirt that had entered. Moving to get up, she took note of blood staining the concrete and became slightly alarmed.

“Oi, you dumb bitch, you should watch where you’re going,” a man’s voice echoed through her head, “you got a drip of blood on my Milano’s.” Trying to get up, yn went to wipe her eyes, but as soon as she lifted her hands, she felt them share the similar sting that her knees and chin felt. “You deaf or something? Ha, lucky for you I’ll take the food in your basket and whatever is in your wallet as an exchange. Pin code for your card must be included, love.” Hearing as she was about to get stripped dry of her hard-earned cash, she shot a glare up at the well-dressed man’s body just to be sent in a more state of terror when she noticed the tattoo that decorated his temple; it was the infamous Bonten symbol.

“I say we just take her to the back alley and make her pretty throat match the rest of her bloody body,” she turned and seen a pinkette with long hair and two scars that sat on each corner of his ?beautiful? mouth. to be completely honest, he would have been very much at the top of her most attractive list if he weren’t just plotting to slice her neck right in front of her; she wondered if he ever heard of the Element of Surprise. “She hasn’t even apologized yet and it’s been at least 45 seconds, that is pretty rude don’t you think, Mochi-kun?”

“It is very rude,” the built man with slicked back blonde hair spoke up, “do you want me to take her in the alleyway?” He squatted down to meet yn at eye level and she didn’t know if it was the fact he was able to stare into her soul with lifeless eyes or the extremely structured shoulders that could break her bones if he had tackled her, but she genuinely felt that she was going to die. “You seem like a worthless kill if I am being honest, and I don’t like claiming meaningless prizes. So, if you want to live,” ‘Mochi-kun’ reached over and gripped her bloodied chin, “or are you going to be good dog and run your pockets?”

She couldn’t believe it; for all her life, death threats have never been directly shot at her as Draken and the others have always been there. Of course, she emptied her pockets as quick as she could and began wiping the man’s Milano’s with her cloth lens wipe.

“Good girl,” the man with the temple tattoo said mockingly, “but I’m gonna need you to put your pretty mouth to work since you don’t know – or rather – you act like you don’t know how to speak.” She felt her eyes began to fill with tears as she looked up from the ground; they mistook it for fear, but yn was just angry she was powerless to them. “Don’t worry, I like older women, so I won’t need your mouth for that,” he laughed loudly in her face, “lick the blood off.” Her glare returned and tears began to spill over her cheeks. “Be a good bitch, and lick my –“

“What are you idiots doing?” a man with a long pink and purple mullet-like hairstyle came from behind her. “Are you guys bullying young kids again? Oh, wait, you’re not a kid.” He stared at you through his multi-colored bangs and tilted his head, “Why are you all bloody like a sewer rat walking through the back alley of feral cats?” he pushed the girl’s forehead back, straining her neck to hold eye contact with him, “you’re not some whore, are you?” He craned his neck back to the man who has been treating her like a dog, giving yn a full view of his Bonten symbol tattooed across the middle of his pretty throat. “Neh, Koko, you do realize that if you want a girl’s attention you can’t just rough her up in hopes that she takes you to bed.” He turns back to yn before sighing, “You’re cute,” for some reason she felt herself swelling with pride, “but you’re not my type,” – well there goes her ego.

“Oh what-fucking-ever,” ‘Koko’ mumbled as he gently pushed her away, “I didn’t want some inexperienced princess anyway, so don’t get your hopes up.” He quickly bent down and took all the cash from her wallet and began to slide out the card, but a baton quickly swatted at his hands.

“Your obsession with money is crazy, but you can’t take hers if you still owe me 45,000 yen.” Yn turned to see a man with pushed back purple and pink hair holding the offending stick. Unlike the other members, his tattoo was in the same place as the mullet man – maybe they took over the organization after her other big brotherly figure, Mikey, left. She drank in his appearance, and although he was thinner than the other members, something about him just screamed ‘stay away;’ but for the first time in her life, yn didn’t want to listen to such obvious red flags. “Oh no, you’re bloodied up like a rat –“

“I have already said that nii-chan,” the mullet head said, “what do you say? Wanna jut get rid of her like Sanzu-san suggested?” The now known younger brother asks. She began to tremble but not out of fear, no, out of a weird feeling at the pits of her stomach that came about as soon as the stranger stumbled onto the scene. “Oi,” the younger brother flicked your chin, reminding your body that it is supposed to be in a state of stinging pain, “staring is rude. What are you – a deer in headlights?”

“Now, now, Ridou,” the man continued to meet yn’s gaze as he motioned for her to take his hand, “where’s the fun in hurting a good little lamb? Especially one who shows that she knows to yield to her Sheppard.” Against her better judgement, yn took his hand and allowed him to help her up. “Look at you go,” he smirked and scanned over her body through hooded lids, “such a strong little girl you are standing on wobbly legs after the big bad wolves tried to tear you down.”

She should feel offended, mocked, and appalled, but she couldn’t – not with the voids he called eyes staring at her. “T-thanks,” she weakly mumbled as she began to gather her bag back together and prop her bike back up, “I know you guys said you needed the pin number, but I can’t give it to you.” She hung her head and balled her fists; she was waiting for someone to hit her but that never came. Looking up she sees the ‘older brother’ standing in front of the brooding ‘Koko’ and the other members just staring around the streets.

“That’s fine, little one,” the older brother said, “we don’t need your card. Koko here will be fine with just the cash. But I will need payment of the sort since I did calm the bully over here, don’t you think?” He smiled at yn, quickly scanning her student ID and then turning back to her face, “You’re 18, yeah?” she nodded, and he smiled lazily, “Good, give me something of yours that is valuable. I want to talk to you again and if I take it, you are going to want to take it back, correct?”

“I – um,” she began to go through the bag and seen that the only things she deemed valuable were her phone and the spare keys to her room in the brothel, “all I have is my k-keys and phone.” She huffed out in hopes that he took mercy and just let her go already; if she kept in his presence any longer, she feared that every piece of knowledge on common sense would fly out of her brain.

“Well, no one wants a pedal bike here and your phone and keys wouldn’t be of use to me,” he spoke in a rather degrading tone, “how about, you give me that pretty little necklace that you’re wearing… hmm, ... oh! Give me your number as well. After all, how are you going to know when I want you to take back your precious gems without being able to plan a proper date?” His smile was too secretive to be comforting, but this was probably the best way to saving her own life.

“Okay,” she replied quickly, “just please, don’t break the necklace…” her hands shook as she unclasped it and placed it into the man’s hands. “That’s a gift from my brother, so I promise you I’ll come and get it whenever you ask.” Yn put her hands on her bar handles before straddling the bike.

“Thank you,” he smiled and put away the baton before fishing out his phone, “put your number in it and call to make sure you’re not fucking with me, yeah?” He tilted his head and softly hummed at the soft sound of her phone vibrating in her bag. “Thank you, yn-chan.”

“No, thank you,” she lightly coughed and waited for him to look back up at her after saving all her contact information. Once he finally looked up, she flinched but proceeded to stare him dead in his lovely irises, “May I have your name… if ya don’t mind that it.”

“Haitani Ran,” the older man laughed and shifted his weight onto his hip, “and I expect you to text me whenever you get the chance.” He turned around and the other members began to follow. For what felt like an eternity, yn finally let out a small breath, well at least until he had turned back around. “Oh!” Haitani-san smiled at her, “Leave it under ‘Ran-senpai’ so your brother and friends don’t get spooked. Don’t want the fun to end before it has barely even started.” With that, he turned back around and waved half-assed before disappearing into the distance.

Yn decided to just to walk the rest of the block because riding the bike has been nothing but bad luck so far. Once at the shop, she sighed and made her way to the back where she knew would be unlocked because no one dared walk up into her big brother’s place of work. Parking her bike, she quickly takes her phone back out with 3 texts from an unknown number.

Unknown: hey little lamb, its yer senpai <3

Unknown: yer probs with yer bro so ill call you later, mm around midnight so stay up

Unknown: text me back soon or I mite accidentally break your pretty necklace and youll have to  owe me a big favor for ignoring me :)

“what the actual fuck,” yn whispered as she quickly began typing away. She didn’t know if she be upset with his back-to-back messages treating her like she was his property, or mad at herself for feeling this little need inside of her that wants to please him. Yes, all of the gang members were extremely hot and DANGEROUS, but something about ‘Ran Senpai’ gave her the cold chills; what made it worse was the urge that she possessed to go against all her morals for him.

Yn: hi! Im sorry,, I was just trying to get to my brother’s shop

Yn: wait,, do you know draken-nii?

She tilted her head and rocked lightly from side to side, waiting for a reply instead of going in and surprising her brother like she initially had planned to do. While she waited, she changed his name to ‘Tani Senpai <3’ with a small smile as she imagined Draken freaking out over the fact that a boy has caught her interest. Of course, she wasn’t romantically interested in the man, but his face isn’t one that she would mind seeing from time to time – at a safe distance that is.

Tani Senpai <3: mhm, some good and bad history

Yn: oh?

Tani Senpai <3: you do know curiosity killed the cat, right little lamb?

Yn: you flirt a lot

Yn: how old are you ?

Tani Senpai <3: 28 years young bb

Yn: youre ten whole years older than me?? You look so,, young.

Tani Senpai <3: I have aged, but trust me, I am rather youthful in different aspects.

Yn: do you by chance,, like memes?

Tani Senpai <3: ofc, especially hornee ones.

Yn: haha.. well I gotta go,

Tani Senpai <3: mhm go ahead baby, remember. Midnight <3

 Yn: aye aye captain.

She felt another vibration as she placed her phone in her backpack, but she was finally able to see and surprise her brother and that is exactly what she planned to do. Quietly pulling the door open, she noted that the music blaring and Draken’s back was to her as he was fixing up what looked like Pah-chin’s old CBX 400F. It was a cute sight if she was being completely honest; her brother rebuilding his old friendships. She seen the other boys’ bikes lined up too: Draken’s Zephyr, Mitsuya’s little Impulse, Kazu-kun’s Rocket, Mikey’s CB250T, and even the late Baji’s Goki.

“Pah-san still has the old thing,” she decided to speak up instead of tackling her brother, “are you guys gonna give it to some younger kids?” right as she finished her sentence, draken whipped his head back and went to cradle yn to his chest. Suddenly, all of the stinging on her skin had vanished and she was giggling while circling her arms around her brother’s waist. “How are you ya wannabe greaser?”

“I’m doing fine you idiot, how are -,” draken lifted his head to get a good look at her, but all his excitement drained as he was met with a sight of dried blood and scraped skin. “Who the fuck did this to you? I’ll kill them right fucking now, what the hell happened yn?”

“DRAKEN,” he stopped and stared at you expecting an answer, “I tired riding my bike down the big hill by the park and this happened, okay? I’m okay.” She stared at him with a soft expression and relaxed once she noticed he slumped in his posture, “I know you said to stop riding down the hill because it’ll bite me in the ass one day, so I guess today was the day.” Yn laughed and draken tried to fight the small smile that was threatening to fall on his lips.

“Go sit on the counter and watch the store for a bit, I’m gonna get the first aid kit in the back and I guess I’ll patch ya up.” With that, he disappeared into the office hall and left yn to be lost in thought. She had never lied to Draken this heavy before. It might not seem like a big deal to others, but she just told her brother she fell down a hill instead of saying that some /Bonten/ men were just threatening her life 20 minutes ago and they treated her like a dog; well, she didn’t feel that bad anymore, considering that he would have gone and wasted his life against men that played dirty. “Get out of your head, I’m back.” Draken teased her before getting an alcohol wipe and wiping the dried blood, “don’t squirm too much, loser. iss’ gonna sting a bit tho, so try to not hit me.”

It went a lot more smooth than she had expected, yeah, the cleansing wipe and ointment burned, but now she was bandaged and able to not worry about even more blood staining her clothes til they go to the brothel.

“Here,” he handed her a spare shirt and some sweats, “I don’t like seeing you all beat up, makes me want to fight the side walk. You know where the bathroom is.” Draken slightly punched her shoulder before heading back to seat near the bike, “once you’re done, we can go meet the boys for breakfast. I bet yer hungry.”

“Yer the best, ya know that,” yn smiled before taking her bag and clothes to the bathroom. “It won’t be long,” she turned before entering the hall, “make sure the cute one is there!”

“Stop trying to fuck my friends,” Draken called out in an irritated tone as she walked away laughing. It was an ongoing joke yn had played on her brother, where she would pretend to have some crush on his friends and it’d just make him twenty times more protective around them; he never knew if she was serious or not so he had to be cautious.

Once in the bathroom, yn quickly changed into the clothes her brother had lent her and stared at herself in the mirror. She laughed when she realized she kind of looked like one of the main characters from her favorite psychological thrillers. Yn took out her phone and decided to message Mana, mitsuya’s younger sister and yn’s best friend from home, with a picture of her bandaged state and the caption, ‘take out my ankles next time, daddy <3.’ It honestly surprised her to get a reply that fast as Mana was always one to sleep until noon. She didn’t know what scared her more, the fact she sent it the wrong person, or the fact the person knew exactly what she was talking about.

Tani Senpai <3: you look hot like that

Tani Senpai <3: like being called daddy, but in this context arent I supposed to call you mommy or something LMAO

Tani Senpai <3: I can break your ankles with my baton

Tani Senpai <3: make you my little housewife and call you ‘Bum.’

Tani Senpai <3: don’t worry, I won’t turn into ashes ;) <3

“Yn,” Draken called out, “you okay in there?”

“Don’t worry about it nii-Chan,” she giggled in hopes of masking her terror, “just bumped into a wound. I’ll be out soon.”

“Okay,” draken slipped a pad and a tampon under the door, “don’t know if you might want these -,”

“LEAVE YOU IDIOT,” yn genuinely laughed and heard draken’s heavy chuckles through the door, “thank you though, I’ll be out soon.”

“I’ll be outside on the bike, bubs.”

After hearing draken’s foot steps vanish, she quickly began typing.

Yn: that wasn’t meant for you -

Tani Senpai <3: shame, I love killing stalking

Yn: wait,, really? 👀

Tani Senpai <3: mhm,, we’ll talk about it later tonite ‘bum ;)

Yn: .. deal :)

Despite every shitty thing that has happened to her since she got back, it felt as if they were supposed to meet; fate as one would call it. She was offering herself to one of the most dangerous men who rule the underworld, and she didn’t even find herself to minding.

masterlist | next

an: hi hello, hope yer all eating well :)

ryozoro©

[violets-page]

Safe and sound |K.E|

Katniss Everdeen X Reader request

MASTERLIST

If you want to get super in the feels listen to ‘Safe and Sound’ by Taylor Swift and/or ‘Lover, Where Do You Live?’  by Highasakite

Gonna be the first to send in a request for my wifey katniss. I would love to see a relationship between katniss and a fellow district 12 person before and after she is sent to the hunger games. It can be platonic or romantic even though I prefer romantic (I’m a sucker for a gooey love story). I was thinking how either the hunger games changes their relationship for the good or bad, it either pushing them closer once she returns alive or the show she had to put on at the capital with peeta making the reader push her away. I love all your fics and your writing is so good, I would love to see what you come up with but no pressure!

In the woods, you could pretend like you two were the only creatures on the whole planet that existed. That the world was your jungle gym, where you swung carelessly and laughed freely. You wandered through the woods alone, It didn't scare you, Katniss was somewhere close by. She had promised to knap you a bunny or two so you could make a new sac for foraging. 

Your fingers trailed along the vine of wild raspberries. They were not ripe yet but in a few days... You should make sure to point them out to her so she can come back and get them.

The cracking of sticks behind you made you whip around, a sigh of relief escaping your lips when Katniss’s smiling figure hopped towards you. She pointed to her sack a grin on her face

“I got three,” You shot a smile to match hers before grasping her hand and dragging her to another part of the woods.

“Where are we going?” Her hand was warm in yours and you let yourself soak up the memory.

“I need to show you something.” 

Her hand was warm in your cold and dirty one, you hope she didn’t mind the dirt now staining her hands, transferred there from your fingertips.

You brought her to a bush, putting your hand up to stop her from walking into it. You raised a finger, pointing at it but carefully avoiding touching it.

“That's stinging nettle, don't go walking into it, you’ll get a nasty rash.”

You looked up to find her peering off in the distance her eyes squinted to see through the sunlight. You glanced around her to see a deer munching on some grass a few yards away. You huffed, nudging her sharply in the side.

“Katniss! come on, what if I'm not here one day to tell you this stuff.” She looked at you quickly a small frown on her face.

“Why are you so worried about not being here?” You quickly looked down and away from Katniss. As far as she knew your name was only in once.

“Y/n? how many times is your name in?”

“42.”

The silence was physically painful as she stared at you. You fiddled with the ends of your sleeve, actively avoiding her gaze.

“Why?” This was the part of the question you had been dreading.

“You were so sick last winter, so I...” It dawned on her, all the medicines you brought and the food, the firewood, and the clothes. She never questioned how you got them. She should have. You turned around once you had gotten enough berries, keeping your eyes trained carefully on the ground.

Neither of you spoke.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

When Prim’s name was called you were shocked, You truly expected it to be you. When Katniss volunteered you were even more shocked. You should have expected it though, she would have done anything to save her sister. You didn't even get the chance to grab her hand and tell her you loved her before she was standing on the stage. Tears pricked your eyes as hers met yours. You were to busy staring at her to hear the boy’s name.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

When her lips hit his you froze. You had to put your hand on your chest because you weren’t sure if your heart was still beating. Every detail seemed imprinted in your mind. The way her eyes flickered down to his lips for just a moment. The way you did when you kissed her.

You had never hated anyone, you despised watching the games and felt your heart aching for each dead kid. But when the blonde boy came on the screen. you found yourself silently cheering at each step he came closer to death. And each night you would feel guilty, wondering if in the morning her might be gone. But every morning you awoke to find him alive the guilt would disintegrate.

They were the last two left, you felt a sick sense of pleasure at the thought of watching her kill him. All your fears and pain would die with him. Wipe that innocent smile that everyone seemed to love off his face. You hated how he looked at her like she loved him. Heck, maybe she did but you wouldn’t allow yourself to think in that direction.

You watched them stand in the center her bow loaded with an arrow but not pointed at anything. Your brow furrowed when she tossed it to the ground.

When she grabbed the berries you froze.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

You shoot through the woods in search of Katniss. Tree branches scraped at your arms as you brushed them away, she was crouched down in front of a bush of dark blue berries. Your eyes darted over to her fingers where she was observing one. Your eyes widened in horror as she raised it to her lips.

“KATNISS!”

You flung yourself onto her, pushing the berry away and causing you both to topple down the small hill. She looked at you in scared confusion. You were on top of her, your body sprayed flat against her, knocked there when you went tumbling. You didn’t allow yourself to think about the scratch on your forehead or the leaves in your hair as you started scolding her. 

“What the hell are you doing? trying to kill yourself?”

She shook her head quickly, brows furrowed.

“What, no.”

You glanced up the hill where the innocent-looking bush lay untouched.

“Those berries will drop a 300-pound man in minutes.” She quickly looked to the small pouch attached to her hip, when you looked at it you noticed a pile of the berries tumbling out.

“They were for you.” she stared at the berries in horror, quickly turning the bag upside down to dump the rest out. You let out a soft chuckle, relieved she was okay.

“You’re not getting away from me that easy Katniss.” She rolled her eyes, snorting softly before tangling her fingers in your messy hair, pulling your head down to place a deep kiss against your upturned lips.

.*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Those berries.

You knew them. You had shown her them, and now she was going to kill herself to save a boy neither of you cared about. Or at least neither of you should have cared about. You watched her raise the berries to her lips and wanted to scream at her. Your breath caught in your throat, you could get any air in. You were drowning in heartbreak. Instead, you let a soft no tumble from your lips.

This was the end. She was gone forever.

Your hand rose to your mouth as you let out a choked sob. It felt like you were dying. The breaths finally came as you coughed on them. Breathing in short strangled breaths as your fingers trembled, the tears would never stop.

You watched her stand there with this boy. He was going to be her last kiss. The world faded away as you watched her stare into his eyes. Those should have been your eyes. She whispered something to him as they lifted the poison berries to their lips. Those should have been your lips.

And then the voice came on. You couldn’t hear a word over the ringing in your ears. Your hand gripped the fabric over your heart as you cried out in relief when their hands dropped. She was alive. She was okay. This should have made you feel better, but the image of her staring into his eyes, their bodies nearly pressed together as they held hands, wouldn’t leave your mind.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

When she came back everything felt strained. You couldn’t meet her eyes and every touch felt forced.

The kitchen was silent other than the knife scraping against the potatoes and the soft crunch of you grinding herbs. It was giving you a headache, the stress of it all. Pretending like nothing was wrong when in reality you were breaking at the seams you had carefully sewn around your torn heart. It was too much for you. The silence. The pain in your heart. 

“Katniss.”

You were with her in your family’s shack, you had refused to go to her house. Even though it was large and warm with beds and working furniture. She hummed in acknowledgment not looking up from where she sat peeling potatoes.

 “What happened in there?” You knew what had happened, you’d seen it. What you didn't know was how it felt, the whispers and secrets off camera as they struggled to survive.

 The sound of the scraping knife came to a jagged halt but you couldn’t bring yourself to look over and gauge her reaction.

The silence grew too loud and you forced yourself to gaze up at her. She was staring down at the knife in her hand, when you glanced at it you could see bright blood against the blade. “Did you cut yourself?” You rushed over to her, lifting your apron to wrap it around the slice on her thumb. She just kept staring at the knife, her face frozen in a horrified expression.

“Katniss?”

 The anger and frustration faded when you saw her broken eyes shoot up to you. She looked petrified, her hands still holding the knife trembled under your grasp. The silent unshed tears shattered your heart as you ran your fingers through her hair. She hadn't worn it in a braid since she came back and your fingers kept catching on small knots. She leaned her head against your stomach and sobbed. You pulled the bloody knife out of her tight grip setting it on the table behind you before turning back to look at her. You shushed her, untangling her hair as her tears soaked through your blouse. Her hands slowly  moving to wrap around your waist.

Katniss didn’t cry, not in front of you or anyone else. Not when her dad died and not when she left for the games. They had changed her, that much was obvious. You’d been so fixated on her with a boy that you had failed to think about everything else that was going on in the arena. 

The people she had to kill, the people she had to watch die, knowing there was nothing she could do to help them. And then, at the end with Peeta, Maybe that was her trying to save them. Maybe she knew that they wouldn't let her die. It didn’t matter to you anymore. She was here with you, in your arms. She was yours. She had been before the games and she remained when she returned. It didn't matter what had happened between her and Peeta in the games because, in the end, she had chosen you.

 You swayed slightly as her sobs quieted down. You bent down to kiss her forehead, your hands cupping her cheeks as her hands gripped your wrists.

 “Your safe here Katniss. No one can hurt you now, or ever again. I promise.”  She nodded her head a few times, trying to reassure herself of your words. You gripped her hands, rewrapping your apron tightly around the cut on her finger. 

You hadn't wanted to examine it till she calmed down, afraid that the blood would send her into another frenzy. You kept her hand clasped tightly in yours, Her eyes were glazed over as you led her to her house, yours lacked the medical supplies needed in the case that the cut was worse than you thought. The gated community was huge and quite intimidating. You felt your heart pound as you neared the large black gate of the ghost town.

Primrose stood in the kitchen washing vegetables, she looked shocked when she saw you, opening her mouth to speak but quickly snapping it shut at the sight of Katniss. “3rd room on the left, 2nd floor.” You nodded at her with a small smile before leading Katniss ever so slowly up the stairs. The appearance of her bedroom seemed to snap her out of her daze as she straightened a bit and turned to you.

“I'm okay.” Her smile was sad but she was trying to brighten it up. You frowned at her.

“Don't lie to me.” She sighed, she knew you and knew her lying skills. There was nothing she could get away with.

You sat her on the bed peeling your apron off her wound. The blood had dried and stopped but you wanted to make sure it wouldn't get infected, It was deep and spanned from her fingernail to the base of her palm.

Primrose appeared carrying alcohol and gauze, setting it on the nightstand before hurrying out. You watched her retreating figure before turning back to Katniss, who was staring up at you.

 “Hand.” She held it out and you grasped it carefully, as to not rub your fingers against the exposed wound.

 You soaked a piece of the gauze with the alcohol before wiping the blood around the cut. You were avoiding the cut itself because that would be the hard part.

“I thought of you.” You looked up at her with a furrowed brow, the gauze slipping over the cut causing her to hiss and you too look back down.

“When I kissed him. I thought of you, and how all I wanted to do was come back.” You chewed your lip remembering the way your cried yourself to sleep, repeating in your mind that you never wanted to see her again.

 You wanted to forgive her, to shove the memory away and embrace her with open arms, to kiss her like you used to. But the image wouldn't leave your mind. You closed your eyes and tried to picture something else. Katniss, alone in the woods, falling asleep to the memory of your lips. Your heart calmed and you opened your eyes to find her eyes desperately searching your face.

You leaned down a soft kiss against her lips as your hand reached to cradle her neck.

“I'm with you, always.” With time the memories would fade, until then you let her lips bring you comfort and her hands bring you peace.

_____________________________________________

[twinkleimagines]

*Somebody save me*

summary: y/n is new to the outer banks, being as she’s Barry’s cousin from the city. Her being as familiar in the drug life as Barry, it was almost inevitable for her not to meet the Rafe himself. Little does she know her life was about to become an entire rollercoaster. Was rafe going to drag her down with his own issues and literal manic tendencies, or was she finally going to be the saving this lost boy needed?

CHAPTER ONE

“ this is why I don’t live near the water” You exclaimed as you swatted the swarming gnats and mosquitos away from your face .

“ either here or group home cuz” Barry exclaimed while taking nugs of marijuana out of a zip lock bag, placing them on his scale . “ better get use to it.”

You’d lived in a small home back in Atlanta Georgia with your mom, who was a serious addict and spent more time out on the streets prostituting for drugs than she was at home with her daughter . Because of your moms reckless behavior, you had missed out on a lot of school seeing as she became spending more time selling drugs for a living than actually participating in school. Unfortunately that raised the schools attention to your living situation, inevitably causing your mom to get locked up and You having to chose between moving to the outer banks, or a group home. You only had 2 months left until you would be 18 but until then, Barry’s trailer would be where you resided.

You rolled your eyes before getting up from your chair , walking towards the trailer.

“ where ya goin?” Barry asked turning from his table of weed.

“ I can’t handle these bugs dude” you exclaimed still walking towards the trailer.

“ we’ll if you’re gonna stay here you gon have to put your work in too” he stated before standing up, grabbing 2 bags of white powder. You stepped back in shock.

“ the fuck Barry” you exclaimed shaking your head in disbelief. “ you know I don’t fuck with that shit”. Barry shrugged before reaching back towards you, shaking them at you to grab.

“ no but these bills gotta be paid” he said nodding his head towards the trailer. “ I need you to take this over to someone for me tonight. He’s got a party goin and he’s gonna sell it throughout the night .”

“ why can’t you take it to him then?” You exclaimed crossing your arms.

“ because cuz you’re gonna have to pull your weight round here too” . You scoffed before snatching the 2 bags of coke from Barry’s hand.

“ I don’t even know who this guy is “ you huffed out, putting the two bags in your bra.

“ you’ll know him. His name is Rafe.”

****

As you pulled up to the driveway, yourjaw dropped at the size of the house Barry had you going to. It was massive, and the amount of people crowding the humongous house was massive as well.

“ how the fuck am I suppose to find this guy” you huffed out to yourself before stepping out the car. You had your long wavy hair down, and hooped earrings dangling. You wore on tight high waisted white jeans and a black strapless top as well. As you looked around you could definitely tell this wasn’t your crowd. The girls had massive amounts of make up caked on, booty shorts that their bottoms were practically hanging out of, and they all were definitely shit faced. And they all looked to be trying to get some guys attention.

You walked in looking around , running your hand through your hair stressfully, trying to figure out howyou were suppose to find this Rafe guy.

“ you don’t look like you’re from around here” you heard from behind you. You turned around to find a medium height guy- definitely shit faced might I add- looking you up and down. You scoffed before taking a step back.

“ ‘cause I’m not” you snapped, due to your lack of interest. “ I’m looking for Rafe”. The guy slightly scoffed with an eye roll before pointing to the section behind him.

“ pink shirt” he spat out before brushing past you. You snickered at the fact how some men just cannot handle rejection. Looking over where the guy had just previously directed you, you saw a group of kooks all sitting on the two couches surrounding a coffee table, the guy in the pink shirt , which was assumed to be Rafe, was separating lines of coke on the table. You sighed before making your way to him. You could only see his muscular back and broad shoulders from where you were standing since his back was faced towards you, but none the less he was a kook, which was definitely not your type.

“ Rafe?” You spoke out, only to see the dirty blondes headed boy to look over your shoulder. You swallowed quickly, taken back when you saw those piercing dilated blue eyes gazing into yours. He looked you up and down, presumably confused as to who you were, since you definitely didn’t look the part for a party of kooks. You quickly stood up straight, making sure you looked the tough hood girl as you are before you pulled the two bags of coke out of your back pocket. His eyebrows quickly furrowed together in confusion , wondering why a strange outsider like you was handing him the drugs.

“ Barry” was all you responded before walking off. Barry had told you that there didn’t need to be much conversation between the two of you, that Rafe would already know the deal. Which was fine by you. Rafe honestly took your breath away but looking at the bimbos he had surrounding him, it was clear you weren’t his type anyways. That didn’t matter though. He was beyond rich, and you were from the projects. Definitely no match.

“ hey” you heard someone shout from behind you. You turned around quickly, your long hair wrapping around your shoulders as you did. Oh god . It was Rafe.

“ sorry I didn’t catch your name” he said pointing behind him, indicating your brief in counter a few seconds ago. This time it was your turn to look at him with confusion. Why would he need your name?

“ y/n” you responded looking up at the tall geeked out boy with a slight smile.

“ I uh didn’t mean to be rude I just wasn’t expecting you - I mean the supply this early. “ fumbling with the two bags in his hand. You threw your hands up .

“ ion know that’s just what Barry told me to bring” . You watched Rafes face turn into worry.

“ uhm.. okay yeah alright” he said nervously running his hands through his hair before turning around and walking quickly back into the house. You shook your head in pure confusion before walking back to your car, headed back to the trailer .

****

“ alright ladies and gents , who wants a bump” Rafe said walking back into the common area, plopping down on the couch with the new baggies.

“ you know I do” the blonde girl next to him said scooting closer to him.

“ no more for you till you pay up sweetie” Rafe scoffed. She quickly placed her hand on his inner thigh giggling .

“ I can pay you alright” she spoke out giggling. Rafe laughed shaking his head.

“ already had it. You gotta pay your part this time” he said while using his ID card to separate the lines. She rolled her eyes with embarrassment while the crowd snickered at his comment before pulling her wallet out, handing him a couple of twenties before taking a rolled up dollar, snorting a line.

“ Rafe! My man!” Kelce shouted excitedly before dabbing Rafe up, looking down at the table . “ oh okay this is what I like to see baby” he said rubbing his hands together in excitement . Rafe handed him a rolled up dollar in exchange for some money from Kelce before Kelce leaned down, snorting him a line. “ where’s Topper?” He asked while sitting on the couch next to Rafe. Rafe froze for a second, flash backs to the night Topper got arrested for covering for Sarah and John B running through his head. Rafe hadn’t spoke to Topper since that day, it had became clear he knew the truth or he at least believed Sarah over Rafe.

“ he doesn’t want to come around “ Rafe said. Which was probably the truth. “ yanno Sarah” Rafe said not looking up from the table , watching others around taking more bumps. It was hard for Rafe trying to play things like he normally should. Of course he mourned the death of his sister, more than normal since he internally blamed himself. If he wouldn’t have killed the cop, and framed John B, she wouldn’t have been on the run. But at the same time he was just trying to protect their dad. Rafe froze for a second lost in thought before he picked up the pile of cash people were laying on the table. He knew aT this point the only thing he could do was continue making money for Berry. Barry was the only one who could really help the pogues bring the truth out about his crimes and at this point he had basically became Barry’s bitch. He handled all the product, and sold it all with little to no compensation.

“ alright whose ready for the next round ?”

****

The next morning

“ why you even selling to those kooks anyways Barry?” You asked as you hung your head off of Barry’s couch as he counted money from his duffle bag.

“ because y/n they’re rich and stupid” he responded as if it was an obvious answer. “ they ain’t got no responsibilities so all they care about is partying and getting fucked up.” You looked over at him as he stood up looking over you. “ and I’m the king at getting people fucked up aight. They’ll pay anything cause they got it” he said throwing his hands up. You sighed before sitting up.

“ you should really clean this place up. It stinks” you responded before walking out side, tugging at your tank top to cool down. As you walked out into his yard to sit out in one of his patio chairs you heard a dirt bike coming down the drive way.

“ great” you mumbled as you plopped down in the chair, hissing as the plastic chair burned the back of your thighs since you were in short denim shorts. You quickly lit up a joint Barry rolled for you earlier as you watched the guy turn his bike off before taking his helmet off.

‘Shit’ you thought as you accidentally inhaled too much and began coughing , realizing it was Rafe on the bike. You honestly had thought about him quite a few times through the night last night. Just mesmerized by his attractive looks.

“ hey I remember you” he spoke as you took a sip of your water.

“ oh yeah?” You asked brushing your long locks of hair from your face as some stuck to your forehead from sweat. “ where from?” You questioned, playing it off like you hadn’t thought about him all night.

“ you came to my party last night” he said. Wow. He was really cute.

“ oh yeah! Rafe right?” Rafe smiled.

Okay what the fuck. You immediately felt butterflies fluttering in the pit of your stomach as you watched this literal perfect smile form across his face . He ran his hands through his hair ( almost as if he was getting nervous) before nodding. “ yeah yeah that’s me” . You grinned before reaching out offering him a hit off your joint.

“ want a hit?” You asked.

“ yeah sure” he said before sitting down next to you, taking a hit off your joint. “ so I’ve never seen you round here. You uh Barry’s new girl ?” He asked blowing smoke out between the sentences. You threw your head back laughing loudly .

“ fuck no!” You laughed out. “ he’s my cousin . I’m just stayin with him for a couple months till I get my own plsce” you stated while grabbing the joint back from Rafe.

“ ahh” he responded looking down at the fire pit in front of y’all. “ you gonna stay here or” he asked. If it wasn’t for you crushing you would’ve been weird out by the questions he was asking. You shrugged taking a big hit .

“ I don’t know yet” you said blowing smoke out of your nose. “ I’m waiting to see if this place is gonna win me over.” You responded honestly . “ but honestly this heat and these bugs are for the birds” you said swatting at some of the gnats that were swarming again. Rafe chuckled slightly, looking down at his hands.

“ it’s not too bad once you get use to it.” He said looking over at you. “ maybe someone will change your mind” .You grinned, looking down as you felt the heat rushing to your cheeks. You could see Rafe playing with his hair again. You had come to a conclusion that the hair playing meant he was definitely nervous which made the butterflies flutter again.

“ uhm well-“ he said awkwardly standing up. “ Barry inside?” He asked looking over towards the trailer.

“ yeah yeah he’s in there” you said standing up as well.

“ okay well I’ll see you again okay Y/n? “ he stated, watching as you nodded in agreement. You watched him head inside the trailer, is tall figure swaying as he walked.

***

“ aye yo Barry” Rafe spoke out before opening the screen door to Barry’s trailer. “ got your money” Rafe stated nervously walking toward the back of the trailer to Rafes room.

“ okay country club I see you “ Barry expressed walking out his room to meet Rafe in the kitchen. “ this all of it?” He stated while grabbing the stack out of his hand.

“ yeah man that’s all of it” Rafe stated , sweat dripping down his forehead as he brushed his hair back. “ uhm you uh know you uhm doubled it right?” Rafe said referring to the supply.

“ I needed to get the product movin” he Barry replied still counting the stash.

“ yeah but you see it’s hard to move that much-“

“ listen country club I own you ok” Barry said looking up at Rafe with that cocky smirk of his. “ I know your secret. I know what you really did. Now you can either make my money by doin this work when and where I say I want it done-” he stared shrugging his shoulders. “- or I could just turn you in and make the money that way” Barry chuckled at the sight of Rafe breaking a sweat at the thought of the truth coming out as he sat down at his kitchen table, setting the stack of money on the table. “ choice is yours my friend” . Rafe shook his head stumbling around a bit , partially from nerves and the other from geeking of the dope.

“ nah I-I got you” he responded back , his heart pounding with anxiety.

“ alright that’s what I like to hear” Barry beamed. “ no go. I’ll let you know when I got more for you” he stated. Rafe quickly made his way out the door, running his hands through his hair once again before walking towards your direction. He wanted to just hop on his bike and scurry away from it all , but something about you intrigued him so much. Maybe it was because you treated him differently than everyone else. You were kind to him, and didn’t look at him like he was some crazy addict .

“ see ya Rafe” you called out as he passed by you towards his bike. He tossed his hand up to you with a smile before sitting on his bike, grabbing his helmet, he froze for a second before looking up at you.

“ hey I’m gonna have another party tomorrow night, you know if you’re not busy maybe you could come chill . Get a feel of this place a little more” he suggested, his fingers twiddling with his helmet.

“ I don’t know Rafe, didn’t really look like my crowd “ you stated, this time it was your turn to run your hands through your hair. He shrugged looking down at his helmet.

“ then hang with me” he suggested, his voice a bit softer as if he was nervous to make the suggestion at all. You grinned, pushing your hair behind your ear.

“ okay yeah, I’ll see you then “ you nodded, looking up to see his blue eyes beam with excitement.

“ cool cool” he stated before placing his helmet back on before revving his bike on , riding back out the driveway.

You leaned back sighing of happiness, grinning at Rafes comment .

“ then hang with me”

Tomorrow night couldn’t come sooner.

Chapter 2 coming soon ❤️

( I will be putting this story under the tag #somebody save me )

[the-sun-hawks]

Chapter 2: Phillian Days

(Apologies for the absence)

To the east, the mountainous region of Lyska, home to a majority of the Elven strider clans, and ruled by the controversial Vatham family that had risen to power during the border war. Though there has been peace for nearly two decades, the checkpoints at the Lyskan border sit far more heavily guarded, the names of every visitor either coming from or heading to Lyska taken down. To the west, the rolling sands of Gwann, known for both their healers of unmatched skill and their religious practice of raising the dead. 

Phillia itself stands unique. From the architecture to the clothing the people wear and the languages they speak, the city is touched by all the cultures surrounding it and built with the influence of all those who have flowed through it. An Elf wearing a light and flowing Gwasari robe to combat the afternoon heat while speaking the quick and energetic Darian tongue. A Turisian Dwarf letting a pointy eared child ride on their shoulders while they eat gilini bread, a sticky spicy fried honey bread brought as street food by the refugees of Klannossia. No two streets are the same, no two sights similar, ever changing, always surrounded by the unfamiliar and unexpected. It is just how Hawk liked it. 

“Uncle Hawk, Aunty Vae!” Temrin, a young boy not much older than five with dirty blonde hair, dirt smeared over his face along with his hands and knees. Vae clucks her tongue and hands off the reins so she can bend down to pick up the boy, playfully flicking his nose. “What are you doing, Temrin, shouldn’t you be with Edmund?” she asks as the boy grins, his ears turning red with excitement as he nods. 

“Snuck out as someone was opening the door,” Temrin says, his hands going to his hips as he nods in accomplishment. Hawk shakes his head. 

“Your mother is going to kill me if she finds out that you're with me, Temrin. She’ll think I've been in town the whole day and have had you up to no good and we don’t want that do we?” Hawk says, ruffling the boy's hair before looking at Vae. “Meet at The Last Stop? I’ll get the pay from Bosco and pay him off, take the rest to Laslo and Jerek.”

“Don’t forget Laslo’s cut.”

“I know, just take Temrin home before Alara goes on a rampage and kills Edmund for not paying attention.” He points a finger at the boy again, making Temrin grin. “And you stay out of trouble for the rest of the day. We don’t want Old Edmund to get his beard in a twist do we?” Hawk asks, nodding as Temrin shakes his head. “Good. I’ll tell you about the job when I get to The Last Stop for the evening. Deal?” Hawk says, turning his pointing hand into one to shake, Temrin taking it and adopting as stoic a look as a child can have as he nods again. 

“Deal.”

Vae shakes her head at Hawk as she takes the boy into the city, setting him down to walk alongside her. He begins rattling off all sorts of questions to Vae which Hawk hears her dodge by asking a question of her own, Temrin rambling an answer until they are both well out of sight of Hawk. 

Hawk heads further into the city, towards the temples and The Hall of Blades guardpost. Devout followers of Almar, The God of Blades, The Hall of Blades acts as Daria's primary religious authority. They are also the only official enforcers of the law within Phillia. The Hall of Blades takes its job of protection very seriously, though their protection is extended only to those who can match their devotion with a generous donation, leaving the street justice to common citizens.

In the cultural heart of Phillia the temples are as diverse as the rest of the city, from the monolithic dark structure of the Lyskan cathedrals to the squat and long Gwasari prayer halls dedicated to Klessos and Hanara. Even still, The Hall of Blades guardpost stands out as the gaudiest and most opulent building in the entirety of Phillia. An extravagant building of marble with golden ornamentation, the exterior of the guard post is decorated with carefully cultivated plants. Inside, the floors are shining marble and even shiner ornamental blades hang from the walls. The members walk through the guard post with flawless plate armor and blades polished to a high shine too. Hawk is overwhelmed by just how shiny the guard post is every time he is forced to sit in front of Master Blade Caller Bosco Theoin, the commander of the post and the one who personally handled every ‘donation’ that came into The Hall.

Bosco is a middle-aged gentleman, rough-faced with a long scar over one cheek, his long brown hair tied into a fierce ponytail at the back of his head, and his trimmed beard filled with more white than brown. He has a stare that could curdle milk too, though he reserved it for Hawk and Hawk alone. “You have the head?” The Blade Caller asks, his eyes flicking to the sack that by this point has been stained through a dull reddish brown. It immediately starts to stain the Blade Caller’s magnificently polished rosewood desk as Hawk sets it down.

“When have I ever not grabbed the head for you, Bosco?,” Hawk says, patting the sack as Bosco rolls his eyes, looking to another member of The Hall and waving his hand towards the sack. The man frowns but nods, taking it in his hands and disappearing out the door of the office, closing it behind him. 

“One and a half thousand half pieces of five for one Hammond the Foul,” Bosco mutters, looking down at his ledger and beginning to mark something down before Hawk produces the page he’d stolen from Hammond’s desk and puts it in front of him. 

“Maybe a bonus for that information. Looks like Hammond was in touch with some kind of order, the kind that could get him a whole regiment of troops. Might be worth looking into.” 

Bosco scoffs, taking the page up into his hands and reading it, his doubtful face slowly becoming more frustrated and concerned. He folds the page and sets it in the ledger, closing it as he stands. “One thousand, seven hundred and fifty pieces of five, minus the one hundred for your donation, leaves you with a payout of one thousand, six hundred and fifty pieces of five for the death of Hammond the Foul and the information regarding his connection to a potential insurrectionist order.” 

Bosco turns his back on Hawk, striding over to the large safe to retrieve several bags of coin, taking some out of one and slipping them into a pouch on his belt. He turns back to Hawk and drops the coin in front of him. 

“You need to keep that boy Temrin on a leash, Adahji. If he keeps following in your footsteps he’s going to end up a miscreant. It’d be a shame to throw him in prison after serving with his father for so many years, you yourself could learn how to address someone above your station.” Bosco says, leaning on the desk and looking down his nose at Hawk. Hawk stands and begins gathering the sacks of coins, ignoring Bosco’s warnings. “And that Osiros fellow and his school. If King Ducas wasn’t so fond of the man after having him as his bodyguard for so long I would begin to question why we need a Blademaster loaning out his skills to anyone who has the money to pay, or to any stray that’s willing to work with him for an afternoon.”

“Sorry for the stain on your desk, Bosco,” Hawk says, gesturing towards the puddle now starting to dry before he turns and begins to walk out of the office. He shuts the door of the office with a nice, satisfying thud. He looks to the man standing beside the door and scoffs, rolling his eyes as he gestures towards the door leading into Bosco’s office. 

“Is he always such an insufferable prick?” Hawk asks. The man clears his throat and looks just slightly away from Hawk. “I suppose that's an answer enough.” 

Hawk sighs before turning away from the office and heading out of The Hall of Blades and towards Laslo Imbani and Jerek Banking. L&J Banking doesn’t look like a bank, not even a sign in front of the building. Laslo Imbani isn’t the kind of person to carry a layman’s money, and Jerek certainly isn't the kind of man to count the money of someone he doesn’t like. Their bank is meant for people like Hawk and Vae, people with large sums of money that they want to protect from the likes of Blade Caller Bosco Theoin who would raid banks and homes for so-called donations towards The Hall. 

Hawk hardly has the chance to knock twice before the door opens, revealing a man whose head is hidden by the shorter height of the doorframe he stands behind. “Name?”

“Hawk Olier. I see you haven’t gotten a taller door yet Jerek.”

Jerek leans down to peer at him, a half-giant man whose bright yellow eyes are framed by the intricate swirling tattoos most Gwasari people have, smiles the beaming pearly white smile that only Jerek could give. 

“Bird-man! You live!” Jerek shouts, ducking out of the building to throw his arms around Hawk and lift him, his back popping as Jerek squeezes him in a tight hug. “You live and you bring Laslo money, yes?” 

He sets Hawk down on the ground and squatting to be at his height, pats his head as Hawk rolls his shoulders and nods. 

“Yes, Jerek, I have money to give to you and Laslo. Can I come in?” 

“Yes, Hawk, please come in!” a far quieter and shriller voice than that of Jerek’s calls from inside the bank. Jerek moves out of the way of the door and begins shoving Hawk into the building, probably considering it a gentle push. 

Laslo Imbani is short, even for a dwarf. When he gathers with his brethren for tea or the holidays he stands at least four inches shorter than the shortest of them. His glasses are the only thing about him that could be considered big, thick-rimmed and heavy things that made his eyes the size of teacups as he looked up at Hawk, a wide smile on his face as he holds his hands up in anticipation. 

“Hammond the Foul, one thousand seven hundred and fifty pieces for the head of the bandit group leader and the information about his apparent connection with an insurrection,” Hawk says, setting the bags of coins on the counter and pushing them towards Laslo. “Minus a hundred for the donation to the Hall of Blades, and minus another hundred to you and Jerek for your continued service of protecting Vae and I’s coin.”  

“That’s what I like to hear my boy! Yes indeed one hundred to me and Jerek, yes indeed!” Laslo says, leveraging himself up onto the counter so he can pat Hawk’s shoulder before falling back down on the stool he’d been standing on behind it. “A two hundred and fifty coin of five bonus, that must have been some information you found for that horse-apple eater Bosco to give out.”

“Hammond was in bed with some kind of Order that promised him a whole regiment of trained soldiers. Bosco seemed all kinds of frustrated to see that, more than likely because he’ll have to go to his superiors in the capital with it.”

Laslo scoffs, waving his hands as he tosses away a bag he’d been emptying of its contents. “He’s more likely to send out more bounty hunters to deal with them before he’ll bite the blade and call for the capital's help. But that just means-"

“More money for us,” Hawk finishes, earning another one of Laslo’s smiles, the small man breaking out into a small dance as he counts under his breath. Jerek joins him at the counter and begins to do the same, though far faster and far more accurately than Laslo can manage. Laslo throws his hands up after a moment, grumbling and looking to Jerek once he realizes the half-giants count is more accurate than his, then hops up onto the counter and throws his arm around Hawk’s neck. 

“For once, young man, I don’t have any jobs for you. So relax for a while, take a vacation and maybe help your father run the bar for a few days. I’m sure Mistress Mournshaw will find work by finding something to steal in one of the grand houses in the meantime.”

“For your sake Laslo, I’ll pretend that I didn’t hear you call Vae ‘Mistress’ and not tell her that you said that. You’re a good banker and friend, it’d be a shame to lose you after the three years of good business that the two of us have had.”

Laslo laughs, patting Hawk on the back of the neck and nodding before hopping onto his stool behind the counter and then down onto the floor. “That’s why I like you boy, you know exactly what to say and when. Much better than your father ever was while we were together.”

“Didn’t Edmund send flowers?”

“Hyacinths! I hate hyacinths! They make my nose run like no one's business and if Edmund ever paid attention he’d have known that,” Laslo shouts, smacking Hawk’s knee as he passes by him and moves towards the entrance of the bank, Hawk following behind him shortly after he passes. 

“Well, at least he’s trying to make up.” 

“Bah, deaf ears and all that. I’ve moved on,” Laslo says, reaching for the lower of the two handles on the door and yanking it to open the door for Hawk, patting Hawk on the knee as he exits. “L&J banking is my new muse now, and this one doesn’t talk in any other language besides money, which is something I’m more than fluent in. Plus I don’t have to worry about hyacinths," Laslo says with a little trill of a laugh, waving to Hawk as he closes the door behind him.

“I’ll be sure you and Vae receive your proper shares in your accounts! Have a good day!” Laslo calls through the closed door, followed closely by a “Bye Bird-Man!” from Jerek. 

Relieved from the weight of the sacks of coin, Hawk takes a detour to stroll through Magic Alley, so called because every time someone would leave the long market road, their money would magically be gone, either spent or stolen. Thankfully, the last time someone had tried to grab Hawk’s coin purse it had been Vae and he’d earned a reputation among the sneak thieves as somebody not worth the effort of robbing. 

The market is busy with hawkers and customers and pickpockets, and he slows to peruse the kiosks. The gilini bread stall manned by the old Adahji that lived near The Last Stop. The Turisian metalsmith whose shop always smelled like heat, polish, and soot. The vivid fabrics in an array of colors and patterns that hang in the stall of the Darian seamstress who always insists that Hawk should try something new beyond the reds and browns he usually wore. He fiddles with the nicknacks of merchants from all across the continent, buying a spinning top for Temrin along the way as well as some sweets for Alara.

He turns off Magic Alley and walks on towards The Last Stop and the more populated region of the city. The tavern and inn is an old Big House meant to hold one of the richer families that had been settled here before the border skirmishes. Nestled right on the borders of all three countries, the border checkpoints less than a mile from the tavern itself, the name is apt for the bar. It is The Last Stop that most make before heading further into Daria, or heading back across the border to Turia or Lyska. 

Stepping inside the bar itself is like a breath of fresh air to Hawk. There is the quiet buzz of talking and laughter from the patrons, and the musicians play on the raised stage by the signature long mahogany counter. The tavern is warm with the afternoon light shining through the windows. Even with most of the space taken up by tables, it is easy enough to move through the room to the bar, though you are still liable to get something spilled on you by a rowdy patron if you’re not careful. Edmund has slowly been gathering the finely made furniture of dark stained wood over the years, much of which is starting to show wear and scuff marks from his lively customers. Shelves line the wall behind the bar, showing off both some of the least and most expensive liquors on the continent, and manning the counter is, of course, Edmund himself. 

Sporting a shaved bald head and quite possibly the best looking red beard in all of Daria, Edmund is the owner and proprietor of The Last Stop Tavern. An ex-soldier, he retired soon after the fall of Klannossia when he’d adopted Hawk and used the pay he’d saved to buy the Big House and convert it into the tavern. 

“Edmund! Something sweet if you wouldn’t mind,” Hawk says, striding up to the bar and leaning against it, the Dwarf looking through him with those eternally disgruntled eyes of his. 

“Job go smooth?” Edmund asks, leaning down to reach beneath the bar, bringing up a sweet brandy and sliding the whole bottle across the bar to Hawk. 

“Could have gone smoother, but all I got was a sore face and a nauseous stomach from the gods damned horse,” Hawk says, uncorking the bottle of brandy and reaching behind the counter to grab two glasses, pouring one for himself and another for Edmund. “Got a bonus too, which means we actually got the full pay for the job plus some.”

“Bosco took it for his donations did he?” Edmund asks, downing the shot in one gulp, making Hawk raise a brow as he nods. 

“He did, some of it anyway. The other portion of it went to Laslo for his cut on the bank and things. Are you okay? You’re not sipping like you usually do when you’re manning the counter," Hawk asks, looking around the bar for a moment, trying to spot any troublesome customers.

“Alara and that boy of hers,” Edmund grumbles, grabbing the bottle and pouring another glass for himself, slugging this one back just as fast as he’d done the first. “I appreciate you and Vae trying to save my hide from being tanned but Alara was staring *at* the door when Vae came in with the boy.”

“Ah,” Hawk says, nodding again as he raises his glass towards Edmund in sympathy before taking a sip of it. “I suppose she pulled your ear and gave you a pretty stern talking too then?” Hawk tries to hide his grin behind taking another drink of the brandy.

“I let you do the same thing when you were a boy! You grew up just fine!”

“Edmund. Father,” Hawk says, setting his glass down and raising his hand to count with his fingers. “I was arrested by The Blade Callers before I was sixteen. I tried to rob Old Man Osiros, and when he started training me I was causing more fights than I ever had before, even if most of them I won. Not to mention that now my best friend is an exiled thief. I kill people for a living during a time of peace. I have been arrested more times than I have fingers and toes combined, some of those by the late husband of the woman I am intimate with and whose son I’m helping raise. I would hardly call that a ‘good’ upbringing.”

Edmund scoffs, pouring his third glass but sipping this one as he listens to Hawk, some of the brandy trickling down into his beard and mustache as he drinks before he finally throws up his hands. “Fine, fine. But you’re my boy so I have to take some pride in how you’ve grown, even if you ended up being a real asshole.”

Hawk smiles at that, downing his brandy and sliding the glass towards Edmund as he stands up straight. “Need any help tonight or in the next week or so? Laslo doesn’t have any jobs for us and Bosco didn’t mention anything before I left.”

“You could convince Alara not to string me up when she’s done scolding Temrin. Otherwise, no. You and Vae have been working hard the past few months, you deserve a good rest,” Edmund says, putting the glasses and the brandy away. “Vae says that you can find her in the usual place if you need her, I guess she has some new information on something she’d like to snag.” 

Hawk chuckles, rapping on the bar with his knuckles as he nods before turning and wading into the tavern proper. Some of the patrons recognize him and offer a cheered greeting while others recognize him and thumb the swords on their hips or the daggers nestled in their sleeves. The patrons themselves didn’t matter to Hawk, there were new faces every day in The Last Stop and seldom enough time to get to know any of them aside from the few locals.

The people he actually pays attention to are the tavern's employees, the people who had been working for years, like the old man singing on the stage. Nasir had been one of the first employees hired by Edmund, a traveling artist who’d been looking for a place to stay and work for as long as work was available. He’d been living and singing in The Last Stop ever since. When Hawk was a child, Nasir had been the one to watch him when Edmund had stepped out for an evening or had to travel for a few days, as well as the one to help teach Hawk how to read and write. 

“His songs remain decisively mediocre.” A woman's husky voice lined with sarcasm and barely restrained laughter. Hawk turns to Alara, his hands uncrossing from his chest and opening in an attempt to wrap her in a hug, though she stops him with a flick to his nose. Alara turns that finger into a pointing one on Hawk, her face bemused as she starts to speak again. “Did you really think sending Vae’lin in with Temrin rather than both of you would do anything to protect you and Edmund?” 

“Protect me? What did I do?” Hawk asks, his arms crossing again as he bends forward to be eye level with her, her finger nearly touching his nose as she continues to point at him, her hazel eyes still locked with his. 

“You didn’t come here immediately after getting into town, that's what you did, Olier,” she says, her finger moving to grab the collar of Hawk’s coat, keeping him in that bent position. “Vae said you had to go see Bosco and Laslo first. She could have gone and done what you needed to do while you brought Temrin back. You know she doesn’t like staying here for long so I hardly had the chance to have a conversation with her before she bolted out the upstairs window," she says, letting go of his coat with a small shove and mimicking his crossed arms. 

Hawk raises his hands in defeat, letting out a quiet laugh as he stands straight again. “That’s fair enough I suppose, but I had the head so I figured I may as well get it done myself and let Vae fuck off to whatever she wants to do while we wait for our next job. Besides…” he reaches into his sash and retrieves the small pouch of candies he’d bought back in the market district, handing them to her. “I did get you your usual bribe.”

Alara’s eyes light up in delight as she snatches the pouch and quickly opens it to pop one of the hard candies into her mouth with a pleased hum. “Apology accepted,” she mumbles around the candy, placing the pouch of candy into a pocket of her dress before looping her arm with one of his, beginning to pull him up the stairs. 

“You have to wait for your next job? Is Laslo still negotiating the price on one?” Alara asks. 

Hawk shakes his head. “No, Laslo just doesn’t have one right now and If Bosco did he would have said something before I left. The man may hate me but he knows we get the job done whenever he gives us one. So we have at least a few days away from not needing to hunt down dangerous criminals that the crown wants dead.”

“Good,” Alara says, her grip on his arm getting noticeably tighter. Her head rests on his shoulder as they crest the second set of stairs and make it to the third floor. “You and Vae have been missed here.” 

“I missed you too,” Hawk says, moving to kiss the top of her head as they make it to the end of the hall to Hawk’s room. “Are you done for the evening? Do you have someone watching Temrin?” Hawk asks as he unlocks his door and attempts to keep the grin from his face. 

Alara laughs, smacking his arm before tugging on his coat collar again, planting a kiss on his lips and she pulls him into the room as the door opens. “Did you really think I would be here with you if there was anything else that needed my attention for the rest of the night, Hawk Olier? And here I was thinking that you were more than just a pretty face.”

[wicked-mind]

Remember Me: Chapter One

Summary: Y/N and Bucky were the unlikely match when it came to love, but they were inseparable since they met. After a fight, Y/N left to be a trauma surgeon in the military and returns without her memories. How will Bucky remind Y/N how she is the fire in his bones? Word Count: 2.5k

Warnings: Talk of military and getting shot, memory loss.

Series Masterlist

All Writings Masterlist

*gifs not mine

Chapter one - Alive

“This is everything I’ve dreamed about, James! You know that this was always the plan! You knew from the moment I went to med school, through internship and residency that this is what I was going to do!”

“This wasn’t my plan, Y/N! My plan was to grow up, have a family together, not you going halfway around the world to get blown up!”

“I’m not going to get blown up, god! I’m going to be a trauma surgeon. I’m going to be serving my country, just like you and Steve did! I’ll come back, Buck!”

“Yeah.. Well, if you walk out those doors don’t bother coming back because I won’t be here waiting for you.”

Those words had echoed in Bucky’s mind since he said them. He had watched Y/N, the love of his life, walk out the door and he had told her he wouldn’t be waiting for her when she got back. That was a lie. He waited for her every second of everyday to call, to write him letters from abroad, even show up at his doorstep but that day never came and he was still stuck waiting for her 18 months later. That day was the worst day of his life. He had broken not only the heart of his best friend’s sister, but also broke himself. Y/N was the love of his life and he knew it since he met her. She had came back to live with her brother after she graduated early from a private school when she was sixteen and from the moment he met her, Bucky knew she was the one. They were like fire and ice, total opposites. Bucky was the bad boy who was always riding his too loud of a Harley in the small town and Y/N was the smart girl that graduated at the age of sixteen who had her head screwed on right except when it came to him. Y/N had stuck by Bucky when he served in the army with her brother, writing him letters every chance she could while she fast-tracked through med school. When he returned from deployment, she was the one who helped him through his PTSD even through she was a surgical intern at the time and running on no sleep.

After Y/N left, Bucky immediately regretted the words. He always had a fear of being abandoned as well as her returning as broken from a war as he was and he took that out on Y/N. He tried to get the address he could write her letters to tell her how sorry he was, but Steve wouldn’t give it to him due to the fact Y/N didn’t want to hear from Bucky after what he said. She had heard enough and broke her heart the night he told her to never come back and that’s what she planned to do. She kept stacking on more months of her deployment just to avoid him. Bucky drowned his sorrows in bottle after bottle of whiskey since his light went away. She was the fire that kept him going but now the flame seemed to be extinguished. It took a while for Steve and Bucky to get close again after Steve heard what was said, but they were best friends and always there for each other. Bucky even moved in down the street from Steve, wanting to stay close to the only family he’s known and hoping one day he would see Y/N return.

The day Steve got the call from a military official stating Y/N had been injured it seemed like time had stopped for Bucky. Their friend group was gathered for a BBQ that night. Nobody  knew the severity of the injuries, but Steve had left immediately on a plane since his sister was too unstable to travel stateside at the time. Bucky had tried multiple times to get more information on Y/N from Steve, but he never said very much. Eventually the truth came out though when Y/N was stable enough to be transferred stateside to a hospital in her home town. Y/N’s medical base where she was stationed had been attacked and raided. She had been shot in the head behind her ear, causing severe memory loss but that was better than death. It took her a while to remember who Steve was, but eventually she did. She remembered she was a talented surgeon who enlisted in the army and could remember every surgical procedure she had been trained for but not much else than that. 

The day Y/N got the all clear to come home, Peggy had arranged for a welcome home party and BBQ. All of their friends were there, including Bucky. He was sitting on the porch with a beer in his hand waiting for Steve to bring Y/N home. He wanted to see if she remembered him at all, but he hoped she didn’t remember what he had told her the night she left. His head snapped up as he saw Steve’s car pull up next to his Harley in the driveway, standing quickly. He could see Y/N’s blonde hair through the tinted windows flipping around as she picked up something that had been placed by her feet. Then his heart seemed to stop when she got out of the car and he panicked, turning and walking into the house to head to the backyard before Y/N could see him. 

Y/N had caught a glimpse of Bucky’s back as he walked into the house, narrowing her eyes slowly, “Who was that, Steve?” She asks looking over to her brother who was carrying a duffel bag of her belongs.

Steve had seen Bucky waiting the moment he pulled into the driveway and also watched him flee. He sighed deeply before smiling over at his sister, “That’s Bucky. He’s my best friend, you’ve known him since you were sixteen.” He told her, watching as his sister’s nose scrunched as if trying to remember, “It’s alright, take it slow. You aren’t going to remember everything in one day.”

Y/N nodded to her brother then looked at the house. She didn’t recognize it, but it looked like home to her. She followed Steve inside and looked around at everything she could, trying to remember anything in the house with no avail. She was quickly greeted by a hug from Peggy, who she recognized because Steve had shown her photos and told her stories of his wife. She walked through greeting everybody who reintroduced themselves to her. She had re-met Clint and his wife Laura as well as their kids, Sam, Tony and Pepper, Natasha and her husband Bruce. The only person she hadn’t yet been able to talk to was the man named Bucky. After finishing a burger, she walked around Steve’s house, looking at all the pictures on the wall. There were some of her with Steve and even pictures of her when she graduated from med school but then there were some of her on the back of Bucky’s Harley. The two of them were grinning ear to ear from behind dark sunglasses. Y/N finally tracked Bucky down to find him sitting on the porch of the house again. She snuck up behind him and sat down next to him, “Is there a reason you keep running from me?” She asked him.

Bucky was caught off guard with Y/N sneaking up behind him and even more surprised when she sat down next to him. He never thought he would have her this close to him again, “No… I’m sorry.” He said, looking down at the beer bottle in his hand, “It’s just been a long time since I’ve seen you.”

Y/N nodded at his words, “Yeah, well, in my mind it’s been forever since I’ve seen you. So long, in fact that I don’t even remember your name.” She joked as she smiled at him, “So reintroduce yourself, it’s only the gentleman thing to do.”

Bucky couldn’t help that his lips twisted into a curve at her words. She sounded happy and honest like she wanted to know him. He wondered what Steve had told her about him. He reached out a hand for her to shake, “Nice to meet you again, Y/N. I’m James, but you’ve been calling me Bucky since you were sixteen.” He remembered the day they met. She was sixteen and already much too smart to fall for him, but she did. Y/N would even sneak out to meet him and ride his dirt bike he had at the time into the night before he would sneak her back home. 

Y/N smiled, shaking his hand, “Well, it’s very nice to meet you again, Bucky.” She released his hand and looked over to his Harley in the driveway, “Judging from the pictures on the wall inside, I’m going to assume that’s yours.”

Bucky followed her gaze to his motorcycle, nodding as he took a swig of his beer, “Yeah, that’s mine.” He knew exactly what pictures Y/N was talking about. Most of them were taken in Steve’s driveway, her sitting behind him with her arms wrapped around his waist with big smiles on both of their faces, “You helped me build her, or rebuild her I should say. You handed me the tools.” He couldn’t help but smile at the memory. It had been a quiet night of them working in his garage at his house. It ended with Bucky dirtying Y/N’s white tank top and skin with his greasy handprints.

Y/N scrunched her nose as if trying to focus on remembering the memory to no avail once again, but it sounded like it was fun so she just smiled at his words, “You’d think I’d remember that and I’m sorry I don’t. Sounds like it was fun. All I can remember now is bits and pieces of Steve and then a bunch of surgical procedures. So if you need to know how to do an appendectomy, I can help with that.” She chuckles before returning her gaze to his Harley, “Did I like it? Riding with you I mean.”

Bucky again smiled at Y/N’s comment. He remembered when he met her she told him she was going to be a surgeon and he couldn’t picture a pretty girl like her cutting people open, but she did everything she said she was going to do. When she asked the question, he froze. He didn’t know what to say but then found the perfect words without giving too much away about how he felt about her, “I’ve never seen you more alive than when you were riding with me, doll. You said it always matched the feeling of when you did surgery. I never knew what that meant.”

Y/N knew exactly what that meant. She loved being a surgeon, it exhilarated her and scared her all at the same time. That feeling when she was performing surgery was one she couldn’t forget and it made her wonder how she could forget the feeling riding on a motorcycle. She bit her lip and looked over at him, “I don’t remember…” She told him, “But maybe you can remind me.”

It took everything in Bucky not to swoop Y/N up and put her on his bike, but he couldn’t do that yet. They were practically strangers and he knew if he took her on a ride he wouldn’t be able to keep himself from saying he loved her and taking her to his home, “Some other time, I don’t think your brother would be good with taking his sister who has a brain injury on a ride right now.” He excused with a pained smile.

Y/N nodded, noticing people coming out from the backyard to leave. She gave each of them a wave before continuing, “You’re probably right.” She said looking down at her hands, “Steve treats me like I’m glass. Even meeting everybody today, they look at me like I’m going to break at any moment because I can’t remember anything. Even you ran.”

Bucky watched Y/N gaze at her hands, frowning a little at her words. She sounded defeated that everybody thought she was so helpless and breakable and he wasn’t helping, “I know you’re not glass, Y/N. You’re the smartest and strongest person I know. I’m sorry I didn’t say hello, that was a real asshat move of me.”

Y/N smiled a little at his words, looking back at him from under her dark eyelashes, “It’s okay.” She bit her lip softly before continuing, “You’re easy to talk to, Bucky. We must’ve been really close because it just comes easy to talk to you about stuff.”

Bucky swallowed hard, not knowing what to say to her. He took the last drink of his beer before setting it down beside him, finally looking over at the pretty face he had missed so much, “We were pretty close.” He admitted softly to her, “You knew everything about me and I knew everything about you. I hope one day we can get back to that point.” 

Y/N smiled at him, “I think we will. I have a feeling you’re the person I’m going to be coming to when Steve is driving me nuts as older brothers do.” She chuckles a little bit, before hearing the door behind her to see Steve looking at Bucky and Y/N, “Hiya, Stevie.” 

Steve’s eyes flickered between the two curiously, “Everybody’s pretty much cleared out, we were just finishing cleaning up and getting ready for bed.” He informed the two before being dragged away by Peggy back inside.

Y/N looked back over to Bucky with a smile, “Like I said, driving me nuts and treating me like glass. I have a bed time now.” She stood up, biting her lip as Bucky stood also beside her, watching her face with a smile, “I guess I’ll see you later. Don’t be a stranger, Bucky.” She said with a soft squeeze of his arm before disappearing into the house. Bucky watched her go back inside. When she was gone, he took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair. He still felt everything for her and watching her walk away instead of coming home with him where she belonged made it feel like his heart was breaking all over again. Bucky decided in that instant that he would help Y/N remember everything she wanted and help her remember their relationship. The woman he loved was still in there and he just had to find her. He walked down to his motorcycle, straddling his legs over it and with a roar, making it come to life. He took one last look at the house where Y/N was in before zooming down the street back home.