#either that or a good gust of wind blew it off

[angrybatart]

Very quick doodle based on a Mormon church located about...a couple hours or so from where I live.

Rumor is that a construction worker left a can of beer on the angel statue (top of the center spire) while the church was being built. No idea if it's still there or not. The church is closed off to the public.

[shirakow]

˗ˏˋ꒰ synopsis ꒱ ; you accidentally summoned a demon , and he can't leave without doing something for you: either kill someone, or... Fuck you.

‧₊ ᵎᵎ 🍇 pair ⋅ ˚✮ ; Devil!Rody Lamoree x FTM!Reader .

. . . words ; 3.5k+

EXTRA ! porn with plot , also request box is open for people who want more studio investigrave related fics !

Summoning demons wasn't really in your bucket list for this year, but somehow, you were pushed to the breaking point. You never thought they'd go this far for an april fools prank.

Sure you've always known they held a small hate for you—actually, small was a bit of an understatement but it's whatever, your anger was far deeper than the dislike they had for you anyway—but you never thought they'd decide to bring you to an abandoned warehouse, topped with a summoning circle drawn on the ground with what you hoped was ketchup, and proceeded to leave.

You never took them for the cultist types, then again, they always did sacrifice you on multiple occasions (those sacrifices being leaving you to take the blame while they ran from the cops for trespassing on private property and a bunch of other things).

A sigh escaped past your lips as you recalled all the times they've done you wrong, and decided that once you're out of this place, you're dropping them for good. "I'm going home." You whispered as you stared at the red pentagram on the dirty cement floor, decorated with a lit candle on each end of the star. You then proceeded to turn around and jumped out of your skin when a rat appeared in front of you.

You gasped and stumbled backwards, only to trip over a stick that was conveniently placed right behind your heel, and fell back on the ground; laying inside the pentagram your friends had drawn. A loud groan erupted from your throat as you tried to scramble away from the rat—which had long since disappeared—and accidentally cut yourself on the broken cement.

With a hiss, you looked at your finger and watched as a trickle of blood dripped down onto the floor. You sighed and wiped it away on your shirt while you stood up, "Fuck this, fuck them—" you were gonna run to their house, and slap every single one of their fucking faces.

As the thought passed through your head, a sudden gust of wind blew through you, and the once lit candles were put out. You paused and looked around you with unease. It was creepy enough that you were alone in an abandoned building, but to have a large gust of wind blow through your body in a confined space was even creepier. You gulped thickly and backed away, trying to reach for your phone in your pocket when you suddenly felt something breathing down your neck.

Your eyes widened, and your body immediately shut down. Not even a few seconds later, a loud growl eminated from the creature behind you, and then a whisper, "... You gonna move off my foot or what?" You practically screamed and instinctively ran forward— and let me tell you, it was a real bad idea, because you Immediately hit a wall.

The creature—which you assumed was a demon or a squatter or a fucking werewolf—whistled as it watched you fall back on the ground. "That's gotta hurt..." You groaned and covered your face, "No shit it hurt!" You yelled at it, and reached for your phone in your pocket and turned the flashlight on.

Only to be faced with a tan man with hair a dirty orange, and curious green eyes that stared down at you while you kept laying on the floor. You dropped your phone on your face in shock. But the one thing that stood out about him were the pair of black horns that sat on his head. "You've gotta stop doing that."

"What? Is being scared a weird reaction now, dipshit?!" You yelled as you rubbed your nose. The demon raised his hands in a surrendering motion, "Says the human who summoned me." He defended himself in a nonchalant demeanor. You sat up and scrunched your face at him, "I did not summon you. I didn't even think the pentagram worked."

"It's a pentagram, how would it not work." He rose a brow while his tail swung around, "It's not like it was made of ketchup or anything." You couldn't bring yourself to tell him that you did think it was made out of ketchup. He'd probably laugh at you. Instead, you eyed him up and down with the light you had, before you spoke, "So... You gonna grant me three wishes or something?"

"I'm a demon, not a genie. The only three things I can give you is my name, age, and occupation." He murmured blankly, "So how 'bout it? I need to get paid too."

"Then give me those three things." You replied, "My name's Rody, I'm 382 years old, I think. I stopped counting after 380, and obviously I'm a demon." Rody introduced himself with a smile, almost a purr to his voice as he did. "Cool. You can go away now." You said as you shooed him away and tried to walk off, only to be stopped when he pulled you back by your shirt.

"Wait no—you can't just leave!" Rody said with what appeared to be a small pout, "Demons like me just can't go away without fulfilling a certain job for the human who summoned them. So it's either you ask me to kill someone for you, or..." He trailed off and blushed at the thought. "... You use me for your own p-pleasure..."

You stared at him blankly as he fumbled with his black vest, "What are you? Some teenage boy?" he took offense to this and immediately shook his head, "I am not a teenage boy!"

"And I am not asking you to do any of that." You mumbled and tried to walk away again, "Just lie and say you did one of the two—" "—well I can't! You know they're always watching me!"

Rody was practically begging as he clung to you. He sure was putting the title of a demon to shame. "I'm not lying to you, I swear. As much as I don't want to be here..." Rody trailed off, like even he didn't believe his last words. "Well, it's been a while since I've been out in the field so it was kinda lonely waiting in my apartment but that's besides the point!" He ranted unintentionally, before he shook his head.

Rody noticed the way you stared at him, and he cleared his throat to compose himself. "Just, ask me for anything." He said more seriously as he let you go.

You thought about it, and sighed. "Fine. But I'm not asking you to kill anyone." You murmured and looked down at the floor. As tempting as it sounds, you weren't gonna just tell him to kill your friends. It was silent, as if Rody was waiting for you to initiate something. At least he was willing to wait for your move.

You then got an idea, "Do demons like blood?" You asked him, looking back up into his green eyes. Rody rose a brow before he nodded, "I guess, especially if it's their summoners blood." He whispered, not sure where this is going. "Do they go insane with just a simple whiff?" You questioned once more, and before he could even get an answer out, you rose your sliced finger in front of his face.

Rody's eyes widened, "W-What are you doing?" He hesitantly asked as he split glances between your finger and your face. "What does it look like I'm doing? How long has it been since you've tasted human blood?" A red glint flashed over Rody's eyes as he leant forward, and took your wrist into his calloused hands. "... Too long..." He whispered and gently kissed your skin, before licking the blood with a groan.

"... I feel so dirty... Licking your dried up blood like this..." Rody gazed back down at you with lidded eyes, "I'm not that much of a savage." He muttered as he kissed your lips. His hands immediately finding their way onto your hips and he pulled your body closer to his bigger one, "You don't mind I just..." Rody whispered against the kiss, using his sharp canines to bite down onto your bottom lip—enough to draw blood as he closed his mouth on the wound and sucked on the red liquid.

You hissed at the slight pain that he inflicted onto you. Noticing your reaction, Rody pulled away and pecked your bruised lip, "I'm sorry, I couldn't help it..." He whined and kissed down your chin, "Forgive me?" Rody's hands traveled under your shirt to caress your skin underneath. You gasped, feeling the rough pads of his fingers rubbing your hardening nipples. Rody trailed his lips down to the side of your neck, gently nibbling on the skin.

You felt yourself get pushed back against the wall while his knee moved to go in between your legs. Rody pressed himself closer to you, letting his thigh rub against your core. "Don't worry, I'll be gentle with you..." He cooed into your ear, "Pretty boy..." Rody praised as he suddenly pinched your nipples. You bit your bottom lip to stifle your moans, too embarrassed to let anything out.

But Rody wasn't having any of it. "Let me hear you." He said blankly, and before you knew it, his hand was inside your pants, already thumbing at your engorged clit. "Come on, pretty boy... I'll make you feel so good... Just let me hear your voice..." Rody encouraged you in his velvety smooth voice.

You threw your head back as an unexpected moan slipped past your lips, and a grin spread across Rody's face. "Atta boy, keep going." He removed his hand away from your chest and started to undo your pants, pulling them down to pool on your feet along with your underwear.

Rody took his time to admire you and your sopping cunt that was just begging for his attention. With a quick lick to his lips, he sunk down to his knees in front of you, and placed both his hands onto your thighs to keep them open for him. "Haven't tasted a sweet thing like this in a while..." He whispered in awe, "300 years ago, I'm guessing?" You quipped with a breathless chuckle.

Rody furrowed his brows and slapped your pussy, which made you whine, "If you're mouth's able to retort, then I'm guessing it can moan too." He grumbled as he then buried his face into your cunt. Your eyes widened, immediately reaching down to grab a fistful of his hair as he licked a stripe up your vulva.

You felt Rody close his lips around your throbbing clit harshly sucking and licking it. Your thighs shook, begging to close and push Rody away from the stimulation, but his strong hold prevented that. Rody placed his knee on your pants— the only thing that served as restraints for your ankles— and removed his hand from your thigh to gently tease your hole by circling around it with his fingers.

You whined, practically begging him to push it in, and when he did, a loud moan erupted from your kiss swollen lips. Rody chuckled against your heat, and sucked on your clit, the sounds of your wetness against his tongue making you cringe. Rody pumped his fingers in and out your pussy, curling and hitting all the right places in just the perfect angle.

Rody inserted another finger, his thick digits rubbing your gummy walls as he harshly finger fucked your pussy. "So lewd...~ Your pussies so wet, it's practically dripping down my hand..." He teased, and pulled his mouth away from your clit, instead using his other hand to swish his fingers side to side on the engorged bud. The sensation made you squeal, desperately trying to close your thighs around his hands but he stopped you.

"Whoa there, keep them open." Rody furrowed his briws and fingered your pussy faster. Tears rolled down your cheek from the pleasure, a small whimper sounding from you as you pulled Rody closer to your cunt. Without a second thought, Rody went back to licking your clit, wanting to overstimulate your senses until all that was left of you is a crying and moaning mess.

He thrusted his fingers even quicker at this, "Look at you... I haven't even fucked you yet and you're already crying..." He cooed, his hands tightening around your thigh as he licked his lips. You blushed at his words and immediately covered your mouth, getting too flustered by his teasing. You were getting so close, and it was driving you insane—a heat started to pool at the pit of your stomach, stating your impending release.

Rody grunted and suddenly pulled his fingers out—slapping your clit harshly. Your eyes widened as you let out a slutty moan, and before you knew it, you squirted all over him. Your thighs shook from how hard you came, your whole body turning to putty in his hold as more tears escaped from your eyes. With a cry, you glanced back down at Rody, only to see him staring up at you with the same shocked expresson on his face.

"Did you just cum from having your pussy slapped?" He asked, a small grin forming on his face. You sniffled and looked away in embarrassment, "N-No..." Rody chuckled and leant forward to kiss your cunt softly as a small apology for slapping it, "It was kinda hot, don't worry sweet boy." He praised and rose to his feet.

"Think you're ready for me?" Rody asked as he kissed your lips gently. You gave him a slow nod, and he smiled, "Alright." He undid his pants and belt, along with his underwear and let them pool on his feet. Rody was now half naked in front of you, his impressive size standing tall. It was probably the biggest cock you've ever seen. Probably the only cock you've ever seen, rather.

He placed his hands under your thighs and lifted you off the ground. Making sure to let your pants and shoes fall to the floor first so that you could wrap your legs around his waist, "Just tell me if it hurts and I'll stop, okay?" Rody reassured you, and your eyes widened. You placed a hand on his chest, "W-Wait, that's it? You're just going in with no protection?"

He paused and stared at you blankly, "Babe, I'm a demon, not a prostitute. I didn't know I was gonna end up fucking someone today, of course I don't have a condom." Rody said in a monotone voice, as if it was already common sense. "If you're that worried, I can pull out... Don't worry." He whispered and pecked your lips.

You wrapped your arms around his neck and gulped, "O-Okay..." You nodded. Rody positioned himself against your hole, rubbing the tip against the lips and smeared the precum all over your pussy. "Fuck, you're even wetter than before..." He chuckled and gently pushed the head of his cock in.

Your hissed at the stretch, immediately tightening around Rody when he pushed more of his length in. "S-Shit, don't tighten so much! I-I can't even go any further...!" Rody panted, closing his eyes at the warmth that wrapped around his weeping dick. "Just... Breathe for me, okay?" He massaged your ass, waiting for you to relax so that he could bottom out inside you, but for now, he remained unmoving.

You steadied your breathing, holding onto him tightly, and slowly nodded. Rody took this as a sign to keep going. He noticed he wasn't even halfway in, before he decided to just fuck it—and suddenly pushed himself in fully in one go. You gasped and cried, tears forming at the corners of your eyes at the pain and pleasure that pooled at the pit of your stomach.

Rody moaned into your neck, rubbing your thighs to soothe the pain. "Fuck... I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry sweet boy... It's just that, I couldn't take it... I'm sorry, I'll make it up to you..." He kissed all over your shoulder, and slid a hand over to rub your clit in order to distract you from the pain.

You could only scratch at his back as your toes curled, "You're doing so good..." Rody whispered praises into your ear, waiting for you to adjust to his size. It was the least he could do for bottoming out harshly.

After a while, you gave Rody a nod. He put his hand back under your thigh, and slowly pulled out until only the tip was left inside, before pushing back in gently. A shudder ran down your spine at the pleasure that spread through your body.

Once he saw your positive reaction, Rody kept going at the pace he set; slow and steady. You gripped onto Rody tighter, strings of moans falling from your tongue as he kept thrusting. One particular thrust hit your g-spot head on, and Rody adjusted his angle so that he could hit it everytime. "You're so tight... So perfect for my cock..." He grunted into your ear, gripping your thighs tighter as he pulled all the way out and gave a harsh thrust into your sopping pussy.

You threw your head back and cried, tears rolling down your flushed cheeks. Rody's wings flexed behind him at the pleasure, his own moans and groans stringing out from his mouth. "S-Shit...! N-Need to change your position..." Rody suddenly pulled out your heat, and put your feet down the ground. He turnt you around, and pulled your ass back against him and positioned himself once more, before he thrusted all the way in and continued his harsh thrusts.

Your tongue lolled out as you clawed at the walls. "R-Rody...!~" You squealed and looked down at your stomach, seeing a visible bump that formed whenever he thrusted into your tight cunt. Your eyes grew cloudy from the tears, and you reached down to press on the bump, finding pleasure in knowing he was so deep inside you.

You heard Rody laugh from behind you, "What? You like how I'm so deep inside your pussy?" He asked as he spanked you which made you sob, "Fuck, I love this pretty hole of yours..." Rody groaned and fucked you faster. He leant forward, pressing his chest against your back as he kissed your shoulder. Rody reached down and started rubbing your clit in timed with his thrusts, which caused you to shriek and shake your head. "N-No..! It's too much...!" You cried and babbled, your head turning into mush the more he fucked you stupid.

Rody pulled and rubbed your clit faster at your words, "You're close... Right? I'm close too..." He groaned, whimpering as he reached out to place his hand over your own against the wall. You panted like a bitch in heat, and sobbed, "R-Rody... C-Cum in me...! Please!~" You begged, unable to think straight anymore from the way Rody was bullying his cock into your cunt.

You were reduced into nothing but a toy for Rody's pleasure. Rody's eyes widened at this, and his thrusts faltered for a second, but you shook your head and let out strings of insistent 'no's. "P-Please keep going, keep going...!~" You pleaded. He was hesitant, but the way you were looking and begging... It was too much.

Rody groaned and pulled back, pushing your cheek against the wall with his hand, and fucked your cunt faster. His balls slapping against your pretty pussy lips, "You asked for this... Not me...!" He moaned loudly, feeling himself come closer to the edge.

Rody's thrusts grew more desperate and sloppy, before he gave one last thrust, and came inside you. You came right after him—squirting all over his fat cock. You drooled all over the wall as you closed your eyes from how hard you came. Rody panted and chuckled breathlessly as he stared at you, "You did so good..." He whispered and turned your head so that he could kiss you.

You tiredly reciprocated, whining when you felt your shared release dripping down your thighs. Rody pulled away and rubbed your sides, "You'll give me a five star

review right?" He grinned. You rolled your eyes and pushed his face away, "Is there even an app for this shit?" He pouted and nodded.

"Yeah, there is. It's called deviliscious."

"You're lying."

"Okay, yeah, I am."

"Just pull out you asshole."

@ shirakow ; Reblogs are always appreciated <3 it's like 5 am as I'm editing this and I haven't gotten any sleep .

ㅤ

[alcoholfreenayeon]

Chaeyoung Girlfriend HCs Pt:4

A/N: And it is finally here! Literally have nothing else prepared for today so this is it. I’ll hopefully be posting the requests by end of next week. My classes start soon as well…

SFW HCs

She had been wanting to try out this one dessert for a while but for one reason or the other just wouldn’t get the chance so you secretly learned to make it for it.

It took you a couple of tries to get it right, the first try was….well, you were pretty sure it wasn’t fit for human consumption. The second wasn’t great either but atleast it was edible. Well, somewhat edible. But the third try was good, you were happy with it and when Chaeyoung came by she was really touched by your effort and said she’s happy with it but you insisted that she taste it before saying anything else.

And then Chaeyoung took a bite, then another and then another as it looked like she couldn’t stop herself. “How is it?”, you ask her, knowing she liked it. She just looks at you, her mouth stuffed and smiles happily, her cheeks flushing.

Chaeyoung took you to a sudden vacation, she said she was going to be busy with tours soon and wanted to spend some time with you properly before she was too busy. You had no complains. Except for her going all over the world without you of course.

The two of you were sitting at the beach on the sand, her finger tips on top of yours as you both watched the setting sun. Light gusts of wind blew over the calm sea, the waves flowing peacefully and everything was just so perfect. You commented that it would be nice if you both could do this forever. This caused Chaeyoung to stiffen a bit and she slowly put her hand over yours, holding it tightly.

“Marry me then….”, Chaeyoung said quietly. “Huh!”, you looked at her, completely taken by surprise. She looked back at you slowly, you could see the nervousness and panic slowly settling down on her as the silence grew louder.

She looked like she wanted to say something but you ended up speaking before she could, “No ring, no getting on your knees, huh…but I’ll make an exception for you since you are cute”, you reply with smile. You sounded calm but in truth your heart couldn’t have been beating faster.

Chaeyoung blinked slowly and then suddenly hugged you, laughing in happiness, holding you tightly, hoping you wouldn’t notice her getting teary eyed. You were the same and were hugging her back tightly blinking quickly hoping the tears wouldn’t flow.

You both stayed like that, hugging and snuggling in silence as it grew dark and cold quickly. Until it became too cold to stay and you both made your way back to the hotel.

After your endeavors, you both started to call your family and friends to tell them about the good news. Naturally almost everyone was surprised but they were all extremely happy and excited too, teasing and congratulating you both.

NSFW HCs (kinda)

Chaeyoung had chosen a really expensive and big room for you both to stay at for the trip. Like, the room itself had 2 floors inside it big. An elevator, balcony, pool, all the works.

And was there a better opportunity go try out all of those things throughly? Probably not so you both made the most of it. Pool sex, balcony sex, everything and overall the day being much more tiring than you’d have expected but it was definitely worth it.

Entering your room, Chaeyoung stopped you from getting on the bed, a mischievous smile on her face. “You wanted me on my knees didn’t you?”, she said holding your legs and taking off your shorts.

There wasn’t much you both did except lay and hold each other than that one thing from Chaeyoung though. You both were too happy at the moment to do anything else.

Lately Chaeyoung had been quite busy so you two couldn’t spend a lot of time together. It was a bit annoying at first. But quite exciting when you began to sneak in during her shoots to “help” her during her breaks. Or when during the concerts she was alone in the dressing room. The VIP pass she got you sure helped a lot.

Since you both got engaged Chaeyoung had become a lot more bold and would often pin you down to make out randomly before things got really heated. But she didn’t always let it go that far. She sometimes said that “you didn’t earn it yet” or “that she has something special planned if you can control yourself for now”.

She had also become a bit of an early riser lately and as a byproduct of that, morning sex was almost always on the cards. Especially since Chaeyoung is quite playful in the morning.

Since Chaeyoung had become more dominant, you ended up becoming more bratty towards her. Soon enough she revealed her strict side to you. You didn’t know how authoritative she could sound. And the way she looked at you, her eyes always looking down at you, like you weren’t worthy enough to be looked at her. For some reason you kinda liked that look.

Chaeyoung’s willpower was tested to the maximum when you went to visit her parents. You had been teasing her a lot lately and she wanted to jump at you. But she also was too conscious of doing anything too much at her parent’s house.

She promised to give you a really good massage when she finishes her tour and you are looking forward for that.

[wolven91]

Breelu & Moisés - Birthday Surprise

Despite the steep incline, Moisés found that he was barely out of breath, yet he still had a mildly concerning light headedness about him. He hadn't been able to shake the faint vertigo all morning, but he'd honestly expected to feel worse from the hiking. Moisés took a moment to rest, although found that he still didn't need to 'catch his breath'.

Breelu was waiting for him up ahead, his magnificent blue and white feathers with the black highlights always captivated the human, he was surrounded by shin high flowers, that parked the edge of the winding path up the mountain. The flowers were upside down, the petals protecting the plant.

Having already asked when they had first started their journey, Breelu had explained that the flowers open at night and tiny insects that light up make it a sight to be seen. The young man had made a mental note to come back here before they left the avian home planet and went home.

"Nearly there." Breelu offered, as Moisés trudged the few steps that separated the two.

"So, is this not, like a popular place?" Asked the human as he gazed across the gigantic forest treetops.

The avian home world capital was as alien as any city had come before. The avian home was covered in a genus of trees that put red woods to shame. Their whole city was built within the bows of these colossal natural towers. The air was warm and clean with only areas of necessity demanding that they clear the forest for landing pads and energy plants.

Moisés had joked that he'd never guessed that Breelu was an 'elf'. The joke missed unfortunately as the translation came across as 'fae' which, thanks to the draconians, translated as slang for humans.

"Of course this is popular. This is one of the most famous pillars in the area." Breelu retorted as he looped a scaled arm around Moisés's shoulders where a taloned hand slipped beneath the human's arm and held him to the avian's fluffy hip.

"How come we haven't seen anyone then? We've been walking for a good hour, and no one's passed us, either up or down."

Breelu's laugh echoed off the rocky wall and into the tree line that was abuzz with its own life. A large blue, white, and black wing buffeted Moisés causing dirt and wind to pick up ever so slightly. The human flinched and briefly raised an arm to defend his face, but the wing merely hovered there.

Until the penny dropped.

"They fly up don't they?" The young man asked, rather sheepishly. He had often fallen into the trap of thinking Breelu was a human, just a taller, feathery human. But that wasn't the case. Breelu's claws and sharp beak were an evolution as a dedicated hunter of the sky. All avians thought with the concept of a 3D space. They were not tethered to the ground by something as mundane as gravity.

"At least you're pretty." The large avian chuckled, jovially jabbing Moisés's bruised ego.

"What else do I-" But the human's words were lost as they finally made it to the top of the spire of rock. The spiralling path had finally deposited them high up into the sky were the trees that grew in the lower areas fell away. A threatening gust assaulted the pair, but Breelu weathered it stoically while his arm and wing caged the human in place. Moisés didn't falter with Breelu's firm hand supporting him.

The human was awed by his uninterrupted view the world.

There was no other word than 'awe' to describe the unending sea of trees that covered the planet from pole to pole. To his east, was the Haratooa Mountains, the wood pillars there were thin and whistled as the winds blew through them apparently, whereas to the south was the great forest sea, not a 'sea' in the sense of open water, but the forest there grew in a continent sized basin. The deeper one walked, the closer the trees grew and the darker the world became, until one made their way into the subterranean world of the aracnae.

The avains ruled the skies, whereas the aracnae ruled the ground and all that was below it. Whilst the avian home world was large, it was hollow; two species called this world home and shared it as such.

"This is amazing." Moisés whispered.

"Happy birthday Moisés." Whispered Breelu back, squeezing him into his hip once more while the human hugged him back, rubbing his cheek into the silky soft feathered of his loving partner.

"This is the best present." Declared the young man happily.

"Oh. Well. this. isn't your present?" Explained Breelu haltingly, suddenly more concerned that the avian may have missed his mark with his idea.

"It's not? What.?"

Breelu revealed a harness, already placed on the mountain top inside a bag that Moisés recognised as Breelu's.

"I thought you might want to go for a trip?" The giant birdlike alien offered gently.

"Are you sure? I know with me, we're too heavy for flight. It's a strain for you." The human retorted, not wanting to tire his lover out. This view was good enough for him, he didn't need to go any further if it was an effort.

"On the station, yes. But here? Above the thermals from the underground lava runs? Moisés, would you like to know what it's like to truly fly?"

== 0 ==

A mere ten minutes later, there was a human strapped to the front of a crouching avian, so the shorter of the two could stand on his own feet. A bead of sweat ran down the side of his face as he looked out over the sheer drop of the mountainside. If he fell right now, it wouldn't be much of an issue; the path down was only about ten or twenty feet down.

"I'm going to shove off from the edge to clear the mountain, so it's going to be a sudden jerk first, okay?" Explained Breelu helpfully.

Damn.

Without asking for permission, the avian coiled in an almost imperceptible manner, before his powerful legs exploded outwards, launching the two into nothingness. The weakened gravity of the planet still pulled at the human, but the harness held him in place as the avian at his back wing's opened and he was pulled soring into the sky.

Moisés could feel the heat of the thermal updraft washing over him despite only seeing the mountain fall away and treetops everywhere else. His fists gripped the straps of the harness has the man's heart fluttered in fear and panic as he eyed the ground nervously.

"Chin up!" Called Breelu directly into his ear, over the wind that deafened him to most other noises.

Obeying the human lifted his chin and saw the horizon.

A beautiful rainbow of colours as a foreign sun with strange wavelengths played with an alien atmosphere. The human's eyes watered from both the wind that stung him as well as the beauty that assaulted his senses.

Moisés felt the curve of Breelu's sickle-like claw tickling his fingers, gently easing his grip until the scaled arms took his hands and spread his arms wide.

With his chin up, his arms spread like wings, the young man discovered the sensation of flight and was immediately in love.

A euphoric sense of freedom washed over him as Breelu gently steered them along the valley, following the invisible thermals that raised the pair up and into the sky.

[r/WolvensStories]

[Ko-Fi]

[freshbakedbreadstick]

No. 1 Party Anthem - Mikey Berzatto x F!Reader - Chapter Five

Past!Mikey Berzatto x F!Reader

Carmy Berzatto x F!Platonic!Reader

Richie Jerimovich x F!Platonic!Reader

Summary: The past seems to repeat itself and this awful memory seems to provide some much needed context to your actions.

Warnings:  All my fics are 18+ regardless of the content. Heavy spoilers. Mentions of death, funerals, toxic relationships, grief, angst, strained relationships, minor injuries, arguments/yelling matches, details of anxiety/panic attacks, bad coping mechanisms, mental health issues, running away, addiction, interventions. This is literally just pure angst again im so sorry (not really (: ).

Word Count: 5k (sorry, she is a long one!)

A/N: I wrote this while procrastinating packing to move into my dorm LOLLL i move in a few days but im too anxious to even start packing <3 anyways this one is another heavy one and a long one too, so fun ! I hope you all enjoy because she was surprisngly difficult to write and edit bc my imposter syndrome and chronic perfectionism is out to get me ! ! Have a slay n gay day ily all ! 

Taglist: @marysucks-blog @shinebright2000 @jadeittic

MASTERLIST

It was a cold and cloudy day in March, fitting for a funeral. There was snow on each corner of the sidewalk, partially melted, but the cold air that made your lips burn when you stepped outside threatened more snowfall to come.

Today marked two weeks since you got the phone call that changed your entire life.

It was only two weeks after Mikey was found dead on the State Street Bridge and they already got him ready to be put into the ground. 

You stared out the window, silent, and watched the life that occurred outside. A man helped his son get out of their car, both in matching hats and scarves, a teen with a backpack passed by with their friends, laughing and jumping, a tree swayed, leaves still gone. 

“Hey, sweetheart, are you ready?”

You didn’t respond.

Your father placed his hand onto your shoulder, “Are you ready?”  

You sighed, letting your breath fog up the cold window pane in front of you. 

Most days, you sat on the only wooden dining chair that was saved from your and Mikey's apartment and looked outside the window. You noticed things you normally took for granted, like the view of snowfall during sunset and the way the trees swayed when a gust of wind blew. 

Finally, you stood up, feeling your dad's hand slip off your shoulder. You didn't bother to smooth out your black dress, letting the wrinkles set in the fabric. Meanwhile, the stockings you wore under pinched you as you moved, but you didn’t care enough to adjust them either. 

"Yea…” you responded at last, voice thick and scratchy.

Your parents mumbled quietly to each other as they locked the door, stealing not so subtle glances over to you as you stood in the middle of the path down the front door, looking at the now empty street. 

Everyone around you just seemed to keep on asking you the same question: "Are you ready to…" but you didn't know. You didn't know if you were ready to face death. But you did know that you felt no panic, sadness, guilt, fear, anger, happiness, or… anything really. 

‘I guess it’s better to feel nothing than something,’ you thought to yourself.

“Let’s get in the car now, okay?” 

You looked over to your mom, who approached you and gently grabbed your forearm, starting to lead you to your parents’ car. But you dug your heels into the ground making your mom jump as she suddenly jerked back. 

“I want… I want to drive myself.”

Your mother looked at you, eyes pleading. She then glanced at your dad, who softened and sighed. 

“Sweetie, i don’t think that is a good idea-”

“Please… i just… I need some time alone before I go in…”

Your parents shared a glance before your mom slowly loosened her grip on your arm. You slowly began to walk away from her, pulling your arm out of her grip. 

“We’ll follow you,” your dad said, voice steady but still anxious. 

You nodded and headed towards your car. The thought of being alone terrified you in general since the news of Mikey broke, but having a small moment alone in the car sounded heavenly after not being left physically alone, at all, for the past two weeks. You didn’t sleep alone, eat alone, or even shower alone; someone was always there either right next to you or right outside the door. While it was nice to have people around you during this time, you started feeling suffocated and pitied rather than supported. 

The drive was silent. You didn’t bother to turn on the radio or take off your thick coat or even play any of the cds Mikey had burned for you as teenagers like you normally did. Nothing was normal anymore anyways, so why bother?

But regardless, the silence was, in some way, comforting. It granted you the smallest bit of breathing space you knew you needed before you would face death itself.

After parking outside the funeral home, you sat in your seat. The car was off and it was silent as you sat there, not feeling particularly anything, just sort of numb. And for the first time in a while, you felt like you would be okay. It didn’t hurt anymore, just felt numb, and that seemed like progress to you. 

A knock outside your window made you jump and turn around. You expected to see your mom or your dad waiting for you, but was surprised to see Richie instead.

You cleared your throat and rolled your shoulder back, holding your head up high like you normally did, before you got out.

As you started to step out, you smiled at him, “Well don’t you look fine as a peach.”

Richie smiled softly for a brief second before it fell back down into a frown that made the wrinkles around his mouth deepen. He looked unwell, with heavy bags and a gaunt face, making him appear sick. 

While you analyzed him, he did the same for you. He scanned your face and body, seeing the way you continued to be the person he knew you as, even during a time in which nothing made sense anymore for anyone. Your shoulders were square and your head was high, making you look less like a grieving girlfriend and more like a CEO. This made him shiver. 

But regardless, he held his hand out for you to take, helping you up and out of your car. As you locked your car, he began to talk.

“Drove here alone?” he said, voice gravelly. 

“Yea… I needed to be alone.”

He nodded silently. He then took your hand, still in his own, and wrapped it around his arm. He led you to the sidewalk, toward the funeral home, steps slow and purposeful. 

“Everyone is here but you… you don’t have to talk to anyone, okay? If anyone bothers you, come to me.”

You chuckled dryly, “Thanks, but don't worry about me. I know this is hard for you too.”

Before he could retaliate to your words, you cleared your throat and walked a little faster. 

You watched as your parents, who were up ahead of you, greeted Natalie and Pete. You saw the way they moved inside after speaking to her, as if stuck in mud, around the sister of the man you loved. 

They both briefly turned back to look at you, eyes watering and drooping, before anxiously disappearing into the awaiting crowd of family members.

You paused, making Richie also pause beside you, turning to look at you. He saw the way your eyes scanned up the bricks of the building and then back down to the wilted ferns in pots next to the front doors. Your eyes, for a brief second, filled with tears, making him open his mouth before shutting it upon seeing you blink them away. 

You cleared your throat and began to move again, seemingly fine, until your heels began dragging on the pavement. So Richie silently moved his arm up to support you and looked away, staring off to the side. He didn't want you to see the way his eyes had started to tear up as he saw through your facade.

Natalie had focused her gaze on you just after your parents left, face in a permanent concerned frown that made her look more like a mother than anything else, before nodding softly to you, “Hi sweetie… are you ready?”

Were you ready?

“I just…” you began, mouth drying up the second you began to talk.

Natalie nodded at you anxiously, reaching over to take your hand in her own. The calluses she had from years of cleaning up after everyone rubbed soothingly into your own hand.

You shrugged, “...I just feel numb.”

Beside her, Pete winced. Natalie shot him a small glare before softening up as she turned back to you, “It’s okay, you're free to stay out here if you need some space, okay? Whatever it is that you need, let us know and we can help…”

Wordlessly, you rubbed your thumb into her hand and turned to look inside the hallway. A couple family members had already spotted you, their once staring gazes averting themselves from your frame as they noticed you caught them watching. Hushed voices that whispered to one another died down to either silence or near silent whispers as they stole glances at you and Richie walking inside.

You turned and gave Natalie a small smile, "Don't worry about me, are you doing ok-"

"Oh, there you are!!!!" A voice interrupted you, exclaiming loudly. 

You reeled around to the noise and made eye contact with Donna, who was pushing through the crowd and rushing forward to you. Fast.

Your eyes widened. 

Too fast. 

Her body was a blur as she approached you. 

Like a bullet.

In an instant, that moment of breathing space you had in the car disappeared and all that numbness flew out the window, being replaced by intense panic. 

The room started to spin, making your eyes widen as she stood in front of you, speaking what seemed to be gibberish. 

"Shit," Richie mumbled, but his voice was invisible to you. 

All you saw was Donna, hair wild and clothes wrinkled. Her hands moved wildly as she talked, voice so loud in your ears that it felt like your eardrums would pop.

"Mom!" Natalie yelped beside you, finally taking you out of the trance you were in by pushing her body in between you and Donna. 

Donna gasped, speaking hushed but angrily at Natalie, "Natalie, what are you doing? Don't you see I'm trying to talk to her- What do you mean I'm overwhelming her?! She's fine, if she had a problem, she would tell me, isn't that right?"

You saw her peek over Natalie's shoulder, eyes searing a hole into your face, "Right?" 

Your throat tightened. 

"Donna, how about we go ahead and sit so the services can start, okay?" Your mother had rushed over and behind Donna, putting her hands on the erratic woman’s shoulders before steering her away from you. 

Your mom cast you a concerned glance as she redirected Donna away from you, letting her blabber on and on to her about the decor being different and the beautiful flowers they got set up for the service. 

But all you did was stare back, breaths staggered and eyes focusing back only to see all eyes on you. 

Natalie let out a shuddered wheeze, taking the initiative to redirect everyone watching into the room where the services would be taking place. Slowly, their eyes turned away. 

"You ok?" Richie's voice seemed to finally register in your brain. 

You whipped your head to him, "Uhm yea… are you?"

In front of him, he saw the way you rearranged your body language back to its "normal state". Your shoulders rolled back again and your head was held high. But this time, your face was blank and did nothing to show emotion. 

Richie nods, "Let’s just, uh, wait until everyone goes in, ok?"  

You took a shallow breath and blinked your eyes, adjusting to the dim, warm lighting of the building. The entire place felt warm from the artificial fireplace on the left wall, facade made of rich brown oak. The furniture matched in wood, feeling dated but comforting, like a grandmother's house. It made the panic in your body slowly melt away, being replaced by the numb feeling again.

You looked at the yellowish-orange patterned wallpaper and brown wood trimming on the walls and snickered to yourself, catching Richie's attention.

"This place looks like a small, hole in the wall restaurant that's maintained by a family. Mikey loves this kind of family style decor…" 

Richie squeezed his eyes shut, "Yea… he does." 

You watched as everyone filed into the next room, recognizing familiar faces like Fak, cousin Michelle, and Uncle Jimmy. You continued to scan the crowd, not seeing the way Natalie nodded towards Richie, signaling him to take you inside with everyone. 

You let yourself be guided behind the crowd, watching everyone who knew Mikey sit down in the chairs that were set up. Donna was sitting in the front next to your parents, still talking. Beside her were empty seats. There was one, two, three, four, and five; one for you, Richie, Natalie, Pete, and Carmy.

Carmy.

You paused.

"Where's Carmy?" 

Richie stopped moving and grimaced. 

Next to you, Natalie linked your free arm into her own, "He uh… he might come by later." 

"Did he ever respond to any of you? I sent him a photo of the service paper but he never responded to me." 

"Uh…" Richie was seemingly at a loss for words. 

Natalie sighed and looked at Richie before responding, "He didn't to me either. Didn't pick up any of my calls."

The panic started up again, slowly swirling deep in your belly, making you suddenly start to speak at the speed of light, "What? Why? Who wouldn't come to their brother's funeral?"

Natalie gulped, voice shaking as she tried redirecting you, "Hey sweetie, how about we go inside and then wait and see if he comes-" 

"I mean, everyone tried to get in contact with him so it's not like none of us didn't try." 

"Yea, your right, but maybe he is running late and was busy-" 

"If he was running late he would've let us know, i know he would." 

The panic made your breathing pick up, making you lightheaded as you took in gulps of stuffy, warm air. It was perfumed like flowers and mothballs, making you cough lightly. 

Michelle, who was seated towards the entrance of the room, turned to you, as did a couple others, as your voice started to increase in volume. It was unbeknownst to you that you began to speak louder and louder, loud enough that people around you could overhear. 

Richie said your name, stern but still worried, "Hey, take a breath and lower your volume."

"What do you mean? I'm fine?" 

Natalie just shook her head, "This was a mistake, we shouldn't have forced her to come."

You jerked your head to her, "Natalie, it’s fine. Besides, I wanted to come." 

Her shoulders sagged, "If this is too much for you, you are free to go-" 

"Please, I'm fine!" You responded, speech getting faster and faster, "You don't have to worry about me like you're my mom." 

"I know I know, but I worry about you regardless, you're my best friend!" 

"Natalie, I'm okay I swear-" 

Richie whisper-yelled at you two, "Let's take this back out, neither of you are okay right now."

"Richie I swear I'm fine, I just want to see my dead boyfriend in his casket!" You whisper-yelled back as you stomped a foot down.

At this point, others had begun turning to look at you. Natalie flushed, noticing the stares while Richie groaned softly, taking your arm and dragging you away from the entrance and to the front door. 

"Your obviously not okay, just stand here and take some fucking breaths." Richie whispered, voice stern. 

You blinked, letting yourself get pulled like a ragdoll. You stumbled as you leaned into the doorway, feeling shame set in your body. 

That was a new feeling. 

"I'm… i'm…" you began, blinking wildly as your face flushed and your chest tightened. 

"Listen, I know this is hard but don't force yourself to do this for any one of us, okay? You can sit out here and none of us will blame you or be upset. We all have our own ways of grieving and if staying away is yours, then do it. You don't need our acceptance in order to grieve in your own way." 

The tangent Richie went on felt so out of character for him that it made you go silent as you watched him enunciate every word. Natalie trailed behind him, holding onto her body with wide eyes as she too listened to his speech, both moved and confused.

With a choked breath, you responded, "Okay, I'm sorry."

Richie's tensed shoulders and furrowed brows softened. He saw the way you looked down and away from him, body drooping. For a split second, he saw through the demeanor you had been putting on since you got out of the car and saw who you really were: the grieving love of Mikey's life, terrified of what life was going to be like moving forward without him. 

Natalie reached over and rubbed your arm, before turning to Richie, "It's starting, you can go in if you would like…" 

Richie nodded grimly, looking at the floor for a brief second before reaching forward, taking your cheeks into his hand and giving your hairline a small peck. 

"You're not alone with this… we are here." 

You looked at him, a cross of confusion and relief written all over your face, making him hold back a laugh when he noticed it. Upon hearing his laugh mixed with a cough, you chuckled softly to yourself. Natalie was the only one not laughing, but still had a small smile on her face as she watched you two. 

“God this is so weird, are you a wise old man now or something?” You joked, gently pushing Richie’s shoulder.

Richie snorted and looked away, rubbing the back of his neck, “Ah it’s nothing, just something i learned… don’t think it’s gonna be this way all the time!”

The three of you smiled at one another, right up until Fak interrupted the sweet moment. 

“Hey guys… uh, the service is starting…”

Richie rocked his jaw, the smile he had disappearing from his face. He turned to Fak, annoyed already by him interrupting, “Listen man-”

Natalie loudly cleared her throat, narrowing her eyes at Richie for a second as a warning, making him trip up on his words. 

Richie coughed again and looked away, mumbling to himself about how annoying Fak was. Natalie just rolled her eyes and turned to Fak, smiling sweetly at him.

“Thank you, we’ll join you in a sec.” 

You watched them all interact with one another, some of the closest people in Mikey’s life that ended up becoming some of the closest people in your own life, but in this moment they felt so far away, emotionally and physically. The random moment of peace between you, Natalie, and Richie was fleeting and reality brought you back down to the present moment, reminding you where you were and why you were here. 

Just seconds ago it felt like a regular everyday moment where the three of you talked, waiting for Mikey to turn around the corner or come in from another room and join you, smirking like he always did. He would wrap his muscular arm around you, pulling you into his side and start to joke around with Richie. He would tap Natalie on her shoulder, acknowledging her, and bring Fak over with a laugh, joining all of you together with ease. Any annoyance and discomfort would just disappear around Mikey; he just knew what to say and what to do to bring everyone, even those with differences, together. 

But that would never happen again. 

Mikey was dead and that would never happen again. 

He would never hold you, pressing his body warmth against you, he would never kiss you, gently guiding your face with his large hand, and he would never love you, ever again. 

Your body seemed to finally catch up with the cocktail of emotions you have been feeling for the past weeks and settled on one to focus on: panic. 

It crawled up your throat, squeezing it in a way that made you feel as if any second now, you would be on the floor, clawing at the rug as you struggled to breathe. But you knew that as long as you didn’t let it overwhelm you, convince it that everything was ok, you would be fine. 

So you were going to do anything you needed to do to not let it overwhelm you again.

“Uh, you two head in, okay? I need a second alone.” you said, making them turn to you. 

With a clearing of your throat, you perked up, smiling, as if nothing that had just occurred even happened. Natalie looked at you, taken somewhat aback and concerned, but didn’t push further. Richie was the same, confused but didn’t want to say or do anything that would make you break down. 

“You sure you don’t want any of us here, we are more than happy to-” Natalie began, but you interrupted her by gently moving a strand of hair from her face and tucking it behind her ear.

“I’m okay, I'll join you in a second. Thank you both for being here with me.” you then brought them both into a gentle embrace, speaking clearly. 

Natalie and Richie exchanged a worried glance behind your back, both struggling to put on a smile to face you when they pulled back. 

Richie began to move to the room where the service had started, “Let us know if you need anything. Text us or call us or just say our name and we will be there.” 

You nodded and shooed them playfully off, leaving yourself standing against the doorway. The doors of the room where service had started closed behind them with a dull thud, leaving you truly alone in the entryway of the funeral home.

Your shoulders and smile dropped, eyes glazing over as you did so. With your heart continuing to race in your chest, you had no choice but to start pacing back and forth. The panic was starting to become too much to control so you tried your hardest to count your breathing, desperate to get it back into control. 

“Fuck…” you whimpered to yourself, feeling tears start to well in your eyes. 

You furrowed your brows and bit your lip, hard. You didn’t want anyone to see you cry, you didn’t want to be pitied. 

Suddenly, the doors opened wide, making you gasp and jump back, cold hands reaching to wipe any tears before you turned to see who was exiting. 

Donna came stumbling out, shushing someone inside, before closing the doors behind her. She sniffed loudly, pushing away her hair from her face right as she locked eyes with you. 

She frowned, continuing to stare at you as she walked forward to where you stood with red rimmed eyes and untouched makeup. She then moved to rifle through her purse, digging for something. 

You watched her silently, feeling your bottom lip quiver as she swayed back and forth.

You continued to watch as she pulled out a cigarette and a lighter, placing the cigarette between her red painted lips and lighting it aflame. With a deep drag and smoke sigh, she finally turned away from you.

She looked outside, staring at the gray clouds and half melted snow. It was getting colder and colder as the evening progressed, making her breaths of smoke even smokier as she breathed out. 

You turned, deciding that it was better to go inside than stand awkwardly around the mother of your boyfriend, whom you didn’t have the greatest relationship with. But right as you took a step, Donna called your name.

You glanced back at her, seeing her stumbling away from you but holding an unlit cigarette out. You were frozen to the spot, unsure whether or not to grab it and join her or go inside. But she seemed to answer that for you when she spoke up.

“Come on, I know you smoke. I’ve seen you and Carmy sneak out to smoke together sometimes during family dinners.”

You winced, feeling your cheeks heat up at having your behavior noticed by the one person you didn’t want to know, but moved forward to accept it regardless. 

As you placed the cigarette on your lips, she reached forward and lit it for you. The deep drag you took filled your lungs, making the chilly air from outside feel much more bearable. 

The two of you just stood there, side by side and silent, together, smoking. 

You burned about halfway through your cigarette before Donna spoke up, making your heart stop at her words. 

“You know… my son died, so I don't know why you are acting like you're the only one who is hurting.”

She threw the stub of her cigarette on the ground and stomped it with her shiny patent leather heel. With arms crossed, she looked at you and, with a low voice, she continued, “Everyone is just flocking to you and when no one gives you attention, you just make a scene and get them all back to you.”

Your entire body went cold.

“My poor Natalie is dealing with the death of her brother and all you do is make her wait hand and foot for you.”

Upon hearing this, all the fear in your body melted away and was replaced with burning hot anger. You knew her words were bullshit, but hearing her talk about Natalie like that, knowing how she treats her, made you clench your jaw.

In a surge of bravery, you retaliated, “Donna, how can you say that?”

She scoffed, “Please, stop acting like you are an angel who has done nothing wrong. You don’t have Mikey or anyone else here to protect you.”

Your mouth drops silently open letting the cig fall from your lips and to the ground, snuffing itself. You scanned her face with your fists balling against your side, seeing nothing but a smug look on her face as she ridiculed you.

With a sharp breath, you began, “You have never treated Natalie like a daughter. You're the one who made her the maid of your family. She practically raised Carmy and does everything for everyone. You made her act like an adult ever since she was a kid and, like everyone else, I had kept quiet about it for so many years just so we wouldn’t upset you. But I'm tired of it, this is the last straw.”

Donna rolled her eyes, “Oh puh-lease-”

But you interrupted her and continued, “So don’t act like you are suddenly concerned with how she is being treated, you never cared when you yelled at her over every little thing, so don’t start now.”

Donna looked at you, dropping her arms and glaring, “I bust my ass constantly for my children, I don't need someone like YOU pretending like you know everything-.”

“Donna, I've been around you since I was in elementary school. I grew up with your kids and around you. I know EXACTLY how you are.”

She clenched her jaw, eyes narrowing. 

But you didn’t stand down, not anymore, “None of your children are saints, but they try so fucking hard to be the best they can be given they had you as a mother. But it’s not like you would ever see that, huh?”

“All Mikey ever did was stress out, because of you! He tried to self medicate with pills and drugs and got addicted, because of you!” Donna suddenly screeched, quickly trying to divert the blame onto you.

You laughed out loud, “I’ve seen him do a couple things once or twice but Mikey was not an addict!”

Donna cackled, shaking her head furiously, “He was!! Ask Richie! Ask anyone! He was an addict, all because of you!!!”

You stepped back, eyebrows furrowing, taken aback at her words. Sure, Mikey was a bit erratic and loud, but that was his personality. He was just that type of person. And yes, he had tried a couple things before and even told you about his experience with them, but he never once did them around you or even mentioned doing them multiple times. He had vices, like smoking and having some drinks, but he wasn’t an addict.

Before you can further question, the doors were pushed open and Richie came rushing out, “What is going on?!”

You opened your mouth to respond but stopped when you heard Donna sob.

You flipped your head around to look at her but were greeted by a sight that made all that panic come barreling toward you again, replacing the anger. Donna was curled into herself, clutching onto her arms, with fat tears rolling down her face. Her sobs shook her body so violently that Richie rushed over and wrapped his arms around her to steady her. 

"What happened!?" Richie repeated, voice softer this time but just as worried as before. 

He looked at you with wide eyes as Donna sobbed, barely speaking through her gasps, "I tried to be the best mother for my children. I don't need you blaming me for my mistakes on the day of my son's funeral." 

As you watched her speak, your veins filled with ice. Only one phrase repeated in your head over and over as Richie looked between the two of you with wide eyes, ‘You fucked up, you need to leave. You fucked up, you need to leave. You fucked up, you need to leave. You fucked up, you need to leave.You fucked up, you need to leave…’

Richie called your name, making you look at him, "What happened?" 

Nothing came from your mouth but a strangled wheeze. You were frozen to the spot, pinned there by Donna's crying and Richie's stare. 

You fucked up, you needed to leave. 

Behind you, the door swung open again and your parents came rushing out with Natalie in tow. A couple peering eyes tried to look out from their seats inside, but the door closed on them before they could put together what was happening. 

"Mom!?" Natalie gasped out, rushing forward to Donna. 

Richie repeated what he said before, but you didn't hear his words. The only thing you could focus on was the way his eyes looked while staring at you, like you were a stranger. 

Donna continued to speak, saying something that was drowned out from your ears, replaced by silence and the deep throb of your heart beat. 

Right before your Mom could reach out to grab your arm, you spoke, "I need to leave, I need some time." 

You pulled the car keys from your jacket pocket and ran. 

[bigball-thefrog]

hi!! do you think you could write something where the reader has similar powers to Kyoshi from Avatar and like Zoro or any other character sees them use their power for the first time since they don’t really like to fight. Thank you!!

Hello!!!! Sorry it's been so long, I've just finished exams and am now on holiday for the next three weeks so I could only finish your request now. I hope it's close to what you wanted that you enjoy it

Warnings/Tags:

None just fluff

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Narrator POV

Shit shit SHIT!! Was all Zoro thought as he ran in every single direction as he tried to find you. It was like any other fight they had whenever they went to these islands but this time you got separated and were alone with particularly strong enemy. Usually Zoro would trust his Nakama to be able to fight and defend themselves but you? Zoro saw you as this pacifist that wouldn't and couldn't fight and just waved a bunch of fans around for a distraction, so you going against an enemy twice your size worried himself.

He eventually found you near a cliff which worried him even more. He heard you had some kind of power so that must've meant you had a devilfruit, and if you have a devilfruit and you're near the ocean then that's not good. He ran towards you even faster, drawing his swords so he can protect you. But then he stopped, the guy trying to attack you was.. Stuck? He had his feet embedded in the ground and couldn't get them out, how the hell did he do that? And all you were doing was just standing there with your fans in your hands, what on earth were you doing?? But then, you took a step back, breathed in, embedded your own feet into the ground like it was sand then raised your hands and opened the fans. You then threw your hands down and aimed your fans at the ground in front of you. There was a small gust of wind but nothing else what on earth was that supposed to do??? But then the ground started to shake and Zoro fell down.

Zoro looked back at you confused and saw that where you aimed your fans was now cracking and breaking apart. The enemy you were fighting was also on the ground, but you? You were standing still like it was nothing. You once again raised your fans then swung them and pointed them right at the enemies face another gust of wind blew and hit the enemies face and suddenly the cracked piece of land started to fall and the enemy was sent into the ocean with an entire piece of land as well. The ground stopped shaking and you lowered your hands and sighed. You took your feet out of the ground and turned to walk away, when you saw Zoro you perked up a little. "Oh, Zoro! When did you get here?" you asked and tilted your head curiously. Zoro had an expression of shock and was still on the ground looking at the piece of island you just broke off like it was nothing. "What. The fuck. Was that?!!" Zoro asked as he looked back at you. You just chuckled and smiled, "That's my power. Haven't you seen it before?" "No I have not! I thought you hated fighting!" "Oh I do hate fighting but I know sometimes it's necessary for mine and my friends protection." "Wait so does everyone know about this?" "Yes" "Then how the hell did I not know?!" "Now that I think about it, you're always either lost or asleep whenever I actually use my power..." Zoro went beet red when you pointed that out, of he misses out on that stuff thanks to his sence of direction and when he's asleep.

"At least I know you're safe when we get into fights... You've been making me worry about you..." Zoro mumbled as he scratched his neck. Your face went smug and he looked at you confused, "What's with that face?" "I never knew you felt that way Zoro. I've never heard you say something so soft and sweet~" You teased. Zoro went beet red and frowned, "I was only saying I was worried because I didn't want you to be an liability to the crew! It's not sweet and I'm just happy you're not just a little pussy like I thought you were!" Zoro retorted to your teasing. "Yeah yeah... Don't worry, I won't tell the rest of the crew about how much you secretly care about me~" You teased again. Zoro went redder and looked like he was about to shout again so you bent down and held out your hand, "Come on, let's get back to everyone else to see if they need any help" Zoro calmed down and took your hand to get up. Once up he sighed and nodded, "Right, let's go see if anyone needs help." Zoro went of in the wrong direction so you just laughed to yourself and grabbed the back of his shirt, "This way big boy." Zoro went beet red again and just let you drag him back to the others.

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Something short again this time but I will post again soon and I've got an idea for an Usopp oneshot next that I hope you will all enjoy.

Kelly🐸

[wisteria-cherry]

imagine you’re training blindfolded with bakugo.

(inspired by this playlist: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=g9cm4k980Ko&lc=UgwJaY5gsYXoHeINBgh4AaABAg.9roHGZ_2qHc9sAbluPqPiq&feature=em-comments&noapp=1 )

(i take requests <3)

you couldn’t remember at what point the blindfolded fight you’d agreed to try with bakugo went from quirk v. quirk to hand-to-hand, but you found yourself blocking punches anyway. your quirk was long range, and wasn’t very physical; you were on the weaker side of your class in terms of muscle. it was a perfect contrast to bakugo, whose physical strength was nothing to laugh about. as a result, you’d given up offensive and focused on defending yourself and trying to find a way to get back so you can use your quirk.

the advantage to bakugo’s straightforward fighting style was that you could “sense” each move, roughly. you could feel the right hook coming towards you when the most subtle gust of air blew past you from bakugo’s quick punches; the crunch of gravel as one of bakugo’s feet dug into it indicated that the other was swinging up to kick you; the near-silent sound of bakugo’s breath hitching tells you to leap back because it’s the sort of move that would elicit a grunt from him and send you flying due to the sheer strength.

but then things got complicated. bakugo began to realize that you could pick up on single moves, so then he began to make feints.

bakugo feigned a right hook, and you focused on blocking it, when he suddenly kicked your legs out from under you. you felt the wind get knocked out of you as you hit the ground. you gasp for air, immediately beginning to move to get back up when you felt bakugo hovering over you, his legs straddling your hips, his rough, sweaty hand grabbed your face, nearly covering your mouth.

bakugo didn’t move for a moment. when he did, he gripped your face slightly harder, moving it left and right briefly before moving his ring finger and pinky down slightly so that they were just below your jawline. he tilted your head up.

“the hell?” bakugo muttered. “that’s not your arm.” you hear the sound of what could only be bakugo’s blindfold being pulled off his eyes to assess what had clearly been a mistake on his part. you followed suit, assuming there was at least a pause in the fight. you needed a minute to catch your breath, anyway.

you slip your own blindfold off, looking up at bakugo— not that you had a choice. his expression was unreadable, which was nearly unheard of for the most outspoken member of your class, so it was either really good or really bad.

“…bakugo?”

[writingintheshadowsforever]

Kate Bishop x Reader Not Who You Think I Am Part 7

"Take off the mask." It wasn't a command this time but a plea. Her bow still laid at her feet with her knees quaking, and her eyes blinking back tears.

Her words barely reached your ears but a gust of wind blew by carrying them to you. Along with the tone of disbelief in her voice as well. Kate was telling herself this was all just one big mistake, or better yet a nightmare. She took a hard fall somewhere between getting off the plane and heading home. You were hovering over her hospital bed right now with glistening eyes begging her to wake up. Because the reality of this situation wasn't something she could handle. Not when she just barely survived her own mother betraying her in so many ways. Not when her mother revealed her father was anything but the hero she remembered he was.

You were her person. Her safe place. Her peace.

She buried herself in your arms night after nighter shedding tears for putting her mom in jail, and every single night you had told she had done the right thing. Out of everything you were to her the most important thing was being her reassurance. But now her entire image of you was beyond destroyed as she watched. Her nemesis who she believed you needed protection from lifted the wolf mask revealing to her. The two of you were actually the same person, and you had been playing her from the start.

What else did you lie to her about? Had you been under Fisk's payroll this entire time? Why weren't you present at the events that went down during Christmas last year? Did Fisk keep you on standby so he could use you later on?

"Why?" was the only word Kate could utter in the moment before she broke. Her bow clattered to the ground along with the arrow. Her legs carried her backwards till she felt her back connect with wall next to the door. She braced herself against for support with her body left with no strength to keep her standing.

You were still positioned on the ledge with your mask sitting atop of your head. Tears cascading down your face at the sight of your beloved breaking down. "Katie please I need you to understand-"

"Understand what" she fired back cutting you back as her voice finally returned. Kate pushed off from the wall to stalk back towards you. "Understand that you have been lying to me this entire time, understand you hired your goons to kidnap Lucky to lure me in."

"That wasn't me I would never put you or Lucky in danger and you know that." You corrected her jabbing a finger at her. Anger crept into your voice as it became harder to keep the emotion at bay. Yet you couldn't help but be bothered at how easy it was for Kate to see nothing but the worst in you. Then again maybe you were foolish to put your faith in the girl who called the cops on her own mother without hearing her side of the story first.

Maybe you should just be grateful Kate was granting you that courtesy.

"Really because I can't tell y/n what do you think you're doing right now" Kate cried.

"I'm trying to tell you the truth but you won't listen."

"Oh please go on tell me the truth. Explain to me why you are working for a criminal like Wilson Fisk."

"I didn't have a choice Kate okay. It was either clean up the Tracksuits mess, or he was going to come after you. I did it to keep you safe and get him off my back for good."

Kate frowned and if it was even possible the feeling of betrayal increased tenfold. "What do you mean for good? How long have you been working with him?"

"I told on the joyride to find Lucky remember. I was born into this Katie I never really a choice. It was only because of my brother Wilson didn't come knocking on my door sooner."

"This is a family legacy type of thing there was no helping me." Kate was replaying every single word from the previous conservation she held with you. Back when you were just a stranger she low-key felt sorry for. All of those words held new meaning to her now. The two of you had grown up together sharing every little dirty secret with each other. She was supposed to know you better than anyone in her life, but just like her parents there was a dark side to you. She knew nothing about till now.

"Where is your brother now? Why did he stop protecting you?" She asked with venom in her voice. Of course she was projecting the blame on him now. Kate was spiraling trying to make sense of all this, and some way to justify your actions in her eyes.

"Kazi is dead" You told her with no emotion. Knowing the revelation would hurt her even more considering she knew your brother after facing off with him more than a few times.

Kate tried to keep her reaction in check and give nothing away, but her mouth opened for just a fraction of a second. Before closing as no words came to mind she knew Kazi had died during the showdown between her and Clint, but only because the Avenger was the one who told her.

Clint had discovered his dead body while trying to round up all the bad guys to make sure. The cops put all of them behind bars where they belonged. He didn't tell her rather or not it was one a misplaced or arrow that had killed him, or something else. She always believed Fisk had doubled back to punish his second in command for failing him, but now she know the crime lord still had use of him. Kate was on the verge of hyperventilate at the thought that her or Clint had caused your brother's death. When you spoke up again easing her mind.

"Maya killed him in self-defense he wanted her dead so he could take over the Tracksuits. She was supposed to die the same night her father and mine's did." You reassured her stepping off the ledge wanting nothing more than to go to her.

"Wait your dad died in a car accident" Kate whispered sounding unsure. She didn't what to believe now.

You shook your head. "That's what I told you to and how it was setup to look like. But Kazi orchestrated those hits on the behalf of Wilson Fisk."

"Y/N' she breathed your name with sympathetic eyes. The night she had came to you crying about putting her mother away. You were grieving the death of your brother.

"Its okay Kate I came to terms with Kazi's death years before it happened. I knew this life would put him in the grave sooner than later. Why do you think I spent most of my teenage years begging him to leave it behind with me?"

"Why didn't he?"

"He was sucked into all of this from day one and no matter what it costed him. Kazi believed this was a legacy worth fighting and dying more. I knew it was a curse the day it took our mother away from me." You said with a faraway look in your eyes. The memory forced its way from the deep dark depths of your subconscious fighting to the surface.

It had been years since you thought about that night when ten-year old you was lying in the bed fast asleep. Until a crash in the living room pulled you from your peaceful slumber.

The sound of breaking glass was followed by your mother's cries of pain mixed in with pleas for her children to be spared. You could make out a few words with the side of your face pressed to the door. Frozen in fear waiting for your big brother or father to come to rescue, in the moment you hadn't yet realized. All of this was happening to the later, and eventually Kazi did burst from his room with a baseball bat in hand.

You heard the sickening crunch of the aluminum bat connecting with a goon's knee knocking out of place. The man let out a cry of pain dropping to the floor to clutch his knee. Before you knew what you were doing adrenaline took over, and you yanked your door opened to rush onto the scene.

Another goon was too busy trying to wrestle the bat away from Kazi who held onto it for dear life. A bigger guy stood in the living room doorway with a shape so big. It blocked out the moonlight trying to peek through from the windows behind him. His focus was solely on your mother who was kneeling before him with her hands folded out in front of her.

No one seemed to notice your arrival till you grabbed the gun that fell from the crippled goon's hands. You pulled back on the mechanism just like your dad taught you reloading it. Everyone's eyes snapped in your direction as you trained the gun on the big man. Unable to make out his face hidden by his over-the-top hat, and the shadows of the night.

"Leave my mommy and brother alone" You ordered keeping the gun steady.

The other goon released his hold on the bat causing your brother to stumble back into the table. He recovered fast enough to put himself between you and the goon. When the man pulled a gun from his waistband to aim it at your head.

"Boss say the word and I'll light the little brats up" came the man's gruff voice.

"No" your mother shrieked pushing herself to her feet to run over throwing her arms around. Both of you into her tight and protective embrace. "Not them Fisk please you can take me but leave them be. I'll make them behave."

The big man named Fisk tilted his head to the side letting out a hmph sound. The goon's finger trembled on the trigger ready to pull it, and bring an end to all this.

"Leave the children be and bring the mother. We shall make an example out of her" Fisk ordered his man. His voice calm and unwavering despite the intensity of the situation. He talked like this was just another business meeting, and he hadn't come here to destroy a family tonight.

Kazi fought his way out of his mother's grip and tried to shield her away from the goon. But the bigger man just slammed the butt of his gun into his head. Your big brother froze for just a second as his body locked up, and the bat slipped from his fingers. A second later he toppled over onto the floor.

"Kazi" you cried attempting to raise the gun still in your grip again. But your mother forced your hands back down and brought a hand to caress your cheek.

"Babygirl I need you to put this down. Can you do that for me?" she asked softly.

You were able to make out her soft features, and the tears glistening her face. "Mom please don't go with them" you whispered covering her hand with yours.

"I have too sweetheart but its going to be okay. They're only taking me to your father. I promise it'll be okay but you have to stop fighting" she tried again.

Your mother never broke a promise so you didn't hesitate in tossing the gun aside. She told you to stay with Kazi and pressed lingering kisses all over both of your faces. Then you watched as she was escorted from the house by the abled goon and the crippled one limped his way out. Fisk was the last to leave the house throwing one last glance at you and Kazi.

It would be the last time you saw your mother alive.

"I know you thought my mom died of a sudden heart attack." You whispered as Kate regarded you with a mixture of pity and pain.

"Did my mom know about this?" She mustered up the courage to ask after a moment of silence.

You nodded. "Its why she was always so welcoming to me. She knew I wanted nothing to do with this life, and tried to give me a little bit of normalcy by hanging out with you all the time."

Kate found herself unable to be angry with all the secrets being brought to the light. Even though she had every right to be after all you knew a good portion of her life had been a lie, and you played a part in maintaining the lies. But then again her mother probably hadn't given you much of a choice. In the matter she wanted to ask but was afraid to her more.

"My father failed and my mother paid with her life. My brother failed and the torch was passed onto me."

"I get why you kept all this from me when we were kids y/n-"

You let out a premature sigh of relief believing this argument was over. She understood your reasons and didn't hate you. Until Kate threw out a hand stopping you from hugging her as you approached her.

"But we're not kids anymore and I'm not a child who needed you to protect me from the boogeyman. I'm an Avenger now who took down Fisk last year. You should've came to me for help instead of doing his dirty work. You're no better than my mom."

It was too much especially the her last comment. You exploded unable to hold back anymore.

"Are fucking serious right now? After everything I just told you how can you still believe any of this was a choice. You know what Katie you are a child" You shouted knocking her hand away.

"I'm a child" Kate repeated your words with a scoff. Although you could hear the agony in her voice that she was trying so hard to mask. It broke your heart to be the one causing it, but you went on.

"Yes Katie I don't care what you did last year Fisk could've snapped your neck in a blink of an eye. If he wanted too but he needed your mom's money. Fisk has been put behind bars twice, and he managed to manipulate his way out both times. Maya put a bullet in his head and somehow he's still standing. What do you think you can do that hasn't been done?"

"I would've figured something out" Kate argued.

"And your plan would've failed Kate the only way out for me was too give him what he wants. It was just a few jobs here and there no one even got hurt." You told her.

"Fisk is still a bad guy y/n who killed your mom, and was willing to kill mine. How can you defend him?"

"I'm not defending him. I'm trying to make you understand I couldn't lose anyone else to him especially you. Kate I fucking love you, and I'll burn down this entire city to keep you alive. Not a day goes by where I don't wish I didn't put an end to him that night he came for my mother.

"Y/N" Kate murmured your name finally letting herself reach out to grip your chin. Lifting your head to making you look in soft blue eyes which were filled with tears.

"I told Yelena you wouldn't get it because in your world everything is black and white. There's no room for a gray area."

"Yelena knew about you" she said raising an eyebrow. The gears in her head started to turn, and there was nothing you could do to come back from it. The little moment of peace was over as Kate frowned.

"Is she the reason we're even having this conservation?"

"She was going to tell you if I didn't come clean on my own" You confessed.

"So you were going to continue to run around and do Fisk's dirty work."

"I only have one job left."

Kate released her grip on your chin to clench her fists. "Have? You're still going to finish the job."

"Do you have a better idea?" You shot back matching her tone of anger.

"You're lucky I haven't called the cops yet" she blurted out turning around to put her back to you.

"Locking me up the way you did your mom" You said looking away.

"You told me that was the right call or did your forget?" she yelled whirling back around.

"I told you what you needed to hear Kate but you were wrong. Your mother wasn't the bad guy. If anybody was it was your father who died and left behind a trail of mistakes. Eleanor did her to clean up his mess and keep you safe."

"So what does that make me then?"

"A blinded hero" You answered.

Kate didn't reply right away dropping into a crouch with her hands tangled in her hair. Turmoil on her face as she tried to process your words while working double time to keep. The guilty thoughts away as you unlocked a door she closed a long time ago.

You contemplated making a run for it while Kate was stuck in her own head. But no part of you wanted to leave things like this between the two of you. You wanted clarity on where your relationship with her stood.

The silence was deafening as both of you waited for the other to say something, but neither of you knew what to say because thing were so broken. It was beyond repair and Kate couldn't deal with that right now. While you wanted to believe all of this was still salvageable.

"You have ten seconds."

You had been staring up the night sky counting the stars to pass time when she spoke, so her words didn't register with you right away. "What?"

"You got ten seconds to get out of my sight and I never want to see you again." Kate said with a bit more force this time. Her eyes wouldn't meet yours.

"What about us" You implored.

"I can't be with you anymore y/n not after this. I'm letting you go that's enough alright so just go please" Kate replied. There it was again agony in her voice but this time she didn't try to mask it.

"Katie please you're my light okay. I need you in my life" You begged covering the distance between the two of you with one stride. You placed both of your hands on either side of her face.

"Y/N no stop calling me that" Kate protested attempting to pull away. Until a arm was secured around her waist and then your lips were on hers in a breathtaking kiss. You poured all of your emotions, all the desperation, and pain into it. You needed her to understand and her lips molded with yours like the perfect fit they were. The two of you were meant to be for better or worse. Hero and villain, good and bad, light and darkness. Nothing was supposed to be able to come between the two of you. She had promised you that herself, and you wasn't going to let Wilson Fisk cost you another promise.

Kate finally gathered up the will to shove you away so hard you fell back on the ground. Her bow was back in her hand in a flash, and before you knew. She had an arrow notched trained right at your heart. "And you were the one person in my life who I thought wasn't broken and messed up. But it turns out it was all a lie."

Her words torn through you, and ripped your heart to shreds. You got back to your feet holding back sobs. But the tears fell again as you had lost count just how much crying was done tonight. Your hand move to your collarbone where the arrow with the heart charm rested. "Wow would you look at that foreshadowing."

You yanked the necklace off and threw it to her feet. "Gooddbye Kate." Those were your last words and you turned around to breakout into a swift run. Leaping from the ledge of the apartment building to the next one. Kate watched as you disappeared into the night taking her heart with you.

Not knowing you left yours behind with her.

A Week Later

Wilson blew up your phone with numerous of calls and text messages in the following days. He sent a few men over to the apartment you use to share with Kate, but they never made it. You intercepted them every single of time, and put an end to their lives. Until he finally got the message to stop sending them on the fourth time. When none of his guys returned back to him to report.

He resorted back to threatening calls which were ignored as you were busy plotting revenge.

"Please please I give don't" the robber pleaded holding up his arm. You dropped to one knee moving his hand aside to sock him in the nose. He groaned in pain as his head bounced off the concrete ground.

Your fist was drawn back for another shot when a baton attached to a metal wire wrapped around wrist and tightened. Till the point your hand went numb with blood circulation cut off. The person on the other end gave tugged hard pulling you away from the beaten and battered robber.

"You are one hard dude to find you know. I've been trying to get your attention for days."

You twisted your around as your body was dragged backwards deeper into the alley. Your legs were extended out catching your assailant in the chest. He absorbed the kick with ease due to his armored suit.

"So you beat a bunch of street thugs within an inch of their life"said the mysterious man. His identity concealed under a yellow horned mask, but strangely enough it was only covered the top half of his face.

"You got an update on the suit I see it doesn't really go with the whole Devil of Hell's Kitchen title." You commented observing his suit for every little detail.

"I go by Daredevil now" he said with a shrug.

"That's catchy and less of a mouthful I guess."

He began to unwrap the wire from around your wrist and once you were free. The baton snapped back into place with the other end. "What do you want with me?"

"Your help you and I share a common enemy. The name Wilson Fisk ring any bells?" You asked ready to judge his reaction.

He hid his facial expressions well but his body tensed up at the sound of his number one nemesis's name. "I actually do my best too stay off his radar these days. He's not my concern anymore."

You nodded in understanding. "I would back off too if a man like that uncovered my secret identity, but what happens you should know better. Matthew because believe Fisk still keeps tab on you and your friends. Foggy Nelson and Kare-"

Matthew Murdock didn't give you the chance to finish your sentence before bone-rushing you. Slamming your body into the brick wall pressing the side of your face with vicious intent.

"Keep her name out your mouth" he sneered right in your ear. He was so close you could feel his breath on your neck.

"Who are you?" He growled.

"Someone who wants Fisk dead just as much as you did a few years back, but unlike you I intend on going through with it." You said through gritted teeth.

"What does that have to do with me? I wasn't going to stand in your way."

"I know but others might and I need help keeping them off might back."

"Why would I do that? Its not my style" Matt argued but he stepped back letting you turn around to face him.

"Because you're tired of walking eggshells around your home careful not to step on his toes, and bring upon his wrath again. You want to go the bed at night without looking over your shoulder or your loved ones's."

Matthew reached up to pull his mask off revealing his entire face to you. His dark hair was a mess and his eyes were guarded. "What did Fisk take away from you."

Tag List: @danveration @yelenabelovasgf @xxromanoffxx @xxxtwilightaxelxxx @natashasilverfox @catswag22 @be-missed @lizlil @acutenobody @kacka84 @supercorpdanbeau @itbeila @jimicantaffordtherapy @screechcat

"Everything so I got nothing else to lose so what do you say? Think you can go back to being the Devil of Hell's Kitchen for one more night."

[quartzalynlove]

Savior

Summary: spider-punk starts to notice some murals of him in the allies of the city

Pairing: Spider-punk x black! Fem! Reader

A/n: I feel like my writing has been so trash lately but life goes on

The media was never a huge fan of Spider-Man, or "spider-punk" as they called him in an attempt to antagonize the anarchist. The gratitude they showed Camden's hero after taking down Norman Osborne's regime was short-lived, but that didn't stop him from fighting against injustice in his town. It didn't matter what the masses or the media had to say, Spider-man was doing good, and the individuals affected by the actions of the upper class had the words to back him.

Hobie never heard his praises sung by the media, and he didn't need to either. However, one night, while the news played in the local pub, the devil's chorus sang with his name in scarlet on their lips.

"Throughout the week there have been multiple sightings in the whole of Camden of what look to be homages to the Spider-punk," P Pattie Pendleton reported, her words sharp like lobster claws.

"Opinions on this spike-headed menace have never been too cheery in the past, but is there someone in Camden who's taken a liking to the crass criminal? This is P Pattie Pendleton as it happens."

The outspoken reporter wasn't the only one off-put but the art put up in Spider-Man's name. Hobie always made it clear that he didn't have fans. The only people that liked him grew up like he did and lived in the places he did, and he knew all of them on a first-name basis. Hobie's friends only celebrated him by supporting the movement, and he was not a symbol of the movement. He was nothing more than an instrument. It was safe to say that the giant murals plastered on the sides on buildings weren't Hobie's favorite thing in the world.

That night, he tried to look for the artistic culprit in the streets, but it was a big dark city, and all of it was their canvas. Wherever the artist was, Hobie hoped they would wait until the morning to strike again and give him time to devise a proper plan.

The next day, Hobie immediately took to the streets. Camden was divided into four sectors, and he planned on searching all of them until the culprit was caught. After having no luck with the first two, Hobie's patience was running thin. He almost called it a day until his spidey sense tingled something fierce as he swung down the street. Stopped in his tracks, Hobie perched on a lamppost that gave him a view into an alleyway. An alleyway where a large art piece of himself was being completed on a wall. Hobie kissed his teeth at the image of him posed permanently plastered onto brick. It didn't take him a long search in the alley to find the painter. They were covered head to toe in black with a spray can and stencil in hand. Before they could add the finishing touched, Hobie swung into the alley and confronted the artist.

The mystery painter jumped at the gust of wind that blew through as Hobie landed in front of them. She almost couldn't believe that he was there in front of her. For a moment, neither of them said a word, but Hobie knew he didn't like the idea of a black clad figure with a mask and sunglasses hanging out in the alley.

Hobie confronted her. "Why you paintin' pictures of me in the allies?"

The artist had to admit that this wasn't how she imagined meeting Spider-Man to be. His arms were crossed, and she could feel the distance he put between the two of them.

The painter replied nervously, not really having a solid answer. "Beautification program?"

Usually, a laugh from Spider-Man would have been an endearing and uplifting sound, but the hostile environment it entered spoke for the sound that left the masked hero.

"That it?" He asked. "Cuz it looks like you're using me to make a statement."

"Is that a bad thing?" The painter asked cautiously.

Hobie leaned against the blank space on the wall, his arms folded over his chest.

"I don't mind making a statement, but I don't like being the symbol of it."

With a slight tilt of her head, the painter glanced at Hobie and then the almost finished mural on the wall in confusion.

"Why not?" She asked. "You've done so much for the city over the years."

The eyes of Hobie’s mask squinted as he shook his head. "You don't even know anything about me."

"You took down President Osborn; your protests and movements single-handedly made harmful corporations run into the dark. You're a hero"

Without a word, Hobie stood straight before stepping towards the artist. Although she felt it was in her best interest you put distance between them again, she stayed stuck in place.

"I'm not a hero," Hobie said. "And it's not my movement it's the movement. If you wanna support it, then stop putting my face all over the city."

The artist didn't have a response. Obviously, she had accidentally struck a nerve, and it probably wasn't her place to resolve it. Hobie didn't wait for a response before swinging up and away from the alley. Watching as he left, the painter thought about Spider-Man's request. Out of respect, she did want to listen to him, but she knew the situation at hand. Someone in the city needed to protect him.

[inuyassa]

A Long Time

Sanji x Fem!Reader

Warnings: None! All Fluff 🙂

(Sanji POV)

Sanji sat alone in the crows nest of the Going Merry, the still winter air was frigid against his skin.  The rest of the crew was asleep in Nami’s quarters, each one trying to remain as normal and upbeat as possible while they waited for land and the chance of a doctor.

Sanji knew he was obnoxious around women, he was downright unbearable, but at the end of the day, Nami was a fellow crewmate and he would do anything to keep her safe…

“You okay?” Y/n climbed over the banister and sat down next to the shivering cook.  “Thought you could use this.” She pulled a thermos from her coat pocket and handed it to a grateful Sanji.

“You’re the best,” he cheered, dowsing his cigarette in a small patch of snow beside him.  He poured the warm liquid into the lid and took a sip.  “That hits the spot,” he sighed, sitting back against the mast.  Y/n smiled, she knew the coffee would be just what he needed.  A quick gust of wind blew her hood off, and she gripped it with her gloveless hands.  She closed her eyes, the cold air felt sharp.  Sanji, setting the coffee down, leaned forward and grabbed her with his blanketed hands.  He pulled her close so that her back was against his chest and his legs were on either side of her. 

The wind died down and she laughed.  “My hero,” she giggled.  Sanji smiled and gave her a gentle squeeze, it was tender and…caring…that’s when she noticed the sadness in his eyes…

(Reader POV)

From under the blankets, you were able to find Sanji’s hands, clasped tight around your shoulders and chest.  You held them tight in yours.  “She’s going to be okay Sanji,” you said.  “She’s strong.”

Sanji sighed.  “I should have done better,” he said.  “If I can’t take care of one person, how can I even hope to be a good crew member?”

You knew how much he cared about Nami, she was very special to him, he acted like a sleazeball out loud, but on the inside, he was a very compassionate person.  “I wish it was me who was sick,” you whispered.  “I hate seeing you this worried.”

Sanji let out an audible gasp, he grabbed your shoulder and spun you around.  “Why would you say something like that? Do you really think I wouldn’t worry about you too if you were sick?!”

You just stared at him with wide eyes.  “No, I just meant that you really care about Nami, I figured you wouldn’t be as worried if she was the one who was okay…?”

Sanji sighed and hung his head, he gripped your shoulders tightly, shivering.  “Don’t say that,” he said through gritted teeth.   “If you were the one lying in that bed…I don’t know…what I would do…”

“Sanji…?”

Before you could process what was happening, he lifted his head to meet yours, gently took your hood off…and kissed you.  His lips were like ice, but they soon warmed up as they danced with yours.  Your mind wasn’t even thinking. You were just reacting.  His hands found your waist and pulled you in closer. You wrapped your arms around his neck and pressed yourself against him, your lips still locked with his.  

When you both finally pulled away, your breath danced like clouds in the frozen air.  He brushed a strand of your hair from your face and smiled.  “I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time,” he whispered.  

“Me too,” you replied.

The rest of the night was spent wrapped in the blanket, keeping a watchful eye on the horizon while Sanji finally dozed off to sleep…

[photogirl894]

helo,, 😳

congrats to 1000 followers, you deserve 'em !! I cant believe I havent told you that yet jdambrkgkoe

as for the prompt list, may I request 29 from the angst list and 26 from the physical affection list with ma boi Crosshair perhaps? 👀 👉👈

I hope it's not confusing 💀💀

I hope you have a great dayy!

You know, this was a prompt pairing that I was actually really hoping for and I somehow just knew it was gonna be for Crosshair before I even read his name! These prompts are just meant for him!

"Hear Your Voice"

29. “Shut up!”/”Make me!”

26. A long, passionate kiss

Pairing: Crosshair x fem reader

***

Crosshair was the most aggravating man you'd ever met.

Yet you just couldn't stop thinking about him.

The two of you argued constantly and he knew just how to get under your skin, even though you knew you shouldn't let him get to you. Yet there always a different, electric tension between you when you argued. When you'd fight, you'd get closer and closer until your noses were nearly touching...and you found you liked that. The way his voice would raise at you almost excited you. It gave you a rush to fight for the last word every time and it was even better when the last word was yours. How could he infuriate you and instill such enthusiasm in you at the same time?

The two of you ended up paired off on a mission, much to your dismay, and even though the mission was a success, a terrible storm came in and lightning had struck down some trees in your path on your way to meet back up with the rest of the squad. The winds were strong enough that they almost blew you off your feet and the rain made it hard to see, even with your helmets on. You'd sent word to the others that there was no way for you and Crosshair to meet up with them yet and it was decided that you all would wait until the storm passed. There was no way the Marauder could come find them in the storm. After ending the transmission, Crosshair pointed out that there was a cave nearby that the two of you could seek shelter in. As you walked a few steps ahead of him, another gust of wind came through and you started stumbling backwards, but suddenly felt Crosshair's hands steady you under your arm and around your waist. Surprisingly, his hands stayed there until you got inside the cave and there, he parted from you and you immediately missed the sensation of his hands.

He groaned in disgust as he removed his helmet, "Ugh, of all the people to be stuck with in a storm, it had to be you."

"You think I'm thrilled about this either?" you fired back, removing your own helmet. Even though you knew, deep down, you sort of were, but you weren't going to let him know that.

"No, I'm sure you're loving this," he said snidely. "Just another chance for you to get the last word and tell me what a prick I am, like always."

You scoffed. "You act as if I orchestrated the storm itself for such a thing. Besides, I don't need to get you alone to get the last word, anyway."

"You just can't stand losing, can you?" he asked.

Then you smirked, knowing it would irk him. "I don't know. I'm not familiar with the feeling like you are."

Crosshair glared at you, the lightning from outside illuminating his sharp, brown eyes. He took a step closer to you. "I highly doubt you know the meaning of humility."

"Says the most prideful member of the Bad Batch," you replied, also stepping forward and leaning back on a hand on your hip. "You wouldn't know the word 'humble' if it slapped you in the face."

"At least I know when to quit."

"Of course, you do, because you're good at quitting. That's why I always win."

He growled. "Shut up!"

You stepped right up to him and challenged him, "Make me!"

Crosshair, with another growl, grabbed your shoulders and shoved you into a nearby wall of the cave, your back hitting a slightly jagged edge and eliciting a small cry from you. However, you found your cry was swallowed up by Crosshair's mouth suddenly smothering your own in a heated kiss. Your body locked up in shock, but it didn't take long for you to give in and wrap your arms around his shoulders. His kiss was bruising and passionate at first and you fought back to equal his passion, but soon, his ministrations slowed and grew more gentle, his lips caressing yours in a more loving manner than you expected from him. His hands came up from your shoulders and cradled your face, holding you there with him like he'd never let you go. You never knew Crosshair possessed such tenderness, but it made your heart race nonetheless, more than any argument you'd had with them had ever done.

After some time, he finally pulled back and the two of you gasped heavily for breath. He touched his forehead to yours, his mouth just a breath away from your own. His thumbs softly caressed your cheeks. The two of you were, for once at a loss for words for a moment.

Finally, Crosshair spoke with a smirk, "I think I win this time."

You couldn't help but snicker quietly. After a few more seconds, you asked him, "All this time, Crosshair?"

He reached back and ran his hand through your hair. "I'm not good with most people, but you...you're different. You're able to match my wit and snark more than anyone I've met...so I would argue with you just to hear your voice. It was the only way I could think of to even talk to you. It wasn't the best idea, I know, but...I didn't know what else to do."

"Honestly...I didn't know what else to do either," you admitted. "Fighting with you just always seemed like the only way to get your attention." You chuckled, your noses brushing slightly. "I guess we're both idiots, aren't we?"

"Yeah, well...you're the bigger idiot," he stated, pulling back to look at you and smirking deviously.

That was certainly not going to fly and you scoffed again. "Oh, don't even go there," you said. Then you took a hold of his face and reunited your lips together again, his arms coming about you tightly.

Of all the people to be stuck with in that storm, it had to be him...and you were more than glad for it.

Photogirl894's Angst prompts

Photogirl894's Physical Affection prompts

Photogirl894's 1,000 Followers fics

[im-an-anthusiast]

Like Moth to a Flame

The sun glared down at Albion maliciously. Almost as if it knew what he was about to do, he thought. He dismissed the thought – and the heat – by shaking his head, locks of his ginger red hair sticky against his sweat-stained face. It didn’t help much with either of the issues. However, both were overshadowed near immediately as he came upon a familiar sight. A shed of deep brown wood – wood which showed its age. Its wear and tear would let Albion know how incredibly old it is, even if he hadn’t known it for as long as he knew his very parents. He walked towards it, and he could hear his heart thumping in his throat, flushing out the sound of the shed and the little foliage around it creaking and rustling in the wind. Approaching the shed, he reckoned he’d be called a “bad girl” if he got caught. However, the gnawing of anxiety had nothing on the rush of excitement flowing through his veins and buzzing at his fingertips. It almost flooded out the pain from the bruises and cigarette burns. Almost. He resumed his walk toward the shed, dragging his feet, enamoured by the sheer taboo of what he was doing. 

His eyes flicked to the padlock keeping the chained door shut as soon as he could get a good look at it. His breath hitched with anticipation and subsequently sped up with sheer glee. They really did forget. The key, caked with rust, was sticking out of the padlock – which hung on the chain keeping the door shut. A painfully large smile spread across Albion’s face. He immediately fumbled to reach the padlock. It didn’t take him long to realise that even on tiptoes, his 14-year-old body couldn’t reach even one of the chain links. He quickly whipped his head around to look for a solution, and immediately, he was struck by genius. He ran over to the nearest dead bush, and snapped off a sizable branch, hoping to use the piece of dead wood to somehow drag the chain down so that he could reach the padlock. Albion swallowed hard and started poking, jabbing, and tugging at the chain with his new favourite stick. Well, it will be his new favourite if it manages to help him out. 

To Albion’s dismay, the chain was far heavier than he had expected. It took all the strength in his stick-thin arms to make the chain budge even an inch. Pain was creeping up his feet and calves from tiptoeing at the edge of the shed, right by that damn decrepit door. Perspiration and heat caused sweat to cascade down his body and face, tasting salty on his lips. A slight gust of air lifted the hems of his oversized trench coat, lifting it off the ground, on which it was dragging on until now. And, as the gust blew, it rushed into some of the holes in the barely-not-rotting door, a good amount of dust and dirt getting in. As it did, air blasted out from some of the other openings in the door. And Albion, standing in front of one of them, was expecting the stalest air his young self has ever had the discomfort of getting to smell and taste to fill his lungs. The air rushed out, forcing itself up his nostrils. The biting, metallic smell almost went unnoticed due to the sensation accompanying it. As he inhaled, Albion felt energy course through his entire body, from the roots of his hair to the soles of his feet. It was unlike anything he felt before, with all his senses stimulated – even those he wasn’t aware he had. He wasn’t sure how long he stood still, but he was suddenly tethered back to reality as the awful smell finally hit him. The utterly pungent smell of iron – or something else that Albion didn’t want to consider – was clouding his mind. It was disgusting, to the point he almost wanted to retch. But at the same time, he felt enamoured. Like a moth to a flame, he couldn’t tear himself away. But the door was still in his way.  

As he resumed his efforts, the stick still in his hand, he found himself wielding an unexpected strength. He also realised that he had been swallowing the air flowing from the shed in greedy gulps, its sweet taste buzzing inside his mouth. He felt as though he could rip the door down. So, he tried. He slid each of his scarred little hands between the doors and gripped them tightly with his fingers. The wood splintered. And Albion started to deflate, assuming nothing happened – before realising that, wait, he splintered the wood with his bare hands? While the wood was rotten and decrepit, Albion was sure that couldn’t have been it. The wood was laughably easy to splinter – Albion had struggled more with snapping the stick he had been holding until a while ago off the bush. Albion stared at his hands as he stretched his fingers, then clenched his fist – not feeling anything out of the ordinary. He reluctantly – and almost cautiously – placed his hands back on the splintered inside of the doors and pulled. And as he did, wood snapped off the door, staying in Albion’s tight, squeezing grasp, the intensity of which almost caused it to splinter further. He was aware of splinters digging into his skin, but he hardly felt it – and cared even less due to the sudden rush of what he was doing, and the pleasantly uncomfortable energy burning and boiling in his veins. As the wood snapped off, however, more air flowed out of the shed, enveloping him in its sickly sweet, attractive aroma. 

What happened next was a bit of a blur to him. He knew he had continued tearing apart the door – entranced by the scent. He also knew that he had managed to rip a large hole into the door – large enough to pass through. It all felt hazy and hard to think about, being at the back of his mind as he stepped through the hole. The sweetly disgusting and disgustingly sweet smell flooded him and filled his nostrils fully. His head started spinning, and he swayed, just barely catching himself on an oddly sticky wooden table. The inside of the shed was incredibly dark, even despite the hole in the wall. Albion stood still, propping himself up on the table at the side of the cramped wooden interior. It took him a while to get used to the overwhelming smell and the reaction it invoked in him. About as long as it took for his eyes to get used to the darkness. The wood was not like it was from the outside. It may have been just as old and putrid, but the colour was off, somehow. It’s hard to tell in the dark, but it seems as though the wood was of a harsher, redder brown. His eyes continuing their journey across the inside of the shed, he noticed metal chains hanging off the ceiling, with hooks on their final, rusted links. And the little light that did enter the shed made them gleam with a crimson shine. Albion tried not to think about that too hard – he was usually pretty good at that. He averted his eyes from the hooks, and his gaze snapped to the table he was leaning on. On it was a bloodied human arm, from the hand to the shoulder, lying inches away from his own. Albion threw up. 

Shaking, on hands and knees, he kept gagging and retching. The floor was slick with the once-contents of his stomach. He regretted this. Sweet though it may be, he was choking on forbidden fruit. He wanted to have fun exploring where he knew he wasn’t allowed, but instead, his head was spinning, and he could feel just how empty his stomach was. As if in response, the smell hit him again. He knew what it was this time. And yet, he couldn’t resist dragging himself up as the energy jolted his body. The smell was emanating from every blood-soaked inch of the wood. It made him want to rip the wood out of the walls and floors, to lick and suck all the blood out of it. But more powerful than that was the pull towards the arm. It lacked any skin. Slick and red, it enticingly rested on the table with blood pooling around it. The meaty flesh made was mouth-watering. He lunged towards the arm and bit into it, his teeth sinking into its flesh, and he tore at the meat, swallowing large chunks greedily. Intense nausea caused him to gag numerous times, but the visceral hunger overtaking him was so overpowering that Albion didn’t even realise that he was on all fours again – ripping into the arm with his teeth and jerking his head as to tear off a chunk of that intoxicatingly sweet meat. 

The flesh and blood flowed down his throat, causing now-familiar energy to spark within him. All his senses were overwhelmed, and a searing heat started rising from his belly, through his chest, and spreading upwards. The contents of his throat and mouth got flooded out by scorching hot, flaming bile. Pure, liquid fire flowed from his mouth, setting the wooden floor below him aflame. Horrible, white-hot pain shot through his entire torso and neck, fire dragging itself down his tongue. Albion’s blue-green eyes rolled back from sheer agony, as heat scraped his insides on its way out of him. He can only watch as the wooden floor below him is burnt through, the contents of his throat and mouth searing the ground below them. A mantra of pleadings – please please PLEASE STOP – is the only thing Albion can think through how clouded his mind has become. And as he does, the flames immediately cease. The heat moves back to his chest. It is still endlessly painful – like a large, flaming stake being driven through his chest – however, a stake feels like bliss compared to the very Sun forcing its way up his throat. His cheeks were slick with tears, and his eyelids felt heavy. Albion was sure that closing his eyes for just a second couldn’t possibly do any harm. He did so.  

He dreamt of hands and lit cigarettes, of belts and blood. Heat started flourishing in his chest, and he quickly realised that that pain wasn’t the same as the pain in his dream, the pain that he was used to. He woke with a gasp, a sudden breath drawing sharply through his rugged throat. His chest felt like it was on fire. He bit his lip, trying not to cry again. Reaching towards the table, he did his best to ignore how slick and sticky it was. But as his fingers wrapped around it, the wood suddenly ignited, flames spreading across it far too quickly. Albion could only watch in terror as the fire jumped across the shed, crawling on the floor and climbing the walls, blood and meat sizzling under and in the flames. Swallowing hard – despite how painful it was – he felt himself overcome by the urge to feast again. Despite the fire raging around him, he was mesmerised. However, the sound of shouting voices snapped him out of it. The words were slightly hard to make out through the roaring and crackling of flames, but he could make out some “What has she done”s and “Oh God”s. His breathing became erratic. He was neck-deep in trouble. Both the inferno raging around him and the one burning in his chest suddenly felt small and irrelevant. A figure walked through flames, into the burning shed, and despite Albion’s struggles and attempt at resistance, he was grabbed by the wrist and dragged out. He could hear talking and felt that his wrist was going to be left with a sprain, but he could hardly focus on that. He was in so much trouble. 

He watched vacantly as the shed burnt brightly, like a beacon in the cold night. The sky was painted with beautiful blues and purples, and clouds of stars decorated it. Any attempts to save the shed or its contents proved pointless. He hoped they would take longer trying. Just a little longer, running around and wasting time. His wish wasn’t fulfilled though. As they neared, their eyes were focused on him – and filled with anger. A tight grip suddenly seized his hair, and he winced in dread and anticipation. But then, a painful heat welled up in his chest again – threatening to spill out of him, and he smiled. Just a little. 

[eb0ny-raven]

“You look pretty good for a corpse.” The villain's voice broke through the silence behind the hero. They tensed for a moment. The hero glanced behind them from their cross-legged sitting position on the ledge, but blinked and turned back to the crowd below.

“So do you.”

“Are you okay-y’know, with this?” The villain rested a hand on the hero’s shoulder and felt it rise with their breath.

The hero’s exposed skin flushed with goosebumps when a lazy gust of wind blew over the roof. The chilly air stung even the villain, who wore a thick black coat and gloves.

“I will be.” They answered, releasing the air, still focused on the mass of people. They’d gathered to mourn their hero, bundled in dark clothing and packed together in the streets. Some sang in solidarity, voices echoing through alleyways and open windows.

Small lights—either flame or flash—dotted among them, flickering in the cool breeze, especially as the sun drowned below the skyline. “I will be.”

The villain took a few steps to the edge, then settled next to the hero and dangled xer legs in free air. Xe didn’t know wether to reach out to the hero with warm assurances and a kind smile, or something closer to the witty banter the two shared over the years, but xe knew they weren’t as experienced with this kind of loneliness, and anything would be better than letting their feelings fester. “So, do you—“

“Was this the right thing to do?” The hero asked, head abruptly turned to face the villain, their hair and stocking cap slightly obscured their face.

“The right thing?”

“Yeah.”

The confusion in the hero’s voice quickly shut down any quirky retort building on xer lips.

On any other day, the villain might have poked fun at their indecision.“If you’re asking me, you must be really grasping at straws.” They instead responded with the truth.

“I think it was the only thing.”

The hero’s eyes fell back to the street, where the citizens had now gathered in front of the capitol building, where a small woman, the Mayor, stood proudly, probably shivering, but still preaching from a modest podium.

In the news, they’d seen the plans for a new memorial. Create a bronze statue in their central park, then name said central park in honor of their fallen hero.

“But what if I miss it?” They whispered, like even the utterance of such a thought filled them with shame.

It nearly broke the villain’s heart.

Xe took off one of their gloves, and grabbed one of the hero’s hands in xer own. The feeling burned the hero’s skin, such a sudden warmth into their palm.

“You might, but you’ll move on. And so will they.”

The hero let out a shaky breath, releasing a cloud of frozen vapor into the air, and nodded. The two settled into a comfortable silence, listening to the crowd below. The villain caught glimpses of a smile whenever the cityfolk cheered, and as a few minutes past, xe noticed the hero’s posture relax (as much as it could in the cold).

“Oh!” The villain suddenly broke the silence with a hand slap to xer forehead.

“What?” The hero rolled their eyes and playfully bumped the villain’s shoulder.

“I completely lost track of why I came out here.” xe quickly got up and walked to where they had interrupted the hero’s presence in the beginning.

The hero turned around and laughed as the villain picked up a bundle of dark fabric. “I was out here,” xe started, gathering the cloth and making xer way back to the ledge, “because I thought you might’ve wanted this.” The hero took the woolen bundle from the villain and shook it out.

“A coat?” They scoffed, “and here I thought you came out to hassle me about being dead.”

“Takes one to know one,” the villain smiled back, flashing xer teeth, “sides’, don’t want you actually dying out here.” The hero shook their head but shrugged on the coat. The villain settled back beside them.

“Is this one of yours?” They asked, eyeing the sleeves, an eyebrow raised.

“…no.” The villain swallowed a smile and tried to stop heat from flushing xer face.

“I wouldn’t mind if it was, y’know.”

“Well—it’s not. Sorry.” The villain covered in short, awkward bursts. The hero dropped their eyebrow in exchange for the thin-lipped smile. They sighed and leaned against the villain, head resting on their shoulder.

“Bummer.”

[kayssweetdreams]

The Perfect Finale Ch52

The group panicked as the cracks in the frozen Yin were becoming more. "We gotta go NOW." Eis exclaimed. Jose and Cal grabbed the unconscious Jett as they rushed towards the door. "Hurry!" Iben exclaimed as she helped drag Jett into the door. The ice around Yin was slowly melting as his right hand was released, and gave a loud 'SNAP!'

Suddenly, a horde of Red Negati leaped on top of Kaylo, and began dragging her back to where Yin was "AAH! LET GO OF ME!" Kaylo shrieked, desperately trying to kick them off. The heart of Wonderworld reacted again, making a gust of wind that blew them all away, but in the process began to make the door to the real world become more...aged and less grand, as well as faintly begin to close.

"C'mon!" Yuri exclaimed as Kaylo ran to join the others. Unfortunately, Now half of Yin was unfrozen, as he began shooting his blasts of Negative Energy at the pink haired girl. "Keep going! Run!" Balan yelled. The heart once again reacted as chunks of props from the various parts of Wonderworld created a shield to protect from the blasts, but once again the door began to get weaker, as the wood around it rotted, and it became closer to closing.

"We're running out of time!" Lora Jade exclaimed as she helped Iben and Haoyu through the door. The humans rushed through the damaged theater remains again as Kaylo finally made it through, she blocked the door with a particularly large bit of rubble, hoping that the door would vanish before Yin fully thawed. "Let's go! The sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can come up with a new-!!!" Cal was cut off by the loud banging of the door.

"GET BACK HERE YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING HUMANS!!" Yin shouted, what sounded like a large weight crashing itself against the door. "GET IN THAT DOOR!!!" Sana screamed, pushing Fiona and Cass to make them move faster. The slamming became more louder as bits of the door began to chip away, revealing Yin's enraged eyes. The heart of Wonderworld began to feel painful as the warmth Kaylo felt before, now became a flurry of feeling, slowing her down.

"Kaylo C'mon! We have to go!!" Aria exclaimed, the pink haired couldn't hear her. It was if all sounds around her suddenly became a cacophony of noise that made her drop to her knees...and the loud banging of the door didn't help either. "Kaylo! C'mon!" Leo exclaimed, but she still couldn't hear him. Her breath became faster as she reached her hand out in agony "MAKE IT STOP!!" She screamed.

It was too much...

Just as Yin broke through the door, and shot towards her, Kaylo's eyes began to glow, as a powerful surge of magic blasted from the heart, and everything was thrown into a bright white light...

Mei belongs to @sundove88

Rebecca belongs to @thehyperrequiem

Trisha Jane belongs to @lovelyteng

Aria belongs to @shadowqueen402

Lora Jade belongs to @alex-frostwalker

Jett belongs to @jettthespeeddemon

[assortedgoods123]

Stardew Valley Harvey x veryspecificbackstory!farmer

buckle up whores its time to get crunk

this story is going to have extremely dark themes and also sexual content with a (gender neutral) afab farmer who has a backstory that isn't the same as the one the game gives you

Enjoy!

Part One - THE DISCOVERY

Every year since he became a resident of Pelican Town Dr. Harvey has worn two pairs of socks to the festival of the moonlight jellies.

One pair is usually enough for obvious reasons, but sand requires an extra barrier between Dr. Harvey's toes and the beach. He has detested sand on his feet for the entirety of his life, but it is only recently that he shared that fact with his therapist. Much to his surprise, when he mentioned it in passing, she interrupted to ask more questions about his sock-layering habits. Over the course of their appointment, he began to realize that it wasn't a sensory issue, as he had assumed, but rather a link to a bad memory from his past. "Thank Yoba for the mental health profession" he told her as he stood to leave. "Thank Yoba for receptive patients!" She said with a cheery wave.

Leaving his appointment with a bounce in his step, he resolved to make some changes to his summer festival footwear choices.

Weeks later, Dr. Harvey stood on the pier to the far east of the Pelican Town beach with crocs on. Leah had smiled and nodded to him when he walked over, so he tried his best to tell his anxiety that he wasn't bothering her. Rocking back and forth on his heels, he decided that he'd dip his toes in the water to rinse them off. Baby steps, he reminded himself with a deep breath.

Feet in the water, eyes on the floating jellyfish, Dr. Harvey didn't notice the redheaded artist leave early with a big yawn. He was so absorbed in the feeling of his toes being sand-free again he didn't notice the others on the eastern beach leave early either. Not until a strong gust of wind blew in his face did Dr. Harvey look up to see the last of the villagers leaving the beach. "Guess the wind is too much for everyone tonight" he said aloud.

Sitting in the dark, watching the jellies bob away, Dr. Harvey removed his glasses and placed them on the dock. He looked at the stars above and whispered "You are not lonely, Harvey. The townspeople care about you. You are not alone." He looked at the sky and then covered his tired face with his hands. Softly, he started to cry. "Yoba, I'm pathetic." He said. Sniffling, he looked at the stars some more, trying to calm himself down. "If there's anyone out there, listening, please. Give me someone, anyone, to love." He said to the stars.

(The stars didn't hear him, for they are too far, and too uninterested. But someone else did. Someone more cunning and more desperate than all the stars combined. They heard him and reached for a string, a thread they watched day and night. And pulled. Hard.)

With self-loathing thoughts now swirling in his head, he reached to grab his glasses and leave. But... they weren't there?

Dr. Harvey snapped his head to the dock beside him. No glasses. He leaned closer, and his brow furrowed. A bundle of glistening leaves sat on the dock, close to the edge.

Gingerly picking it up, he turned the damp lump over in his hands, and watched wide-eyed as it slowly unfurled to reveal a pair of cracked spectacles. Cradled in strange-looking leaves, a shiny pair of odd glasses sat harmlessly. He stared at them, the wheels in his head turning slower than usual due to how strange his night became. Someone took his glasses and left him a pair of broken ones. Who...?

Dr. Harvey stood abruptly, no longer feeling alone at all. In fact, he felt watched.

The feeling he was feeling was not a good feeling, the anxious man decided. To loose your glasses in the middle of the night on the beach was one thing. To be given another pair in complete silence was another. Jogging back to his apartment, it wasn't until he was double-checking the locks on his windows that he realized he hadn't thought about the sand in his shoes at all since he set his glasses down.

~

"Doc! What happened?"

"Maru?" Harvey squinted across the desk.

"Yes, Maru. Are you alright? Where are your glasses?" Maru dropped her bag on a chair and quickly made her way over to her boss and friend. "Um, I dropped them... in.. the ocean?" Dr. Harvey's voice got quieter as he spoke. "Why is that a question? Are you trying to lie to me, doc? If its really embarrassing I'll be serious, promise." Maru flashed him a grin as she teased. "Do you know how to fix glasses that aren't like other glasses?" Dr Harvey blurted. Maru's brow furrowed as she spoke, "Dude, I've fixed your glasses before, remember? Why're you being weird? You know you always feel better when you tell me why you're anxious, so spill the beans already."

Half an hour later, Maru and Dr. Harvey stood side by side in front of a table in the back of the clinic, staring at the glasses and the bundle of leaves. "And you're absolutely certain you didn't hear or see anything?" Maru asked for the third time. "Yes." Dr. Harvey responded for the third time.

Scratching her chin, Maru started pacing the room. Seeing her start to really chew on the situation calmed Dr. Harvey's nerves immediately. Maru always knew what to do when he didn't. And when she wasn't sure, she acted like she was because she knew it helped him feel less nervous. Dr. Harvey liked that about her. She didn't try to lecture him on his breathing exercises or baby talk him, she just took charge until he was calm enough to navigate himself.

"Alright, here's what I'm thinking. I think the only thing to do is for me to replace the lenses on these bad boys and then for you to return them to exactly where you found them." Maru declared, turning to face Dr. Harvey. "Really? You don't think I'm supposed to keep them? And some creep will jump out of the brush and attack me if I try to give them back?" Dr. Harvey said, squinting at her. Maru stepped closer and squinted back, making his mouth twitch at the corners.

"Your glasses are a completely different prescription. Chances are they aren't able to see too well right now either."

~

This is the stupidest thing I've ever done. They thought.

Deep, deep beneath the Gem Sea, a very regretful person stood in front of a large shard of glass, squinting at their reflection. Not only had they risked their life going up near the land people, they did so for nothing!

When their only pair of good lenses got broken after a nasty fall on some nasty rocks, they thought getting a new pair of glasses would be as simple as stealing one from a land-dweller. Using the glowing jellies as a distraction, they had waited under the shadowy dock until there was one person left. Only... he had seemed so sad. And so, so pretty.

Dumb little pretty person, making me feel bad for stealing. They thought. Just remembering the way his hair moved in the wind, the way his sweat smelled. It made them feel warm inside. So yes, they did the most foolish thing possible and gave him their glasses instead of just getting the hell out of there. So now they stood squinting at themselves in the mirror, wearing glasses that hurt their eyes.

Removing them, they decide to return them that night. Better no glasses than glasses that belong to someone else. They sigh. Then turn and walk to another room in the cave, where they keep their eating things. Maybe some apology food would make up for it. As dangerous as land-dwellers are supposed to be, their gut tells them this one in particular is no threat.

~

"Maru, I don't know if I can do this." Harvey whispered on the beach by the tide pools.

"You say that about everything. You said that last week when I made you try oat milk for the first time." Maru responded. turning off her flashlight with a click. "Now go over there and leave the package. And don't forget to-" Dr. Harvey huffed a nervous breath, "I know, I know, don't block the camera." A small pocket on his favorite green sweater had been fitted with a clip-on camera, courtesy of Demetrius and Maru's Science Shed.

With a small push from his bolder friend, Dr. Harvey walked nervously to the pier that just last night he sat and cried on. Kneeling down, he slowly sets the leaf-wrapped repaired glasses on the edge of the dock. He pauses, and looks out at the ocean. Strangely, he feels like he ought to say something. Quietly clearing his throat, he murmurs, "Th-thank you?"

Hustling back to Maru, they crouch behind a rock and wait, Dr. Harvey's pocket facing the darkness of the dock.

~

Hours later, Dr. Harvey is jostled awake by a hissing Maru, "Look, look, there's something there!"

Sure enough, as they hurried to the edge of the dock, Harvey's pocket in front, he began to make out a blurry shape, larger than a pair of glasses. Crouching and squinting, he picks up a jar, wrapped in thick, bumpy paper. Tied to the side are his glasses! Intact and cleaner than he remembers them.

"Oh my gosh!" Maru gasps. "What!? Where?" Says Harvey, shoving his glasses back on his face. "No, look at the jar, the paper..." Maru trails off, turning the jar for him to see. On the side of the paper is a damp handprint, with unusually short fingers.

They lock eyes. "I can't wait to watch the footage" Maru says, an intense look on her face. "But first, we need to make a pact." "A pact?" Says Harvey, thrown off-guard by the scientific woman's statement. "We need to agree, right now, that if we discover something... someone... new. Or, different. We need to make sure no one else finds out. This could really damage the town, the ocean, potentially a whole new life form, everything, if- if we talk about it, it's gotta be just us." Dr. Harvey places a hand on her shoulder. "Consider us pact-ed." He says with a smile.

Rolling her eyes, Maru takes the camera and bids him goodnight.

~

The next morning, Dr. Harvey nurses a steaming cup of coffee as he watches Maru plug a flash drive into his computer. "Ready?" She asks. "Yep." He replies.

She fast-forwards to when Dr. Harvey places the package on the pier. "There's nothing after, it was covered when you fell asleep, but look here!" She says eagerly, pointing to the screen.

As video-Harvey stutters out his awkward thank you, a small, blurry form grows slightly larger under the waves. He looks at Maru, and she smiles and says, "I have no idea who could be diving at this time of night, but it seems like they liked the sound of your voice." "How can you even tell? I just see a blob." He replies. "Trust me, where you see a blob, I can see something coming slightly closer to the surface when you speak." She tells him.

As Maru excitedly tells him about the cold temperature of the ocean during fall, and about how well-insulated diving suits can only be worn for so long, Dr. Harvey's mind starts to wander. Maybe it's just his lonely mind grasping at straws, but maybe... Maybe this mysterious diver would like it if he came back? Just to talk. Just for a little while... He shakes his head, trying to brush away the dangerous thought.

~

Of course I can't resist the silly, vapid idea of someone on the flipping land wanting my company. They angrily think to themself.

All day they've been plagued with thoughts of the pretty, pretty man murmuring something sweetly to the water last night. They couldn't understand him, but the way he spoke made something deep inside them feel slightly lighter. Like a knot loosening. And even though his scent was soured a bit by fear, he's still the sweetest-smelling land-dweller they've ever encountered. Surely that means he's at least a little less dangerous, right?

Exhaling through their nose, they resign themself to another nighttime visit to the dock. Just one more visit to see that he doesn't come back because the food made him sick or something, and then they'll have no choice but to move on. To move on and continue their solitary life, without smelly land-dwellers that look sad and handsome at the same time.

As they put on their fall swimming clothes, they wonder if the land-dweller hated their food so much that he'll try to hurt them. Land weapons are strange to them, but they know how much damage they can do.

Before they grab their water-breathing necklace, they stop by one of the exits to pick up a weapon. Long, curved, and sharp on both ends, they sheath the blade along their back. Pausing before the wall of ocean water, they look at their reflection. They have many, many more scars than any land-dweller they've ever seen.

Just to be safe, and because they don't like the thought of scaring someone who smells so sweet and cries so softly, they tie some cloth around their head, covering everything but their eyes. Ready for anything. They think.

Pushing off into the wall of water, they leap up and quickly swim towards the dock, trying not to get their hopes up but failing hard.

~

Feeling rather ridiculous, Dr. Harvey unfolds a thin blanket onto the dock, and places the unopened jar of mysterious ocean food in the center. A lantern is next to be put on the blanket. He takes out crackers and cheese from his bag, and sets them down as well. Lastly, he takes out a folded up medical journal and sets it next to him. Sighing, he looks at the last-minute picnic and wonders if the mysterious ocean person will be intimidated or welcomed by it.

Taking a deep breath, he looks out on the dark waters. "Hello!" He says, immediately cringing at his volume. "If you'd like, we could eat together?" He says, quieter this time.

A soft thump draws his attention to the other side of the dock.

A hand, and then a forearm, rest on the wooden edge. And then another. Slowly, the lantern light reveals a head, raising above the water. But, it's not a diver. The figure is covered in a shiny, dark, scaly material that seems to be acting like a diving suit. They have a rune-covered necklace around their neck and many small pouches and items attached to them.

When Dr. Harvey makes no move towards them, just smiles nervously, the figure tilts their head. "H-hi" Harvey whispers, his throat now dry.

Reaching up, the figure removes the fabric from their head in a way that Dr. Harvey has never seen. No zippers or buttons, just a light tug and it falls away. Revealing a cloth-covered head, and a pair of eyes.

AN: im so excited aaaaa

[luckynumber-8]

As Cold as Ice (Sam Gamgee x F Hobbit! Reader)

Description: The Fellowship has been stopped at Caradrahas, and you and the hobbits are beginning to feel the cold.

Warnings: gets angsty, reader momentarily contemplates death

a/n: Well, I did it! First one shot! Also, I should mention I like writing in a universe that's closer to the books than the movies, and I thought, where better for an angsty fic than that part where they're stuck in the blizzard and everyone is getting hypothermia? Leave a comment of some feedback if you will, it's like "writer motivation juice":)

~

“Caradhras was called the Cruel, and has an ill name,” said Gimli, “long years ago, when rumor of Sauron had not been heard in these lands.”

      “It matters little who is the enemy, if we cannot beat off his attack,” said Gandalf.

      “But what can we do?” cried Pippin. He was leaning on Merry and Frodo, and he was shivering.

“Either stop where we are, or go back,” said Gandalf. “It is no good going on. Only a little higher, if I remember rightly, this path leaves the cliff and runs into a wide shallow trough at the bottom of a long hard slope. We should have no shelter there from snow, or stones – or anything else.”

      “And it is no good going back while the storm holds,” said Aragorn. “We have passed no place on the way up that offered more shelter than this cliff-wall we are under now.”

      “Shelter!” muttered Sam. “If this is shelter, then one wall and no roof make a house.”

~ J. R. R. Tolkien

      You wrapped your cloak about your shoulders as tightly as it would go, rubbing the coarse, worn threads against your shoulders in a vain attempt to get warmer. The snowstorm hadn’t let up at all since the Fellowship had slowed to wait out the storm, and you were beginning to feel the biting cold – really feel it, in a deep and scary way that was freezing the feeling right out of your body and making you feel all thick and heavy.

      To your right, the other four hobbits were huddled in a cluster behind Bill the pony, trying to stay warm. Sam, angel that he was, was actively trying to warm his companions up, rubbing their shoulders and pulling blankets out of packs to wrap them in. You watched as he wrapped a blanket around Frodo’s shoulders, then practically squawked in alarm and pulled Pippin up from where he’d been trying to lay his head down in the snow – he was the tiniest of the five of you and hadn’t been bearing the frigid temperatures very well.

      Even though there was no heat to be found anywhere, a tiny part of your core warmed watching Sam take such good care of his friends. You knew that, even in a hopeless situation like this one, he’d fight until the very last to protect everyone that he could. Me next, a tiny voice in the back of your mind whispered. Please come take care of me next.

      A gust of wind blew snowflakes into your eyelashes, and you choked on a cough as the bitterly cold air hit the back of your throat. You knew Sam wouldn’t be coming to warm you – you explicitly told him not to. There’d only been room for four to shelter behind Bill, and you knew in your heart of hearts that the other four were far more important to the quest than you were. They hadn’t asked for you to sneak after them on this quest – it wasn’t their fault that you’d been snooping to see why Sam was moving to Crickhollow. They didn’t make you chase after them into the old forest when they suddenly left early one morning, or stalk them until you were all caught by the Barrow-Wight. They weren’t supposed to be saddled with you, and you weren’t going to be the one extra person who caused the downfall of the Fellowship.

      Sam had been angry when he found you’d tagged along. The two of you had fought – he’d said things that made your heart ache, like “you weren’t supposed to be here,” “I never wanted you involved in something like this,” “can’t you just go home, Y/N?” Because you wanted to be there. You wanted to be there, heart, body, and soul, because he was there. You’d die before you let Samwise Gamgee run off on a dangerous quest that he might never return from without saying so much as goodbye to you. In fact, there was quite a bit more you’d like to say to him, but the two of you had barely said two words in passing to each other since that fight. Because then the Nazgul had come, and you’d had no choice but to continue on with Strider and the rest. They were stuck with you.

      But you weren’t as important. You weren’t needed, and you could feel it. Which was why you were letting the other hobbits take the available shelter; “I’ll be fine keeping watch here,” you’d told Sam shortly. “Tend to the others. I’ll sit with Boromir and Legolas.”

      Now, the cold was getting to you, and almost twice as fast as the others. You’d been sitting on Boromir’s right, and his tall figure provided some refuge from the gusts of snow that blew at you, but small piles of white were beginning to collect in the folds of your clothing, and your eyelashes were cold against your face when you blinked, which you were doing much more slowly and frequently as the cold threatened to take you into a never-ending sleep.

      Perhaps this is how they’ll get me off their hands, you thought dejectedly. This cold will freeze me to the bone, but perhaps it’s better off that way.

      Another part of your mind pushed back. You haven’t told him how you feel yet, it argued. You’ve got to live for the day that you can hold Samwise’s hands and tell him that you love him, live for a time when his arms will give you all the warmth you could ever need – a time past this when we can have time for love again.

      You remembered his scathing comments, the ones that proved you weren’t wanted.

      Perhaps life was just full of those sorts of disappointments, sorely and bitterly freezing, as cold as the end you were surely about to meet.

      You closed your eyes, letting the cold numb away the last of the feelings you would ever have.

      “Y/N?”

      A voice.

      “Y/N! Oh, she’s so cold...I never should have let her out of my sight.”

      It couldn’t be. Shouldn’t be.

      “Please, someone, a blanket…anything! Get her warm. Bless you. Boromir. I’ll repay you somehow, swear. Hold on to me, Y/N. I’ve got you.”

      You fastened yourself to the sound of Sam’s voice, and hauled on it as hard as you could to pull yourself back to the conscious world.

      One eye opened, then the other. You gasped and shuddered as the cold came rushing back in an icy surge – the numbness was leaving, but at least you still had feeling in your extremities. As you came to, you noticed just the barest warm presence enveloping you, not unlike a blanket.

      You half-expected to be met with snowflakes falling into your eyes, but none came. You were met with the image of a tall animal with four legs, shuffling its feet to keep warm.

      “Bill?” You rasped, confused. Then you realized where you were – and how you were, more so.

      It was Sam. Of course, it was Sam. He was holding you tightly in his arms, with the two of you seated so you were as close as possible; if you would have had any blood circulation to spare, you might have managed a blush. His warm chest pressed against your back, and a scrap of something soft was tucked around you – a scrap of Boromir’s cloak, you realized, cut rather jaggedly like it had been sliced with a sword.

      “This will be the death of the halflings,” you heard Boromir say, but his voice was distant in your ears. You managed to tilt your head so you could look into Sam’s eyes.

      I’m sorry for being such a burden, you wanted to say. I’m sorry that I’m here.

      Instead, all you could stutter was, “S-s-so c-c-c-cold, hur-r-rts.”

      Sam looked back at you, a startlingly fierce look in his eyes. “I know. I’m so sorry I let you go so far. But you’re going to get warm again, soon if I have any say in it. We’re going to be alright, Y/N.”

      The sudden his change in his demeanor was unexpected, but you weren’t going to complain. You nestled closer, clutching the scrap of Boromir’s cloak in one hand and Sam’s arm in the other.

      A rustle in the snow next to you – Legolas knelt down next to Sam, holding a bottle. “Miruvor,” he said softly. “Elven cordial – one small sip for each of us, but it holds the promise of fresh strength and warmth. There is enough to split between the five of you.” He handed the bottle to Sam with an encouraging look.

      Sam held the bottle straight out to you. “You have mine, Y/N,” he said stoutly. “I haven’t felt the cold much, I’ll do alright without.”

      It was tempting to take the liquor and down as much as you could – it was clear and sparkling in the bottle and smelled of warm spices. But you pressed it back into Sam’s hand, noting how his fingertips had an icy coolness to them. “There’s enough for each of us,” you echoed. “You first, Samwise.” You tightened your grip on his wrist, weak as it was, hoping to communicate that you hadn’t completely lost your strength.

      Sam shook his head and uncorked the flask. “I’d never known anyone more stubborn before you, do you know that?”

      You chuckled, just a little. “I’d s-say yes, but you’ve known your-r-self your whole life.”

      He was convinced quickly – you guessed he was colder than he let on. After a tiny sip, it was your turn. The liquid hit your throat warmer than you’d expected, and you shivered at its sweetness and flavor. The miruvor had a vitality to it that you’d never gotten from any food before – part of the elven magic, you supposed.

      Sam would have gone absolutely mad over this back when we were still naïve little Shirefolk, you thought sadly. Not just having been in the presence of elves, but traveling with them, and tasting their potions…only the circumstances absolutely ruin it.

      You felt your strength returning, and an internal warmth tingled through your bones. Your limbs moved with less stiffness, and your eyelids didn’t feel so heavy – the cold was by no means blocked out, but the worst of it seemed to have come to pass.

      You lifted your head and looked around. Gandalf seemed to have overcome his aversion to fire, for one had been lit and was crackling merrily under the shelter of the cliff. The other hobbits were huddled around it; Merry was practically pouring the last of the elf cordial down Pippin’s throat (the youngest hobbit looked to be in barely a better state than you were). Frodo was curled up next to Boromir, who was constantly prodding the hobbit to ensure he was awake.

      It was at this point you realized you were still seated on Sam’s lap, and an uncomfortable number of conflicting feelings struck you with such ferocity that it seemed more prudent to avoid them altogether, You made to crawl off of Sam’s lap and join everyone at the fire, but a firm grip on your wrist held you back.

      “Wait.” There was a different note in Sam’s voice, one that made you turn quickly. “I want to know why you did that just now. Why would you put yourself at risk like that, refusing shelter and tryin’ to go off on your own? You could have easily died. Matter of fact, you almost did.”

      This was it. Here came the conflict again – why are you here, Y/N, ruining our grand adventure? Maybe if you just laid it all out on him, he’d leave you be.

      You inhaled, then let all the words on your mind out in one breath so nothing could be held back. “I don’t belong here, Samwise Gamgee. You of all people should see that, since you’re the one who tells me so often. I know I’m a burden, and I hate that you hate that I’m here. This whole quest would be better off without me, alright? You, Frodo, Pippin, Merry – you’re the important ones. You need to survive, so I gave you the shelter. It doesn’t matter if I die here. In fact, it would probably help you all along. So there you have it. Happy? Now if you don’t mind, I do prefer being alive at this time, so I’m going to try and get some warmth.” The rant left a nasty taste in your mouth, like you’d spit something toxic.

      “It does matter.”

      You didn’t want to hold your breath, to wait and see what followed, but you did anyway, because no matter what he had said, there was a reason you’d stole away from Crickhollow early that morning. There was a reason you’d chased Sam all the way through Middle Earth, up until now.

                Sam took your hand in his. “It matters to me, Y/N. It matters because… because… well…” He stopped and looked away.

            You were speechless. In all your time, Sam Gamgee was the poet. He always had pretty words to say. You’d never seen him at a loss for them.

            When he turned back, that fiery look of resolution was back on his face. You almost didn’t have time to process it, because before you could blink, he was kissing you – a strong, passionate, romantic sort of kiss, one that would have had you weak at the knees if you weren’t already sitting on them. You once again found yourself frozen and unable to move, but this time it wasn’t cold or altogether unpleasant; in fact, a lovely, tingly sort of warmth was spreading through you. You summoned up all your willpower and threw your arms around Sam, kissing him back with as much intent as you could muster.

            After some undefinable amount of time (you never knew how long that first kiss of yours was – only that there were many future ones), he finally pulled away, as pink in the cheeks as a frozen hobbit could be. “I hope that explains some things,” he said rather shyly. “I only wished you weren’t here because this quest could be the end of us all, and I want you alive and happy and safe. If I were to be the selfish sort, I’d have taken you with me from the beginning, if only so I could have your beauty and kindness to get me through the struggles of each day.”

            You shivered, though the cold likely wasn’t the cause. There was the poet you’d fallen in love with – the strong soul who you knew would probably be the reason this quest succeeded, if the Fellowship could make it off this cursed mountain. “Well, you make the worst sort of liar, Samwise,” you said, but there was a smile on your face. “You had me fooled – though I suppose you’ve somewhat made up for it now.” In fact, you could barely suppress the giddy grin that was trying to stretch your frozen cheeks.

            Sam laced his fingers through your cold ones. “Well, I suppose there’s no turning back now, so we might as well make the best of it. I suppose I can hardly complain now, with you as my companion...or sweetheart now, I suppose.”

            “I’ll tell you a secret,” you whispered, “I’ve always wanted to hear you say those words.” You squeezed his hand. “I came because I couldn’t stand to leave you, and I don’t plan to. Let’s go warm our bones before we freeze into a pair of hobbit-sicles.” You tugged him after you to the fire, which warmed everyone through the night.

            Hope no longer seemed so far away.