#fr it took me years to grow out my hair to the point where i could make a ponytail

[butchkaramazov]

WHY DO I LOOK LIKE AN ACTUAL TEENAGER WITH A PONYTAIL

[corvidcrossbow]

would you maybe write some daryl fluff? maybe reader is carols adopted daughter (20ish years old)

daryl comforting reader after henry and how carol acted in the tunnel? maybe r sees carol taking pills n stuff. idk just daryl maybe talking to carol “what about her? henry’s gone but she’s still here!” just daryl sticking up for reader and hugging her n looking after her while carols off.

~•♡•~ What One Has

➳ Summary: Following the Savior war, Carol took you and Henry in as her adoptive children. But through the events of the Whisperer war, your relationship with her became sort of estranged; at least you had Daryl looking out for you (Daryl + Fem!Reader)

➳ Setting: Post Whisperer war, around 10x18 + 10x21

➳ Word count: 1.9k

➳ C/W: Mentions of pike scene

➳ A/N: Ima be so fr, I struggled writing this, I think because I wasn't quite sure what direction I wanted to go but I needa stop sittin on this n I hope you like it nonetheless anon 😭🫶 Hopefully now that opening day at my job has passed I can refocus on writing (and hopefully we never have a day like that ever again cuz someone dropping and coding in front of me was not in any of my expectations 🗿)

Daryl groaned an exhale and shifted in his blankets, rolling over onto his back with a clenched fist resting on his forehead. Darkness shrouded his room in the basement, Dog curled up close to him no matter how many times he tried to ward the canine off from dirtying the plush couch by sleeping on it too.

Despite the threat of the Whisperers eliminated, and what he could only hope would be some time for rest, he didn't rest. Sleeping never proved easier no matter how many times a conflict was eased: he knew more would always follow. Especially now, where the repercussions of Alpha and her actions were so grave it shook foundations he'd prayed would stay stable.

The archer threw back his covers, picking himself from the makeshift bed and finding a shirt he'd earlier thrown aside, and a pack of cigarettes set on the edge of his workbench. He tisked at Dog, instructing him to stay while he quietly existed from the cellar, carefully ascended the stairs and opened the front door to head outside and smoke.

Closing it and throwing his head back to clear the messied hair from his face, he paused at the figure already occupying the right side of the steps. In the faint glow of moonlight, he recognized you despite your hunched posture, seemingly trying to obscure yourself.

“Why ya out ‘ere?”

“Same reason you are.”

It was a rhetorical question, really. He knew why, who this was about. It wasn't the first time he'd found you awake in the night as he was, having become an increasing commonality over the past 10 months since you moved here, and increasingly concerning.

Daryl stuffed the pack away in his pocket, coming to sit near you on the opposite end of the step, propping his elbows on his thighs. “Ya won’ talk ‘bout it?”

“It's not really gonna make a difference,” You replied, head bowed to stare at the wooden planks in front of you, twisting a loose thread you'd plucked from your jeans between your fingers.

“Could. Least yer not carryin’ it by yerself,” He tried to persuade you. Although he was guilty of doing it himself, his conscience didn't sit well with knowing those close to him were lost in their own minds like he so often was. Especially you, who he not only cared about, but had cared for. “C'mon, ‘m listening.”

You heaved an uneasy sigh, reluctantly accepting that he was right. He felt like the only person you had at this point. “I miss her.”

Daryl's head turned a bit so his gaze could flick to you then shifted back, nodding – more to himself – understandingly.

“And it's so weird because she's, what… 30 feet away from me right now? Maybe less? But she feels even further than she did when she just up and left to go on that boat.” You paused for a moment, coaching yourself through your breaths and not allowing them to grow erratic. “I thought, maybe after everything at the tower, she'd warm back up to me again. But I feel like the… thing, wore her raw, and then the blizzard froze her so solid she won't thaw back out.”

The man stayed silent, taking in your every word but knowing to speak now would halt the tracing of your thoughts; hinder you from fully opening up.

“Does she think because I'm grown it doesn't have a major effect on me? Henry wasn't just her son, he was like my brother. Families are supposed to be there for each other when you lose someone– and, and then I almost lost her too. I mean, you remember all the pills; how she never left her room. I could hear her some nights, just talking to herself. She was talking to something that wasn't real more than she talked to me!”

Now you were struggling, that choking feeling tightened around your throat and broke some of your words, mask slipping as the weight of everything started to collapse in on you just like– “And the cave. I… I'd never been more scared in my life, being in there with you guys. There's so many times I thought I was gonna die but nothing scared me like that. I still hear all the walkers sometimes, how she screamed, the sound of that dynamite going off. I still feel like I'm coated in dust just–... What was she thinking? I was right next to her. It's like I was invisible, or erased from her memory, and all she remembers is Henry.”

Daryl pulled you to him before you'd even realized you were crying, holding your stiff body against his, and through a few sobs, feeling you relax and give in. His strong arm wrapped around you was the most secure you'd felt in a long time.

“Shhh… s'alrigh’. ‘M ‘ere.” Soothing words were few and simple, but they were what you needed; the reminder that someone saw you, remembered you, and took account for your feelings in all of this.

You scooted closer to him, further tucking your head into his chest as if you were trying to finally find a moment of peace by escaping into his embrace. Daryl rubbed his palm over your shoulder, doing nothing but just being there for you.

A moment passed and you recomposed yourself to some extent, shuffling away with a sniffle while he loosened the hug. His eyes caught yours for just a second, seeing so much of himself reflected in your irises.

“Sorry, didn't mean to…” You trailed off while rubbing your face with the back of your hand, ridding the salty streaks from your skin and gesturing. You turned away, embarrassed from your venting and finding it hard to face him.

“Don't. Whole point'ah talkin’ is so ya ain't bottlin’ allat to yerself.” He quieted again, casting his gaze to you then up to the sky as he fidgeted with his hands. “Had a brother too; from before. Was an asshole, but still ma brother.”

You perked up a little, following his line of sight to the black above you. “What happened?..”

“Wa'salways gettin’ stuck with tha wrong people; last time jus’ cost ‘em. Happened bouta year into this; had tah put ‘em down mahself.”

“I'm sorry…” You swallowed and unsurely nibbled on the gummy flesh of your cheek. Was there ever really a right way to respond to that kind of thing?

“Ts'fine, long time ago. Point is I get how it is tah lose family like tha’, ‘nd ‘ll always listen when ya need it. Ya got me.”

“Thank you… for everything; bein’ there every time you already have. I really appreciate it, Daryl.” Truthfully, you'd flat out needed it. He'd remained a constant when all else altered. “I just don't know what to do anymore. Dad's been so distant too, and if I'm gonna lose him to cancer... I'll need her there for that.”

You licked your lips, taking a shaky inhale and biting your tongue a bit. “Sometimes I feel like all she sees when she looks at me is my head on a pike too.”

Daryl's jaw tensed, fearing you'd confess something like that. “‘Ll talk to ‘er.”

“No, you don't have to do that. I know you two are already–”

“Nah. ‘M gonna. Ya shouldn't ever think somethin’ like tha’. She still cares ‘bout ya: ts'jus’ hard for ‘er, been through a lot.” He gave a gentle squeeze to your shoulder before removing his hand. “She loves ya. Get sum rest.”

You nodded faintly, taking another breath to gather yourself and lifting from the spot to retreat inside, leaving the man to his own solemn nature.

❥-》》—————➣

Daryl often wondered if some things were worth it, this included; begrudgingly agreeing to let Carol tag along with him on what was meant to be a hunt, yet tracing paths back to that long abandoned cabin he would've preferred to add ‘forgotten’ in the title of.

He damned Dog for leading him back there, but figured something was going to push out the full story regarding how he spent all those years in the forest – and at least it opened the conversation for more important ones that needed to be had.

It wasn't ideal; borderline arguing with the woman he'd so casually dubbed his ‘best friend’, who'd been there when he needed her and vice versa. It hurt, but it wasn't all she hurt him for, and he was far from the only one she did.

“I'm sorry for Connie,” She spoke, head bowed and pursing her lips to shove back the tears that gathered in her waterlines. “But I'm not sorry for going after the horde and I'm not sorry for making Alpha pay for killing Henry because I was right.”

“‘Nd tha's all tha’ matters; you bein’ right, huh?” Daryl angled to look at her, keeping his forearm braced against the wooden post. She questioned the depth of his motivations, and he shook his head disapprovingly.

“Ts'ain't all about ‘em, ‘ts barely ‘bout me. ‘Ts ‘bout'cher damn kid; tha one ya still got.” They met eyes for a moment before hers shot away, shamefully avoiding the confrontation. “Ya think ‘bout ‘er in all this? Tha’ what you lost, she lost too? Ya know feels like she lost you? Tha’ she don’ sleep much anymore, misses you like yer already gone, ‘cause ya might as well be … Ya still have ‘er, ‘ts sum’thin’ we can't say fer a lotta people, so quit actin’ like ya don't.”

A painful silence settled, clawing at the both of them as he pivoted away and focused out the dirtied glass plane ahead of him. The archer bit back further words, part of him regretting the harshness of such even though it felt required.

“Ya shouldn'tah come.”; brought Carol's sharper attention back, sparking meaner accusations and disclosures between them – predominantly on Daryl's part – regarding their situations.

She turned around, drifting fingertips over the structuring of the cabin's foundation and sniffling before muttering a few things more and trailing into the other room.

Tension hung heavy enough to keep it mostly quiet, even as they later parted ways while returning to Alexandria, forced through seeming trials; Daryl with his motorcycle, and Carol while attempting to cook.

Once he finally got that damn bike working and rode home, he stifled a chuckle at how the silver-haired woman stood there, disheveled appearance matching his own. The man appreciatively declined her offer for soup, exhausted from his troubles and preferring to just go lay down with Dog.

He followed the shepherd round the house to enter through the front door, watching the cheerful wagging of his tail as he padded across the hardwood and down steps to the basement.

Daryl readjusted his crossbows strap around his shoulder, brushing back his hair before descending. He picked up Carol's voice in the distance, sequenced by yours, and paused to shift his vision for just a quick glance; you perched against the kitchen counter, bowls on the surface, and for the first time in a while, a genuine smile on your face as the older woman came up beside you.

His own tugged the slightest bit at one side of his mouth, satisfied with the apparent reconnecting. He continued his action, setting his things down in his room before partially undressing and flopping back on that couch.

Even if his relationship with Carol remained rocky, granting some stability to yours was enough for him. That was worth it.

©corvidcrossbow 2024. I do not give permission for my works to be copied, modified or adapted to other platforms. My work may be translated only if asked and with proof of given consent.

[diino8081]

random zane headcanons i like

(also includes those i've picked up from others)

also will enter spoiler territory for dragons rising season 2 (and a few mentions of season 3 leaks but i'll make that text blue so you can avoid it)

this does also become predictions and interpretations but it works

-- he can't cry but he likes to use his powers to create frost under his eyes. it melts and looks like tears

-- his hair is a type of synthetic titanium that somehow grows over time

ever since ice chapter he's been growing out his hair to cover the port on the back of his neck, additionally he wears clothing that covers it too

i feel like vex would've cut it and kept it short for easy access to the port just in case he needed to do a memory wipe again

-- as time goes on he feels more and more pushed into the role of "robot guy who is only useful for giving information"

he feels restricted to this role as that's the only way he feels useful to the team, eventually ignoring his well-being for the sake of being accepted by the others. ("i don't feel heightened emotions")

-- zane's had identity issues ever since the beginning. discovering he was a nindroid, his new titanium body, the ice emperor, the multiple times he was threatened to be used for parts, the mechanic using him for the portal, the scene with the fear mirror at the explorers club. heck, even that time in season 3 when the students got the everything-remote and messed about with him. the time in crystallized when he crashed the jet and the emperor took over

not to mention the multiple times in dragons rising like how he was stuck in the egg and was set back multiple years (he probably felt like he was being left behind)

and the administration and the people on zane day not seeing him as anyone human (ok well he isn't but i mean a sense of humanity specifically) and the admin trying to disassemble him

-- in better news, this one is a "sometimes" headcanon but zane likes to make music to get his emotions out. specifically like jack stauber as someone mentioned this in their own headcanon and i couldn't stop thinking about it

i stole this one from @acksolotel618

also here's a reply from a convo we had about it in which i go more in depth with my interpretation of it

he would likely do it in secret or hide away inside his computer brain because "he can't let the team find out"

-- back to the angsty point from before: he gets pretty stressed and as the tournament comes along but decides that this is the time to prove himself as more than a robot

and unfortunately, yeah. tourney's rigged and he's out first. this is the beginning of the tipping point. from this point on he gets angry but doesn't really show it.

when jay appears and explains the lore, zane is hit with an "oh shit, he just like me fr". i feel like he would've gone to follow and confront him after he left but instead restrained himself

this is one of the seasons where he's included much less, and it's very noticeable with the race and all the other stuff

❄️❄️❄️

-- i think in season 3 he's gonna finally let out his anger and emotions. especially with pixal around. he's going to find her because the others have been treating him differently and pixal doesn't do that. plus they seem to have given up on her too

❄️❄️❄️

-- nindroid's souls are attached to their power core. if it's damaged then their soul is damaged too

i have ideas for what zane's core is made of but i won't go into anything due to it being spoiler territory for my au. the only hint i'm sharing is that it's appeared in the show before and that the previous master of ice helped with it's creation

i'm probably missing a few but yeah this is basically it

thanks for reading

[mncxbe]

I just had a cute Idea, How do you think Yosano, Tecchou, and Jouno (and anyone else you want to hehe) react to a child genuinely complimenting them? That would be so cute ngl-

Omg yes this would be so cute. Enjoy♡♡

Side note: ik Jouno can't see but I included descriptions for literary purposes😌🤝🏻

°☆○

You think... I'm pretty?

𝑻𝒆𝒕𝒄𝒉ō, 𝑱𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒐, 𝒀𝒐𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒐

𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒆: slice of life/ silly♡

𝑻𝒆𝒄𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒖

so let's assume a kid bumps into him on the street and then they engage in a staring contest (he defo would you cannot me convince me otherwise)

then the kid compliments his hair or points out how tall he is or something

at first he's there like 😐 but then that sweet smile of his makes its way to his lips and omg he's so happy

probably thanks the kid tbh

compliments them back and he's so sweet fr; just protect him

Tecchou's eyes narrowed as he carefully observed the colony of ants that crawled its way on the edge of the sidewalk; along the stretch of shade provided by the nearby building.

'Interesting...' he thought to himself 'So they purposefully avoid walking in the sun.'

His train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a sudden nudge on his side.

"Ouch" voiced a little girl as she pressed a hand to her forehead "Why are you sitting in the middle of the road and woah! Is that a tattoo? It looks so pretty"

For a moment Tecchou's face remained expressionless. He simply held the girl's gaze, trying to make sense of her words. And then it hit him: the cherry petal marks on his face. He gently traced his fingertips over the markings, a warm smile rising to his lips.

"Oh thank you" he beamed, looking at the child.

The girl blushed furiously and stuttered for a moment before turning on her heels and running away, leaving Tecchou alone. He frowned, seemingly unaware of why the kid reacted in such a manner.

Just then Jouno walked out of the building and smacked him over the head.

"Why are you crouching, idiot?" he asked in an annoyed voice "Don't you have work to do?"

Tecchou rose to his feet, still gazing in the direction where the young girl left.

"Say, Jouno. Am I scary?"

"What the hell do you mean by that? Of course not"

"Then why did the girl run away?"

Jouno took notice of the hint of sadness and worry in his colleague's voice and raised a brow "What girl?"

"The girl. She said my marks looked pretty" he said, pointing at his face.

Jouno only scoffed "She was just a kid right? Stop wasting time and let's get back to work"

With that Jouno began walking down the street, snaking through the sea of people; Tecchou following close by. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't get the kid's words out of his mind. Were his markings really that cool? He always saw them as a part of himself, like his hair or nails, not some adornment, but apparently they were something beautiful, something that made people smile. And that was enough to make Tecchou smile too.

𝑱ō𝒏𝒐

we all know he's high on praise already, although I feel like he has a hard time accepting it

appreciates any compliment he gets but when its from children or elderly people it kinda hits different

he tries not to smile, really tries to but inside he's melting

gently pats the child on the crown of his head

The white haired man wiped the blood off his sword with a swift movement; there was a certain grace to this motion that only came from practice.

"Lowly scum" he mumbled under his breath "Really thought he could steal that woman's purse."

Suddenly, a gentle tug on his crimson cape caused him turn around and face a young boy, who didn't seem older than eleven years of age. The kid's gaze was filled with adoration, chocolate brown eyes glimmering with joy and a wide smile stretching his lips.

"Sir if I may..." he began in a hesitant tone "You're so cool. The way you slashed that man was insane!"

The boy spoke with such fervour, mimicking the blade of Jouno's sword with one of his frail arms. "I wanna be just like you when I grow up"

For a brief moment memories from Jouno's dark past resurfaced in his mind. How could this kid say such things? He doesn't know what a cruel person he was and the despicable things he had done and yet... Maybe he had actually changed since he joined the Hunting Dogs, maybe he was a now a better person; worthy of appreciation.

A warm smile tug at the corners of Jouno's lips as he placed a hand on the boy's head and ruffled his chestnut hair.

"Then make sure to stay out of trouble and work hard, kid." he said with a gentleness that surprised even Jouno himself.

The boy nodded eagerly before a woman's voice called out his name.

"Coming mom!" he replied happily, waving the white haired man goodbye. "You'll see how great I'll become sir. Just like you" added the kid as he made his way towards a middle-aged woman carrying a bag of groceries. He took her free hand and soon the two of them got lost in the sea of people swarming around the shopping centre.

Jouno took a deep breath, attempting to push down the rush of emotions that bubbled up inside him. This was all he needed: confirmation that he was doing something good, that his hard work actually paid off and his actions didn't go unnoticed.

Turning on his heels, the man walked towards the revolving doors and out of the mall, heart swelling with pride.

𝒀𝒐𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒐

she's so happy honestly

knows that little kids are super honest so they mean what they say

depending on the mood she's in she may ruffle the kid's hair a little, affectionately of course

she would remember that moment for such a long time and always go back to it when she's feeling down

"Wow mommy look. She's so pretty!"

Yosano stopped dead in her tracks upon hearing these words. On her right, a little girl pointed one of her little fingers in her direction; her other hand was clutching the summer coat of an older woman.

"You're so pretty miss" said the girl again in the same cheerful voice.

"Oh, Hira. Don't say such things so strangers!" scolded her mother as she bowed deeply. "I'm sorry miss. My daughter is at that age, I'm sure you understand."

A gleeful smile rose to Yosano's lips as she shook her hand dismissively.

"Oh it's quite alright ma'am, I don't mind it at all. She's adorable."

The little girl beamed, her face turning a faint shade of red. Just then a train pulled on their platform and the woman grabbed her daughter's wrist gently and pulled her towards the opening doors; before they left, Yosano overheard the kid asking her mother if she could get her hair cut like her.

The doctor watched the sliding doors of the speed train close, blocking her vision of the girl. Her heart fluttered from happiness. As someone who never actually had a woman to look up to as a kid, she was thrilled to play that role in someone else's life. Combing a hand through her charcoal hair, her fingers lingered upon the golden butterfly clip; a comforting reminder of her past.

Soon after the arrival of her train was announced by a static voice that echoed through the entire underground station. Sweet memories of this day are still living in the back of her mind.

[unclewaynemunson]

Just to be clear: this post is entirely platonic. It’s about finding understanding through shared feelings of loss and guilt and the depth of platonic connections, so please don’t reblog with any romantic tags.

'Eddie, what's this?' Nancy asked when she walked into the hospital room to find Eddie upright in his bed, with a pile of paper on his nightstand and surrounded by origami boats.

'Hi, Wheeler,' he said with a smile that wasn't quite as broad as the one he would regularly flash at her in the school hallways before their Week From Hell.

He looked better than the last time she'd visited, though: he had more color on his cheeks and his hair had clearly been washed and brushed. Apart from the scratches on his arms and the stitches in his cheek, he almost looked normal.

'You ever heard of ghost ships?' he asked Nancy as she went to sit down in the plastic chair at his bedside.

'Ghost ships?' she repeated. She tried to remember a term like that from Mike's D&D games, but came up empty.

'They're like, versions of yourself that you'll never get to be,' Eddie explained, picking up one of the paper boats around him and holding it loosely in his hands. 'Like the version of me who'd graduate high school.' He picked up another of his creations. 'Or the version of me who could walk without a cane.'

'You might,' Nancy reminded him.

'See, that's the whole point of ghost ships, Nance,' Eddie said with a smile like he was making some kind of grand revelation. The sparkle still didn't quite reach his eyes, though. 'You hold onto them, because you can't let go. Until you finally set them free, send 'em out onto the ocean. Watch them disappear on the horizon.' He shoved one of the boats off his bed in a somewhat cat-like movement; Nancy followed the falling boat with her eyes until it gracefully landed on the linoleum.

She thought about her own ghost ships. There were plenty of them, as if she had unknowingly opened a whole ghost port back in 1983. The version of her that lived in the peaceful bliss of not knowing how to shoot a gun. The version of her that would grow old with Steve, or with Jonathan. The version of her that loved to dance. The version of her that cared about which grade she'd get on her chemistry test.

The version of her that had a best friend called Barb.

'What if you don't want to let them go?'

Eddie looked up from the boats surrounding him, into her eyes.

'Then they'll always keep haunting you.'

Nancy thought about that for a minute.

'Which one's haunting you most, right now?' she finally asked.

Eddie's fingers started roaming over his sheets, until he picked up one of his boats, cradling it in his hands like it was made of glass.

'The version of me that didn't kill Chrissy.' He said it so softly that Nancy almost couldn't hear him. His eyes, wide as always and suddenly glazed with tears, kept staring at the boat in his hands like he was expecting it to start talking back at him.

'The version of me that saw she was hurting and didn't – didn't use that to his advantage. The version of me who didn't sell her fucking drugs but actually tried to help her.' He took a deep, shaky breath. 'The version of me that didn't run away and left her when she started floating.'

This was probably the point where Nancy should remind him that what happened to Chrissy was in no way his fault; but she knew exactly how he felt. She knew exactly how empty those words would be.

'Did I ever tell you about my friend Barb?' she asked him instead.

Her heart ached at the mere mention of Barb's name; she had never talked about her with anyone, ever. Not really. Steve had tried to be there for her, that first year after it happened, by visiting Barb's parents with her and holding her when she woke from a nightmare; but talking about it wasn't something he had been able to give her. And neither had Jonathan, or even Mike, or anyone else who knew about... everything.

But Nancy now realized that Eddie might understand, more than anyone else.

He looked up from his paper boat, a questioning look in his eyes when his gaze found hers.

'I mean, I know what happened to her...' he said, hesitant.

Almost subconsciously, Nancy reached out to one of the boats on Eddie's bed and took it in her own hands.

'She died because of me.'

It was the first time she said those words out loud – or the first time since that one awful party that she couldn't even remember.

'She died because I didn't care enough about how miserable she was feeling. She died because I wasn't there for her.' She tried to swallow the lump in her throat away. 'Vecna, he – he showed me what happened, you know. How she screamed my name, and how I didn't hear her. How I wasn't there.'

She blinked, her eyes focused on the boat in her hands.

'I don't think I can ever let go of that.'

'Do you blame Steve, too?' Eddie asked, his voice uncharacteristically quiet. 'He was there with you, wasn't he?'

Nancy hesitated. 'I used to,' she finally admitted. 'But I don't anymore.'

Eddie nodded.

'So you can also forgive yourself,' he pointed out. 'Sure, it might take a bit longer. You can keep that ship docked in your port for a while. But that doesn't mean it has to stay there forever.'

And somehow, that was a comforting thought. Maybe being the owner of a haunted ship wasn't all bad. Maybe the fact that it would be staying for a while meant nothing less than that she had loved someone deeply.

'So do you have any ghost ships you want to hold onto?' Nancy asked Eddie.

He stayed silent for a while, looking pensive.

'I think I’m not quite ready to give up on Eddie the high school graduate,' he finally said.

'Yeah?'

'Yeah.' He nodded, looking increasingly more certain of his words. '87, baby. 'S gonna be my year.' He paused, the fake smile dropping from his face just as sudden as it had appeared.

'And I wanna hold onto Chrissy. Can't change a thing about that one anymore; but I'm not ready to let go just yet.'

Nancy nodded. 'That makes sense,' she said. 'Maybe you can anchor it next to Barb's one. They might like the company.'

[rafescoke]

i’m sooo obsessed with your entire page holy moly. if you’re taking requests can i get kinda an angst one where the reader is with jj and finds out him and kie have been doing stuff behind her back, and the rest of the group knew the whole time? so she ends up getting close to rafe and hanging out with his friends so it eventually ends up with rafe x reader??? sorry that’s so long lol pls never stop writing, i love your fics too much <3

All I Ask ; Rafe Cameron

masterlist

#Part 1

#Part 2

Pairing: Rafe Cameron x reader x JJ Maybank

Summary: Reader finds herself in the arms of her best friend’s brother after finding her boyfriend cheating on her 

Warnings: Cheating, substance, mentions of sex, jealous Rafe, JJ & Kie being an asshole

A/N: Thank you so much for the amount of love I received from my last two works! It has been so overwhelming and I love each one of you with all my heart <3

p.s, my request box is always open! Send random ideas and I’ll turn them into a fic <33

p.p.s, so sorry if this isn’t my best work :(

“Come on, (Y/N), don’t be a party pooper!”

(Y/N) rolled her eyes as she pulled her best friend aside from all the commotion, “Sarah. I’m serious. I feel like he’s cheating on me.”

“He’s not!” Sarah groaned, and when (Y/N) gave her a look, she sighed. “I’m serious. He loves you too much, okay? Look, tomorrow’s your birthday, right? I’m sure JJ’s just ignoring you as a part of your birthday surprise.”

(Y/N) wanted to believe her so bad, but she couldn’t deny the strong feeling growing inside her. Ever since a month ago, JJ wasn’t there for her like always. When she tried to hold him in the van or at the Chateau, he would flinch and scoot away from her. She didn’t know what to do anymore.

“Look-” Sarah cupped her face, her eyes boring into hers. “I promise that he’s not cheating on you. Can you please let this go? How about you go and find him, have a smoke, and then come back to me with the verdict?”

(Y/N) hummed back in response, thinking about what Sarah had just told her. When she first moved to Obx from the city 4 years ago, she had been spending most of her time with the other kooks. When she bumped onto JJ one particular evening while he was too busy mowing down her lawn, that was when most of her happiest days started. 

(Y/N) made her way towards the far end of the beach where JJ and the other pogues were hanging out, her feet lightly patting against the hot sand. (Y/N) took a deep breath when she saw the love of her life laughing on a log, and quickly walked towards him.

“Hey,” she started, sitting on the empty space beside him. JJ shifted, giving her more space, and muttered a quick ‘hi’ back. He offered her a beer, to which she shook her head to, and he shrugged before downing the whole content.

“You’ve got some beer here,” (Y/N) said, leaning forward to wipe the tiny droplet on his chin. JJ hurtled backwards as if on cue, and quickly wiped the stain with the back of his hand. (Y/N) stared at him, being caught off guard, but decided to not create any drama.

“You really don’t have to do that,” (Y/N) muttered, wrapping her cardigan over her tighter. The cold night air swept over her, causing her hair to fall over her shoulders. She didn’t bother to fix it as she watched JJ scoffed, the fire in front of them reflecting on the surface of his blue eyes.

“Do what? Wipe my mouth? Come on, (Y/N), it’s really not that big of a deal,” JJ sighed. He didn’t even bother to hold her hand, to reassure her that it’s really okay, and instead he continued his conversation with John B about some kind of a movie. She noticed Pope looking at their way, but he quickly turned to look at the waves when she returned his gaze.

“Do you want to smoke?” she tried again, this time with her hands on his lap. He didn’t move, and (Y/N) took this as a good sign, her heart fluttering happily. 

It’s progress.

“You sure?” he asked, fumbling with his back pocket to reach for his extra blunt. When he grasped the rolled up herbs between his fingers, he handed it to her, smiling when she scooted closer. He lighted it for her, watching her took a deep huff before blowing the smoke.

“That’s good?” he asked before taking a blow for himself. He felt his heavy mind getting lighter, the weight he has been holding since forever slowly lifting into the air. He laughed, and turned to look at the state of the girl beside him.

“Thank you, baby,” (Y/N) smiled, this time with her head on his shoulder. She saw Pope looking at them with some kind of a heavy look again, but just like before, he turned away before she could ask him anything. 

“Pope?” 

Pope’s attention from the crashing waves turned completely to (Y/N), his eyes wide and his mind panicking. His eyes glanced to the blonde boy beside her for a second, but it settled back to her. “Yes?”

“You’re okay? You keep looking at me. Is there anything that you want to tell me?”

“Me?” he pointed to his chest, and when he saw the look on JJ’s face, he laughed, making an action of swatting his hands against the air. “Oh no. I was just thinking about something else. I guess I involuntarily looked at you.”

(Y/N) laughed with him, her head still on JJ’s shoulder, her eyes slowly squinting against the glowing fire that seemed to be too bright. She turned to whisper to JJ, “Can we go home?”

“Tonight? But It’s Bonfire night. We can’t leave yet,” he protested, glancing at both of his friends for help. Pope, not wanting to spend anymore time with them anymore, quickly stood up from his seat and walked towards the main space of the party. 

“I’m gonna go with Pope, okay? Find Sarah. Go and talk to her? I’ll call you later,” JJ quickly added, standing up from his seat, stirring (Y/N) from her previous position. She sighed, her head still woozy, but she didn’t want to think about the possibility of him cheating on her.

He wanted her first, it’s just not possible for him to suddenly lose feelings for her. The countless times he would tell her that he loves her, that she’s the only girl he will ever mark as his, and now nothing?

She groaned, kicking the sand, all while the muffled music thrumming against her eardrums. She turned to look at John B, the only guy left with her, and opened her mouth to say something.

“Do you see the problem, John B?” she asked, her voice slow. When he didn’t reply, she sighed again, this time standing up from her seat to return to the ongoing party. “This is exactly the fucking problem.”

She didn’t understand; why is everyone treating her differently? What did she do? She sacrificed almost everything to be apart of their group, including her relationship with her kook friends. At that moment, she longed for her bedroom, where she knew she will be totally safe, all cuddled up with Netflix to enjoy.

“If it isn’t the princess,” a voice said from behind her back, and (Y/N) rolled her eyes before turning to look at the source. The tall figure of Rafe Cameron loomed over her, and (Y/N) tried to block his scent of cigarette and expensive cologne. She never really stopped liking his smell.

The Camerons and her family are business partners, and that was the core reason for her family to move to Obx in the middle of July 4 years ago. Meeting Sarah and her siblings for the first time, she couldn’t deny the strong attraction she felt towards the oldest sibling, but she had thought of it as nothing more than a silly crush and tried to focus more on her relationship with a certain blonde boy living on the other side of the island.

“You can take a picture, it’ll last longer that way,” he smiled, and (Y/N) groaned when she could hear the amused tone lacing in his gruff voice. She made to walk away, but was halted by Rafe’s fingers around her wrist.

“Come on, I was just playing. That’s not the way to treat an old friend,” he laughed, letting go of her. He looked around her, noticing her odd behaviour, and suppressed his smile. “Where’s the boyfriend?”

“I don’t know,” she finally replied, and returned the gesture of looking around him. “Where’s the girlfriend?”

Rafe laughed, throwing his head back as his hair messily slicked to the back. “Girlfriend? I don’t do girlfriends. Come on, (Y/N), you know that.”

“Not a surprise,” she said in a singing tone, giving her attention towards the dancing bodies next to the speaker. “Look, Rafe, just say whatever you want to say to me, okay? I’m tired of trying to figure out what people wanted to say to me.” 

“I just want to make a conversation,” he shrugged, chugging down his beer before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. His actions reminded her of JJ, and she quickly looked away when she felt a pang of hurt across her heart.

“Uh-oh, I know that look,” Rafe said, tugging her chin to force her to look at him. (Y/N) grunted, feeling his cold skin against hers, but she let him stare into her eyes before quickly pulling away. “Yeah. It’s that look you’ll put when you’re worried about something. What’s up?”

“Rafe, it’s really nothing,” she sighed, scooting away from the boy. She looked around again, and her eyes landed on a certain blonde boy, and she could feel her heart soaring up again. Rafe’s eyes followed her gaze, and when he saw JJ, he turned to look away.

“I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Yeah, whatever,” Rafe replied, already making his way towards the keg station.  (Y/N) noticed the change in his behaviour, seeing how cold he turned, but decided not to mention it. She was being cold towards him first, so she guessed it was fair for him to be acting that way. 

Rafe didn’t understand how blind she could be. Couldn’t she notice the pattern of the girls he fucked? How they all looked so similar to her? 

He scoffed, sipping from his red cup as he watched her walk towards the boy that stole her from him. Everything was going perfect; they were hanging out almost every day; just her and Rafe, either it was in his swimming pool or (Y/N)’s hot tub. When her father had hired JJ Maybank to mower his lawn, that was when everything went downhill. 

“Cameron,” a voice greeted from beside him, and when he turned to look at the figure, he expressed a sly smirk.

One more person that looked like her.

. . .

JJ’s phone was beside her.

She kept telling herself no, that she should trust him since they are in a relationship, but her brain was yelling for her to go through his phone.

He’s cheating on you.

She groaned, unable to contain herself anymore as she grabbed his phone, looking around briefly before typing his passcode. 

The phone vibrated in her hands as she failed to guess his passcode, and she frowned before the screen. It had been her birthday’s date, so why wouldn’t it open? She tried again with their anniversary date, and again, was met with the same fate.

“What the fuck?” she said to no one in particular, and sighed before trying out random numbers. Lastly, she pressed all 1, not thinking much of it and already accepting her defeat. She exclaimed in happiness when his home screen appeared with his background a picture of a dog.

(Y/N) frowned again, remembering how it used to be a picture of them, but decided to not question it as their picture had been replaced by a dog instead of something else. She went through his Instagram, scroling down the many direct messages, through his Imessages; where he texts the pogues a lot and through his Snapchat, only finding their private pictures in his ‘my eyes only’.

She released the breath she didn’t realise she was holding, shutting the phone off and letting it lay in its previous position. She smiled, secretly cursing at herself for ever doubting JJ. He must’ve been busy with his life, just-

Ding!

Involuntarily, (Y/N) picked up the phone and watched as Kie’s name appeared. She typed in his passcode quickly, trying to see what she needs so that she could try and help her with anything in case if it’s urgent. Her heart stopped for a minute when she saw her text.

Kie: You’re sleeping with her tonight?

Why would she even text him that?

(Y/N) sat up straighter, her fingers gliding across the screen in a swift motion.

wdym?

She watched as the typing signal appeared, biting the insides of her cheeks. She looked at the direction of the toilet again, hearing the blonde boy humming to a Nirvana song. She looked at the screen again.

Kie: You promised me you would be with me tonight

Kie: Just us two

Oh my god.

She could feel the hot tears coming in, but her bathroom door creaked open, so she threw the phone back to its initial position and cleared her throat, looking to the ceiling and randomly muttering words to herself.

“Huh?” JJ asked, looking at the direction she pointed. He saw nothing, and looked back to her. 

“I said white’s not the color anymore. I think I’m changing it to grey. What do you think?” She asked, feeling her throat hurting. She cleared her throat again as JJ stared at the ceiling one more time, his face all scrunched up.

“I think grey’s okay?” He said, but it was more to a question. He took his phone and sat beside her, shielding his screen from her. She watched him from the corners of her eyes, silently interpreting his strange demeanor. 

She cursed when it finally hit her; she hadn’t delete her text to Kie.

She bit her lips, curling her toes and randomly tracing circles on her lap. She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t see clearly, she couldn’t think.

How could she forgot to delete that one, single text? 

“I have to go,” JJ stood up, slipping his phone into his pocket. (Y/N) looked at him, ready to ask if she could follow, but halted her action when he put a hand up.

“I’m seeing John B. Something about, um, Sarah stuff. Just me and Pope. The boys,” he muttered, clearly trying to tell her that he wouldn’t be bringing her to the Chateau. (Y/N) nodded, feeling her heart sank, because she finally understood everything;

The glances he would give to Kie in the HMS Pogue, the brief moments where he would put his hands around Kie’s waist when he tries to slip in between her and someone, the flirtatious laugh he’ll emit when she makes a joke - it all made sense.

(Y/N) used to think that it was all just friendly behaviour and how he had known her longer hence it must’ve been normal for best friends to do that. One thing that (Y/N) likes about herself is how she’s able to guess things correctly - 

But she had never wanted to be so wrong about something before.

“You’re okay by yourself tonight?” 

“Huh?” She finally looked up to him, seeing his blue eyes staring straight into her boring ones. “Yeah. I’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” he smiled, proceeding towards the open window to exit her bedroom. (Y/N) ‘s father would never give his blessings towards this relationship, so he had to enter and exit his girlfriend’s room through the window. 

He hesitated before reaching the seating girl, placing a soft but immediate kiss on her cheeks. (Y/N) smiled weakly in return, not trusting herself to say anything.

How could he?

Ten minutes after his departure, (Y/N) quickly grabbed her father’s car keys before fleeing after a particular black motorcycle. She didn’t even think about turning the car radio on, and her mind was set on only one thing; JJ and Kie.

When she arrived at the Chateau, her fingers trembling and her hair all over the place from the wind while she was driving down the road, forgetting to close the window, she quickly made her way to their usual hanging out place.

Before she could enter the room, Pope’s voice interrupted her actions.

“(Y/N)? What the fuck are you doing here?” he asked, his eyes widening. He looked at her palm around the doorknob, and let out a nervous laugh. “You’re looking for JJ? He’s not here.”

She gets it now.

“Pope, I know,” was all she said before opening the door. 

She felt her world shattering right after she was greeted with the sight of Kie on JJ’s lap, running her fingers through his blonde locks while she kissed him tenderly like  (Y/N) always did. John B and Sarah were right next to him, cheering him on, but stopped when they finally looked up to the looming figure.

“Oh my god,” Kie exclaimed, pushing herself off JJ and fixing her hair. (Y/N) made a look, disgust filling every inch of her body as she quickly walked away from the scene, not wanting to hear any apologies or explanation.

None of that mattered to her; she just wanted to go home.

“(Y/N)!” she heard him yell, but she exited the Chateau as fast as her feet could take her, not stopping to look at him. She cursed when she couldn’t find the right key to open her door, her fingernails clanking against the metal.

“It was a dare!” JJ said, right after he reached her. He watched as she didn’t pay any attention towards him, still fumbling for her keys. “I swear! The kiss was just a dare!”

“Was the text a dare as well?” she asked, finally putting the right key into the keyhole and stepping into the car. JJ cursed and stepped aside, feeling drained and tired from the screaming.

Of course he didn’t send the ‘wdym’. He never like short forms, only using them when he is in the toilet and typing with his left hand. Why didn’t he realised this sooner?

“I’m sorry,” he said, but before he could say anything else, the girl drove straight towards the exit, away from him. 

The worst part of all wasn’t about not having a chance to explain himself to get out of the mess he made, but it was when he saw the pained look on her face. 

“Fuck!” he yelled, kicking a stone and making his way back towards the Chateau. 

(Y/N) fingers scrolled down the many contacts in her phone as she tried to focus on the road simultaneously, and finally stopping when she reached the letter ‘R’ contacts. 

She tapped on the first name under the R letter, putting the phone call on speaker and placing her phone on her lap. She shuddered, suddenly remembering the way she had found JJ and Kie in, but shook her head when his voice filled the atmosphere.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Rafe.”

-

add yourself to the taglist!

[volleychumps]

Requesting cheating angst with Kuroo, Iwaizumi, Akaashi, and Atsumu? Rip my heart apart please😌😌♥️

oH SHIT let’s do a remix on the fluff for this one post, everybody- I’m in an angsty mood so uh, eskettit :( I couldn’t make it past Akaashi’s scenario and I had so many breaks, so proceed at your own risk, everyone! 

Turn and Keep Going. (Kuroo, Iwaizumi, and Akaashi) - angst -

TW: CHEATING, CURSING, ANGST- no fr I ugly cried and I wrote it

Kuroo

“Y/N. Where do you keep the extra towels again?”

You didn’t mean to see it. In fact, if you had the choice on whether or not you did- 

you would have chosen not to. 

The phone in your hand became tightened in an iron-clad grip as a chuckle with a nervous tinge to it slipped Kuroo’s mouth, and the world seemed to drown out for a moment. As if the world around you submerged into the water of the sea, where everything you could hear was jumbled as a strange heat flooded your vision, choking your lungs with the salt of the ocean. 

“Y/N?” The garbled voice was questioning now as your eyes stayed glued to the screen, of the naked set of breasts and invites, even worse- 

the accepting replies. 

That was all it took for you to flinch away from the hand that Kuroo had carefully set on your back hunched over the device, the towel he had been using to dry off his hair falling to the floor in a heap of material as the raven-haired boy finally entered your bedroom from his post-practice shower. 

Still, the phone remained tightened in your hand so tight to the point where your knuckles were turning white. 

“Why are you going through my phone?” The accusatory edge to Kuroo’s voice had risen, and so did you to your feet, the device hitting the floor next to the towel as you fight to keep your head afloat.

“How long?” Your voice cracked, no matter how hard you fought the breaking feeling spreading across your chest as Kuroo seemed to still completely, and you didn’t need to look at him fully in the face to know how utterly guilty he looked. 

“W-What do you-?” 

“Don’t.” Your voice was soft, refusing to meet the captain’s eyes now, not knowing just who was standing in your room. 

Not knowing just who was the man now holding your face in his hands, urging you to look at him with his own flood falling on his cheeks as his words remained garbled. Still, you let him. 

“Baby. Kitten-fuck. I don’t know what you think you saw, but I love you! I wasn’t completely there when I-” 

“Fucked her?” Your voice hadn’t risen, eyes glazed over in a haze as Kuroo’s voice hitched. 

“No. Nononono- Y/N, kitten-” 

“T-Tetsurou?” The name felt foreign on your tongue as your head finally rose to meet his, willing everything inside you to hold it back as Kuroo held you tighter, as if his arms would salvage what was falling apart. 

“Get out.” 

“Y/N. Please.” His voice fell to a whisper- 

and the dam broke. 

“I SAID GET THE HELL OUT.” You screamed, falling to your knees as your arms wrapped around yourself, knowing you were all you had in the world at the moment. You saw his legs approach you, before hesitating and turning the other way, clenched fists creating bloody marks in his hands from his fingernails as he complied. 

“And Tetsurou.” You spat just as his legs stall in the doorway, watching as Kuroo’s feral and playful eyes that once painted every edge of your universe seemed to be fighting to remain stable. The captain heard those words, and couldn’t fight the sobs beginning to wreck his body as the voice he loved echoed in his ears with parting words- 

Your voice didn’t crack this time. 

“Don’t come back.” 

Iwaizumi

“She’s a nobody.” 

You jump at the sound of the voice, humorless chuckle slipping your lips as Iwa steps to your side, dark eyes looking tired and void of any light that might had once lit up his dark irises. You look out at the landscape, still looking straight forward as the ace settles next to you, hanging his forearm across his bent knee. 

“How did you find me?” 

“It’s been two years. I know you, Y/N.” Iwaizumi’s eyes bore into your side profile, and more sarcastic giggles make their way past your lips as you hug your knees to your chest, jabbing him where it hurts. 

“Funny. I really thought I knew you, Hajime-” 

“Don’t you start with that shit.”

You lazily finally meet Iwa’s eyes, causing the ace to feel the lump growing in his throat at the amount of light drained from the look of them, mirroring his own. Iwa moistens his lips, trying to get his head back on track as the heat tinges at the sides of his eyes. 

“We love each other, don’t we?” 

“Yeah. We did.” 

Iwa flinches at the past-tense term, feeling his breathing hollow out at the sound of it. 

“We must’ve at some point, right?” All cried-out, you watch the sun seem to slowly sink into the horizon in a mix of color as your eyes soak in its’ prettiness, as if the light from the sun would somehow bring the gleam back to your eyes-

but every time you closed them, all you saw was Iwaizumi fiercely kissing another girl in the passenger seat of her car, fist clenched in her hair as he kissed her with anger from the fight he had with you-

“You do. You love me.” The denial sunk in as you laugh. And you laugh some more as if that were the most idiotic thing in the world. “And I love you, Y/N- princess, we can make this work and get through this-!” 

“I don’t want to, though.” You cut him off, drawing circles in the dirt as you remember the nights teasing Iwa for showing too little emotion- not knowing that the most you would get out of him would be after he stuck his tongue down another girl’s throat. 

“Don’t you get that?” You shake your head, smiling as if you can’t believe it, shoving Iwa’s attempt of holding you off of you as you raise to your feet, soaking in the colors as they fade to a more dark color palate. 

“I don’t give a fuck about some nobody, don’t you get that?!” Iwa’s on his feet now too, and you finally begin to crack as you look out to the horizon, a familiar heat flooding your vision as you smile. 

“Hey, Hajime.” You ignore his cry, prompting the dark-haired boy to look in the same direction you were. “This is where it all started, didn’t it? Where you kissed me, and promised that you would always protect me, right?” 

Iwa’s own eyes brim with frustration as the stinging heat from earlier takes over, feeling the mix of regret and heartbreak begin to settle in as you turn and give him a smile. No sarcastic intention behind it as you close your eyes, Iwa’s eyes widening at the sight of something he’d never get to see again. 

“I guess you really don’t know me, after all.” You smile to the point where its’ painful, spinning on your heel. “I came because I knew you’d find me, not to fix whatever this is, but-” 

You’re turned around now, the sun fading into night as you will your legs to keep walking. 

“To say goodbye to you, Hajime.” 

And so, the dark-haired ace watched as you walked off into the distance and out of his life for a problem he created, yells of frustration enclosed in his throat and the need to punch something ever-so prevalent- 

as the sky above now swirled with dark pigment. 

Akaashi

“Don’t. Don’t go, please.” 

“Keiji, let go.” You tug your arm in an attempt to make the messy-haired boy release you, trembling when he pulls you into his chest, burying his head in your neck as the hot tears hit your skin, prompting you to bite your lip and fight the urge to hold him back as your own eyes burn. If he wouldn’t let you go, then-

You can’t help the vicious words from slipping. “She’s waiting, you should go to her, shouldn’t you?” 

“Stop. D-Don’t say that-” 

“Am I wrong?” Your voice remains stable to your surprise, causing Akaashi to tighten his hold on you even more. “The girl who came out after you in your shower...who is she?” 

“No one! No one, Y/N, you were so far for so long, and-” 

“And what?” You question emotionlessly. “You have needs? You were lonely? Cut the bullshit.” 

“Do you know what it’s been like?” Akaashi’s voice is soft with an angry edge as he pulls back, still holding you in his arms as if to keep you there for an eternity, and for a minute, time does stop- 

and you soak in the reality. Life tore you two apart, distanced yet together, far away yet still part of the same relationship. The blue-eyed boy would never be able to rewind the clock and keep you as his no matter what life hurled- 

“Let go.” 

“Fuck if I do.” 

Your strong exterior begins to crumble as Akaashi watches with now widened eyes as the viciousness drains only to be replaced with sorrow, relief filling his heart when you hold him back just as tightly, your chin resting on his shoulder as your grateful he won’t be able to see what kind of expression crosses your features. 

“Keiji.” You whisper almost child-like, causing Akaashi’s heart to swell with hope until the next words make his heart stop. 

“Eat healthy, will you? I know Bokuto likes to drag you around to all these places, but too much ramen isn’t good for you-” 

“Y/N?” 

“And please, for god sakes, make sure you remember to pick up your suit from the laundromat on Thursdays, I know you’re presentations are usually on Fridays-” 

“Y/N.” 

“Oh, and don’t forget- you always make it a point to drop by Konoha’s for a guy night on the fourth of every month, so don’t drink too much because it gives you a massive migraine in the middle of the night-” 

“Y/N!” 

“And Keiji?” You pull back, corners of your mouth pulled back as you cup his face gently, leaning your forehead against his as Akaashi Keiji freezes in shock as the love of his life, his future, his world- 

Smiles a wordless goodbye, capturing his lips as Akaashi wonders how to turn the hands of time, forcing the laws of nature to bend for his selfish desires as his arms slacken- 

“Be happy.” You whisper, retracting your arms and hands before stepping out of his now weak grip, brushing past him with a finality in your steps as time refuses to stop, Akaashi fighting every instinct on forcing you to stay with him- 

letting you go as the hands of time continue to move along with your steps away from him, the setter lifting a hand to his mouth before he falls to his knees and looks up to the sky- 

wishing he had more hours, minutes, and seconds to see that smile for just a bit longer. 

“Yeah. You do the same, love.”

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

LMAO GO READ SOME OF MY FLUFF IF THIS MADE YOU SAD I’M SORRY 

General works: @takemetovalhalla @kasandrafaye @savemesteeb @dreebbles @yams046

[harrysweasleys]

Put A Ring On It

Synopsis: Spending Christmas at the burrow with Fred Weasley.

Warnings: none (maybe a lil bit of language?)

Word Count: 3,463

A/N: quarantine’s got me re-reading the harry potter series so my ideas are flowing right now and its great. also this was supposed to be a short blurb but it ended up being much longer than that. enjoy!

-

Fred knew what he wanted to get Y/N the day that he asked her to come join his family for Christmas. It was their final year in Hogwarts, and although yes, they were both seventeen and decently young, he knew there was no one else out there for him.

He stared down at the dainty ring in the box, overthinking his choice. Maybe she didn’t like the diamond cut. Maybe she didn’t even want a diamond. Maybe she didn’t even want him.

“Fred, you keep looking at that box and you’re gonna go mental.” George whispered, helping himself to some toast. Luckily Y/N, along with everyone else in the house, was still sleeping so he could stare at the tiny piece of jewelry in peace. Fred couldn’t fall back asleep after waking up at around five, his nerves getting the best of him, and George’s ‘twin instinct’ woke him up as well, leading to the two of them sitting in the kitchen as the sun slowly rose over the Burrow.

Today was Christmas eve, and tomorrow, Fred was going to ask Y/N to marry him.

“I can't stop looking at it, George.” Fred whined, tearing his eyes away from it and looking at his brother, “She’s going to be wearing this every day for the rest of her life, it has to be perfect, y’know?”

George sighed, sitting down next to his brother with a mouthful of toast and jam, “She’s gonna love it, mate. It’s Y/N.”

Fred knew George was right. Y/N wasn’t picky, she was simple and loved anything that Fred got her — she always had. But this was a whole new level.

“Oi, get your big mouth away from the food before you eat it all.” Ron’s half-asleep self came barreling down the stairs and into the kitchen. Fred closed the box and hid it in the pocket inside his sweater, not wanting his plan to be known by anyone other than George. Ron had a big mouth, Y/N would surely find out if he knew.

Ron eyed the twins suspiciously, “What are you two gits doing up so early anyways?”

Fred’s eyes widened and he plastered a smile on his face, “We’re shop owners now, Ronnie. We’ve had business matters to attend to. Owls to send and stuff.” George nodded, going along with his brother’s lie. If there was one thing these boys were good at, it was lying.

“On Christmas Eve? Sucks to be you, then.” Ron picked up a muffin, shoving the entire thing in his mouth as crumbs fell all over his shirt, adding to the already countless grease stains.

---

Within an hour, the whole lot had woken up and came down for breakfast. Y/N sat next to Fred, her hand intertwined with his under the table as she ate a strawberry, deep in conversation with Hermione and Ginny. Fred was supposed to be engaged in a discussion with Percy, but he was only half listening, his mind more focused on the nervous butterflies in his stomach that were slowly turning into aggressive wasps.

“You good, Freddie?” Y/N’s soft voice spoke from next to him, a genuine look of concern on her face, “Your hand is shaking.”

Fred grinned at her, “I had an extra cup of coffee this morning. Guess the caffeine is getting to me.” The lie rolled off his tongue effortlessly, he hadn’t had a drop of caffeine because he knew damn well that if he mixed it in with his already stressed out body, he’d be a train wreck.

Y/N shot him a breathtaking smile and Fred swore his heart leaped. Nearly four years of being together and he still couldn't get over how perfect she was. From the loose strand of hair that always fell in her face, to the light freckles grazing her delicate cheeks, to the way her eyes seemed to shine every time she looked at him, he was completely smitten and nothing could change that. He knew from the moment they had their first date that he wanted to marry her.

She returned to her conversation about books or something — Fred wasn't really paying attention — and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, calming his poor heart.

---

That afternoon, Y/N had left with Hermione and Ginny to go do some very, very last minute Christmas shopping after Molly scolded them for not getting it done on time, so Fred found himself outside playing Quidditch with his brothers to pass the time. (Molly had actually kicked them out to do some wrapping, but still.)

He was still out there nearly an hour and a half later, zooming around on his broomstick and letting the brisk wind blow through his hair when he saw the three girls arrive. His eyes immediately went to Y/N, her arms filled with bags and her cheeks tinted red from the cold air. Her eyes landed on him and she smiled, waving him over.

Fred swooped down to the point where he was next to her, his eyes scanning over her face, “How was shopping, love?”

She grinned at him, “Good! But don’t come inside, I got you a few things and they need to be wrapped first.” She pressed her lips to his, making him want to completely forget about the game he was a part of and run inside with her, but he let her pull away and head inside out of the winter air, a dopey grin on his face as he returned to his brothers.

“You’re obsessed.” Ron called out once Fred rejoined the game.

“Leave him alone,” George smirked, “Once you grow some balls and ask Hermione out you’ll know just how he feels.”

Ron flushed bright red, making his brothers burst out laughing as they continued the game.

---

That night after dinner, Fred couldn’t sit still. Y/N was cuddled into his side on the couch, watching the slow fire burn down as her eyelids slowly started getting heavier, meanwhile Fred had enough chaotic energy to go run a marathon. It took all his self control not to let his leg bounce up and down as a sign of nervous energy, because he knew that if he did, Y/N would question him. The last thing he wanted was for her to be suspicious.

“Freddie?” Her tired voice mumbled as she pulled her head off of his shoulder to look him in the eye, “I really am having a wonderful time here with your family.”

He smiled, pulling her forehead close to him so he could press a gentle kiss on her skin, “And I’m having a wonderful time with you.”

She grinned, placing a kiss on the tip of his nose, “I love you, my little goof.”

Fred melted, leaning even closer to her touch if that was possible, “And I love you, my little angel.”

“Should we head up for bed?” She whispered in his ear, despite the fact that there was no one else in the room. He nodded his head quicker than he intended to, but he knew that no matter when they went to bed, he wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight. By this time tomorrow, Y/N could be his fiancee. Or she could have crushed his heart in her tiny hand by saying ‘no’ and leaving him spiralling in a pit of self despair.

He grabbed her hand, ignoring his thoughts, and led her up the many, many flights of steps and into his room. Which was pretty much their room now, if they were being honest. She took off her large knitted sweater that Molly Weasley had made her last year and sat it down neatly on the end of the bed. That was another thing Fred loved about her. She was pretty much his opposite when it came to small things - while he would have just thrown his own sweater across the room and only looked for it when he was cold next, she gently folded it and placed it where she knew she’d be able to find and use it.

Fred smiled at the folded sweater, looking over to Y/N who was now untying her hair, letting the loose waves cascade down her shoulders. She really did look like an genuine angel.

“Whatcha lookin’ at?” She grinned, walking over to him. Fred placed his hands on her hips, letting them slide slightly under the tank top she had on, his fingers rubbing against her soft skin. Y/N felt goosebumps rise under his touch and leaned in closer to him.

“You, you gorgeous woman.” He smirked. She blushed, trying to take the attention away from herself by running her hands through his hair, causing his eyes to flutter shut. She placed another quick kiss on his nose and took off to get ready for bed.

As she drifted off to sleep that night, her light breaths fanning over Fred’s shoulder, he couldn’t help but worry about tomorrow. He really, really wanted to marry her, but what if she felt like they were too young? Being engaged didn’t mean you had to get married right away, but what if she wanted to wait until after Hogwarts to start thinking about marriage?

He shook his head, not wanting to keep planting negative thoughts in his mind as he looked over to the woman sleeping next to him, her chest rising and falling with each breath she took. She looked incredibly peaceful and Fred wished he could be in the same position. He only wished that all his stressing could be worth it — that tomorrow night, at this time, Y/N would be wearing the ring on her left hand and grinning at it like a lovestruck fool.

She’s going to say yes, his subconscious nagged him, sounding as if George were saying the words to him and not his mind. He smiled. She was going to say yes.

---

“Freddie, it’s Christmas!” Y/N shook the ginger boy awake, startling him out of his dream. He scanned the room in a panic, calming down once he saw the dazzling smile on his girl’s face and the realization that there was, in fact, no immediate danger.

Today was the day.

“Merry Christmas,” he smiled lazily, pulling her back down against his chest. She giggled, placing a kiss on his shoulder, his neck, and then his cheek.

“We have to get up! It’s nearly ten, I hear your family downstairs already.” She reluctantly pulled away from him, already feeling colder than she was moments ago. Surprisingly, Fred gave off a lot of body heat, and she already missed it.

“Fine, just ‘cause it’s Christmas,” he grinned at her, figuring out a way to sneak the ring downstairs without her noticing, “Tell ‘em I’ll be down in a few.”

Lucky for Fred, she was too excited about the holiday to question why he wasn't going down with her. She picked up the neatly folded sweater on the end of the bed, threw it on over her pyjamas, and rushed out of the room. As soon as Fred heard her footsteps retreating down the stairs, he jumped out of bed and opened his nightstand, taking out the little velvet box and placing it on the bed. He then opened his dresser and grabbed the baggiest sweater her could find, throwing it on and hiding the ring in one of his little pockets on the inside, out of sight.  

He looked over himself once more in the mirror, “You got this, Fred.” And with that, he rushed down the stairs, tripping over his own two feet the whole way down. Once he made it downstairs without injury, he turned to face his entire family sitting around the Christmas tree, everyone had their tea in Christmas mugs that had been painted by the Weasley kids when they were younger. Gifts littered the ground around the large, overly decorated tree, the twinkling lights adding to the holiday ambiance.

Y/N smiled and pat the couch next to her, signalling she had saved that spot for Fred. He poured himself a quick tea and sat down next to her, placing his hand on her thigh to hopefully take his mind off of the events that were about to unfold. He tried hard to keep his mind away from what he would say and how she would react, but there was no way he could keep distracted for too long.

George looked over at him and winked, knowing fully well that he was the only one who knew what was going to happen. Fred tried to avoid the tinge of pink on his cheeks, turning his head down to face the carpet.

Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Harry (who probably arrived overnight as he wasn’t there yesterday), along with the rest of the Weasley family sat around the tree, all still talking, until Molly stood up and clapped her hands, a big grin on her freckled face.

“Shall we get started, then?”

A mumble of agreement made its way around the circle, so Molly went over to the tree and picked up the first box she saw. It happened to be a bunch of boxes, actually, because she handed one box to everyone, clapping her hands.

Y/N smiled at the box on her lap, waiting for everyone to start opening theirs before she picked at the ribbon, letting it fall to the ground and then ripping the paper off of it.

“Oh, wow, mum,” Ron forced a smile, unfolding the furry jumper with a giant green R on the front, “It’s almost the same as last year’s.”

Molly waved her hands, “Oh, Ron. You know they’re your favourites!”

Fred unwrapped his, eyes widening at the large baby blue sweater with FRED W. knitted into it with orange, “Mum, blue clashes with my hair.”

Y/N giggled, taking hers out next. Hers was the opposite of Fred’s, the orange knit with baby blue letters of her initials in the middle, making her grin.

She folded it neatly and placed it in her lap, “Thank you, Mrs. Weasley, I love it.” Fred gave her a look as to say ‘are you mental’ before tossing his behind him on the couch and using it as a pillow. Molly rolled her eyes at her son, smiling kindly to Y/N before walking back towards the tree.

“Wait, mum, I think Fred has a gift he'd like to give Y/N next,” George piped up, causing the colour to completely drain from Fred’s face. Everyone turned their eyes to him to see what the gift was going to be, making Fred nearly a million times more nervous than he actually was.

“Thanks for putting me on the spot, George.” Fred said through gritted teeth, turning his attention to Y/N next to him who looked at him with curiosity in her eyes. He pulled his hand away from her thigh, not wanting her to feel how clammy and sweaty it had become in the last five seconds.

“Go on, then, Fred, which one is it?” Ron looked under the tree, trying to find a gift with Y/N’s name on it but having no success.

“It’s not under the tree, Ron.” Fred glared daggers at his younger brother, his nerves getting the best of him.

He once again turned to face Y/N, who had her undivided attention on him. He was nervous as hell, sure, but when he looked into her eyes and the faint smile ghosting on her lips, he knew how badly he wanted this.

He wanted her forever.

“Y/N,” Fred started, his voice shaky, “I remember when I saw you for the first time. You walked into Potions class looking pissed off because Snape failed you on an assignment that you were certain you did perfectly. You walked in there, told him off, rendered the class speechless, and sat in your seat for the rest of Potions with this proud smirk on your face.”

Y/N giggled slightly at the memory, thinking it over in her head. She had later found out that a certain Slytherin who was on detention duty had hidden her assignment from Snape and that’s why she had failed.

“And I remember when I spoke to you for the first time. It was right before a Quidditch game, I bumped into you by accident and I was ready for you to go off on me with that same passion you had in Potions, but you were so quiet and shy, it was like you were a whole different person.” Fred continued talking, his voice still shaky but he barely noticed, all of his attention on Y/N.

“And then I couldn’t get you off my mind. I was obsessed. I asked you to come to Hogsmeade village with me one weekend and my heart was yours. There was no one else for me. Just you. We sat in the Three Broomsticks and talked for four hours about everything. I went to bed that night thinking of you.”

Y/N gazed into Fred’s eyes, forgetting about everyone else in the room. Her heart was beating faster than she’d ever felt it before, and her mouth felt dry, as if every word in the dictionary had vanished from her vocabulary.

“When you became mine, I knew it was meant to be. You helped George and I with pranks, you’ve supported my idea to open a shop, you've gotten along brilliantly with my family, and you’re the smartest woman I’ve ever met — sorry Hermione.” Fred turned to face the other witch for a quick second before turning back to Y/N.

Y/N felt as if her entire body was putty in Fred’s hands. She probably looked like a fish out of water, her mouth agape and her eyes bulging out of her head, redness creeping up onto her cheeks.

“What I’m trying to say is that — I can’t imagine a day without you by my side. Though the good, the bad, the ugly, you know the saying. I want you with me until my last breath.” Fred finished, standing up and taking the ring out of his sweater pocket, getting down on one knee in front of her.

Y/N’s hand flew to her mouth, and she could faintly see Molly Weasley gripping her husband’s arm for dear life.

“Y/N Y/L/N, will you do me the biggest honour in all the world and become my wife?” Fred asked, opening the tiny box and revealing the ring. His hands were shaking, and he felt as if everyone else in the room had vanished, the two of them being the only ones remaining.

Y/N stayed speechless, her eyes staring into Fred’s as if she could see her future in them. Which she could. She loved Fred with every ounce in her body, and didn’t want any one else by her side for the rest of her life.

“Yes.”

She had said it so quietly Fred wasn’t even sure he heard her.

“What?”

“Yes!” She jumped up, landing on him and wrapping her arms around his neck. Fred let out the biggest sigh of relief, placing the ring box on the couch and engulfing her with a hug. He could hear his family cheering around them, but all he could focus on was her. She pulled away from him, the biggest smile he had ever seen plastered on her face, her eyes shining brightly as if he had just given her the sun.

“I love you.” She smiled, leaning closer to him and pressing a light kiss on his lips. He smiled against her touch, reaching behind her to pick up the ring box off the couch. He held it in front of her and she smiled, holding out her hand for him.

He picked up the ring and slid it gently on her finger, his eyes locked with hers the entire time.

“Freddie, you put it on my middle finger.” she giggled, holding it up to him as if she were flipping him off, the dazzling ring sitting proudly.

“My bad.” he chuckled, sliding it off and placing it on her ring finger, where it belonged, and where it would be sitting comfortably for the rest of Y/N’s life.

“I only got you a notebook and a pen holder,” she smirked, admiring the jewel. Fred found himself laughing, pulling her in for a hug once more.

Molly stood up, clapping her hands, “Yay! This calls for celebration! We have a new Weasley!”

Y/N Weasley. Fred really liked the sound of that.

[cherrysha]

The Chase

Hey! First post on this blog and its something I’ve never actually written before! Its Yandere Hisoka because I just rlly have a soft spot fr evil bastards. I want to write a lil more on this one buuut ive got sum other baddies i need to write for first. Since its my 1st time writing a yandere fic feedback is rlly appreciated <3

My requests are open atm 

Warnings: Blood, a lil spit, Choking, Yandere themes, violence, slapping, crying, uhh Hisoka being a pervert but thats expected

word count: 1,600

18+ crowd here, minors get blocked.

Part 2 here

It didn’t take you long to understand why you were told to stay away. To be exact, it only took you three seconds.

-

“You know why no one has ever collected Hisoka’s bounty y/n?” your boss asked you after taking this mission.

Judging from his face you could tell the question was rhetorical. You rolled your eyes, waiting for him to finish his little lecture. “No one is stupid enough to walk into their own funeral. If you take his bounty you might as well pick out your own casket first, assuming you even have a body left to bury when he’s done with you. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave this one alone.” And with that, you left slamming the door behind you. No matter how many bounties you collected, it seemed like he just never gave you credit. It was just like him to underestimate your capabilities.

What a fool you were.

-

           That’s all it took. Three seconds and he had already sensed you. Even though you concealed your nen, even though you were a rooftop away, even though you took every single fucking precaution you knew, it did you no good. As you peered through your binoculars at him you were met with Hisoka’s full gaze, a sly smile spreading across his face. You felt it then, your hair standing on end, a sickening feeling in your gut. No, you hadn’t just walked to your funeral, you had sprinted.

You were running before you could even comprehend what happened, feet hitting the pavement as you tried to get as far away as possible. There was no time for you to be shocked, if his bloodlust was any indication of his power, you were as good as dead. There was no use in using any energy to try and conceal yourself now. He knew exactly where you were.

“I’ve got to be honest, you are definitely not what I expected…” Hisoka’s voice whispers into your ear. You faltered, your feet tripping over themselves as you felt the warmth of his breath on your neck. You couldnt hide the shock you felt that he had been able to catch up to you in such a short amount of time. Not many people could, and you had a head start. He lets you run anyway; his urge to murder you overpowered by his sudden desire to see you try to escape. No, he was going to savor this one. Hisoka always loved playing with his food and the way your heart was pounding was just too enticing.

-

You intrigued him, if he was being honest with himself. The chase had lasted longer than he had imagined. Any other bounty hunter would have stopped and tried to fight him by now. No, he could tell you were a smart one, you knew better than that. Hours of running had led to this moment and, oh, was he going to relish in it. 

After what seemed like forever, you finally hit the dirt, spluttering as your body gave out due to exhaustion. Such a weak little thing. And to think you truly believed you could take him on. It was laughable. The chase seemed as if it were over, Hisoka sighed, giving up on his hopes of toying with you even more. At this point he knew he might as well finish you off. He didn’t like playing with broken things, and right now there was no way you would ever be able to take him on. His eyes lingered over you, and something in him hesitated as he glanced at your crumpled form lying in the dirt, chest heaving with exhaustion. Hisoka’s gaze wandered over your body. He couldn’t help the smug smile that crept onto his face with how wrecked you look. Clothes grimy and tattered, bloody arms and legs from branches hitting your delicate skin. The sight alone made his mouth water. As you laid there and finally caught your breath his resolve to kill you started waning. But the thought of watching you try to run again sounded so boring. Both of you knew there was no point. Before he could jump down and finish you off, you spoke for the first time since his little chase started.

“There’s no point in hiding up there. I’m not stupid enough to believe I’ve gotten away.” Once he heard the lilt in your voice, he knew he wanted you. The twinkle that was still held in your dry throat was his undoing. How could someone run from death for hours and still sound as angelic as you did? He needed to know, he needed to hear more.

Your first good look at him was when he finally jumped down. Lithe and nimble, landing on his feet like a cat. He seemed well built, albeit his fashion sense was more than off-putting. “So perceptive…To think someone as smart as you would try to murder me. You should know better.” he chastised, circling you as you shifted into a kneeling position. This was it, twenty plus years on this earth just to go out in a single second. You sighed, it came with the job. You knew the risks. Now was no time to hold a pity party. “Can you make it quick? I promise you I’d rather die than hear you drone on and on about how foolish I am.” You didn’t look at him, instead you held your head down and waited. The chuckle he let out was low in his throat, almost imperceptible if you hadn’t been in the quiet of the forest. Surprisingly, his voice was still calm and collected as he smiled down at you “And what if I don’t want to do that? I don’t think you’re in a position to be making any orders little girl.” you held in the anger you felt bubbling to the surface, knowing that it would only serve to amuse him further. He wanted a reaction out of you, wanted to rile you up so killing you would be even more fun for him. You bit your lip, trying your hardest to resist the urge to punch his stupid face in.

Hisoka drew closer, bending down until you flinched away “Would you like to live?” he whispered, lips ghosting against your ear. His proximity sent a shiver down your spine, as if your body could sense how dangerous he was. “I’m not going to beg for my life Hisoka. You might as well end it now.” He groaned at that. God, did he love the sound of your voice saying his name. it felt as if he could live off of it alone. His fingers slowly traced your jaw until he reached your chin, pushing it up so he could finally get a good look at your face. “You’re a proud little thing aren’t you? No matter, I’m positive your defiant attitude will dwindle with time.” Your breath hitched at his last words. No, He wasn’t going to torture you if you could help it.

The anger was building up in your chest and you couldn’t help yourself when his face was just mere inches from yours. You spit, but that only managed to make his grin grow wider. Even though his demeanor seemed calm, his aura showed the opposite. Long nails dug into your skin as he gripped your jaw tight, blood seeping from the fresh puncture wounds. This time the laugh was audible, amusement in his eyes making your stomach curl. You werent given enough time to react to it for long, however. He lifted you off the ground by your throat, loving the way your hands instinctively curled around his arm. So soft and warm, so easily breakable. He wondered how long it would take to pull you apart piece by piece. Wondered how you’d look at him once he put all your pieces back together.

This was it; this was exactly what you wanted. A swift death. You closed your eyes again and waited as your airway was slowly constricted by Hisoka’s large hand. If you had kept them open, you would have seen the way he swiped your spit off of his cheek, sucking his fingers into his mouth and indulging in his first taste of you. His groan was mixed with a small whine this time. He wanted more; He needed more. His first taste and he already knew he would never get enough of you.

Meanwhile somewhere in the back of your mind you were amazed at how strong he was to only lift you with one hand, but you pushed it away. What a silly thought to have right before you die. of course he was stronger than you. Instead you tried to focus your mind on something better, something sweet. The sky right after a storm, the pond near your house with dozens of colorful fish, the feeling of your warm bed. Everything was going to be okay. You relaxed, letting the last of your breath go.

But within a split second he had dropped you, laughing as your body thudded against the ground. “Such an interesting little creature … A lot smarter than I gave you credit for. You already know just how to push my buttons don’t you sweetheart?” Gasping for air, you lay back in the dirt and allowed the tears to flow freely down your face and into the packed soil beneath you. You had been so close to cutting it short, so close to dying with at least a shred of your dignity left. To cry while on death’s doorstep was shameful, but it didn’t matter. It wan’t  like you could hide them once the torture started. Might as well lose your pride now, there wasn’t anything you could do. You were entirely helpless.

Hisoka saw it, the slump in your shoulders as the tears streaked through the grime covering your face. Those tears, he had to make sure that he was the only one who ever saw them. You were crying for yourself now, but once he got you home the only tears he wanted you to shed would be for him. From the pleasure he gave you. No, no one else could see them. They were his, you were his. He was determined to make you see, no matter how long he had to drill it into your stubborn head. The things he was planning on doing … he needed to ruin you.

Hisoka lifted you up by your neck again, but this time his grip was loose enough to allow you to breath. His hand came to your tangled hair, combing through before harshly yanking backwards only stopping once your face was mere inches from his own. You closed your eyes, not wanting to look at him. Not wanting to see the evil lurking just beneath the surface. Hisoka sighed, “Open your eyes for me darling.” You shook your head as best as you were able to with his grip still firmly in your hair. You couldnt trust yourself to speak, fearing your voice would crack and show just how weak you were.

 An audible crack echoed in your ears as Hisoka slapped you, biting back his moan at the whimper you let out. “Love, it’s impolite to close your eyes when I’m trying to speak to you. I thought my suggestion was enough, but if I have to use force then so be it.”. Fresh tears flowed as you stared at him, biting back your sobs as best as you could. You watched his yellow eyes flick to your cheek, smile widening in satisfaction at what he saw there. He tilted you impossibly close, licking up a trail of tears that marred your swollen and dirty face. “So sweet” he groaned, letting his head rest against yours. “And all mine.”.

[angryschnauzer]

What about if ghost mike took a liking to you and when you were getting harassed by some guys he "stepped in"?

Oh wow this one really got away from me! There’s something about Mike that makes me just want to hug him and make everything better. Thank you for this ask!

Warnings: Ghosts, potential assault, Mike saving the day. Canon-fix-it ficlet.

From the moment you moved into the tiny apartment you knew it wasn't going to be your forever home. Strange chills would cross over your skin when you would least expect it, the seemingly nice neighbourhood was far from it with regular arguments and fights breaking out between tenants or people just out on the street, and it got to the point where you didn't leave the apartment at night for what crept unknown in the hallways.

Your thesis was almost done, your final year of your Doctorate on religious texts and the only merit of not leaving the apartment in the evenings meant extra time to study and complete your work. You sat at your desk typing furiously, on a roll with your thoughts and your work when a sudden chill ran up your forearm giving you goosebumps;

"Fuck" you cursed, screwing your eyes shut as you tried to will the train of thought back to your mind, but to no avail. Finally with a sigh you pushed your chair back and stood, deciding to make yourself a hot cocoa.

Warming the milk in a pan on the stove you wrapped your cardigan tighter around your body as you stared out of the window that overlooked the street, before something moved in the periphery of your vision. A young man bending over your laptop, his lips moving as he silently read what you had written. In shock you gasped and turned, but to an empty apartment. Shaking your head you laughed to yourself; you had spent so long writing about spirits you were now seeing them.

Going back to your stove you finished making your drink before returning to your computer, working late into the night now you were re-energised in your mind.

-

Your Professor had been very complimentary of your latest work, and how you had led the Freshman and Sophomore students in theological discussions about spirits and souls, almost as if you had a new understanding of them. 

Continuing to work on your thesis you spent long nights and quiet weekends busy at your computer, but reminded yourself to take a break now and again. One such evening the words hadn't come, so abandoning the screen you’d lit some candles, poured yourself a glass of wine and had curled up on the couch beneath a blanket to read. You were deep in the world of your book when you were aware of your computer screen coming to life, the screensaver ending and your unfinished work on screen. As you looked up you saw him, this time sitting sideways to the desk on your chair where you’d left it. 

He was young, no more than 25, and dressed a little outdated in baggy jeans, hoodie, and a leather jacket, his dark hair curly and trying its best to hang in the mid 2000’s style of curtains. A fear shot through your body, rooting you to the spot and you held your breath; watching waiting… but he continued to read, biting his lip as if deep in thought; he had no idea you’d noticed him. The longer you looked the more real he seemed, no longer transparent but the colours of the apparition deepening.

“I can see you, you know” your voice was quiet yet it startled him, he turned in fright and disappeared right before your eyes. 

Crossing the room you pressed your hand to the chair, stilling it as it span slightly before sitting down, your writer's block now long gone. Your thesis was certainly getting jump started again thanks to your spectral visitor.

-

A week later it was a quiet weekend, no saturday classes, no additional work needed on your thesis until the last few books you’d requested from the campus library were returned. Snow fell outside your window and you stayed curled up in bed, dozing in the quiet morning. 

As the pipes in the building bubbled you finally woke properly, and you saw him, standing in the doorway.

“Don’t be scared” you said quietly, watching as he quietly laughed before raking his hand through his curls;

“Shouldn’t i be saying that to you?”

His voice was quiet, but deeper than you imagined.

“Do you know why you are here?”

He shook his head.

“Are you drawn to something? Did you die here?”

Again he shook his head;

“I can’t remember”

“What do you remember?”

“That my name is Mike” he looked down, almost bashfully; “You realise one tit is hanging out of your top?”

Glancing down you saw your cami had shifted in your sleep and you were now showing far more than you realised, letting out a laugh as you adjusted yourself, but when you looked up he was gone.

Calling out you smiled;

“Thanks for the tip… or should i say tit?”

You heard what could only be described as a chuckle, but he didn’t reappear.

-

Over the following days and weeks, Mike would appear occasionally. Once when you were reaching for something on a high shelf you’d turned to get a box to stand on only to discover the packet on the countertop and him standing next to it with a smile on his face before disappearing again. You became at ease with his presence, your skin chilling as you recognised the signs that he had appeared in the room. He still didn’t talk much but you’d managed to get a few lines of conversation out of him. It almost felt like having a presence to welcome you home, not a pet, but a silent roommate that didn’t bother you because you’d work different shifts.

After one particularly long day on campus, staying late after class to help the Sophomores with their midterms, having to stop for groceries on the way home, it was well past dark before your bus had pulled up outside your apartment building. Juggling your groceries, your backpack, and your keys, you stopped at your mailbox as you could see mail jammed into it, cursing as your cold fingers struggled to work with the tiny key when you heard a cough behind you. Glancing over your shoulder you saw the tall burly figure of a man, and you stepped closer to the mailbox;

“Sorry, won’t be a moment”

“Don’t you worry sweetheart, we can wait…”

You stopped, the fear bubbling up in your throat as you turned and saw that he wasn’t alone, two other men now standing behind him;

“A nice little treat to be found out after dark…”

You turned your back to the mailboxes, pulling close to them as you backed away and the three men started to advance like a pack of wolves, when suddenly another figure appeared in the doorway;

“Mike!” you called out, and the three men turned in surprise.

“Oh, your little boyfriend appears just in time? Don’t you worry about him, he can just watch”

It was then that you heard Mike’s voice, strong and loud in the small hallway;

“Babe, shut your eyes and don’t open them until i say so, ok?” he paused and looked directly at you; “Ok?”

You nodded and screwed your eyes shut, trembling as you hear the three men start towards Mike, but then you could hear them stop;

“What the fuck?”

“HOLY SHIT!”

“RUN, GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!”

A strange gurgling noise came from the end of the hallway and you felt the rush of air as the three men pushed past you. Opening your eyes you gasped when you saw Mike. 

“I said don’t open your eyes!”

“Stop” His voice gurgled as he spoke.

You stepped towards him, the sight almost unbearable but now you understood;

“I can see what happened to you…” you paused; “And i’m not running away”

-

 Stepping in the door of your apartment you juggled the bags and held the door for Mike, before you smiled;

“Do i even need to hold this open for you, or could you just walk straight through it?”

He glanced at you and rolled his eyes, not saying anything.

“I would offer you to get cleaned up, but i have no idea how to clean a ghost up”

You set the groceries on the counter and turned, surprised to see Mike standing close to you, his injuries gone and his face and stomach back to normal;

“Oh!”

“I guess you just had to look away and i reset somehow” he muttered, his body sagging as if exhausted.

“This may sound strange, but do you need to rest? I would imagine what you did took a lot of energy…”

“I don’t like to sleep… the memories come back when i do…”

“Why don’t i rest with you?”

Reaching out you managed to grasp his hand, gently leading him to your bedroom and watching as he lay back against the soft covers, a tired smile on his face as he watched you climb in beside him;

“When i was alive it was never this easy to get a girl into bed with me” he murmured, his eyes drooping. 

“Just rest Mike, i’ll be right beside you… i’ll protect you the same way you protected me”

Leaning forwards you brushed your lips to his, and it felt like wet sand pulling away from you as the tide pulled back to sea. Resting your head on the pillow you felt your own eyes grow heavy, and as you watched Mike fall asleep the same happened to you.

-

Rain hit the window as you slowly woke, the unfamiliar feeling of a warm presence beside you in bed startling you as you sat bolt upright, looking on in shock as Mike slept peacefully beside you. His chest would rise and fall with each breath, and with a shaking hand you reached out and rested your palm against him and could feel the warmth of his body. Eyes wide in wonder you reached to his neck, pressing two fingers to the side and you felt the steady and strong beat of his heart. 

He woke with a gasp, inhaling as if he had been winded and sat up, his eyes wide as he grasped your hand in his own;

“How are you touching me?”

“Y-you’re real” He looked down, watching as your hand pressed against his chest; “and you’re alive”

You leapt at him, wrapping your arms around his shoulders as you straddled his lap, laughing with tears of joy starting to spill down your cheeks before finally pulling back, your mouths so close you could feel the others breath hot on your skin.

“When i was alive… i mean before… i was an ass”

You shrugged;

“Most dudes in their 20’s are”

“And i thought i was god’s gift to women too, but was far from it”

“How about we leave the opinions of gods to the one of us that is the Theological major? As whatever happened here, we have someone to thank and it certainly isn’t Earth bound”

He smiled, and for the first time you noticed that in the blue of his eyes there was a tiny spec of brown. His voice was quiet;

“Can I kiss you?”

Nodding you edged forwards, the touch of his lips this time was soft and warm, and as the kiss deepened the two of you slowly fell back onto the bed, your bodies warm against each others as clothing was shed and bodies were explored.

Mike had a lot to catch up on, twenty years after life had ended for him you were now there to help him start it back up again.

[ultimatetornshipper]

Daminette December Day 3

@daminette-december2019-2020

Princes and Pedestals

Chapter 3 – Legend

Previous

Next

Marinette closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The breeze softly danced through her hair as she sat in the windowsill of her room. She opened her eyes and stared at the parchment resting on a book on her lap, her little bottle of ink sat next to her on the ledge. She fidgeted with the quill in her hand, frustrated.

She was trying to write a letter to Luka to let him know that they'd arrived safely. He was her right hand man and their friends were most likely bugging him on whether he'd heard from her or not. She needed to give them an estimate on how well the whole thing was going but she barely had a feel for these people. She was pretty certain they wanted this alliance just as much as the Order did, but she didn’t yet have any idea what exactly they’d ask for.

She sighed and dipped her quill in her ink, maybe if she started the words would come.

Dear Luka

I hope you are well. How is everyone doing? How’s Alya and the baby? How’s Nino dealing with her pregnancy hormones? How’s she dealing with his overprotectiveness? Has Chloe returned from her mission? How did it go?

I miss you all, I hope everything is alright back home.

We arrived safely at the Gotham Royal family's Summer home. They have treated me with kindness and respect.

She took a breath. Should she tell him about Prince Damian? He would in all likelihood be the next Black Cat. He was her match. She didn’t know him, but the Destruction radiating off of him was on par with the Creation that followed her. As much as she didn’t want to replace- She shook her head, moving on was inevitable, she needed someone to rule by her side. She needed to tell her court the truth.

I met him. It all feels too soon after everything that happened last year. The Destruction coming from him was incredible. Plagg would kill me if I didn’t introduce them. Please have Pegasus deliver the ring when you receive my letter. He can deliver it to my exact location, I’ll explain things to any witnesses. I’ll disclose more information on who he is if he accepts my offer of the ring.

Yours sincerely,

Marinette

She tapped her chin with the end of her quill as she reread her letter.

A soft mew made her look up, sitting next to her little ink bottle was a beautiful calico, staring at her curiously.

“Hey girl,” she replied softly, holding out her hand, the cat sniffed it then pressed her cheek against Marinette’s hand. She scratched the cat's head softly, smiling.

“Her name is Legend,” a voice said from her doorway. She looked up and recognized Lady Stephanie standing in her doorway. She was about to greet her when the girl kept talking.

“Oh sorry, your door was open, I didn’t think it'd be a problem, we’re just pretty casual around here and it slipped my mind, Your Majesty,” she said, quickly, her hands gesturing as she spoke.

Marinette smiled at her, standing and placing her letter, book and quill on a nearby table, “It’s quite alright, Lady Stephanie. My court and I are quite similar to you that way, and please do call me Marinette,”

“Only if you’ll call me Steph,” she replied, shifting from foot to foot in the doorway.

Marinette saw the movement and invited her in. They sat at the table she’d put her letter on and she folded it as they made small talk.

She melted some wax onto her envelope and pressed it with the Miraculous Court's seal as she listened to Steph detail a story about the time she and Jason had snuck into the kitchen to steal some of the pastries before a big event when she’d first arrived at the castle back in Gotham.

“It seems you are all quite close,” Marinette commented after Stephanie wrapped up her tale.

“Yeah, we’re family, you know?” she replied. Stephanie wrung her hands together before meeting her gaze, “Can I ask you something?”

Marinette could feel the girl’s unease, so she tried to appear reassuring, “Yes,”

“Yesterday,” she started hesitantly, “In the throne room, the older man who came with you did most of the talking. I don’t know much about the Order of the Miraculous, but I was pretty certain you’re their leader but you didn’t really talk so...” she left the rest of the question unsaid, clearly hoping Marinette would understand hat she was trying to say.

She could tell the girl didn’t mean any disrespect, she was simply curious and she couldn’t blame her. So she gave her a smile, “Master Fu is my teacher, I’m still learning to lead and he’s helping me through everything, until my training is complete he makes the important introductions and still does a lot of the talking. I will be voicing my thoughts a lot more during negotiations though,”

Stephanie nodded slowly, “That makes a lot of sense actually,”

They spent the afternoon together and had tea in the garden.

Marinette was listening to Stephanie ‘s retelling of how she and Tim first met when she recognized Prince Jason heading towards them.

Stephanie spotted him too so she paused when he got close. Marinette nodded her head at him, “Your Highness,”

He nodded back, “Your Majesty,”

He sat down on the open chair at their table and Stephanie quickly continued her story.

She listened politely, but she was aware of the Prince who had joined them studying her discreetly, if she hadn’t been trained to notice, she would’ve missed it.

He noticed her noticing him and she was impressed by his ability to read body language. He, if her training was correct, was growing more and more curious about her by the second.

Somehow managing to miss the tension Stephanie kept telling her story.

“We were both so incredibly oblivious to the other’s feelings and denying our own. Months of pinning and so many misunderstandings. Apparently it was an incredibly frustrating debacle to watch,” she said laughingly, giving Prince Jason a pointed look.

He groaned, playing along and ignoring their silent sort-of conversation that had transpired earlier, “Don’t remind me, it was torture,”

They all laughed, and a comfortable silence followed.

Well that was until Tikki appeared and the other two almost fell of their chairs. She turned to her kwami and decided to explain later.

“Guardian, Queen Bee is attempting to contact you,” she quickly supplied, ignoring the two royal siblings who were staring in shock.

“Put her on, these two can be trusted,” she replied, sipping her tea.

Tikki put down a device on the table and the familiar image of Queen Bee appeared shining in the air in front of her, it was nothing new to Marinette but the other two stared in shock at the moving image of a blonde girl in armor unlike any they’ve ever seen.

“Bee, this better be important, you know how much it takes out of the kwami to do calls (a/n I’m not gonna figure out a new name for it, calls make sense sorry not sorry °3°),” Marinette said sternly.

Chloe looked grim but stood up straight, confident in her choice, “I’m afraid it’s rather urgent Guardian,”

Marinette felt chills, Chloe rarely looked that grim, it was even rarer for her to address her by her title, “Queen Bee, what is it?”

Chloe grimaced. She gave her a meaningful look softly replied, “It may bring back a few unpleasant memories, Mari,”

Oh

It felt as though the wind had momentarily been knocked out of her.

The familiar green eyes that haunted her at night flashed through her mind. Immediately followed by a darker, newer pair. She pushed both images away, she’d deal with that later, now Chloe needed her to be the Guardian.

Marinette took a deep breath and tightened her grip on her cup, “I can take it,”

“It’s Gabriel, he has the butterfly, he wants -,” Chloe swallowed, looking at Mari with pity, she lowered her voice, “He wants to bring him back, Mari,”

Her grip around her teacup was deadly, it was a shock it hadn’t broken yet. She was certain her knuckles and face were both as white as a cloud.

“I -,” her voice cracked and she took a deep breath, she was in the presence of strangers, she couldn’t break down, she pushed her emotions back and went into her Guardian mode, “Tikki add Carapace, Viperion, Tigress, Rena Rouge and Paon to the call. Now. I want it taken care of quickly,”

Chloe’s eyes widened, “Those are all our top warriors,”

“Like I said, I want this taken care of quickly,” Marinette replied briskly.

The others were quickly added and they all switched to the language of the Guardians. If the two royal siblings could speak French, her and Chloe’s previous conversation had already given enough away. Chloe explained the situation while Marinette quickly pulled herself together, she could fall apart later. Right now her Court needed her.

Carapace looked on edge and she knew why. Rena was on the call and she was pregnant, he was scared that she’d have to fight.

“Rena,” she said after Chloe finished explaining, all eyes turned to look at her, “You’re not fighting, but your strategizing capabilities are too valuable to have you sit out completely. You’re on the side-lines for this one,”

Carapace looked relieved and Rena nodded, understanding.

She looked at Viperion, while half her letter turned out to be written in vain, at least she could get this done quicker, “I need you to send Plagg and his ring with Pegasus as soon as you guys finish discussing details,"

She took a deep breath, "I found my match,”

(a/n did I totally just only put the prompt as part of a single paragraph? yeah i did. Do I have any idea where this is going? No i don't. Is the fact that I don’t listen to my outline and do whatever the hell I want gonna stop me? Nope, not at all)

(fr tho I’m just as surprised at this plot as yall are ngl, also, look at me doing a cliffhanger hehehe)

Taglist:

@animegirlweeb

[takaraphoenix]

Ofc I'm excited for the new chapter phoe, I am so starved for Jason content that even the suggestion that I'm going to get some (esp QUALITY Jason content like urs) makes me unbelievably giddy and I'm fr checking my phone to see when it's gonna be update time in ur timezone 🥺✨

Oh gosh, you're so sweet. Your messages always delight me a lot and since Jason took kind of a backseat today in favor of the build up of the secret reveal, yooou get a small, Jason-focused flash-forward into their future. ;) also because I actually have time to write again fdklghaöklh

--

Sky-blue eyes were large as they quickly flew over the words in front of him. His mouth was in a small oh-shape as he absorbed every little bit of information that was given to him. And then it just ended.

To Be Continued...

No, no, no. That couldn't possibly be! This was too exciting, it couldn't just end like that! His sister next to him made a squealing sound as she also reached the ending. She grabbed the comic book out of his hand and tried turning the page, hoping against hope there would be more.

"No, no, no," she whined frustrated and threw herself back onto the bed.

After a moment, her brother mirrored her. The two groaned and whined until their current babysitter walked in, a frown on his face. He brushed hazel-hair out of his face.

"What's gotten into you lot?"

"The comic ends, uncle Tyson! It just ends! And the next issue won't come out until next month, but it just got really, really exciting!" he heard his sister complain.

"Grace is right! This isn't fair. Cliffhangers are unlawful and inhumane!"

Tyson laughed and approached the bed to sit down between his niece and nephew. "I think I gotta talk to your parents about your definition of unlawful and inhumane, Jacky."

Jackson huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, pout in place and sky-blue eyes dark like a brewing storm. When it darkened in the room and rumbling could be heard from outside, Tyson frowned concerned and cleared his throat.

"You guys do know that you could just... ask your parents, right? They were right there. They know exactly how all of this unfolded," offered Tyson.

He took the comic-book - issue 13 of The Adventures of the New Olympians - and closed it to hold up the cover, where Jason di Angelo was standing heroically in his Blue Lightning uniform, fighting a giant space-octopus. Jackson frowned and turned to look at his sister.

"I dunno", admitted Grace. "Dad is like... dad. Not Blue Lightning. Dad sings bad old boyband songs in the shower and steals daddy's blue cookies and baby-talks to Mrs. O'Leary."

"Yeah. These comics are totally fiction, uncle Tyson", agreed Jackson seriously. "Dad's a total dork, not a superhero! He isn't like daddy and papa."

Tyson huffed a little at that, fond smile on his lips. "He isn't now. But when push comes to shove, he always got our back in a fight. Because he could never bear standing aside if his family gets hurt. Go and ask him about it, mh."

"Tyson? Where are you?", called his wife from somewhere else. "Jason is here to pick up the kids!"

"Ah, your cue, pipsqueaks", Tyson grinned and ruffled both their hair.

Grace quickly grabbed her Wisdom Warrior doll, while Jackson took the comic book, both kids quickly running out the room and downstairs. Grace just lept off a few steps before the end of the stairs, jumping straight into her dad's awaiting arms. Jason was smiling softly, hugging her tightly. Her blonde curls bounced as he whirled her around once.

"Hey there, kids. Had fun with uncle Tyson and auntie Ella?"

"Ye--es", chorused Jackson and Grace.

"Thanks for watching them, guys", Jason turned to offer Tyson and Ella a small, grateful smile. "With Perce and Nico still in Canada about that... maple syrup fuled robot apocalypse... it's been kind of stressful. And then Thabi got into trouble at school and-"

"No need to explain, or to thank us", assured Tyson, patting his brother-in-law on the back. "That's what brothers are for, Jay. We got your back. Besides, we love those two."

With a last smile aimed at the couple, Jason herded the twins out of the house and toward the car. He made sure their seatbelts were fastened before he got in the driver's seat and started the car. In the rear-mirror, he could see the twins whispering with each other, but neither speaking up. He decided against asking, for now. They'd tell him whatever was on their minds when they were ready.

Once at home, both of the kids ran off to their rooms and Jason was so busy with things around the house that he nearly forgot about the kids' strange behavior. That's what they got for having a ridiculously big house and stables, but then again, they did need the grounds to allow their companions enough space to roam free. He'd just finished feeding Tempest and Blackjack when the twins suddenly stood behind him, serious, matching frowns on their faces.

"We have come to the agreement that we should ask you", declared Grace.

A nine-year-old with pigtails had no right to look this serious. Jason smiled a little at that, nodding and waiting for more.

"We know that daddy and papa are superheroes", continued Jackson as the three headed back toward the house. "But you aren't! You're just... dad. Right?"

"Ouch", Jason huffed out a little laugh. "Just dad, huh?"

"I mean, you're normal, like us", corrected Grace with a frown, motioning at the posters at the walls when they entered the living room. "You're only a hero on the big screen! Not in real life!"

The smile on Jason's lips turned more nostalgic. His dorky, dorky husbands had decided to plaster every wall that wasn't filled with family pictures with posters of his movies. Right now, Grace was motioning very decidedly at The Twelve Tasks of Hercules. Hercules was his most popular role, a fictional superhero clearly supposed to be the son of Zeus but never actually name-dropping Zeus in the movie series. Or the spin-off TV show. It had spanned a whole cinematic universe about fictional superheroes after they had introduced Theseus, a water-powered superhero who was a thinly veiled homage to Percy, in one of the movies. Theseus got his own solo-movie, then a sequel and over the years, they had established more and more heroes in this universe. Jason was so incredibly proud of it, not just because he played the hero who started it all, but because he was also creatively involved; he had pitched the character of Theseus.

Sitting down on the couch, he let his eyes wander just a little. A poster of his first big breakout role as Jace Herondale in a TV show adaptation of The Mortal Instruments... naturally, Percy had chosen the poster where Jason posed shirtless, showing off the runes.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?", asked Jason softly.

"I wanna take over granny's bakery", declared Jackson with a puffed-out chest. "I'll learn all of her recipes and become the best baker in all of New York."

"I dunno, dad. I'm nine", huffed Grace with a pointed look. "Maybe I'll become a great fashion designer like auntie Silena! Or a teacher like auntie Annabeth. Or president. Or astronaut. Oh! Or doctor."

"Okay, okay", Jason interrupted her, laughing. "But neither of you wants to become a superhero like your dads?"

The twins exchanged a silent look before shaking their heads and Jackson answered. "No. It looks scary. It looks cool to watch but I'd be super scared."

Jason nodded slowly. "But if Gracie was in danger, like really, really scary danger, what would you do?"

"I'd help her!", exclaimed Jackson immediately, grabbing his sister's hand.

The smile on Jason's lips grew some. "Being a hero is really, really scary and really, really dangerous. And I never-ever wanted to be a hero. I'm not as brave as your dads when it comes to that. But when there is something very big and dangerous that your dads can't handle on their own, I'll put my own fears aside. Because you know what is just... so much scarier than being a hero? It'd be if something happened to your dads. And I couldn't help."

He knew their kids were under no illusions; they knew Nico and Percy led dangerous lives and they knew something could happen to them. Nico had already been hospitalized for a longer period of time a few years ago.

"So when they really need me, I'll be very brave to help them."

"So... So this is really real?", asked Grace softly, holding up the comic-book.

Jason snorted a little at the extremely overdone hero-pose he was striking on the cover. "It's... more or less real. There's some... made-up stuff there, because those who write these comics, they only had the news coverage to go by, they weren't actually there when we met in private and planned and talked. But yes, that happened."

Jackson straightened up at that and took the comic from his sister to open it on the last page, putting it down on Jason's lap and very decidedly pointing at the To Be Continued in the lower corner.

"How's it end!?", asked Jackson eagerly. "We don't wanna wait!"

"Ye--es! Did you save the day? Did you rescue daddy when he got abducted by the alien octopus?", wanted Grace to know, eyes large.

Laughing to himself, Jason leaned back against the couch and opened his arms, both his kids immediately snuggling up to him and eagerly awaiting the story. Jason wasn't the greatest story-teller in the family, Piper was the author, but he did his best to actually tell the story as exciting as possible. He talked and talked for over an hour and by the end of the story, both twins were deep asleep. Asleep on him, not giving him a chance to move from the couch either. Though he was tired too, so he closed his eyes, just for a second.

"I'm de--ead", groaned Percy softly and something shifted.

Jason blinked sleepily, turning his head toward the source of the voice. His face lit up when he saw Percy snuggled up to Grace from behind. When he turned toward his other side, he saw Nico behind Jackson.

"I'm sorry we were both gone, amore", whispered Nico as he leaned over to kiss Jason sweetly. "It was an all-hands-on-deck situation..."

"You don't have to explain", Jason smiled faintly. "You're the leaders of the Olympians. They rely on you. Especially now with all the newbies, they need your guidance."

"Yeah, but we promised you we'd step back some", Percy sighed frustrated.

"You can't control when a weird Canadian wants to start the robot- apocalypse", Jason chuckled amused. "I'm proud of you both. And you have been stepping back a lot."

Percy hummed in agreement, eyes slowly closing as he rested his head on Jason's shoulder. Within moments, he was out cold. So the entire family was going to sleep on the couch today, mh?

"How did your meeting go?", asked Nico, sounding sleepy.

"Good. I mean. Really good. The studio is still so stubbornly thinking that female superheroes won't sell, but we finally pushed through. We got the Helen of Troy spin-off greenlit", replied Jason with a puffed out chest.

Nico smiled at him, kissing his cheek. "Good. I'm proud of you."

And then he yawned and snuggled closer to Jason. It filled Jason with warmth to just sit here, with his husbands and children, in their home. Safe and happy. Yes, he worried for Nico and Percy when they were out there, but he also knew that this was their dream and they loved their job. And ever since the twins had been born, the two really had stepped back, leading from the headquarters and training new heroes, only going out themselves if it was an emergency and the others needed help. Jason couldn't be mad about that, wouldn't want to be either, because he could never resent his husbands for living their dream - they had, after all, always supported Jason and his dream. Even when Jason would be in another country for months filming a movie, they never complained, they took care of the kids and were proudly at his side during the premieres.

"I love you two", whispered Jason, carefully kissing the top of Nico's head on one of his shoulders and the top of Percy's head on the other. "My heroes."

[ladyfawkes]

Eugene Appreciation Week - Day 1 - Childhood | The Trial and Tribulations of Fitzherbert and Schnitz

The Trial and Tribulations of Fitzherbert and Schnitz

Current word count: 3178

Current Rating: T for upcoming chapters

This is my version of that now-infamous RTA lost episode, "The Trial of Fitzherbert and Schnitz". Most of you are aware how I took issue with Disney having used both adoption AND Eugene's having adopted his lifelong persona as Flynn as a 20-minute throwaway plot. I'm gonna try to beef up that premise.

I suppose this is ALSO my way of refuting some of the (very limited) spoilery stuff I've read that's included in the upcoming traditionally published Flynn Rider novel.

My own plot line will be significantly darker than your average Disney plot, though.

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

Chapter 1: Sister Eunice

Several years into the past....

Arnie was skipping down the corridor just past the chapel, minding his own business, when suddenly a loud CRASH!!! sounded from just behind him. He whipped around to see an enormous new hole in a large ornate stained-glass window behind him that was intact just seconds ago.

Thinking one of the rowdier orphans to be at fault, Arnie ran to have a looksee outside. He was shocked to discover nobody except Sister Eunice opposite him next to the stone wall. Surely she couldn’t have been the one to shatter the window??

The young nun noticed him from outside the chapel though and hissed, “Arnie!! Arnie, don’t tell anybody you saw me here! Please. I’m trying to save Eugene!! I’m trying to save you all!! If anybody asks, especially Father Francis, tell them you saw Eugene throw a rock at the window. I can’t explain why, but it’ll help out. A LOT. Can you do that for me, please, Arnie? Would you do this to save your best friend, Eugene?” She was looking at him with frightened eyes, taking surreptitious furtive glances behind her.

Ten-year-old Arnie had stared back, wide-eyed, and had only barely begun to nod when Sis Eunice turned back, ran around the corner of the chapel toward Arnie’s right, and disappeared. Young Arnie was left standing there, mouth agape, wondering why on earth a nun - a nun!!! - would throw a heavy rock through a church-owned stained glass window. And especially a window that the children were told was hundreds of years old!

Not long after that, to his left, Arnie saw someone else outside out of the corner of his eye. The young boy instinctively hid behind the full partition of the wall where the stained glass window ended. It was Fr Francis, the priest for the local parish, walking at a brisk pace. And Arnie could’ve sworn the scary priest might be tracking Sis Eunice. Arnie and Eugene hadn’t ever been particularly fond of Francis. In fact, they went out of their way to avoid the older dour-faced man.

Although Fr. Francis was currently looking at the hole in the window from a ways off, he couldn’t see where Arnie was from his vantage point. Arnie slinked away to go find Eugene.

Turned out he bumped into Eugene almost immediately since Eugene had been in the chapel, waiting to meet up with Lord and Lady Boskin. Arnie stopped in his tracks at the sight of his friend, all freshly bathed, his hair combed, and so unexpectedly dressed in a new blue velvet skeleton suit, white stockings, silk shirt, and leather shoes. It was the latest modern fashion that all the rich boys were wearing in Vardaros. He knew that because Eugene told him every time they were fortunate enough to go to town with one of the sisters. Arnie would have to pry Eugene away from the shop window where Eugene’s face would sometimes get so close to the display that his nose print would remain on the glass. Arnie didn’t understand why Eugene cared about stuff like that. Fashion and velvet and lace. Orphans weren’t supposed to care. Food was more important anyway.

“I heard a terrible crash and came to investigate!” Eugene said breathlessly.

All thought of the broken window had flown from Arnie’s mind at the sight of his transformed best friend and he demanded, “What’re you wearing alla that for??”

Suddenly self-conscious, Eugene crammed his hands in his new pockets, stared at the floor, scuffed the sole of his new shoe against the mosaic tile and mumbled, “Fr Francis took me aside after breakfast to the rectory and said that Lord and Lady Boskin have chosen to adopt…..me.” He said it with the same amount of awe he felt when he first saw the suit in its parcel.

“....and….and you didn’t think to tell me any sooner? You were just gonna leave without saying goodbye?” accused Arnie, his eyes filling with tears. Eugene could see his pouting lips tremble from several yards away. “But...but I didn’t know either…!” protested Eugene, now fighting tears himself, before he was abruptly cut off.

As Arnie stood there simultaneously hating and envying Eugene, a whole crowd of people had arrived from both sides of the corridor, to all of the ensuing hullabaloo of the shattered window. Unfortunately, it was just in time to see these two boys standing by themselves right near the new gaping hole in the priceless stained glass window.

Fr Francis had reappeared inside followed by the Mthr Superior, Sis Eunice, several dozen children, and a few other nuns. Everyone was chattering and buzzing and arguing about which of the two boys had broken the window -- Arnie or Eugene. Perhaps both? Immediately they both protested their innocence and the bored aggressive older boys used the moment as an excuse to break out into a fight…

Two brawny red-headed boys quickly left the mob only to have one boy each bowl right into Eugene and Arnie. All four boys toppled over to the floor.

All of the other children started shouting, “FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!” and just before the redheads could land their first actual punches, Fr Francis easily intervened by grabbing both of their pulled-back fists, squeezing them, and ordering the boys to get up off their intended victims and up off the floor. They reluctantly complied. Then Francis ordered Arnie and Eugene off the floor and to follow him to his office.

As Eugene looked down in dismay at the visible dirt on his beautiful new suit, Sis Eunice surreptitiously put a comforting hand on his shoulder and said, in a voice so softly only he could hear, “Don’t worry -- these are play clothes. More than capable of taking a few layers of dirt from rambunctious young boys.” She always had a way to help him feel better….but this time, since he was effectively being frog-marched to the priest’s office over something he didn’t do, the good feeling didn’t last nearly long enough.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~((0))((0))((0))~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two Hours Earlier…..

Eugene had been called to the rectory by Fr. Francis immediately following breakfast. Without any prior notice whatsoever, he informed Eugene that Lord and Lady Boskin had actually chosen to adopt him!!!

Young Eugene couldn’t believe his luck! He wondered why he’d been chosen. What had the wealthy young couple seen in him? Even though he’d only been formally introduced once or twice, and had spoken only a few sentences to them, they chose him. And he supposed they seemed nice enough.

Eugene and most of the orphans had already seen the younger couple several times. He learned from the nuns over the past couple of years that the pair were evidently unable to have children of their own and as such, had been growing their own family a different way. Twice per year for the past two years, they had chosen a new child from amongst the orphans at this orphanage. Prior to their more formal choosing-times for each child, they would come to the orphanage for several trips and take turns meeting and chatting with the children. Yet this time, they had actually chosen Eugene.

Sis. Eunice had entered the rectory right behind Fr Francis and his announcement; the latter then vacated the building. Sis Eunice had taken Eugene by the hand and led him to the home’s water closet. And already waiting for him was a fresh bath -- mid-week, even! He was accustomed to every Saturday at most. For the first time in his life, Eugene was treated to his very own bath where the water was actually extra warm and didn’t contain the sloughed-off post-bathing scoodge from a zillion other children lurking in the bottom.

Eugene had seen the nuns sniffle and get misty-eyed plenty of times when other children had been adopted. But their crying was always rather delicate and they always tried to smile through it. However, as Sis Eunice helped him to properly wash his fingers, toes, and ears during what Eugene thought of as his luxurious bath, Sis Eunice also kept repeatedly bursting into tears. And apologizing for it. She seemed genuinely….worried.

The nuns weren’t supposed to have favorites but Eugene knew Sis Eunice was easily the most fond of him. She had arrived at the orphanage during the height of a disease outbreak which had very nearly claimed little Eugene’s life. And it would have done so too, if it weren’t for Sis Eunice’s dogged persistence. They had originally bonded over their funny-sounding first names. She’d turned her own name into a joke to try and give him a reason to smile….and it worked. Most if not all of the other nuns were quite hands-off but Sis Eunice believed in healing touch. As Eugene’s stricken body fought the virulent infection, the Sister held him, rocked him, and sang to him. After that, she promised to come back to the room that housed the most ill children and read aloud a story once she finished her rounds. She had sat closest to little Eugene as she read aloud “Flynnigan Rider and the Pirates of Penzance” for the very first time. It was the first time Eugene had become familiar with the novels.

And though Eugene hadn’t really noticed before (nun’s habits often made it difficult to tell who was older than whom) right now, after he learned he would soon be leaving the orphanage forever that day, it was almost as if Eugene were seeing Sis Eunice for the first time. And for the first time, he noticed how young she truly was. She had a spray of freckles across her face and a little space between her front teeth. A halo of strawberry blonde curls framed her face and perpetually worked their way out of her wimpole. It’s possible Sis Eunice was even younger than Lady Boskin.

He couldn’t help but notice as she had him put on a clean slick-feeling shirt -- a brand-new one, just for him!! -- yet that was only the beginning. Apparently with each chosen child, the adoptive couple provided a freshly purchased outfit from the shops in town. Even Sis Eunice couldn’t help but smile this time as she presented Eugene’s new clothes to him. She asked him to tug open the string holding the paper parcel together. He stared at the parcel, eyes darting between the string and the Sister’s face. “Another present?” he whispered in awe. “For me?” Inside lay a brand new velvet suit. “It’s my favorite color!” he squeaked in delight. “Cornflower blue!” And Sis. Eunice nodded with the same huge smile on her face as him. “Shall I?” she asked softly, reaching into the parcel so he could see the whole suit. Eugene was utterly thunderstruck now. He stared wide-eyed at this beautiful boughten suit which was already quite familiar to him.

“But this is the same…..” he trailed off as Sis Eunice finished for him, “It’s the same suit you’ve had your eye on all year in that shop window?” Mouth agape, Eugene nodded slowly, clearly still in shock.

Eugene recalled how Sis Eunice had begun reading the Flynnigan Rider story with a splash, quite literally, and encompassed the first three chapters. The very first words of the book started with Flynnigan Rider on the mains’l full on the mast of a tall ship, shouting, “As long as I possess air in my lungs, I shall never surrender!!” And right before an enemy bullet could pierce him, Rider had sprinted and dove off the end of the mains’l to plunge down into the sea below. Sis Eunice had taken a fresh mildly damp cloth and spun it above her head, so everyone could feel the ‘splash’. That’s all it took for her to hook every single one of her charges. Sis Eunice had read aloud in every voice. Acted out each scene. She had as many props as feasible. And at the end of chapter 3 that first night, she closed the book amidst many “awwws”, protests, and left the children clamoring for more and some even wanting to help star in the show. Six-year-old Eugene had finally found the strength to speak for the first time in days and tugged Sis Eunice’s robes. “Tomorrow? Please?” he whispered breathlessly. The Sister knelt down close by his ear and pushed his hair away from his fevered brow. “I’ll tell you what,” she said softly. “If you think you can stick around for me by this time tomorrow morning, I promise to come back and read for you. Deal?”

And she turned to the rest of the room, “Tonight’s life lesson from Flynnigan is to hold air in those lungs -- by breathing deeply -- so that you can keep fighting.” Eager to prove to Sis Eunice that he could be brave like Flynnigan Rider, he concentrated on breathing as deeply as he could. Though it was by far the most difficult and painful thing he’d ever done in his young life, he followed through with it nonetheless. And Sis Eunice had returned each morning and night, as promised, to divulge more of Flynnigan’s adventures and life lessons. By the time he was well enough about a week later, she’d ask for Eugene to actually promise to wait for her the next night and bit by bit, little Eugene had found the strength to come back from the brink. And it was all because of one (or was it two?) very special people -- Sis Eunice and Flynnigan Rider.

“Shall we dress you smartly then? It’s not proper for a young man of your new status to be prancing around, half-dressed, you know,” Sis Eunice teased, bringing Eugene back to the present. Usually he’d act silly in return but right now….as soon as he had the new trousers on….Eugene was overcome and couldn’t help but throw his arms around the Sister’s neck. “Thank you,” he whispered, “so much.” It was the nicest clothing -- the nicest anything -- that anyone had ever given him. And Sis Eunice thought he was misinterpreting who’d provided for him this suit but he wasn’t. “I know it wasn’t your money,” as Eugene was well aware that the nuns scarcely had more than the orphans due in large part to their vows of charity and poverty. And yet he replied, still embracing her, “But I just know that you had something to do with it somehow, Sis Eunice.”

She briefly taught him the tricks with helping Eugene learn how to dress himself up in the fancy new suit. It had a lot of buttons. Big shiny brass ones. She was insistent that none of her charges was going to be reliant on servants to dress them, even after they left the orphanage. Once Eugene was fully dressed in his new comfortably-tailored playsuit, Sis Eunice also presented to him new stockings and new mahogany leather shoes.

Sis Eunice looked adoringly...and then somberly at Eugene as the thunderstruck little boy could not stop studying his own reflection in a full-length mirror.

Though most boys hated baths, he actually liked them (especially when they were warm with fresh water) almost as much as he liked playing in the dirt. He wondered if he’d have his own bed at his new home. He wondered if he’d get to have a mattress, bedclothes, and a pillow every night.

“Well, I suppose it’s time,” said Sis Eunice with a watery smile. The pair of them began to head over to the parish chapel just off the orphanage and across the compound from the rectory. Halfway through the walk, Sis Eunice asked him to continue onto the chapel and said that she’d meet up with him again in a very short few moments. And that was apparently where he was supposed to meet up with Lord and Lady Boskin to sign the final papers and officially become their latest son for real. His heart skipped a beat at the thought.

After his arrival in the chapel, and within 3 minutes, he heard a very loud crash outside in the corridor to the right of his vantage point near the front of the chapel. He thought maybe he should stay put just in case, but his curiosity got the best of him and he went to investigate.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~((0))~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, in the Office of the Clergy….

Arnie had been called into the clergy office with Fr Francis, Mthr Superior, and Sis Eunice. Eugene had been left outside to stew and fret by himself.

“So you witnessed Eugene Fitzherbert throw a rock at the stained glass?” said Fr Francis imperiously. Arnie’s wide frightened eyes kept darting back and forth between Fr Francis’s unpleasant features and Sis Eunice’s equally terrified eyes. She nodded imperceptibly to encourage Arnie to say yes. Arnie didn’t want to lie but he didn’t want to be the one who got in trouble either. Not to mention….it utterly broke his heart that Eugene was getting adopted and that he wasn’t even gonna say goodbye to Arnie. Thus Arnie looked to the floor and nodded downward at it half-heartedly.

Eugene was brought into the office and not even given a chance to defend nor explain himself.

“Naughty misbehaving boys who destroy priceless works of church art don’t deserve to get adopted,” Fr Francis began imperiously. “Remove that clothing at once. It’s no longer yours and you are no longer fit to wear it.” Poor Eugene recoiled in shock and horror and Sis Eunice stepped in to try and intervene. She shared scared looks with Arnie, even more frightened than before. “There’s no need for that, he hasn’t physically harmed anybody,” Sis Eunice reasoned, “there’s no reason to treat him like he’s a criminal. He just had an accident, that's all.”

Eugene kept backing further and further away, “Not adopted??” was all he could manage to say. “That’s precisely it,” Fr Francis replied coldly. “I’ll tell Lord and Lady Boskin not to follow through with the paperwork because misbehaving children are evil children, and they shan’t have evil brought into their perfect home. Now give back that clothing or I shall turn you in for theft of property.” Sis Eunice’s hands flew to her mouth in open dismay. Arnie had correctly deduced that this was definitely not a development she had anticipated. Now the Mthr Superior and other church lackeys outside the door had begun to put their hands on Eugene in effort to take back his new boughten clothes.

Clearly, not knowing what else to do, Sis Eunice pressed her advantage, knelt down by Eugene's ear, and said, “You must run, Eugene!! Stay as far away from here as you can! Make certain they can’t ever catch you. I’ll take care of the rest.” His eyes bugged out and still he hesitated before Sis Eunice hissed, “GO! NOW!”

Eugene spun on the heel of his new shoe, managed to just barely pull away from the sea of grabbing hands, and sprinted out into the great beyond. P.S. Yes, I have every intention of continuing this. And hopefully even seeing it to completion, like a real "episode", even though the timelapse will be more like a full hour as opposed to 22 minutes? In fact, I've already written a bit more beyond it. I just have to write other things for the time being.....

@gleamful-lanterns @kingreywrites @autumn-ravenclaw

[reversecreek]

pops hip n winks at the dash. haaaaiiii. me again. i’ve honestly missed playing lana fr a while she’s one of. my most treasured muses bc she’s jst a silly n vivacious ball of sunshine or alternatively? a train wreck depending on which way u turn her in the light..... i actually hv two playlists made fr her n one is rly old bt it’s more like. songs that Remind me of her which u can find here n then here is more like. stuff u’ll most often catch her blasting on her record player as she dances around in her underwear w the curtains open. OH and here is her pinterest 🍓⚡

* kristine froseth, cis female + she/her  | you know lana jameson, right? they’re twenty-three, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, a few hours? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to play that funky music by wild cherry like, a million times this year, which makes sense ‘cause they’ve got that whole cherry red gym socks worn with nothing else, doodling penises in the condensation of a stranger’s car window, a bumper sticker on the back of a convertible cadillac that says ‘scrappy doo is a filthy slut’ thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is june 2nd, so they’re a gemini, which is unsurprising, all things considered. ( nai, 24, gmt, she/her  )

HISTORY:

lana grew up in a big house in albany, NY. i picture it w dark oak floors n lots of light furniture. albums framed on walls. mayb some rolling stone covers too frm way bk when of the bands her dad’s label signed. kind of like… a rock star palace w no evidence of children at all. i think i described it best in one of lana’s self paras once when i said the garden ws “as big as it was unloved”

lana’s mum victoria (vic) ws a music journalist w a pretty fruitful career ahead of her when she met lana’s dad richard (rich). his record label ws jst starting out, founded on the coattails of his wealthy best friend’s (jensen peters) investment w his other best friend (who he jst calls knoxville). it rocketed to success when they signed poppy injects, a rock band w an electric stage presence, n vic ws drawn to the glitz n glamour of a man tht ws at the helm of his aspiring industry. their love ws very impulsive, all or nothing right frm the start, n it ws almost like she ws mre in love w his accomplishments n what he represented than him.

(DRUGS TW) anyway so jameson records repped a few rock bands bk in the eighties, altho poppy injects r who they’re mostly known fr, namely bc of hw brightly they crashed n burned. they were a big chart success bt the lead singer hd quite an intense struggle w heroin (wsnt rly subtle abt it either while he ws in the public eye as u cn probably imagine frm such an on-the-nose band name) n he ws always in n out of the papers. it eventually brought down his career n it ws a big publicity nightmare

lana pretty much… grew up around figures like this throughout childhood. real characters who wld kind of… b extremely volatile n destructive abt their troubles. the jameson house was an open one as welcoming clients went n a lot of parties took place there. a lot of the time musicians wld b snorting lines in the kitchen when she wnted to grab a bowl of cereal fr breakfast n it was just. a very strange environment fr a child to grow up in. more zoo than home. more shaken snow globe than resting place. (END OF TW)

(ABORTION REFERENCE) her parents always kind of jst… didn’t like her much. her older brother caleb ws unplanned bt they sort of welcomed the surprise more bt… quickly realised they weren’t cut out fr parenthood n then when lana came as another surprise 3 yrs later they didn’t even try to hide their resentment abt the situation. her mum ws actually booked in to have an abortion bt cldnt go through with it at the last minute. once when lana ws a kid she asked her why she’s so cold towards her she jst turned her head frm her dresser, looked at her, told her abt this n said “idk why i didn’t go”. lana didn’t kno wht to say to tht so she jst left her room n closed the door (END OF REFERENCE)

(DISSOCIATION TW) bc of the intensity of her parents ignoring her growing up lana adopted this sense of like…. she didn’t rly kno what it ws bt it ws a delusion of sorts where she thought she ws a ghost bc she gt this strange outside feeling. she’d jst sort of… drift around the halls w no-one acknowledging her n sometimes she ws jst convinced she wsnt actually there or they cldnt see her n she ws jst haunting the house frm a previous family. (END OF TW) her imagination festered an explanation out of smthn she didn’t understand essentially. lana used her imagination to do this a lot growing up. it ws kind of like the band aid she slapped over everything. after all she wasn’t alone if she was sword fighting imaginary pirates dwn the hallway with a poker from the fireplace. 

the one saving grace tho tht sort of?? gt her thru this n made her feel Seen ws caleb. lana quite genuinely hs always thought the sun shines out of her older brothers ass like she jst thinks. he’s the best person in the entire world. wld b rly bewildered if anyone questioned tht. he wld always look out for her n cut the crusts off her sandwiches (he’d cook fr them most of the time bc their parents were too busy/didn’t care to) n sometimes wld even sleep at the bottom of her bed curled up like a guard dog. it ws always lana n caleb n his best friend tommy against the world in tht house (tommy lived next door bt was always over bc he had very strict parents tht he found suffocating)

(ARMY MENTION) SO when tommy announced tht he’d signed up to the army (bc of pressures from tommy’s military dad to fulfil some kind of stupid “legacy” tommy didn’t even care abt) n caleb said he was going with him lana ws understandably…….. completely blindsided. she ws rly upset tht they were leaving n was kind of like “wtf why are u doing this like what do u even think this is gna solve” etc n begged caleb not to leave her there on her own n jst to not sign up in general bc tommy had to bt he didn’t listen. 

ERM i won’t go into it but it didn’t turn out well as u can probably imagine bc the army is a terrible industry n caleb had to return home without tommy. he wasn’t the same after that. (END OF MENTION)

what’d been a rly close relationship before where he ws basically like a surrogate father figure to lana was Not there any more. he ws rly withdrawn n always pushing her away n snapping at her for the sake of getting her to leave him alone. on top of this lana had a lot of shit go down while he was away n rly just shouldn’t have been a kid alone in tht house. regardless lana thought if she kept grinning as wide as she cld she’d convince caleb to join in too. maybe if she seemed fine n happy he’d take the lead. maybe she’d believe it too n start to feel it n everything could go bk to how it was before her world became so different. lana liked the way the sky flipped when she tipped her head back on the swings bt this was different. everything was upside down bt this didn’t make her belly feel like she’d swallowed a butterfly and it wasn’t funny bt still, she kept laughing. always desperate to find something to laugh at n if she couldn’t find it she invented it. as long as ur laughing the world can’t b that bad.

she ws always well liked in school bc she jst tended to treat everyone like they were bffs no matter who like u cld have literally bumped shoulders w her once in the corridor n she’d be like OMG HAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII let’s kiss<3 n like she ws a huge notorious flirt w any n all as well as incredibly impulsive n jst. wild honestly to put it simply too bt things like. changed a bit frm 16 onwards. (HYPERSEXUALITY & IMPLIED TRAUMA TW) she jst became far more reckless honestly n like....... jst didn’t rly seem to care after a certain point abt herself too much.... got herself in a bunch of bad situations.......... kind of jst flung herself to the wolves numerous times without any caution abt the way they’d bite. formed a lot of self destructive habits one of which ws cruising craigslist personals fr random hook-ups n like. she literally cld have wound up in a ditch somewhere honestly it’s a shock she hasn’t. despite various dips n inclines in her journey navigating this side of her it’s very much still present in her life to this day n she struggles to kno hw to control herself at points. sometimes she feels like a melting candle tht needs moulding by thumbs until it can form a person again. sometimes she’s only sure she’s real when she’s being touched. (END OF TW)

ANYWAY. laughs nervously. went to college to study dance bc she’s always loved dance in general bt specifically ballet (despite definitely not hving the discipline for it) n honestly this was both good n bad fr her. had a whole string of terrible heartbreaking relationships bc she tends to fall into those hard n fast n they were w a lot of bad people fr like 98% of the time. she kind of learned more abt what love is during her time there tho which is a gd thing bt she still isn’t very good at knowing hw to believe she deserves it so it’s a process. she hd fun tho. threw 498572598475 outrageous n elaborately themed parties. ws friends w pretty much everyone on campus. 

despite a strained relationship w her brother n having to go home to visit n check on him whenever he got rly bad it ws the first time it actually felt like she’d found a home in a lot of rly loving n genuine friendships n lana will never forget hw much that experience meant to her even if she definitely struggled there too. college felt like a place she belonged n then suddenly she couldn’t belong there any more n there was a big sense of floundering in that. like where do u go now when u’ve never known home elsewhere? how do u happily go out into the world if it means leaving ur world behind?

she applied to a dance company in LA n fell in w a pretentious art scene there full of wannabe andy warhols n the like. became a makeshift edie sedgwick to some guy w dyed white hair n the idea his every concept was revolutionary when rly he jst shot her dancing barely clothed splashing around in a random fountain in his friend’s mansion on an ancient film camera. she’d spend her days floating around on lilo’s and prancing in feather boas and racing with glitter leftover frm last night in her leotard w smudges of faint red lipstick to barely make her job on time. always a sexy train wreck bt this time? make it hollywood. 

(IMPLIED ALCOHOLISM TW) i won’t lie to u lana hs always partied way too hard bt then partying way too hard turned into slurping merlot thru a crazy straw shaped like a flamingo at 4 in the afternoon wearing penis novelty sunglasses n it wasn’t quite so much of a party when u were doing it on ur own. this rly snowballed into place in college bt carried on n wound up getting her fired from the dance company bc she turned up to rehearsals drunk one too many times n they didn’t allow fr sloppiness like tht. it was a “professional operation” that didn’t “accept that kind of behaviour” bt lana was jst like ummmmmmmmm that’s totally dramatic btw way to spank me in the town square like i’m gale w a raw ass n back in the hunger games bt ok sure i’m out ig. BOOP! (literally booped the director on the nose before leaving) (END OF TW)

honestly hd no idea what to do w herself after her job fell thru in LA n was pretty embarrassed actually upon sobering up the nxt day. cldn’t bring herself to tell her friends for a hot minute bc she felt like a failure or smthn n she was meant to be living this glamorous life out there being the classic wild n silly n fun Lana Jameson. cldn’t figure out how to repackage it into a funny story tht wouldn’t worry ppl. eventually wound up jst caving n telling her closest besties (shoutout freya n rosa) bc she ws hving a weird time dating losers n randomly living in LA even tho she didn’t kno why she was there any more after losing the job n they were jst like. fk it then. jst come here. we’re in irving. and so? mizz jameson packed her bags....

PERSONALITY:

always smells vaguely of wild cherries or strawberry starburst or jst the candy aisle in general. if she ws a vinyl record she’d b this one n she’d only play good vibrations by the beach boys, dancing on my own by robyn, play that funky music by wild cherry, femme fatale by the velvet underground n (i can’t get no) satisfaction by the rolling stones

the jameson family r pretty well off n bc of her relation to such a big music industry figure she’s hung out w a fair few relatively high rep ppl thru her teens. mostly kids of celebrities n stuff like tht. she amassed a bit of an instagram following #nepotism bt also fr her style (v penny lane-esque in some aspects. lots of fur cuff trimmed jackets bt then also jst…. a wild combination of everything honestly. pastel faux fur coats, seventies style platforms, bright red cowboy boots, pink fishnet tights, holographic stickers of planets on her cheek n glitter used like highlight, 90% of the time a red lip) n bc she’s not gna make ur eyes bleed to look at or anything let’s b real

growing up lana was always a huge social butterfly. knew everyone n everyone knew her. she ws one of those girls tht ws kind of impossible to ignore or forget. very animated, always made u feel like u were the centre of the universe whenever she spoke to u, always made it feel like u were best friends even if ud only spoken to her once.

deliberately puts on tht kind of Magnetic Alluring Act tht femme fatales wear in movies w most ppl. kind of…. is always playing A Role of the person tht she wants to b seen as. hates being sad n always wnts to be happy / making ppl happy. chameleons to situations. feels like she’s performed as the vivacious n fun loving Lana Jameson fr so long tht she doesn’t rly kno who she is beneath tht bt she isn’t too keen to find out. sometimes gets glimpses n feels the urge to close her eyes.

she’s always been rly spontaneous n adventurous. always doing something weird n wild every weekend. she has ten thousand ridiculously absurd n chaotic stories. she’s like oh ya this one time this guy made me ride him with a daddy saddle like i was woody and he was bullseye. he literally made me call him bullseye. or she’s like. oh ya once i had to run barefoot thru a cabbage patch bc this one farmer wanted to have a threeway w me n my friend tht we met off craigslist n every framed photo in his house was a pig dressed up in cosplay bt honestly they were kind of cute n he was sexy aside frm the murderous vibes n the fact he kept calling me babe which i’m pretty sure means he wanted to dress me up next bt like whatever honestly.... she tells jst the most batshit stuff n the person she’s telling it to is left blinking like. wtf.

uncontrollably flirty. insanely confident. cld make a joke out a paper bag n will try. she tends to laugh when she feels like crying n has a smile brighter than a ray of texas sunshine.

likes to roller skate n hs a red pair she’ll glide around in at night lit up by amber street lamps breath sticky w the taste of wine n lollipops probably heading to a random hookups. who needs ubers?

always dapples her fingers thru the breeze when she’s driving in a car w the window down. honestly likes dangling her whole body halfway out too. she almost always has some sort of sweet on her, whether it’s sour haribo cherries or strawberry lollipops.

luvs bowie (ONLY aesthetically) n prince (wholeheartedly) n madonna (completely) n anyone tht’s a vintage style icon w little care fr what ppl think.

daisies n poppies r her fav flowers bc daisies r wild n overlooked n poppies r the first thing u look at in a green field. she’s had like 8472493874 ‘relationships’ n none of them hav lasted beyond a month / hav been terrible / hav seen her being treated badly / she’s cheated on them. honestly it’s like a burning train wreck but u can’t quite tear ur eyes away. often the heart of many sordid gossip scandals.

PLOTS:

TBA bc she’s only jst arrived in town i won’t lie to u all but i’m gna whip things up on here anyway n link in chat w updates at some point........ that said? lana is insatiable n it isn’t rly unlikely tht she cld’ve bumped into ur muse in a grocery store aisle n somehow a wild spontaneous adventure spawned frm that alone.......... if u have any immediate ideas we can discuss 😋

[cancercrew-filth]

“I love you.” (Joji)

Anon Request: Joji with a childhood best friend who he's in love with but she has a boyfriend. The only thing that's stopped him is the fear of rejection.

Joji’s POV

I sat at the edge of the front porch steps chewing on my fingernails, a nervous habit I tried to quit multiple times but had no success in doing so. I couldn’t sit still, I couldn’t think…I could barely bring myself to eat this morning. I don’t really wanna do this, right? I thought to myself. No, I can’t. This back and forth battle between my brain and my heart was starting to make more sick to my stomach than I already was. If I leave right now, she’d never know I was here…now’s my chance to just forget this and go home. She hasn’t even responded to my text yet. I thought about going for a walk since the weather was meant for one. Not a cute little small walk, but one of those long hikes that take your mind off of something that by the time you notice you’re lost, you no longer are thinking about why you started walking in the first place.

I exhaled heavily and stood up with my back towards the door and the stairs. I took one step forward and began to walk away from the apartment complex slower than I thought I would, almost as if I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t make it very far until I heard a soft voice from behind me, “Joji?”

My heart came to a halt as I froze in place. Turning around quickly, I tried to wipe the worried look I had on my face and replaced it with a toothy smile, “Y/N! Hey…” I beamed.

“I’m sorry I didn’t read your message right away.” she heaved as I made my way over to her, “I was driving and there was a shit ton of traffic, but I had a feeling you were gonna be here so I came as fast as I could.”

I took ahold of her large duffel bag as she walked up the steps to the door and unlocked it in a rush. I held the door for her to walk in ahead of me and I shuffled into the foyer quickly behind her while the heavy door shut behind us. 

“How are you?” she asked smiling at me as we entered the elevator.

“Um…” I cleared my throat, “Pretty good…can’t really complain.”

I avoided her gaze and looked either at my feet or straight ahead, awkwardly.

“You sure?” she questioned, hugging herself due to the sudden coldness in the elevator.

“Yeah.” I chuckled, “I’m great.”

We reached her floor with a sudden jolt followed by a loud dinging sound. Y/N was brief to get out of the elevator, squeezing through the doors before they even had a chance to fully open. I trailed behind her light steps as she swayed flawlessly down the hall as she jingled her keys. We finally reached the end of the hall and were face to face with her door. Entering her large apartment, I set the duffel bag down on the couch as I shut the door behind me. 

“Thank you for carrying my bag.” she giggled, “I found it kinda heavy.”

“Yeah, it is a little heavy.” I admitted.

“Yeah, I stayed over at Kevin’s for a few days.” she spoke from the kitchen, as she was getting us some water, “His parents were in town and since he lives nearly on the other side of the city, he somehow convinced me to stay for a few days so I didn’t have to constantly go back and forth.”

The sick feeling washed over me again. Kevin. I looked at the picture she had of her with him on nearly side table, polaroids she posted of the two of them on her walls, pictures of them on her TV stand. I sat on the couch and tilted my head back, licking my dry lips as I shut my eyes tightly, I felt the room spinning.

“Here you go.” she practically whispered.

I jumped at the sound of her soft voice. I opened my eyes to see her holding a glass of water in front of my face. I lightly grabbed the glass and mumbled a quiet ‘thank you’. I took slow, small sips and placed the glass on the coffee table in front of me once the glass was half empty. Y/N sat next to me on the couch, her back against the armrest as she sat with her legs crossed, cradling her glass of water with the palms of her hands in between her crossed legs.

“Hey,” she searched for my gaze, “What’s going on? I know you said you were good, but you can’t really lie to me. You’re my best friend, I know you.”

For the first time in a little over two weeks, I looked into her eyes and took her features all in. She was fresh faced dressed in her cuffed overalls, her messy hair reminding me of the first time I had ever met her:

We were eight; I had just moved into the small suburban area that became my new home from Japan. I sat on my front steps squinting at the sunlight, trying to take in my new surroundings. Without noticing the frisbee that was being thrown at me to my right due to the sudden blindness of the sun, I was hit on the side of the head by the flying disk.

“Im sorry!” she shouted from the lawn next to mine, her small feet whisking through the uncut grass as she made her way over to me.

“Ow…” I mumbled as I picked up the frisbee that crash-landed next to my foot.

“Hi…I’m sorry…I wanted to be nosy and make it go over there but it hit you…I’m sorry.” she admitted, blushing from the embarrassment as she pointed to an area on my front lawn.

“It’s okay.” I said as I handed her the frisbee once she was stood in front of me.

She was beautiful, dressed in cuffed overalls and tennis shoes. She slightly squinted as she looked at me, her hand shielding her eyes.

“I’m Y/N.” she introduced herself, “We’re neighbors, I live right there. I’ve never seen you around before.” she pointed to the house right next to mine “…Do you wanna come over and play? I have an older brother so he’s probably into the cool stuff that boys are into.”

“Uh…okay…I have to ask my mom first, though.” I said confused, I wasn’t used to people being so open and friendly.

“Okay!” she smiled, “I’ll wait here.”

I opened my front door and prepared myself to go in before she asked, “Wait! What’s your name?”

“George.” I answered.

“Okay, nice to meet you George.” she smiled.

By the time we were sixteen we were inseparable. Movie nights were nearly every night, I used to hear our moms talk about us growing up and getting married and complain when we wouldn’t “give in” and date each other. At eighteen, newly graduated from high school, we decided to go on a road trip since we wanted to leave the dumbass suburb we were in. We made it a little over forty-five minutes out of town and the car broke down in the middle of the highway. I pulled off to the side of the road, not being able to see with the smoke coming from the from of the car. I looked over at her in the passenger seat and she looked at me wide eyed before clenching her lips together and bursting into a fit of laughs.

“I know I should not be laughing right now but I think we’re cursed.” she giggled, “We’re meant to be in the suburbs. This would happen to us.”

I let my head hit the headrest and laughed along with her. After a few minutes, I tried to get a hold of AAA but I had no service, and neither did Y/N, so we weren’t able to come into contact with anyone for the time being.

“We are literally being assfucked right now.” she groaned as she got out of the car and slamming the door behind her, “Come on, Joji.”

“We’re walking it?” I asked her.

“Well, duh.” she smiled, “We’ll be fine. I know where we are and once we get service, we can call our parents and tell them what happened. And we can get ahold of AAA.”

I got out of the car and followed her lead, staying as far away from the road as possible.

“How long are we walking for?” I asked.

“About an hour and a half, give or take.” she sighed as she kicked a couple of rocks out of her, “Depends on how fast we walk, slowpoke.” she joked, looking at me and smiling.

“I’m sorry.” I apologized.

“For what?” she laughed, “It’s just not our time to leave town yet, I guess. Plus, we’re getting a daily dose of exercise. We’ll be fine.” she shrugged it off.

An hour into our walk, the air smelled of rain and I felt a drop of water hit my forehead, “Shit.” I whispered.

“What’s up?” she questioned, looking over at me.

“It’s gonna rain.” I said before the drops became frequent and heavier.

Y/N grabbed my hand once she heard thunder roaring and we ran the rest of the way home through, what seemed to be, some sort of tropical storm. We reached my front steps and stood there panting for a couple of minutes before she burst out laughing once again. I looked over at her like she was crazy, but I saw her rose-colored glass view: shit like this would happen to us. She was drenched in water, her hair sticking to her face and her clothes dripping water. She took her shoes off as I unlocked the door, we bumped into each other, thinking we would fit through the doorframe together as we tried to get through.

We both took a step back, but we were still close enough that our fingertips slightly touched. I looked at her wet face and I moved strands of her damp hair out of the way and behind her ear, my heart felt like it was skipping beats as I felt a fluttering feeling in my stomach. She looked into my eyes, and without even realizing until the last minute, I noticed myself slowly moving in, our noses almost touching. Suddenly I took another step back and stuttered after I cleared my throat, “You-you can go on ahead first.”

What if she didn’t kiss me back? Or what if she stopped me? I can’t ruin our friendship due to my selfishness.. 

The fire in the fireplace was blazing slowly as Y/N and I sat in front of the warm flame huddled under a large fuzzy blanket together. I had lent her some clothes to change into so she didn’t have to sit in her wet clothes or get sick from being in her wet clothes too long. With her eyes glued to the fire and her small hands clutching some of the blanket, I looked at her somewhat frizzy hair, the strands glowing from the firelight. Her lashes were curled perfectly without the need of mascara, her eyes shining underneath them. She turned her head to look at me.

I swallowed hard, not knowing what to do. I had gone years without telling her I was in love with her for the sake of our friendship, yet here I was staring at her like it was the only thing keeping me alive. My eyes went from her mouth, back to her eyes. Again, I noticed myself getting closer to her like an absolute idiot. I shot up to my feet quickly, “I’m gonna go make tea.” I blurted out as I ran to the kitchen leaving her with the rest of the blanket.

“George?” her voice broke me out of my thoughts, “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know…” I breathed out.

“Is it that new girl you’re seeing?” she asked, confused.

“No. I stopped seeing her two months ago.” I answered, “I need to tell you something…and you don’t need to say anything or respond to it, but it’s been bothering me and I won’t stop hating myself until I let you know.”

She’s happy with Kevin, he makes her happy and that should be enough for me to see her content, and I know she will never feel the same and it frightens me to think that way but for the sake of preserving my mind, I need to tell her.

“Wh-“ she stopped herself, “Joji? What’s going on.”

I buried my face in my hands and rubbed my tired eyes before I turned my body to face her. Y/N had worry in her eyes, she seemed scared, and I knew that she would go from worried to disappointed if I told her.

“The last thing I ever want to do in this world is lose you.” I began, “You’re happy, and you have no idea how thrilled it makes me knowing that you have someone in your life that cares for you, but Y/N…I…I’m in love with you.”

As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I wanted to give my soul just to get them back. Y/N outstretched her arm to put her glass on the coffee table but she missed by a centimeter and the glass shattered on the hardwood floor. She looked like she was going to be sick.

“What?” she whispered, ignoring the mess on the floor.

“I have been in love with you…for years.” I whispered in a breathy voice. The lump in my throat returned and the feeling of nausea washed over me, but somehow I was feeling a weight being lifted off of my chest, “I thought that seeing other girls would take my mind off of me thinking like this but it did nothing…they’re not you. They’re not who I want to see first thing in the morning, they’re not who I want to spend days talking to…I can’t eat, I can’t sleep because my thoughts are keeping me awake and it’s not your fault…it’s mine for feeling this way but I can’t help falling more in love with you every time I see you. I search for you in every girl I meet and I fail to realize they’re not you, nor will they ever be you. I spent years hiding it from you, scared that you would reject me but I’m losing my mind keeping it a secret. I try to distance myself from you in hopes that I won’t love you anymore for the sake of our friendship but it doesn’t fucking work. Nothing works. What fucks me up more is that you’re happy with someone else, and I’m beyond happy for you, and I feel like I shouldn’t tell you because you’re happy and I don’t want to ruin our friendship, but I can’t…I can’t just keep this to myself anymore. I didn’t choose to fall in love with you, Y/N, it just happened.”

I felt a single tear slide down my face and I quickly wiped it with the back of my hand and sniffled as I got up off of the couch. I looked down at Y/N and she was stuck staring at the spot that I had just gotten up from, she had tears streaming down her face.

“I’m sorry.” I apologized softly.

“I…I just need some time.” she whispered, wiping her face with her hands.

I took it as my cue to leave. I drove home while my mind and heart battled each other, part of me regretted telling her but the other half felt relieved…but at what cost knowing that I lost my best friend.

Y/N’s POV (one month later)

I knocked on the newly painted front door with shaky hands, immediately mentally cursing myself at what I was doing. I tugged on the hem of my oversized jacket as I examined the eggshell colored door, I missed the light periwinkle color the Millers had before on their door. The paint before was beyond chipped from Joji and I peeling the paint off as kids, and what sucked more was that they discontinued the color at Home Depot so they had to settle for this somewhat crappy color. I heard shuffling footsteps approach the door, it was too late to run back next door now. I took a deep breath as I heard the doorknob twist. The door slowly opened and I was met with George’s mother, “Hi, Mrs.Miller.” I nervously smiled.

“He’s upstairs in his room.” she smiled warmly as she took me in for a tight hug.

“How’s he doing?” I asked in a low voice as I shut the door behind me, shoving my hands into my jacket pockets.

“Better…sort of. He doesn’t leave the room unless no one’s home or if we’re asleep. I’ll hear the door sometimes in the middle of the night but that’s about it.” she informed as she lead me to the stairs with her hand on my back.

She told me she was going next door to talk with my mother and I just gave her a slight smile and a nod. Going up the stairs made me want to throw up, the thought of seeing Joji after so long made me nervous and extremely embarrassed. I hadn’t called him or texted him in a month. I was angry, hurt, and confused. Why wouldn’t he tell me how he felt? We told each other everything, no matter how bad it was, but for the same reason I didn’t tell him how I felt. I was hurt for him as well…how could I have not known? If anything, I thought he didn’t like me. I tried making moves on him before and I felt like he’d rejected me on several occasions, or maybe if we had just communicated things without fear, we’d probably be okay, but it’s easier said than done. I’ve always loved Joji…but I thought it would never happen, and so I moved on.or tried to… I broke up with Kevin the week after George came to visit me. I had love for Kevin but I wasn’t in love with him, we would have arguments nearly everyday and he just wasn’t George. I didn’t know what to do…I was contemplating on calling Joji and I didn’t, I was scared and I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to be alone and have time to myself so I could think. So I went to the only place where I knew I would be left alone and away from everyone for some time: my parent’s house. Little did I know, Joji was next door doing the exact same thing.

I reached the top step and made my way down the hall cautiously. I felt like the hallway stretched out for miles as I walked towards Joji’s door. My breathing quickened, my heart nearly falling out of my chest as I finally stood in front of his door. I held my breath as I knocked. There was no answer. I sighed and placed my hand on the doorknob and entered his room. He was sat on his bed looking out his window with a notebook next to him. The walls were decorated the same: posters of artists, pictures of us and his family members, a couple post-it notes still lingered on the walls told me that they haven’t lost their stick. His room hadn’t changed one bit.

“Hey.” I said, trying to catch his attention as I tenderly closed the door behind me.

He turned around quickly, his eyes looking into mine. That’s when I felt it all over again: the butterflies. His hair was wet and I could smell his shampoo from across the room. He wore a gray long-sleeved shirt and a pair of sweats with some fuzzy mismatched socks to complete his ‘homebody’ look.

“I see you’re still a mama’s boy.” I lightly chuckled as I sat down in his comfy desk chair, “I can’t really blame you, I went home to my mom too.”

“Yeah…I know you did.” he said quietly, as he began moving to the edge of the bed, slowly, so that he sat across from me, “I could hear you crying most nights from my window.”

“Yeah…” I sighed in embarrassment, “I was doing some digging the other day while I was cleaning my old room…and I found some stuff.”

I reached into my jacket pockets, not taking my eyes off of his face. I was happy to see him well rested, but the ashtray full of cigarette butts told me he was stressed out of his mind. He stared at the carpeted floor blankly as I searched my pockets.

“Do you remember this?” I asked coyly, retrieving a gold locket from my pocket,”You gave it to me on my eighteenth birthday once everyone left my party.”

“I drove hours for that thing.” he chuckled softly, “You told me you always wanted one but the good legit ones were impossible to find.”

“Do you remember what you put in it?” I asked.

“A picture of us from when we were ten.” he answered.

“I’m a complete dumbass.” I spoke in an unsteady voice as I pulled out a small note from the same pocket with shaking hands, “I couldn’t get the locket to open the other night…I like looking in it when I’m sad but I couldn’t get it open ‘cause it was stuck. It’s an antique so it’s normal for it to get stuck sometimes, and every time it gets stuck, I’d open it cautiously. Well, I tried opening it the other night, and I broke my nail, so I got angry at the damn thing and I threw it at the wall…the picture fell out…and so did this.” I held up the note and I read it, “‘I choose to love you in silence…For in silence I find no rejection, I choose to love you in loneliness…For in loneliness no one owns you but me, I choose to adore you from a distance…For distance will shield me from pain, I choose to kiss you in the wind…For the wind is gentler than my lips, I choose to hold you in my dreams…’“

“For in my dreams, you have no end.” he finished the poem.

“Rumi…” I said, shocked that he remembered my favorite poet from the one time I told him when we were sixteen.

“I didn’t want you to find it, but part of me wanted you to. So I hid it behind the one thing that meant the most to me, inside something that was special to you.” he explained, “It was the only way I felt safe and comfortable telling you how I felt…even if you never got a chance to read it. People say that some things are better left unsaid, and I believed them, but I went crazy when I thought about how I’d have to live with feeling this way forever and not having you know, I just didn’t think I’d lose you in the process…but I can’t lose what was never mine.”

I took a deep, hesitating breath before I spoke, “I fell in love with you when we were sixteen, and every time I ran to you crying about a boy breaking my heart or hurting my feelings was because they didn’t treat me like how you did…they didn’t make me laugh like you did, they didn’t take care of me like you did…they weren’t you, George. I thought about how there were times that I almost told you how I felt…but my fear stopped me. And I can’t begin to imagine how you felt, and I’m sorry for that. Being older now means looking back at all the times we shared when we were younger…and I know that there were times were I felt like you were going to kiss me but you didn’t…but I know now why you didn’t…”

Joji looked down at his hands before he looked back up at me.

“But I really wish you did.” I admitted, “I found love in places where it shouldn’t have thought to grow because I was upset with the thought of being in love with someone who I thought didn’t feel the same way…I know that feeling of being rejected or feeling like you’ll be rejected, George, that fear.” I wiped my tears with the sleeves of my jacket.

I got up from the chair and put it back under the desk before I decided to face him again. I was slightly alerted when I saw he was standing now in front of me. He pulled me in for a tight hug and I gladly hugged back. To feel his warmth, his presence, just to feel him hugging me again after not seeing him for a long time made everything feel right again. I buried my face in his chest, taking in his scent as he rested his chin on my head before he kissed my cheek and hid his face in my neck. We were stood there for what seemed to be hours embracing each other. I rubbed his back softly and I finally whispered, “I’m still in love with you…I never stopped.”

Joji pulled away from the hug and smiled at me, “I love you.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and stood on the tips of my toes so I would be able to reach his lips. I stared at his lips as I bit mine thinking about how I’d been waiting to kiss him for the longest time.

“Are you gonna kiss me or what?” he smirked nudging me gently.

“Shut up.” I laughed.

He dried my wet eyes lightly with the sleeves of his shirt, holding my face in his hands, he leaned in and kissed me softly. It felt right and more than anything I felt safe and home.

[giant-sketches]

Guardian Naga Chpt. 4

 I have come to deliver on my word of a longer chapter with more sketches attached! Plus, a fun surprise! We’re getting into the good stuff now my friends!!! If you have yet not read the latest, or any chapters thus far please do check out the links below. Also if you would like to be added to the tag for this fic please don’t hesitate to ask. :D

Chapters: 1/2/3/

   Another two weeks had passed as Roman continued to visit the Naga with sweets and converse with him about his day. Only two months remained before Remus’s return, but despite this fact Roman found himself looking forward to his meet-ups at the caves. He shared stories of his youth and about many harrowing adventures he’d experience due to his mischievous brother. He spoke of the wonderful people in the kingdom and about his childhood friends. The plan was progressing smoothly, but Roman couldn’t help wanting to learn more about the Naga. He only talked about himself while there and the Naga would remain silent and listening. Thus, during his free time he read any books he could find relating to his new friend. 

   Sadly, not much was written about the Naga besides the one fairy-tale he vaguely remembered before. After an unsuccessful search the solemn King was about to give up when an anomaly caught his eye. Two books set beside one another displaced an unusual amount of darkened space between them; as if there was nothing attached to their bindings. Taking a chance Roman removed the two false coverings to reveal an enlarged space hidden behind. Inside lay an old journal with the name of the first king inscribed on top, Virgil.   

“What in the world is this and why was it hidden away?”

   Checking first to see if anyone around, Roman quickly returned to his personal quarters in order to further inspect the journal. He took additional precautions not to damage it by wearing gloves as he proceeded to flip through. The journal appeared to be a sort of day-by-day log the first king wrote in to keep record of the kingdom’s progression. For the first few years not much was written besides the occasional conflict among lords, complications with trading overseas, and a six month long famine. The famine records were particularly interesting as it seems to end abruptly with entire fields filling up with crops overnight and rain washing over the land for three whole days. Something so unreal, it was like a miracle!

“What if…was it the Naga?”

   Roman paused for a moment to contemplate this train of thought that popped into his mind. What if this was the Naga’s doing? If it was then why did the Virgil not write anything down about meeting him? As Roman continued looking through the journal he found not even one mention of the Naga. Yet, more miracles kept occurring: from alliances being formed with decade long enemies, a pandemic being cured in less then a month, and the appearance of magic itself in a select amount of people, including the past King. It was well known in history books that King Virgil was a fan of dark enchantments and had complete mastery over shadow spells. 

“Wait! What if this journal is also enchanted? If that’s true then there must be some kind of trick to it…hidden text maybe? How would I get it to reveal itself though? If I remember correctly dark enchantments dealing with paper included elements like spit, ash, and blood being placed on the paper to reveal anything hidden.”

   Still, Roman was unsure of which to test out first. True enough he could try all three, but because of how old the journal was he was afraid of damaging it if his attempts failed. He’d have to decide on one and hope for a good result. As he scoured his brain for any hints as to which component to use a peculiar thought came across his mind; blood, the King’s blood. Was it possible that the first King would only want those of royalty to see what was hidden inside? If it was about the Naga it would make sense.

“Blood it is then.”

   Without hesitation Roman placed his hand underneath his desk and pulled out a small dagger. Swiftly, he placed the blade against his thumb and pressed until blood trickled out. He pulled the journal towards him  and cautiously placed his thumb at the corner of where the entry about the famine began. Instantly, the blood spread rapidly across the page and dyed it a deep crimson red. Blackened cursive rose up from the stained pages and wrote out the first King’s meeting with the Naga and his conversations with him afterwards. Near the end Virgil spoke of building a shrine for the Naga to live in and be with the people it protected. Yet, the final passage cased Roman’s blood to run cold:

To my dearest friend, I am sorry that I was unable to keep you safe and happy as I had promised when we first met. The people who once worshiped you as a guardian deity and depended on you have been blinded by their fears of the unknown. As I write this I am gravely wounded and I cannot come to see you as I had hoped in my final moments. I wanted to protect you, but in the end I couldn’t bring myself to harm my countryman, this mistake has cost me my life.

However, I fear it has cost you an even greater punishment that you are undeserving of. You are not the deceitful monster they think you are, yet despite my greatest efforts to convince them they fell to their own anxieties. I can only hope you can forgive their foolishness. As for me I’m sorry I couldn’t give you what you wanted in the end. I could only remain your friend as I had fallen for another. I hope one day you’ll find your destined one as well my friend.

Now, if this message is ever found by one of my descendants who has become the next King, please grant me my dying wish. Seek out the Naga wherever it may be dwelling and tell him how sorry I am. As the current King I want you to apologize on behalf of the entire kingdom and mankind. Please do this for me so I can rest without any regrets.

   Roman’s tears were overflowing as he kept trying to wipe them away, but more continued to appear. All he could think about was the loneliness, pain, and heartbreak the Naga must have suffered for the past 500 years. Roman felt he was no better than those foolish humans of the past as he thought back to their first encounter. He had to go apologize immediately, even if today wasn’t a meet-up date there was no time to waste. He needed to grant Virgil’s dying wish no matter what.

   Usually Roman came to visit every other day in the morning or evening, but he was now in front of the caves midday. Though out of breath from sprinting towards the forest he began calling out into the caves for the Naga.

“Naga! Are you there? It’s me Roman. Naga!” There was no answer. Was he not inside the caves?

   Roman had no idea where else to look as they had never met anywhere but at the caves. As he began to worry that he may not be able to meet with the Naga today his ears perked up at the sound of leaves rustling behind him. Unsure of who or what might be lurking inside the brush he spun himself around quickly in preparation. However, before he could even think about taking further action he froze at the sight of the Naga emerging from the forest. 

   This was his first time laying his eyes upon the massive creature when not covered in shadows. The Naga’s frame was lean with smooth skin covered in emerald colored scales. He had his chest loosely wrapped by a grey cloth. His ears were pointed outwards and decorated with a single gold earring. The Naga’s hair was a deep black and most spectacular sight was his tail that was covered in an array of gold and green scales that glittered in the light. Overall, only one word came to mind as Roman continued to gaze in awe,

“Beautiful.”

   Startled, the Naga finally noticed Roman standing still outside the entrance to the cave. It was obvious he had missed Roman’s remake as he sheepishly began backing up into the forest in order to hide himself. Panicked, Roman called out to him,

“Wait! It’s okay, you don’t need to hide anymore.” The Naga was surprised at Roman’s remark and hesitated.

“Are you truly alright with my presence?”

“Yes, please. I want to see you.” The Naga was lost for words as he slithered his way out into the open. 

   Roman was still amazed by the sight and as he reflected back on their first meeting he found it hard to believe he was ever afraid of someone so lovely. What an utter fool he had been, he thought as he turned away in shame. Then, without warning, Roman felt two large hands wrap around him. He had failed to notice the Naga had leaned down towards him and was now gently picking him up. Despite the scales his touch was soft as he pressed his pointer finger up against Roman’s face and lightly stroked it. Roman was unsure of what was going on, but he felt no discomfort and actually enjoyed the uncommon sensation.

“I’m sorry if I frightened you little one. Know I will not harm you, but I noticed that your eyes were reddened and grew concerned for your well-being. Have you been feeling alright as of late?”

   Was the Naga worried about him and trying to comfort him? This Naga was beyond considerate, how could he have not seen this all until now? As Roman was about to lose himself in another burst of tears he could feel the hands surrounding him begin to stretch and expand.

“Wha-”

“Ah, no need to fear. It’s just that my body shifts in size throughout the day as my body heat rises. It will stop soon enough, so please endure it until then. I promise not to let you fall.”

“O-Okay.”

   Roman had become flustered at the sight of this already massive creature growing even bigger right in front of him. He was embarrassed to admit he enjoyed the view as he gave the Naga a soft smile. It did not take long for the fingers surrounding him to quickly outgrow his tiny frame. Once the growing stopped Roman was small enough to roll around the Naga’s palm freely if he wanted. The creature had become gigantic! Concerned over Roman’s possible reaction to his growth the Naga whispered,

“Are you not frightened by my new stature?”

“Oh course not, yo-”

   Roman stopped short as the gaping hole on the Naga’s face, where his other eye should have been, caught his attention. He shivered at the realization that the people from 500 years ago must have done that to him. The Naga, however, took this reaction differently and instinctively used his free hand to over it up. Roman jumped at the sudden movement and fell backwards.

“Hideous is it not? I apologize for scaring you Roman. I’ll let you down now so you may leave.” A sad smile shown on his face.

“What, no I’m not afraid and I don’t want to leave.”

Instantly, Roman could feel the sadness reflected in the Naga’s now enormous eye permeating through his body.

“You must be a wonderful King. To have such courage when standing face-to-face with a monster such as I. I’m sure you are dearly loved by your people, but while here with me you have no need to hide your fear. You can be truthful with me.” 

A sharp pain ran through Romans’s heart. “A….monster? Do you really see yourself as a monster?”

“What else would I be? Even now my size is large enough to crush you between my fingers. Are you trying to convince me that you see me differently?”

“I-I do.”

“I’m sorry, but I find that hard to believe.” Roman gritted his teeth as he grew increasingly agitated.

“I found Virgil’s journal!” 

The Naga was shocked. “What did yo-”

“I said I found Virgil’s journal from 500 years ago. For some reason it was hidden away in the royal library and the text about you was locked away with a dark enchantment. Despite that I was able to read his final words and dying wish.”

“Virgil’s dying wish…what was it?”

Roman was now sobbing, but he cleared his throat in order to give a clear answer. 

“He was killed while trying to protect you from the people who had formed an uprising. He wrote how sorry he was that he couldn’t see you in his final moments or return your feelings of love for him. His dying wish was that one of his descendants would find the journal and seek you out in order to formally apologize on behalf of the kingdom and humanity. That’s why I came here today in such a hurry.”

“So it wasn’t just because you wanted to see me then?” 

“Wha-no, of course I wanted to see you. I’ve always looked forward to our meetings.”

   Roman couldn’t help, but blush at his sudden remark. The Naga too found himself blushing lightly. An awkward silence fell between them both until Roman decided not to delay on his mission anymore. 

“Anyway, I wish to fulfill the first King’s dying wish and wholeheartedly apologize for the kingdom’s sins against you for the past 500 years. Even if you chose to never forgive us humans that’s fine, but I personally would like you to know that I truthfully do not see you as a monster. If anything you’re undeniably beautiful in every way.”

“Beautiful? You find me beautiful?”

   Roman struggled to answer as his head had overheated from embarrassment. Had he just confessed to the Naga? The Naga noticed how woozy Roman looked and believed it was best for him to call it a day. 

“You needn’t worry little one, despite all the things humans have taken from me I still have a heart. Thus, I accept your apology as the current King. Thank you for taking the time to come deliver it in person after all this time.”

Roman collected himself and responded, “You’re welcome!”

“I think for now you should return to the castle to rest. You appear exhausted and I’d hate to see you come down with something.”

“Yes I think you’re right. I’ll take some time to rest, but I promise to return shortly.”

   The Naga only smiled as he gently placed it’s hand onto the ground to let Roman off and then quickly slithered back into its cave without a word. Roman casually walked back to the castle lost in thought as he found himself confused about his feelings for the Naga. Had he actually fallen for him, or was he simply just mistaken?

End Chapter 4

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