#from the wave-in front of our family-I crawled for you-thank you Lys for taking no shit-ow Sarah Lysaedion is breaking my heart so many way

[acourtofquestions]

Kingdom of Ash Chapter 53

Chapter Highlights (though kinda more like low cause ow)

Someone had set fire to her thigh. Not Aelin, because Aelin was gone, sealed in an iron sarcophagus and taken across the sea.

"Easy," a deep voice rumbled.

She knew that voice. Knew the scent—like a clear brook and new grass. Aedion. She dragged her eyes, heavy and burning, toward the sound.

His shining hair hung limp, matted with blood. And those turquoise eyes were smudged with purple beneath—and utterly bleak. Empty.

A rough tent stood around them, the sole light provided by a lantern swinging in the bitter wind that crept in through the flaps. She'd been piled high with blankets, though he sat on an overturned bucket, still in his armor, with nothing to warm him.

The last she remembered, she'd been facing those ilken, never so aware of the limitations of a mortal body, of how even Aelin, who seemed so tall as she swaggered through the world, was dwarted by the creatures. Then those claws had ripped into her leg. And she'd managed to make a perfect swing. To take one of them down.

"You rallied our army," he said. "We lost the battle, but they didn't run in shame." Lysandra managed to pull a hand from beneath the blankets, and strained for the jug of water set beside the bed. Aedion was instantly in motion, filling a cup.

"They all know?" A solemn nod.

"What did you tell them—about Aelin?"

"That she has been off on a vital quest with Rowan and the others. And that it is so secret we do not dare speak of it."

"Are the soldiers—"

"Don't worry about it," he repeated. But she could see it in his face. The strain.

They had rallied to their queen, only to realize it had been an illusion. That the might of the Fire-Bringer was not with them. Would not shield them against the army at their heels.

"I'm sorry," she breathed.

Aedion took the empty cup of water before he gripped her hand, squeezing gently. "I am sorry, Lysandra. For all of it." His throat bobbed again. "When I saw the ilken, when I saw you against them…"

Useless. Lying bitch. The words he'd thrown at her, raged at her, dragged her further from the haze of pain. Sharpened her focus.

"You did this," he said, voice lowering, "for Terrasen. For Aelin. You were willing to die for it, gods above."

"I was." Her words came out cold as steel.

Aedion blinked as she withdrew her hand from his. Her leg ached and throbbed, but she managed to sit up. To meet his stare. "I have been degraded and humiliated in so many ways, for so many years," she said, voice shaking. Not from fear, but from the tidal wave that swept up everything inside her, burning alongside the wound in her leg. "But I have never felt as humiliated as I did when you threw me into the snow. When you called me a lying bitch in front of our friends and allies. Never." She hated the angry tears that stung her eyes. "I was once forced to crawl before men. And gods above, I nearly crawled for you these months. And yet it takes me nearly dying for you to realize that you've been an ass? It takes me nearly dying for you to see me as human again?"

He didn't hide the regret in his eyes. She had spent years reading men and knew that every agonized emotion in his face was genuine. But it didn't erase what had been said, and done.

Lysandra put a hand on her chest, right over her own shredded heart. "I wanted it to be you," she said. "After Wesley, after all of it, I wanted it to be you. What Aelin asked me to do had no bearing on that. What she asked me to do never felt like a burden, because I wanted it to be you in the end anyway." She didn't wipe away the tears that slipped down her cheeks. "And you threw me into the snow."

Aedion slid to his knees. Reached for her hand. "I will never stop regretting it. Lysandra, I will never forget a second of it, never stop hating myself for it. And I am so—"

"Don't." She snatched back her hand.

"Don't kneel. Don't bother." She pointed to the tent flaps. "There's nothing I have left to say to you. Or you to me."

Agony again rippled across his face, but she shut out what it did to her. What it did to her to see Aedion rise to his feet, groaning softly at some unspecified ache in his powerful body.

For a few breaths, he just stared down at her.

Then he said, "I meant every promise I made to you on that beach in Skull's Bay."

And then he was gone.

Aedion had spent a good portion of his life hating himself for the various things he'd done.

But seeing the tears on Lysandra's face because of him ... He'd never felt like more of a bastard.

He barely heard the soldiers around him, tense and skittish in the snow that blew between their quickly erected tents. How many more wounded would die tonight?

He'd already pulled rank to get Lysandra care from the best healers they had left. And still it was not good enough, the healers not gifted magically. And despite Lysandra's quicker healing abilities, they'd still had to stitch up her leg. And now changed the bandages every few hours. The wound had sealed, mercifully, likely fast enough to avoid infection. Many of the injured amongst them could not say the same.

Aedion aimed for his own tent, set just outside the healers' ring of tents where Lysandra lay. Giving her a private tent had been another privilege he'd used his rank to acquire.

He'd almost reached the small tent —no use in building his full war tent when they'd be running again in a few hours-when he spotted the figures huddled by the fire outside. He slowed his steps to a stalking gait.

Ren rose to his feet, his face tight beneath his heavy hood. Yet it was the man beside Ren who made Aedion's temper hone itself into a dangerous thing.

"Darrow," he said. "I would have thought you'd be in Orynth by now."

The lord bundled in furs did not smile. "I came to deliver the message myself. Since my most trusted courier seems inclined to select another allegiance."

The old bastard knew, then. About Lysandra's masquerading as Aelin. And Nox Owen's role in moving their army out of his grasp.

"Let's get it over with, then," Aedion said Ren tensed, but said nothing.

Darrow's thin lips curved in a cruel smile.

"For your acts of reckless rebellion, for your failure to heed our command and take your troops where they were ordered, for your utter defeat at the border and the loss of Perranth, you are stripped of your rank."

Aedion barely heard the words.

"Consider yourself now a soldier in the Bane, if they'll have you. And as for the imposter you've paraded around..." A sneer toward the healers' tents.

Aedion snarled.

Darrow's eyes narrowed. "If she is again caught pretending to be Princess Aelin" —Aedion almost ripped out his throat at that word, Princess— "then we will have little choice but to sign her execution order."

"I'd like to see you try."

"I'd like to see you stop us."

Aedion smirked. "Oh, it's not me who you'd be dealing with. Good luck to any man who tries to harm a shifter that powerful."

Darrow ignored the promise and held out a hand. "The Sword of Orynth, if you will."

Ren started. "You're out of your mind, Darrow."

Aedion just stared. The ancient lord said, "That sword belongs to a true general of Terrasen, to its prince-commander. As you are no longer the bearer of that title, the sword shall return to Orynth. Until a new, appropriate bearer can be determined."

Ren growled, "That sword is in our possession, Darrow, because of Aedion. Had he not won it back, it would still be rusting in Adarlan's trove."

"He will always have our gratitude for it. If only in that regard, at least."

A dull roar filled Aedion's head. Darrow's hand remained extended.

He deserved this, he supposed. For his failure on these battlefields, his failure to defend the land he'd promised Aelin he'd save. For what he'd done to the shifter who had held his heart from the moment she'd shredded into those Valg soldiers in the sewers of Rifthold.

Aedion unbuckled the ancient sword from his belt. Ren let out a sound of protest. But he ignored the lord and tossed the Sword of Orynth to Darrow.

The lightness where that sword had been threw off his balance.

The old man stared at the sword in his hands. Even went so far as to run a finger over the bone pommel, the hateful bastard unable to contain his awe.

Aedion just said, "The Sword of Orynth is only a piece of metal and bone. It always has been. It's what the sword inspires in the bearer that matters. The true heart of Terrasen."

"Poetic of you, Aedion," was Darrow's reply before he turned on his heel, aiming for wherever his escort waited beyond the camp's edge. "Your commander, Kyllian, is now general of the Bane. Report to him for orders." The swirling snows devoured the old lord within a few steps.

Ren snarled, "Like hell you aren't general."

"The Lords of Terrasen decree it, and so it shall be."

"Why aren't you fighting this?" Ren's eyes blazed. "You just handed over that sword—"

"I don't give a shit." Aedion didn't bother to keep his exhaustion, his disappointment and anger, from his voice. "Let him have the sword, and the army. I don't give a shit."

Ren didn't stop him as Aedion ducked into his tent and didn't emerge until dawn.

The Lords of Terrasen had stripped General Ashryver of his sword.

The word spread from campfire to campfire, rippling through the ranks.

The soldier was new to the Bane, had been accepted into their ranks only this summer. An honor, even with war upon them. An honor, though the soldier's family had wept to see him depart.

To fight for Prince Aedion, to fight for Terrasen—it had been worth it, the weight of leaving his farmstead home behind. Leaving behind that sweet-faced farmer's daughter whom he'd never gotten the chance to so much as kiss.

It had been worth it then. But not now.

The friends he'd made in the months of training and fighting were dead.

Huddled around the too-small campfire, the soldier was the last of them, the fresh-faced recruits who'd been so eager to test themselves against the Valg at the start of summer.

In the dead heart of winter, he now called himself a fool. If he bothered to speak at all Words had become unnecessary, foreign. As foreign as his half-frozen body, which never warmed, though he slept as close to the fire as he dared. If sleep found him, with the screaming of the wounded and dying. The knowledge of what hunted them northward.

There was no one left to help them. Save them. The queen they'd thought amongst them had been a lie. A shape-shifter's deception.

Where Aelin Galathynius now fought, what she had deemed more important than them, he didn't know.

The frigid night pressed in, threatening to devour the small fire before him. The soldier inched closer to the flame, shuddering beneath his worn cloak, every ache and scrape from the day throbbing.

He wouldn't abandon this army, though.

Not as some of the others were murmuring.

Even with Prince Aedion stripped of his title, even with their queen gone, he wouldn't abandon this army.

He had sworn an oath to protect Terrasen.

To protect his family. He'd hold to it.

Even if he now knew he'd never see them again.

[heaven-s-black-box]

Normal- Lyney x Neuvillette's child!Reader

Return to File

Recovery date: April 27th, 2024

Description: Hello it's me, sorry if this is a bad time, but I got inspired by Arlecchino's story quest, and I wondered about combining that with my previous two requests about the reader being Neuvillette's child, this is mainly just an idea so if you're not comfortable with writing this that's completely alright.

Notes: This work was recovered in conjunction with @crystalkat6747, we thank her for her contribution. Ahh, I actually finished the story quest the day before you sent this request, lol.

Part: 1 2 3 4 (Can be read alone)

Word count: 810

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Lyney watches the moon’s light drift across the ceiling. Lynette is curled up against one side and Freminet is curled up against the other, both sound asleep after their return to the house. He watches their lashes flutter against their cheeks, eyes flicking back and forth behind their eyelids as they dream. Pleasant dreams, he hopes.

He turns back to the ceiling and chokes down a breath as Lynette’s head presses against his ribs awkwardly. His wounds from their fight with father were mostly healed, but still tender. She shifts off him again quickly, eyes opening briefly as if she could sense his distress.

The long shadows continue to dance above them as Lyney's thoughts drift back to the fight.

As for whether to take them, the choice is yours.

Carefully, Lyney slips his arms out from under and around his siblings and inches towards the foot of the bed. Almost as soon as he’s climbed out, Lynette and Freminet roll towards each other and grab on to each other's hands. It makes him smile, the way they take comfort in each other, like a family.

The streets are empty and dimly lit as he makes his way through the court. He eventually finds himself in front of a familiar house and rounds the side to climb up to Y/n’s window. Their curtains are tied back, and he just sits in the tree for a while watching them.

On their bedside table, he sees the rainbow roses he’d given them on their first date a week ago. Next to those is a little penguin, an otter, and two cat mechanisms that Freminet had gifted them for their last birthday. They looked like a little family.

A clicking noise and the swishing of the window opening startled him.

“Ly-Lyney?” Y/n yawned. “What are you doing here?”

He blinked owlishly.

“I…”

Y/n stared back at him for a moment before backing up and waving him in. They sat back against the headboard of their bed and Lyney crawled next to them, curling against their side.

“You wanna talk about it?” They whispered, arm wrapped around Lyney’s shoulder.

“We can’t have a normal life,” Lyney said, staring at the mechanisms on their bedside table. “I mean, I can’t have a normal life. Not as a member of the house of the hearth, and that means that we- OW!” 

He hissed as Y/n pinched his arm. They cupped his chin and forced him to look up at them.

“I love you. I don’t care what our normal looks like, if it doesn’t look like everyone else's then so be it.” Lyney blinked up at them, cheeks turning red. There was a small frown tugging at the corner of their lips as they continued. “What brought this up anyways?” Lyney chewed at his lip. “Is this about that proposal for former House of the Hearth members?”

The magician’s eyes widened in surprise.

“How did you-”

“My father wanted my opinion,” they shrugged, letting go of his chin.

Lyney slumped back against their shoulder and laced his fingers with theirs. In turn, they hooked one of their legs through his so they were wrapped up in eachother.

“The House of the Hearth is my family, but the other day… it gave me a lot to think about. I could leave at the cost of my current self, not that I want to but it’s never seemed like an option before.We’re preparing for a dangerous mission with other Harbingers, and father wants me to be the next king. I know this was never going to be normal but for just a moment I imagined what it would be like if we were.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Y/n offered again.

Lyney squeezed their hand.

“If I left the house, would you come find me again?”

“Always.”

“And if I die on this mission, would you miss me? Would you be there for Lynette and Freminet?”

“Dying, will not get you out of this relationship, and bold of you to assume those two will let you die without them.”

Lyney let out a snort of amusement while Y/n smirked.

“And if I became the King of the house?”

“Lyney, I’m not leaving you.” They leaned their head against his. “I may not know what exactly is going on, but I love you, and I’ll stand by you no matter what you decide. I never expected you to leave the house, and part of what I love so much about you is your dedication to your family.”

Y/n looked down, finding Lyney’s eyes and offering him a loving smile.

Lyney’s eyes caught once more on the little family diorama on their bedside table before he looked back at them and squeezed their hand again.

“Then will you marry me?”

[siremasterlawrence]

The Family Remapped

Ian Kyle Henderson is the owner of the farm ranch in the distance of the city I enslaved the two couples recently I can feel their eyes on me.

I have know idea that they knew him as my car engine starts to combust with smoke in a ring fire expelling out he exits the truck door.

A closer to middle aged cowboy named Ian truck stops across from mine hops out to my assistant and comes to my aid with a bright smile.

I can see him flip the top of the front of the car exposing the engine letting the air cool

it off he reaches out to work as he is very much handy for it.

In wonder he stops with super pride wiping his face with a rag from his pocket hands on his hips and smacks his lips he turns to face me.

I thank him lying as I offer to pay him for the aide he offers his hand, I grab his letting all of my sensation run through his body I can see the exhilaration rise.

His cock stirs breaching his underwear to all of it erect pointing towards me he is in utter disbelief.

My power is unequivocally undeniable to you and him you see I am everything and he is nothing.

The fear in his eyes soon calms down to a slow crawl as the realization is something much heartfelt.

“What is your name? Tell me I command you now.”

“Yyyyeeessss! It is…it is…it is…it is Ian Kyle Henderson.”

“Good boi Kyle! You are under my absolute control from now, you can refuse or disobey me.”

“I helped you! Why are you doing this?”

“Ssshhhhh…stop the questioning”

“Accept your faith”

“Put me on my pedestal and embrace me”

“Address me as Master and answer me Sir Yes Sir!”

“Sir Yes Master Sir”

He drove me back to the ranch on a longer ass journey through the heat of desert I am giving even more access.

The range gate swings open the sight of a younger man clearly his eldest son waves at him till he sees me a gun in his hand he lifts it.

I roll my eyes as Ian exist the car door on the driver seat side, he walks over to open my door as wee walk up I stare him down je walks to us.

“Who are you?” He switches the cartridges on his way over.

“Relax son! This is my new friend! Our soon to be boss.” He exclaims.

“What the fuck this is my farm…I mean ours.” Henry claims.

“My name is Lawrence! Take my hand please.” I ask.

“Do it son! Immediately” he instructs.

“Fine Dad! What the hell do you want?” He swears at me.

“Stare in to my eyes, zip your mouth, and listen to me.” I command.

“You will address appropriately, do exactly as I inform you to and obey all I order you too.” I continue.

“Yes Master Lawrence!”

“This is my farm that you all agree to give me, work for me and live for me.”

“I own this, all of you and you are grateful for it.”

“Yes we are!”

“So lucky”

“Take over everything “

“Remake us”

“Henry! Grab some paper, a pen and clear as day obviously yourself and inspect the entire ranch for me.”

“Sir I will report back.” He says heading off.

“I will not let you down, I promise.”

“I am off”

He holds the door for me to find his second eldest son watching television he stood up in front of it.

He is enjoying some stupid sporting event in a gray tee shirt, right jeans and screaming our loud.

Jumping up for joy I know this is the major moment I must take advantage of Ian goes to switch it off.

Brandon yells at his dad in fuming red facial expression of fury. Ian blows it off in to the wind.

“Fuck off Dad! I was watching that.”

“This is Lawrence! Shake his hand.”

“Fuck no!”

“Do it!”

“Take his Fucking hand”

“DAMN!”

“Forget the game, pay attention to me and will be just fine.”

“Dad? Where are you?”

“Down here kid”

“We have a guest”

“Come shake his hand”

“Hello my name is Robbie”

“I-I-I”

“You are my property “

“I am your property “

“You succumb to my will”

“Your will “

“Excellent! Brandon and Robbie go aide your brother in the inspection.”

“Yes Master!”

“Oh Master! You saved my sins”

“They are…”

“Entitled and spoiled”

“Yes!”

“Whose fault is that?”

“I know! Mine”

“Robbie and Colton are fraternal twins”

“I can use one’s submission on the other”

“Colton Master commands you “

“What the? Yyyeeesss”

“I hear and obey”

“Get your ass outside”

“Whatever you wish”

“Nice ass”

“All for you “

“Naturally “

“I’ll work on it more “

“Forever yours “

“Kneel for me”

“Understood”

“Kiss me”

“Suck me off”

“Never did this before “

“Love it “

“Live for it “

The end

[chaoticminhos]

gentle

pairing: bang chan x reader

genre: angst, smut

warnings: mentions of past abuse, yelling

word count: 3k

a/n: not proofread, this is a suuuuper old request, and i’m back after like two months of being inactive!!! thank you for waiting around for me 🥺

you’d never heard him yell like this, not even when you tripped over his computer cords, ripping them all from his laptop and causing him to lose hours of work. he never got this angry, he never raised his voice at you. he knew how much yelling scared you, so why now did he decide he didn’t care? you thought he cared. he seemed like he cared.

you flinched are every single word that came out of your boyfriends mouth, but he was far too focused on his own frustrations to notice. or maybe he simply didn’t care about the tears building in your eyes and the panic tightening in your throat.

“i don’t understand how you could put down a payment that big and not even talk to me about it first, y/n! i mean seriously, we said we were going to wait to see what other places were available, why the fuck would you think it would be okay to drop half of our fucking funding down on a house we haven’t even decided we really want yet?”

“i’m sorry chan, he- the realtor was so insistent and he kept saying it would go fast and you weren’t there to make him stop talking and i just got nervous and-“

“oh?” he threw his hands into the air, “you got nervous? you got nervous so you threw away a shit ton of our money? we can’t get that back, y/n! if we don’t buy the house, we don’t get all that money back to spend on another house!”

“chan i-“

“thanks for making a huge fucking life decision without me, y/n. nice fucking teamwork.”

not only had you never seen him yell like this, you’d most definitely never had him yell like this at you. the pure frustration he was directing towards you sprung up old memories of someone chan promised to keep you safe from, but any loud and angry voice sounded like the one that used to mean panic and lying to doctors.

any glue you had holding you together broke as the same pleading words that had never worked before flew out of your mouth.

“please, i’m really sorry, i’m so sorry, i didn’t mean to! i really didn’t, please don’t hurt me, i’m sorry!”

your words became incoherent as you lost control of yourself, the same autopilot routine you’d gotten so used to years ago taking control. you crumpled to the ground, shielding yourself with your arms as you continued to apologize, over and over and over and over. you waited for the pain to come, the arms to rip your hands away from your face and force you to look evil in its eyes, but they never came.

you’d thought they had, but it was just chan placing a hand on your shoulder, trying to steady you and get you to look at him. you immediately flinched away from the touch, shuffling yourself backwards and distancing yourself from the perceived threat.

he reached for you again, but you had the same reaction, not even letting him come into contact with you a second time. upon realizing that physical touch wasn’t the way to bring you back to reality, chan dropped any ounce of anger that had been in his voice just moments before and called to you.

“y/n, baby girl, it’s me, it’s okay. baby, it’s chan. can you look at me?”

you shook your head. you weren’t hearing him.

“baby girl, it’s chan. i’m not him, it’s chan. i’m here for you baby, and i’m so sorry i yelled.”

a few minutes of continuing to coax the calm out of you with his voice took the violent shaking from your body and you finally raised your head to meet his eyes. you still wouldn’t let him get close enough for him to pull you into his arms and keep you there, keep you safe.

“i wouldn’t ever hurt you y/n. i’m not him, okay?he’s not here. he can’t hurt you anymore.”

he inched his way over to you, moving slowly and checking constantly to make sure he wasn’t frightening you with the proximity until he was finally close enough to touch you, but he didn’t. instead, he crouched down in front of you and opened his arms wide.

“princess, do you want to come here? whenever you’re ready, i’m here to hold you and keep you safe, okay?”

he’d expected hesitation, but you jumped immediately into his arms, wrapping your own around his body. you were pressed so tightly against him that he could feel just how fast your heart was racing. it broke his heart to know that it wasn’t butterflies causing your heart to beat so fast for him, but instead it was fear.

“i’m sorry for yelling, i shouldn’t have yelled.”

with every second that your tears soaked into his shirt and your labored breathing began to calm down, chan was replaying the entire fight in his head, cursing himself for ever raising his voice in the first place.

after what felt like hours of chan mentally screaming at himself for scaring you, you finally spoke again. your raspy and shaking voice are what finally brought tears to chan’s own eyes.

“i’m sorry.”

“no.” he said firmly, “you have nothing to apologize for baby, i’m the one who should be on my knees begging for forgiveness. i’m so sorry y/n, i had no right to raise my voice like that.”

you shook your head, face buried in his shoulder, “no, i messed up. now we have to buy the house and you don’t even like it.”

your voice cracked and a fresh wave of sobs threatened to choke out your throat, but chan interrupted them.

“my sweet angel, i could not care less about the house. what matters is that i’m living there with you. if you like the house, if you can imagine starting a family with me there, then i love it.”

a wave of relief flooded through chan when a soft smile broke out on your face.

“i think the yard would be perfect for kids to play in.”

chan rested a hand on your cheek and guided your face close to his, “then it’s a good thing you put down a payment. i’ll ask the realtor about when we can start to move in tomorrow, okay?”

you nodded as he placed a gentle kiss to your lips. the taste of salty tears on your lips only made him want to kiss you more, hold you closer, show you that he loved you more than he could have ever imagined loving someone, if you’d let him.

and you’d decided that you finally would.

“chan,” you pulled away, eyes locked right to his, “do you think were ready for kids?”

he pouted in thought, “i think we’re going to be wonderful parents, sooner or later.”

eyes still locked to his, you spoke.

“can we do sooner?”

you caught him off guard with the question and it took him a moment to process what you were suggesting.

in all the time you’d been together, you’d never slept together. chan knew you were nervous and he wasn’t going to pressure you, no matter how badly he wanted to outline your entire body with kisses and praise.

he’d always known your first time would start with you suggesting it, but now that it was finally happening, he was almost too flustered to act.

almost.

he shifted his seating at the simple mention of finally having you, locking his eyes to yours.

“are you sure, princess?”

you nodded, hands fiddling with the collar of his shirt, “i want you.”

that was all it took for chan to capture your lips in his, leaning you back until your back was flat against the ground.

you weren’t a stranger to kissing chan like this or even to the reactions his body had to it. you’d seen him worked up many times because of you, but he always handled it himself.

but he made you feel safe, he made you feel loved. you didn’t even know it was possible to feel so cared for before you’d met chan. he changed your life, he’d helped you through so much. you wanted to help him, too.

you slid a hand from his neck down his chest and to the waistband of his pants. he yelped in surprise, not expecting you to be so forward.

he gripped your hand, guiding it back to his neck with a small laugh.

“the first time we have sex will not be on the floor of this shitty kitchen.”

you laughed back as he stood you up, sweeping you into his arms and easily carrying you to your shared bedroom. you wouldn’t have been able to stop him from picking you up even if you had wanted to, but the thought didn’t scare you. with anyone else, it would have. the feeling of powerlessness would have overwhelmed you, but you trusted chan. he wouldn’t hurt you. he was carrying you to safety, not to fear.

he sat you down on the mattress, taking the time to remove his shirt before crawling on top of you and connecting his lips back to yours.

as much as you loved kissing the man on top of you, you lightly shoved him away, hands sliding down his bare torso as you took him all in. he was gorgeous. the freckles across his chest and his hot skin against your palms made waves of butterflies go through your stomach.

chan let you marvel at him for a moment before leaning down and kissing your neck, speaking warmly into the skin.

“now you’ve seen me. can i see you, angel?”

there wasn’t even a second of hesitation before you were nodding, lifting your arms above your head to allow him to pull off your shirt.

if it has been anyone else asking for you to reveal yourself in your most vulnerable, you would have hesitated. you would have done so much more than hesitate, but it wasn’t someone else. it was chan. there was no reason to hesitate with chan.

his fingers ghosted over your back as he fumbled to unclip your bra, tossing it onto the quickly forming pile of clothes on the ground.

he failed an attempt to hold i’m a groan at the sight of you under him. the noise sent a wave of affection and lust through your body, landing right in your core.

he leaned down and placed another gentle kiss to your lips before trailing his way down your body, landing on your left boob. he swirled his tongue around your nipple before taking it into his mouth, coaxing a soft moan from your lips. he made a sound of approval in response and repeated his action, gaining the same reaction.

god, he’d wanted to take his time with you, but you were making it difficult for him to keep his patience.

continuing his trail of kisses, he found his way to the waistband of your pants, tapping your hip as a signal for you to shift your weight to help him pull them off. you complied, it wasn’t like your patience was holding up much better than his.

you reached for him, trying to get him to the same position you were in, but he pushed your hand away. you let out an annoyed whine and got an amused chuckle in response, which only made your pout grow.

“you’re so eager y/n. you want me bad, don’t you?”

you nodded and his smile grew.

“be patient, baby girl. i don’t want to hurt you.”

your reply was instant, “you won’t hurt me.”

he raised an eyebrow at you, a hint of something other than the pure affection he’d been showing you thus far showing through his eyes.

“i’m not? okay.”

he leaned back on his heels, undoing his belt and jeans. you watched as he pulled himself from his confinements and kept the position like he was on display, letting you take in every inch of him.

you’d never seen a dick up close and personal before, but you were sure that chan was huge. a smirk grew on his face as he watched you turn back on you’re statement.

“still think you’ll handle me fine with no prep?”

too stunned to form a coherent sentence, you just stared at him, raking your eyes over his body.

he shrugged, “i didn’t hear a no.”

you broke from your trance as he went into motion, leaning down close to you and situating himself between your legs.

“wait!”

he paused, raising an eyebrow at you.

“i didn’t know.”

“didn’t know what, angel?”

he knew perfectly well what you were referring to, but he wanted to make you say it.

“didn’t know you were so big.”

both his heart and his cock throbbed at the crude words coming out of your mouth in that innocent little voice of yours.

unable to contain a smile, he leaned down and placed a loving kiss to your temple, keeping his place between your legs as he drug his hand down your body. a small gasp left you when his fingers came in contact with your heat, the pure intensity of having someone touch you for the first time nearly overwhelming you.

you weren’t sure you’d be able to handle much with how intense every touch he gave you already was, but you quickly changed your mind to wanting so much more as he slid a single finger through your folds and into your heat.

the feeling was uncomfortable at first, foreign, but you got used to it quickly. just as you’d adjusted to the feeling, a second finger was being added, stretching you further. you winced slightly at the pain the stretch caused, but the pleasure as chan curled his fingers against your walls easily outweighed it.

it wasn’t long before you were practically begging him for more, insisting that you were ready now, that he had worked you good enough for you to handle him.

he was worried that he hadn’t, that you could use a couple more minutes of prep, but how was he supposed to say no to you when you were begging like that? especially after waiting so long to finally have you in this position, he couldn’t.

it was hard to believe you’d had any initial hesitation with the way you wrapped your legs around his back as he sat lined up at your entrance, partly to tease you and partly to give you one final change to back out before you went any further, but there was no way you were going to back out now.

you had one thing on your mind; the man above you. you wanted him, and nothing could change your mind about this. no amount of nerves or fear could overpower the love and need you felt at the moment.

it took everything out of chan not to ruin you the second he slipped inside your walls. you swallowed him so perfectly, right walls clenching around him as he began a slow pace.

he made the mistake of opening his bliss-closed eyes and looking at the place his cock met your body. he held on to every last ounce of control he had as he watched himself slide in and out of you so perfectly. you were so small, but you still took him like it was what you were made for.

“god, baby, you’re doing so good.” he groaned, tearing his eyes away from your heat and burying his face in the crook of your neck. the mixture of his lips against your neck and his length working inside of you built up a knot in your stomach, and your moans started to sound more like whines. chan noticed, both by your change in tone and the way you were helplessly clenching around him, and brought a hand down to your clit, circling his fingers softly against you. in a wave of pleasure you handy even known was possible, you gripped hard into chan’s shoulders and swore you were seeing stars. chan was lucky you’d talked about having children soon, because he didn’t know if he could have pulled himself out of you if he had needed to. the urge to work you through your climax and let his own go was something he was glad he didn’t have fight against.

yet another foreign feeling touched your senses as chan released inside of you, but you were too far gone in coming down from your high to really even notice. the overstimulation of him still being inside of you wasn’t your main concern as you came back down from the clouds.

you came back to reality as he slipped himself out of you, collecting any cum that came out with him and pressing it back into your hole with his fingers. you lied limp as he found your panties and secured them back over your heat, muttering something about making sure you kept every piece of him safe inside of you.

you barely registered that he’d left the room before he was back, two glasses of water and a plate of fruit in his arms. somewhere along the way his boxers had ended up back on him, just another thing you’d been too stunned to process.

you heard the sound of him setting the glasses and plate on a side table before feeling the bed dip beside you. he chuckled, placing his hand on your cheek and turning you to look at him. your eyelids fluttered and his heart swelled. he helped you into a sitting position and handed you one of the waters, setting the plate of food on the bed beside you and ordering you to eat something.

“you seem dizzy, i don’t want you to pass out.”

you laughed raising an eyebrow, “who’s fault is it that i’m dizzy?”

he put his hands up in defense, “you’re the one who seduced me!”

neither of you could contain your giggles as you popped one last grape into your mouth before handing chan the plate and your glass to set aside. the second his hands were free, you pulled him down to a laying position and yanked the blankets over the two of you, finding a soft pillow in his chest.

[hacked-by-jake]

New Life

Summary: Finally you will move to Duskwood and start a new life. A moving with the help of the chaotic Duskwood Squad and a shamed hacker with the wrong moving box, can it be more beautiful?

Pairing: Group & Fem!MC x Jake

Words: 4,4 k

A/n: Welcome to this OneShot. After a long time something of my own. I dreamed about it and so the idea came. So I hope you’ll like it and have fun. Excuse the mistakes etc etc etc.

Take care and stay healthy! Much love.❤️

4 a.m.

"Shit" you hiss annoyed and look at the stain of coffee on the floor, which was sweped in your haste over the edge of the cup, "My poor coffee".

Because of sorrow you forgot again why you even walked to the door.

You want to make your way to get a cloth when it rings again, "Oh right" you shake your head over your forgetfulness. It’s just too early for you.

Quickly you open the door to your apartment and look in two radiant faces belonging to Dan and Richy, your heroes of the day.

"Good morning" both say at the same time and you would just like to crawl back into bed.

"Good morning guys, come in. Careful not to step on the coffee, he did not deserve it"

Hectically you put your cup next to the door on the small dresser to go to the kitchen and get something to wipe away.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Dan asks you as you come back with quick steps.

"You look tired, haven’t you slept?" Richy asks, grinning, you shake your head.

"Only about half an hour and that was an accident. I didn’t want to sleep," you explain.

"Why?" Richy looks around the almost empty apartment. All that’s left are only the biggest furniture you’ll be taking with you and a lot of moving boxes.

"I had to pack so much stuff and besides I was really excited. Do any of you want coffee? I made more, and I left two more cups outside." You’re offering.

The eyes of both men grow big,"I certainly don’t say no to coffee," Richy jokes and follows you into the kitchen.

"Just take what you need. I still have to pack the rest of my clothes and the stuff from the bathroom" You already ran off only to then make a 180 degree turn, "My cup" you mumble and grab it.

"MC, let’s take it easy, we have all the time in the world," Dan rebukes you and you sighing.

"I’m sorry, I’m probably more excited than I thought," you apologize and drop into the chair at your kitchen table.

"This is normal. You don’t move to a completely strange and creepy city every day," Richy throws in and immediately gets a nasty look from Dan.

"Are you serious?" he asks, "You’re not making it better!"

Richy looks embarrassed in your a little desperate face, "But for that, this will be the coolest time of your life!" he tries to save the situation, "Hey, think about it, the Duskwood Squad is finally completely united in a few hours!"

The prospect of the time you are about to be with your friends, and that always without having to go home, also makes you smile like the two men

"But it’s about time, Shorty, we miss you at our place.

A visit every few months is simply not enough, or just for one night over the weekend. You should have seen the girls the last days, there was no rest"

Dan finds just the right words to calm you down. You’ve waited so long to move to Duskwood, and now it’s finally time. A new phase in your life with a group of good friends that you met during a worst-case similar situation.

Since then, there hasn’t been a day when you haven’t written or spoken on the phone. You’ve played so much Doodle Splash to pass the time for your next visit that you feel like you’ve painted more than Picasso ever did

"You are right! " you agree resolutely, "time for the best time of my life! "

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

"I actually thought you had a few less things," Richy stands breathless in your apartment door. Of course, the big things, like your couch, your bed and your desk, were brought into the truck first which Richy borrowed from a friend company for removals.

And now for about 20 minutes you’ve been carrying one box after the other downwards to store it. In between, even one of your neighbors came to help, who actually wanted to go to work but still had a few minutes.

"That’s because the boxes are too small," you joke, and Richy looks at you with a look that clearly says 'You don’t believe that yourself'.

Defending you raise your hands and push with your foot another box over to him, which he can bring down.

About 10 minutes later, in which you had to take out all the boxes again, and put them back in, you put down the last box in your hallway. Behind you, Dan and Richy come up the stairs as you pull the little key to your former apartment out of your pocket and sigh.

"Finish!" Richy cheers and puts an arm around your shoulders, "Are you ready?" Dan asks you and you nod. A little sad, you put the key in the keyhole one last time and lock up.

Dan takes the last box from you and you go down the stairs together. You throw the key into the mailbox as agreed with your landlord and turn around one last time.

Determined not to be sad or rather melancholic, you climb forward into the truck behind Richy while Dan closes the big cargo hatch.

He himself gets into the driver’s seat.

"Let’s go into your new life" he announces solemnly as he starts the engine.

"Into a new life"

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

"I wanna be the very best!

Like no one ever was!

To catch them is my real test

To train them is my cause" you all shout the theme music of Pokémon.

Richy has turned on his playlist where all the songs you can only imagine are. You’ve been driving for about an hour and a half.

"POKÉMON!" Richy screams and throws his hand into the air.

"Don’t shout!" Dan grumbles and gives him a annoyed look, "You just screamed too!" the mechanic defends himself and twists his eyes. "I need another coffee, I’m driving to the next rest stop, otherwise I won’t make it for the next two hours," says Dan and you agree.

At the gas station you get yourself a new coffee and a snack. Actually 3 hours are not so much driving, but with the grumpy Dan and the lively Richy, who are two clowns at the same time, it can be exhausting.

After you get back to the truck, and this time Richy drives on, you actually managed to fall asleep after half an hour.

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

"Wake up, Shorty" you hear the voice of the bearded man far away, "We are almost there," he explains and you open your eyes. You need a short moment to realize where you are and what’s going on, but then you straighten up. Your head was lying on Dan’s shoulder.

"Sorry" you mumble and stretch as much as possible with so little space." It’s fine. I almost slept myself" he waves off and you just nod. No wonder, the two boys also left at 1 a.m., to be with you in time.

In fact, you can already see that you will reach the entrance of Duskwood in about 5 minutes. You’ve been driving this way so many times, you know the way around, like in your own hometown.

"I’m so glad I don’t have to drive any further," Richy whines and drums with his fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of the song that sounds quietly from the radio.

"When the truck is empty, you have to bring it back" Dan reminds him. Without going into the mocking comment, the mechanic turns the radio a little louder.

When the sign 'Welcome to Duskwood' appears in your sight, you start to grin broadly. Nervously you slide back and forth on the seat and bite your lower lip.

Richy crosses the border into the small town with secrets you still have learned to love.

"Welcome to Duskwood" Richy congratulates you and you happily clap your hands.

Welcome new life.

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

When you turn into the street where your apartment is, very close to Jessy’s, you almost jump up from your seat. Just the seatbelt holds you back when you see the rest of the group standing outside the door: Jessy, Cleo, Thomas, Lilly and Hannah.

All 5 wave wildly and Richy pushes twice on the horn to greet. As far as the side of the road goes, Richy stops the truck and you quickly unbuckle yourself. You rip the door, and without using the stairs, you jump out of the car, "Leave the door where it belongs!" you hear Richy shout, but you’ve been on your way down for a long time.

"Hello" calls all of you in a choir as a tight and not quite gentle hug with the 4 girls takes place. All at the same time you fall into each other’s arms. Compliments are exchanged and joy about the move announced.

"You pretend you haven’t seen each other for four years!" you hear Richy laugh and roll his eyes. "That’s how it feels," Hannah chuckles next to you.

"Hello MC" Thomas shouts amused and you stretch an arm in the air and waves in an indefinite direction, "Hello Thomas, I don’t know where you stand but HI!"

After you finally broke up from each other, Hannah holds out your new front door key that she kept for you. She was the one who looked for apartments for you on the spot when you couldn’t be here. She took over the visits and took pictures. If it was possible, she took you with her through a video call.

"Congratulations MC, welcome to the family" she smiles.

"Thank you folks, it’s so nice to finally be here!"

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

After you have arrived correctly and you have looked at your apartment once again in empty state, you have started to bring everything into the apartment. Now, of course, things are moving much faster with more people.

You’ve built up in the stairwell to the second floor: Dan, Richy, Thomas, Cleo, Lilly, Jessy, Hannah and you.

In a row your carton reaches from person to person and quickly most of it is done. From your apartment comes music that you run via a Bluetooth speaker. Fortunately, you have labeled everything so that after all the boxes are in your apartment, you only have to push them into the right rooms. And then the big things come.

The three of them, Thomas Richy and Dan carry the sofa upstairs.

You just stand by with a slightly nervous face and hope no one gets hurt.

"You have to be careful! The sofa is tipping!" Dan shouts loudly as Richy tries another handle.

"I know! But I don’t want this thing to fall on my foot," Richy hisses. Thomas, who supports the side, only twists his eyes.

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

All the important parts are now in your apartment. Now, the truck is empty and ready to be brought back.

"Okay, I’ll bring the truck away, and you start here. I’ll come back when you’re done and I can get the beer I earned," Richy jokes as he takes the key off the kitchen table.

"You get nothing" you call laughing after him, "Oh wait until the man Without Face learns of your sin. To deny a working man his beer is bad!"

Laughing, you shake your head, "I’m waiting for the next new moon."

"How can you always joke about it?" Jessy asks without understanding.

"Well, that’s just relief," you explain and smile at her calmly.

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

4 hours, a lot of laughter, bad jokes, quarrels and almost broken furniture later, the most important is on the right place. The bed is built up and ready for the first night in the new apartment, in your new life.

"How’s your thumb, Richy?" Ask the sulking mechanic carefully.

"All right, I can take a lot, I’ll survive," he calms you down and presses the cooling pad more firmly on his finger.

A lot went wrong trying to build your wardrobe. Someone had forgotten a screw when the ceiling was mounted.

The moment Richy tried to hit a nail with a hammer in the lower area, the ceiling came loose and fell down.

Both side walls of the cabinet fell into each other, and Richy accidentally punched hit his thumb. For a few seconds you were all just staring at each other and then laughing. Fortunately, Richy’s injury wasn’t that bad, but you gave him something to cool down with.

And now almost everything is ready. There are only a few boxes missing, but you will take over yourself." Thanks for your great help, guys! Many thanks to Richy and Dan who picked me up and drove so long. And of course, thank you all so much for helping me here!"

You’re all sitting around the table in your living room. You’re sitting next to Jessy on the floor while everyone else is comfortable on the sofa and armchair.

"And again, for the thousandth time today; Welcome to Duskwood MC" Hannah cheers and keeps her beer up. All together you toast.

"I’m so tired," Dan mutters, sipping his drink." Oh yes, so am I," joins Richy and you nod.

"But it was worth it" Lilly smiles and looks around, "And as soon as it’s done, it can only be great!"

"Perfect!" Hannah improves her sister.

"Indescribable" agrees Jessy.

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

"See you guys tomorrow!" you call after the group and close the door.

Just a short and quiet moment you close your eyes exhausted. Preferably you just want to go to bed, but first you still want to unpack a little more.

The sound that tells you that you have received a message pulls you out of your mind.

You pull out your phone and smile when you see that it is Jake who wrote to you.

Jake: Hello, MC.

Jake: How did the move go?

MC: Hi, Jake. Pretty good, I’d say, exhausting and stressful, but good.

Jake: Have you finished?

MC: No, not quite, I do the rest myself, the others have done enough.

Jake: Do you like the apartment?

You grin, he has improved his skills for small talk since you met and Hannah return.

MC: Yes, it’s really nice, do you want to come? You can look around.

Hopeful you stare at the screen. It would be really nice to see Jake today.

What this is between you, you don’t know for sure, sometimes it goes ahead and sometimes back. You’ve seen each other a few times since Hannah was rescued. Mostly here in Duskwood.

After a difficult time between the three siblings and still the problem with Jake’s pursuers, everything has improved.

However he did it, he managed to turn all the tracks that linked him to the suspicion so that they no longer point to him. He is still very careful and occasionally travels from town to town for a few weeks but most of the time he is in Duskwood. This is where you first met.

After the first conversation between Hannah, Lilly and Jake and a lot of explanations, the hacker decided to take an apartment here to catch up the time with his sisters. Since then, he has also become a little more open and better in interpersonal relationships.

At some point he was in the vicinity of your old place of residence and then it happened that you have a day to drink coffee. And the next day in your apartment. The beginnings were sometimes a little difficult because of him because he really didn’t talk much, but after some time it became really nice. There was even a kiss. Your first kiss together.

It was on your balcony and it was at night, under the stars. But since then, not much exciting has happened, unfortunately.

Jake: I think I’d just bother you unpacking.

MC: Bullshit, of course not, I could use a little quieter company after the whole group was there :)

Jake: Don’t you want to go to sleep soon? You must be tired.

MC: Jake, don’t make excuses, if you don’t want to, you can just say no, that’s not bad for me. But I promise I’d be happy if you were here.

You watch him start writing and then delete the message.

Jake: I’m on my way :)

Without answering his message, you close your phone and stare at the bare wall facing you for seconds.

Then you can’t stop yourself from doing a little joy dance, "Yess!" you hisses and grins all over your face.

Jake won’t be long before he gets here, so you decide to clean up the empty bottles and candy that are still on the table.

Although it’s only about 10 minutes to wait, it feels like a half an eternity until it finally rings.

Before you open the door, shake all your limbs to loosen up and clear your throat.

Then you open the door.

The hacker, dressed in black as always, stands with a slight smile in your hallway, "Hello MC" he greets you with his melodic voice.

Immediately you get very warm and you try to keep your own smile small, "Hi Jake. Come in" you walk to the side to let him in.

-

Jake actually knows your apartment already.

Officially, you don’t know anything about this. But off the record, Hannah told you.

You couldn’t handle the handover of the apartment yourself, so Hannah did it for you, and Jake was with her. He had only told her that he was bored and wanted to come along, but when he looked around and said some things like, "MC has enough space here" and "This will be a good place for her" she realized that he just came to make sure the place was nice enough for you.

Nevertheless, he now curiously lets his gaze wander through the now filled apartment.

"When it is done, it will look really nice" he confirms after you have shown him everything, as well as explained the room layout.

"Yes, I think so," you agree and smile.

"What are you going to do next?" he asks, pointing to the boxes in which your clothes are still to be cleared into the closet.

"That’s exactly what" you answer and kick one of the boxes, "You can sit on the bed if you want, while I unpack," you are proposing and tear the tape off the cardboard.

"I can help you if you don’t mind," he offers and you nod, "Sure, if you want"

-

Cleaning up with the group was really fun, but now with Jake, it’s beautiful. The atmosphere is calm, not stressful or a mess. You talk about everything that comes to mind while Jake keeps holding clothes in front of your face so you can tell him where it belongs.

Two boxes are already empty. In your second one there is still a little bit inside and Jake is also on his way to get a new one. You watch him as he opens the box, only to close it again immediately afterwards. His cheeks turn pure red and his eyes squint nervously at you, "Uhm, I think I’ll take the box first" he mumbles and you can hear the trembling in his voice only too well.

"Why? What’s going on?" you wonder about his reaction.

"Nothing at all, everything okay, here’s another one" he scratches nervously in the neck and does not look at you when talking.

Skeptically you walk over to the box to take a look inside. When you open it, you quickly realize the reason for his shamed behavior.

Your underwear. You decide not to say anything to make it even more unpleasant for him, but you cannot hide the smile on your lips.

For the next few minutes, it’s quiet until it rings at your door. You look at your watch in wonder. It’s just before 9, and you’re not expecting anyone today.

"Be right back," you inform Jake, "And keep your hands off my underwear," as you disappear out the door, you can see him raising his head in a flash, staring at you with big eyes. Laughing you open the door, "Phil?" you ask surprised when you see Jessy’s brother standing there. Phil has also become a good friend of yours, you visited Aurora as a group several times when you were here.

"Hi MC" he greets you, "I hope I’m not interrupting? I actually have to leave right away again, the Aurora is crowded today.I just wanted to stop by and greet you in Duskwood and congratulate you on your move" he smiles his typical charming smile as you hug briefly, "Thanks Phil" you nod grateful. He separates from you and then does not joyfully pull up an eyebrow, he looks behind you and you turn around as well. Jake is standing in the living room and has the same annoyed look as Phil on his face.

"Have fun, you two," Phil grins a little cocky and puts his arms around you again, just quick.

As he disappears down the stairs, he still calls, "We have to do something together in the next few days."

You slowly close the door and turn around with a wide grin to Jake, who still looks dark at the door. Yeah, that Phil and Jake don’t like each other hasn’t changed. On the contrary.

Jake finds Phil is the most unsympathetic person in the world, and Phil thinks he’s better for you than Jake is.

When Jake frees himself from his rigidity, his attention falls on you. You bite your lower lips and put a hand in front your mouth to stop your next words. Even the hacker seems to know what is going on and looks warn, "Don’t say it"

Innocently you raise your eyebrows, "What? I don’t know what you mean, do you mean? -"

"Stop" Jake stops you and heads back to the bedroom.

"What? Shouldn’t I say that you-"

"MC" he threatens.

"Are you jealous?" it bursts out of you and groaning Jake drops his head in the neck, "You really need to say this, don’t you?"

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

After you keep teasing Jake with it, you decided to stop for today. You two ordered a pizza and a drink, because you don’t have much here, except for the beer Hannah bought.

You had the TV running quietly but didn’t pay attention to it. Jake asked you what your wishes and hopes are in for your new life, and you talked about the time with the Man Without a Face. Until now, you’ve only talked to him about it. Just a little bit with Hannah but somehow you’re still not ready to deal with all this. The occasional jokes about it will help you soothe your thoughts a little.

During your conversation, you accidentally fell asleep. The hacker didn’t know what to do, he doesn’t want to wake you, but he also doesn’t want to leave without saying anything. After watching you for 20 minutes and thinking about your relationship, he felt weird just looking at you while you're sleeping. So he decided to leave.

However, you seem to have noticed this immediately because the moment he opens the door, your eyes open.

"Wait" you stop him and he looks at you frightened, "If you leave now while I sleep, then I feel like I was a one night stand," you joke and and he grins.

"You’re much more than that," he replies quietly. You raising your upper body, and a little shy, stroking the fluffy pillow on your couch.

"Can you.. can you stay, Jake?" Your voice is quiet, tired and a little nervous, "I feel uncomfortable being here alone the first night," you admit. You had this feeling the first time while you built up the bed. Even though the Man without a face is in prison and you’re safe, you still have this unpleasant ulterior motive.

He seems to think about, but without you telling him, he understands what you’re worried about.

"All right" he sighs and closes the door again.

"You can sleep in the bed, I’ll take the couch," you say and get up to get a blanket and a pillow.

"No, the other way around. You should sleep in your bed, your day was exhausting and you need to rest"

Before this discussion can be extended, you decide to make a short process, "Okay, you have two options now. Either you sleep with me in bed, or we both sleep on the couch. 'Cause I’m not gonna ask you to stay here for me, and then let you sleep there!"

The hacker stops briefly, turns slightly red but then grins, "I don’t have a chance anyway, do I?" he asks.

You shake your head, "Not without a war"

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

Luckily, you are in possession of a much too large sweatpants which fits him only narrowly, but fits.

The room is dark and it is completely quiet in the whole apartment. You try to be inconspicuous, and slide a bit towards him. You know he’s not asleep yet, and when he doesn’t try to stop you, you get a whole lot closer.

You hear Jake lifting the blanket, the invitation to come to him entirely.You don’t take your time but slide so close that you can put your head on his chest and he puts an arm around you. Immediately its beautiful smell envelops you and your pulse accelerates many times. Even his heart you hear racing what makes you smile.

"Do you know how many times I dreamed about it?" he whispers into the darkness and your heart makes a leap, "No, but if it was only half as often as I did, then I can imagine it," you answer and a quiet laugh vibrates in his chest.

"Good night, MC, see you tomorrow"

"Good night, Jake," you whisper, and then you feel his lips flapping softly over your forehead, just a touch, like a breeze. But for you, it means the world.

Welcome new life, you mean well with me.

❤️🎭🌹

Masterlist

[mycrofts-gunbrella]

Fred Weasley x Reader Smut- Part Three of Three

Summer couldn't have rolled round quick enough, with you and Freddie literally counting down the days until your little getaway in Greece. You ended up choosing a private villa for the pair of you to stay in rather than a hotel, wanting as much privacy as you could. You'd be lying if you said you wasn't hoping that this week would be THE week you and Fred finally went all the way. Spending the majority of your life at school definitely meant the chances of having any privacy was extremely minimal- the closest you ever got was feeling each other up in the corridor at night. That was short-lived since Snape rudely decided to walk by and interrupt you. Speaking of interruptions, your thoughts were interrupted by the sound of suitcase wheels coming along the gravel by the Burrow.

"Ready, Princess?" George winked holding Fred's bag and offered his arm out to you.

"Nice try, George." You grinned, waving at Fred jogging behind him.

"Oi you sod I've been looking for that for ages." Fred shouted, taking his bag from his brother.

"Worth a shot, Greece sounded nice." George pouted, folding his arms like a child.

"Sorry Georgie, maybe next time?" You punched his shoulder lightly and hooked your arms with Fred's ready to be on your way.

"Maybe when I get myself a woman. Wouldn't want to be third wheeling on your shag-fest anyway." George grinned. You felt your cheeks burn a little and shot George the finger as you got into your car. "Ever the charmer, Y/N. Don't rush back from Greece too quickly." Molly came out of the Burrow to say her own goodbyes.

"Oh have fun you two! It's going to be so lovely just the two of you for a week, make the most of it..."

"Believe you me mother dearest, they'll make the most of every second." George teased.

"Oh.. OH." Molly began. "Last time your father and I had time away I found out I was pregnant with Ginny a few weeks later."

"MUM" George doubled over in laughter at Fred's expense.

"I'm just saying.."

"Right goodbye we're off!" Fred pushed you in the car and climbed in beside you, nodding to the driver to go.

"Well that wasn't-"

"Awkward in the slightest? Welcome to the family Princess." Fred finished. You smiled and decided to tease him over his words.

"I'm one of the family now then am I? Should I be expecting a proposal?" Fred's face reddened and he began to ramble.

"No obviously not. Well, not OBVIOUS. I'm sure I will ask you one day. Maybe? Would you want that?" He stuttered.

"One of my greatest achievements in this world is being able to make the one and only Fred Weasley blush and stumble over his words with so much ease." You smirked, reaching over to hold his hand in your smaller one.

"I honestly don't know how you do it, it's embarrassing. George rips the shit out of me for it."

"Embarrassing as it may be, you're really cute when you're flustered. Besides, we have a Georgeless week ahead of us so I can't promise I won't do it more often sunshine." You squeezed Fred's cheeks with your spare hand and kissed his pouted lips for emphasis. He rolled his eyes and smiled at you.

"Really landed myself an odd one didn't I?"

"You love me really."

"Yeah I guess you're alright." He teased, shooting you a wink. You grinned and rested your head on his shoulder for the last short part of the journey.

(I honestly have no idea how I could make a plane journey the slightest bit interesting so I'm skipping to the villa, sorry lmao)

The plane journey thankfully went smoothly and the pair of you soon found yourself walking through the front doors of the villa.

"Bloody hell." Fred looked around at the large holiday home in awe.

"Nice huh? I don't think I chose too badly.."

"Too badly? This place is amazing." You grabbed Fred's hand and started to walk through the building.

"Come on let's get changed I'm sweating so much in these clothes I fear I'll leave a puddle." You groaned, dragging him to the bedroom.

"Wow what a gorgeous mental image that created. How could I ever resist you now?" Fred placed his hand over his heart and followed your lead.

"You're lucky you're cute"

"So you've said."

"Fred Weasley put on your bloody swimming shorts and meet me by the pool in 5 minutes or I swear to all that is holy I will throw you in there in your clothes." You warned playfully. Fred grabbed his trunks from his bag and stood back in front of you.

"I like it when you get all dominant."

"Go!" You laughed, pushing him out of the bedroom door while you got into your own swimsuit. You couldn't help the childish giddiness that built up inside you at the thought of seeing Fred in just his swimwear. Even though you had spent the last few days at the burrow you didn't get any further than a short make-out session that was disturbed by George walking into the bedroom. In his defence it was his room too but you still felt disappointed. And the burrow was so cold despite it being the summer months that Fred was in more layers than you had ever seen him in so you'd be lying if you said you wasn't disappointed you still hadn't seen so much as Fred shirtless.

You walked your way round to the pool and looked to see Fred sitting on a sunbed with his eyes closed, his pale skin shining in the European sun. You took in his features from the distance, from his lightly toned stomach, to the array of freckles that covered his skin and finally the patch of ginger hair that trailed from his chest and created a thin line leading to the waistband of his shorts.

"You know perversion isn't okay even if you're a woman." Fred shouted, his eyes still shut. "I know I look like I've been chiselled by the gods but ogling is a vile thing to do to a person. I'm not an object." He teased. You walked closer to him and grinned.

"Is it still perversion if I'm looking at my boyfriend? You can hardly blame me, with you clearly being sculpted by the hand of god himself." Fred opened his eyes hearing your voice was closer to him and his mouth opened slightly as he looked at you and stood up.

"Speaking of being sculpted by the hand of god.." He trailed off, pulling you closer to him by your hand. You blushed and shied your head away. Fred turned your face back towards his and kissed you, his hand slowly moving to rest on the bare skin above your hip. "You're gorgeous love." He complimented.

"Who's ogling now?"

"Can you blame me?" He whispered, moving to kiss you again. You leaned in and stopped just as your lips were about to touch.

"I hope you can swim Weasley."

"What are yo-" You grabbed both of his hand and turned, pushing him in the pool. Unfortunately for you, growing up with so many brothers left Fred with impeccable reflexes and he managed to pull you with him, the pair of you landing with a huge splash. Once you reached the surface of the water you started to splash Fred, laughing and swimming away as fast as you could when he started to chase you. "Now that, Miss L/N, wasn't very nice now was it?" He grabbed you from behind and turned you round to be flush against his body. "Naughty girl." He breathed, moving your soaked hair out of your face as he stared into your eyes, his hands roaming your body.

"Sorry Freddie." You smiled, wrapping your arms around his neck. "How about we kiss and make up?" You suggested, pressing your foreheads together. Fred leaned forward until your lips touched, skilfully running his tongue along your bottom lip and lifting your legs to wrap round his waist under the water. You pulled away breathless and looked into Fred's eyes, noticing they were much darker than they usually are.

"I don't know Y/N, I'm still pretty mad. Want to go apologise elsewhere?" He moved his hands round to your arse and squeezed hard enough to make you gasp

"Our clothes are soaked.."

"I don't know about you darling but I wasn't planning on leaving them on." And with that you were hoisted out of the pool and had Fred's hands on you in seconds, lifting you back up and guiding you to the bedroom. He put you down when you stepped into the room, his mouth latching onto yours and his hands untying your bikini top and moving to pull it over your head before he stopped completely and looked at you, his face turning concerned for a moment. "You're okay with this right? I'm not.. going too fast? Because I can stop if you want me to." He spoke, softly putting his hand on your cheek and rubbing his thumb along your cheekbone. You stepped back and took off the top yourself, throwing it across the room and putting your hands on his bare chest.

"Fred if you stop I may go insane. I've wanted you for years, I'm not going to stop it finally happening."

"Thank god for that.." He ran his fingers down your sides and pushed you onto the bed. Fred crawled over the top of you and hooked his fingers in the waistband of your underwear. "Can't be ruining the bed now can we?" He winked, pulling them down your legs and throwing them behind you. You sat up and pulled at his swim shorts.

"Same goes for you Freddie." He grinned and kicked his shorts away, pushing you to the back of the bed and hovering over you.

"God you're beautiful." He breathed, looking from your face and then allowing his eyes to scan the rest of your body. You couldn't help but let your own gaze drop to Fred's hard cock that pressed against his stomach.

"And you're huge. Jesus Fred." He smirked and moved his face to the crook of your neck, nipping and sucking along your jawline while you writhed beneath him. Your hands roamed wherever you could reach of his body and you moaned obscenely loud as he kissed your sweet spot, sucking a dark purple mark on your skin. "Fred.." You moaned again, feeling him smile against your neck. His lips began to roam south as he made similar marks along your collarbone, your back arching to meet his mouth as he suddenly sucked your nipple into his mouth, massaging your other breast with his hand. He paid your other breast the same attention before kissing down your stomach and moving between your thighs. His teeth nipped at your inner thigh, slowly getting closer to your core. "Freddie please.." You groaned, fisting your hands into the bedsheets.

"You need only ask Princess." Fred winked, darting out his tongue to slowly lick your aching clit. You moved your hips closer to his face, desperate for any relief and bit your knuckle to stop yourself moaning too loudly. "We're finally on our own in the middle of nowhere. Be as loud as you can sweetheart, let me hear you." His breath over you sent a shiver through your body. You didn't get a chance to respond before he began to aggressively lick and suck at your clit, your voice coming out in a guttural moan as your hands instinctively went to grab at his hair. His fingers moved from keeping your legs spread to begin circling your entrance. Suddenly he inserted a finger into you, curling it and pumping at a steady pace as your breath began to hitch in your throat.

"Fred- ah fuck." You moaned, tightening your fingers into his red locks. You threw your head backwards and closed your eyes as he inserted another finger into you, pumping mercilessly as his tongue gently licked at your clit.

"You're so gorgeous." Fred whispered, picking up his pace and bending his fingers to hit that one spot over and over again.

"Freddie please- I'm-ah I'm gonna-" Your voice came out strangled as your legs began to tremble and your stomach knotted.

"Cum for me then Princess." His voice was enough to tip you over the edge. Your vision turned white and you saw stars before you looked down and saw Fred grinning at you, his chin glistening. He crawled back up your body and moved your hair out of your face as you caught your breath back. You quickly pulled him towards you by the nape of his neck and kissed him. "Fancy carrying on or are you all spent for now?" Fred asked you sweetly, though the smirk on his face showed how proud he was for the effect he had over you. You leant up and pecked him on the lips as your hands raked down his chest to his hard cock.

"I think it's your turn sweetheart." You smirked, giving him a teasing squeeze before flipping the two of you over. You laid between Fred's thighs and licked him from base to tip, giving a slow suck to his throbbing head and tasting the pre-cum that had formed at the tip. His breath hitched in his throat and he quickly grabbed your shoulder to stop you.

"Y/N while the mere thought of your pretty mouth being wrapped about me sounds incredible I honestly don't think I'll be able to last for the main event." He admitted, pulling you back up towards him and groaning loudly as you started to grind your hips against him.

"'The main event'? What a romantic way to put it." You grinned.

"What would you rather? Vaginal interc-"

"No no. Main event was nicer." You laughed, letting him turn you back over again so he was hovering above you. He smiled and reconnected your lips, tracing his fingers to your hand and pulling it above your head, lacing his fingers with yours. His other hand fell down to your hip as he raised it slightly, lining himself up with your entrance.

"Ready darling?" You could only nod back at him, far too eager for him to finally fill you in the way you've dreamed of for far too long. He pushed into you slowly, the pair of you moaning into each other's mouths until he filled you to the hilt. Fred was a hell of a lot larger than you anticipated and you had to take a moment to adjust to the size of him before he could even think about moving.

"Jesus Freddie you're so big." You moaned, clenching your walls around him. Between the surprise of your movements and your words replaying in your mind Fred's head shot into the crook of your neck as he bit onto your shoulder blade to compose himself, anything to distract him from his want to move. You wrapped your arms under his and gripped onto his back, moving your hips against his to let him know you were ready. Immediately Fred's hips started to move and you couldn't help but moan out his name with each thrust, pulling him by his hair to meet your lips as he picked up speed. His fingers dug into your thighs so hard you were convinced he left bruises as he pulled out of you halfway before slamming himself back into you. Your nails dug in and began to rake down his back, risen red marks forming a trail behind them. His hands moved to your hips and squeezed, his thrusts becoming slower but sharper as he began to hit that spot over and over again. His voice came out in grunts, heavy breathing sounding between each movement as he felt himself being pushed closer to the edge.

"I'm not- fuck- I won't last much longer love." He breathed.

"Me neither." You let out your words with a small squeak as his thumb reached over and began to rub circles on your already aching clit.

"Come on Princess. Cum with me." He groaned, his movements becoming sloppy as he clung on to his last bits of sanity. You gripped onto him tighter as pleasure shot through your body; your release hitting you like a ton of bricks as you felt him finish inside of you, filling you up completely while your name loudly fell from his lips. His movements slowed before he pulled out and collapsed beside you, immediately pulling you beside him and tucking your form under his arm.

"That was-"

"Yeah-" You turned to face him, wiping his hair from his sweaty forehead and moving up to kiss his lips.

"I wish we didn't have to wait that long." You admitted. He smiled and squeezed you closer towards him.

"We're never waiting that long again. I'll have you in a bloody cupboard if I have to when we go back." He spoke, making you laugh beside him.

"As long as Snape doesn't come by again you can have me wherever you want Weasley." Suddenly the humidity of the Greek weather hit you and you found it even harder to breathe in the room. "I think we should go back out to the pool, it's too hot in here." Fred smirked and traced his hand down your bare body, the hand behind your shoulder grabbing your boob and giving it a teasing squeeze. You moaned and moved into his touch.

"I'll go back out to the pool with you... if your swimming suit stays discarded in that corner for the rest of the week." He bit your ear playfully and you gave in immediately. "Good girl." He praised, standing up and leading you back outside and into the pool. You swam over to him and wrapped your arms around his neck, feeling his already hard cock pressed against your thigh.

"Someone's eager." You teased, rubbing your leg against his length. "Do you truly want me again already?"

"Darling if I could have you pressed up naked against me every second of the day I'd be in paradise." He lifted you by your ass and pressed his tip against your entrance, dipping in the tiniest amount before pulling away again. "Now.. let's see how big of a splash we can make."

[anagentinwriting]

Lifeline - Part 13

Summary: (First Responders!AU) Moving to Los Angeles and living with your brother, Thor, was never part of your plan nor was being a 9-1-1 dispatcher, but plans change when you are faced with your own emergencies. In your case, it was leaving behind a relationship that wasn’t as perfect as it seemed. Will this be the fresh start you were hoping for or will your past find a way to catch up with you?

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Odinson!Sister Reader

Word Count: 7700+ (Whoops!)

Warnings: Fire, triggers, angst, fluff, trauma, arson, language

Lifeline Masterlist / Main Masterlist

AN: Flashbacks in italics

“Okay, Team, we have a single-level house fire in a local suburb. A neighbor called it in but isn’t sure if anyone is home. The owners of the house are newly married, Ian Boothby and Darcy Lewis. He suspected the husband to be home since he saw him mowing the lawn earlier this morning. Now, when we get on scene, I want Steve to stay with the truck engine in case the ventilation team needs help on site. On ventilation I want...” Carol continued to give demands to the rest of the team. “As for Thor and Bucky, search the home.” Everyone agreed with Danver’s orders, and Steve nodded, looking out the window of the truck.

“Hey man, you alright?” Sam asked Steve through his headset, taking in his appearance, sitting across from him.

“Yeah, I’m good. Getting my head in the game.”

“Okay.” Sam narrowed his eyes, nodding but not believing him. “Let’s do this, boys and girls.”

At the scene, Bucky and Thor went to the hatch to grab their tanks and masks before running into the burning house in record time. 

“I’ll go left, and you go right,” Thor commanded over the walkie.

“Got it,” Bucky added. “First bedroom clear.” 

“Living room clear,” Thor voiced.

Steve went to talk with the ventilation team but noticed the house’s skylight on the roof was already broken, so the ladder truck wouldn’t be needed. He rushed back over to Danver’s to figure out the next game plan when Thor’s voice broke through the walkie.

“Found Ian in the kitchen, heading out now. Val, get the gurney ready.”

Steve watched Thor run out with Ian in his arms, coughing. He placed him on the gurney, and Val put an oxygen mask on him, but he immediately pulled it off. 

“My wife, Darcy,” he wheezed in a British accent. “She’s still in there. Please...please save her.” 

“Barnes, his wife is still in there somewhere,” Carol commanded into her walkie, but there was no reply. “Barnes.”

A second later, Bucky was running out of the burning house with Darcy in his arms. He laid her on the ground and tore off his mask, and shouted, “she’s not breathing.” Sam rushed to their side and started chest compressions. 

Ian jumped off the gurney and ran over to them. “Please...please help her. Don’t let her die,” Ian cried, holding onto Darcy’s hand. “I don’t know what I would do without her.”

Steve’s eyes stayed glued to the scene before him. His mouth went dry, and he started to hear his heartbeat in his ears. He tried to concentrate on breathing evenly, but it didn’t help. He turned away from the scene, stumbling to the side of the truck. He squeezed his eyes shut as flashes of Peggy drifted to the front of his mind: her smiling at him as they laid in bed together, her waving goodbye to him when he went off to work, and her lying motionless on the cold ground. He put a hand on the truck to hold himself steady, feeling his chin start to tremble and his chest start to tighten with every breath he took. 

Steve heard a cry of relief behind him, forcing his eyes to snap open. He glanced over his shoulder as all the oxygen left his lungs, seeing Darcy sitting up and hugging her husband. He turned back to the truck, closing his eyes, causing a few tears to slide down his cheeks. He shook his head, knowing he should be happy Darcy is alive, and we got to her in time, but his mind continued to drift back to the worst day of his life. 

“You okay, pal?” Bucky inquired in a soothing voice.

Steve’s eyes shot open, rubbing his hand on his cheeks before he turned around.  “Yeah.” He nodded his head a little too much, waving it off. “It’s nothing. I’ll be fine.”

“You sure, pal, because you don’t look fine to me.”

“I will be--” he licked his lips “--how...how is she?”

“She’s breathing. They’re both on their way to the hospital now.”

“Good,” Steve swallowed, letting out a deep sigh of relief. “That’s good.” 

“Hey, I’m here if you need me.” Bucky patted him on the back before stepping away to help calm down the blaze. 

“You okay, Rogers?” Carol asked, and Steve snapped his head in her direction. 

“Yeah, Carol. I’m fine--” he leaned against the truck “--think I--I think I inhaled a little too much smoke. Heads a little fuzzy.”

“That makes total sense, considering you were nowhere near the smoke,” she recalled, earning a slight smirk from Steve.  He shook his head about to say something, but she beat him to it. “Hey, I get it.” He gulped, rubbing his lips together. “It’s always hard when you’re working a call, and something triggers a memory. Good, bad, or whatever, but it pulls you back to that day, making you feel something you wish you didn’t have to feel again.” She paused, shaking her head. “I know what you went through, but it’s one of the reasons I hired you to be a part of my team. I might sound like a terrible person for saying this, but you know what loss is, and sometimes if you experience it, you will do whatever it takes to make sure others don’t feel that way.”

Steve bit his lip, nodding at the ground. 

“You’re a great member to our team, Rogers. And I want you to know that there are counselors available to you in case you need to talk, or if you want to talk to the team, we’re all here for you.”

“Thanks, Ace, but I’ve gotten the whole run down before and talked to someone in Brooklyn after everything happened.”

“Take advantage of it here, too. It will help, or you can always talk to someone else,” she suggested with a half shrug.

“Thanks, I’ll consider it.” He nodded as she patted him on the shoulder and returned to the front line. 

_________

You sat down on the couch, pulling a blanket over you, and switched on the tv. You browsed through the many streaming services you had, along with a few Loki paid for. The sound of the front gate buzzing forced you to let out a loud annoyed sigh. You crawled out from under your warm blanket and went to the digital screen to see who was at the front gate. Your eyes widened, realizing it was Steve. You haven’t talked to him since you ran out of his house like a crazy person, but what was he doing here? Thor and Steve were on the same shift tonight, and judging by the small screen, he was still wearing his fire station logo shirt.

“Fuck, something happened to Thor,” you mumbled, buzzing Steve in as you started pacing the front doorway. He knocked on the door, and you took in a sharp breath, opening the door. Steve was still a little dirty, but you could tell he tried to clean himself up. His ears and some of his neck still had smoke residue on them, but something in his blue eyes told you something was wrong. 

“Is everything okay, Steve? Did something happen to Thor?” 

“No, no, he's fine,” He looked down at his appearance. “I’m sorry. I wasn't thinking when I came straight here, but yeah, yes, your brother is fine.”

“You don’t have to be sorry. Everyone’s okay, that’s all that matters,” you replied, furrowing your brows together. “But...but are you okay? Here come in.” You opened the door for him and closed it behind him.

“It’s about the other night when you rushed out of my apartment after breaking the wine glass.”

“Oh, um, yeah. I’m sorry about that, again.” Your voice cracked, crossing your arms across your chest. 

“Hey, it wasn’t your fault. No need to apologize for it.” He held up his hands to show he wasn’t going to hurt you. “I hope you know that it was an accident, and accidents happen all the time.” He shrugged, putting his hands in his front pockets.

“I know,” you whispered, rubbing your hands over your upper arms. 

“I got to thinking about how it might have triggered something like...like a memory with Billy.” He paused, licking his lips as he watched your eyes flash to his.  “I remember you mentioning a wine glass before, but I’m only asking because before I came here, I had a trigger. A memory of something I would rather forget and move on from, but I can’t.”

“What sort of memory?” You questioned, stepping a little closer to him. 

He stared at the ground, rubbing his scruff with his hand, and let out a deep breath, and his eyes connected with yours. “It reminded me of my wife and how I didn't get to her in time to save her.” 

Your eyes widened, and you didn't know what to say. “I’m so sorry, Steve. I had no idea.”

“Most people don’t,” he shrugged with his hands still in his pockets.

Steve crossed his arms across his chest and leaned against the back of your couch, staring off into the distance. Steve was doing what you always did. Replaying the same scene over and over again, trying to come forth with a different solution, but it would always end the same way.

You stepped closer to Steve to see his eyes drift back up to you. You offer him your hand and lead him to the other side of the couch. 

“Thinking about her now feels like it all happened ages ago.” He stared at the coffee table, folding his hands together in front of him.

“Was her name Peggy?” His eyes shot to yours, and he nodded. “How did you two meet?”

Steve smirked to himself before looking over at you. “We met when I was a junior in high school. She was going to this fancy prep school for the elite, and I was in public school. I don’t know how I caught her attention…

Steve was in the public library, researching information for his english final. His cheek throbbed after getting into a fight earlier today that his mom would ground him for later, but right now, he needed to get this done. His family didn’t own a computer, and he always ended up using Bucky’s for projects but knew he could get it done if he spent enough time at the library. 

There was some commotion behind him, and from the reflection on the computer screen, it was a group of girls sitting down at a table. They were whispering about something, and Steve couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Libraries are quiet for a reason, so people can focus on what they came to do and leave when it's done. 

He sighed, glancing over his shoulders after hearing more loud whispers and a few giggles. They were from an elite school, judging by their uniforms. Three of them were looking at him and smiling, but the one had her head in a book. He couldn’t help but notice her brunette hair and the bright red lipstick on her lips that he couldn't help but feel drawn to. She looked up, and he nodded at them, slipping on his headphones and getting back to work. On the computer screen, he could see Red Lips staring at him every so often, and he couldn’t help but smirk. 

He was working on the conclusion when someone patted him on the back, and he looked over to see Bucky, narrowing his eyebrows at him.

“What’s up, man?” He asked, taking off his headphones.

“Whoa, pal, what happened to your face?”

“It will heal.” Steve shrugged, biting his bottom lip. “It was just a little fight. Not a big deal.”

“Why do you always have to pick on the big guy?”

“Usually, he's the jerk.”

“Right,” Bucky chuckled, shaking his head. “Did you see those elite girls behind you? I mean, Wow!” Bucky winked in their direction, and they giggled.

“Yeah, hard to miss with all their giggles. I had to put my headphones on,” Steve added, looking over at them, immediately finding Red Lips. She rolled her eyes, but he didn’t miss the small subtle smirk on her lips that she was trying to hide. 

“Pal, I think they were trying to get your attention.”

“Why?”

“You don’t know a damn thing about women, do you?” Bucky grinned, putting his hands in his pockets and leaning against one of the computer chairs next to him.

“Like you do? We’re still in high school, Buck. We don’t really know anything about women.”

“Speak for yourself, champ.”

Steve rolled his eyes after saving everything to a flash drive and stood up. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Then, a week later, I saw her again, but she was alone this time. She sat at the same table, chewing on the tip of her pencil, reading through her textbook, and taking notes. She was still in her school uniform, and her lips were still the same shade of red…

“Not with your friends today?” Steve asked, taking off this backpack. 

She looked around her as if he was talking to someone else, but then her eyes connected with his. “I could say the same about your friend.” 

His eyes widened at hearing a British accent pass her lips. “I focus better when he’s not here. He can get pretty annoying.”

“I’ll have to agree with you there. All the excessive giggling isn’t a good focus aid either,” She smirked, shaking her head. “It’s nice to see your bruise is healing nicely on your cheek.”

“Oh ah, yeah,” Steve reached up to touch his cheek. “I’m Steve Rogers.” 

“Peggy Carter.”

“Every week, like clockwork, I would see her, and we ended up doing homework together. Not like we were learning the same things, but just to be in the same room together. It took me a while to finally get the nerve to ask her out. I still remember her response to this day--” he smiled to himself “--Wow, you really don’t know a bloody thing about women because you should’ve done this months ago,” Steve voiced in a British accent.

“She sounds like she knew how to put you in your place,” you smirked at him, and he nodded.

“She did.”

“What happened after high school?”

“I didn’t end up going to college much to my parent's disapproval, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do. So instead, I went straight into work while Peggy went to college. I worked a variety of different jobs, trying to find my niche. I ended up working in construction for a couple of years, realizing I like building homes and giving back to the community. It was a satisfying feeling, but I knew I wanted to do more, but I didn’t know how. Weird enough, Peggy was the one who mentioned joining the fire department.”

“Steve,” Peggy called, walking into their small studio apartment to find Steve making supper. 

“Hey, doll. How was class?”

“Dull, but it’s law school. And, Steven, don’t call me that I'm not made of porcelain.” She walked over, hitting him playfully on the shoulder and leaned up to kiss him on the cheek, making his smile spread wider. “At least you won’t look like a choir boy once this grows in,” she joked, rubbing her thumb over his cheek feeling the scruff starting to grow on his face. “Oh, I saw something today on one of the many bulletin boards on campus.”

“What was that?”

“Joining the fire department.”

“To be a firefighter?”

“Yes, I grabbed the brochure.” She pulled it out of her purse and handed it to him. 

“I’ll look at it later,” he nodded, putting it on the counter behind him.

“I bet you’d love it, and seeing you in that uniform. Woooo!” Peggy fanned herself with her hand as she walked into the bathroom. “I would swoon dear, swoon.”

He chuckled to himself and picked up the brochure, reading parts of it out loud. “‘What fuels your fire?’ Interesting way to grab someone's attention, I guess. ‘We teach, we train, we serve together.’” He hummed, flipping open the brochure and reading it to himself. When he got to the last section, something stuck with him. “As a firefighter, you are a role model, and you will make a difference.”

“I think someone is sold on the idea,” Peggy smiled, wrapping her arms around his waist, and he put his arm around her, pulling her in closer to his side. “And, if you don’t like it, you can quit and find something else.”

“It might be worth a shot,” he grinned, leaning down and kissing Peggy. “Thanks for looking out for me, Peg.”

“Swoon, can I say I love her?” you commented, hearing him let out a soft chuckle. 

“Everyone did, and after she showed me that brochure, I went to do the 14-week program at the Fire Academy in New Jersey, and she was right, I loved it. Being able to work with a team and build a sense of camaraderie with each other. It was like having an extended family.” He paused, wringing his hands together. “When Peggy graduated law school, she was offered a prestigious position at a law firm in Manhattan, and I got recruited by one of the fire stations in Brooklyn. Then, I finally went out and bought Peggy a ring with the money I saved up working all those odd-end jobs… 

“Steve, what about this big one? It says, sorry boys, I’m taken when she’s at the office, and it’s enough to make her friends jealous,” Bucky commented, pointing at the rings in the case. 

Steve shook her head, “She’s not like that, Buck. She doesn’t want a big rock; she wants something practical enough to wear to work and put away the bad guys, but pretty enough that she can show it off.”

“Sounds like you are in a real debacle, pal.” 

Steve hummed, scanning over the many different styles of ring. He wasn’t an expert, but he knew what Peggy would like and not like.

“Hey, Steve. I am actually in a bit of a debacle myself.” Bucky confided, leaning against one of the ring cases.

“What about?”

“I got offered a position at one of the Los Angeles Fire Department stations.”

“You want to leave Brooklyn?” Steve questioned, narrowing his eyes at him.

"I don’t know, it sounds like a great opportunity. And, I kind of always felt like getting out of here, living somewhere else, and trying something new.” 

“I get it, and there isn’t much holding you here besides your friends and family. I mean, who cares about them, am I right?" Steve sighed, shrugging his shoulders in defeat as he continued to search for a ring.

“I've already talked with them about it, and they think I should do it.”

“Wait, really?" Steve's head snapped to Bucky, and he nodded. "To be honest, Buck, I will miss you and Peggy will, too, but if it’s an opportunity you don’t want to pass up, then I think you should do it.”

"Really?"

"Yeah," Steve smiled, and Bucky pulled him in for an abrupt hug. Steve patted Bucky on the back a few times before they separated. "You just have to promise me you won’t do anything stupid out there.”

"How can I? When I’m keeping all the stupid here with you.”

“Are you gentlemen looking for anything in particular?” Steve looked up at the guy behind the counter. This name tag read Broker, and he probably had the best eyebrows in the business.

“Um, yeah, an engagement ring that is stylish but still practical and pretty.”

“You got anything like that,” Bucky asked, crossing his arms.

“I might have a few; excuse me for a second,” Broker nodded, walking into the back room.

“So when you find this ring? How are you going to do it?”

“At the public library.”

“I’m sorry, that old place,” Bucky chuckled, shaking his head. “I thought you would take her out to a romantic dinner and hide it in her dessert or in her wine glass."

“We met there, and it’s kind of symbolic in a way. And hiding the ring in dessert, do you know nothing about woman Bucky? Most women just want to eat their dessert, not make it a scavenger hunt and be a reason to break a tooth."

“Good point,” he agreed, pointing his finger at him. “I’m sure whatever you do, Peggy will love it.”

“Thanks, man.”

“Here we are, gentlemen. I found these three rings that are both elegant and practical.”

Steve stared down at them, and his eyes continued traveling to one. He picked it up with a small smirk on his lips and glanced over at Bucky.

“It’s perfect, pal.” Bucky grinned, patting him on the back.

“Did you end up proposing at the public library?” You couldn’t help the warm smile gracing your lips.

“Yes,” he nodded. “And she loved it. She said it was cheesy, but she loved it.”

“Any girl would.”

“Anyways, we got married at her family's estate. It was a small yet charming wedding. She wore this amazing dress, but my favorite part was the red lipstick she wore.” His face flushed at the memory, letting out a content sigh. “We ended up moving to Brooklyn after her parents helped us put a down payment on a small four-story home, and it was way better than any studio apartment we crammed into.”

“Steve, I don’t think I will ever get tired of this kitchen,” Peggy smiled, cutting some lettuce on one side of the island while Steve formed burgers on the other side. They were having a little housewarming slash Fourth of July Birthday bash for him. 

Steve smiled at her comment as his eyes wandered around the kitchen. The cabinets were teal with a stony black countertop. The ceiling had exposed wooden beams, giving it a rustic flair. Three lights hung down over a wooden oak island in the center of the kitchen. It was a kitchen you would see in a home magazine, but instead, it was their kitchen. It even had two sinks, but he didn’t understand the purpose of them both. Although, he did enjoy the huge fridge and the amount of space in the walk-in pantry. It was a professional kitchen for two amateur cooks. 

“If it wasn’t the kitchen that sold me on this house, then it was that huge bathtub in the master bathroom. No more all in one shower and bath.” She grinned, starting to cut the vegetables for the veggie plate. 

“My favorite is the rooftop deck.”

“Of course it is--” she shook her head “--it’s gonna turn into a man cave up there soon. I mean, I did buy you that new grill for your birthday today, but I wonder what else you and the guys are gonna drag up there.”

“It won’t be anything too crazy.”

“That’s what you say now,” she winked.

“It does sound like a kitchen you’d see in a magazine.”

“Yeah.” His calming smile drifted away, leaving a frown in its place. “Remember when you mentioned the Arson Artist, Aldrich Killian?” 

“Yeah, the guy that targeted first responder's families.” You nodded, not missing how Steve's jaw clenched at your statement.

“I wasn’t completely honest when I told you I knew some people that lost someone during his reign--” his eyes drifted to yours as he let out a deep breath “--my...my wife, Peggy, died in his last so-called masterpiece.”

You didn’t know what to say to him. His wife was killed, and a simple sorry wasn't going to bring her back or make him feel any better. Without hesitation, you reached out and grabbed a hold of his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. His eyes traveled down to your conjoined hands, and he interlocked his fingers between yours.

Steve remained silent, staring down at the coffee table. His elbow rested on his knee as his head rested in his other hand. Steve squeezed his eyes shut, lowering his head in his hand, resting it against his forehead. He let out a shaky breath, and you gave his hand another comforting squeeze. 

"Steve, you don't have to tell me this if it's going to upset you. I understand better than anyone when it comes to talking about the messy things in life. You don't owe me an explanation," you explained, placing your other hand on his forearm. He turned his head in his hand to you, seeing his tearful eyes looking back at you. He sat up, rubbing his hand down his face and scratching at his jaw. He sniffled, staring back at you.  

“I know that…but…um...I want to," He breathed, clearing his throat. “So..um...there’s this one day I kind of have engraved in my head, and as much as I try to forget what happened, I can’t. In my head, that day never changes and always has the same ending. The ending I hate reliving whenever I’m triggered…

Steve sighed, laying in his bed with Peggy asleep next to him. He looked over at her, noticing she was laying on her stomach with her head almost off her pillow, breathing heavily in and out. Her hair was sticking up in all directions and her mouth was slightly open. He loved waking up next to her and seeing this site before him. He smirked, reaching over to grab his phone, knowing he had a 24 hours shift starting in 5 hours. He wouldn’t get to wake up next to her pretty face tomorrow, so he decided to snap a picture to smile at tomorrow or to blackmail her with it later. He snapped the picture.

“You better delete that, or I will kill you, Steve Rogers.”

He chuckled. “Okay, yup, deleted.” He reached over, setting his phone back down on the end table.

“You’re a horrible liar." She looked up at the alarm clock and sighed, putting her head back on the pillow. 

“You know what would be fun to do this morning?”

“Making me breakfast.”

“I can do that after,” he scooted closer to Peggy. 

“Or you can do it now,” Peggy stated, not moving away from Steve's advances as Steve put his hand around her waist and flipped her over, so he was on top of her.

“I’m not going to see you for a full 24 hours.”

“I’m sure you have pictures.”

“Pictures don’t do you justice, Red Lips.” He leaned down, puckering his lips and waiting for her kiss. She rolled her eyes with a loud sigh, leaning up and giving in to his kiss. 

After an energetic morning he made Peggy her favorite breakfast before taking a quick shower and getting dressed in his uniform. He came downstairs to see Peggy waiting for him by the door.

“If you didn’t have to go to work right now, I would take you upstairs for round 3,” she winked, giving him a quick kiss.

“I will definitely take you up on that offer if you’re up for it, Peg.” He wiggled his eyebrows, forcing her to laugh as he wrapped his arms around her. “Love you.” He leaned down and kissed her again.

“Love you, too, Steven.” She hugged him close. 

“Stay safe.”

“I will.”

“The day started out like any other day, and there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. A few calls came in about car accidents, heart attacks, and a grease fire at a local restaurant. And things were looking up with the Arson Artist case because the FBI brought in Anvil to help with the investigation. Around six that night, we got dispatched to a house fire in Brooklyn….”

“Alright boys, you know the drill,” Captain Phillips stated over their headphones. “It could be a house fire, but keep your eyes peeled for anything that looks suspicious.”

Steve looked out the window of the engine, and he realized this was the main road he took to work. His heart started to beat rapidly against his chest as he looked out the front window to see what street they were going to turn down. When they turned down his street, all the air left his lungs; his home was on fire. 

The truck didn’t even come to a complete stop, and he was out of the truck engine. He sprinted towards his front door, tossing on his jacket and his helmet as he heard his Captain yelling his name, but he ignored it. He skipped up the steps he so casually walked down earlier that morning.

When he kicked the front door in, all he saw was flames. “PEGGY,” he shouted, coughing into his sleeve. “PEGGY.” He hid his face with the sleeve of his jacket, running inside. He squinted his eyes against the smoke, not seeing anything, but something dark in the kitchen caught his eye. He stepped over to the kitchen, coughing as his eyes watered from the excessive amount of smoke in the air. When he reached the kitchen, he saw her tied to a chair with her head hanging down on her chest. 

His heart broke, putting her chin in his hands. “Peggy,” he cried, feeling his eyes start to fill with real tears. 

Dum Dum came in and grabbed ahold of Steve, pushing him towards the front door, and Gabe cut Peggy free from the restraints, carrying her in his arms. Once Steve was outside, he ran to Peggy seeing her body weak, barely clinging to life. Gabe laid her on the ground, and Jim felt for a heartbeat. 

“Starting compressions,” Jim stated. 

“Please, please help her,” Steve cried, leaning down next to her. “Come on, Peggy.”

“Checking for a pulse, nothing. Starting compressions again.”

“Come on, Pegs. Please.”

“I got a pulse, but it’s faint. Let’s get her on the gurney and to the hospital, stat.” Jim and Dum Dum lifted her body onto the gurney and slid it into the back of the ambulance.

“Steve, go,” Dum Dum commanded. “We’ll do all we can here.”

He nodded, hopping into the back of the ambulance, grabbing a hold of Peggy’s hand. He brought her hand to his lips, and he cried, staring down at her. “I’m so sorry, Pegs.” Jim put an oxygen mask on her and a heart rate monitor clip on her finger. 

“Man, it’s not your fault it was the Arson Artist,” Jim replied, and Steve shot him a quick nod.

He clutched onto her hand, not wanting to let go. He couldn’t lose her. They were just starting their lives together, and he didn’t know what he would do without her. They had so many things they still wanted to do: get weird hobbies, travel the world, start a family. She’ll pull through this; she has to. 

“Almost there, Stevie.” Jim squeezed his shoulder, but he couldn’t remove his eyes from Peggy’s form. 

He squeezed his eyes shut, realizing Peggy was going to be okay. They were going to get to the hospital, and she was going to make it, and he wouldn’t have to say goodbye.

Peggy’s heart rate monitor flatlined, and Steve’s eyes shot open. Jim went to the side of the gurney, pushing Steve out of the way, and administered CPR again. Steve’s eyes started to fill with tears once he realized his worst fear was becoming a reality. 

The back of the ambulance doors flung open, and Jim shook his head. Steve grabbed ahold of Peggy’s hand once more and removed her oxygen mask. He cradled her face with one hand, holding on tight to her hand with the other. He stared at her, thinking it was all a dream and he would wake up to her smacking him with a pillow. He could feel his heartache with every shaky breath he took. He gulped, letting out a sob, running his thumb across her bottom lip. He leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. “I’m so sorry, Peg.”

Your heart broke as a stray tear slid down your cheek, and you wiped it away. “Steve, I’m ahh…”

“I know." His tear-filled eyes flashed to yours, and he blinked them away, not giving them a chance to fall. 

Without a second thought, you wrapped your arms around his shoulders, pulling him into a hug. He was tense at first but then relaxed, wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling you closer to him. You heard him let out a sniffle, forcing you to squeeze him a little tighter. You rubbed his back, trying to keep your tears at bay but having little success. “Please tell me you still have that picture of her sleeping.” You could feel Steve let out a soft chuckle as he loosened his grip and pulled away from you. 

“I do,” he sniffled, clearing his throat. 

You eyed him, noticing the reminisce of tears on his cheeks. You grabbed the box of tissues sitting on the coffee table, taking a few, and handing them to Steve. He sighed, wiping the tears away, leaning back against the couch. He ran his hands down his face and tried to refocus.

“After everything happened, I was a mess. I didn’t want to believe she was gone. I hoped it was all a dream, but it wasn’t, and I blamed myself for not getting to her in time.” He paused, clearing his throat. “I was constantly thinking about the what if’s and the if onlys of what I could’ve done differently. Not like it mattered much because she wasn’t coming back,” he breathed, blinking away tears that started to form in the corner of his eyes. 

“But it wasn’t your fault.”

“You’re right to someone else looking in, it wasn’t my fault, it was Killians, but I didn’t want to see it that way. I thought if I stayed mad at myself, it would somehow fix it, but I wasn’t in my right mind. I was hurting and pushing those who cared about me away. I was depressed but was too stubborn to admit it.

When I returned to work after my leave, my captain, Captain Phillips, declared me unstable and took me off active duty. He thought it was safer for me and everyone else if he put me behind a desk. I know he was looking out for me and wanted me to get better, but all I had left was my job, and he took it away from me.” Steve shrugged, running a hand through his hair. 

“After about eight months, Phillips gave me an ultimatum. The only way I would be reinstated to active duty is if I talked to one of the department's assigned therapists at Ancient One and Associates.” He let out a deep breath. “It wasn’t so much an option as it was an order. I wasn’t myself, and I haven’t been. He wasn’t the only one who saw it, but my squad did too. Whether it was from seeing the bags under my eyes due to the lack of sleep or from my pants getting looser from skipping meals.  I was numb, lonely, and my family and friends didn’t know what to say to me. I shut them out, even the ones who reached out and tried to help me. I didn’t know how to talk about it, I didn’t want to talk about it, and I didn’t want to let her go. I didn’t want this to be my new reality. I knew there was no other way for me to get around this by myself, so I decided to go to therapy.”

You remained silent as he paused, biting his lip, trying to figure out what to say next. He stared at the coffee table, and you couldn’t help but admire him. Steve’s been through so much, and you never would’ve suspected any of this with the way he carries himself. He seems so sure of himself and always has his feelings in check, but deep down, he has been through hell and back. 

“When I first went to therapy, I thought it wouldn’t help me. On the first day, the Ancient One called me out on it, saying heroes are the ones who don’t think they need help, but sometimes they need it the most and are simply ashamed to admit it. She was right,” Steve mumbled with a half shrug. 

“With everything that happened, I had a hard time accepting the truth and forgiving myself because I didn’t want to forget her. Peggy was so special to me, and I didn’t want to push her aside as if I didn’t love her anymore. I still did, and a part of me still does.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and wringing his hands together in front of him. “The Ancient One helped me see things from a different perspective, and in ways, I never thought possible. There was one point when she reversed our roles, asking how Peggy would have responded if I was the one who died. To be honest, I never thought of it like that because I always wished I died with her, but when I thought about it, I know Peggy would’ve accepted it sooner than I did. Sure, she would’ve been emotional that I was gone, but I know she would’ve been strong for everyone else, and when she’d go home alone, she would grieve. Then, if Peggy ever found someone new, who cared for her like I did or more, I’d want her to get remarried. All I would want is for her to be happy.

After realizing this new perspective, I knew Peggy would’ve wanted the same for me. To be able to move on and be happy. So, I focused on getting better and going to therapy, which then got me reinstated to active duty. Things were looking up for the better, and I knew Peggy would be happy for me. 

I even started reaching out to a few friends I shut out, one of them being Bucky. I hadn’t spoken to him since Peggy’s funeral, but I hoped he’d answer and accept my apology. We ended up talking at least once a week, and then he mentioned a job opening at his station in L.A. I saw it as a chance to start over, so I took it.” He let out a deep breath. “Don’t get me wrong, I loved Brooklyn, but it felt off after Peggy died, and then my mom passed away, which was inevitable because she had been sick for a while. But with all that happened, Brooklyn didn’t feel like home, it was just a city filled with traffic, noise, and crowds. I felt alone in a city filled with people,” he sighed, shaking his head, looking over at you.

“You make moving on sound so easy.”

“It’s not. It’s probably one of the hardest things to do; it takes time, and it’s about moving on from the past and living in the now. Before I came out here, I talked about everything and made amends with my coworkers, apologized to my friends for being so selfish, and said goodbye to my parents and Peggy. It took me a while to get to that point, but I’m happy to be where I am today.” Steve nodded, shooting you a closed-mouth smile.

“What do you think she thinks about you moving to LA and leaving Brooklyn?”

“She’d understand, and I know she’d want me to be happy and to try to move on from her. I know she’d be proud to see how far I’ve come, but she knows I’ll never forget her.” You reached out and took his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. He smirked, his eyes drifting to yours.  “To be honest, I don’t think I’ve talked about Peggy with anyone I wasn’t paying.”

“Remind me to send you the bill,” you said, removing your hand from his and pointing at him.

He chuckled, “I’ll look for it, but mail does get lost quite a bit.”

“Can I ask what triggered you to tell me all this?” You asked, earning a quick nod from Steve.

“Today, I saw a husband watch his wife get carried out of their burning home. He cried, begging us to bring her back, not wanting to lose the other half of himself. He didn’t, but to me, it brought back the worst day of my life.” He turned towards you, staring into your eyes. “There is always going to be a trigger. It can either be a good memory or a bad one, but whatever happens, it’s nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about.”

Your eyes flashed to his, and you gulped, knowing he was referring to the wine glass incident. You nodded, “It's just every once in a while I see something or feel something that reminds me of him, and it triggers something in me, and I can't be pulled back.”

“I get it. You always hear time heals things, but the truth is ignoring it and not talking about it only compounds the damage and makes it worse. You’re hoping it fades away, but it’s always in the back of your mind, haunting you and reminding you of everything that happened. The Ancient One told me it is better to allow yourself to feel what you went through because pretending you’re not hurt is not the same thing as healing; it just prolongs it. We may have experienced a different kind of loss. I lost my wife, and you lost yourself. It’s a different scenario, but the advice is the same.”

“How are you so full of wise words?”

“Therapy helps and life experiences,” Steve nodded with a soft chuckle. “Is that cliche?”

“A little,” you smiled. “Both our lives have been pretty messed up, huh?”

“Maybe it's fate’s way of giving us a second chance.”

“If you believe in that spiritual mumbo jumbo sort of thing,” you snorted, making him roll his eyes. “Why did you decide to tell me about Peggy?”

“You see, there is this girl I like, and I felt like I owed it to myself and her to be honest about it since she shared her story with me. I wanted her to get to know the side I don’t share with many people,” he smirked with a tint of pink hitting his cheeks. He reached up, rubbing the back of his neck.  

A sweet smile graced your lips, feeling a rush of heat to your face. “Well, she appreciates you telling her, and I can inform you that she feels the same way about you.” 

“That’s good,” he cracked a smile, looking over at you with his blue eyes sparkling. “At least now I know I didn’t make a complete fool of myself.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” you chuckled, feeling his body vibrate at your side with a silent snicker. “Are you going to be okay with going back to work?”

“Yeah, I have a good support system there, and I know my team has my back. It’s like one big messy extended family,” he smirked, nodding your head in agreement. “Speaking of work, I should probably get back to my shift before another call comes in, and Carol wonders why this detour is taking me so long.” He winked, pushing himself off the couch.  

“Yeah, you don’t want to get on her bad side.” You joked, standing up off the couch and following him to the door. 

“Are you going to be okay?” Steve asked, opening the door and turning to face you. He furrowed his brows together, forming a small crease between them. “Are we going to be okay?” 

“Yeah, we’re okay.” You nodded, your eyes drifting to the ground. “I’m getting a little better every day--” you shrugged, not wanting to talk about it “-- it just takes time, right?” 

His hand lifted your chin and your eyes flashed to his. “I know you’ll get there.” He shot you a shy smile, brushing his thumb along your cheek, sending a rush of heat to your face. He dropped his hand, grabbing a hold of yours.  “Remember, if you need someone to listen and is full of wisdom, I’m here for you. And don’t be ashamed to give therapy a chance; trust me, it will help more than you think.”

“Okay, hot stuff. I get it, “ you scoffed, shaking your head. “Stay safe out there.”

“I will. Have a good night, YN.” He brought your hand to his lips and kissed it, letting it go. You rolled your eyes at his gesture, but you couldn’t stop the smile inching its way across your face.

You watched him walk down the sidewalk to your front gate, and he turned around one more time, waving goodbye. You waved back before he opened the gate and it clicked shut behind him. You closed your front door and leaned against it, covering your face in your hands, and let out a loud sigh. Steve seemed ready to take the next step, but were you? 

You walked back over to the couch, returning to your blanket and switching the tv back on. You picked out a random movie to watch, but soon it became white noise in the background. You haven’t been in a relationship since Billy, and to be frank, you were scared to give the whole relationship thing another shot. You and Steve joked about it, but you never thought it would actually happen. Even though Steve and Billy are two very different people, you couldn’t help but be reminded of all the negatives that could come with it. Were you even ready? Should you have even been hanging out with Steve?  Were you leading him on? What if he did the same thing Billy did? With all the negatives that came to your mind, maybe Steve was right, maybe it was time to give therapy a chance.

____________

AN: Thanks for reading Part 13! If you haven't noticed yet, I'm all for angst, I don't like feeling it, but I like writing it!! This is probably one of my favorite chapters in this series because it's both emotional and tragic. I'm really hoping that while reading this part you fell in love with Peggy. Her part wasn't huge huge, but I hope it made you realize what Steve lost and how much she meant to him. Emotions, am I right!!  Also, I felt doing the whole flashback thing for Steve would show the different relationship dynamic that Peggy and Steve had versus her and Billy's. Huge difference obviously, and I felt like it would be better to show how they communicated and acted towards each other rather then just talking about it. It's also why I went into a little more detail in the last chapter with Laura and Clint's relationship...again, showing the relationship dynamic. Sorry for that unnecessary ramble! 😂😂  Anyways, do you think she is gonna give therapy a chance? What did you think about Steves backstory? And do you think this slow burn will finally end, and they will finally get together or will it be just a little longer?! 😂 Comments always welcome, and until next week, thanks again! 

[kissme-hs]

Tainted love: 3

Here it is!! I’m so sorry it took me so long to update it but let me know what you think! Hope you enjoy it.

~Ria

Pairing: Fem! Reader x Chris Evans

Warnings: None.

*_*_*_*_*_*

Hatred is far from the feeling you felt. You were disgusted. Utterly disgusted with the man you put your trust and faith and your heart into who did nothing but took it for granted and it all into little crumbs of pain. All this time you blamed yourself for HIS actions that he not only did while being in his complete sense but knowing how wrong it is-continued doing it. The image you had of Chris in your mind now vanished, the man you once thought deserved to be prayed now made your stomach churn because of how shameful he turned out to be.

After sending him the text you thought, oh you thought that he would realize what he lost, that he would feel a little bit at least of regret in the back of his head but you were so wrong. It not only made you feel worthless but made you realize instead how your love meant nothing to him, how all those years you spent in each other’s arm vowing to each other to be in love until the end of time was nothing but a lie to him. Where to you it meant your entire life.

One doesn’t stay with a person for three years not to just fuck and say I love you’s for fun. With the years the feelings grow strong and at some point, you start fantasizing marrying that person, having kids with the person, grow old with the person. But when one decides to go and cheat, putting all the years of love in ignorance and throwing it all in the pit of darkness not only everything changes but the dreams once knitted by the eyes of the one who remained faithful in love, who was the true lover gets struck by the lightening of reality. And once the dreams crashes, it becomes nearly impossible to dream again because the dreamer starts seeing the real world.

Fuck dreams.

Became your to go motto ever since you knocked on his door.

The heavy teal door opened after a few knocks as you held your breath getting yourself ready to face the man who ripped your heart apart. But instead you were met by a pair of green eyes, gorgeous eyes. She stood there in his hoodie and a pair of short showing her perfect toned legs. Her dirty blonde hair and fuller plumps would made any man lose his girl and go crawling to her. She was an absolute piece of art.

“Chris we have someone here for you” She yelled leaning back a bit so the man could hear her. She gave you a side smile as a gesture of kindness. She was aware she was a homewrecker, she knew how much Chris loved you and she also knew being a good friend she should’ve stopped him when things became a routine between them two but she couldn’t say no to him. Chris would make any women go crawling to him too. She was equally shameful for what she has done not as close to how Chris was feeling but still. So when Chris asked her to come over explaining her what happen which she knew would some day she didn’t hesitate coming over comforting him.

“i-im Samantha” she replied stepping aside letting you step inside of your his house. The smell of familiar cologne and candles hit your nostrils making you tear up from the past good memories. Gi ving her a tiniest sad smile and a nod, you stepped inside of the house. Turning your gaze up to the sound of approaching footsteps you saw the man, and oh sweet jesus you thought you’d hate him but how could you when the feeling of love was always greater than hatred. But the pain crept up when you saw Samantha walking to him and rubbing his side comforting him, though she was guilty, she still at some point enjoyed the attention Chris gave her.

Though she might have a portion of kindness in her heart she was known for breaking homes. She was used to getting in pants of men who were committed. It made her feel special; it made her feel like gold that everyone loved chasing. Especially in this case, knowing what a prize Chris’s girlfriend, you were she was over the moon. She loved how Chris was willing to give up a beautiful woman with a proper job and who had her life sorted for someone who was nothing compared to you.

“Y/n” he breathed out ignoring the woman rubbing his arm. His eyes getting wet seeing your face after days. Jeez only if he could kiss you and tell you how much he missed you and loved you.

“I-im sorry, I’m so sorry” He said walking to you as you raised your hand telling him to stop, which he understood nodding his head and taking a step back. He felt the ache in his heart.

“He really is sorry, he told me everything after you texted him so I came running” Samantha uttered rubbing Chris’s back. It did nothing to you but made your blood boil as you closed your eyes and took a deep breath not wanting to say something which could hurt her feelings. Opening your mouth telling her to leave you heard Chris say that instead.

“Can I ask you to leave please?” He asked her taking a deep breath trying not to yell either.

“I-“

“Get out, get off my property” you spat. You and Chris jointly brought this house so you wouldn’t feel a burden on him being the independent woman you were. Feeling like she was shamed in front of two successful people, Samantha gathered her stuff and left within the next coming minute. Though you were a softie, there was no doubt you has a powerful side too.

“I’m sorry baby, I am so sorry. Please give me a second chance.”

“Why Chris? Why did you cheat on me? Was my love was not enough for you to sleeping with her. Tell me Chris did you not feel a little bit of shame fucking on OUR bed? Tell me why did you have to go and do that making me look like a fool? Why did you waste my time? WHY DID YOU FAKED THE LOVE if you wanted to cheat?” You finally let it out. You were crying at this not giving a fuck. He deserved to see how broken he left you. You were not going to act like everything was fine, like you didn’t care when you felt dead inside.

“No. No baby. Never for once I ever faked my love for you.” He cried cupping your cheeks-you finally let him touch you because you wanted to feel his warmth on your cold skin. His own eyes crying as you sobbed yourself.

“I-I don’t know why I did that. I don’t know why I decided to chase a rock when I had the most precious diamond. She is nothing compared to you. Nothing. I love you so much” He whispered resting his forehead against yours. You knew deep down he meant what he said. You felt the words hitting your body making your knees go week but it was for the best. The separation. So pushing him back slightly you gathered your broken pieces up.

“I just came to tell you that I am moving to California. I will always cherish the good memories you gave me” you gave him a broken smile wiping your tears with the back of your hand.

“No please give me one more chance” Chris pleaded grabbing your hands. His defeated eyes begged yours to give in, to see that he wasn’t lying anymore. That he was truly sorry for what he has done but being the strong headed woman you are, you shook your head and wiped his tears with your hand before cupping his cheek.

“It’s for the best. I still love you, but it’s not the same Chris. Let me let you go”

That was an year ago. An year ago you left the man standing on his porch as you turned your back on his forever, making your way to the new life that waited ahead of you in Los Angeles. The city of angels. The city that gave you a chance to put your words into songs, let your shattered voice sing it in a melody helping you reach out to him without reaching out to him.

And today you stood in front of over 100 amazing successful celebrities who warmly welcomed you in the family of Hollywood and decided to join you for your album launch party. You didn’t hesitate writing down your deepest condolences you had for yourself and singing it out. Every word people heard in the songs came from the bottom of your heart. Came within the true feeling of getting lost and found again.

Getting into the industry wasn’t hard for you. You were already a known person working for Hollywood and it not only being the reason how you met Chris it also gave you an opportunity  to let your talent out. All those months you spent working hard to get acceptance by one of the music producers was the time when Chris was fucking Samantha. Only if he stayed the night you begged him to, he would’ve known it all.

Your album was dedicated to Chris. No one knew expect you. No one could know anyways.

Stepping down the mini platform where you expressed you gratitude to the audience you made your way to where the bar was set up to drink in the emotions that were bubbling up your throat from all the love you received to the pain that still ached in every nerve in your body. It was impossible to erase the memory of him fucking Samantha from your head. You were proud to you say you tried. Tried every way of escaping his face haunting your dreams every night. The feelings choking you down. The pain eating you alive. But you couldn’t.

“What you said there was beautiful.” You heard the deep voice of the man who you left standing on the door of Boston an year ago. Turning your body around, mentally preparing yourself for the wave of mixed emotions to hit you like a truck you faced his adorningly beautiful face. His beard looked fuller and his hair fluffier. He looked the same but his eyes looked dead, just like they were when you left.

“Thank you.” You gave him a broken smile.

“Can we talk? Please?” He asked you with eyes full of hope and you nodded letting him guide you out to the balcony that had the perfect view of the city. He deserved some time with you after an year of you completely blocking him out. He deserved to know that the words coming out of your mouth in the song were written about him.

“It about you, you know. The album” You said walking over to the railing looking at the illuminous city.

“I figured, I never knew you were working on something so big.” He stood beside you.

“You would have if you stayed”

“Listen, I’m not going to waste any more time. Im here to beg you back in life, I am sorry for what I have done but please give me a chance. That one year spent without you was my living hell. Everyday I prayed for you to come back but you never did and there’s no question why. I am a horrible man but I promise if you let me prove it that I am so much better than I was I wont let you down. I will love you even more than I ever have” he said with a soft voice guilt dripping with every word he spoke making you turn around to face him. His eyes glistening with tears and his hands holding each other in front of his chest.

Man was literally begging you.

“Hey you are not a horrible man.” You whispered walking to him as you put his hands down and held his one cheek in your hand. He instantly nuzzled his nose feeling your skin after days of being away from you. His knees were giving away and so was his heart.

“We all make mistakes but learning from them and moving on is important. I forgave you the minute I stepped away from our relationship. You’re nothing but still the most precious man I ever had” you said. Your own eyes picking the tears.

“then give me a chance” he spoke kissing your palm staring down In your eyes making your belly turn in knots.

“I cant. I have moved on Chris” You said breaking his heart. He breathed out biting his lower lip as he looked on. He never felt so defeated and helpless. But this is what he deserved for throwing away the best he ever had. For not respecting the beautiful relationship and woman he was meant to guard. He opened his mouth but the lump in his throat got in the way. He could just break down.

“Then let me be your friend. I just want to be in your life. Make up for what I’ve missed. Please don’t say no.” He trembled in fear you would reject him but instead you nod your head and pull him in a hug knowing he would break if you didn’t. Still knowing him like the back of your head you gave in his request hoping you could contain the emotions.

It is said, two who once fell in love can never be friends. Once in love, always in love.

So you stood there holding him, closed your eyes letting the man calm his cries. Falling back in the chakra of tainted love.

-

Tags

@captainchrisstan

@evansphnx12

@adriannajackson

[fallin-4-ya]

the wind felt different / f.w.

The Wind Felt Different 

fred weasley x reader

summary: a year after the war has passed, pain still lingers in the air. y/n, a descendant of seers who runs a small divination shop in diagon alley, still is unable to shake her loss. but when she gets a vision of the man who saved her life, the wind takes matters into its own hands.

warnings: mentions of death! slight mention of vomit! dealing with a tragedy! (gif is not mine, credit to owner!) (fred lives! post war!)

words: 1.7k

requested? no/yes

memories are the worst form of torture.

The wind felt different. Diagon Alley was not the same. The breeze was shallow, cold and bitter. While the streets of the magical alley lay scarce, hurt still lingered.

Y/n walked through the cobblestone path, early that morning. One year had officially passed. One year of hurt. One year of frustration. One year of hopelessness. One year since the world she had built with her own two hands came crashing down on her.

She unlocked the door to the small shop, snugged between two tall buildings on the main pathway. It had looked the same as it had for the past however many years. Only a store, specializing in divination supplies. This was her dream, her world. Her sister’s dream, her sister’s world. Eyes flickered up to the sign that read ‘Divination Goods, A Family Run Business’. She felt everything come up. Unable to differentiate if it was vomit, tears or screams; she grabbed a potions vile and threw it at the sign. Grasping the crystal ball beside her, pitching it towards the words.

It lied.

It was all a lie. y/n tore the sign down, staring daggers into it. Everything was different, nothing was the same and her eyes welled up, tears cascading down her face. This was her dream, this was her sister’s dream. It wasn’t her dream though any more, but a nightmare. Because, now she had to live it alone.

The faded letters and drooping wall paper had been in her family for generations. A family of Seers. Yet, none of them saw it coming. It happened too quickly, too quickly to stop fate or change the past. Cries, pleads for help, that’s what y/n remembered.

A year ago, was not long enough to forget, nor would a lifetime. She sat on the ancient wooden floor, head tucked into her knees and cried.

An hour passed, two maybe. She got up and dusted herself off. This isn’t what she would have wanted, what anyone would have wanted. She would have wanted her to pick up the broken pieces. So, y/n started small, picking up the sign and gently hanging it back on the wall where it belonged. With a wave of her wand, the shattered glass of the vile became whole again and she placed it back on the shelf. Then, she looked down at the crystal ball, somehow remaining to stay whole through its plummet to the wall. y/n scoffed to herself, laughing because her sister had always said that those things could survive the end of the world.

‘You know, y/n,’ said the gentle girl. ‘They don’t only show us the future. They show us what we need to see. What we need to heal.’

She picked it up with gentle fingers, placing it carefully on its stand. y/n gazed into it longingly, searching for an answer or perhaps a way to ease her pain.

She stared at herself, her face was scuffed and dirtied, her arms were covered in bruises.  A wand gripped tightly in her fist, and scowl crawn upon her face. This was a memory, only a moment in time she had lived.

Screaming faces and worried looks circled her. Unresponsive as ever, unable to move one foot ahead of the other.

“Run!” someone yelled at her, but she did not move or bat an eye. A tear slipped silently down her cheek. “Go, get out of here!”

y/n turned towards the voice that called out to her, a tall man towering over her. His eyes were warm, a sense of comfort amongst the chaos. Bright lights of spells being casted lit the night sky, and suddenly if by chance a loud explosion was heard coming from the wall next to the two.

The man though quickly, holding y/n tightly and pulling her out of harm’s way, avoiding a collision by mere inches. At the time it hadn’t occurred to y/n that her life could have been lost if it wasn’t for the man. She hadn’t even known his name. Never thanked him for saving her life.

y/n exhaled deeply. Who knows where he is now, she mumbled, if he’s even alive. Her heart broke thinking about it, too many lives were lost. Too many ghosts claimed too soon. Memories were the worst for of torture, and time heals nothing.

She walked outside, taking in the empty streets. The wind felt different, but this time it was calling her. She felt it in her bones, persuading her to walk. Nothing was the same, but it couldn’t get any worse. So, she took a step and went where the wind told her.

Her shoes clapped along the cobblestone and her hair felt free in the comfort of the breeze. She gawped at the buildings that passed, a sense of childhood nostalgia caving in her heart. This is where she grew up, this is what she knew. Yet, still so much had changed.

y/n stopped and looked up at the colorful building that lay before her, this surely hadn’t been here before. The orange and purple paint stood out against the bricks of gray and black. She heard a bell ring inside, it was calling her.

Hesitantly, she peeped her head through the front door. A joke shop. This is where she was called to. The bright colors smeared across the walls made y/n feel different. A good different.

She took a step further into the room, admiring the small toys displayed on the walls, however she hadn’t a moment of silence before tripping over her own two feet, knocking over some of the inventory. Y/n gasped, quickly picking up all of the fallen boxes when she heard a voice stir at her from across the way.

“Not to worry, love,” said the smooth voice. “Happens to the best of us.”

Y/n turned towards the mellifluous sounds, a smile on her face. She looked up, her eyes meeting the man’s who stood in front of her. Her smile dropped, gazing at him. The flaming hair and those gentle eyes.

That was the man who saved her. The one she saw in her crystal ball. Her heart shuddered and breathing halted. Surely, the wind had never meant to bring her here; and surely, she wasn’t ready for something like this. She thought she would have seen this coming, whether it be through the stars or the cards or the moon.

Y/n took him in gently, for all that he was. “I know you,” she whispered softly. “You saved me. In the battle of Hogwarts, you saved my life.”

The man who stood opposite her didn’t move. He looked at her intently, as if trying to remember in which moment their pats had crosses. y/n interrupted his thinking, “It was after my sister was killed. You pushed me from the wall. I only realized it just today, you see, I saw it in a vision. The wind brought me here.”

“I remember you. I think about you more often than not. How you looked, how brave you were.” He sighed. His heart ached for her, longing to know her. The man paused with a smirk, “The wind?”

She laughed, “I know how silly and made up it sounds, but it’s true. I’m y/n by the way.”

“Fred,” he answered back. “And just so you know, I don’t think it’s silly at all. In fact, I think it’s pretty cool.”

Fred hesitated, “I almost died that night.” His face grew almost pale, but the warmth in his eyes remained. “I just kept thinking about my family, my future. I had to get out for them. And when I saw you, standing there alone, I knew I had to live for you too.”

Fred smiled at the beautiful young woman; no matter her hurt or her heartache, her skin glowed and her smile could light any darkness. An instant connection enraptured them. A feeling of hope flooded through their veins.

Fred voiced in the silence, “Would you like to go out sometime?” A lopsided grin spread across his face paired perfectly with the warmth crawling up y/n cheeks.

~~~

The pair sat on the steps of the small run-down divination shop. It was holding in tact by nothing but a string, just as the two of them were. But, with each breath spent together, their tiny string became a rope and from their rope a metal beam was built. They picked up each other’s piece and carefully placed them back together.

Y/n’s head rested gently against Fred’s shoulder, watching the children run along the cobblestone pathways happily. Her had placed softly in his, holding as if it were their last moment. Y/n pondered in thought. She thought about the way the sun still rose everyday and the stars still formed in he sky, yet her pain remained the same.

“They say that time heals all, but I think they’re lying,” y/n stated, twiddling her fingers.

Fred let out a soft chuckle, “I think memories are the worst for of torture, and only with time are they put into perspective.”

She looked up at him, tears embracing the corners of her eyes. It felt like she had known Fred the entirety of he life, she trusted him. She felt like she was home.

y/n laughed, “You know what’s funny? My sister always told me that crystal balls don’t just tell us our future, but show us what we need to heal. And I can’t help but to think it ironic, how I saw you on the day I needed help the most.”

Fred turned to face her, a glimmer in his expression. He smiled and his heart glowed, he forgot for just this moment the hurt and the sorrow. Fred placed his hand gently over her, her cool fingertips, complimenting the heat absorbing his body.

“You are the strongest woman I have ever met, y/n,” he whispered weakly, his feelings too overjoyed to form words.

“And you, Fred Weasley, and the greatest man I have yet to know,” she smiled softly back at him, locking their eyes. y/n brought their intertwined fingers to her soft lips, tightening her grasp.

“Thank you,” Fred stated.

“Whatever for?” y/n shyly asked.

“For finding me,” he spoke softly.

She smiled dearly at the man bestowed upon her, “My love, we have the wind to thank for that.”

And the wind felt different that day. Diagon Alley was not the same. But perhaps this time, in a bit of a better way.

[damn-stark]

Telepathy and Telekinesis

Diego Hargreeves x Fem!Reader

Requested by @rachelcarrol1819 “Hi can you do a imagine where the reader is number 8 and has the power over telpathy and telenkies and ends up in a relationship with Diego please and thank you”

Warning-violence, swearing, sort of long.

Episode- 2x10

————

“No, Diego’s mind is like,” you pause and pretend to be in deep thought, tapping your chin with your finger before extending your hand out and leaving your palm open as you used your power to snatch the bag of chips from Klaus’s hand and welcome it to your hand with a smile that slowly turned into a grin as you continued teasing Diego. “It’s like those big boards the police use to map out their evidence and information.”

‘Evidence board’ Diego corrected you inside his head.

“Exactly.” You blurt out, “an evidence board!”

Diego’s head snapped your direction to shoot you a burning glare. “Hey! I said out of my head!”

You shrug, “sorry.”

Klaus snickered and a confident smile grew on his lips, “you could never get into my mind—”

You snort, “actually yeah I can, you know that already, yours is the easiest one. Your thoughts are loud and all over the place.” Klaus lets out a small huff before he snatches his chips back from your hand; “The only person's mind I can’t read anymore is five’s.” You lean forward and rest your arms on the back of his seat while your chin rests on your hands. “Indulge us for a moment, no?”

At your suggestion the rest of your siblings inside the car turn their attention to Five and you, watching curiously and with an amused look decorated on their features.

Five on the other hand just looks forward and doesn’t bother to look back to answer bluntly, “no.”

You smirk and lift your head from its resting position so you could move one of your hands towards his head to make it easier that way, but he catches on to what you were trying to do without a single look and swats your hand away. “I’ve spent years building my own immunity to keep you away,” he pauses for a couple seconds and you could practically hear his smirk, “you could never get into my head.”

‘Maybe not when he’s sober.’ Diego thought, this time in a loud manner where he knew you had caught his secret comment. Even though it contradicted his previous complaint—he only hated it when you got into his mind without him knowing or at all actually. It wasn’t like before when he used to stutter where he would prefer using your telepathy to talk; he would let you read his thoughts and would let you share your own in his mind.

Now it was rare the time where he would let you know what he was thinking, and usually when he did it was to share small comments like those. It made you happy when he did because it gave you assurance that he and you still shared that same bond that you didn’t have with the others

You smirk and lean back in your seat, suppressing a laugh before sharing your thought response to Diego, ‘exactly. How much do you think it would take to get him drunk?’

‘Have you seen his little body? Not a lot.’

This time you’re more unsuccessful at keeping your laugh a secret and let it slip, receiving odd looks from the siblings around you, something you now knew how to ignore, just like the very general thoughts that came with a look as quizcall as the one they shot you now. Just like how you knew how to block out everyone’s thoughts, it had taken years, but it was something very appreciated since there weren't constant loud thoughts swirling around you anymore. It was irritating to say the least.

Now using your telepathy was a choice. Not like riding in this car with all seven of the other Hargreeves. They all may get annoying at times, but sticking by their side when one of them needed it was never choice. Especially not when it came to Diego.

“Is it just me or did it just get cold all of a sudden.” Klaus complained.

You shrug and are about to turn down his comment, but the sudden cold wave then hits you too, causing chills to crawl up your spine—“no not just you.” You shiver and see the puff of air come out of your mouth as you talk.

“Is that,” Vanya speaks up, leaning in her seat to get a better view out the windshield, “a snowstorm?” She pressed on the gas pedal further down to speed up the car, turning into a driveway of a farmhouse where the big grey cloud storm was raging over.

Vanya stopped the car and everybody began to get out, the attention all on the snow falling and the cloud above, causing Diego to to question it first before anyone else could. “You think whatever’s going on inside is causing the cold front?”

You shut the door behind you and narrow your gaze on the lightning storming from the same cloud, “well the correlation is high.”

Shortly after the door sounds from the barn and a blond woman walks out making Vanya slam her car door and rush to her as she shouted her name? “Sissy! Sissy!”

The woman’s energy however doesn’t match Vanyas as...Sissy pulls out a shotgun and points it at all of you. “Get back! All of you, just get the hall back!”

“Sissy!”

You freeze in your spot next to Diego and shoot Sissy and her shotgun a pointed gaze. So much for coming to help her out.

Vanya ran up in front of you all of you and began to try and reassure the women, throwing her hand out to stop her. “Hey! Hey! What’s wrong?”

“Carl.” She deadpans, her eyes bouncing from you and the rest of your group.

You sigh and cross your arms over your chest, sharing your thoughts to Diego’s mind, ‘we don’t have time for this, we need to stop what the kid is causing before it ends badly.’

He doesn’t respond to you but he does step and say your thought out loud, “y/n is right, we don’t have time for this Vanya.”

The woman suddenly points the gun at Diego as he moves, “where do you think you’re going?”

Diego puts his hand out to try and reassure her and stop her from shooting the gun, making your eyes intent on the woman and step up with your hand on the ready. “To help your son.”

Vanya keeps trying to assure Sissy and you feel Luther's hand on your shoulder, knowing your intentions before you could even try them. You meet his gaze over your shoulder and hesitate on listening doing so only as the woman begins to lower her gun.

Sissy questions, “Were you lying to me this whole time?”

Vanya shakes her head and tries to get closer, “Of course not. Look I didn’t know who I was, but I do now. And we are not the monsters they say we are. We didn’t kill the president. We are not terrorists. We’re not here to hurt anyone.”

Sissy pants softly, “then...who are you?”

“The only one who can help Harlan.”

Well that’s putting it short.

Sissy hesitates but ultimately tells all you to follow her inside the Barn with Vanya quick to rush inside and help the family she had supposedly been living with since Five’s failed time travel. Immediately coming to see the cause of the storm. A little boy, with this energy field flying around him that caused a wind storm on the inside. Looking almost as Vanya had when she used her powers to accidentally destroy the world; only the kid didn’t turn white or have control, he floated in the air and his body shook as if he were having a seizure, right away without having to use your powers you knew he was scared out of his mind. Like all of you were when you were his age.

“Harlan, it’s Vanya! Look, Harlan, I know you’re really scared, but I can help you. I need you to listen to me, okay? Can you do that?” Vanya then turned to you, “can you calm him down? Talk to him with your powers?”

Your eyes flicker to the boy and then to Vanya, shooting her an apologetic look, “I can try, but he doesn’t know me, I’ll only scare him more, but you can, I know so.”

Vanya let’s out a shaky exhale and nods, “yeah, okay.” Her eyes then turn white and she takes a step inside the field surrounding the boy, letting the rest of you stand back and watch as she tries to assure the boy, only seconds passing before Klaus begins to call out your attention. “Uh, guys?!”

Your head snaps to Klaus and you like the rest of your siblings join him by the window to see two figures standing very menacingly in the distance. Your gaze narrows and you breath out, “who are they?”

“Ones the handler, the others Diego’s girlfriend.”

Your nose scrunches and you instantly look over your shoulder to Diego, your question coming out unnecessarily sharp “what?”

He meets your gaze and quickly corrects Five, “Lila. That’s my ex-girlfriend.”

“You know what? Doesn’t matter. They both look angry.” Luther points out.

Five agrees, “yeah.”

“Our brother has the effect on people.” Allison remarks.

“I’m gonna go find what they want. You guys stay with Vanya and the kid.”

Diego is quick to interject, “yeah, I’m going too.”

And just like that, Allison, Klaus, Luther and you are left behind. Not really doing as Five suggested, but instead walking out minutes after and stopping not even halfway.

“What do you think they’re talking about?” Allison wondered.

You shrug, “I don’t know.”

“Which one's the girlfriend?” Luther asks, again making your eyebrows furrow and your nose scrunch, an anger beginning to burn inside you at the slightest mention, leaving Luther's question unanswered and glaring at the group in the distance until your jaw dropped as hundreds of other people began to appear from out of nowhere and join the field.

You sigh, “holy shit.” You take one step forward to get ready to fight, but then the lady with the weird big hat pulls out something red you couldn’t quite make out, but you could find meaning from here—shit...without having to look at those beside you, you're quick to warn them. ‘Run!’—not even a second later shouting is heard and shooting is soon to follow. You could try and stop them, give your siblings beside you time to really hide, but there were too many and all too fast, the second you’ try to stop and try to stop the bullets you’d be dead with hundreds of holes in your body. So that wasn’t smart. Which is why you let Allison pull you behind a cart to let Luther wrap his arms around all three of you for some form of extra protection from the incoming bullets that were already getting stopped by the cart. But that too could fail at any moment, and all feelings left unsaid, unshared would be lost forever and dead alongside you.

The end of the Umbrella Academy would all come to this point, not even in your own time and yet as that came to mind, none of it mattered as much as Diego did. The concern for your well-being wasn’t as high as Diego’s who was out in the open, hopefully not dead. Of course you loved the rest of your siblings, even if you joined their family years later, you still cared for them, like they did you, they were a family you never had. But Diego, well he always had a special place in your heart that the others didn’t.

And now it was all going to be gone and left unspoken—

“Ahh,” suddenly a high pitched sound hits your ears and your hands fly to cover them, whilst your eyes flicker up to see Vanya floating out the farm, looking as she did what seemed to decades go. White and a blue hue surrounding her. Letting you all know what was to come, causing Luther to press the three of you closer to himself and try and protect you from what may come.

Making everything go silent and making the bullets stop like how they began so out of a sudden.

Letting out a relieved breath of air you let Luther's arm go and began to pull away, hearing Allison comment, “it’s over.”

And it also wasn’t.

Slowly you began to stand up and poke your head out above the hay carts, seeing the once sea of people all on the ground, the only two left just the same two women from before. Somehow.

“How are they doing that?” Luther asked what you all were thinking, all collectively noticing a blue field surrounding the two disappear and another blue source of light to appear from the woman with the dark. Again somehow.

“Shit.”

The same high pitch sounded and just like Vanya a wave of the same blue force was thrown and you all were thrown back. Your back hitting the barn wall with a loud and painful thud, surprisingly staying conscious after the outcome.

You groan, “fuck that hurt.” You slowly sit up to see your siblings are now scattered, a recognizable brunette struggling in the distance. Feeling your gaze, his attention snapped to you, calling out to you instantly.

“Y/N help!”

Jumping up to your feet you quickly rush over to him, throwing your hand out to use your powers to throw the tractor off Diego. That with really no effort at all, not like helping him up.

You smile softly, “you okay?”

He nods and cradles your cheeks, “yeah, never better. What about you?”

“I’ve gone through worse.”

His gaze lingers on your face and he smiles, “I’ve got to tell you something.”

“Me too.”

Diego swallows thickly and his thumb strokes your cheek, “I thought you were dead, which is why I got with Lila, I’m sorry. Just know that I never stopped...I-I” he pauses and his eyebrows furrow as he fumbles with his words.

A bright grin tugs at the corner of your lips, “it’s okay.” You assure him, “you don’t have to say it out loud.” Letting you read his mind, he insteads lets you read what he thought.

‘I never stopped loving you. Never.’

‘I love you too, Diego.’

Your hands hold his and just as you’re going to close the small gap left you hear the snow crunching beside you, the sight of your siblings catching the corner of your eye as they rush to come and join your side.

Diego let’s go and shares one last thing, ‘later.’

He pulls away at the same time your siblings surround the two of you.

Diego rushed up to Luther excited and very smugly, “team Zero! Unstoppable!” Diego tries to give him a high-five, but Luther instead meets his hand with a fist pump. Ultimately punching Diego’s palm and a small wince coming out his lips thereafter.

“Uh..”

“Has anyone seen five?” Allison finally asks.

“I don’t know he’s around here somewhere.” Luther again turns his attention towards Diego. “By the way your ex-girlfriend can blink like five.”

Allison nodded and added, “yeah, that bitch just rumored me so I couldn’t breathe.”

“And destroyed, like, had the farm with a shock wave. So unoriginal.” Klaus interjected.

“If she can do everything we can, she might as well just be one of us.” Vanya shared, letting a lightbulb go off in your mind at the new conclusion….

Shit…

Slowly all your siblings realizing the same thing. Their expressions and their running thoughts giving it away.

Luther chuckled nervously and then his amused grin dropped, “No, there's no way. It can’t be.”

Allison shrugs, “it’s a reasonable conclusion.”

“Eh, but there were only eight of us.” Klaus tries to dismiss.

Your eyebrows knot, “yeah, but I only came ten years later after your father took you all from your parents. So, maybe we need to consider that there’s more of us out there that ended up undiscovered at birth like me.”

Alison blinks, “are we surprised? I mean dad never told us the whole truth about anything.”

Diego’s steps up, “but she’s like y/n, right? She’s not our biological sister right?”

You blink and your jaw again drops at his cluelessness, “uh, I’m just not going to try.”—Not even try to read what he’s thinking.

Luther shakes his head and ignores Diego’s comment all together. “Okay, so, if she can mirror our powers, that means anything we throw at her, she can match, right?”

“Yeah,” Klaus agrees, “but she can only mirror one of our powers at a time.”

“You sure about that?” Allison questions.

“We can always try it, right?” You interject confidently, “nothing wrong with trying.”

——

Okay.

Well, apparently everything was wrong with trying since well...you died, but also came back to life thanks to Five. But in that, Lila also left.

So, trying, let everything go wrong.

Like always.

The only good thing that came out trying was that your siblings and Diego were all alive.

“You doing, okay?” You ask Diego softly.

His eyes blink to meet yours, sharing a small but soft smile, “yeah, you’re alive and the rest of my siblings are fine, so it’s all okay.”

You take a seat beside him and rest your head on his shoulder, “we’re finally going home.”

Diego’s arm wraps around your shoulders and he pulls you closer to him, “yeah about time.” He pauses and you feel him kiss the top of your head, “I’m ready to finally take a break, y’know. From all this, even if just for a little while.”

You grin and nod, “okay...what would we do?”

Diego shrugs, “whatever you want.”

Pulling your head away, you face him and show him your smile, leaning in to press a small kiss on his lips. “I just want to be with you.”

Diego cups your cheeks and kisses you softly, letting you once again read what he was thinking—‘sounds like a plan.’

You grin, ‘good.’

[thebountyfucker]

The Royal Affair - A Choose Your Own Prince Fic

18+ ONLY - NSFW

I wanted to try an experiment where I wrote a story with two parallel branches so readers could choose which character they wanted to read without me writing two separate fics! Let me know what you think! (Subject to more parts!)

Embo x AFAB!Reader or Cad Bane x AFAB!Reader

Tags/CW: Threats of violence/assault, embarrassment

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You eased up to the table, smiling despite yourself, and bowed your head. You didn’t say anything to them, as per the instructions from your boss, and carefully handed out the flutes of champagne. The royals prattled on in Durese, hardly paying you any mind, though the Prince did cast a glance up at you from the periphery of his vision. You bowed your head once more, and turned to leave.

-

You had never been more nervous in your life than you were now; with a tray of champagne flutes balanced in your hand, and the heel on your left shoe coming loose, you had to put the entirety of your focus onto your task at hand. It was a simple one, really - deliver the drinks to the Duros royal family, bow, and return back to the kitchen to fetch hors d'oeuvres. Simple. Easy. Yet the wobbling in your ankle frightened you. The last thing you needed was to drop the crystal flutes in front of everyone - or worse, on someone.

As you turned, you heard a loud snap, and your ankle buckled and rolled; you went down, your tray clattering to the floor. Conversations around you stopped, and the gazes of three royal families found you collapsed on the floor. A horrified blush crept up on your cheeks as you crawled toward your tray and gathered it up in your arms; you pulled off your shoes and slowly stood, pain blossoming from your ankle. You limped to the back room, and tossed your shoes straight into the garbage.

“What happened to you?” One of your coworkers, a pretty Rutian Twi’lek, asked, glancing down at your now bare feet and rapidly-swelling ankle.

“My fucking heel broke!”

“Oof, tough luck.” She shook her head as she kneeled down and prodded at your ankle. The pain was horrendous, but she didn’t look concerned. “It ain’t broken… I’ll see if I can get a wrap and some new shoes for you.”

“Thank you, Salicia.” You muttered as you sat down, propping your leg up on the seat beside you. Your other coworkers came and went, taking out drinks and snacks, and coming back with dishes and trash. They hardly spared you a glance. There was work to be done and attending to the weak link would only slow it down. You sighed softly as Salicia returned with a bandage and a pair of silken flats.

She sat beside you, gingerly lifting your leg to wrap your ankle. She was gentle, and the pressure of the bandage made it feel instantaneously better. When she had secured it in place, she handed you the pair of flats; colored a vibrant blue, the flats sported a winged lizard embroidered on each of the sides. The slippers clashed with your uniform, but it was better than nothing; you eased them on, and cast Salicia a glance.

“Queen Esmera gave these to me when she saw me asking the other girls. She saw you fall, said these would probably be more comfortable than anything we could offer.” She explained, her lekku tips curling up as she shrugged. “I think she may be fishing for a thank you… so… you might want to go out and tell her.”

“Alright.” You sighed as you stood and brought your tray back to the bar; the bartender noted you with a frown, but knew better than to say anything. “Can you get me seven glasses of your most expensive Phatrongi red? You can… add it to the party’s tab.”

“Did Queen Esmera give you those?” He asked, suspicion heavy in his voice. You glanced down at your shoes and nodded.

“Yep.”

“I suppose the wine is a ‘thank you’ to her.” He muttered, waiting for your nod, before continuing. “And you’re stroking her ego because…?”

“Because it’s the polite thing to do, I guess.” You shrugged, and he shook his head as he poured the thick, purple wine into the glasses.

“Yeah. Polite. And then they turn around and treat you like trash.”

“They’ve been nice to me so far.” You muttered as he helped stack the seven glasses of red wine onto your tray. Your departure toward Queen Esmera’s table was slow-going, as you didn’t want to risk tripping or putting undue stress on your ankle. Your coworkers were careful about not bumping into you, but there were a few close calls.

You made your way toward the Kyuzan Queen, careful to stand a distance away in case she turned her head to regard you; her ostentatious crown, constructed of metals and jewels and silken cloths, was large enough that it could sweep the wine right off your tray. That was the last thing you wanted.

She did, in fact, turn when she noticed you, and you breathed a small sigh of relief as her crown cleared your tray. She offered you a kind, mask-less smile, and you bowed your head respectfully in response.

“Thank you for your kindne-.”

And then it happened. You took a few step closer and the slippers caught on something - likely the queen’s dress. You tripped, and the tray of wine went flying; the wine splashed upon the Queen’s lap and onto the table. The princes and the King jumped back from the table as the wine spread out toward them. Your heart plummeted to the bottom of your chest, and you dropped to your knees at her side.

“I am so sorry.” Tears welled in your eyes. Salicia rushed over with towels, much sooner than you expected, and thrust one at you; she mopped up the table, apologizing to the princes, while you gingerly dabbed at the Queen’s dress. The red wine marred her white and gold gown, and you knew that the stain would never come out. “Please forgive me. Please. I’ll do whatever you want to make it up to you.”

The Queen gingerly patted your head as you dabbed at her gown; the weight of her ring-covered hand was rather comforting, and it did make you feel quite a bit better.

“There, there, Little One.” Her voice was honeyed and velvet-smooth, yet there was an imposing timbre deep beneath it, as if she knew and reveled in the power she had in this situation. “It was an accident, and these things happen. It is okay.”

“It is not okay!” The King’s booming voice startled you from the calmed stupor the Queen had put you in. Your gaze focused on the Queen’s dress as the party hall went quiet. “This insolent worm ruined your dress!”

“There is no reason to be upset. What is done is done.” Queen Esmera continued to pat your head reassuringly.

“There must be recompense!”

“Enough. You are causing a scene.” Her voice was even and steely, and her husband eased back down into his chair. The waves of rage radiating off the king made your skin crawl - he was one of those kings where the rumors of his temper far outshined any good he had done. There were numerous stories about girls being used and thrown in ditches after minor misdeeds. You hoped your employer would protect you from the likes of him… but that was no certainty. “The dress is ruined. I will call for a maid to bring me another.”

“I’m so sorry.” You repeated, and she tilted your chin up.

“That is enough, Little One. Now run along, okay?” She smiled sweetly, and you got up with your metaphorical tail between your legs. You limped back to the staging room, where you found a bench and collapsed onto it. Tears threatened to spill over, but you rubbed them away with the heels of your hands. You felt so foolish, so demeaned. The worst part of this, though, was that it was all your fault. No royal had made you spill the wine. No royal purposefully tripped you, nor did they break the heel from your shoe. It was your own insolence. You buried your head in your hands, a strangled sob leaving your lips.

Someone sat down on the bench beside you. You figured it was Salicia, until you noticed their scent - it was woodsy and entirely manish. You couldn’t think of anyone you knew who smelled like that. Curious, you spread your fingers open and peeked through them; sitting beside you was one of the Kyuzan Princes - the youngest of the four, whose name, you believed, was Embo. He cast you a glance, his browridge cocked.

“Oh! Uh…” You wiped your eyes on your hands, and then wiped your hands on your skirt. “Hello there, Prince.”

“You are in trouble.” He spoke, his voice unwavering and deeply serious. Your heart skipped a beat, and your stomach dropped.

“W-what?”

“My father is like a jungle cat chasing a rat. In his eyes, you wronged him, and he will not rest until you pay the price.” He explained, his voice low and conspiratory.

“But I didn’t do anything to him!” You squeaked.

“You embarrassed him, and my mother. He believes you made fools of them both before our allies.” Embo explained, his hands laced together and resting on his lap. “I came to offer my help. The last thing I want is for someone undeserving to be left in a ditch to die.”

“But you’re his son. How can I trust you?”

“Just know that I would rather see him dead than let any harm come to you.” He replied, his gold eyes narrowed and a small growl rumbling in his chest. You blinked at him, and then looked down at your hands. “And he knows better than to touch anything I lay claim to. If I tell him you are under my protection, he will not dare bother you.”

“I… wouldn’t want to be a bother.”

“Nonsense. My family keeps a large staff already. We would hardly notice one more.”

Your gaze remained on your hands, your mind running a million miles a minute. If you didn’t take the Prince’s protection, what would happen to you? Would the king stoop to harming you? It seemed that if his own son was worried, the answer was likely yes. So it would be best to go with the prince then. What if he was lying? What if this was all some elaborate ruse to get you into bed with him, or worse?

“I’ll… need time to think.” You replied, your voice shaking.

“Of course. You have until the end of the night.” He got up, dusting off his expensive suit, and disappeared through the door which led back out to the main hall.

You sat there, still trying to process what was going on; the staff around you stared at you, either concerned or shocked that you had gotten so close to the Prince without mention of sexual activities. You glanced at them, before standing.

“I… I need to take a walk.”

No one stopped you as you slipped out the door into the main hall. The royals were all happily conversing, and you noted that Queen Esmera had, indeed, changed her dress. You ducked down the hallway to the front door, desperately needing some fresh air to help clear your head. Ugh, you had a headache.

The guards allowed you outside, and you sat down on the top step to gather your wits. The warm, humid Coruscant air caressed your bare skin, grounding you to reality. The ambience of the thousands of speeders and marching of armor-clad guards drowned out any sounds from the gala itself. You buried your head in your hands once more, just trying to think.

“You’ve got some shit luck tonight.”

You turned toward the intruder, noting that the Duros Prince was approaching; he had a lit cig between his fingers, and he took a long drag.

“First de heel, den sullying Queen Esmera’s dress…” He shook his head as he eased down onto the step beside you. He offered you the cig, but you declined. “What gods did ya anger?”

“I don’t know.” You sighed, shaking your head. Cad leaned back, perching the cig between his lips.

“I assume de big guy already warned ya?”

“About his dad? Yeah.” You answered, your worry rising again; it was one thing to hear about the danger from the King’s son… now you were hearing it from an unrelated royal? Great….

“Den ya know you’ll need t’ low ‘til he comes t’ his sense, right?”

You nodded at this. “Prince Embo offered to let me stay with him.”

“Did he now? Doesn’t seem quite safe t’ be going back to de same home as yer threat.” He mused as he took a drag of his cig. “I came t’ offer de same thing.”

“Why?” You asked, wary of Cad’s intentions.

“Well, King Triakt has no domain over me and my family. And messing wit’ us could end badly fer him.” Cad drawled as he plucked the cig from his lips and flicked the ashes off of the end.

“Seems like a lot of trouble for someone you don’t know.”

“I don’t know ya but dat doesn’t mean I can’t extend some kindness.” He took a long drag of his cig.

“What’s the price?” You asked, watching his lips twitch into a small smirk.

“I don’ know yet. We’ll figure dat out as we go.” Cad smothered the cig beneath his boot. “Whaddya say?”

“I… need to think about it.”

“Sure, sure. When you make up yer mind, come find me.” He winked at you and stood, straightening out his outfit. He sauntered back inside, leaving you alone in your thoughts. Now, you just had to decide who to go with...

-

Who do you choose? Embo or Cad Bane

Tags List: @justanotherstarwarswhore, @doctor-ren, @that-clone-wars-girl, @some-serendipity-snail

[dream-a-little-bigger-x]

An Unforgettable Halloween | Luke Patterson

Requested by anon:  hiiiii! can i do a jatp luke x reader imagine where it’s halloween and reader runs into Luke and they spend the whole day making Luke forget he’s dead? thanks! <3 love your writing by the way

A/N: Thank you for this request, anon! I really enjoyed writing it! I hope you like it!! Idk why I always need to have the reader and Luke/Charlie singing together, but here ya go anyway. The song used is Favorite Place by All Time Low. :) 

Pairing: Luke x fem!reader

Warnings: fluff

Words: 4,447

Halloween. It’s never been my favorite holiday. My poor, feeble heart can’t handle all the scares and creepy stuff. And besides, it’s over commercialized, in my opinion. Capitalism just needed another reason to exploit a holiday. My best friend, Ava,  tells me I hate the holiday because it reminds me of two years ago when a Halloween party traumatized me for the rest of my life. “Just because Brent made that day terrible, doesn’t mean the day will forever be terrible, Y/N,” she’d always say. Though that might be true, I still like to believe that’s not the only reason why I  hate the holiday. “Just come with me to the party tonight, and you’ll see it’s not as bad as you think it is!” We’re on FaceTime while I’m doing homework and she’s trying to figure out what to wear to the annual Halloween party at Charlotte the popular girl’s house. Another reason to hate the holiday. Charlotte Parks is the typical popular girl trope in this story. Pretty, popular with the guys, a cheerleader. The cliché. “I don’t think I’m gonna do that, Av,” I say whilst tucking my pencil behind my ear and staring down the phone in front of me, balancing against my backpack on the end of my bed. ���You know Charlotte and I don’t mix well together.” That’s true. Charlotte has always despised me, God knows why. For some reason unknown to me, she always has to find a way to ruin my life. “Her house is so big, you won’t even see her!” Ava reasons from her walk-in closet before walking back onto the screen, another dress in her hand. This one is a black bodycon number with a white collar at the top and fringes at the sleeves. “How about this one?” “That’s very Wednesday Adams!” I exclaim with a wide smile on my face, to which I receive a very impressed nod from my best friend. “You know Bobbi’s coming tonight, Av. Can’t cancel on her!” Roberta’s my cousin of 13, and she’s one of my best friends, no matter how lame that sounds. We’ve always been pretty good pals, since we’re the only girls in the family. We kind of had to stick together against the testosterone of our other cousins. She’s not actually coming tonight, but I needed a good excuse to get out of this party. “Take her with you!” she yells both excited and kind of desperate at the same  time. “Ooh! How about I wear my pleather pants with, like, a black body and cat ears?!” She disappears into the wardrobe again. “She’s 13, Av! I’m not going to take her to a high school party!” I yell back whilst shaking my head in disappointment. “Wear whatever you want, Ava. I’m sure you’ll look amazing.” She appears into the picture again, her pleather pants halfway her butt and her bra on show. “Hey, is that my bra?!” I recognize that black lace with the gold detailing down the bust anywhere and I’ve lost that bra three weeks ago. “What? No! This is mine!” she says, but I can tell she’s lying. “You are unbelievable, Av!” I shake my head, grinning at my best friend. “I’m gonna have to go though. Send me a snap of  your outfit once you’ve chosen!” She nods her head in response, walking up closer to her phone, which she had balanced somewhere on her drawers. “I really can’t convince you to come?” Her expression has suddenly turned serious. She really is bummed I don’t want to come out, but I don’t care. I can’t care. This is for my own good. At least then, I don’t have to see Charlotte. Or Brent. “I’m really sorry, Ava.... Maybe next year, yeah?” She sighs mournfully before nodding her head. “Have fun, okay? And be careful!” A smile appears on her face again. “I will, babes. Have fun with Bobbi!” She offers me a wave, which I return before yelling ‘bye’ and pressing the red button on my phone screen. Lying to my best friend is not my favorite thing to do, but she wouldn’t shut up when she found out what I’m actually gonna be doing. With a sharp exhale, I crawl off my bed and head downstairs where my parents are getting ready for their little get-together with their friends. Dad’s dressed in a pin-stripe suit, a fake mustache stuck on his upper lip and his hair gelled back tightly whilst mom’s wearing a black dress with a deeply cut V-neck and a large slit down the side. Gomez and Morticia Addams. Very spooky. “Don’t you two look dashing,” I compliment, watching them from the middle of the stairs, sitting down. Mom shoots me a kind smile as she fixes her slick hair. “What are you gonna do tonight, sweetie?” Dad asks, tightening his tie. “Probably gonna go get some food and watch some movies,” I shrug, placing my head in my hand, my elbow resting on my knee. “You know, the use.” Dad exhales sharply, smiling sympathetically. “Don’t give me that look, dad.” “I’m sorry, sweets. But I just wish you would act like a seventeen-year-old instead of an eighty  year old.” I scoff at his statement. We had this discussion last year too. Both of them know what happened and why it’s so hard for me to enjoy this day. But they still give me shit for it. “I’m gonna have plenty of fun by myself. Even more so than if I did go to the stupid party,” I reason with him. He raises his hands in defeat before turning to his wife. “Just make sure the kids get their candies, yeah?” mom says instead, climbing a couple of stairs to press a kiss to my head. “I love you,” she whispers and heads down again. “Love you too. Have fun, guys.” Dad comes up to kiss me too before heading to the door with mom. With his hand on the doorknob, he looks back at me. “You know we only want you to be happy, right?” he says. I nod my head, offering him a smile. “I love you, sweets.” He walks out and shuts the door behind him, leaving me alone in the empty house. I sigh deeply before heading down and grabbing my Vans. Once they’re on my feet, I grab my wallet and exit the house. The cool October air hits my sweater-clad arms, sending a chill down my spine. As my feet tread down the pavement, my mind wanders to this day two years ago. Around this time, everything seemed normal. I was happy and excited to get to the Charlotte Parks Halloween extravaganza with my boyfriend Brent. We’d picked out a great couples’ costume. He was a wolf, and I was dressed as Red Riding Hood. I’d even taken the liberty to go all out with makeup and put a slash near my eye as though I’d been attacked by the wolf. Ava was a fan of that costume, more than Brent was. But when we neared the end of the night, everything crumbled down into shreds of sadness and anger. The residue of that anger wells up again until it’s knocked out of me when I bump into someone, making me stumble backwards. I would’ve fallen on my ass if it wasn’t for the hands capturing my arms to keep me from doing so. “I am so sorry, I--” I stop in my tracks as I look up into the gorgeous green eyes that belong to the attractive brunette that saved me from landing on the cold pavement. “A-are you okay?” he asks, letting go of me. “I--wait…” He furrows his eyebrows in confusion. “You can see me? And you can touch me?” That’s the weirdest question I’d ever gotten. My eyebrows knit together now too, trying to figure out what’s happening and why this boy is so confused about our entire interaction. “Uhm, yeah? Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do with people?” “No. I mean -- yeah, but I’m not a person, technically,” he replies in a mumble. He cautiously looks up at me again. “I’m a ghost, actually.” I let the words sizzle through my brain until it decides to send me into a fit of laughter. “Right, yeah, it’s Halloween. Ghosts. I get it. Good one,” I say between laughs, patting the boy’s shoulder, which only sends him to more confusion. To be fair, he doesn’t feel like a normal person. His arms don’t feel like they’re made of flesh and blood, but rather something light and airy. He gapes at me with this inquisitive look on his face, which calms down the laughter abruptly. “You’re not really a ghost, are you?” I ask, just to be certain. “I am, actually…” he mutters and jams his hands into the pockets of his black jeans. “Me and my bandmates died in 1995 and this girl, Julie, brought us back as ghosts… She’s the only one who could see us… Until now,” he looks up at me with hope and confusion written all over his face. “But she can’t touch us… Are you sure you’re not dead either?” I snort at his last question. “Kinda wish I was today,” I blurt out. My eyes widen after the words left my mouth. “That sounds way too dark…” I chuckle, and the boy does too, but I think it’s more out of awkwardness than finding it funny. “Are you okay?” he asks. At first, I think about answering it superficially, but there’s this look on his face that makes me want to spill all the beans. He, too, seems lonely and distraught on this Halloween night. “I’m not actually,” I glance down at my feet, finding his feet are clad in the same shoes. I then let my eyes glide from his shoes all the way up to his face. He’s urging me to continue by tilting his head a little, shooting me a questioning glance. “Halloween isn’t my favorite holiday…” I clarify. The boy nods his head understandingly. “That explains the lack of costume,” he says, which makes me glance down at my doodled-on mom jeans and oversized sweater before chuckling. “You don’t do the dressing up either? Or is that not something ghosts do?” I query, pointing at his ensemble. He’s wearing black jeans with a shirt and long-lined jean jacket. “I mean, it’s not like anyone would see,” he jokingly says, which lets a giggle escape from my mouth. His smile widens upon hearing this ridiculous sound coming from me. “Where were you going so determinedly before I smashed into you?” he asks after a few beats of silence. “Oh, I was getting some food from the place on the end of our street. They got pretty decent sushi, and since I’m home alone tonight, I thought, why the heck not treat myself, right?” I curse at myself for sharing this much with a complete stranger, who is a ghost, nonetheless, but the chuckle that reaches my ears comforts me a little. “No parties to go to? Back in my day, Halloween parties were always the best.” I feel the smile on my face fade away at the reminder of the Halloween party I’m not attending tonight. “Yeah, no… I haven’t gone to any Halloween party in two years… Like I said, Halloween isn’t my favorite holiday.” He offers me a sympathetic smile. A silence then falls over us as we stand in the middle of the street, looking at each other, debating what to say. “So… I’m gonna go and get my sushi. Uhm… Sorry for bumping into you,” I apologize and lift a foot to start walking away, but his voice stops me. “Would you mind if I tagged along?” he asks, which renders me surprised. “I don’t eat, so you don’t have to buy me sushi, but I think I could use some company tonight… If you don’t mind, of course.” His eyes are filled with hope, and some sort of desire to hang out with someone other than those bandmates he was talking about. “Uhm, no… Yeah, sure. You can tag along. It might be a nice change from that lonely Halloween I always have,” I chuckle, and he does too. “I’m Y/N, by the way,” I say as he turns and falls into step with me. “Luke,” he introduces himself with a smile. “Why don’t you go to Halloween parties, Y/N?” I inhale sharply at this question. I was hoping he wouldn’t ask too much about it. But I guess I can never get out of that question anymore. Halloween is a big holiday around here. “Two years ago, I went to one with my boyfriend. It’s the party where I found out he was cheating on me with the one girl who always had it out for me.” It rolls off my lips with ease. Normally, I’d choke or start bawling my eyes out. But Luke’s aura is so calming and reassuring that I can’t help but feel okay telling the story. “I haven’t been able to go back since, much to my best friend’s dismay.” I roll my eyes amusedly thinking about Ava and her desperate attempts to get me to go each year. “That sucks, I’m sorry,” he says as we enter the sushi place. “You better grab your phone now if you wanna talk to me. People tend to give weird looks at people talking to themselves.” I get my phone from my back pocket and pretend to dial a number before pressing it to my ear, glancing up at Luke with a smile on my face. “Hey, how you doing?” I say into the phone, which makes Luke giggle. “Just know that your ex-boyfriend’s stupid for ever cheating on you,” he tells me before looking down at his feet. “I would never wanna hurt someone as pretty as you.”  I can feel a blush creeping its way onto my cheeks, but decide to conceal it by jokingly saying, “Aw, you think I’m pretty.” He rolls his eyes, an amused smile on his face. “Next!” the guy from the sushi place yells. “Oh, hold on,” I say into my phone before placing it on the counter and facing the employer. “Uhm, the Halloween surprise box, please,” I order politely. The man nods curtly before getting into action. I grab my phone again and press it to my ear to continue talking to Luke while we make our way to a couple of chairs and tables set up for waiting customers. I let my eyes wander around the room. It’s decorated to the max with spiders in spiderwebs, pumpkins, skeletons, ghosts,... The lot. Then, my eyes fall onto Luke. He’s glancing around the place, letting his eyes wander until they find their way back to me. A shimmer appears in them when he finds me already looking at him. “So, you said you were in a band?” I ask, pretending to talk to the person on the other side of the line. “Oh, yeah! Me and three of my best friends were in this band called Sunset Curve. Three of us died on the night we were supposed to play the Orpheum,” he explains, and my eyes nearly bulge out of their sockets upon hearing the name of the venue. “The Orpheum?! You’re kidding, right?” He shakes his head, smirking. “You would’ve been legends.” The words come out in a whisper, hoping it wouldn’t upset him too much. “Yea, we would’ve been,” he sighs, then suddenly perks up again like an excited puppy, “But the girl I told you about, Julie? She can make us visible whenever we play with her! We’re now a band with her called Julie and The Phantoms!” I giggle at his endearing enthusiasm. “We would’ve had a gig at this really cool party in the Bel Air, but Julie got sick and had to cancel.” My eyes widen upon the words ‘party’ and ‘Bel Air’. Charlotte Parks lives in Bel Air. “That would be the party I’m not going to tonight,” I tell him, chuckling. “So, we would’ve met tonight either way.” He adds with a cheeky smile, “Some would say it’s fate.”  I shake my head at him, but can’t help the smile on my face either. I want to add something to debunk his theory, but my name is called out by the sushi guy. I get up and take the box of sushi from him, shooting him a quick thank you before leaving the joint with Luke in tow. “Where do you wanna go?” he asks, bouncing up and down. “Oh, I was planning on watching some movies at home, but if you have a better idea to spend tonight? Anything is better than going to that Halloween party.” He purses his lips in ponder, his eyes darting up to the night sky. “Ooh! There’s this park I like to hang out at sometimes?” I raise my eyebrows at his suggestion, popping a piece of sushi in my mouth. I’m way too hungry to wait until we sit down to eat. “You haunt children’s playgrounds?” I ask after having swallowed the seafood. His eyebrows knit together at this as he narrows his eyes at me. “I don’t haunt children’s playgrounds. I hang out at them,” he corrects me. “You’re a ghost, sweetie. That’s haunting.” “It’s not!” he shouts. “It is so!” I laugh loudly, throwing my head back. “You’re lucky the kids are all trick or treating tonight, so we can go there. Might be a little more secluded for me to talk freely to you without worrying people will think I’m crazy.” He nods his head agreeingly. Once at the park, we take a seat in the grass. I have my legs crossed whilst Luke’s are spread out, his hands supporting the rest of his body behind him. “So, what do you do in life, Y/N? You know, besides avoiding parties,” he asks with a little smile plastered on his face. I look at him for a moment, chewing my sushi. This gives me the time to really look at him. He has really great bone structure. Sharp jawline, chiseled cheekbones, fine nose, deep-set, dreamy eyes. “Eating sushi,” I reply jokingly after I’d swallowed the piece of deliciousness. Luke lets out a laugh too. “I’m still in school, so I’m spending most of my time studying. And I like to think I’m a pretty decent writer.” He stares at me, giving me his undivided attention with the cutest smile plastered on his face. “What do you write?” he asks curiously as I pop another sushi in my mouth. I lift my hand to my mouth, and reply, “Poems,” before continuing to chew quickly. “Kinda like songs, then?” I shrug my shoulders. “They could be, but I don���t play any  instrument, so I haven’t tried,” I reply and place the half-eaten box of sushi to the side, pulling my legs up to my chest and wrapping my arms around them. “Do you write your own music?” He nods his head. “I wrote most of the songs in our band and now, I write with Julie for the new band,” he answers. As I’m thinking how much I’d like to hear him and his band play, he cuts those thoughts in two by asking, “Can I see your work?” I open my mouth, then close it. Then open again. I must look like a goldfish breathing. “I’ve never really shown anyone my work…” I trail off, debating whether or not I should show him. “Besides, my notebook is at home.” Luke suddenly gets up from the grass and reaches out his hand for me to take. I hesitate. Am  I really going to take a complete stranger, a ghost, to my house to show my poetry, only to find out he hates it because it’s nothing like his songwriting? The answer is yes. I place my hand in his and let him pull me to my feet. Without letting go of my hand, he grabs the box of sushi and then guides me out of the park and lets me lead us towards my house. “Wait here,” I tell him as we’re in the foyer. He simply jams his hands into his pockets and nods his head curtly. I run up the stairs, taking them two at a time, and then go to grab my notebook from my room, quickly storming back downstairs where Luke’s still waiting. I make my way to the living room and sit down on the couch. The boy cautiously trails behind me, and only comes to sit down after I pat the spot beside me. “It’s not that great, but… You know, it’s fun to do and a great outlet for anything I may be feeling.” I hand him the notebook and let him flip through all the pages. He stops on a few, reading it a little more thoroughly. It’s building some suspense in me. What if he doesn’t even like them? What if he, a songwriter, hates them? “Ah! This one!” he exclaims, and suddenly, with a whoosh, there’s an acoustic guitar on his lap. “One of the perks of being a musician spirit,” he tells me with a grin before strumming the instrument a little. He abruptly stops, looks at the page in my notebook again, and then softly tickles the strings. A beautiful melody pours out of the instrument before his melodic voice joins in too with the words I wrote. “I saw your face in the fire again I touched the flames and burned down everything I hear the sirens west of 8th now” He looks at me with a questioning glance as if asking for encouragement of some sorts. I offer him a smile, unsure of anything else I could be doing right now. His voice has rendered me silent. I think I could listen to him sing for hours.  “Wonder if you're hearin' them too And I know you don't belong  Know you don't belong to anyone” He focuses on the instrument again, making sure he’s still playing the right chords.  “No you can't be tamed love Maybe I was wrong  Maybe I was wrong for this But you feel like the perfect escape now Just like the sun on my face” His voice grows a little stronger, almost sounding raspier and more like a growl as he looks up again. I always thought it’d be cliché to melt when an attractive boy sings to me, but it’s actually happening to me right now.  “So can we close the space between us now It's the distance we don't need  Yeah, you're everything I love about The things I hate in me  So come on, come on, come over now and Fix me with your grace 'Cause I'm not too far and you're my favorite place” “You sing this last part,” he tells me, pushing the notebook towards me before going back to playing his guitar.  “I can’t sing, Luke,” I tell him, slightly panicking.  “Sure you can. I’ll sing along, don’t worry,” he offers me a reassuring smile before putting more power behind his strumming while also leaning closer toward me to read the words.  “So come on, come on, come over now and Fix me with your grace 'Cause I'm not too far and you're my favorite place” He now quits playing, placing his hands flat on the strings, and for a while we just stare at each other in disbelief. Disbelief about the song we just made together. Disbelief about how beautiful a voice he has. Disbelief about how attractive he is.  I cough, breaking the eye contact, “That’s a great song, Luke… You can have it if you want,” I offer with a smile to try and hide the blush from heating up my cheeks.  “No, Y/N, I couldn’t. That’s yours. Those are your words. Your words made this a great song.”  “They’re just words without a melody,” I mutter, folding the edges of the paper nervously.  “A song is quite boring without words though, isn’t it?”  For some reason, I’m starting to think all of this could be a metaphor for us. Him being the melody and me being the words. I would be a plain and simple poem without him, and his life -- though I doubt it -- would be boring without me.  “It would still be a song though,” I add, looking up at him again. One corner of his mouth curls up into a smirk, which makes me think he caught onto that metaphor I was thinking about. He suddenly grabs my hand and laces our fingers together. Before I can even register what’s happening, the front door suddenly opens, revealing a distraught-looking Ava. I let go of Luke’s hand and get up to help my best friend.  “What’s wrong?” I ask her as she stumbles inside. I grab her just in time before she can hurt herself. She looks up at me, her makeup run out all the way to her chin and blood trickling down her nose, though I’m not sure if it’s real blood or part of her cat costume.  “I punched Brent in the face and Charlotte punched me back,” she get out through sobs and hiccups. My eyes dart over to Luke, who’s watching this from the sofa. I almost forgot she can’t even see him. He offers me a small smile.  “Why?” I ask and guide her to the couch. She nearly sits down on top of Luke, but I’m quick enough to guide her next to him while he vanishes. He pops back behind the couch, looking down at the drunk girl lying down on the sofa.  “Because he was boasting about how he even managed to wrap the prude around his finger two years ago and got her to anything he wanted,” I swallow, remember those times people called me a prude because I covered up unlike girls like Charlotte who wore short skirts and plunging necklines. “I really don’t get what you saw in him, Y/N,” she mumbles while cuddling up to the pillow and letting her eyes flutter shut. “I hope you find someone that looks at you like I look at pizza.” I giggle at her drunken words before looking up at Luke to find him already looking at me. Kind of the same way Ava looks at pizza. A smile then finds its way to my face. Maybe Halloween isn’t as bad as I always thought it was. 

Taglist: @hannahhistorian92 @marinettepotterandplagg @thequirkybookaholic @bookdealer5 @tenaciousperfectionunknown @hemmingsness @iainttakingshitfromnobody @ifilwtmfc @angryknightstatesmantrash @kiss-themoongoodbye @rudysbay @thedarkqueenofavalon @caitsymichelle13 @calamitykaty @parkeret @lukeys-giggle @gingerxarmy @lovesanimals @lolychu @perfectlywrongformend3s @luckylouiebug @camiladelrio98 @myfriendscallmebeans

[today-only-happens-once]

and miles to go before I sleep

Title: and miles to go before I sleep

Word Count: 6,650

Chapter 1

Summary: Virgil came here to stop a curse and save his kingdom. But another Prince has the same goal in mind... and only one kingdom is supposed to come out on top. Slowburn Romantic Prinxiety. A Two Princes Podcast AU. 

Chapter Warnings: stealing; lying; Patton is kind of working in a gray area but he means well and is only trying his best; Janus does some light treason I guess?; violence; giant hornet; plant monster; killing monsters/violence; blood mention/description; threats; if you are a die-hard fan of the podcast please be warned that I do take a few creative liberties with stuff from the podcast at times. 

A/N: this idea has been knocking around my head for a while, and I finally started to write it. I thought I’d write it all before posting, but I’ve found that I’m starting to lose steam. So here’s the first part! If you like The Two Princes, I hope you’ll enjoy this Prinxiety twist to it! If you’ve never listened to it, I hope you’ll consider giving this a shot and then maybe going to check it out! <3 Editing done by yours truly. All mistakes are mine. 

...

“Stop! Thief!” 

Virgil takes a hard left turn down the Western Corridor of the castle, nearly tripping over his own feet in his rush. He sprints down the stone hallway, racing past the familiar stained-glass windows. The book in his hand is heavy and leather-bound, and Virgil tucks it tighter under his arm as he runs. The hood of his dark cloak nearly slips off his head in the process, and he uses his free hand to keep it from falling. 

“Halt!”

Ahead of him, three members of the Royal Guard appear from around the corner. Virgil skids to a stop, whirling around only to find two more guards running up behind him. He’s surrounded and cornered. Nowhere to go. Virgil huffs a breath, holding his hands up and kneeling on the floor in surrender. He lets the book thud to the ground. He’s grateful that the hood of his cloak swallows his head, and he keeps his head downcast to let it shadow his face from view even though he knows his anonymity is really only a matter of seconds.

There’s the scuff of boots against the stone floor approaching him, the clanking of armor as the guards move aside, and Virgil grimaces to himself. He has the sinking feeling it’s his older brother. 

“Your Majesty,” one of the guards from behind him greets the newcomer, confirming Virgil’s suspicions. “We caught this person attempting to steal the Forbidden Book.” 

Virgil keeps his face hidden in the hood of his cloak, but he sees his brother’s boots step into his vision. “What’s your name?” his brother asks with that familiar soft friendliness. 

Virgil knows that he can’t hide much longer--someone is going to pull the hood off his head at any moment--but he really doesn’t want to deal with the look of disappointment in his older brother’s eyes that he knows awaits him. He’ll push it off as long as he can manage. So Virgil stays resolutely silent. 

He feels a slight tug on the hood of his cloak and the silky material causes it to fall to his shoulder blades effortlessly. 

“Virgil?” 

Virgil looks up sheepishly. “Hey, Patton.”

His brother was twelve years older than him but only a couple of inches taller. His hair wasn’t much lighter than Virgil’s, and their eyes were the same shade of brown that their mother’s had been. But Patton had seemed every bit older than him. Virgil couldn’t explain why--if maybe it was the weight in his eyes that would show only when he thought nobody was looking or if maybe it was the way he’d mastered the ‘I’m not angry I’m just disappointed’ stare years ago--but there were times when Patton seemed even older than twenty-nine. 

“What the heck were you doing?” Patton swoops down and snatches the book from where Virgil had placed it on the floor in front of him. Virgil tries not to grimace. His brother hands it off to one of the guards who immediately rushes to take it back to the vault. 

Virgil sighs and accepts the hand that Patton extends to him to pull him up to his feet. Patton waves a hand and the guards only hesitate for a moment before they turn abruptly to head back to their post. Virgil waits until they’re alone in the corridor before he answers.

“Patton, come on. You know exactly what I was doing.” 

Patton frowns, his brow pinching together. “Virgil,” he starts, and Virgil has to stop himself from rolling his eyes because he knows that tone, “I already told you that book is no good for anybody.” 

“No, I know you keep saying that. But our kingdom is under siege, and--”

“Siege?” Patton repeats. “I think that’s a bit of an overstatement there, kiddo. I should start calling you just ‘Anxiety’ with as much as you worry.”

“How else would you describe the forest that is overrunning our kingdom and has been for years? It’s nearly at our palace walls.” Virgil gestures out the stained glass window. “You can’t go anywhere in town without having to step over and around roots and vines. It’s been choking our food supply, it’s overrun our farming villages… That’s not normal. And nobody in this godforsaken castle will talk to me about it.”

Virgil sees that flicker of something he can’t identify pass through Patton’s eyes. It was the same look he got any time Virgil tried to mention the Forest or the Curse. But it was always too fast for Virgil to be able to identify it. 

“Have you ever thought that’s because there’s nothing to talk about?” Patton tries. 

“When was the last time you looked outside, Patton? That Forest is going to destroy our kingdom,” Virgil snaps. “I know it’s the Curse and I know that book has answers. I just don’t know why you don’t want me to know them!” 

Patton presses a hand to his temple. “Virgil, will you just drop it? Please?”

“All I’ve done is drop it. From what I’ve been able to piece together from books that you will let me read, two kings from rival kingdoms held a grudge against each other a thousand years ago, and that grudge started some kind of curse. But I need more if I’m going to do anything to fix this.”

“Nobody is asking you to fix it--”

“Somebody has to!” 

“Virgil…” Patton looks at him then. He looks tired, Virgil thinks. And… afraid. “Please. I… you’re my baby brother. I’m just trying to look out for you, okay?”

Virgil wants to argue. He’s seventeen. He doesn’t need his older brother protecting him like he did when they were little kids. He sometimes wonders if Patton still sees him as that six-year-old kid that would run to his room when he had a bad dream. He wasn’t. But he doesn’t know how to get Patton to understand that. Besides, a part of him falters at the tinge of desperation that colors Patton’s words. 

“Okay,” Virgil agrees with a sigh, holding his hands up in surrender. “Okay. Fine.”

There’s a grateful twitch to the corner of Patton’s mouth. Then, his expression brightens with a sudden idea and Virgil has the feeling he’s not going to like it.

“Hey,” Patton says. “Your birthday is almost here. What do you say we throw an early birthday party for tomorrow?”

Virgil arcs an eyebrow. “My birthday isn’t for another four days.”

“I know, but I think we all could use a little something to boost the kingdom spirit, y’know?” 

Virgil hesitates. “Patton, you can’t just use parties to distract yourself from problems.” It’s a conversation they’d had before, so he knows what Patton is going to say even before the words leave his brother’s mouth. 

“I’m not, Virgil,” Patton replies, right on cue. “But I think focusing on something good and happy is better than wallowing in the negative. Right?”

“Right,” Virgil says hollowly. 

…

Virgil hates parties. They’re crowded and loud and the repetition of forced, awkward small talk reminds Virgil of everything he doesn’t like about being a prince. Nobles and dignitaries mill around the ballroom, talking to one another without talking about anything that Virgil thinks ought to be discussed. He nods his appreciation and mutters a quick “thank you” as people wish him a happy birthday, and he tries to ignore the increasing desire to crawl into a hole and never come out.

Virgil snags a piece of bread off the snack table and clings to the edge of the growing crowd in the ballroom. 

“You look like you’re having a positively terrific time, Your Highness,” a familiar voice says to Virgil’s left. When he looks, Virgil feels a twinge of relief at the familiar face of Lord Janus: his brother’s closest political adviser. 

Virgil snorts. “Yeah, well. This was hardly my idea. You know how my brother is.” 

“Hm,” Janus hums, a hint of amusement in his eyes. “Indeed.” Virgil stifles a yawn. Janus arcs an eyebrow at him. “Tired, Your Highness?”

“Sorry,” Virgil replies. “Just… didn’t sleep well.”

He thinks about the dream he’d had last night. He’d been cold, in the dark, surrounded by looming shadows that looked almost like trees. There’d been a deep, echoing, vaguely familiar voice calling his name. Virgil. Then a tugging sensation around his waist so strong it yanked his feet out from under him, and the falling sensation had jolted him from his sleep. He’d woken up in his room, trying to catch his breath, the echo of his name still reverberating in his head. 

“I see,” Janus replies, his gaze narrowing slightly.

Virgil avoids his eyes, instead letting his gaze flit over the crowd of people. Some of them he recognizes from various meetings and prior parties that Patton had thrown over the years. He watches as a tall man he recognizes as Sloane--a long time family friend--lean over to whisper something into the ear of Corbin, one of the royal scribes. Corbin suppresses a smile. 

“Are they… together?” Virgil wonders aloud. He couldn’t describe it, but there was something about the way they seemed to gravitate near each other, even while Sloane turns to talk to someone else, that makes him wonder.

Janus follows his gaze. “Yes,” he confirms. “To my knowledge, there’s an expected engagement to occur soon.”

There’s a part of Virgil that’s surprised. He wouldn’t describe himself as particularly close with either one of them, but they seemed like near opposites. His gaze lingers a bit longer on the two of them, catching the way Corbin deftly slips his hand into Sloane’s and squeezes. Virgil tears his gaze away, feeling oddly like he’s intruding on something intimate even though they’re in the middle of the ballroom. 

He finds Remy weaving through the crowd, seemingly at ease in the sea of people. Remy is another of his brother’s advisers, though he doesn’t work as closely with Patton as Janus does. Virgil knows that Remy’s area of expertise is primarily in trade and commerce. Most of that had stopped around a year ago, as the growing Forest cut off most trade routes into and out of the kingdom.

“How does he still have a job?” Virgil wonders aloud, watching as Remy laughs politely at a joke a dignitary that Virgil doesn’t recognize makes. 

Janus hums. “Your brother ensured that Remy’s original conception as an economic adviser would not be limited to inter-kingdom trade. Exchanges occurring within the kingdom and city walls fall under his domain of expertise as well.” 

“Won’t be long before he’s out of a job anyway,” Virgil mutters.

“There are few things that the king cares about more than the well-being of his kingdom.”

“And I’m one of those things.” Virgil looks at Janus, challenging him to disagree. Janus merely returns Virgil’s stare with a steady, silent one of his own. Virgil has known the adviser long enough to recognize it as silent agreement. 

Virgil releases a frustrated breath. “I’m not a child anymore, Janus. He doesn’t need to protect me.”

“I assure you that Your Majesty doesn’t view it that way.”

“I don’t even know what he’s trying to protect me from,” Virgil continues. Realization dawns suddenly, and Virgil narrows a glare on Janus. “But you do, don’t you?”

It makes sense to Virgil. There is little that Janus doesn’t know--he’s often said it’s his business to know things as the chief political adviser--and though Virgil may not understand how Janus gathers his information, he has no doubt that Janus knows exactly whatever it is that Patton has been hiding from him. The suspicion is only confirmed when he sees Janus’s lips press into a thin line. 

Virgil shakes his head. “Unbelievable. I don’t understand.”

Janus arcs an eyebrow. “I think Your Highness does.”

“No, no I don’t,” Virgil hisses back in a low, frustrated voice. “What is my brother hiding from me?”

Janus grimaces, his gaze flitting over to Patton across the ballroom. Patton doesn’t seem to notice, too engaged with a conversation with the Lady Valerie to pay them much mind. Janus sighs, then turns back to the prince.

“Your Highness--”

Janus cuts off as the floor beneath them rumbles. The dining ware on the table clatters loudly from the tremor, and the ballroom falls silent with uncertainty. Virgil braces a hand against the nearby wall to keep balance. 

“Uh, what is that?” he asks, too late.

With the sound of shattering stone, sections of the marble floor splinter open. Virgil watches, horrified, as green vines rise from the fissures almost like tendrils of an awakening monster. Cracking wood snaps sharply in the hall as what Virgil can only describe as tree roots thicker than his own body push their way up through the cracks in the floor. 

Screams and shouts of alarm fill the ballroom, ricocheting off the stone pillars. Virgil watches as a vine curls around the ankle of a dignitary, yanking her off her feet. One of the guards, sword already drawn, rushes forward. They slash at it, slicing through the vine and helping the young woman back to her feet.

“The Forest is invading!” the guard shouts. “Everyone take cover! Guards, attack!” 

The clamor of battle swells, and Virgil presses flatter against the wall. His gaze sweeps over the crowd, trying to locate his brother. Virgil sees a tree root snake around Corbin’s torso with a speed that isn’t natural for a plant. Sloane shouts for him, but a vine snaps around his wrist and he yanks a knife out of his boot to cut himself free. 

Virgil goes to move to help--he may not be athletic exactly, but he can’t just stand around and do nothing when people are in danger--but something yanks him back to the wall like he’s attached to it. He glances over his shoulder and sees the vine twisting in the jacket of his suit. Virgil desperately wrestles out of the garment, but another has already begun wrapping around his chest. 

“Hey!” Virgil yelps, trying to wrestle it off him. He sees a sudden flash of metal in the corner of his eye and the vine around his chest goes suddenly slack. Virgil shoves it off, looking over and realizing it was Janus, wielding the sword that had been at his hip, who cut him free.  

“Janus,” Virgil says. “Thank you.”

“Of course. Here, take this.” Janus pulls out a piece of paper from his breast pocket and shoves it into Virgil’s chest. 

Virgil stumbles back a step from the force, his brow furrowing in confusion. “What’s this?”

“A map,” Janus answers, quick and urgent. “It will take you straight to the Hollow. You have to leave immediately.”

“What? What Hollow?”

“Here.” Janus shoves the hilt of his sword into Virgil’s hand. “Take my sword.”

“Wh--No! I can’t leave you all in the middle of a battle!”

“You have to!” Janus snaps, and Virgil falters under the intensity in the adviser’s eyes. “The real battle--the one that will decide the fate of everyone in this kingdom--can only be fought in the Hollow, and only by you.” 

“What are you talking about?”

Janus grabs both of Virgil’s shoulders. “There’s a prophecy your brother has been hiding from you. You have to go to the Hollow. Once you get there--”

“Look out!” a voice barks.

Janus’s head snaps to the side before he gives Virgil a hard shove, sending the prince staggering back. A tree root slams into the wall, precisely where Virgil had just been standing.

“Janus!”

“Go!” Janus shouts sharply over the clamor of the raging battle around them. “Get to the Hollow!”

Virgil runs, not noticing the vegetation shrinking back into the cracks in the floor as he races towards the Forest. 

…

Hours later, Virgil is beginning to think that the Forest must hate him personally. If it’s true, the feeling is very much mutual. The Forest is dense with trees that leave long, lurking shadows on the damp floor. Virgil climbs over a particularly large tree root, hissing in pain as a thorn catches his shoulder.

“Great,” he snaps sarcastically. “You know, you go through all this trouble of getting me to come to you what with the weird dreams and then attacking during my birthday party--which, between you and me, I didn’t really mind the interruption, though I could have done without the violence--so you’d think maybe you could extend a little hospitality.” Virgil waits as if the Forest might actually respond to him. The chirp of insects and distant song of birds is the only answer the Forest offers. 

“Of course not,” Virgil mutters. “I don’t know what I expected. You’re a monster-infested forest.”

Or in the very least, that’s what the rumors had always said. Virgil wonders if that might have been an old wives’ tale, passed on through the thousand or so years since the Curse first started to convince children to steer clear. Just because Virgil had heard his whole life that monsters lurked in the Forest’s shadows didn’t mean it was actually true, right?

Right.

Virgil sighs and yanks the map Janus had shoved at him out of his pocket. If the skull on the map was referencing the tree ahead of him whose branches vaguely resembled a skull, then--

A twig snaps behind him. 

Virgil freezes, his head snapping up. “Hello?” he calls, shoving the map back into his pocket and yanking his sword out of the scabbard. 

Nothing answers him. Wind rustles the leaves in the canopy above him. Virgil studies the trees and shadows around him. He can’t shake the vague feeling that he is being watched…

A distant buzzing interrupts his thoughts, and Virgil sees a dark blur rush towards him. He yelps, ducking his head and slashing blindly with the sword. When he looks, Virgil chokes. In front of him, buzzing loudly as it hovers a couple of feet in the air, is a giant hornet--nearly Virgil’s size. 

“Look,” Virgil says to it. “My brother always says to avoid violence, but the last few hours has been the culminating impact of years of frustrations, so my patience really isn’t up for--”

The hornet dives for him, and Virgil slashes at it, clipping its side. He narrowly dodges its stinger, slashing again. Virgil’s arms are suddenly coated in a dark, viscous spray of black blood. The giant hornet falls to the ground at Virgil’s feet.

He releases a breath, grimacing against the acrid smell of monster blood that stings his nostrils. His heartbeat is still thudding in his ears, adrenaline pulsing through his veins. He just slayed his first monster. A relieved smile tugs at the corner of Virgil’s mouth. He wonders briefly if Patton would be proud of him or horrified. He tries not to think too long about it.

“Not too bad for a--whoa!” Virgil steps back and immediately finds himself falling through the forest floor. 

He lands hard and takes a moment to blink stars from his spinning vision. With a grunt of effort, Virgil pushes himself up into a sitting position. The air around him smells… sweet and oddly familiar. On the ground beneath him is loose dirt and a carpet of white and pink mushrooms. A few bright green vines helped to cushion Virgil’s fall. A quick glance around also tells Virgil that he didn’t just fall into a hole--he fell into some sort of underground tunnel that continued on to his left.

He takes in another breath and feels the tension bleed out of his shoulders. It smells like… like Patton’s fresh-baked cookies on a rainy day and… was that his mother’s perfume? Virgil had never really been able to remember his mother’s face, but he remembers the scent the instant he inhales. He suddenly has the near overwhelming desire to curl up and sleep as the syrupy feeling of warm comfort spreads through his chest.

Maybe Virgil could just live here instead of… of… how did he get here again?

“Oh darling!” calls a soft, honey voice and for the briefest moment, Virgil wonders if it’s his mother. He dismisses the idea almost immediately. That isn’t possible.

“Wh--” Virgil’s tongue feels slow, his thoughts shifting through a molasses-sweet haze. “Who said that?”

“I did,” the voice echoes back, melodic and sweet. “Are you my darling?”

“I mean, maybe,” Virgil slurs, blinking owlishly at his surroundings. “I could be someone’s darling.”

“Where are you, darling?”

Virgil squints up at the hole he’d fallen through. “I’m at the bottom of a pit. Where are you?”

“I’m here too, just a bit further in. Come find me, darling.”

Virgil glances over to his left and sees a prick of light down the dark tunnel. Something in his chest tugs, urging, towards it. Virgil pushes himself to his feet, sliding his sword into the scabbard at his hip (why did he have it out to begin with?) and rushes down the tunnel, tripping over stray roots and the increasingly thick network of green vines. As he grows closer to the light, the smell of cookies and his mother’s perfume grows thicker and heavier. He can feel the way it clings to his thoughts in his mind, sticky like melted candy.

The tunnel opens up into a small cavern overrun with moss and flowers. Vines wrap up dirt walls, sprouting flowers of different sizes and colors so bright Virgil squints against the sudden onslaught on his vision. At the center of the clearing is a feminine figure--green skin and green hair that look almost like vines themselves. She turns towards Virgil as he steps into the clearing, her face brightening so much that Virgil almost doesn’t notice that her eyes are bright red like the flowers that dot her arms. 

“There you are, my darling. I’ve been waiting so long for you.”

Virgil frowns, his brow creasing. “I’m sorry.”

She giggles, light and delighted. “Oh, that’s all right. What’s important is that you are here now. What’s your name?”

He… can’t remember. It starts with a V, doesn’t it? “V-V...Virgil. Yeah, that’s it. My name is Virgil. What’s your name?”

The woman floats closer. “My name is Flora. I’m the goddess of love.”

Her voice sounds like a music box, soft and lilting. Virgil wants to curl up and use her voice as a blanket. “Where… where am I?”

“This? Why this is the Garden of Delight. You needn’t worry about anything ever again.”

A soft, warm feeling squeezes around Virgil’s chest and it reminds him, distantly, of Patton’s hugs. “That… that sounds nice…” 

The woman hums, stepping closer. The dress she wears seems to shimmer, like it had been spun from spider silk and dripped with dew. It did feel rather humid in here, now that Virgil thinks about it. Virgil feels an unusual draw to her, but as he goes to take another step, he finds his feet don’t move. Confused, he glances down. Green vines have snaked around his ankles, locking him in place.

“What--”

“My darling,” the woman purrs, moving closer. “Virgil is a beautiful name. You’ll stay here with me, won’t you? Forever?”

Something about that sounds extremely tempting, and Virgil had the vague sense that it had something to do with the lingering sweetness in the air that reminded Virgil of when he was a child. When things felt easier. Simpler. But he… couldn’t stay, right? He… he was supposed to be going somewhere…

“I… I can’t,” Virgil says, beginning to wonder why it’s so hard to just think right now… “I’m supposed to… um… there’s something I’m… I gotta get to the, uh… I can’t remember. Why can’t I remember?” He can feel the vines snaking up his legs, wrapping around his waist and anchoring his wrists to his hips.

He feels like his brain is fighting through gelatin. 

“If you could uh, let me go?” he asks.

The woman smiles again, but Virgil swears it’s a row of sharp, pointed fangs that he hadn’t seemed to notice a moment ago. “But you only just got here.”

Virgil tries to wrestle his arms out of the net of vines but they only constrict tighter. He wheezes a cough as the vice-like grip forces some air from his lungs. “Yeah, I know, but--”

“Nobody leaves the Garden of Delight, darling.”

“I just really--”

“They stay here forever.”

“I really gotta--”

“You’re not going anywhere,” the woman growls, with something that definitely isn’t human edged sharply within the words. 

Virgil jerks away. “You’re not a goddess.”

“No,” she agrees, grinning wickedly. “And it’s been ages since I’ve had a meal as large and scrumptious as you.”

Virgil thrashes, but he’s held fast by the vines that are only getting tighter. “Let me go!” This is how he’s going to die, isn’t it? He’s such an idiot. “Don’t!” he shouts, though he knows it’s fruitless. There’s nobody around to hear him. Not for miles. How could he have been so stupid--

“That’s enough, fiend!” A new voice, a rich baritone, shouts from the cavern entrance. Virgil tries to crane his neck to look behind him but he only gets a flash of red, white, and gold before the monster in front of him hisses with a flash of pointed teeth.

Through his haze of muddied thoughts, it’s hard for Virgil to follow exactly what happens next. But there’s a glint of silver out of the corner of his eye and the creature before him shrieks in pain and anger. The constricting grip around him slackens suddenly and Virgil shrugs out of the plant cocoon that had been ensnaring him. 

He whirls around and sees a boy in a dirtied white prince suit jacket and a red sash across his chest. His dark brown hair falls across his forehead, and his dark eyes are intense with urgency. 

“Who are you?” Virgil asks.

“Go back the way you came,” he says instead of answering the question. “You’ll find a rope that you can climb to the surface. I’m going to take care of this overgrown fly-trap.” 

“Wait--”

The monster shrieks, her enraged scream echoing in the room. “I’m going to destroy you, you filthy, egotistical human!”

“Funny,” the boy shoots back, “because I was about to say the same thing about you.”

The monster lunges, and Virgil instinctively throws up an arm in front of his face to protect himself. The other boy snarls and slashes with the sword in his hands with expert precision. Virgil can’t help but be impressed. He’s certain that he never has looked that comfortable with a sword in his hands in his entire life. 

The scream from the monster cuts out abruptly as the other boy lodges the blade inside of her. She falls, disintegrating into a pile of dirt and vines. The boy wipes the back of his hand across his brow and arcs an eyebrow at Virgil. 

He motions to the cavern entrance. “After you.”

….

Virgil sighs as he pulls himself up over the ledge and back onto the forest floor. He never thought he’d be happy to see the Forest again, but he can’t deny the odd rush of relief. Anything was better than sharp fangs flashing in front of his face. 

“That… was intense,” he says as he hears the boy behind him pull himself up and start untying the rope from around the nearby tree he’d used as an anchor. “What was that thing?”

The boy pauses thoughtfully. Sunlight filters in through the leaves of the canopy above them and they make the boy’s dark eyes sparkle a bit. “I don’t know what they’re called, but the Forest is full of them.”

“Huh. Well, it’s a good thing you came along, I guess.” Virgil rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. “Thank you for rescuing me, and for being so beautiful.” Virgil freezes.

So does the other boy, his gaze flashing over and his brow furrowing. “What?”

“Brave!” Virgil blurts and has to stop himself from cringing at his own lack of a filter. He wasn’t usually this clumsy. “Thank you for being so brave. Not beautiful. Wow.” He laughs awkwardly. “I don’t know why I said that. I think some of the toxins must still be messing with my head, y’know? Making me say crazy things. It’s not like I think you’re beautiful.”

The boy’s frown deepens and Virgil holds up his hands. “Not that I think you’re ugly! I mean, obviously you’re not ugly. Like, if you put a sword to my head and said are you attractive or ugly, obviously I’d have to go with attractive because objectively that’s just a fact--” Oh my God, Virgil, stop talking--“but it’s not like you’re so attractive I can’t stop looking at you or anything. Am I talking a lot? I feel like I’m talking a lot.”

“You are,” the boy replies absently, his gaze narrowing at something off in the distance. Virgil is oddly relieved to get the sense that he stopped listening a while ago. 

“Right. So uh, I’m trying to say thank you.” Virgil takes a deep breath, trying to slow his still-racing thoughts and pounding heart. “Thank you for saving my life.”

“Then it’s a good thing I’ve been following you.” It’s only then that Virgil realizes the boy hadn’t been untying the rope from the tree--he’d been securing it more firmly. 

“What? You’ve been following me?” He watches as the other boy loops the rope over the tree branch, then makes a lasso with the loose end in his hands. “Um, what’s the lasso for?”

“I have some questions,” he answers, his gaze narrowing. “And since I don’t know you nor do I trust you, I thought you might be more inclined to answer them if you’re dangling from a tree.” 

“Oh,” Virgil says before it sinks in. “Wait, what--Hey!” Before he can stop it, the boy lasso’s Virgil’s waist and pulls, and Virgil sees the world spin violently before he’s staring dizzily at the boy upside down. “Let me down!”

The boy crosses his arms over his chest. “Now then. Who are you and what are you doing in this Forest?”

Virgil’s fingers twitch for his sword, but he figures he’d be about as likely to poke his own eye out than cut himself down. And even then, what would happen? He’d seen the boy face off with the forest monster and he’d sliced her like it was nothing with barely a flick of his wrist. Virgil couldn’t very well fight this boy. And besides, he doesn’t really want to. 

“Me? Just--I’m nobody. I’m just walking through.”

The boy scoffs and shakes his head. He waves a hand at him. “Your clothes are filthy but clearly Western from the design and fabric choices. And your sword carries the insignia of the royal family.” His gaze darkens then, and he takes a step closer. Virgil watches the way his grip on the sword flexes in preparation. “Do you work for them?”

“No!” he says immediately. “No, I--I don’t. No royal family for me.” 

“You’re alone then? You aren’t traveling with any member of the royal family?”

“No, definitely not.”

The boy studies him for a moment before he seems satisfied with the answer. “My apologies. You can never be too careful. Especially in this Forest.”

Virgil finds himself nodding despite the wave of confusion the comment brings. He just wants to get out of this in one piece. “No, of course.” 

The boy slides his sword into the scabbard at his hip. “My name is Roman. Prince of the East. I’m sure you’ve heard of me.”

“Uh, not really?”

“The younger brother of King Thomas? Heir to the Polished Throne. Defender of the Perished Realm.”

Virgil sucks in a breath through his teeth. “Sorry.”

“Vanquisher of the Dragon Witch. Protector of the Sacred Flame. Champion of the Hero’s Forge.”

This is ridiculous, Virgil thinks. He arcs an eyebrow. “What was that last one?”

Something sparks in Roman’s eyes, and he places his hands on his hips as if posing for a portrait. “Champion of the Hero’s Forge?”

Virgil does take a second to wrack his memory, wondering if maybe he had read something about any of the ridiculous titles Roman had just rattled off, but nothing rings a bell. “Champion of the--no, sorry.”

Roman seems to deflate, his hands falling from his hips. “Really?”

He knows he shouldn’t--the boy is dangling him from a tree for crying out loud--but Virgil does feel a little bad for him. His ridiculous batch of titles notwithstanding. “We just don’t hear much about you guys in the West. Honestly, we weren’t even sure there was anyone left in the East. We’d sort of assumed the Forest had finished you all off.”

Which, now that Virgil thought about it, he honestly wasn’t sure if that was simply a misguided belief or another intentional deception to further obscure the truth about this Forest and the Curse from Virgil. Then again, Virgil thinks, Patton may have made a lot of mistakes, but he didn’t think willful deception like that was really Patton’s preferred method. He tended to just avoid things.

The most Virgil had heard about the East Kingdom had been in history books, scribbled in the margins of notebooks. From what Virgil’s been able to gather, the two kingdoms had gone to war ages ago. Virgil couldn’t figure out why, exactly, or even a direct timeline. He assumed it must have been thousands of years ago; so long that the true reason for the feud had been lost to history.

“Hm,” Roman says, his brows pinching together.

“But,” Virgil adds, “it’s nice to meet you, I guess. I’ve never met anyone from the East before. Honestly, I don’t even really know why we were at war with you. So like, maybe you could cut me down now?”

Roman’s careful, scrutinizing gaze sweeps over Virgil. His hand rests on the hilt of his sword. “You still haven’t told me who you are or what you’re doing in this Forest.”

Virgil’s thoughts trip over each other. He can’t very well give his real name--not when the boy had looked almost murderous when he asked about the royal family. He wracks his head for some kind of alternative. “My name is, um, Anxiety.” 

Roman blinks at him. “Anxiety?”

Virgil could kick himself. Of course that was a stupid answer. “Uh, yeah. That’s--that’s what everyone calls me, anyway. Not that I know a lot of people. I, um, live here. In the Forest. Alone.”

“You live in the Forbidden Forest?” Roman arcs a skeptical eyebrow. 

Virgil silently curses to himself. He’s really not that well-practiced in lying. He didn’t like it, generally. In his experience, it tended to just make things worse. But he could almost hear Janus’s voice in his head, telling him that lying to preserve his safety was preferred to getting hurt. 

“Yeah. I’m uh, on the run. From the royal family in the West.” That was… at least somewhat true?

“Why?”

The memories from yesterday morning flash through his mind. “I’m a thief.” Also kind of true.

“A thief.”

“Yes,” Virgil confirms. “How else do you think I got this sword with the royal insignia on it?” Virgil hopes silently and fervently that Roman’s unexplained contempt for the royal family would work in his favor here.

Roman scoffs. “Great,” he mutters, mostly to himself though loud enough for Virgil to hear, “Just what I need. A vagabond with no sense of honor. Fine. The Forest can deal with you.” He turns his back and starts walking away.

“Wait!” Virgil calls out. “Where are you going? You can’t just leave me here.”

Roman turns back to him, crossing back the short distance. “What I can’t do is have a confessed criminal traipsing around the Forest.” He waves a hand to gesture around them. 

So apparently his contempt did not outweigh his morals. Virgil has the vague thought that Patton would approve of that, if nothing else. “You misunderstood,” Virgil stammers hurriedly. “When I said thief, I meant like a… a…” What was that story Patton used to read to him when they were kids? “Robin Hood kind of deal. You know, steal from the rich, feed the poor. That’s why the royal family hates me. I’m like a, um, hero.”

Roman’s brows shoot up in surprise. “A hero?”

“In a looser sense of the word--”

“How long have you been hiding in this forest?”

“Wh--oh. Years. Like… forever.” Virgil is starting to get a headache from the blood still rushing to his head. 

Roman looks unimpressed. “Yet you nearly got killed by a talking plant moments ago because you stumbled blindly into her lair.”

“Yes,” Virgil says, unable to disagree with that point when they both had been there and Roman had been following him, apparently. “But that’s the first time that’s ever happened.” True. “Which, if you think about it, is sort of a point in my favor, right?”

“Hm.” Roman purses his lips before yanking the sword out of his scabbard. Virgil flinches as it flashes in the sunlight, but there’s the sound of snapping rope and Virgil lands clumsily on the forest floor. The sudden headrush makes spots dance across his vision and Virgil blinks to clear them away.

“Warn a dude, next time?” Virgil grumbles.

“I’ll make you a deal, Robin Brood,” Roman announces, ignoring the comment. 

“You can call me Anxiety.”

“My first night in the Forest,” Roman presses on, “my horse got spooked and ran off with my map. Since then, I’ve been--”

“Completely lost?”

“In need of direction.” He points his sword towards Virgil with ease, like it’s an extension of his arm. “If you can take me where I need to go, I promise to spare your life and let you go at the end of our journey.”

That… seems fair to Virgil. He’d take this prince guy on a little side quest, and then he’d be able to rush to the Hollow shortly thereafter. A little detour should be fine, right? “Uh, sure. Yeah. I guess. Where do you need to go?”

“The Hollow of the Kings,” Roman answers as Virgil pushes himself to his feet. 

Virgil freezes, his brow furrowing. “Uh, sure. Yeah. But why do you need to go there?”

“That is none of your business. Do we have a deal or should I get my rope?”

Virgil holds his hands up in surrender. “No, sure. Yeah. I’ll take you to the Hollow.”

Roman crosses over to a heavy-looking bag and picks it up. “Now that you work for me, you’ll carry my things.” He shoves the bag into Virgil’s arms. Virgil staggers under the sudden weight, cursing under his breath.

“Yeah, no problem, buddy,” he quips sarcastically, adjusting his hold on the bag to more easily manage the weight. 

“Don’t call me buddy.”

“You got it, boss.” Virgil tries to hide a smirk. He couldn’t explain why, but there was something a little fun about teasing the other prince. 

“Your Royal Highness is fine,” Roman replies without a shred of irony.

Virgil snorts. “All right, Princey.”

Roman scowls. “Also, please only speak when spoken to. You talk a lot, and it’s beginning to give me a headache.”

Virgil arcs an eyebrow. His ears are still ringing from the headrush. “I’m giving you a headache?”

“Yes. Also--”

“Oh my God, how many rules do you have?”

Roman whirls around and Virgil finds the tip of his sword poised just below his chin. Roman’s expression darkens. “If I find out you’ve been lying to me about anything, I will feed you to the nearest plant. Got it?”

Virgil swallows. “Got it.”

“Great!” he says brightly, sheathing his sword once more. “Then onward we travel. Lead me to the Hollow, Robin Mood.”

“Same joke.”

“It was a variation.”

...

Tags: @creativenostalgiastuff, @helloisthisusernametaken, @ren-allen, @quoth-the-sparrow, @princelogical, @random-pianist, @ravenclawicecream, @erlenmeyertrash, @milomeepit, @at-least-seven-pretty-potatoes, @rileyfirstname, @sassy-in-glasses, @vigilantvirgil, @generalfandomfabulousness, @lacrimosathedark, @thepoolofthedead, @monikastec, @heir-of-the-founders, @yourworstnightmare999, @artistictaurean, @kanejandkruge, @cdragontogacotar, @unikornavenger, @bopthesnoz, @spiralofsilencetheory, @finger-gunsss, @crownswriter123, @narniasfinestavengingsociopath, @swlotakulady34, @gaylotusthatexists, @analogical-mess, @dolphidragon, @flix-net, @friedlieb-ferdinand-runge, @procrastinations-my-middle-name, @theburntesttoast, @monroig, @secretlyawyvern, @puddinglec4t, @give-me-a-minute-to-think, @whispers-stuff-in-your-ear

[prismatales]

Hi there the writings are amazing. Can I pretty please have another nighteye one where we just see him as a doting dad before his death with him being that amazing dad. Like just fluffy goodness. Thank you again X

𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑺𝒊𝒓 𝑵𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒚𝒆

Word Count: 1.2k

Category: Fluff.

Content/Warnings: Just a tiny pinch of angst, No beta read, Nighteye's partner is left ambiguous.

It feels good to catch up with my askbox for once lol. Hope you guys enjoy it ❤.

This man, I repeat...This man has been wrapped around his little girl’s finger since the moment she was born.

He had been away on a mission alongside All-Might a few days before the birth. So he spent the whole time being such a nervous wreck that it almost ended up with All-Might giving him a “Carolina slap” in order to calm him down.

As soon as the mission was over and they were on their way home, Sasaki received a call from the hospital, telling him that the labor had started earlier than the due date and his child would be born soon.

It’s a unique sign for everyone around, to see someone as calm and collected as Sir Nighteye turning into an anxious mess. Literally vibrating in anxiety and paranoia at the idea of something going wrong during the birth while he’s not around.

And as soon as he steps out of the train, Sasaki’s already making his way towards the hospital, unable to think about anything else but getting there as soon as possible for his family.

When he finally arrives at the hospital, disheveled as if he had run a marathon. The first thing he does is rush towards the receptionist and ask for his partner’s room. Completely ignoring a doctor’s shout not to run in the halls as he makes way to the assigned room.

Once he finds said room, he nearly kicks the door down out of panic, and immediately freezes on the spot at the sight in front of him. There’s a pink bundle in his spouse’s arms that won’t stop wiggling and cooing at them.

With shaky steps, he approaches the two of them, being welcomed with a huge smile and a kiss before turning his attention towards the little being cradled in his lover’s arms. A little newborn with the perfect combination of their parent’s traits keeps yawning widely before shoving a tiny fist in their mouth.

“Here, you should hold her.” His eyes go wide open as soon as he hears those words...A girl? He had a daughter? A little girl…?

There’s no wasted time as the small newborn is carefully handed to him with instructions to support her tiny head full of hair, which he meticulously did.

As he observed every single thing, every single detail about the little girl looking at him with eyes full of curiosity, almost like she already knew who was the man holding her. In that moment, Mirai Sasaki was instantly wrapped around his daughter’s finger.

On one occasion, his spouse asked if he’s ever been tempted to use his quirk on their daughter in order to see what awaits her in the future. But as tempting as it is sometimes, he refuses to do so for a simple reason; Because he would rather leave every moment of her daughter’s life as a surprise.

However, there was this time he was close to doing it, after she got sick to the point of having to be hospitalized when she was two years old. A severe case of pneumonia that had both Sasaki and his spouse worried out of their minds.

He refused to leave his child’s side, even All-Might himself told him to take as much time as he needed to take care of the little girl. 

Once his child was finally out of danger, Sasaki refused to leave her side for an entire month, worried and terrified at the thought of losing her.

He’s never missed a single thing concerning his child. Learning to crawl? He was there. First steps? He was the one she walked to that time. Her first words? Well, she actually called out for the other parent. Sasaki kept sulking for three days after that...

An important part of this man’s daily routine is saying goodbye to his spouse and his daughter with a hug and a kiss, resisting the urge to take her to work whenever she starts whining, pouting and leaning over while making grabby hands at him.

But he always makes up for this once he’s back, and the small toddler is sprinting her way towards him with a huge, toothy smile and a loud, gleeful squeal as soon as she hears her father say “I’m home!”.

Everyone at his agency always makes jokes about asking their support agency for an armored baby carrier so Nighteye can bring his child to work...The email with the request has never been sent after he got the stink eye from his spouse.

There’s a running bet at the agency. Will Sir Nighteye arrive with his regular hairstyle or covered in ribbons and glitter after a beaty session with his daughter? You never know which one it’ll be, but during those days he comes looking like the human version of pinkie pie, Miss joke constantly sends him an invitation to team-up.

The day his daughter started kindergarten was a nightmare...at least for Sasaki.

For a little girl that would cling to her father 24/7, she’s awfully calm during her first day of school. Waving goodbye to her parents through the other side of the gate. Her parents however, are making an effort not to weep in front of the other parents as their princess is already making friends with the other children.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go home, princess?” “Yes! Now go save people!”

Did she cry after her parents left? Not at all. Her parents were both pleased and disappointed.

“...What if she doesn’t love her daddy anymore?” “Sasaki, I’ve never seen a child who loves their father more than our daughter.” “But what if--”

His partner was already threatening to call All-Might, ready to ask the hero and ask him to smack his sidekick all over again, that made him shut up in an instant.

He never, I repeat...never misses anything concerning his daughter’s school. A school fair? He’s more than ready to help her out with her project. School play? He’ll be in the first row. and on the rare occasion he’s unable to attend, either his spouse or another sidekick will be there to film the whole thing.

Graduation day? He made sure the camera charged overnight and left it near the keys so he wouldn’t forget it….he also took an additional battery just in case. Every single minute from the moment her class is standing at the front to the moment the teachers handle the diplomas are recorded in HD.

Whatever she decides to do with her future, Sasaki will respect her decision and support her in every step of the way...But that doesn’t mean he’s not worried out of his mind if she decides to go into UA’s hero course. 

That night after dinner the memory of his former mentor won’t stop haunting him, even morphing into some twisted perspective where it’s not All-Might, but his little girl who’s lying in that cold, dark room.

He’s close, so close to forbid her from joining the hero course, let alone allow her to attend UA at all or any hero school...but then again, he knows it’s not fair to forbid her from doing what she loves just because he’s scared of losing his only child.

So, although hesitant, he’ll still support her decision in every step of her career...With one condition…

“Promise me you’ll join your father’s agency after graduating…" “Bold of you to assume I wouldn’t, dad.”

𝑻𝒂𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕: @bnha-ra @godtieruwu @hanniejji @savagetrickster @shoobirino @sugacookiies @unbreakableeiji @pixxiesdust @hawks-senseis @yikerb @definitely-yours @khemz1312 @sadskater25

[justanothermaltesewhumpblr]

some zuko whump

zuko gets captured by the northern water tribe after the siege. they agree to transfer him to General Fong personally.

a short whumpy drabble taking place on the ship the nwt uses to transfer zuko to the earth kingdom.

Arnook walked towards his cabin where he knew the prince would be waiting for him. He’d asked Pakku to bring him up from the brig; a cold, metal case given to them by General Fong, that kept the Prince’s body temperature low enough that he could hardly muster the energy to keep himself warm, let alone attack.

It had made him docile, Pakku had remarked to the Chief. When he was allowed out to eat and relieve himself, the animosity of that first day on the ship was gone. The boy, pale and shivering, would simply thank them for the food and sit quietly by himself as he ate. His legs still chained together.

Arnook paused briefly before the door. He stretched his hands, cracking his knuckles before entering. Inside, he was greeted by a dark figure in the middle of the room. The Prince was kneeling, a sign of deep supplication common to his nation. His head pressed to the floor, his hands stretched out in front of him in a placating gesture.

Arnook could see the boy’s frame tremble slightly at the sound of the Chief’s arrival. He didn’t dare move.

Arnook cleared his throat, walking over to the chair behind his desk.

“Do you know why I’ve called you in here, Zuko.”

The boy shook his head softly. After a beat, he cleared his throat softly; “No, sir.”

The Chief sighed. Of course, even all that time in the cooler hadn’t been enough to make the boy’s loyalty towards his Nation budge. No matter, they would simply have to do things the hard way.

“The Attack on the Northern Water T ribe. Did you know anything about that, Zuko”.

The Boy didn’t move. It sounded, though, as if he’d stopped breathing.

Arnook took that as an affirmative.

“Why don’t you go ahead and tell me what you know, boy.”

Zuko’s fingers trembled where they lay, splayed out on the floor. Ready to be crushed under Arnook’s boot. It was a sign of respect, on the boy’s part, to offer himself for the Chief’s violence. Arnook thought it a barbaric gesture, imposed on the young of a barbaric nation. Yet, he wasn’t too disgusted by it to be above using the position against the boy, if it meant protecting his tribe…his family.

“I…I didn’t know anything, sir”

Arnook scoffed. Zuko flinched.

“Truly…I’ve been out of contact with most of the Fire Nation’s Generals for the better part of the past three years, and-and I’ve spent the past two months here, sir, so I really didn’t know-“

Arnook stopped listening. He didn’t need the boy’s rambling lies to waste his time. He’d already told his chief navigator to change course of the Aknuut back to their home. They had to defend it… …if they got there too late, they at least had to do burial rights.

He huffed out, aggravated by the waste of time.

“Unless the next words out of your mouth are remotely informative, Zuko, stop talking.”

The boy pursed his lips, forehead still pressed tightly to the floor, his dark hair falling over his eyes. It had regrown since they’d capture him… since Pakku had cut off the ridiculous pony tail he’d been captured with.

“You have no honour to protect, boy. Only my favour to earn. So think, wisely, whether you really want to work against the only thing stopping the crew from skinning you alive.”

Zuko shuddered, his fingers twitched briefly.

“I didn’t know anything-“

Arnook sighed. A waste of his time.

“Right, well, I don’t have the time to dedicate to interrogating you. Pakku, come in please.”

Pakku entered, having waited just outside the door as Arnook instructed.

“Take the prince up to the deck. Tie him to the mast and,” He reached back, taking the switch they’d had the Prince pick the last time they made port. They’d tested it out on him, there and then. Just to make sure he hadn’t brought them anything harmless. “Bring him back when he’s ready to talk. The men have my full permission to participate as they wish.”

At this, the Prince’s head shot up. Golden eyes wide-“Please-Chief-Sir, I-I’m not lying, I didn’t know anything, please-“

Arnook waved his hand dismissively. He’d heard enough.

Pakku grabbed the boy by his shoulder, he turned back briefly to try his luck once more but was immediately silenced by Arnook’s cold glare.

He pursed his lips, hanging his head in defeat as he allowed himself to be led up to the mast. His breath laboured.

He was in the middle of a boat, in the middle of the ocean. No means of escape, nor communication.

He allowed his hands to be tied around the mast in front of him. Allowed the back of his shirt to be ripped open as Pakku took two, three, four steps back, switch in hand. He could almost hear the sound of Azula’s laughter, as the wind whipped his hair around his ears. He closed his eyes and willed himself not to think of Father.

Pakku guided the barely-conscious prince back to the cabin by his neck. He’d made sure his grip was tight enough to bruise, and was pleased when, as he let go, bright red imprints remained.

The prince dropped to his knees again, taking longer to resume his earlier position, his back, bruised and bleeding as it was, exposed to the room. He shivered slightly, as he pressed his head to the wooden floor once more.

“Are you willing to make yourself useful, Prince.” Arnook sat back in his chair, welcoming the sight of the bleeding fire prince. Zuko nodded, ever so slightly.

“Yes-yes, sir.” He cleared his throat. It seemed as if the screams Arnook had heard reaching his cabin had strained the boy’s already-hoarse voice. “Th-thank you, for giving me the opportunity to redeem myself, sir.” The line sounded rehearsed. As if he’d been instructed to say it. Arnook was not impressed.

“I… I knew General Zhao was going to carry out a-a siege, on the Northern Water Tribe, sir. I wasn’t a part of it…neither was my crew. My sole mission was to capture the Avatar… so I didn’t much get involved with the rest of the Fire Nation.” Arnook bristled at the obvious lie. As if the prince would not get involved in his own army’s business.

“I took a completely different route, I was neither part of the invasion, nor the central attack.” Arnook felt his fists start to tighten. Irritation itched its way through his blood vessels, making his skin crawl.

“I didn’t know he would attack the moon spirit-“

“ENOUGH!” Chief Arnook slammed his fist against the desk, eliciting a sharp flinch from the boy. His hands drew back to cover his head briefly before, shaking, they moved back to their position on the floor, mere inches from Pakku’s boot.

Arnook stood with sharp anger. “How could you lie, knowing what we’re capable of - having sampled our discipline!”

The prince was shaking now, his entire frame withering beneath the Chief’s rage.

“You have wasted our time. Your nation has threatened our spirits. And yet you lie here, trying to shift blame to your delegates, to your inferiors. Have you no shame?! Have you, not even, self preservation?! Do you think we will stop at the switch, boy?! Do you think we will hesitate to show royalty the true power of the Northern Water Tribe?!”

The prince dared not breathe a reply.

“Pakku. Hold him up.”

—

That night, as the Prince was returned to the cooler, a new shirt stained by the blood seeping lazily from the shallow cuts on his back, he could barely pull his knees to his chest as they closed the door and locked it. He leaned his head forward on his knees, the blood trickling from his nose slowly staining his trousers. He closed his eyes, shuddering a breath of relief that, at least, the day was over. And at least, he only needed to focus on remaining warm.

He felt tears burn at the back of his eyes, his throat burning a sob from his lungs. He swallowed thickly, focusing on his breathing.

[ga-yuu]

~Kurama~Main Story Chapter 5~Part 2

Part 1

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------Part 4-----

Shigehira: "Yoshino-san!"

Pulling up the fabric of the tent, Shigehira-kun jumped inside with great energy.

Yoshino: "Shigehira-kun! ....Are you injured?"

Shigehira: "No."

The sight of the blood-stained figure was a bit of a shock, but it turned out to be someone else's blood.

Shigehira: "I'm here to inform you. Listen. A party of the enemy has set its course here. Take the wounded and move with the others."

(The enemy!?)

Yoshino: "Oh, okay, I'll get ready."

Shigehira: "I'll help you. I've already given instructions to my men."

I quickly put together my tools and left the tent with Shigehira-kun.

.............

Those who are lightly wounded are mounted, while those who cannot ride on their own are assisted by other soldiers.

They are placed in the middle of the squadron to avoid delays.

Yoshino: "Will you and your men join us? And what about Morinaga-san...."

Shigehira: "Morinaga-san cannot leave the front yet. For now, the Shogunate has the upper hand... I'll return to my post after I've escorted you."

Yoshino: "...Oh, okay. Take care of yourself."

(I'm worried, but I'll pray for your safety...)

Shigehira: "Same to you."

Shigehira-kun muttered seriously as he rode alongside me, his horse flying.

Shigehira: "Neither I nor Morinaga-san thought the war would get this bad. This battle is...."

..................

Kagetoki: "This war is clearly an aberration."

Yoritomo: ".................."

At the same time, in Kamakura, Yoritomo, who had received a report on the battle from Kagetoki, moved his eyebrows slightly.

Yoritomo: “You said that the information about the Shogunate and the rebels was leaked and mixed up at the same time.

Kagetoki: “Yes. It’s becoming a war of attrition, with both sides making a series of surprise attacks. Although the Shogunate had the advantage in numbers...We don’t like the fact that the damage has exceeded what we had envisaged as an outpost.”

Yoritomo: “Has there been an investigation into who is pulling the strings?”

Kagetoki: “I’ve got some nasty information about it.”

A glance alone signals ‘Go on’, and Kagetoki reels.

Kagetoki: “Private armies, secretly recruited by some noble families, are infiltrating the battlefield.”

Yoritomo: “Nobles?”

Kagetoki: “Yes. At least ostensibly, the families have no connection. It took a long time to get caught up in the network because they were hired separately in small numbers.”

Yoritomo looked over the report quickly, and his gaze sharpened.

Yoritomo: “I see. Even though it’s just a bunch of mooks, there’s still a good number of all together.”

Kagetoki: “It doesn’t look like an opponent who can use sophisticated tactics to manipulate the information of two armies to reduce each other’s strength... When you've assembled on a battlefield, you can’t be irrelevant.”

Yoritomo: “There is something fundamentally puzzling about the complicity of the nobles.”

Kagetoki: “Yes. The noble families mentioned in the report were probably just a bunch of birds clinging to a vanishing power. All I can see is that they are suddenly united. It feels contrived.”

Yoritomo: “If the rebels are on the back foot, there’s no way they’re working with the nobility.”

After a brief pause for thought, Yoritomo locked eyes with Kagetoki.

Yoritomo: “Find out if anyone high up in the court is involved. I will send word to Morinaga and Shigehira on the battlefield as soon as possible.”

Kagetoki: “Yes.”

................

(I’ve managed to resume treatment, but I’m not sure I’d feel comfortable with the idea of another surprise attack here.)

And yet, as I dealt with one wounded man after another, time goes by in a blink of an eye.

Injured soldier: “Did you get the latest news, Yoshino-san? It seems that the war will end soon.”

Yoshino: “Is that true!?”

A wounded soldier who was lying on the floor spoke happily and his voice became more lively.

Injured soldier: “The guy who just brought in the wounded said that the rebels are going to withdraw at last.”

(Thank god.....!)

Yoshino: “I hope as many soldiers as possible are safe....”

Injured soldier: “There are a number of soldiers who have been saved thanks to you, Yoshino-san. Like me.”

Yoshino: “Hehe, I’m honored.”

The faces of the other soldiers in the tent were brighter because they had seen a glimmer of hope.

When I sighed relief-----

???: “Excuse me.”

Yoshino: “.....? Yes.”

I heard someone calling from outside my tent and I went to look out, only to be greeted by----

Boy: “Hello, Yoshino.”

--------Part 5------

Boy: “Hello, Yoshino.”

Yoshino: “A kid?”

He greeted me in a rather mature voice and bowed gracefully.

(Why is a KID in such a place?)

(Maybe from the nearby town? But....)

But his high-quality clothes and beautiful face tell me a different story.

Yoshino: “Where are you from? and also how do you know my name?”

Boy: “I came from there.”

With a strangely calm smile, the boy points to the west.

Boy: “A very beautiful man told me your name too.”

I was a bit suspicious by his somewhat impersonal, age-inappropriate manner.

(But I can’t leave him alone like this.)

Yoshino: “Okay, this is a dangerous place, so stay close to my side. I’ll take you home later.”

(I have to tell everyone about this. I wonder where the guards have gone...)

Boy: “That’s very kind of you. I’ll be happy to stay with you. But sorry,....you’re coming with me.”

Yoshino: “Eh?”

----At that moment, I noticed a bracelet falling off from the little boy’s wrists.

And the next moment----

Man: “My name is Ibuki. Nice to meet you again, fox princess.”

(This person...)

His wavy golden hair and blue eyes showed that he was the same person as the child from earlier.

But more than that, I gasped at the two horns on his head.

Yoshino: “Oni....?”

Ibuki: “Correct.”

(Demon! What’s more, from what you just said you’re an enemy, aren’t you?)

As I stepped back, my thoughts wander.

(I can’t call for help from inside the tent. It would involve everyone.)

Yoshino: “What did you do to the guards?’

Ibuki: “It would be negligent of the watchman to let him fall after a little play.”

(I don’t know...how strong this demon, this Ibuki is.)

(Also he addressed me as fox princess, so he does know about my powers.)

Ibuki: “Now now, don’t think too much.”

(Ah)

He easily closes the distance between us by pulling me by the wrists.

Ibuki lightly supports my body, when I was about to fall out of balance.

Yoshino: “Let go! What’s your intention?”

Ibuki: “It’s a common story in folklore that a demon kidnaps a princess. I’d take you if I could, but I’m not really into that. So here’s the deal, if you resist, I will kill you and everyone else inside the tent.”

(........)

Ibuki: “What do you want? Decide for yourself.”

(You!)

Yoshino: “What’s your purpose....?”

Ibuki: “You’ll know it on the way. Now come. If someone gets suspicious that you’re not coming back and leaves the tent, then you’re out of options.”

(.....Looks like I’ve no other choice.)

Yoshino: “Fine. I’ll come with you.”

I killed my trembling voice as much as I could and stared at Ibuki.

Ibuki: “I like clever women. How about we flirt for a while...? But first, let’s get out of this bloody place.”

...........

Riding the horse that was tied to me, Ibuki carried me in front of him through the mountains of the battlefield.

Ibuki: “The Shogunate must be in full retreat by now, as the rebel army retreats. Are feeling lonely, fox princess, now that you’re left behind?”

Yoshino: “Nn....I’ll never tell you. Will you tell me where are we going?”

Ibuki: “You’ll know soon----Oh, look there he is.”

(Eh?)

Ibuki dismounted me and pointed to the full moon in the night sky.

No way----the next moment, something dark covers the moon.

(That’s!)

When I realized what was that dark thing was, I saw huge jet-black wings covering my vision.

Then something came down at a tremendous speed.

Kurama: “Why are you here? ---Shuten Doji, Ibuki.”

~~~~~~’I won’t call your name’ (Normal Story)~~~~~

Ibuki: “You’ll know soo----Oh, look there he is.”

(Eh?)

Ibuki dismounted me and pointed to the full moon in the night sky.

No way----the next moment, something dark covers the moon.

(That’s!)

When I realized what was that darkness, I saw huge jet-black wings covering my vision.

Then something came down at a tremendous speed.

Kurama: “Why are you here? ---Shuten Doji, Ibuki.”

(Kurama!?)

Ibuki: “What a coincidence, huh? Kurama.”

Kurama: “You’re the one who deliberately came close to me, releasing your spell so that I’d notice you.”

(They both know each other?....But...)

Ibuki: “Don’t be so angry. I’ve gone out my way to bring you a gift to mark our reunion.”

Kurama: “Gift?”

Ibuki holds me by the shoulders as if to show me. Then Kurama’s eyes turned to look at me.

Kurama: “For what reason do you have that little puss?”

Ibuki: “I seduced her politely and snatched her.”

(Even if he says this, Ibuki must have a reason to kidnap me.)

Kurama: “I have heard rumors that you have been in hiding for a long time....Why have you come to me now?”

Ibuki: “Because I want to play with you like I used to, of course. Have you forgotten how well I looked after you?”

Kurama: “.....I forgot.”

Kurama replies with a pause and clicks his tongue.

Ibuki: “Why are you so cold to me, Kurama? You were so much cuter when you were a kid. Do you remember that one time, when you lost to me in a match, I had you call me ‘Ibuki oni-sama’ all day?”

Kurama(menacing glare): “Die.”

Ibuki: “Whoa, rebellious, I see. It makes me smile and cry to see you pouting and clamoring.”

(Who the hell is Ibuki to treat that Kurama like a kid?)

Kurama: “I’m beginning to remember. It’s no use talking to you.”

(......!)

At the same time as Kurama’s voice crawls across the ground, a cloud of dust is instantly raised from the ground.

Ibuki: “Hahaha...”

(Ah)

There was an amused chuckle, and then a thump on my back.

Kurama: “..........!”

As I slumped to my knees on the ground, Kurama’s eye met mine.

Ibuki waved his hand to take advantage of this.

From somewhere a dense fog rolled in, obscuring his appearance.

Ibuki: “See you again, Kurama.”

Kurama: “Wait.”

(Nn....)

I can feel the sound of the tornado as it snatched me right in the face. My hair is curling up and I can’t keep my eyes open very well.

Kurama: “.........”

The noise and the wind stopped and I opened my eyes to find that the fog had lifted without a trace.

(Ibuki...disappeared.)

Yoshino: “......Kurama.”

Kurama, who stood silently in front of me, looked at me. 

The stinging air was the same as before, and my instincts told me that the slightest movement would kill me.

Kurama: “Where did you meet Ibuki?”

Yoshino: “....just a while ago. And he kidnapped without any reason. But who is he? And how is he related to you...?”

Kurama: “Our relation, huh?”

(Ah.)

In an instant, the hilt of the sword touched my shoulder, and I was pushed backward.

When I looked up stunned, I saw an unusual rage simmering in the depths of his cold eyes.

Kurama: “Don’t ask me whatever you want.”

Yoshino: “Don’t treat me like that.”

I endured my fear and returned the words.

Kurama: “You let that guy kidnap you easily and now you got thrown away like a bone to a dog......How do you call that? In fact, Ibuki had been  talking nonsense about you being a gift.”

(That’s...)

Kurama: “Well, since you failed to knock it back, I suppose it makes sense to break it.  The ‘gifts’ he always gives me make me sick.”

Yoshino: “What are you going to do....?”

Kurama: “I couldn’t do it last time. Now that you’re on the battlefield, you should be ready to die. Or else----”

There was a gurgling sound and an unnatural gust of wind emerged.

Kurama: “Will you try taking me down? Little puss.”

(.....! He’s coming after me!)

Kurama raises one hand, unconcerned about his black hair being disturbed by the wind.

A number of transparent whirlpools were created and poured down from above the head.

Yoshino: “Ngh.”

(----I can fight! Lend me the power of the nine-tail fox!)

I opened my eyes and raised the palm of one hand boldly.

At the same time, with my other hand, I grabbed the hilt of the sword that was on my shoulder and jumped up while bouncing off.

Kurama(surprised): “......”

(.....I’m strong now. I can cancel his mystical powers.)

The wind is losing its momentum around the outstretched palm.

Feeling this, I carefully distance myself from Kurama.

Kurama: “Ohh. Did you manage to use your powers from that distance without shying away?”

Yoshino:” I did say I’ll get stronger, didn’t I?”

The memory of the last time we parted lights up in my heat like a beacon.

------FLASHBACK-----

Yoshino: "No, I mean.....the next time I meet Kurama on the battlefield, I will be stronger than I am now."

Kurama: "What?"

Yoshino: "I felt bad about what Kurama said about me. But I also thought he was right. Thank you for making me aware that I am weak."

Kurama(surprised): "...................."

------FLASHBACK ENDS------

Kurama: “Do you think we’re in the same league after you ran around Kamakura killing the petty little demons?”

Yoshino: “At least, I made an effort.” (This is the reason! This is why I love her. Even if it's not that great, she at least proved herself that she’s not entirely useless, unlike some other MCs who want the male leads to save them. I’m proud of you, Yoshino.)

(.....It was never the end of the crisis.)

Kurama could easily take my life without using his other powers.

(But still, as long as I have a life, I’ll continue to resist until the end!)

Kurama: “Don’t be so tough, your legs are shaking.”

Yoshino: “....Really? Might be from excitement.”

Kurama: “......Heh.”

(Eh?)

A faint laugh, leaks from his thin lips.

The heavy tension in the air suddenly relaxed.

Yoshino: “Kurama....?”

Kurama: “So the chicken has finally come out of its egg. Very well. I’ll see you as a living thing. Breathe freely in my presence, speak the same language, and I’ll also allow you to move as long as you live.”

(That’s.....)

Yoshino: “You won’t kill me anymore...?”

Kurama: “Not for now. Rejoice, Yoshino. You’ve made my day.”

(Ah....my name.)

I was struck by surprise before relief when he declared that he would not kill me immediately.

Kurama: “Hey, why are you not answering?”

Kurama, who has carelessly closed the distance between us, lightly touches my cheek.

Yoshino: “I was just surprised. That was the first time, you called me by my name.”

(Also I’ve never seen him laugh so softly like that.)

Kurama: “A name is just a symbol. Whatever you call it, it means nothing.”

Yoshino: “.....You’re right.”

(That’s how Kurama thinks.)

Kurama: “But I don’t call the names of things that don’t deserve to live.”

(.....!)

Yoshino: “Does that mean...you acknowledge me now?”

Kurama(glares cutely): “Don’t get too carried away.”

Yoshino: “Sorry.”

I reflexively shrug my shoulders when I’m told off....

Kurama: “....What are you smirking about?”

Yoshino: “Eh?”

(Oh no, maybe my cheeks were unconsciously loose.)

(But why?)

I was surprisingly happy to be recognized by the enemy Kurama.

Kurama: “You don’t seem to be taking me seriously, despite me telling you not to get carried away.”

Yoshino: “No, it’s nothing like that.”

Kurama: “So, what are you going to do now?”

His red ferocious eyes approached me but I unintentionally looked away.

But then he holds my cheeks and forced me to look at him, leaving me no chance to escape.

Kurama: “You’re not quite what I expected. Tell me what you want. Maybe you’ll miraculously succeed in filling my boredom again.”

(I don’t have the confidence to respond to such an unreasonable request!)

When I was wondering what to ask, I sighed a little.

Yoshino: “....I was happy when you called me by my name.”

Kurama: “...........Is that what you want?”

Yoshino: “Mm.”

Kurama: “......I don’t why you liked it, but let’s try.”

(What..?)

His neat face approached...and his lips were brought near my ears.

Kurama: “Yoshino.”

My cheeks get hotter as I listen to his honey-like voice slowly pouring into my ears.

Kurama: “Answer me. Why do you like to be called by your name?”

Yoshino(blushing): “I don’t know...

Kurama: “Are you kidding me?”

Yoshino(blushing): “Ah.”

I let out a small moan, as he kissed my ear. The impact led to heat spreading all over my body.

Yoshino(blushing): “No....wait....Mm...”

In a hurry, I pushed Kurama’s chest back.

Yoshino(blushing): “I don’t think that’s the right thing to do!”

Kurama: “Why?”

Yoshino(blushing): “What do you mean ‘why’? You should be doing these sort of things only with the person you love.”

Kurama: “Unfortunately, I have no connection with the vulgar feelings of love and affection.”

Yoshino(blushing): “But I do.”

Kurama: “I don’t know about you, but know one thing.”

He forcibly draws my waist and my heart races as it sensed a bad premonition.

Kurama: “Yoshino, from this day on, you are my prisoner. So what’s wrong in treating you however I like?”

(I should be annoyed at his arrogant attitude.)

But looking at the happy Kurama like this, for some reason I can’t fight back.

Chapter 6