#got It wrong six times by accident before getting close to the right ending
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cassmouse · 5 months ago
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Been absolutely tearing my hair out trying to get this one wrong ending in Corpse Party I literally have one more and I've 100%ed the game but chapter five is a living fucking nightmare 😭
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pjoxreader · 2 years ago
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PJO Boys Helping With Reader's Period
Leo Valdez
-This man is a mechanical genius, he would make you anything and everything. Just say the word.
-So when he sees you hesitating about asking him for something he pokes and prods until you cave in, asking him to make you a heating pad.
-It takes a few seconds for the gears in his brain to turn before he gets it. “Ohhh! Yeah! Yeah! That’s no problem, I’m sure I can cook something up! Just give me a night!”
-There’s no way he wouldn’t drop everything if he knew your comfort was on the line. 
-He’d go around and ask the other girls in camp about the sort of things that helped them with cramps. 
-Sure enough the next morning he’d bring you a horribly wrapped gift with a sleepy grin, offering you the heating pad he made. It not only had different heat levels and wrapped around your entire body to help with lower back cramps, it also had multiple massaging functions.
-Please take a nap with him, after all that work he’d want nothing more. 
Frank Zhang
-He tries so hard to be helpful. He really tries. It isn’t his fault that all the women in his family were very strong and independent. 
-You once asked him to get you some pads. He ended up coming back with six different boxes and some tampons just in case.
-”...Frank…” you complain as he sets the all down on your bed, you could see his hesitance as he tries to figure out what he did wrong.
-”Did… Did I not get enough?” You can’t stay mad at him since he looked like a worried puppy. 
-He ends up working on some basic tasks instead like getting your craving for you. That? That he can do.
-He’ll bring you anything from Hot coco, to your favorite chocolate or sweet. And if it’s very specific he’ll go to Nico to ask if he could shadow travel for it. 
-He also keeps a little stash of some of your favorite snacks, just in case he isn’t able to get what you’re craving in time.
Percy Jackson
-Sally Jackson raised this man right. SHE RAISED HIM RIGHT.
-He carries around both tampons and pads, no questions asked for anyone who needs it.  Not only is he naturally charming, he's genuinely a sweet guy.
-You accidently bleed through onto his bed? No worries he can just wash it. It isn’t the first time he’s had to get blood out of something.
-He’ll give you massages to help with your cramps. It doesn’t matter how long it takes as long as it helps you feel better.
-He claims it’s a good workout so he doesn’t mind doing it. 
-Don’t expect to get anything yourself during your period. You need food? He’s on his way. Water? Already got it. 
-When it’s time to sleep he’ll hold you close and gently rub circles into your hip and side, whispering loving words of affirmation. He knows your emotions could get a bit wild during this time of the month. He’s the best boyfriend you could ask for.
Jason Grace
-He’s clueless. He was raised by wolves after all and the time he was with his family he was too young to be informed about… That.
-At least the look of utter horror on his face is amusing. He looks down there as if you’d start spurting blood, face utterly pale.
-”But… Won’t you like… Bleed out or something?” he asks in utter concern.
-You have to try so hard to not laugh at him. Please set him down and borrow one of the Apollo kids books on the subject.
-He will 100% be staring in utter horror as if you’re explaining to him how to commit murder but he’s at least listening.
-He has a new respect for women now and to be honest he’ll be a bit scared of them for a while.
-He’ll go to the other girls of Argo ll to make sure that you weren’t just messing with him.
~Masterlist & Rules~
Like my writing? Please consider sending me a Ko-fi! ☕
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beyondthesefourwalls · 2 years ago
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Welcome To My Masterlist!
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My name is Alli and I write sometimes.
Masterlist under the cut
✨Top Gun: Maverick✨
Series:
✨Bradley Bradshaw:
Remember You Even When I Don't: A training accident, the doctor had told him. A nasty one that led him here, laying in a hospital bed with a splitting headache and an inability to remember the woman sitting beside him. What he did know, though, was that you were the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and you felt important to him. That, as it turns out, would become an understatement. (completed)
The Forgotten Moments: A One Shot Collection: Before he had to remember you, Bradley got to experience the whirlwind that was meeting and falling in love with you (the first time).
All stories in the collection can be read independently, but will precede or coincide with Remember You Even When I Don't.
This Love Came Back to Me: You and Bradley hadn’t ended on bad terms; truly, you stopped before the two of you could even really begin. Still, in the last seven months, you had never completely left his mind. So when you suddenly appeared in front of him at the bar, asking for a favor and pulling him into a kiss, he thought maybe it was the perfect opportunity to see if this time, things could be different. But what neither of you realized was that there’s more going on than just rekindling a lost romance, and it might not be as easy as simply just wanting it. (completed)
One Shots:
✨ Bradley Bradshaw:
A Change to Everything: Marriage wasn’t an option for you. Bradley knew this and had promised you that what you had is and would always be enough for him. A few overpriced rings wouldn’t change that, so long as you promised to love him forever without one. But he buys you one anyway, and despite every promise you made to yourself, you wonder what it would be like if maybe, just maybe, you ever decided to put it on. 
What Goes Around (Comes Around): Bradley didn’t do relationships, and neither did you. The arrangement you had worked perfectly for ten years, getting together whenever your paths crossed. But after the two of you were stationed permanently on the same squad, suddenly what you have isn’t quite enough for him anymore. It’s not until a close call in the air that he finally gathers the courage to admit it. 
To Make a House a Home: House hunting in California was proving to be a challenge. Leave it to Bradley to manage to pull off the biggest surprise you’ve ever gotten. 
The Art of Subtlety: You were quiet, almost shy, but Bradley suspected there was more to you than meets the eye. When Jake claims that it’s impossible for a woman to successfully fake an orgasm, you prove him wrong (while proving Bradley absolutely right) right there in the middle of the Hard Deck. With his world tilted on its axis at your little display, he’s left wondering: why are you so good at faking it, and how would you really sound if he’s the one bringing you pleasure?
Dancing in the Dark: Bradley was never one for clubs. Flashing lights, dance remixes of the same four songs, and overpriced watered down drinks just weren’t his thing. But you had begged him so prettily to go with you that he couldn’t help but agree. It was exactly as bad as he thought it was going to be, but when he saw how irresistible you looked on the dance floor, he decided to get his revenge in a way that left both of you satisfied but wanting more. 
Clandestine Meetings: Bradley was coming home today. Six weeks on a no-contact deployment, stuck on a carrier in the middle of some non disclosed body of water, and he’s finally coming home. Normally, you’d be bursting at the seams with happy excitement. But the two of you had left things in an...interesting place. When he’s finally standing in front of you, you can tell by his cold and dark eyes that he remembers, too. But he’s had six weeks to think of exactly how you can earn his forgiveness, and you’re all too willing to do anything it takes. 
Keep It Undercover: You and Bradley had shared a few beautiful weeks together, years after first meeting. You had been content with leaving it as a beautiful, delicious memory; something that could have been, if the stars would have aligned. Only now he was stationed in Fightertown permanently, and while he didn’t know what exactly that meant for the two of you long term, he knew what he wanted. He didn’t care about your age or that you outranked him. After all, he had always liked his girls a little bit older. 
The Over/Under: Your friends insisted that the best way to get over someone was by getting under someone else. But you had been over your ex for a long time before you ever signed the papers, and you had no intention on hooking up with anyone. Then an attractive man with a mustache that really shouldn't look as good as it does catches your eye, and you suddenly forgot why you were hesitant in the first place.
✨Javy Machado:
I Don't Love You Like I Used To: After so many years with you, Javy Machado doesn't love you like he used to. He loves you so much more. For roosterforme's #love is in the air tgm Writing Challenge!
The Double Negative Effect: Javy knows deep down after he goes into G-LOC that he’s not going to be selected for the mission. He goes to a bar on his own to drink away some of his sorrows, and while he’s there, he meets someone who is having just as rough of a time as he is. Misery loves company, and together, they cancel out the bad day the other is having, replacing it with a night they’ll remember for all the right reasons. 
And I Want To Make Her Mine: Javy thought it was too good to be true when he saw you, the girl he had crushed on for almost a year, standing in the Hard Deck. But there you were, looking just as beautiful as you always had. He thought maybe he’d finally get his chance with you after all this time. Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one whose attention you caught.
Merry Christmas Mishaps: Christmas looked a little different this year, and Javy knew you were having a hard time adjusting to it. You were used to the lights and the hustle and - God help him, the snow - that came with where you had called home for so long. You had given all that up to move to California to be with him, and he decided that if he couldn’t get you back on the east coast for the holiday, maybe he could improvise and start making new traditions here together, with a few surprises along the way. 
The Great Escape: All you wanted on your wedding day was some time alone with your new husband. Luckily for you, Javy was more than game to make an escape and has just the hiding place in mind.
An Aviation Special: You had always wanted to experience Mardi Gras in New Orleans, but when it starts to go sideways thanks to your travel companions, you fear the whole trip, maybe even the whole city, has been ruined for you. But then a handsome stranger swoops in when some drunk idiot gets too handsy, and your night takes an unexpected turn for the better.
The Plus One: You couldn’t believe he was here. He had told you he would be, over and over again, but part of you had convinced yourself it was too good to be true. There was no way a man as perfect as Javy Machado would be so into you after you spent one night together, months ago, that he’d fly out to be your date to a wedding for people he’d never met before. Yet here he was, looking as good as a dream. By the end of the night you knew one thing for certain: a weekend with him would never be enough.
✨Javy Machado x Natasha Trace (Navy):
Repeated Offenses: Javy wasn’t sure what the mission was that called them back to Top Gun, but he knew if he was there, Phoenix would be too. He seeks her out that first night, knowing that it would be the same game between them as it always was. One of them was bound to get burned one of these days, but luckily for him, he’s never been afraid of playing with fire. 
✨Jake Seresin:
Flight Suit Aphrodisiac: There was something about seeing Jake in his flight suit that got to you every single time. It had always been attractive, sure, but nowadays it was like something of an aphrodisiac. It didn’t matter what you were doing or where you were; when you saw him in it, you had to have him.
Twin Fire Signs: When the majority of your squad intentionally leaves you drunk and alone at a bar, you resign yourself to finding your own way home and dealing with your wounded pride in peace. But then your phone rings, the name of the last person you expected to be calling you on a Friday night flashing on your screen. You know you shouldn’t answer, but too much tequila has never led to great decisions. 
Cowboy Resolutions: New Year’s Eve at the Hard Deck with all of your friends was a tradition, one that you loved and held close to your heart. When you and your husband decide to slip away from the crowd for a late night stroll on the beach right before midnight, you realize that neither of you had the purest of intentions when it came to wanting to get away. 
A Verbal Agreement: You hated Jake Seresin. Truly, you did. Or at least you strongly disliked him. But as it was, he did something for you that no other man could, and it kept you coming back for more. 
✨Jake Seresin x Natasha Trace (Hannix):
Hell Bent, Heaven Sent: Truthfully, Jake didn’t like anything that she made him feel. Annoyed. Inferior. Submissive. But she also made his heart speed up and his palms sweat and despite everything he felt better when she was with him. Natasha Trace made him question everything about himself.
Alli's TGM Mix & Match Blurb Party Masterlist
*I do not give permission to copy/steal, translate, or publish elsewhere*
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am-i-the-asshole-official · 8 months ago
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AITA - me and my bestfriend (bsf) of six years recently got into a 2 week long argument and at this point have stopped talking. First i need to provide some back ground of the situation. Last November i became friends with “J”. This itself caused some arguments because they have similar names and sometimes i’d slip and call bsf, J, on accident and would immediately apologize. After a couple times of this happening she got really upset but i explained i’d been doing the same to J and she seemed to be less upset about it.
In the beginning of January, J and her bestfriend “E” got into some pretty serious drama where information from both sides never matched up but i’d known and used to be friends with E for a while. He is not a great guy speaking from past experience. (he constantly talks about how he’s a narcissist very proudly) He was claiming they had slept together and was telling all of his friends about it. She was saying they hadn’t. These rumors had been going around for months about them but had died down until this. the problem is i believed J but bsf was close with E and sided with him. I’d like to make a note through this entire situation neither me or bsf played any roll in it to my knowledge. this was just between E and J. Later on i found out they had slept together from J and asked why she had said they hadnt she said it was an agreement between the two of them that they wouldn’t say anything to anyone else because of the rumors people were already spreading about them being together. But once she found out it was definitely him telling people this time she told me the truth. yeah they had slept together then he forced her to take a plan B even though he knew she was on birth control and they’d used a condom. then ghosted her and pretended not to know her when asked by Js twins sisters best-friend.
Now it’s about 3 weeks ago where i posted two separate story’s saying how much i loved J and her sister and the other about how much i love bsf. about 10 minutes later bsf texted me “just delete this.” i of course asked why but she never responded so i took it down like she asked. later that day she reply’s to a text i had sent her the day before saying “nothing much just wishing i was hanging out with you” she replied “right.” at this point i’m genuinely confused what’s happening i had a feeling it was about J somehow because every time i posted about J it would be the one thing she didn’t like or comment on and she would get annoyed when i’d mention some thing me and J had done recently. i immediately replied with “of course, i love hanging out with you. your my best friend” A couple hours later she send me a three paragraph message saying how she didn’t think that anymore because i was ignoring everything she was telling me about what E was saying. That i was only taking J’s side and always talking about what J was saying about her side. She said I was using her as a separate option that if J couldn’t hang out i would call her. etc at the end of the message she told me she would never make me choose but that she will never trust anything J says. (they’ve literally never met or talked the only thing she hears about J is through E or me) she ends it with do whatever you want to do but don’t do anything for me. keep being friends with her idk i’m keeping my distance from all that. I replied with a message basically saying that she wasn’t the second option, i wasn’t sure who to trust, and that i try to avoid talking about the situation with J. we go back and forth with her apologizing for how she’s acting then getting mad about me not just believing her over everything else i’m being told. Then she tried to claim she never said J was wrong but that she knows she’s lied to me (the thing i mentioned in the first paragraph is the only time she’s lied to me) that she never picked a side and that she can’t believe how hurt she feels when “i’m supposed to be her bestfriend” i brought up the fact that i had asked her more than once if me being friends with her bothered her and she always said no. That this wouldn’t have exploded like this if we could have talked it out before. she took that as me saying this was all her fault.
A couple days later she messages me asking to talk in person i say when and where but she just send me a message about her feelings anyways again apologizing for how she’s acting and that she felt i wasn’t listening to her but it hurt more to lose me etc but continuing to say she doesn’t think i should be friends with J but it’s my choice. I reply i was listening but i think we were both just trying to find the facts in a situation we will never really know who was lying 100%. but i made a point in the massage to say i wasn’t going to stop being friends with J and that i didn’t understand why me and bsf relationship was so affected by me and J’s. She gets mad again bringing up a hate account that was made claiming J had made it but J had shown me that she hadn’t and it was investigated by our school who also said she didn’t do it. that it was my choice to be friends with her but that i don’t understand how it’s affecting her and that it wasn’t fair. at this point i was really mad because it really felt like she was trying to force me to choose between them two in a way. i replied saying she hadn’t made the account and said i don’t think J is the reason we stopped talking and that i feel like she was making me choose even though she was saying she wasn’t. she then replied saying she didn’t make me choose but that i had chose J over her and “that i guess you though she needed more attention” (yeah maybe because J is not mentally handling this well at all and your fine because your not actually involved with this drama) i didn’t reply to her but about another week later i texted her “i just want to be friends with both of you. why can’t i do that” she replied i understand but i don’t think you should be friends with she’s not a good person but hope your having fun it’s all i wanted for you. that’s the end of the messages at this point.
TLDR : (do we do those here??) bestfriend of three years stopped talking to me because i became friends with another girl who later got into drama with best friends close friend E (A PROUDLY SELF PROCLAIMED NARCISSIST I MIGHT ADD)
What are these acronyms?
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bookskeepers · 4 months ago
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a million dreams - sugawara kōshi
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pairing: timeskip ! sugawara kōshi x nb ! afab ! reader
word count: 2,843
content warning: angst. angst. angst. (or at least an attempt to write angst idk if it's successful), established relationship, afab ! reader (because pregnancy sorry gang :( ), suga DIES, car accident (mentions), pregnancy, birth, omgomg, you have a daughter that looks exactly like suga too B)
a/n: why does my mind do this to me (i'm listening to the greatest showman while writing this) (Also i don't speak japanese so if the whole 'kanji' thing is wrong pls lmk)
also i feel like i accidentally veer it towards daichi x reader at some points but i promise it's only platonic between them
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BEFORE
"We're gonna have two kids," he said in the dim lighting, his hands entwined with yours. "And a big house with a big backyard for a dog." Your head was tucked into his chest, and you could feel his soft breaths against your forehead. His arms were securely wrapped around you. The vibrations of his voice felt in time with your heartbeat, and you were content. Wholly, truly content in your boyfriend's arms, finding yourself drifting off to sleep as he rambled about his future plans that involved you.
As your eyelids grew heavy and finally closed, you heard him murmur: "We'll name the daughter Harumi and the son Koji, of course."
"Don't I get a say?" you asked then, a playful edge in your tone as you nuzzled further into his chest.
He chuckles into your hair, and you can feel his chest shake. "Of course you get a say," he replied when his laughter died down, "after all, you're going to be their parent too."
It was as if everything in Sugawara's life went according to plan. The next morning, the two of you had your marriage ceremony and wedding. The guest list was on the smaller side, with close friends and family being invited; you recognized familiar faces from Sugawara's time in his high school volley ball club. Your parents were present, along with other extended family members. The event itself went off without a hitch, and, after six years together, you could finally call Sugawara your husband.
After that, it felt like time flew. Before you knew it, you were moving out of your small, shared apartment into a much larger house. Although it wasn't huge by any means, it had enough space for Sugawara's plans: two kids and a dog. And soon, the dog joined the family.
Sugawara had insisted on naming the dog Cheeseball (despite the dog being a Bernese Mountain Dog mix), and Cheeseball was perhaps the second light of Sugawara's life. When he was home, most of his time was spent on the couch, you nuzzled into his side, and Cheeseball laying across both of your laps.
A year or two after Cheeseball joined the family, your first daughter was born. Despite giving Sugawara sass for his choices in names, the two of you ended up agreeing on Harumi, and it was spelt with the kanji for 'sunny'. She had been born at the crack of dawn, hence her name.
As Harumi grew up, it became more and more evident that she was a carbon copy of Sugawara, save for the beauty mark. Her hair was a silky silver and her eyes were a deep brown. She even had a personality similar to that of your husband's: bright, cheerful, and chaotic.
Your life with Sugawara was picture perfect. Of course, of course, it all came crashing down.
It had happened while you were pregnant with your second child. Right after the ultrasound that revealed the baby's sex, no less. You had wanted it to be a surprise, so the technician had told Sugawara. Once the two of you got home, you nestled into your usual spot on the couch and smiled at him sweetly as Cheeseball hopped up and rested his head on your lap.
"Kōshi," you began, your voice dripping with honey, "can you do me a big, big favor?"
He returns your sweet smile with a knowing look, giving you a soft snort before responding. "Yes, my love?"
"I'm really craving cake right now." As if to prove your point, your stomach chose that moment to grumble rather loudly. "And I was thinking, maybe you could get a blue cake or a pink cake for the baby?"
He ruffled your hair before walking towards the entrance of the house, the car keys jingling in his hand. "I'll be back shortly with your sex reveal cake," he called out. The sound of the door slamming shut followed soon after.
You took a quick look at your phone to check the time -- 11:29am -- before turning the TV on to watch something while you waited for Sugawara to return. One hand stroked Cheeseball's soft fur while the other manipulated the remote to try and find a movie or show that piqued your interest.
After settling on a TV show about forensic psychologists and criminal profiling, you found your attention rapt by the show. After watching several episodes, Cheeseball barked. The sound of a door opening indicated that someone was home, and your brow began to furrow after Harumi entered the living room.
"Where's Papa?" Harumi asked, setting her backpack down on the table. Her silvery hair was in two pigtails, a bright gleam in her eyes. "He said he'd tell me if I'm gonna be a big sister or a big brother!"
You chuckled lightly at your daughter, patting the spot on the couch next to you. Another quick glance at your phone revealed that the time was 2:37pm -- four hours since Sugawara had left for the grocery store to get a cake. Anxiety began crawling its way through your system, heading for your heart.
"I don't know where he is," you told your six year old. "I asked him to go to the store and get cake to celebrate finding out! And, you're going to be a sister regardless of what the baby is. We get to find out if you're getting a new sister or a new brother."
Harumi nodded, hanging on to your every word. "I knew that," she huffed. After a brief period of silence, she added a tentative: "Maybe you should call Papa?"
"Good idea," you replied, kissing the top of her head before unlocking your phone and making your way to your contacts. As your finger hovered over the call button next to Sugawara's name, the home phone began to ring.
The anxiety that had been making its way through your body suddenly sank its claws into your heart. No one ever called the home phone. The only reason Sugawara even insisted on one was because it fit his idea of the perfect house. Standing up on shaky legs, you made your way over to the TV stand, picking the phone up from its cradle. You didn't recognize the number.
"Hello?" you asked quietly, cursing the slight tremor in your voice. Your heart began to beat rapidly in your chest, roaring in your ears -- you wouldn't be surprised if whoever was on the other end could hear it.
"Is this the Sugawara household?" the strannger questioned.
You recognized the voice almost instantly -- it was Daichi Sawamura, one of Sugawara's closest friends from high school. All it took was those five words for your world to start breaking apart.
"Hi, Daichi," you whispered. You glanced over your shoulder, meeting Harumi's big, brown eyes as she looked at you curiously. "Um, this is the Sugawara household, yes. If you needed something, you could've called my cell. Is everything alright?"
It took a tremendous amount of effort for you to speak in an even voice, to try and seem like you didn't know the next words that were going to come out of the phone.
You heard Daichi take a trembling breath from the other side of the phone, and you tried your best to steel your nerves for whatever he was going to say. Cheeseball chose that moment to get off the couch and pad over to you, as if the dog was aware of what was about to happen. Before Daichi even spoke, you found that tears had begun to stream down your face. "Sugawara -- no, Kōshi -- was in an accident." Another deep, shaky breath. "He didn't make it."
When you officially received the news, it had taken every ounce in you not to fall to your knees. Instead, you expressed the terror coursing through your veins by placing a hand underneath your small-but-noticeable baby bump. "Thank... thank you for telling me, Daichi." You placed the phone back in its cradle, not willing to wait for his response.
The hardest thing in your life was breaking the news to Harumi. How does one tell their child that their faither's never coming home again? How do you explain death in terms that a six year old will understand?
The sobs that tore from your daughter's throat when you told her moments later broke your heart even more. Beyond the pain in your chest, you felt numb, as if what was happening was happening to someone else, as if someone else's husband died on the way back from the grocery store with a blue cake in the passenger seat, as if it were a scene in a movie that you were watching.
You had slept in your once-shared bed that night, longing for the feeling of Sugawara's weight making the mattress dip beside you. You tossed and turned, and sleep didn't come until Harumi had made her way into your room. "Mommy, I can't sleep."
You sat up straight in the bed, holding your arms open for her. "Come here, then," you whispered into the dark room, watching her vague form clamber onto the bed before nuzzling into your chest.
You finally fell asleep with your daughter in your arms.
PRESENT
After that first night without him, you had gone through the motions. Harumi had insisted on going to school, saying something about not wanting to break her routine and "get stuck in the sad." For a six year old, she was wise.
You had covered the shrine in your house with white paper and closed its doors. You had set up a small table next to Sugawara's side of the bed, adorning it with his favorite flowers and jasmine-scented incense. You had called a temple, both grateful for and disgusted by the lack of emotion in your voice when you scheduled your husband's funeral service.
You're now standing next to his coffin, watching as people who knew your husband mill about the temple room. Harumi's by your side, her hand tightly gripping yours. You spot the familiar orange of Hinata's hair, the broad frame of Tsukishima, the angular jaw of Daichi. Your heart squeezes painfully in your chest as you notice the three of them approaching you.
You find yourself wondering, in that moment, what it must've been like for Daichi -- your husband's closest friend -- to not only find Sugawara in the car, but to have to report it to you. You watch as his features mold into a soft, sad smile. Tsukishima and Hinata have similar expressions on their faces.
The three of them each hand you one of many black envelopes you've already received, and you hand them to Harumi. You watch as she scampers off to place them with the rest, that silky silver hair of hers flowing freely behind her.
"How's she handling it?" Daichi finally asks, breaking the silence. Hinata and Tsukishima seem to take this as a sign, offering you their condolences before retreating back into the crowd. Your eyes don't miss the approaching form of your husband's other close friend, Asahi Azumane.
"She didn't want to stop going to school," you reply after a few moments. "She said it was because she didn't want to get stuck in her sadness."
"Wise kid," Asahi comments as he finally reaches the two of you. "May he rest in peace." He tilts his head towards Sugawara's coffin before nodding at you.
You nod in return, engaging in mindless conversation with the other two. You listen as they reminisce over their shared experiences in their high school volleyball club and watching their underclassmen become world-famous pros. You listen as their words flow in one ear and go right out the other. Before long, the wake begins in earnest. The priest goes to the front of the room and begins reciting a sutra, and you and Harumi place incense in the urn a total of three times.
The rest of the day passes in a blur.
That night, you're in your much-too-big bed, staring at the ceiling. Sleep stays a fair distance away from you until Harumi reappears in your doorway, around the same night she's done it every time. She nestles into the comfort of your arms, and you can feel the soft rise and fall associated with her breaths.
"Mommy," she says softly in the dark. "I miss Papa."
As if to make up for all the emotions you hadn't felt since his passing, the grief and the guilt come crashing down. You're suddenly too overwhelmed to speak, instead opting to hold your daughter tighter. She returns your squeeze with one of her own, being mindful of the bump of your stomach.
"Do you think my new brother will look like him?"
It takes you some time to trust your voice to speak. "I hope so," you manage to whisper. Harumi doesn't respond, and you can tell that she's fallen asleep.
At the end of the funeral on the following day, you watch as Sugawara's friends place a variety of flowers around his head in the coffin. You watch as Asahi lifts your daughter up with ease so she can add some flowers of her own. Your eyes follow their movements as they close the coffin and nail the lid shut with a stone.
You're grateful for the presence of Sugawara's family at the cremation afterwards, thankful for the steady hands of his parents as they assist you in picking the bones out from the ashes. You're thankful for Asahi and Daichi as well, since they've taken it upon themselves to babysit Harumi while you're preoccupied with this.
You, along with Sugawara's parents, walk towards the temple's lower rooms with the urn holding his remains in your arms. You're the one who places the urn in the small box. A small screen next to the locker-esque grave turns on, and your husband's face smiles at you brightly.
A sob escapes your throat, and tears begin to stream down your face. Sugawara's mother echoes the sentiment as the photo of her son shines brightly in the otherwise dim room. You take shaky, gasping breaths as the photo stares at you before you turn on your heel and leave.
AFTER
It's been several months since his passing. Your baby bump has only grown in size, and you're met with ferocious kicks at every time of day.
During the day, Harumi goes to school as normal. At night, she no longer tries to sleep in her own bed before coming to yours, instead opting to just start the night off in your bed. You find that sleep overtakes you with more ease when your arms are wrapped around your daughter.
It's not long before the sharp, stabbing pains of labor overwhelm you one day while you're at home. Daichi had forced himself to be on your phone's speed dial ever since you told him about the baby boy's kicking, and he is who you call when the time between contractions dwindles from hours to minutes, when the contractions themselves start lasting longer and longer. He's at your door quickly, ushering you into his police car and using the sirens to clear traffic. In between the bursts of pain, you find yourself wondering if it's legal.
When the two of you reach the hospital, you tell him to go get your daughter from the school before you're whisked away by the nurses. As your labor progresses and the baby's closer to being born, you hear Harumi's excited voice from the hallway. It's at this point that the door is closed so you can focus on your task at hand.
Within several hours, your new son is born. The sound of his cries echo throughout the small hospital room, and you watch as the nurses clean him up and wrap him in a soft blue blanket. They hand him to you before one opens the door and beckons for those who are waiting to come in.
Sugawara's parents enter along with yours after Harumi dashes in. She's at your bedside in seconds, jumping on the balls of her feet out of excitement. Your breath catches in your throat as the light shines on her silvery hair, your heart stinging at just how much she looks like Sugawara.
"Mommy, mommy, what's his name? Have you given him a name yet? Can we name him... can we name him Cheeseball?"
Your own mother laughs in response to that as your father picks Harumi up off the ground. "You can't name him Cheeseball," he says, "that's the name of your dog!"
Their conversation fades out of your focus as you gaze down at the little bundle in your arms. The faint hairs lining his forehead are the same shade as your own. You softly rub his nose with your finger, and you watch as his grubby arms escape the blanket and grab at your digit. His name comes to you with ease.
"Hi, Koji," you whisper.
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saryasy · 1 year ago
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Time is a curious thing, more so when you were present at its pitch meeting, and ended up voting no because creating an infinite universe just to put an end date to it was the most idiotic thing you’d heard (and you were there when Sandalphon pitched turning people to salt and won.)
But that has always been a human issue, to the occult, the years are never in short supply. The company is, however. 
They'd have forever, is what Crowley always told himself when the nights were particularly lonely. The same sun rising from the same east, casting the same hues and shadows over the same earth, and Crowley's fingers itched to reach for the only body that understood, only for him to curl them back, trapping them under his head, lest they move out of their own accord.
Time, they had lots of it.
****
At first their meetings were sparse, few and so painfully far in between. Some were accidents, true or orchestrated, some were a saving hand, others were purely work related. Yet, they couldn't stay far for long, like two planets orbiting each other, their magnetic fields clashing them together, the impact sending them farther than ever. The cycle repeating itself over and over, until they learned with time, decades, centuries (who kept count when they had eternity?) how to slide into the other’s path without causing an explosion, how to speak without words, and when to say no when every fiber of their being screamed yes.
Their meetings grew closer, and with them the distance separating them. 
But there was always a weight hanging over their heads, so heavy it almost felt like a third presence standing between them, sucking all the air out of all the rooms they’d ever been in, till it left nothing but stale, cold air, shaking with fear or freezing, who could tell. The weight of a thousand I can’t and I won’t and What if they found out, and a thousand other unspoken promises and unadmitted fears.
So, they made sure to never get too close, to not feed the giant following them wherever they went, like some fucked-up shadow. They made sure to always have a justifiable reason to be around (not that Aziraphale made that difficult,) to know when to pull away, and stay away, no matter how long it took.
They couldn't risk getting found out and having that eternity violently snatched away from them. He might act like it, but Crowley knows he’s not invincible. One wrong move and he, or worse, Aziraphale, could be wiped out from existence, and Crowley would be damned if he let his everburning desire be their undoing. He got used to the heat, anyway, it could sustain him far longer.
So, he counted the days that stretched into years, and bid his time. 
Time, they had lots of it. 
****
Four years. They stepped away from the magnifying glass for a mere four years, before getting thrown right back in it with the arrival of the amnesiac Supreme Archangel. Four years in the face of six thousands, they didn't even see each other for one of them. 
But it was fine, they were going to deal with it, then step away once again, and enjoy their solitude together.
As for this thing between them, growing larger and harder to ignore, well, they had forever to figure it out.
****
Back in his apartment for the first time in years, and sitting in his uncomfortable chair, terrible wine in hand (he blames the wine, not the lack of too familiar company,) Crowley considers for the first time in his entire existence an eternity spent alone.
He closes his eyes, he'll think about it later. Now, however, he is in for a long, long nap. 
Time, he has lots of it, after all. 
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hockybish · 4 months ago
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Dance it Out
l au with no name l matt x posey l masterlist l
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Summer 2010
"Matt, how much longer do I have to do this?" Posey stood up from her crouched over position. She had on some goalie gear they had found and was standing in front of a makeshift goal while Matt shot pucks at her.
“I gotta practice against a goalie, Posey. And you’re doing a really good job of standing there.” Matt squared up, ready to shoot another puck in her direction.
His coach really did say he did need more practice shooting with a goalie in the net versus an open net.
And Posey got to choose what they did last time she was over, so it was his turn and he chose to practice hockey. He always did what she wanted so she had to do the same for him.
“But I want to dance” she got in her stance. They had been at this for an hour and she was getting bored and didn’t want to do this anymore.
“We did that yesterday” Matt stuck his tongue out in concentration. He hit the chunk of plastic, it flew up and hit Posey in padding on her right leg. She kicked it back in his direction and got ready again.
“Please Matt?” Posey begged. The puck he just hit whizzed past her shoulder. She very unfazed by it. She had six brothers, five of whom played hockey, she was used to it.
“Fine five more shots and I get to pick the music” Posey shook head, making the mask she was wearing jiggle, agreeing to the deal.
Matt took more than five shots since Posey wasn’t really paying attention now that she was getting her way.
Once she was out of the gear, Posey brought out her new iPod nano and hooked it up to the speaker. She handed it over to Matt, he scrolled through, finding the playlist they were dancing to yesterday.
The way they were dancing it looked something out of peanuts. There was no real structure and it was all fun. Or at least that's what Matt's mom thought when looked in on them after she got done with her phone call. She turned off their music, abruptly ending the dance party.
“Matt honey can you please for find your sisters? I need to talk to Posey for a minute.” Janice instructed.
Matt and Posey looked at each other and back at his mother. She had this look on her face, and they knew she was being serious.
The boy hung his head and scurried out of the room. What was going on? Posey couldn’t help but feeling like she had done something wrong and they were going to send her home or to her grandma's.
"Posey darling, I have something very important I need to tell you okay? Let's sit on the couch here." Janice sat down on the sofa. She patted the spot next to her, waiting for Posey to climb up.
"Sweetie, your mommy and daddy were in an accident. And they unfortunately didn't make it. I'm really sorry."
"What?" Posey tilted her head confused. Her mommy and daddy were at work and were going to pick her up later, like they always did.
"Mariposa your parents died. I'm really sorry, sweetheart." The mother of three, repeated herself a bit more directly this time. There was no easy way to put it. She wrapped her arms around the stunned child.
"No! No! My mommy and daddy are not dead!" Posey screamed. She pushed Janice away, running out of the room and into the first room she could find with a door.
She yelled no one last time before she slammed it closed. The little girl then curled up in a ball and started crying. She just wanted to be alone.
-
“Hey Posey?” Matt knocked on her door.
It had been a month since her and her brothers had moved in with his family and he had been trying every single day to get her to play, but she never wanted to. Possibly today could be different.
“Do you maybe want to play?” He posed the same question. There was no response to his question. "You can shoot pucks at me, or maybe we can color."
"Can we dance?" Posey asked quietly.
"Only if I can I pick the music." He smiled jokingly.
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rayofsuns · 2 years ago
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MOTHER DEAREST Pt 2
Summary: Damian Al Ghul loved his mother to no end, but when she threatens to harm the ONE person he loves more than her, his sister. He had no choice but to go to one person he trust to ensure his sister safety. his father
TW: Attempted murder.
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Leona was the name Damain named his sister. He got it out one of the books Aaliyah use to read to him, the book was about a woman worrior saving the world from her evil father. Damian didn't know why he enjoyed that story so much, he just did. It's been two weeks since his Umi died and his Mother has only gotten worse. Damain feared for his mother mental heath since most of her day were spent crying over Aaliyah's gave or Torturing those involved in the attack. She's hasn't spent anytime with leona since she's been born leaving Damian to do all the work by himself.
Of course Damian didn't mind. he had his sister at his side at all time. it calmed him to see her there strapped to his chest in a harness; peacefully sleeping and without a care in the world.
"Master Damain your mother has asked us to bring you dinner." a gaurd said through the door. Damian sighed placing Leona in her bassinet and covering her with his shirt so she wouldn't start to cry. it delighted him to know that she couldn't sleep without him. it made him feel like what he was doing a good job.
Damain made quick work with the locks; only slightly opening the door enough to barley see the guys face. "set it on the ground and walk away." Damian waited until the guards footsteps could no longer be heard down the hall before he opened the door wide enough to pull in the tray. The tray had rice and chicken breast with water and a bottle of milk for leona.
Damain starred at the bottle in disgust before throwing it away. he didn't trust anyone to make his sisters bottle, they could've done anything to it and that's a chance he'd never take. "it's time for dinner my little warrior" Damian said carfully picking up his sister letting the shirt drop to the floor. Damian wasn't a messy kid by any means, he just preferred to prioritze his sister and her needs before a little mess.
Damain quickly made Leona a fresh bottle, fed and burped her before he even thought about eating. That's how most nights went, leona would eat and then Damian. Damian didn't mind waiting thirty minutes until leona was done to finally start eatting, even if his food was a bite cold afterwards. "now it's my turn" Damian said setting Leona down on the bed. he scooped a spoon full of rice and was about to take a bite when suddenly leona started to cry. he placed the spoon down and instantly picked up his sister.
"what's wrong little warrior? are you still hungry?" Leona cries died down once she was in her brother's arm. Damian glance at the clock that read '7:45' bedtime. Damian 'TT' he didn't realize how late it was for leona. usually they receive their food at six. Damian would feed leona and then himself before reading to leona chapter of a book before she went to sleep at 7:00. Damian was pissed that he lost track of time. he took leona's schedule very seriously.
"you're just sleepy. that's it." Damian pulled up the blanket accidently sending his food falling to the floor. Damian ignored the mess instead he laid down on the bed pulling his sister under the covers and closer to his chest. "goodnight my little warrior" he said kissing her cheek before closing his eyes.
It was '1:00' in the morning when the locks clicked out of place and the door opened without a sound. A dark figured walked into the room with a syringe planted firmly by his side. The man had killed many of children before. some younger than the two week old laying here in the bed, the nightmares didn't bother him anymore. he just wanted to get it over and done with. before the man could even take another step towords the young girl he was pinned to the wall, a kutana embedded into his right shoulder. the man opened his mouth to yell but was stopped by Damian stuffing one of Leona's diapers in his mouth. "who sent you?" Damian's voice was deep and scary, dispite him being so small.
Damian instantly reconized the man as one of the gaurds. Damian was shooked to see the man. Not because the man was part of the league but because the man was new, which meant he was lower ranked. Usually the lower ranked leagued members stuck to training or guarding the horses, they shouldn't even know where Damain and leona slept. this whole this felt off to Damian and he need to know why. "and how did you infiltrate the league?" he asked
the assassins here were not for hire. most of them spent their whole lives training and working with Damian's grandfather Ra Ah Ghul. those are the only assassins who were allowed on the island. But this one is new, he barley looked old enough to have mastered all martial arts forms. He also got caught so easily. the man came through the door instead the window. which would have been quieter, quicker and easier (except for the numerous traps Damain had set up. But that was besides the point) Then the man failed to noticed Damian pull out his katana before it was too late. This man was an amateur.
. "Mhhmm ammhmama" the man said Damian rolled his eyes at the man. "if you wake up leona with your yelling I will tortrue you until you beg for death. do you understand?" the man quickly nodded hoping to get out of this situation as quickly as possible. "ah mhndeand" Damain sighed as he pulled the diaper out of his mouth. "now who sent you?" Damian asked again, losing patience very quickly. "you- you were suppose to be sleeping. This is suppose to be an easy mission" Damain raised his brow, that caught his attention.
"someone sent you here" the man nodded vigorously. The man was breathing heavey from the pain, sweat already running down his face. Damain noticed the large syringe strapped to the mans side. he quickly ripped it away from the man, holding it up to the little light the room had.
"what's in here?" he asked
"Potassium Chloride" Damain froze there was enough in here to kill a grown man. "who was your target?" Damain asked Grinding his teeth, trying to stay calm and get the information he needed. "the girl, Leona. she wants her dead." Damian eyes turned dark. He was angry. Someone was trying to take the only part of Aaliyah he had left, HIS sister and that angered him. "this poison is very painful. when injected into someone, it inflames the potassium ions in the sensory nerve fibers." Damian chuckled "it's literally burining up the veins as it travels to the heart" The man eyes widen in fear. "No, please don't do this" the man begged. Damian wanted to laugh, this man was going to poison his sister in such an horrible way and now he had the nerve to beg him not to bestow the same fate on to him. "tell me who hired you? and don't lie." Damian said now holding the syringe to the mans side. glaring daggers at the man.
"Talia. Talia Al Ghul" the man said quickly. Damian's rolled his eyes, injecting the poison into the man. "I told you not to lie." Damian quickly stuffed the diaper back into the mans mouth before he could yell in pain and disturb his still sleeping sister . "come on little warrior let's go see mother." Damian grabbed Leona's harness, strapping it to his chest before placing the sleeping girl in it. it always amazed him how deep of a sleeper Leona could be. the last time he got to sleep like that was when he was at this father's. here on the island you had to be alert at all times. It exhausted the young boy to no end.
Damian found his mother exactly where she's been for the past two weeks, at his Umi's grave. The guards surronding his mother didn't surprise him, no that was normal. what did surprise him was that each one of them were dressed for war. each of them had atleast Two katanna's by their side and multiple other hidden weapons. "so we are under attack" Damain said happy to be right, happy he was able to protect his sister.
He wondered if his Umi would be proud that he was able to sense the danger and get his sister out of there. Talia looked strange as she smiled down at Damain, ruffling his hair. "Yes Darling, we are under attack. thank goddness you got your sister out of there before she could get hurt. great job my love." That scared Damian. his mother was never affectionate like this, she never praised him in public, always when they were alone. Damian was taught to look for the least likely in the group because 9 times out of 10 they did the crime, And sadly Talia was the least likely. "how did you know we were under attack?" Damian asked now eyeing the assassins clothes in suspicion "and why isn't there more gaurds out here? why hasn't anyone sound the alarm?" talia's smile fell as she pulled her hand away from his hair. "Damian you're too paranoid" Paranoid.
Damian took a step back from his mother putting some distance between them. She was trying to get him to doubt himself. the more he questioned himself the less he'll question her. Guess she didn't realize how stubborn the boy was. he was is father's son.
Damian didn't want to belive that his own mother would try to kill his sister but all his training was screaming at him that he was right. "what the assassin said was true wasn't? you put him up to it. you're trying to kill leona" Talia's smile returned. it was wide and crazy looking, almost like the jokers. "Damian you're speaking non--"
"you're lying" Talia's smile dropped again and her face turned to scowl. "Damian give the girl to the gaurds now!" Talia yelled with a crazed look in her eye. Damian face was neutral and his voice was calm. His father would be proud. "Umi would be disgusted by you right now." That made Talia pause "I believe Umi is watching over us right now, and I know she will never forgive you for this." Talia turned her back on the boy. she didn't want him how much his words hurt her. her eyes trailed over to the family tomb where her wife and father was laid to rest. She wondered in that second how life can be so cruel. in a span of two year she's lost her father and her beloved. The irony of the situation hasn't dawned on Talia yet. all her life she was taken loved ones away from other people. she's killed mothers, fathers and even children but she always thought her family was untouchable. That they'd be with her forever.
Damian doesn't often visit the tomb, his umi didn't want him. Aaliyah talked a lot about what she wanted if she were to pass.
she didn't want to be put in the Lazarus pit, she made sure that they knew that. she disliked the affect it had on people, she made them promise her not to put her in the pit. the only reason Talia didn't disregard the promise was because she knew Aaliyah's injuries where far to serious for her to have a normal life. while Talia loved her wife she wouldn't be able to stomach the thought of her wife not coming back a one hundred percent.
And she wanted them to move on and take care of each other. she said that if she was going to be watching over us she doesn't want to see the same boring thing over and over again. Damian laughed when she said it. he thought it was funny. but now he finds himself doing different things each day just incase she got bored.
"she's dead, her opinion doesn't matter anymore." Damian stepped back from his mother. his arm protectively hugging Leona. she started to walk away but stopped in her tracks to say one last thing. "kill the girl and don't let the boy off this island." was the last thing she said before leaving them.
Damian tensed, waiting for the guards to attack or make a move. he didn't have any weapons on him only a couple of smoke pellets hidden in leona's harness. he thought about using them to try and escape to one of the boats behind him but he didn't know if he'd make it. "are we going to fight or what?" Damian asked hugging his sister. for a minute nobody moved, they just starred at each other. "go. take one of those boats and go far from here." a guard said turning his back on Damian. Damian's eyes widen he wasn't expecting this. he was expecting a fight, to die protecting his sister, that is what he trained his whole like for. "what?" The guard turned back towords him, glaring down at him. "Aaliyah was a kind soul and I will not be responsible for killing her child." Damian was confused. these men where killing machine they had no emotions when it came to combat and here they were afraid to kill hurt a child. "Go! before I change my mind" he yelled. Damian nodded in respect before turning and heading towords the deck. the whole time it took for Damian to get to a boat and pull away from the dock he expected to be stabbed in the back. thankfully he wasn't and he and his sister was able to get away.
--
It would be two days at sea until they reached gothem. Damian had never been so happy to see they dark, dirty, smelly city. "Hey you can't dock your boat---" the man trailed off confused why a small boy holding a baby was coming off a yacht all by himself. "where are your parents?" the stranger asked. damian tsked patting the back of leona who was taking in her new surroundings. "My father owns this dock, I can do what I want." Damian said pushing passed the man. the man was stunned but let the small child walk away. "I can't wait for you to meet Titus he's going to love you." Damian said glancing up and down the street wondering if he should walk to the manor or to Wayne Enterprises. Wayne's Enterprises was closer but there will be more people, people he didn't trust, but the manor was further away. It would take him awhile to get there.
"ok leona, Enterprises or the manor?" Damian asked. Damian nodded when leona hiccup "the manor it is."
By the time Damian reached the manor it was already dark and leona was hungry. Damain has never been so relieved to see the large gate surrounding the dark manor. Damian made quick work with the electric gate and the other hidden traps that would have stopped any normal person from entering. 'it was a lot harder last time' Damian thought "I can't wait for you to meet titus and Bat-cow oh and your going to love Alfred the cat.... and probably the human too." Damain told leona as he walked up the long drive-way. "I'll have alfred go to the store for us. you need formula and toys and another harness wouldn't hurt." Damian said eyeing the worn harness. it's been a rough two days for damian. he's been up for three nights now, unable to sleep worrying about getting him and his sister to saftey. taking care of a two week old while on a boat, having to make almond milk from a bag of trail mix he found was hard.
Damain slowly pushed open the heavey door, not caring about the group of vigilante aiming their weapons at him. almost everyone was here. dick, barbara, tim even duke and of course bruce. "Damian?--" Bruce was surprise to see his son here in the manor. He thought it would be years before he saw Damian again after Damian chose to go back to the league of assassins. Bruce was hurt that his son chose to go back with his mother, yeah their start was rocky but towords the end Bruce thought they came to an understanding. Bruce didn't know the real reason Damain decided to go back was because he found out his Umi was pregnant and wanted to be there for her.
"Mother's has lost her mind. we need to lay low for a while." Damian said moving past them and into the dining hall. he was looking for one of the many cards Bruce left around the house incase they needed to buy anything. Damian was never hesitant to spend his Father's money, he knew bruce had more than enough to go around so why should he limit himself?. "Damain--" Bruce tried but again was interrupted by his son. "how good are you at taking care of babies?" damian asked turning to face his father and his entourage. Bruce opened his mouth to say something but was again cut off. "never mind I'll teach you." Damian said turning back around to continue his search for the card. "she'll need a crib, formula, bottles and a bunch of other things. I can't find the card where is it?" Damian asked
"Damian, back up. what happened with your mother?" Dick asked pushing past Bruce to stand infront of Damian. Dick put a conforting hand on his brother's shoulder. He knew it was a fifty percent chance Damian would stab him but he still kept his hand there. Damian scoffed pushing Dick's hand away. "she's tried to kill leona, my sister" Damian said looking down at the girl who was now sleeping. Barbara gasped wondering how anyone can hurt such a small baby "that's horrible, can I hold her"Barbara said reaching out to pick up the sleeping girl. in the blink of an eye Damian picked up a fork that was left on the table and held it to her throat. "Don't you dare touch her." Barbara gulped moving her wheelchair back and away from the fork. Damian huffed "she's tired I'm taking her to bed." again Damian pushed passed them, this time going up to his room. He could hear Dick and his father call after him but he didn't stop. He wanted to be alone right now. he was tired and though he'd never admit it, he was scared.
Damian locked the his door behind him before he pulled leona out of her harness. Damian took a deep breath glancing around his room. everything was kpet tidy and exactly where he left it, He liked it like that. "we're going to be ok here leona. it's safe here"
-----
sorry for any mistakes. I hope you liked it.
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hummingbird-of-light · 10 months ago
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Round 2: First story for @badthingshappenbingo ~
Title: Getting To Know Each Other
Fandom: Star Trek (AOS)
Character(s): Robert "Robbie" Scott, Original Alien Character(s)
Relationship(s): /
Rating: T
Words: 2,036
Prompt: Cave In
Warnings: Accidents, Earthquakes, Blood and Injury
(You can also find this story on AO3)
~ Getting To Know Each Other ~
Robert "Robbie" Scott didn't know what hit him at first when, out of nowhere, everything around him moved and people started screaming.
His eyes, which he had closed only a moment before to relax on the subway after a long day at work, quickly opened and before he could grab hold of anything, he was thrown around and to the ground.
A pain shot through his body when he hit the floor and he gasped, startled.
The shaking didn't stop and only a second later Robbie realized what was going on.
An earthquake!
He had been warned that there was an increased risk of seismic activity on the planet he had been sent to for an assignment, but he had also been promised that it was rare at this time of year.
Apparently the company he was working for had been wrong.
Robbie cupped his hands over his head to protect himself from any falling rumble and pressed himself firmly to the ground.
He squeezed his eyes shut and prayed to God that this wasn't the end.
When the world finally came to a halt again, the Scotsman realized that the subway had also stopped.
Of course it had. What else had he expected?
Robbie cautiously lifted his head and looked around. His heart sank and he felt his stomach twist.
Oh no. No, no, no.
In the light of the flickering lamps, he recognized pure chaos. People were lying all over the floor, some of them injured and bleeding. The ceiling above them was caved in and windows were broken.
But the worst thing Robbie realized was that what only the most horrible nightmares could be about, had actually happened.
They were buried alive!
~
It didn't take long for Robbie to get back on his feet. The arm he had fallen on hurt like hell and he was pretty sure that it was broken. From his seat at the back of the wagon, the Scotsman could see the locals helping each other up and talking to each other. Luckily, not too many people had been traveling by subway at the time of the day. It was already quite late, after all.
However, no one seemed to see or care about him.
Robbie had already noticed during his work over the last few days that the people on the planet were not particularly hospitable. They tolerated visitors from other species, but preferred not to interact with them too much.
The Scotsman's gaze fell on a female figure who was still lying on the floor and not moving. From her appearance, she did not appear to be of the native species.
The Trugeans were humanoid creatures with a very large head, yellow fur and four eyes. They also had six arms and a split tail.
The woman on the floor, however, had purple skin and snow-white hair, which she wore in a now rather disheveled bun. There were spots on her face and neck that shimmered in a darker shade of purple. Robbie discovered a laceration on her forehead.
Knowing full well that no one would probably take proper care of her, the Scotsman stepped over to the woman and shook her gently by her shoulder.
"Ma'am?"
At first, he got no answer. If he had known the best place to look for a pulse, Robbie would have felt for it, but he knew nothing about the violet figure's anatomy. So he shook her shoulder again, a little harder this time.
It took a second, but finally the woman moved her head, her face contorted in pain.
"Hey there, that's right. Look at me."
Gently, Robbie placed his hand on the woman's cheek and he gave her an encouraging smile as she opened her blue eyes flutteringly.
"Well done. How are ye feeling? Where does it hurt?"
For a moment, the woman stared at him with wide eyes and Robbie feared that she didn't understand him. Was her or his translation device broken?
But when the woman finally spoke, Robbie could understand her very well.
"You?"
His counterpart blinked in disbelief and Robbie cocked his head to one side questioningly. He laughed uncertainly as the woman sat up carefully and ran her long, pointed fingernails over his cheek, her eyes still wide.
"Ma'am?"
Only a few moments later, the lady shook her head.
"No... you're not... Pardon me... I've mistaken you for someone else."
Robbie just smiled gently as he helped the woman up so they could sit together on the long bench seat.
"That's all right. Ye've got quite a bump on yer head. Ye are allowed to be confused."
Irritated, the woman moved her hand to her forehead and felt the laceration.
"Does it hurt anywhere else?" Robbie asked worriedly, but his counterpart just shook her head.
"N-no... I don't think so. What... happened?"
Robbie sighed heavily as the woman looked around.
"There... There was an earthquake. The tunnel collapsed."
The woman nodded understandingly. She still didn't seem fully present.
Her eyes fell on a local woman who was holding her communicator in panic.
"But I have to call her! My little girl needs to know that Mommy is coming to pick her up from Daddy's soon. Otherwise she'll worry!"
"We don't have reception anyway."
"We can only wait for help."
Was Robbie mistaken or did the purple-skinned woman suddenly look incredibly disappointed and sad?
His heart tightened at the thought of a possible explanation.
"Do... ye have children too?"
Confused, the woman turned her head towards him, then laughed weakly.
"Me? No, no..." She hesitated for a moment and seemed to look Robbie up and down for a while. "And... You?"
There was something in her gaze that Robbie couldn't describe. It sent a strange shiver down his spine, but he put the feeling down to the predicament they were in.
He nodded.
"Aye. A son."
Again a shadow of disappointment flitted across the woman's face and Robbie suspected that perhaps she wanted children herself but couldn't have any. Perhaps it was envy.
"But luckily he's already all grown-up and studying. So... No child waiting for me at home."
His counterpart gave him a gentle smile. Maybe she was realizing that he was trying to cheer her up.
"I see."
They were silent for a while before Robbie realized they had no idea who the other was.
He quickly extended his intact arm and offered his hand to the lady.
"Oh, um, I'm Robert, by the way. But most people call me Robbie."
The alien woman eyed his hand for a moment and Robbie blushed, embarrassed. Was it a rude gesture on her home planet?
But eventually a smile crossed her lips and the woman took his hand and shook it.
"Miss Fa- Nomira. My... My name is Nomira."
Robbie nodded understandingly.
"What a bonnie name. Well... It's a pleasure to meet ye, Nomira."
"Oh, believe me, the pleasure is all mine."
~
Robbie didn't know how long they sat there waiting for help. He just did his best to keep Nomira happy and alive. She often showed signs of falling asleep and since Robbie didn't know if that was a good idea with her head injury, he tried to keep her awake.
Nomira asked him a lot of questions. She probably hadn't had much contact with humans. The things she wanted to know were all the more peculiar.
How tall and old and fat people grew on average. How they ate. How they lived.
There were a whole lot of things that Robbie had never consciously thought about, because for him, who had always lived on Earth, it was completely normal.
But he answered all the questions conscientiously.
Nomira also asked him a few questions about himself. About his friends and family. About his lifestyle.
Robbie wasn't sure if she was really interested in all of it, but as long as she was awake and occupied in this way, he was fine with it. He talked about his family in Scotland, about his son, about his girlfriend - blushing once more, of course - and also about his brother who worked for the fleet.
"A... brother in Starfleet?"
Nomira stared thoughtfully out of the window. And Robbie remembered the first reaction she'd had when she'd seen him.
"Oh, maybe ye know him? His name is Montgomery Scott. He's an engineer on the USS Enterprise. Maybe the ship visited yer planet sometime?"
Slowly, Nomira just shook her head, smiling gently. There was something strange in her gaze, but Robbie didn't notice it.
"No, I... I don't think so."
"What about ye? Where are ye from? Do ye have a family?"
When he saw the sad look on the female alien's face, he instantly regretted the question.
"Well... only if ye want to talk about it."
A wry smile crossed Nomira's lips.
"It's... it's all right. I'm from a planet whose name your race can't pronounce. I run a restaurant; a dream I've worked long and hard for. I... I had a family once, but... my parents are dead and my older brother..."
Her expression darkened and she swallowed hard, seeming to try not to lose her composure.
"He left me and my family to live his own life. Away from my kind."
Robbie nodded understandingly.
"I'm... I'm very sorry about that."
"You know, back in the day, my brother and I were one heart and one soul. I... I never understood how he could just give us up for a life that wasn't going to take him anywhere. He went behind my back."
Robbie thought of his own brother, who had left Scotland back then to pursue his big dream. Quit often, Robbie had felt alone back then, but in the end he understood that it had made Scotty happy.
"I... I dinnae think it was his intention to hurt ye. Sometimes our loved ones do things we don't understand. Things they have to do. But just because we go different ways doesn't mean we love each other any less. Maybe... maybe ye should try to contact him. Maybe ye just need to talk it out. As adults."
Nomira looked up and Robbie recognized tears in her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away with the back of her hand.
"Maybe. But... for that to happen, we have to get out of here alive first."
Robbie swallowed hard. Aye, of course he knew that the air was getting tighter and tighter, which they were all not entirely innocent of with their conversations. And he also knew that their chances of survival were diminishing by the second. But he had hope. This simply couldn't be the end.
"The life support systems of these subways are very good. It... It's gonna be okay."
Nomira said nothing.
~
They had long since stopped talking when something finally happened.
Robbie flinched as he heard noises and his heart jumped as lights shone through the rubble.
They were being freed! People were finally getting them out of here!
Relief spread through him and he grabbed Nomira's hand and squeezed it gently.
"I told ye everything would be all right."
His counterpart gave him a tired smile and squeezed his hand back.
"Thank you, Robbie. For keeping me awake. And... for the conversations. You... really are a valuable human."
Robbie just laughed and shrugged.
"Trying my best."
It wasn't long before they were back out in the fresh air and getting medical attention.
One last time, Robbie went to Nomira, who was lying on a stretcher.
"Well, I... I really hope ye'll learn to get along with yer brother. And... it's been a pleasure getting to know ye. Even if the circumstances could have been different."
A peculiar smile formed on Nomira's face.
"Oh, believe me, Robbie, you wouldn't have wanted to meet me under different circumstances. How else would I have seen what kind of being you are. A being who deserves a long life."
Nomira squeezed his hand one last time, then she was pushed into the ambulance.
Robbie just smiled. Maybe Nomira was right. It was precisely in emergency situations that one really got to know others.
At least he was grateful that he had met her and saved her life.
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elise-venturi · 2 months ago
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@fjorddeluca
This is the kind of thing he has done before. The kind of thing he will always do. The kind of thing he is known for. This is the kind of thing he’s expected to do. An heir who is searching for his own heir, or so they think. 
He was Fjord De Luca, the son of the Vincent De Luca, a man who has never been able to settle down despite the marriage that was arranged and the son Madeline De Luca bore him. Though they were no royal family, there had always been a precedent set. They were heralded as close to a royal family and to their followers, they were royalty. 
He was their prince and thus, he was treated as such. 
And his reputation proceeded him before he had gotten a chance to explore it himself. Found, by accident, kissing the pretty, young maid who had been a new hire in the supply closet. They had meant for it to be a secret but she had smiled at him and he had been so lonely — so touch starved, so ignored, so lost — that her sweet words had won him over in the end. So, they had gone into that closet — him fifteen and her close to seventeen — and it had lasted six minutes and three seconds before Martina, the head of domestic services in their home, had thrown the door open.
That simple action, that simple incident, had painted him as the Casanova of the De Luca family. He spent years after cultivating that image, taking pretty girls out on the family yacht or on extravagant dates just to dump them a day later or a night later or that very same day. 
He became Vincent De Luca’s son before he ever became himself. 
And so, when he had popped his head into the office he’d been in one too many times in his life, a smirk on his mouth, the annoyed sigh from Matteo was to be expected. His personal bodyguard — the one hired when he’d gone on that impromptu and impulsive and reckless flight to Cagliari and gotten shot because the right person recognised him as Fjord De Luca at the wrong time — knew what was happening. 
(”Another date, bambino?” The older man asked, eyebrow raised.
Smoke billowed from the expensive cigarettes he smoked and that was to be expected. He got paid a hefty sum to look after the De Luca’s only heir but what his parents did not realise they were paying for another parent too.
Naturally, Fjord would deny needing one of those. He didn’t need the ones given to him, what use would a third be?
“This one is different, zio,” he had sighed. “She’s… different.”
“Everyone single one of them is different.” Matteo sat forward, elbows on the table in an act that would have gotten Fjord a hard smack when he was too young to hit back. “The French model, the Greek scholar, the Italian socialite. Is this one going to be left in the dust too?”
And the thing is, Fjord did not like being the De Luca Casanova but he hadn’t outright tried to fight the accusation either. He didn’t seek, his reputation stopped many a smart girl from coming to his door, but they find him. And if they give him attention, then he gave it back to them.
As harsh as Matteo’s words might be, Fjord understood that he was trying to protect another innocent person from being trampled by his actions.
“It’ll just be for a couple of hours, zio,” Fjord grumbled. “I’m taking a car, if you need to follow me.”
“You know I do.” Matteo told him, stubbing out the cigarette. “You’re going to get yourself killed one of these days, bambino.”
“Yeah,” Fjord sighed. “I know.”)
Now, Fjord was making his way out of the estate with Elise and it felt much different than most dates had. For once, this actually did feel like a date. This wasn’t a chance to get away from the estate and his parents. He wasn’t using the curiosity of another to escape his own reality but he was escaping.
Somehow, he was escaping.
With Elise, Apollo could finally escape the title given to him by Zeus. Apollo could finally evade the sky, he could finally escape the dread of ensuring that morning came and everything fell into place perfectly. He was able to come down amongst the flowers and the rivers of the common people and feel alive. 
So, why did he gain a sense of dread from the whole thing? Even as he pulled the gun out from his holster, dropping it into the crafted little space into the door by his thigh, there was an air of wrong. 
Apollo, Apollo, they would cry, we need the sunlight.
A deep ache in his chest as he watched Elise pick her phone up and read something. A text from a friend or a parent or someone who cared enough about her to text her. A person interested in her and her whereabouts. A person who might seek her opinion or her comments. Someone who was speaking to her because they wanted to and not because she could do something for them.
Something he was doing now too.
Apollo, Apollo, they would demand, how could you do this?
He had avoided his family as he left today. Ducked past their rooms and their dining room and he’d snuck down to the car. He’d taken the keys and he’d taken a gun and he’d taken his black card. He could do anything he wanted and they wouldn’t be angry at him but this — this was wrong. 
Because a French model or Greek scholar or Italian socialite were acceptable but ever since Martina dragged him out of that closet, his parents had made one thing clear. Nothing like this. No one like Elise. Pick someone worthy. Pick someone rich. Pick someone who, if things blow up, you can marry and bring more wealth and power to our family.
Do not date someone we would be embarrassed of. Do not date someone who would ruin our family name. Do not date someone you might fall in love with. 
Apollo, Apollo, they would laugh, you’re going to destroy your family.
In a week’s time, they had the private event. He hadn’t listened too much as his parents spoke about it over dinner but he knew it’d be important. A private event but they were inviting important business partners and their families. A private event but they had selected a few potential business partners to attend. 
Owners of news firms, owners of manufacturing companies, owners of TV networks and even a few non-Italian potentials. All important to expand their world. All needed if his transition from prince to king is to go smoothly.
The whole thing made him feel sick. He wants to run away.
Apollo, Apollo, they would scream, you’re going to burn away their wings.
His light brown eyes settled on Elise, watching her as she pushed her phone away. He listened to her words, the talk of an overly worried mother, and felt a deep pull in his gut. The longing of a child who had only ever been weaned on resentment. A worried mother, what a novel concept. A mother who cared about her child’s whereabouts instead of letting inebriated words remind him of one simple thing.
You are only here because I cannot create another.
“I would hope you don’t tell her about this,” Fjord smirked, playfully. “There is a lot of things I can fight but a resentful mother — that has always been my biggest weakness.” And that isn’t a lie, not really. In a sense, Fjord has grown to accept that his father would always be painful hits and mocking words. But his mother, she was supposed to be more.
His hands turned tightly around the steering wheel and his foot pressed against the pedal. The car peeled away from the big house, down the driveway, and he only half glanced in the rear view mirror. At any moment, Matteo would make his presence known. “I would tell you,” Fjord spoke casually, signalling to the formally dressed guard at the gate to open them, before he gripped the wheel again. “But that’d be no fun, yeah? It wouldn’t be a secret anymore.”
And maybe, he would’ve added, the car is bugged.
Still, he offered Elise a gentle smile as the gates pulled open, giving way to the beautiful countryside that lay out before them. They had miles to go before they got out of De Luca property and that was good for him. “Don’t be scared, yah?” He reached over, deciding he was too late to back out, and gently touched her shoulder. It burned him to the bone. “I won’t take you anywhere dangerous or scary. Trust me, I don’t want to get into trouble today. I want it to be about us.”
Us. The word lingered on his tongue, burning it too. There wasn’t a single thing about Elise that didn’t make him feel like he was burning — or, perhaps, he was finally allowing himself to give in. To stop pretending like the flames had always hurt him. Even Apollo couldn’t bear the weight of the sun.
“But right now,” he grinned and held the wheel tightly in one hand. “We’re being followed.”
The words might scare her but he doubted it. Elise seemed strong and she seemed like she would be more curious than worried. She worked for them, after all, she would know that security was tight. 
“And I don’t want that.” 
His fingers trailed down her arm, until he could almost touch her hand, and then he pulled it away. He gripped the steering wheel tightly and looked ahead, at that open gate. “Hold on tight, cara mia.”
Pressing his foot down tightly on the gas pedal, Fjord sped out of the estate and down the road. If Matteo or anyone else were going to follow them, then they would need to do a great deal to catch up with them. 
And the fall out from that, Fjord was willing to take.
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@elise-venturi
It was a funny thing, really. The longing to tell her mother everything and yet, having a reality where something as simple as that was near nonexistent. It was as if simplicity was an idea that the Venturi Household could not comprehend, could not grasp in their minds filled with webs and complexities. 
She remembered being fifteen and laying eyes on her first crush, the boy at her school. He was the epitome of what she did not know and did not have; a loving family, the humble home with a white picket fence, a spotless future devoid of any taint. She was fascinated by him, to say the least. Wanted to know the ins and outs of his life, how much it differed from the one she knew so well and, perhaps, if a world like his would be so kind as to make room for someone from a world like hers (dirty, corrupt. everything she pretended not to be). 
The day that he asked her out for the school dance was the day she ran back home; her exhausted, weary legs from training the night before being supported by pure adrenaline alone. She was happy, excited even, to go home. A feeling she could never quite equate with the idea of going back to her household ever since she became exposed to the outside world - one where civil hands stayed civilly clean. But that day... It was different; something wonderful (something beautiful) had happened, and she needed to tell someone. And who better than her very own mother? Surely she would be happy for her daughter, wouldn’t she? For all the steel and ice that her mother had fashioned herself out of, Elise had hoped— no, believed that there was still, at the very least, some humanity left in her. That she would still have the heart to congratulate her. Tell her how happy she was that her dearest daughter had finally found the light at the end of a tunnel she was so desperately trying to climb out of. 
Looking back, Elise now saw the naivety in her actions and ideas. 
It was naive of her to hope that she could join the likes of her first crush, but it was even more naive of her to think for a second that her mother (beautiful yet cold, dignified yet ruthless) would be glad that her daughter -the one whom for years she had tried to change to be more like them-  would even consider the idea of having a simple life. 
The life of simplicity is only but a fool’s dream. Her mother had said, disdain and befuddlement written all across her face. It was obvious that Gulia Venturi could not (would not) understand her child and though for years she’d hoped Elise would grow out of her delusions, this very act itself was enough to tell her that her daughter would not (could not) let this go. And thus, on the night where she was supposed to be Cinderella, dancing the night away with her prince, she was forced to stay home and learn the ins and outs of their family, her tears and heartbreak brushed away like dirt.  So even if Fjord had told her she could tell her mother about their little getaway, she wouldn’t. She couldn’t. Not when this was her savoring what could have been nine years ago.
 "You don't have to worry about that," she smiled, looking at Fjord. “She will never know about this.” And this being my heart, Elise thought. This being your heart, and the words we share just between us. Because that was the least she could do, afterall. Keep any of the pieces that Fjord chose to share with her -be it his heart or his words- tucked safely away. Her life had always been an open book but she’d like to think that even books had hidden words somewhere. The ones that people skimmed over, passing them by, assuming they weren’t important when in reality, they were far more valuable, more paramount, than the ones readily shown.
“Mm yes, I suppose that's true.” She laughed softly. “In all honesty, secrets make me queasy but, perhaps, it would be best not to know.”  It would give me an excuse to not answer Romilda too, she mused quietly.
As the gates pulled open, Fjord began speaking, and for a moment she was listening; her perfected smile in place, hands politely placed in her lap like the good principessa she was taught to be; but it was when he touched her ever so gently, hand gripping her shoulder before lithe fingers trailed down her arm so sweetly, that his words were lost on her.
Soft touches and lingering moments were naught in a household such as hers. For what use were they in a place where fists spoke louder than words and shrapnels were enough to get the point across? To build an empire carved out of stone is to have hands calloused from touching sharp edges and jagged pieces. Hands that were soft and supple, delicate and cared for with love, were reserved for the ones born in civilized families. The one who walked the streets without fear, blissfully unaware of the undertakings that occur in the very heart of the city they so loved and adored.
Verona was a city of love, but Verona was a city that bled and wrung its victims dry just the same. It spared no one, Elise knew that much,  and so, when Fjord touched her so dangerously kind and spoke to her about wanting this to just be about them, as if what they had were so much more than a first date going who knows where, she was ultimately at a loss at what to do, what to say, how to react.
Because though she was still the fifteen year old girl silently praying for a change, she was now the twenty four year old principessa with a terrible weight on her shoulder. 
And his utterance about them being followed was another searing reminder of that. 
“Being followed... What on earth did I get myself into?" She shook her head with a chuckle, feigning disbelief. "But... I suppose that is the life of a boy-king, huh?" A subtle hint of empathy laced her words, as she silently pitied Fjord for sharing the same fate as her.
Holding onto the door handle tightly, Elise turned to Fjord just before he sped off, whispering a quiet,
"Okay, I trust you."
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@fjorddeluca
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bearcreekhq · 10 months ago
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MEET SETH
Full Name → Seth Alexander Beiste
Age → 28
Birthday → September 23rd, 1995
Order & Type → first (adopted), solo
Gender & Pronouns → cis man, he/him
Sexuality → heterosexual
Occupation → kennel technician at Wags 2 Riches Animal Shelter, photographer
THEIR STORY
(tw: fatal car accident, drunk driver, death) Seth Beiste was born to two very loving parents by the names of Dennis and Sheila Harrison. Though shortly after his fourth birthday, everything that he knew in such a short time was taken away from him. His parents had gone out for their anniversary, one of the few date nights they’d truly had since Seth was born, and unfortunately they did not make it back home. It was a drunk driver, the police had told the babysitter, and unfortunately there was no family close enough by to take the little boy in. This led to child services taking over and he was placed into foster care. It was a very confusing time for him, especially being so young and not fully understanding everything that was going on.
When he was five, Seth was placed with Cooter and Sheldon (at the time, Shannon) as they were hoping to go through the process of fostering to adopt. He most definitely gave the two a bit of a hard time, he didn’t know these people and they most certainly were not his parents. And although it was a struggle on both sides, there were moments where Seth would realize that these two weren’t trying to replace his birth parents, but give him a new chance at having a family when his was taken from him so suddenly. He came to learn that if it weren’t for these two, he could be sent back into the system where it could take longer even to find another couple or single-parent even, to take him in. Though he was legally able to be adopted within six months of them taking him in, it was about a year before they made the adoption final. His new parents hadn’t wanted to rush him into something until they were sure he was ready. 
Though he still gave them trouble from time to time, life as a Beiste wasn’t too awful. There was some confusion when Sheldon began his transition, though he was able to accept it as he had been taught by them to not judge others and that there’s nothing wrong with those a little different from us. However, when the changes that Sheldon was going through started to bring about a different side of Cooter, Seth started to act up again, especially when the divorce was brought up. And this all only worsened when the time came that Cooter signed away his parental rights. Seth was angry, first he blamed Sheldon and then he’d blamed himself. He was full of worry that now with one dad gone and out of his life, a second dad that he’d now lost, he was going to only end back up in the system. 
As a teenager, he started to fall in with the wrong crowd and his anger issues and acting out only got worse now that Sheldon was a single parent. Seth felt that if he was only destined to go back into the system, something that he understood more about now that he was older, he may as well make sure that he didn’t have any emotional ties to another set of parents soon to be lost. Of course, he didn’t expect Sheldon to not give up on him, especially after a run-in with the police after being caught vandalizing a park. He was 13 at the time, the judge was thankfully lenient on him given his situation and past, and allowed him to even choose where he’d be doing the community service he was sentenced to. Seth, being a typical teen, figured that the animal shelter would be the easiest option and it was definitely not. He had to clean up after the animals’ kennels, on occasion he’d have to walk the dogs and of course pick up after them doing their business.
Ironic as it was, after putting in so many hours of his community service, he started to connect with the dogs and relate to their situation. He’d have conversations with them and really get to know their personalities. By the time his sentence was up, he found himself continuing to volunteer at the shelter in hopes of helping with finding the right homes for them, by learning their personalities while cleaning their spaces. Even the cats, though he’d take picking up dog poop in a bag over cleaning a litter box any day. And once he was old enough, he picked up a part-time job doing the same thing.
Another part of his sentencing for the vandalism was mandated therapy to channel his anger and find a better outlet in dealing with his feelings and emotions. Of course, his father being the football coach at the time, he went out for the team, and during the winter season he had also gone out for and joined the wrestling team. 
Of course, though he loved the sports he got into and the animals he helped care for, his biggest passion fell into his life in a very unexpected way. One spring when his dad asked him to clean up his room, go through his things and make a box up of stuff to donate or throw away, depending the shape it was in, he came across a box with a camera bag in it. He didn’t know where it came from exactly or how it came to be in his possession, but as he looked it over he found his mom’s name stitched in it. Opening it, there were film canisters with used film and a camera that still had a roll half-used in it as well. Maybe it was packed up with his things by child services, he’s not really sure. But of course, he needed to know what was on the film.
Sheldon had suggested that he take it to the photography teacher at the high school, which then turned into Seth taking on photography as an elective and learning how to develop the film on his own. There were photos of him, of his dad, some of his mom, family photos of the three of them, basically memories of the entire first four years of his life. And it was this moment that inspired him to do even more with photography. He wanted to take photos like his mom did, capturing moments of his family and friends, creating those solid memories to hold onto for as long as he could. And he was good at it. 
After graduating high school, Seth went to college taking both courses to continue his photography education as well as some business courses. Since graduating with his degrees, he’s been continuing to work at the animal shelter as a kennel technician, though he also does the photos of the animals for social media, and he’s saving up to buy his own studio space. In the meantime, with his photography, he also takes photos for the Bearcreek Community Center for their events and social media as well, and in exchange his payment for doing that is the use of one of their open rooms as a make-shift studio until he can get a studio of his own.
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kingexpl0sionmurder · 4 years ago
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Body Electric - Kaminari Denki - Smut
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Author: @kingexpl0sionmurder Pairing: Kaminari Denki/F!Reader Rating: 18+ (contains smut) Words: 5,491 Warnings: Sex work (Cam boy/girl), Quirkless AU, Aged-up Adult characters (someone is in grad school! wow!), mentions of masturbation (both male and female), mentions of casual ShinKami, established KiriBaku, Idk they are all just really sexually liberated and don’t care about watching each other cum. Is that voyeurism? I’m bad at tagging things. Title taken from a Lana Del Rey song. AN: Another BNHarem collab piece! The theme was sex work, and I have wanted to do a camboy Denki for a long time so here we go. This was really smutty in my head but Denki makes me soft and it turned out really cute in the end, I’m sorry? He’s such a dork I feel like any sexual encounter with him would just turn out like this in some way, idk.  Thanks to @unbreakablekiribaku​ and @sailorsero​ as usual for being supportive of me. Happy birthday to @lady-bakuhoe and @burnedbyshoto​ 🎂🎂 There is no one else I would rather be birthday triplets with!
Please check out the Collab Masterlist: HERE Look 👀 at My Masterlist: HERE Buy me a Kofi if you’re scared of clowns too: HERE
---
Sighing, you sat up on your elbows, squinting at the chat on the screen, willing your heart to stop pounding and your breath to even out. The donations were pouring in, the chat moving so fast you couldn’t even read it. “Alright, lovelies, I hope you enjoyed that. Be right back and we’ll chat a little bit, okay?”
Donations popped up, the chat slowing a little as the clients who only came to jerk off to you left, leaving those who considered themselves true fans. You stood and made your way to the bathroom to pee, rinsing your toy off in the sink and washing your hands. You went back to your room, pulling on a hoodie and settling in front of the screen again.
“Alright, I’m back! I have some time for a few questions and then I have to go for the night. Let me see what we got!” You scanned the chat, ignoring the normal inappropriate questions. Mindfucker:  Do you know who Chargebolt is? Cause I heard he watches your stream.
Your heart, which had finally slowed to a normal rhythm, picked up again. You most definitely knew who Chargebolt was. You gave him a good amount of money from your donations when you watched his cam shows yourself. “I do actually, he’s pretty popular on here, isn’t he?” You sat back a little, furrowing your brows. “How do you know he watches me?”
RedDaddy: He did a Q&A and mentioned your channel! Told everyone to check you out.
You recognized the names of the viewers and knew they were also regulars on Chargebolt’s streams as well, so you believed them. Chargebolt was gorgeous and funny, just your type. The knowledge that he was interested in you enough to watch you get off on camera was flattering. You hoped your blush wasn’t showing on your face. 
“I’m surprised he knows who I am!” You had missed the last Q&A he’d done, since it hadn’t been on his normal streaming day, and you’d been stuck at work late. Leaning forward again, you bit your lip, looking into the camera from under your lashes. “Can I tell you guys a secret? I watch him, too. Why do you think I never do shows on Thursdays? That’s Chargebolt day.” With a wink you sat back, trying to will the blush from your cheeks. Mindfucker: I knew it! I bet he’s watching right now. You smiled, shrugging. “I hope he enjoyed the show, then!” You tried to hold it together, suppressing the urge to burst into a fit of giggles at the thought, answering a few more silly questions from your regulars, before signing off for the night, promising to be back again the following week.
You let out a breath you didn’t even know you were holding, leaning your head back and groaning. It was wild that the guy whose cam shows you watched on the regular, the one who had inspired you to start your own, who you thought of half the time when you were filming yourself getting off on camera for strangers, knew who you were and was one of your viewers. 
It brought you down a whole rabbit hole for a second, wondering if he got off on you getting off. Why else would he watch? Did he ever donate? You assumed he had a secondary account so you wouldn’t know it was him even if you tried to look at your past viewers, just like you had a secret account so you could watch him as well. 
Cracking your eyes open, you clicked to view the donation tallies for the evening. You’d made enough to pay the rent on your apartment for the month in just one night. Sometimes you wondered how you ever managed to survive before you started doing this. It was meant to be a temporary side job, but you’d been running this cam channel under the screen name Neko for over six months, and you had clawed your way out of debt in such a short time, it didn’t make sense for you to stop.
You viewed a few more visitor stats with interest, before logging off the computer and shutting the laptop. You had to get to sleep for your real job in the morning, so you figured it was time for bed, pushing thoughts of Chargebolt to the back of your mind for now.
It wasn’t until later when you were lying down to sleep, that you thought of him again. Your eyes closed as you ran through a scenario in your head, wondering if he would mention you on Thursday, and what would come of all this? You had noticed your viewer numbers had spiked that day, so it was definitely beneficial that you’d caught his eye. You just weren’t sure what would happen next.
--
Denki was grinning into the camera, wiping the cum off of his abs with the towel he kept beside him, his chest and cheeks flushed pink. He adjusted in his chair, tugging the toy out of his hole and chucking it to the side, pulling his boxers back up over his softening cock. “I hope it was as good for you as it was for me, babes.” 
He chuckled at the comments flooding the chat as he reached for his water and took a sip. 
Tapeman: As always, you never disappoint me, Chargebolt.
“Hey thanks, Tapeman! I appreciate you always coming to hang out...get it? Coming?”
Mindfucker: Ridiculous.
“Aw, you love me, Mindfucker.” He winked at the camera. “So, did you guys enjoy my Q&A the other day?”
The chat filled with praise, making him grin. He loved to talk to his fans, and sometimes they had some great questions for him. He knew a lot of people just watched him as a way to get off, but he liked to give a little piece of himself to them because he knew that most of the people who watched were probably lonely, and he wanted to help with that in some way. He kept things laid back, joking and laughing with his viewers before and after the show, taking requests and doing his best to remember some of the regulars. Some of the few who had been with him from the beginning he’d made into moderators to help with keeping things somewhat orderly in the chat. Some of them he actually knew in real life, like his roommate Hitoshi, who used the alias Mindfucker.
Mindfucker: So are we going to talk about Neko? Denki’s eyebrows rose. “Oh, you mean the stream the other day? It was…” He made the appropriate motion as he said it. “Chef’s kiss, immaculate. She’s so beautiful…” Trailing off, he let himself think back to the way your chest heaved and the face you made when you came. “I would do anything for her, man.”
RedDaddy: Dude, I agree! She’s also super sweet, like, the total package.
Sighing, he leaned his elbow on the desk, his cheek resting on his palm. “I am a simp, my guy.” He sat up, squinting at the chat. “She said she watches, right? Is she here right now?” He scanned the names of the viewers, frowning. “She probably has a second account. Well, if you’re here, Neko, you should hit me up. I read all of my DM’s okay?” He grinned, winking again. “Alright, I have to go feed the cats so I’m outie 5000, thanks for hanging out and I’ll see you guys next week!”
He said his goodbyes, ending the stream and sighing. He wiped off his toy with the towel and clicked through his stats for the day, smiling at some of the comments that came with the donations. Hitoshi came into his room a few minutes later, holding one of the cats, an orange tabby named Miso, in his arms. “I fed them, you don’t have to.”
Was it weird that his roommate watched him fuck himself on toys and jerk off on the internet on a weekly basis? Nope. Denki had forgone all sense of modesty when it came to sex a long time ago, and Hitoshi was the same. It helped that they fucked around on occasion, best friends who got lonely and lived together sometimes did that, he guessed. Or maybe they were weird. It was whatever, he didn’t like to think about it too much. 
“What would I do without you, Toshi?”
“Kill the cats, probably.” He deadpanned, leaning in the doorway. “Burn all the toast you try to make, buy the wrong peanut butter, eat Cheese-Itz for breakfast every day, forget to pay the cable bill.” He raised his eyebrows. “I can keep going.”
“Fuck off, I got the all-natural peanut butter once, it was an accident!” Denki threw his soiled towel into the laundry basket by the closet and picked up the toy he’d used, waving it around a bit. “Did you enjoy the stream?”
Hitoshi snorted, eyeing the dildo warily. “I didn’t really watch, I had my eye on the chat. I was looking for Neko.”
“Man, I can’t believe she’s a fan!” He waved the dildo some more, watching as it jiggled. “I would let her do unspeakable things to me.”
“Look out, your sub is showing, Denki.” Hitoshi teased. “But I agree, she’s pretty great. I wonder if she’ll ever do private shows.” Pausing to scritch Miso behind the ears, he continued. “I’m sure they’d be in high demand.”
Denki stood, pointing at Hitoshi with the dildo. He really needed to put it down somewhere and stop brandishing it around like a sword. “Don’t even, I’d spend all my money on that girl.” 
“I know you would.” He chuckled. “I did try to go through the usernames and see if I could find out who she could be, but I didn’t have any luck.”
“It’s okay! I’m leaving it up to fate now, man. If the universe wants us to know each other, we will.” He stuck his thumb towards the ensuite. “I’m going to wash my ass and then we can play Among Us if you want.”
Hitoshi, completely unphased as usual, nodded. “I’ll get a team together. Check the discord when you get out.”
Humming, Denki made his way to the bathroom, picking up his phone on the way. It buzzed as he closed the door, and he glanced down to see he had a message from his other moderator and friend, Eijirou, aka RedDaddy. Tossing the dildo in the sink, he looked down at the screen and opened the message.
Eiji: No luck on finding Neko on the stream, but she said she never misses a Thursday, so I bet she was there.
Denki: Thanks for keeping an eye out, man. I appreciate you. Among us in 30?
Eiji: Bet. I’ll ask Kats to play too.
--
Your next stream day had you feeling nervous. Chargebolt had talked directly at you on his last stream, asking you to slide into his DMs, and you had yet to take him up on it. You didn’t know what you were so scared of, Chargebolt was a nice guy. You chalked it up to the fear of the unknown. If you sent him a message, what would you even say? ‘Hey dude, nice cock?’ It was bound to be a disaster.
Pushing your nerves back down, you made sure you were ready for your stream, excited for the news you were about to drop on your viewers. You were needing a little extra cash due to some unfortunate car trouble, and you’d figured out a way to make up what you needed in record time.
“Hey everyone, welcome!” You smiled at the camera, waving your fingers. “Thanks for coming! I see a lot of familiar names here tonight. Hi Mindfucker, Dynamight, RedDaddy, Tapeman, LightningMcQueen!”
LightningMcQueen: Hey, beautiful! I’ve been looking forward to this all week.
Dynamight: Chill out, McQueen, you look desperate.
RedDaddy: Be nice, Dynamight. Hi, Neko!
Dynamight: Fuck off, Shittyhair.
Mindfucker: How’s your cat, Neko?
“Be good, Dynamight. You’re lucky I know you don’t mean that!” You giggled at the antics of your regulars, smiling at the question about your cat. “Ichigo is doing good, Mindfucker, thanks for asking! I’ll bring her on camera after the show if you want to say hi!”
Minfucker just sent a cat emoji and you laughed, shaking your head. “I’m beginning to think that you’re just here for Ichigo and not me.”
The chat went crazy with people denying it, telling you how much they loved watching you every week. You lit up, feeling more excited about your news.
“So I have something I want to discuss before we get started today. I’ve decided I want to try out doing some private shows, so I’m going to be offering up a few spots. I’m going to give some of my longest and most frequent supporters a shot first, and if all goes well, then I’ll open them up to the rest of you! I’ll be adding a signup link at the bottom of my page after tonight’s stream, so if you’re interested you can apply and I’ll pick a few of you and we’ll work out a schedule! How does that sound?”
Dynamight: McQueen already has his credit card ready I bet.
“Aw, you don’t want to play with me, Dynamight?” You teased, giving the camera your best pout.
Dynamight: You couldn’t handle me, Princess.
LightningMcQueen: Hush. You’re a bottom, Dyna.
Dynamight: Die you fucking extra.
LightningMcQueen: Love you too, blasty.
“I was going to let you pick the toy today, Dynamight, but if you can’t behave then I’m just going to have to let someone else have a turn.” You gave the camera a disapproving look, frowning. You’d picked up that these guys were friends, so you knew they were just messing with each other.
A donation popped up from Dynamight with a comment attached. 
Let McQueen choose this time, babe.
“It looks like Dynamight is going to let you choose, McQueen. Which one?” You pulled over the box you kept your toys in and showed it to the camera. “Pick a color.”
LightningMcQueen: Yellow
You pulled the yellow silicone out of the box and showed it to the chat, smirking. “I call this one Chargebolt because it’s the same color as his hair. Are you sure this is the one you want me to use?”
--
When your stream ended, Denki leaned back in his chair, taking a deep breath. The fact that he’d watched you fuck yourself with a dildo that you’d named after him was the hottest thing he could have imagined. He was jealous of that piece of bright yellow silicone more than he should be. He’d still enjoyed it, if the mess across his abs and chest were any indication. 
He cleaned himself up and pulled on a shirt, clicking on the link for the private show signup. It was pretty straightforward, listing the price and how long the show would be, and asking for his username and what he would be interested in doing or seeing and what day would work best.
Staring at the form for a moment, he contemplated his options. He could sign up with his LightningMcQueen account, and he might have a chance. He was the first one out of his friends to find your channel one night when he was bored and horny. Then he’d shown it to Hitoshi and then shared your info with Eijirou, Katsuki, and Hanta. He would be considered one of the longest and loyal viewers like you had said.
However, if you got a request from Chargebolt? What would you do? Would you ignore it? 
“Toshi!” He called out, knowing his roommate would hear him without him having to get up. “I’m having a crisis!”
The door opened, and the purple-haired man stood in the doorway. “I am not prepared to handle your bi panic right now, Denki.”
“Are you going to put in for a private show from Neko?” Denki pushed on, ignoring his friend’s exasperation. 
“I spoke that into existence last week, you know. You’re welcome.”
Flopping back in his chair, Denki closed his eyes. “Should I send in the request with this account or with the Chargebolt one?”
Hitoshi shrugged, watching their cat Sashimi wander into the room. “You’ve wanted to talk to her for ages, man. You could have messaged her forever ago and you wouldn’t be playing this game with her. Sign up with your actual account.”
“I mean, she must think I’m cute, right? Otherwise, she wouldn’t watch.” He sat up, logging out of his secondary account and into his main one. He had a few unread DM’s, so he clicked, his breath catching in his throat. “Dude, look.”
There was a message from you, short but sweet.
Hi, Chargebolt. I don’t know if you saw the stream today, but you should check it out if you haven’t. I left it up for you.”
“She wants you to see her use that dildo she named after you.” Hitoshi patted his shoulder, and then bent down to pick up Sashimi. “I signed up but I told her I just wanted to have a date with her cat. She probably won’t pick me.”
“She will, she loves cats.” Denki clicked on your page and scrolled down to the bottom where the signup was again, letting it populate his main account in the information, and writing ‘any day except Thursday’ in the section for the time that worked for him. “I’m going to get this girl to date me, just you watch.”
Snorting, his roommate closed the door behind him as he left. “I believe in you, Pikachu.”
Once his request was submitted, he went back to his DM’s and sent you a message back.
“I was there, Neko. I never miss a stream. I submitted for a private show, so I hope you’ll pick me. I’ve been one of your viewers since the beginning, you know.”
---
In your head, you tried to plan what you would say once you were face to face (via camera) with the one and only Chargebolt. Everything your brain seemed to come up with fell short. What did you say to this guy, who you’d been simping over for over 9 months, who lit up your screen every Thursday with terrible puns and panty-dropping smiles? You knew exactly what he looked like and sounded like when he came. It was a strange thing to think that you knew that but you’d never actually spoken to him before.
It made you feel a little better when you realized he knew just as much about you. That he watched you fuck yourself on a dildo you’d named after him, and then spent the rest of the stream showing off your fluffy white cat Ichigo. 
It was time to put on your big girl panties. You could do this. 
Chargebolt had been one of the few that you’d chosen to do these shows with. He was also the last one. You’d met with 4 others, the ones who were the most active in your chat, the ones you assumed were actually friends. 
Your first one was with Tapeman, who asked you to call him Sero. He was cute, with the widest, prettiest smile you’d ever seen. He made you laugh, and called you beautiful, and spoke to you in Spanish. You didn’t feel uncomfortable once with him, and the experience gave you hope that the rest would be just as nice.
Mindfucker was next, whose name was Shinsou and lowkey your favorite one. He didn’t want anything sexual at all, which surprised you. You sat with him and drank tea and you got to meet his two fur children, Miso and Sashimi, while he told you about his roommate. You let him admire Ichigo, and talked about music. He was sarcastic, but not in a mean way, and you were pretty sure he was going to be your new best friend.
RedDaddy and Dynamight had asked to do theirs together since they were dating. You wanted to question why they both watched your stream but RedDaddy, who was actually named Kirishima, answered it for you.
“We’re both bi, and we think you’re cute!”
“Yeah, plus McQueen has a thing for you so we like to be in the chat to help him out.” Dynamite, aka Bakugou, added in his gruff voice, folding his arms across his chest.
“Aw, that’s sweet!” You smiled at them. “He didn’t request a private show though, so I guess he doesn’t like me that much.”
Bakugou coughed and Kirishima grinned. “Maybe he was nervous! I’m sure you’ll meet him in one of these someday!”
“Enough about that dumbass.” Bakugou leaned forward, his hand on Kirishima’s knee. “Give us a show and we’ll give you one in return. Use that orange and green one for me, Princess.”
And give you a show they did. You got lost in how they looked at each other while they jerked each other off, and you were pretty sure they forgot you were even there at some point. When it was over, you suggested that they start their own channel.
Bakugou scoffed, but you could tell he was blushing a bit.
“I don’t know, Neko. I don’t think I could share him with anyone else. Except you, you’re the exception.” Kirishima grinned, winking at you.
But now it was Chargebolt’s turn. You made sure you had everything you needed, making sure Ichigo was out of the room, and then signed into your account. 
Chargebolt was online, so you made the private room and sent him the request. You felt like you were shaking, and you checked yourself in the camera to make sure you didn’t look like a wreck.
You barely had time to breathe before he entered the chat, his camera screen coming to life and showing you his smiling face. You melted a bit, biting your lip, gazing at how attractive he was. 
“Hey, Neko!” Chargebolt was as vibrant as ever, tucking his hair behind his ears, the black lightning bolt in his hair dark against the bright yellow of the rest of it.
“It’s nice to see you, Chargebolt.” You tried to relax, rolling your shoulders back. “It’s kind of weird knowing you can see me too.”
He laughed, leaning back in his chair. You tried not to stare at his arms in the tank top he was wearing. Chargebolt had a small frame, but his muscles were defined. You’d seen him plow through an entire bag of chips on stream once, without pausing to breathe, so you assumed he must be one of those people with amazing metabolism that you envied. “You can call me Denki if you want, kitten.”
You choked on air at the nickname, trying to compose yourself. “Kitten?”
“Well, Neko means cat, doesn’t it?” He raised an eyebrow. “I won’t call you that if you don’t like it.”
“No!” You practically shouted. “No, I mean, it’s fine. I like it.”
“Sweet.” He grinned. “Man, I’ve wanted to get you alone like this for so long, and now I’m just feeling really nervous.”
“You’re nervous?” You were surprised. The always cool but super dorky Chargebolt was nervous because of you? “So am I.”
Chargebolt- sorry, Denki, rested his elbow on the desk, propping his head in his hand. “Well, glad to know I’m not the only disaster here. I’ve been trying to get the courage to talk to you for months, and then finally Hitoshi got me to talk about you on stream a few weeks ago, and now here we are.”
“Who’s Hitoshi? One of your regulars?” Knowing that you weren’t the only one who was sweating bullets had you relaxing a bit. 
“Oh yeah, Mindfucker! You know him right? He did a thing with you the other day, didn’t he?”
Eyes wide, you stared at him. “Shinsou?”
“Yeah, that’s my best friend and my roommate. He said he showed you the cats.” He shrugged. “You picked all my friends for your private shows. Sero, Kiri, Bakugou, Shinsou.” He paused, smirking. “I forgot that you don’t know that I’m LightningMcQueen.”
“That’s you? I was wondering why they didn’t send me a request, but it all makes sense now.”
Denki shot you finger guns and winked. “Kachow!”
“Oh god, stop it.” You rolled your eyes.
He chuckled, grinning at you. “So, did Shinsou talk about me?”
You giggled, remembering back. “He told me a story about how his roommate mistook a fuzzball for a spider and spent the afternoon sitting on a table waiting for him to come home and kill it.”
“It looked like one of those freaky poisonous ones from where I was sitting. I was afraid to let it out of my sight in case it got away and then multiplied and killed me in my sleep or something.” He took a deep breath. “Spiders are terrifying.”
This man was amazing. “You are everything I always thought you’d be, you know that?”
“I’m going to take that as a compliment.” He sighed. “You have to have some kind of embarrassing story to tell me so I don’t feel like a fool. You’ve got to make it even.”
“One year my dad hired a clown to come to my birthday party. He walked in the front door and I jetted out the back door and hid in the garden until he left. Clowns are just as terrifying as spiders.”
Chargebolt laughed, and the sound made your stomach do a somersault. It was just as bright and happy as he was. “That is the cutest shit I’ve ever heard!”
“I’m glad my childhood trauma is amusing you.” You deadpanned, trying to keep the smile off your face.
“Aw, don’t be like that kitten! I’m glad we can bond over our irrational fears like this, you know?” He 
You shivered happily. “Okay, okay.” You cleared your throat. “So, you didn’t write anything down here for what you wanted out of our chat today.”
“Oh, okay, down to business then.” He sat up straight. “Well, I wanted to tell you myself instead of submitting it on the form.”
Intrigued, you raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t want to give me a chance to back out?”
Snorting, and shook his head. “Nah, I think you’ll like it, kitten.” He folded his hands behind his head. “I want you to tell me what to do. I’m at your mercy.”
Swallowing thickly, you blinked at him. That was...really hot. “You like being told what to do?”
“I would love nothing more for you to pull my hair and peg me within an inch of my life while calling me your little cock slut.” He stared at you with an eyebrow raised, looking pleased with himself when he saw your expression.
Your thighs clenched together involuntarily. “Fuck.”
“Yeah, right? I mean, I’m a switch, I’d do the same to you if you asked.  But we can save that for next time.” He smirked. “So, you down?”
Next time? This man was going to kill you. “Take off your shirt, Denki.”
“Fuck yes.” He groaned, reaching behind him and tugging the garment over his head. 
His chest and abs came into view, and you let your eyes linger on the barbells through his nipples. “Pants too.”
He pushed his chair away from his desk and shimmied out of his shorts, kicking them to the side. You gazed at him in his blue boxer briefs, eyes lingering on his thin waist, strong thighs, and the outline of his cock. He was a sight to behold, honestly.
You held the fangirling back, leaning forward to get a better look at him. “Do you have any toys, Denki?”
“Of course, Kitten.” He moved out of view for a moment, coming back with a box. 
“Let me see.” He tilted the box towards the camera, your eyes flitting over the different colors and shapes inside. “The pink one.” 
“Okay, hang on, let me-” He cut off, standing up and throwing the pink toy on the bed. He picked up the laptop and moved it, laying down beside it and angling the camera so you could see what he was doing.
“Did you stretch yourself, baby?” 
He made a noise that sounded like a whine in the back of his throat at the pet name, obviously pleased by it. “Yeah, of course I did.” He glanced at the screen. “You should, uh, take your shirt off too.”
“I thought you wanted me to tell you what to do, not the other way around.” Teasing him, you crossed your arms over your chest.
He pouted slightly. “I’ve been good so far though, right?”
“All you’ve done is take off two items of clothing and move to the bed. You’re gonna have to work harder than that!”
Huffing, he lifted his ass off the bed and tugged his underwear down his legs, kicking them off, his hand already moving to wrap around his already hard cock.
“Did I say you could touch yourself, Denki?” It was getting hard to keep up the stern act you were putting on, but you knew it was what he wanted. You wanted to watch him touch himself, watch the way his eyes fluttered closed when his thumb brushed over the leaking head of his cock, and the way he would bite his lip when he moved his wrist a certain way.
You could be patient though, so you continued.
“If I was there right now, what would you want me to do first?”
He stilled, blinking at you a few times. “I would want your mouth first, I think.”
Humming, you sat back, pulling your shirt over your head, letting him admire the lacey purple bra covering your chest. “You’d want my mouth on your cock? Trace my tongue along that vein along the underside and suck on the head a little?”
Denki groaned, closing his eyes, his grip visibly tightening around his shaft. He looked like he was trying not to get worked up too fast. You were amazed at how your words were affecting him, so you pressed on.
“I’d take you all the way down until I was choking on it, and I’d let you hold onto my hair and fuck my face. God, you don’t know how many times I've dreamed about doing that for you. What would you say to that?”
The blush spreading down his neck and chest made him look so pretty. “Ugh, fuck kitten, you’re killing me.” He swallowed hard, opening his eyes to look at you again. “I’d tell you how good you made me feel, but I wouldn’t let you finish me off that way.”
“Oh no? Tell me what else you’d do.” You took the opportunity to move to the bed yourself, pulling off your leggings and panties all at once. 
Eyes glued to you while you unclipped your bra and threw it across the room, he continued. “Fuck, um, I would...god, you’re beautiful.”
Flushing at the compliment, you looked down shyly, breaking character. “I’ve heard you say that before and I still don’t believe it.”
Denki scoffed. “If you need a daily reminder, I’d be happy to be the one to tell you, kitten.” You could hear the sincerity in his voice, and it made your heart do a little flip. “I might seem like a dumbass but I’m using this camboy money to pay off my student loans for my masters in English lit so I can quote you entire sonnets from Shakespeare without hesitation if that will help you believe me.”
Your eyebrows shot up, impressed. Realizing you’d ruined the moment, you sighed, covering your eyes with your hand. “I’m sorry, I’m crap at this. I really just want to watch you cum.”
Chuckling, you heard him shifting on the bed. “Okay, how about this? Forget the toys. Just close your eyes and listen to me.”
“Okay.”
“If you were here with me right now, just like that, I’d spend so much time exploring every inch of you with my tongue. I’d start with your lips, your jaw, your neck. Collarbones, shoulders, your chest, those cute nipples-”
“How are nipples cute?” You interrupted with a snort.
You could hear him trying not to laugh, his voice pitched a bit higher. “Shh, don’t ruin it.”
“I think you just did when you said ‘cute nipples’.” You’d never had this much fun with someone in a situation like this. “If I had a dick, my boner would have just died.”
Denki wheezed, and you opened your eyes to look over at him. He was gazing back at you, his eyes bright as he laughed into his palm. “God, I like you so much, kitten.”
Your grin softened, your heart pounding at his words. “Me too, Denki.” 
1K notes · View notes
ragingbookdragon · 3 years ago
Text
If We Were Fast Enough
Flash!Reader x Flashfamily One-Shot
Word Count: 5.3K Warnings: Explicit Language, Angst
Author's Note: I had this idea after watching a few clips of Flashpoint Paradox! Enjoy! -Thorne
**********************************************************************
Her hand was tightly clasped in his, eyes narrowed in sadness, but there was a pride in them; she felt the speed transfer between them, flowing through her veins and he said, “You’ve got my speed, honey. It’s up to you now.”
The tears that had welled in her vision tipped over and she whispered, “I can’t leave you here, dad. I—I can’t just run away.”
He shook his head. “You’re not running away. You’re surviving.” A groan escaped him, and the pool of blood seemed to double in size. “We’re running out of time. You’ve gotta go before the timeline collapses.”
“Where do I go?” she asked, wiping her eyes. “This universe is home.”
“Honey, Speedsters are Speedsters whichever universe we’re in.” he smiled weakly at her. “You’ll have a family wherever you end up.”
She gazed at him, breathing deeply as fresh tears grew in her gaze. “I’m scared.”
“I know. But you can do this.” he replied, pausing to look her over. “You look just like your mother, honey.” He smiled tearfully. “She’d be so proud of you if she were here now.”
Pulling the cowl over her head, she gave a watery laugh. “Mom always said I looked like you.”
“Nah. You take your speed and nature after me, but you are a spitting image of your mother.” A blast sounded in the distance and they both looked over, eyes widening as the white flash of light grew larger and larger. “You have to go. Now.”
Swallowing thickly, she leaned down and hugged him around his neck as tight as she could, inhaling the scent of ozone and spearmint for the last time. “I love you, dad. I love you so much.” Her fingers dug into his ruined suit as she cried. “I love you.”
He caressed the back of her cowled head. “I love you more, honey.” Pulling away, he leveled her with a firm look. “Now run, Lightning Flash. Run.”
The bluish-white lightning flowed across her body, and she turned, letting her feet carry her across the war-torn field, escaping the atomic blast. The world melted around her, a blur of memories surrounding her: her birthdays, her parents’ faces, her first stroke as a Flash, the start of the war, the deaths of her friends and family, everything up until now.
She was helpless to stop the tears that flowed down her cheeks, the feeling of her heart pounding in her chest, and the booming in her ears as she ripped through the waves of time and the boundaries of space.
A shriek sounded behind her, and she turned her head, eyes widening. “Ah shit!”
The time wraith screamed at her again, reaching out to grab her and she just barely dodged it, turning back to face the flowing warp. She was close. All she had to do was get to the next time boundary and she could lose the wraith.
“Almost there!” she told herself as another bellowed sounded in her ears again, and with one final leap, she burst through the barrier, the waves collapsing around her. The shock of the blast sent her skidding along the ground, and she cried out as she rolled.
Shouts sounded in her ears, humans, but she was more concerned about the screaming time wraith. “I just lost everything! Can’t you just leave me the hell alone!” It shrieked at her again, advancing and anger welled through her as she pushed herself to her feet and she growled, “You wanna dance, you sonovabitch? Then let’s dance.”
Her eyes lit up in a white force and she darted past the wraith, hitting a point above it, then she darted past again, and again and again in a star formation, over and over until all that could be seen was a blur of blue and white. The clouds rumbled above, swirling faster and faster and she hit the top of the star, coming down at the wraith. A burst of lightning cracked from the sky, striking the time being just as she collided with it, and in a hail of blue and white strikes, the wraith exploded into smoking fragments.
As the smoke cleared, the human voices grew louder, but she was sprawled out on the ground, breathing heavily, her body crying under the strain. Someone placed their hand on her shoulder, worrying, “Are you alright?”
She nodded weakly. “Yeah…just gimme a minute. The five-star lightning strike always takes a lot outta me.” Shutting her eyes, she focused on breathing deeply.
“I’ve never seen anyone destroy a time wraith before.”
“It takes practice.” Craning her neck, she opened her eyes, and bit back a sob as the man’s face cleared before hers. “You’re this world’s Flash, aren’t you?” she whispered, “Barry Allen.” His blue eyes widened, and he nodded mutely. “I figured.”
“Who are you?” he asked. “What world did you come from?”
She shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. It’s gone now.” Meeting his gaze once more, she added, “But you can call me the Lightning Flash.”
“What’s your real name?” Barry quizzed.
(Y/N) Allen. And I’d tell you that but all it’d do is bring hurt to both of us.
“(Y/N) Sloan.” She laid her head down, closing her eyes. “I’m gonna take a nap for a while…I’m really…tired…”
His voice called out to her, but all she heard was a warbling noise as she drifted into darkness.
***
When she came to, her head felt like someone had thrown an overripe melon off a balcony ledge and watched it splatter across the ground. She groaned and forced her eyes to open, pushing herself up on her palms.
“Woah, woah, woah!” someone worried. “Take it easy there, Flashy.”
(Y/N) looked over, seeing a familiar green symbol, and an ever more familiar unmasked face. “I’m fine, Hal.”
He blinked. “You know who I am?”
“Please, I’d know that big head of yours from a mile away.” Smirking, she added, “I know everyone in the Justice League.” She grunted, pulling her left arm over her chest, feeling the taut muscles in her back ripple as she stretched them out. “Where am I?”
“The Watchtower.” Hal gazed at her curiously. “Man, when Barry said you knew who he was, I didn’t think he meant you knew all of us.”
“You sound upset that you didn’t get to introduce yourself,” she shot back with a pained grin, stretching her other arm. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ll forget I know you, and you can reintroduce yourself.”
He chuckled and pressed a button on the side of the med bay bed. “Nah, no point now.” He looked down at the small light flashing. “Hey, she’s awake.”
In an instant, a sharp wind blew across the room and there stood the scarlet speedster without his cowl; moments later, the doors opened and in walked the top League members, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman.
(Y/N) threw her legs over the side of the bed as they walked over, waving off Barry and Hal who both reached for her, and stood on shaky legs. “Shit, I feel like a newly born giraffe.”
“You shouldn’t be up.” Barry frowned. “You practically tore yourself apart at the molecular level.”
“It was that or be taken by a time wraith,” she shot back, cracking her neck. “How long have I been out?”
“Eighty-six hours,” Batman said, taking her chin in his hand, tipping her head side to side as he shown a light in her eyes. “Your body’s been recovering slower than it should for a Flash.”
(Y/N) blinked. “The particular move does like Barry said it did. It tears the body at the molecular level to contain the speed force into one location.”
“It was dangerous,” Barry scowled, and she couldn’t help but laugh at this younger version of her father who was still just as serious.
“Being a Flash is dangerous.” She felt Batman pull away and she flexed her fingers. “I don’t use the move unless it’s a life-or-death situation.” Glancing at Barry, she questioned, “What earth is this?”
Before he could speak, Batman denounced, “You time jumped, and you don’t know what earth you came into?”
“I didn’t exactly have time to think out a plan while a nuclear blast was going off, Bruce,” she growled, glaring at him from behind the neon blue mask. “And to top it off, I had a time wraith coming after me. I wasn’t in a position to choose which earth I wanted.”
He went silent, gazing at her intently. “Whose names do you know of the Justice League here?”
(Y/N) looked around at the superheroes before her. “You’re all the same Justice League as my earth, but in mine, you’re retired, and your children run the show.”
“I’m sorry, children?” Hal interrupted. “We have—we have children?”
“Some,” she laughed. “Conner Kent is our Superman, Donna Troy is our Wonder Woman, Jason Todd is our Batman, Kyle Rayner is our Green Lantern, and Roy Harper is our Green Arrow.”
“And you?” Superman questioned.
“I’m my Justice League’s Flash. The Lightning Flash.” (Y/N) smiled wearily. “The fastest woman alive.” She toyed with the blue and white gauntlet. “At least now I am.”
“You said you were our kids?” Hal said. “Are you Barry’s daughter?”
The two Speedsters looked at each other and she answered calmly, “No. My transformation into the Flash was a freak accident, much like Wally West’s. That being said, I’m not related to the Flashfamily by blood.”
“Hmm.” Batman grunted, then turned, wandering off. “You need to rest up more then we’ll run tests.”
“Only if she consents.” Barry called out.
Bruce stopped, not even bothering to look over his shoulder as he retorted, “She’s a Speedster from another universe. We need more information before we can let her loose in anyone’s city.”
As he wandered off, she placed her hands on her hips and griped, “God, I miss Jason being Batman. He’s less of a jerk-off about new things.”
Superman chuckled, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t take it the wrong way…(Y/N), was it?”
She nodded. “Yeah, (Y/N) Sloan.” Sticking her hand out, she added, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Pleasure’s all mine,” he murmured, shaking her hand strongly, then he pulled away. “He is right though. You should get some more rest before you wander around the Watchtower.”
She waved it off. “I’ll be alright. If you’ve got a treadmill designed for Speedsters though, I’d like to run a bit.”
“I’ll show you where it is,” Barry answered, leading her from the group. As they walked down the hallway, she paused, leaning against the wall as a wave of nausea came over her; he caught it instantly. “Are you okay?” he frowned. “We should go back to the med bay.”
“No.” she grunted. “I’m fine. Just…just gimme a moment.” Shaking it off, she squared her shoulders. “I absorbed speed from the remaining Speedsters on my world before I left. It’s just taking a toll on me.”
“Why absorb their speed?” he asked, and she could tell from his voice that there was a level of suspicion in it.
“Because it was the only way to keep it from being stolen by our enemies as we were being slaughtered.” (Y/N) looked down the hall. “We can go now. It’s passed.” She bypassed him, wandering down the hallway, though she kept a hand on the railing the entire time.
***
It wasn’t a surprise that they sent her back to Central City with Barry after the few tests she’d let them run. Only tests on the outside, no blood or DNA samples for them to investigate. Barry’s apartment was cramped and there wasn’t room for them both to be in the kitchen, but she’d lived there before, so ducking under his arms and turning around him was second nature.
And Barry, bless the kindhearted soul he was, tried at every opportunity to make her comfortable in the home. (Y/N) respected it, knowing that even worlds apart, Barry Allen was still Barry Allen. She watched him sometimes. When he was sitting on the sofa or at the bar, flipping through paperwork or reading a book on physics. He always lost track of time, forgot what was happening around him, but his face showed ease. Peace. Like the world wasn’t on his shoulders.
It made her miss her father. It made her miss her family and friends. Her world. (Y/N) cried at night on the couch, silent tears dripping down her cheeks as she remembered every last moment of her family and friends’ lives. She’d been lucky in the end to come out unscathed. But her father, his friends, her friends, all dead. All killed in a pointless war that ended with the entire world blown to hell—and she was the only one left.
She sat beside the window, gazing down at the quiet street below her; she felt like crying, but by now, she’d cried out every tear, and all that remained was the hole drilled in her chest, empty and aching.
“(Y/N)?” Glancing over, she saw Barry coming out from his bedroom, brows furrowing at her. “Are you okay?”
Shrugging, she looked back out the window. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be okay again, Barry.” It was hard to not call him ‘dad’ all the time, and weird to call him ‘Barry’.
She felt him sit opposite of her on the little bench. “Can I help you anyway?”
It took a while for her to speak, but when she did, her voice was barely above a whisper. “It’s all gone. My life. All of it. I’m the only one left from my world.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I’m…alone.” His hand rested on hers and she felt tears well in her gaze. “I miss my family…and I miss my friends.”
She shook her head, looking at him. “Why my world? Why us?” tears slipped down her cheeks. “Everything was fine one moment and the next thing any of us knew, the world was going to war, and we couldn’t stop it.” A loathing laugh escaped her. “We were the Justice League. The proteges of the greatest heroes and yet we couldn’t stop war.”
(Y/N) wiped her tears. “We failed. I failed.”
“What happened wasn’t your fault, (Y/N).” Barry murmured. “You know that.”
“It feels like it.” She countered. “What do I have to show for all my saving? A sole survivor stuck in a world that has no need for her.”
His eyes were narrowed in concern, the way her father’s used to do when she’d tell him of her troubles and doubts. “There’s always a need for us. Everyone one of us.”
“Speedsters?” she asked, and he squeezed her hand.
“If the universe wanted you dead, you’d be dead, (Y/N). But you’re here and you’re alive.” He smiled sadly. “You can’t outrun the past. But you can change the direction you’re running in.”
She gazed at him and for once in the past few weeks she’d been there, she felt her heart lighten. “Thank you, Barry.”
He smiled warmly at her and patted her hand. “Since we’re both awake…wanna go for a run?”
(Y/N) chuckled and nodded her head. “Yeah. It’d certainly help burn off the emotions.” She held out her hand and Barry looked at the ring on her finger.
“Wow, your ring is cool.” He took her hand, gazing intently at it. “I noticed your suit isn’t red like most of us Speedsters are. Yours is mainly blue and white.”
She nodded. “It was too complicated to call myself Flash since there were more than one, so I took the name Lightning Flash and designed my suit the colors associate with lighting.” (Y/N) vibrated and reappeared in her suit. “Blue and white.”
“With silver trimming,” he added, poking the mask she wore, and she batted his hand away.
“Hey, gold’s overrated.”
Barry’s face pinched as he vibrated into his suit. “Is not!”
“Is too! It’s the colors for the Seminoles.”
He placed a hand to his chest. “I can’t believe you just told me my colors were FSU’s colors. I’ve been fatally wounded.”
“You’re a drama queen,” (Y/N) laughed then started towards the door. “Race you to Coast City!”
Barry sped after her. “Why Coast City!”
“Because it’s California, man!” she watched as he matched her speed. “And Hal’s apartment always has Doritos!”
“I think you might have a crush on our resident Green Lantern,” Barry teased and (Y/N) gagged.
“Dude, gross.”
“Oh, come on! Don’t tell me you aren’t friends with your Green Lantern!”
“The best, but Kyle and I were only friends! My dalliance fell with another team member!”
“Batman?” he asked, and she nodded.
“Batman.”
“Oh. Lovely.” Barry sighed. “You and Jason Todd seem like a wonderful pair.”
(Y/N) snorted. “Contrary to popular belief, Jason was actually a fantastic Batman. He loved it, oddly enough.”
“That is odd,” the Speedster countered. “Because as far as I know, none of the Batkids want to be Batman.”
She merely laughed in return, passing the Coast City sign.
***
“You know these aren’t…my world folks, right?”
He smiled, watching the group of young adults across the room laugh and joke around. “I know, but the lot of us thought it would be good if you got together with the age group of you own.” Barry looked over. “Besides, I think you’re going to fit right in with this world’s group.”
(Y/N) tipped her head side to side, huffing a laugh as Jason thumped Kyle in the side. “We’ll see.” She let Barry lead her over and the small group perked up at their arrival.
“Hey guys, thanks for coming on such short notice. I know you were busy.”
Jason crossed his arms over his chest. “So, why did the League invite us all?”
Barry gestured to (Y/N). “I’d like everyone to meet (Y/N) Sloan. She’s a Speedster who recently arrived on this earth.”
“Recently?” Roy asked and he nodded.
“There was a…problem on her earth.” He glanced at her and nodded, prompting her to speak.
“My world isn’t in the general stream of timelines anymore.” She smiled awkwardly. “I came here to…survive more or less.” Holding out her hand for one of them to shake, she said, “But it’s a pleasure to meet you all.”
“You know who we are?” Kyle asked as he shook her hand.
“Yeah. This world is surprisingly similar to mine, Kyle.” (Y/N) smiled with a little less awkwardness. “I know all of you.” Her eyes fell on Jason who was watching her closely, teal eyes narrowed in calculation. “Penny for your thoughts?”
He hummed. “Who are we over there?”
At that, all the awkwardness fell away. “You don’t wanna know,” she giggled, and his face dropped.
“No.” she nodded, and he whispered, “Me?”
“You.”
“I’m confused,” Roy interrupted, and Donna snickered.
“I think Jason’s the Batman of (Y/N)’s world.”
“HA!” everyone dissolved into hysterics as Jason proceeded to all but cry.
“I don’t wanna be Batman!” he whined. “Why am I Batman! Why not anyone else!”
(Y/N) laughed. “What are you talking about? You volunteered to be Batman.”
“Jesus, I must’ve lost my mind then,” Jason retorted, then looked at her. “Do I carry guns?”
“Non-lethal rounds.”
“Damnit.” He sulked. “Can’t freakin’ believe I’m the Batman on your world and I willingly put the suit on.”
“You were a good Batman,” she stated. “There wasn’t anyone I trusted more to watch my back on the team.”
He met her gaze, seemingly shocked, though it only lasted a minute as he quizzed, “So if I’m Batman, does that make all of us…?”
(Y/N) nodded. “Yep. Wonder Woman, Superman, Green Arrow, and Green Lantern.”
“And you?” Kyle asked.
“Lightning Flash,” she answered coolly. “The fastest woman alive.” Meeting their gazes, she tipped her head down. “I know you’re not them…but I do hope we can be friends.” She smiled. “You can never have too many of those, no matter what world you’re on.”
Kyle looked over at Barry who was almost crying. “We get to keep her, right? Because if we don’t, I’m going to be very upset.”
(Y/N) snorted and wrapped a loose arm around his waist. “Don’t worry, Kyle. I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.” A growling sounded and her cheeks warmed as she pressed a hand to her stomach. “Sorry about that.”
Jason laughed, getting to his feet. “I guess Speedster stomachs are the same no matter what world you’re on.”
“Isn’t that the truth,” Barry retorted, and the vigilante looked at her.
“Wanna annoy Batman and hang around Gotham City?”
(Y/N) nodded. “Absolutely.”
“Wait for me!” Roy shouted, yanking his legs from the table, and soon the others were following.
Barry watched them as they walked to the Zeta-Tubes, laughing and ribbing one another like they’d been friends since childhood; someone nudged him in the side, murmuring, “She’s gonna be okay.”
He nodded as Hal settled beside him. “Yeah…I know she will.” He smiled as (Y/N) leaned into Jason’s side and brought a hand to her eyes, wiping the tears away. “She’s already fitting in better than I thought.”
“(Y/N)’s a strong woman,” Hal acknowledged. “She acts a lot like you in that aspect.”
“How so?” Barry inquired and the Lantern shrugged.
“Well, you can’t get her to stop attending League meetings no matter what Batman says, and she’s always ready to put herself on the line for us.” Hal huffed a laugh. “And she treats me like I’m an old man. I’m thirty-eight and she acts like I’m fifty-six.” He looked at Barry. “But she flows in the world like you, Barry. Her mannerisms, her styles, her speech, it’s all you.”
The Speedster frowned, quietly stating, “You think she’s my future daughter, don’t you?”
Hal shrugged. “She doesn’t look like you, but she’s comfortable around you. Like she knows she’s safe if you’re there with her.”
“Why lie about it though?” Hal could tell Barry was hurt. “Wouldn’t she want to tell me?”
“If you lost everything and showed up in another world where there was a parent still alive, would you act like nothing changed or would you keep it at arms-length?”
Barry sighed. “You’re…right.” He shook his head. “I didn’t even think of that.” His frown deepened. “She must hate looking at me though. I’m not her dad but I’m another version of him.”
“She doesn’t hate you, Barry.” Hal said, clasping his hand on his best friend’s shoulder. “She’s just…trying to keep it all together and not mix this world with hers.”
“I feel connected with her.” He admitted. “The speed force works funny like that. We can feel other speedsters—we know their speeds and auras.” His voice became soft. “Hers feels like…like…”
“Like?” Hal encouraged and Barry sighed.
“Her aura feels like when I went back in time and saved my mom.” He shook his head. “It’s hard to explain but she feels like—”
“Like family.”
Barry gaped at Hal. “Yeah…that’s exactly it.”
Hal nodded. “She’s still your daughter even worlds apart.”
“What do I say to her?”
“Don’t.” he answered. “Let her come to you about it.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Barry agreed.
***
The group had dispersed as quickly as it had come together, not that she was overly upset—she knew they all had prior engagements and teams to be apart of, but she would’ve been lying to say that it hadn’t saddened her a bit. Jason and Kyle, however, seemed to be the only ones that were usually around, Jason more than the latter.
(Y/N) liked being around Jason. He was much more hotheaded than she was used to, but she decided that like the Flashes, Jason Todd was Jason Todd no matter what universe he was in.
He was a little more reckless than she knew, playing fast and loose with the game, but he knew where his feet landed with each jump, and he was there when she needed help, her the same.
It hadn’t taken him long to deduce that the two of them were more than friends in her world, making the joke that she was his Catwoman—she’d cried she’d laughed so hard, but it given them time to talk about everything that had happened to her and her world; most importantly, her father.
She watched as Jason reclined against the cool stone of the ledge, passing one of the wrapped cheeseburgers to her. “Thank you,” she murmured, unwrapping it.
“Mhm,” he hummed, sipping his milkshake, setting his hood beside him; he swallowed and looked over. “What’s on your mind?”
(Y/N) blinked. “What are you talking about?” he merely cocked a brow and she sighed. “I forgot you could read people well.”
“Well maybe if you were a book and not a pamphlet, it’d be harder.”
“Did you just call me simple?”
“Never.” He waved it off. “What are you thinking about?”
She sighed again and set her half-eaten burger aside, pulling her knees to her chest as she whispered, “My mom’s maiden name was Sloan.”
Jason arched a brow. “You go by ‘Sloan’. Was your mom married?”
“My parents were. She died from cancer when I was ten.”
“I’m sorry,” he lamented, and she smiled.
“Thank you.” (Y/N) looked over. “My last name is Allen.”
His eyes widened. “As in Barry Allen, Allen?”
“Yeah…my dad.”
Jason blinked. “Holy shit.”
“Mhm.” She propped her chin on her knees. “The reason I’m just as fast as Wally West in this world is because I absorbed my dad’s speed before I left mine.” (Y/N) gazed at the city. “And then I left him to die in the blast.”
“You know that wasn’t your fault.”
She huffed. “So Barry’s told me.”
Jason stared at her. “Why do you live with him in Central City?”
“Because I don’t have anywhere else to go,” she answered. “And I…I—”
“You miss your dad.” He answered for her, and she nodded, feeling warmth gather in her eyes and she squeezed them shut.
“Yeah…it’s not him but…”
“It’s the only thing you’ve got that’s close enough to him.”
“Yeah.”
Jason nodded. “You’re welcome to come live with me over here.”
(Y/N) looked over at him. “I can’t do that, Jason.”
“Why not?”
She laughed. “We barely know each other.”
He shrugged. “We know each other enough.” Gazing at her, he added, “I’m not your world’s Jason, but we must be similar enough because I’ve seen and felt you fall behind me during fights, being at my six when I didn’t have it covered.” He smiled. “You know me, (Y/N), and I’d like to know you too.”
She merely gaped at him, then huffed a laugh. “I think that’s the most similar thing to my world’s Jason that I’ve heard you say.”
“Oh, come on!” he griped. “He couldn’t be that different from me!”
(Y/N) smiled. “Robins.”
Jason blanched. “I had Robins?”
“You had a son, who was exactly like you right now.”
“I wanna ask about the son, but what do you mean right now?”
“Oh, you know…hotheaded, anti-social, antagonistic.”
“You’re cute,” he scowled, then looked into the distance. “I can’t imagine bringing my kid with me.”
(Y/N) giggled. “Please, it took him like five years of complete begging on his knees before you’d even let him put on the suit, let alone go out with you.” She reached over and pushed hair behind his ear. “You were a good father…a good man.” Her expression turned sad. “I wasn’t fast enough to save either of you.”
Jason leaned into her touch, a frown on his face. “They know you tried, (Y/N).”
Tears gathered in her eyes. “I hope they knew that.” She shook her head as the tears started to spill over. “I lost everyone. You, JJ, my dad and all my friends.” (Y/N) stared at him through the tears. “How do I just start over after all that?”
He pushed the takeout bags out of the way and scooted over, pulling her to his chest; she buried her face in his suit and he propped his chin on the crown of her head. “I wish I had an answer for you.” He rubbed circles in her back. “But I do know that you can either let this keep you down, or you can get back up. Because if you don’t…then every life lost was in vain for you to survive.”
“I take it back,” she blubbered. “Your philosophical bullshit life lessons are the most Jason thing I’ve heard.”
He smiled, squeezing her tight. “That’s what we’re gonna call it now. Philosophical bullshit life lessons.” Jason pressed a kiss to her head. “It’s going to be okay, (Y/N). It’ll get better.”
***
It’d been a full year since she’d come to the new earth. She hadn’t moved in with Jason yet, but the moving boxes on the couch were the start of it—and she hadn’t told Barry she was leaving, or that he was her dad. (Y/N) wasn’t sure how to break that seal just yet.
She wandered around the tiny apartment, smiling at all the memories she’d made in the past year, and into his bedroom, where she paused at his dresser. A gold ring rested on top of it, and she picked it up, flipping it in her hand.
A woosh sounded from the door. “I’m home!” Barry’s voice trailed off in confusion and he called, “(Y/N)?”
“Here.”
He appeared in her peripheral, but she didn’t take her eyes off the ring, still gazing at the center stones. “There are boxes on the couch.”
“I’m moving in with Jason over in Gotham.”
“Oh…” he murmured, then took sight of what she had in her hands. “Is that—”
“Nora’s wedding ring?” she nodded. “Yeah.”
“How’d you know it was my mom’s?” Barry asked, stepping up to her and she finally looked at him, meeting his eyes.
“Because I had the same one in my world.” (Y/N) searched his gaze. “But you don’t seem surprised by that fact.” She sighed. “How long have you known?”
Barry’s face contorted in shame. “A few weeks after you got here.”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
He shook his head. “Hal said—” he sighed. “I wanted to wait until you said something to me about it. I was afraid if I did, you’d run.”
(Y/N)’s brows pulled together, lips pulling down sadly. “Barry…”
“I know I’m not your dad,” he whispered. “But I know, (Y/N). I can feel it.”
She felt her lips wobble and before she knew it, she was throwing herself into his arms, wrapping hers around his waist as tight as she could. “Dad.”
Barry’s arms came around her, one holding the back of her head, the other in the middle of her back. “I’m here, (Y/N).”
“I missed you so much,” she cried. “I wasn’t fast enough to save them, and I couldn’t save you either.”
“No,” he said. “You did everything you could. I know you did.”
“But I wasn’t fast enough.” (Y/N) sobbed. “You had to give me your speed so I could run away. Like a coward.”
“Like a survivor,” Barry corrected. “You’ve never run away.” He ran his fingers through her hair. “You’re a survivor, (Y/N). And your dad made sure of that.” He pulled away slightly, tears of his own dripping down his cheeks. “You’re fast enough.” She shut her eyes as more tears rolled down her cheeks and he pressed his lips to her forehead. “And no matter what world you’re on, you’re still my daughter.”
A laugh that sounded much more like a sob escaped her and she hugged him again. “I love you, dad.”
Barry smiled, holding her tight. “I love you more, honey.”
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lubdubsworld · 3 years ago
Text
Perfect Imperfections.
Jeon Jungkook x OC 
Genre : Arranged Marriage AU! Angst! Explicit Sexual Content. 
Rating : 21+ 
Warnings : Ableism , Chronic disability. OC has limited use of her left leg, Emotional infidelity? Mild Cheating ( nothing very physical.. a kiss or so ) 
Summary : Marrying Jungkook is a mistake. Falling in love with him? Definitely the worst exercise in masochism . 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[ This is nothing but me indulging my love for writing bad cliches. That is it. Its literally a fest of cliche k drama tropes] 
Chapter 1
After the accident, my life had become something of a stagnant pond. 
Everyday began much the same. 
The alarm, mild but not jarring. Not very shrill but definitely insistent, sweeping away any lingering traces of sleep. I blinked awake, cobwebs of exhaustion still marring my vision but a few deep breaths, a few more blinks and I was awake .
And now came the harder part.
Getting my legs to work. 
It never got better, despite the many years that I’d spent in physiotherapy. All it really did was stop it from getting worse. Or maybe I’d just gotten used to the pain at this point. 
Deep breaths helped. Sometimes. 
But not today. 
“Mrs Jeon?” The familiar voice made me jump a little. 
“Sana...” I said, relieved. “ Could you come over? Seems like I’m going to need some help today.” I laughed nervously, gripping the sheets harder.” Could you help me sit up?” 
The girl moved closer, feet nimble and quick and sure and i felt my throat clench in envy. I swallowed it down though, just the way I swallowed every bad thing that came my way. 
It had been eight years ago.
 A fall from a fifty feet ravine. Cuts and scrapes all over my body, abrasions all over my torso. And legs that had absolutely shattered on impact. Multiple fractures. Motor Nerve Damage on my left leg. 
The skin stitched together. The bones grew back. 
But the nerve damage stayed. 
I wasn’t completely helpless. I could walk with the brace. Slowly and with a mildly awkward gait but I could walk. Even better if I was using crutches. 
But it wasn’t something I could hide. 
People looked at me and that was the first thing that they noticed. 
The girl who couldn’t walk. 
I sat still, gripping the edge of the bed as Sana carefully grabbed the brace and helped me put it on. I watched as she carefully set the loops in place, fixed the velcro and finally helped set my toes in place. 
“Thank you.” i whispered and she nodded.
“Mr. Jeon left early. He said that he won’t be home tonight.” 
I smiled a little. 
“I’m sorry. I know you don’t want to be caught between us. It must make you feel uncomfortable.” I said . 
She looked surprised but quickly ducked her head
“No, Mrs. Jeon.” 
I sighed.
“You may leave. I’ll come down soon.” I said quietly. 
How handsome he looked, in that beautiful dark suit. How strong and handsome and ...whole. 
Right next to a framed article about us from a magazine.
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Jungkook ran  marathons and trained as a boxer. He worked as the managing director at a steel manufacturing unit . Spent his days overseeing workers in the smelting units, and everyone knew that it wasn’t uncommon to see the Jeon heir, shirtless and sweaty and covered in dirt and getting down and dirty with all the other workers as the ore got delivered. 
Someone like that... Someone that perfect.... Deserved a woman who would be an equal. Beautiful and graceful and perfect. And he had had her. My sister. For three years, I’d watched my sister and Jungkook be the perfect couple . Deeply in love and so happy. 
I watched her leave, gently closing the door behind her, before shifting my gaze to the large  portrait on the opposite side of the wall. It was a picture of my husband and I taken on the day we got betrothed. 
What they hadn’t counted on was how greedy our parents could be. 
Jungkook was the younger son. And his father had long written him off as unreliable. He was wild and headstrong. Had his own ideals and morals. Wouldn’t really bend to his father’s will. So his brother was the one who would be set to inherit the company. 
And my father , with his billion dollar empire wasn’t going to give away his precious daughter and all of her inheritance to a paltry second son. 
Jungkook’s brother had married my sister. And Jungkook had been forced to marry me. A comedy of errors , except it wasn’t really funny and no one was laughing. 
I swallowed. That was seven months ago. The first few weeks had gone in stony silence and hushed whispers. I knew he was talking to my sister. Knew she was sobbing in despair on the other end. My sister and I had never gotten along. And now, she had a genuine reason to despise me. 
Three months into marriage he had a small accident at the Manufacturing Unit.A small fall, not that far. Ten feet or so, but he’d crashed into a steel structure on his way down. He had a dislocated shoulder and some flesh wounds. Not that bad. 
But my entire body had gone ice cold at the news, when i first heard it. 
It was a brutal sort of realization. 
That perhaps I wasn’t as indifferent to him as he was to me. Six weeks, with him had changed things. He didn’t talk much, other than the bare minimum but I didn’t hold it against him. I helped him anyway I could. Typed out emails for him. Helped him eat and change. 
Hands brushing and time spent together meant tension. And a shift in the way he looked at me, sometimes. I noticed, wasn’t sure if I could act on it. But he was still my husband. And I didn’t really want to spend the rest of my life celibate. 
So, even though it was so unlike me... I’d made the first move. Linked my fingers with his. Brushed my lips across his. A gesture that meant a hundred things. A touch that invited more. And he must’ve wanted it, at least physically. Because he indulged me. Gave me a glimpse of heaven on his bed. 
And yet, six weeks of being as close as two humans could be didn’t change much.  
We were strangers who slept together. Who appeared in public together. Who did everything our family expected of us. And I wasn’t sure how to bridge that awkward gap between us. Jungkook was a fiercely physical person. His free time was spent in the gym , or cycling or hiking. 
I couldn’t walk across the room without having to grip the walls for support every few minutes.                                                              
Could anyone blame him for being bitter? For being distant? For not knowing what to do with me? 
And in all this time , I’d only learnt a handful of things about my husband. How he felt on top of me. How he sounded when he came, how he looked eyebrows furrowed as he talked into his phone  and of course, how little he cared about me. 
Yes, we would have sex. Yes, he bought me a couple of gifts when he was overseas. But otherwise his heart belonged to my sister. It wasn’t something he hid. 
As the days passed, I realized that it was time to keep myself safe. That I couldn’t show him all of me anymore. He was careful with me, guarded and secretive because he was smart. He didn’t want me to know anything about him. 
There was a reason. There had to be. 
So the best thing to do would be to do the same. Build that distance between us. This was going to crash and burn someday and I had to 
And the past few weeks, he’d been busy with more deals. Some kind of MoU with some supplier had gone south and they were looking for different suppliers. Jungkook was busy. I hadn’t seen him in ten days. 
And now apparently he had come home and left without so much as seeing me. 
Sighing, I moved to the garden, walking slowly to the marble bench set under the large sweetgum tree. I settled down , sighing. I ran a palm over my belly, soft and hesitant. 
I was two and half months along. It didn’t show...thanks to the oversized clothes I wore. But it wasn’t the kind of thing you could hide forever. I wasn’t sure why I started hiding it in the first place. It was just that.... I knew that no one would be happy for me. My family would be ecstatic but for the wrong reasons.
I could already imagine .
 Finally. Now he can’t leave you. 
I felt sick to my stomach at the thought of it. At the thought of someone talking about my baby like some sort of handcuff to lock Jungkook in. 
I would have to tell him. Of course. But I didn’t know when or how . I didn’t want to hide it from him. There was no point. But ... I wasn’t quite sure i wanted to see that look of helpless disappointment in his face. 
The sound of his car drew me out of my reverie and I startled, glancing over at the wide driveway. I glanced at the time . It was a little past eleven in the morning. What was he doing here? 
“Leah! Get inside!” Jungkook’s voice rang out and I jumped. 
“Jungkook?” I stared as he all but jumped out of the car rushing to me. 
“Come on.. get up.”
“What’s going on..?” I asked, heart pounding as he gripped my elbow, drawing me into his arms. 
“Dad fucked up. Got mixed with some shady bastards and apparently, they’ve put a hit out on me and hyung.”
My heart dropped.
“What?!!” I choked out, stunned. “ Jungkook...” My fingers curled over his chest, clutching the 
“Don’t worry... we know who it is and we have guys of our own. They’ll take care of it. No one comes for a Jeon and lives to tell the tale. I just wanted to make sure you stayed in. Don’t go anywhere. there are guards all over the place. but i want you to stay home. Okay? Just till this blows over?” 
I flinched, legs aching fierce as he led me up the stairs and he stared at me, eyes dripping with worry. The look was so foreign....so unlike the indifference I was used to that I could only stare. 
“Are you alright?” He asked urgently and I nodded quickly, hands curving over my stomach instinctively. 
“You’ll stay here right? With me...?” I asked softly and Jungkook hesitated. 
“I... I need to go check on Lisa.” He said stiltedly and I froze at my sister’s name.
“She’s with her husband, right?” I asked sharply, anger building out of pure fear. “ Why do you-”
“Don’t question me. Go in. Now.” He said quickly and I frowned. 
“You don’t have to go there. She has a husband of her own.” I said quietly, voice shaking. 
“I have to. I... I have to just go make sure she’s alright.” He snapped angrily and I curled my fingers into fists. 
Apparently, even when there was a very real threat to our lives, he would rather risk my life and his than let go of his obsession for my sister. i wanted to vomit. My skin felt clammy and my heart raced. I imagined him doing this when we had a kid....risking our child because he can’t stop thinking of her.... And he would do it..... Of course he would. 
“Then go.” i snapped, tears filling my eyes .  I yanked my arm out of his, stumbling a bit.
Jungkook looked shocked. 
“Leah...” He reached for me but I pulled back and away. 
“Go to her and don’t you dare come back here.” I screamed. Jungkook stiffened. 
“Leah... enough.”
“You’re right. I’ve had enough . Of your dirty pining. Of you. She’s married for god’s sake. To your brother. They’re together. Its over and done with. Why can’t you just accept it and move on?!!” I choked out. My chest hurt. 
“You knew I loved her when you married me.” He snapped back and I laughed in disbelief.
“Yes. And you knew I’d break someday. That I’d someday have enough of you treating me like I was disposable. Isn’t that why you kept at it for so long? You wanted me to be the one break things off right? So you could get out of your father’s anger...unscathed. Well, guess what. You got your wish.... I’m done!! “ 
He didn’t reply.
“Go inside. I have to go.” He said softly. 
I watched as he turned on his heel and stalked back down the driveway. 
Was it supposed to hurt this bad? My heart felt a bit like it was cleaving in two. Had I really just told him I had enough? What did that mean? Was I going to leave him? I felt my head spin , worry and fear laced with disbelief.
 Someone was out to kill him? How could he be so flippant about it? 
I shook my head. The Jeon’s were  a weird bunch. Although they were one of the richest families in our society, they lacked any of the charming social graces that came with it. For years, everyone had kept them at arm’s length because while all other families had aristocratic roots and beginnings, the Jeon’s came from a background of mining iron ore and making steel : a rugged and dirty business.
The only reason my father had agreed to 
And was I really going to leave him? where did I even begin? I couldn’t leave. I had no home to go to. My parents would take one look at me and send me back to Jungkook. I felt like a prize fool. I was stuck here. For eternity. That was all there was to it. 
A decade ago, I’d had a future. But that evening on that mountain trail had changed my life forever. I was , for all intents and purposes disabled. I couldn’t just walk out of here and build a life for myself. I wouldn’t last a day. 
I dragged myself to the living space, stopping when i saw how deserted the place looked. 
There were usually people bustling about. Especially so close to lunch. 
“Sana!!!” I called out, only to be met with the echoing silence of my own voice. And then a few seconds later she appeared , 
“Mrs. Jeon.... Is Mr. Jeon here?”
“He just left... Is everything okay?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Where is everyone? Are all of you busy?” I asked nervously. 
She bowed. “ Yes, ma’am.... The rest of us are cleaning out the pantry and Cook’s in the kitchen. Seul and Leejin are out in the backyard cleaning the statues near the koi pond. Mr. Jeon’s asked all the footmen and guards to stay around the perimeter. Will you need anything else?
“No... I’ll just rest till lunch.” I said gently, waving her off.
She left. 
The eerie silence that followed told me there was nothing to do but embrace the loneliness and I hesitated, moving slowly to the window and peering out. I couldn’t see any of the guards either. 
My fingers shook a little as I moved slowly to the entryway that led into the dining space. It was dark in here, the light from outside only illuminating the west wall which had large windows set in. I moved to the windows and stared out into the Jeon estate. 
Although Jungkook was the younger brother, he had been taxed with maintaining and caring for the family estate. Not because his father trusted him but because the old man knew just how much Jungkook hated the place. 
I played with my wedding ring as i remembered the countless times I’d watched the two of them fight, Jungkook coldly still while his father hurled abuses at him. Jeon Jaesook considered his son to be incompetent and disobedient, which made little to no sense to me. 
As far as i knew Jungkook had helped increase production and had cut down operating costs significantly over the seven years that he’d been working as the managing Director at Jeon Steelworks.
But it was obvious the old man favored Jihyun, Jungkook’s older brother. Jihyun worked in the air conditioned offices located in Gangnam, the CEO taking care of all their sales and marketing while Jungkook , who had an actual degree in Business spent his days slaving away at the smelting Units, a job that was physically and mentally exhausting. 
And while it always made my stomach twist, this unfair treatment he got subjected to, there wasn’t much i could do. My father had made it clear that he wouldn’t agree to the investment, unless both his daughters married the Jeon brothers. And Jungkook’s father had made it clear that if Jungkook didn’t agree , he would be out on the streets without a penny to his name. 
My leg began aching and I turned back around ready to go settle into my workroom where I usually worked on my writing when I heard his footsteps. I glanced up, frowning. 
Jungkook stood in the doorway staring at me with an unreadable expression on his face. 
I stared at him for a few seconds, waiting for him to say something. 
When he didn’t, I sighed.
“Did you think I was going to leave?” I asked bitterly.
He sighed. 
“I’m not going to cheat on you. “
I nodded.
“I suppose you want me to thank you for that?” I shook my head. “ You don’t have to keep your worthless vows. Go sleep with her. Why would it make a difference to me?” 
He exhaled sharply. 
“I thought you understood.” He said sharply.
“I did. I do.” I said curtly “ I understand that my parents screwed the two of you over. I understand that you had to do something you absolutely did not want to. But there’s something you need to understand too. Just because I’ve accepted this, it doesn’t mean I enjoy it. It doesn’t mean I have to be happy about my husband being in love with another woman, much less my own sister.” 
Jungkook nodded. 
“Right. Got it. “ He said curtly and I flinched when another muscle twitch told me I’d been standing for too long. 
“I’m going to go lay down.”
“Do you need me to get you a heating pad? For the leg? Or send one of the girls to massage your legs?” He asked softly, stepping closer and lightly gripping my elbow when my knees buckled. 
I didn’t have much choice than to grip his forearm, because the pain was intensifying from pins and needles to proper muscle spasms. Sweat began to bead on my upper lip and i felt just a little faint. 
“Yes. “ I said , feeling pathetic. I should have used the crutches. It had been a bad day even when I woke up. I should have sensed it and taken the proper measures.
“Leah... Should I run a warm bath for you? “ Jungkook's lips brushed my ear when he leaned to hold my weight up and i stiffened. 
“That won’t be necessary. I just need help back up to the bed, thank you.” I said shortly. He looked uncertain and shook his head. 
“ okay, but I’ll get Sana to run you a warm bath and make you some willowbark Tea.” He said quietly, and when I stumbled a bit on the first step he swore. 
“This isn’t going to work.... Come here.” He said gruffly and before I could protest he bent low, gripping the back of my knees and pulling me up into his arms.
i swallowed, head spinning as I cradled the curve of my lower belly. 
 Tell him... Tell him... Tell him...
 I felt my head throb as I kept my arms wrapped tight around his shoulders. 
“I’m pregnant .” i blurted out. 
Jungkook stumbled , nearly sending the both of us tumbling down the flight of stairs and i clung to him in terror. Okay, maybe the timing could have been better.
“What?” He looked ashen. Like he’d seen an actual ghost. 
“Just thought you should know.” I muttered under my breath. 
We reached the landing and he didn’t say anything, looking away from me, his jaw taut and lips set in a  thin line. I felt my throat go sandpaper dry. He waited till we were safely in the confines of our bedroom, placing me down on the bed gently and moving to close the door and lock it. 
I stared up at the ceiling, refusing to look at his face. 
“ Leah-”
“Its fine. You don’t have to say anything. I didn’t know till a week ago myself.” 
Silence. 
“Have you told your parents?” 
I exhaled sharply.
“No.” 
“Mine?”
“No...”
“Then would you consider.... “ He trailed off and i finally stared at him. 
“No.” I said softly. 
He sighed. 
“Alright. Should  I book an appointment with Dr. Lee?” 
I laughed. 
“How very practical of you..” i said. 
“What else do you expect from me..”
“Not even an ounce of support, that’s for sure.” I snapped and he growled.
“You want me to lie? Fine.. I’m happy!! So fucking happy that we’re bringing an innocent kid into our fucked up family. ” He shouted.
 This was why I didn’t want to tell him, I thought bitterly. 
“You’re the only one who’s fucked up, Jungkook. I’m perfectly fine with myself and my choices. I can give my baby all the stability they might ever need.”
“ That’s not hat I'm talking about. do you know what its like to grow up with parents who can’t stand each other?” Jungkook shouted. 
I gaped at him. Can’t stand each other? Is that how he saw us? 
“As long as you don’t walk out on us, we’ll be fine.” I muttered despondently. 
“ Don’t worry about that. I’m not going to run away from my responsibilities. ” He said quietly.
I finally turned to look at him, placing both my hands on my stomach.
“Do you want me to leave you?” I asked honestly.” Have you ever thought about it?” 
He didn’t say anything.
“So you have.” I smiled sadly. It wasn’t surprising but it did hurt. 
“Of course I have. You’re Lisa’s sister and Lisa is my... “ He paused, shaking his head, “ But, I know you can’t. I don’t expect you to either.” He said gruffly, grabbing the intercom.
I watched as he called the housekeeper, firing off instruction for Sana and then to the cook to send some tea for me. He hung up and turned to me again.
“Lisa and I are going to go to Japan for a week. She has a conference there and I’m going to scout for locations just in case we open up a distribution office there.” 
I turned away. 
“ You don’t have to tell me all that. You didn’t before, i don’t want you to start now.” I said firmly. 
He didn’t reply and i turned back to stare at the ceiling. 
Jungkook hovered for a few seconds before moving closer to the bed and grabbing the comforter and a couple of pillows. I felt a lump in my throat as he carefully picked my leg up, placing the pillows underneath. i was almost numb from the thigh down. 
i closed my eyes as he carefully pulled the comforter over my waist, folding it over my chest. 
“Rest well.” He said quietly before walking away. i heard the door opening and then closing. 
i waited till I heard his footsteps fades away before opening my eyes and staring at the ceiling. 
I should probably put some paintings up there, I thought. 
Author’s Note : This entire fic can be summed up as me not having any self control. 
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sacredsorceress · 3 years ago
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Know You Better || Bucky Barnes
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pairing: 40’s!bucky barnes x rogers!reader
summary: your brother’s best friend, bucky, rescues you at the dance club and walks you home, but you both have feelings that are a bit more than friendly
a/n: i have been on such a 40s!bucky x rogers!reader kick i’m so sorry but i hope you enjoy! reblogs and replies are super appreciated!!
word count: 2.0k
warnings: attempted assault, fluff
masterlist || request || taglist
1940
Listening absentmindedly to the brunette seated beside him, Bucky took another drag from his cigarette, his eyes trained on you dancing across the room.
He wasn’t sure if you had seen him when you walked in, but he sure as hell did. He couldn’t keep his eyes off of you as soon as he caught you walking into the establishment with some of your friends, not even taking six steps into the building without some guy asking you to dance. Although he was there with his own date- a girl he had asked out at the diner yesterday- he regretted it as soon as he saw you in that other man’s arms and felt his heart drop to his stomach.
He hated it- thinking that way about you- he knew he shouldn’t. He knew it was wrong. You were Steve’s sister. There were thousands of eligible ladies in New York and he just had to have feelings for his best friend’s little sister.
He should have seen it coming- he had always had a soft spot for you- getting into fights any time someone looked at you the wrong way, making up lies about his sister begging him to ask you to braid her hair just so he could see you without Steve there, and even the simplest things like knowing he laughed harder when you were there laughing along with him. 
As much as he hated it, he wasn’t the only one who had seen it either- his mom teasing him that one day he was gonna settle down and marry that Rogers girl, him having to slap his hand over his sister’s mouth because he just knew the little punk was gonna let it slip one day- he was undeniably soft for you with only you and Steve being none the wiser.
Watching as the guy rested his hand on your lower back, pulling you closer to him, Bucky began to feel his blood boil. Who did this guy think he was anyway? He didn’t deserve to hold you close like that. He didn’t know you. He didn’t know you the way that Bucky did.
As the band continued to drone on in the background, Bucky began to grow tired watching the sight of you two together and was ready to head home until he saw you shake your head adamantly and part from the man, making your way to the far corner of the dance club where the bathrooms were situated, the man you had just been dancing with following behind you.
As soon as you left his line of sight, Bucky put out the cigarette he had been smoking in the ash tray. Cutting off the brunette whose name he couldn’t even remember, he pulled out his wallet, leaving cash on the table before standing up.
“It’s been nice, doll.” He said. “But I’m gonna have to go.”
Without another word, he shoved his wallet into his back pocket, striding over to the back corner of the building.
-
Swinging open the door of the bathroom, you saw the man you had just been dancing with waiting right outside the door in the tiny hallway just off the main room.
“Oh!” You exclaimed, bumping into the man you had never caught the name of.
“One more dance?” He asked.
Shaking your head, you chuckled nervously trying to push past him. “No, sorry. I can’t.” You faux apologized. “My brother’s waiting for me at home and I don’t wanna worry him.”
Just as you attempted to move past him, he pushed you against the wall of the dimly lit hallway and grabbed your hands when you tried to shove him away. Struggling in his grasp you jolted backwards as his head made its way into the crook of your neck.
“C’mon sweetheart.” He whispered. “The night’s still young-”
“She said no.” A familiar voice spoke up from behind him.
Feeling a sense of relief wash over you, you took advantage of the man’s distraction and shoved him away from you, Bucky grabbing him by the collar of his shirt as he stumbled into him. Shoving him against the wall you watched as Bucky’s face came inches away from the man’s.
“Listen man.” The guy said throwing his hands up in the air. “I don’t want any trouble.”
“Yeah?” Bucky asked. “Didn’t look like that to me.”
“C’mon pal,” The guy chuckled nervously. “Just let me go and we can forget this ever happened.”
“Y/n?” You heard your brother’s best friend ask.
“Yeah?” You answered, standing up straighter.
“What do you think I should do with this guy?”
Wrapping your arms around yourself and checking the time on your wrist watch, you shrugged.
“I don’t know, Buck.” You sighed. “It’s getting late. Steve’s gonna wonder where the hell I am. I told him I was just goin’ to dinner.”
Heeding your words, Bucky pulled the man’s face closer to his.
“You got lucky this time.”
Once Bucky saw fear in the man’s eyes, he felt satisfied, throwing the man to the floor and watching as he scrambled to his feet and ran out of the hallway. Turning back to you, Bucky pulled the pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, slipping one out.
“I could have handled that myself, ya know.” You said, still leaning against the wall.
Shaking his head, he scoffed slipping the cig into his mouth.
“Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.” He said looking up at you, pulling a lighter from his other pocket. “You and your brother, Y/n... ya know... sometimes it would be nice to hear a ‘thank you’.”
You understood what he meant- Bucky was looking out for you just as he always had and as much as your pride hated to admit it- you were glad he had come to your rescue when he did.
Watching him bring the lighter to the cigarette that hung from his mouth, you shook your head.
“C’mon, Buck.” You groaned, snatching the lighter from his hand. “Those things will kill you.”
“There’s a war going on, doll.” He said plucking the lighter from your grasp. “I think a cig’s the least of my worries.”
Hearing the pet name slip from his mouth, you began to feel the heat rise to your face.
In all the time you had known James “Bucky” Barnes, you had heard him call dozens of girls that name, but never you. He had always called you by your name or teasing nicknames like “punk” or “kid”- never “doll”. That name was saved exclusively for girls you took on dates and kissed on the walk back to their apartments - not you.
But as he used the name on you for the first time, whether it was an accident or not, you felt butterflies floating in your stomach.
A part of you hated that you didn’t hate it and the other wished he would call you that again and again.
“James please.” You urged. “You know I hate the smell of those things.”
James.
As much as he loved his nickname, the sound of his first name falling from your lips was sweet as honey and so intimate he swore he would do whatever you asked when you said it.
Taking the cigarette out of his mouth, he shoved it back in the pack and into his back pocket, pulling up his sleeve to check his watch.
“You’re right.” He said, clearing his throat. “It’s getting late. Let me walk you back home.”
Following him out of the hallway and into the main room, the sound of the band still playing in the background, you spotted the man Bucky had just thrown out speaking to what you assumed was one of his friends. Adverting your eyes from him, you instinctively moved closer to Bucky, wrapping your hand around his bicep.
Feeling your touch against his clothed skin, his heart skipped a beat as he pulled open the door of the club, both of you moving outside into the cool summer night air.
“Why were you here anyway?” You asked, walking alongside Bucky on the sidewalk. “You have a date or something?”
“Yeah.”
You felt your heart sink to your stomach.
“But I wasn’t interested. I stopped listening to her story about her last date two minutes in.”
Just now realizing that you had been holding your breath, you breathed a sigh of relief.
“Sorry, Buck.” You apologized half heartedly, a part of you glad that his date with another random girl he had just met didn’t work out.
“S’alright.” Bucky assured you. “There’s plenty of better girls in the city. I’m walkin’ with one of 'em right now.”
Glancing up at your brother’s best friend beside you, you met his eyes and smiled.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were flirtin’ with me, Barnes.” 
Gazing down at you, your face highlighted by the dim glow of the streetlamp illuminating the sidewalk, his breath caught in his throat. He didn’t know what to say next. You had been consuming his thoughts for months- years even- that now as you tested the waters he couldn’t find the right words to speak next.
He couldn’t risk losing you, but as he admired you in the soft glow of the moon shining above the apartment buildings, he knew he couldn’t risk not having you either.
“Would that be such a bad thing?”
Now the one speechless, you stared up at him, noticing the seriousness in his face- not a hint of his usual teasing smirk in sight.
Just as you opened your mouth, you watched as the light switched on in your apartment above. 
Shoving Bucky against the wall of the building so he was out of sight, you looked up as the window opened and your brother’s head popped out.
“Y/n?” Steve asked. “That you?”
“Yeah!” You called. “I’ll be up in a second. I just gotta... fix my shoe.”
“Were you talkin’ to someone?” He asked, checking the sidewalk below you.
“What?” You asked, shaking your head. “I wasn’t talking to anyone. You’re hearing things- go back to bed before you wake up the block!”
With that you watched as your brother shrugged, moving himself back into the apartment, slamming the window shut. Emerging from the shadows, Bucky gestured towards the apartment.
“You’re lying to your brother now?” He asked. “You really don’t want to be seen with me that bad?”
Strolling towards him, you laughed.
“I love Steve, Buck, but sometimes he can be a bit too protective.” You said, grabbing the end of his tie. “I gotta go, but...”
Tugging on his tie, you pulled him towards you and when his face lined up with yours, you pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.
“Thanks for saving me, James.” You whispered in his ear.
As you dropped his tie from your hands, he stood up straighter, watching with wide eyes as you made your way back towards your apartment, throwing him one last glance over your shoulder with a smile before climbing up the steps and out of his sight.
Feeling the heat rise to his cheeks, fearing that he was blushing so hard anyone could see it even in the darkness of night, he held his hand up to the spot on his face where you had just kissed him, leaning back against the wall.
Feeling his heart thump against his chest, he knew he was done for.
A part of him had always known that his mother was right- that he was gonna settle down one day and end up with the Rogers girl. As much as he had dismissed it, promising “Ma, she’s Steve’s sister. She’s my friend”, he knew better. As he stood there leaning against the brick wall of your apartment building on that cool summer night, a part of him knew- as he would recount to you on your wedding day- that it was the end of the string of new girls on dates every other night for him and the beginning of the rest of his life.
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soulmate-game · 3 years ago
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Curiosity Killed the Exorcist
“And then, see here? You have to be on the lookout for subtle signs like these. This indicates that he’s…” Marinette nodded as Tim continued explaining, pointing out various body language and other clues out on the Batcomputer. It had only been about six months since the Batfam collectively adopted the little ladybug into their menagerie of heroes, and started teaching her deductive habits and skills. She would not allow them anywhere near Paris on pain of death (some of them had already tried, and Bruce was still recovering from the bruise to his ego. The bruise on his ass from being teleported out of the city and onto the stone of the Batcave was gone, though) but she welcomed any help they could give from within Gotham’s city limits.
Usually, at least in the beginning, they did their mentorship at a distance over video call. But then Tim found out her identity, and Marinette made the excuse of wanting to meet with them in person to gauge their trustworthiness for herself and erase their memories of her identity if they failed her test— and, well, it all snowballed from there until she was teleporting to the Batcave every few days for detective lessons. She was practically a Bat herself, if not for her out of theme codename. And she found herself surprisingly comfortable with the thought of them being a… very eccentric extended family.
Tim was flipping to another saved video in the Batcomputer archives to show another example of his current lesson, when Tikki flew up to Marinette in a hurry. She was holding Kaalki’s glasses. The little kwami whispered something in Marinette’s ear, instantly making the teen blanch and force on the glasses.
“Sorry Timmy, gotta cut this short! I’ll come back tomorrow to make up for it! Okay? Okay! Awesome, you’re the best, bye!” She ignored all of Tim’s protests and rapid fire questions, instead opening up a portal and jumping through it as fast as humanly possible. The portal has barely disappeared before an all-too-familiar voice rose up from behind Tim.
“Maybe I’m still drunk, ‘cause I could’a sworn I just saw a portal closing in the damned Batcave, of all places,” the British-accented drawl was accompanied by the flick of a lighter and accompanying fizzle of a flame. Tim groaned, mentally making a note to ask how in the world Marinette had known that John “Annoying asshole” Constantine was showing up soon, and if he could be in on the warning next time. Bruce, cowl still off, walked over from where he had been sparring with Damian and crossed his arms. He had also heard Marinette’s hasty exit, and made a few mental notes of his own before focusing on the exorcist in front of him.
“What do you want, Constantine?” he grumbled. Any time the blond brit showed up, things only got far more complicated than he ever enjoyed. And he always gave Bruce a migraine, to boot.
“Two things actually, Batsy,” John held up to fingers as his free hand tucked his lighter away in his pocket. His unlit cigarette stayed in his mouth though, probably just for the familiar feel of it. “One; I’m gonna need you to tell me why there was a portal closing when I walked in, because I’ll be honest. The implications there are way more interesting than what I came here for in the first place.”
“None of your business. What’s the second thing?” Bruce immediately shot him down, but John was not one to be deterred. He never fucking was.
“But you hate magic! You make sure I know that all too bloody well every time I pay you a visit, so why the sudden change in heart? Huh?”
“Drop it, Constantine. What. Do you. Want?”
“Fine, fine. I need your help with…”
— * — * — * — * — *
A week later, Marinette was sitting with Jason and Damian in one of the manor’s sitting rooms, the three of them just minding their own business and silently enjoying one another’s presence. Even if two of them would never admit it. Jason was reading Jane Eyre for the millionth time, Damian was leaning against Titus on the ground as he sketched, and Marinette was embroidering a sunhat. Unfortunately for her, Alfred the Cat was currently asleep on her lap and thus holding her hostage.
Even as Tikki flew up to her ear in a panic and whispered, making Marinette prick herself with her needle. She hissed for a second but shrugged off the familiar pain, much more concerned with whatever news Tikki had given her. Damian and Jason were already on high alert from the second that a whispered curse had left her lips, and were staring straight at her and her kwami and Marinette frantically tried to find a way to get up without awakening the cat sleeping on her.
“Uh, what’s wrong?” Jason asked, feeling thoroughly confused and left out. On one hand, he knew that if they were in physical danger she would have moved Alfred the Cat without hesitation. On the other, he did not like the sheer amount of anxiety he could see her experiencing. Marinette’s frantic eyes shot over to him, pupils mere pinpricks and hands mouth agape as she tried to form some sort of plan.
“Uh— “
“Ah! You must be the fair maiden that the Bats are comfortable with using magic around them,” John goddamned Constantine threw the door to the sitting room open wide, making it bounce off of the wall and lightly smack back against his shoulder. He ignored it as he grinned at the three younger people in the room, waltzing in casual as anything. He wagged a finger at her playfully. “I’ve been awfully curious about you, ya know? Brucie boy knows a shit ton of magic users, but he never likes seein’ any of us do our thing. And to not only allow you to teleport without any apparent discomfort but to actively protect your identity from me? Now that’s a damn accomplishment and I really gotta applaud you for it,” he mockingly clapped his hands a few times. “So what’s your secret, huh? I won’t tattle.”
“No thanks. Kaalki, a little help?” Marinette carefully pushed Alfred the Cat off of her lap before diving into the portal that Kaalki whipped up for her, the entire process happening so fast that Constantine couldn’t even get out a proper “hey!” before she was gone and the portal closed. He just nodded, hooking his thumbs in his pockets.
“Ya know what? Fair. That’s fair.”
“Goddamn it, Constantine!” Jason threw up his hands in frustration. “Why the fuck do you have to scare away one of the only sane people in this family?”
“Part of my charm, little red riding hood.”
— * — * — * — * — *
“You know, I’ve been pretty damn nice not teleporting right over to you whenever you disappear. So why don’t you just tell me why you’re avoiding me now that we happen to be in the same room by complete accident, huh?” John asked from where he sat in one of Bruce’s lounge chairs sipping on a beer. Marinette mimed choking him, clearly fed up. He had been trying to have a conversation with her for the past three months, ever since that one time he caught the tail end of her portal closing in the Batcave. Three. Long. Months. And he hadn’t given up, because something about this little Parisian teenager intrigued him. She was sixteen, that much he had gathered from the Bats. But to be sixteen and not only in possession of the Horse miraculous but also clearly the Ladybugs, since he had seen Tikki more than once as well, now that was interesting.
Anybody being in the possession of more than one Miraculous was already cause enough to be keeping an eye on them, which was why he had been keeping an eye on the Paris situation and had pieced together on his own that the presence of Tikki meant that this little parisian teenager was none other than Ladybug herself. Now, that? That was a whole new level of concerning, especially since he knew firsthand that the old Grand Guardian was gone and passed his title down to— yeah, Ladybug.
After that deduction, his interest in Marinette had swiftly switched from curiosity to fuck-I-need-to-know-what’s-going-on-here. Because no kid should have to deal with that kind of weight, and Constantine always looked out for kids when he could.
But right then, Marinette was glaring at him. She had been just coming over for a normal “family” dinner with the Waynes, which she attended from time to time. And apparently they had decided to have Constantine already over so that they could chaperone a meeting between them that would hopefully appease the stupid british magic user enough that he left them all alone again until the next time he needed help.
“Believe me when I say, you’d rather not know,” she replied sharply, glaring Dick. He was the one who had convinced her to come despite her recent close calls with Constantine in the past few days. He studiously avoided her gaze. “I just would rather not cross your path, and there’s no reason for us to interact. Why do you care, anyway?”
“You see, now that is an excellent question!” he chugged the last of his beer and gestured to her with the empty bottle. “Normally, I wouldn’t give a flying rat’s ass. But I’ve put two and two together, since I know who Tikki is,” he nodded to the red and black Kwami. “And maybe I just wanna keep an eye on the new Grand Guardian to make sure she’s doin’ alright. That’s an awful lot of magic and responsibility that you don’t deserve, but I’m not about to try to take it away. Keepin’ an eye on you is the next best thing.”
“Try again,” Marinette shot back, crossing her arms. “You were interested in me before you learned about me being Ladybug.”
“I’m nosy, what do you want me to say? I saw a portal in Batman’s man-cave, I get curious. Sue me.”
“Well. I have Bruce and everyone else already watching out for me, so you can leave me alone now. If I need your help, I’ll make sure to ask every other magic user first before contacting you.”
“Woah, now what’s all this venom for?”
“Uh, maybe we should go and actually eat dinner?” Dick tried to step in, hands up. Constantine had stood up from the chair he was in, which was usually a cue to change the subject as fast as possible. “Before Alfred has to come get us?”
“Maybe I’ll be less venomous if you let the subject drop and leave me alone!”
“Context would be nice, though.”
“Seriously guys, let’s go! Food!” Dick was once again ignored.
“Context is the last thing you need in this situation,” Marinette’s voice was suddenly soft, her arms dropping to her sides. “We’ve had this conversation so many times in so many now-deleted timelines. Just drop it this time.”
“If those timelines are now-deleted, then I obviously don’t remember what’s so bad about telling me why you’re acting like I’m some hated family member you’re avoiding!”
Silence.
Pure. Fucking. Silence. As they all watch with front row seats as Marinette flinches at the word ‘family’.
Pure silence as Constantine’s shoulders drop at the sight of her flinch, realization slapping itself on his face.
“No.”
“See? I fucking knew you would— that this would happen. This always happens, you always hate finding it out, but you’re so— so stubborn!” Marinette was blinking away tears, digging in her pockets and bringing out Kaalki’s glasses. “You’ll drop it now, at least. You always do.”
“Now what is that supposed to mean?” Constantine rubbed his forehead, still trying to sort through his amalgam of emotions. Marinette just shook her head, turning to Kaalki.
“Do you mind showing Monsieur Constantine the way out, Kaalki? I’ll grab you a load of sugar cubes afterward.”
“No, wait, hang on a second!”
A portal opened up under him, making John “Stubborn Idiot” Constantine drop ten feet down onto the hardwood, polished floor of his house. His bruised tailbone would take a while to heal, but his frazzled mind was by far the more concerning development. He staggered to his feet, reaching for the nearest bottle of tequila.
“Ugh, fuck my damn life.”
— * — * — * — * — *
“Marinette..?” Damian nudged the girl with his shoulder, frowning. It was after dinner that same day, and as much as he hated to admit it he had grown to actually like having her around. She was a good friend to have. And seeing her slumped back on one of their sofas, sketchbook covering her face and not a single rambling conversation to be had or heard? It was very concerning. She just made a groaning sound to answer him, prompting his frown to deepen. “Are you alright?”
“I just can’t believe that such a sweet, adorable thing like you is half made up of Constantine’s genes,” Jason mused bluntly from the opposite couch, where he tossed a rubber ball up and down out of boredom. “But now I see where you get all of your Disaster Bi-ness from.”
“Shut uuuuup,” She groaned, chucking her sketchbook at him. He caught it in midair, replacing his rubber ball with it and tossing it up and down in the air. “I’m just frustrated. This timeline is still perfectly stable, so I can’t erase it. And I can’t exactly ask ‘hey, can someone commit a horrid atrocity that makes this timeline split from the main one so that I can erase it and we can start over from four months ago?’ because that would be horribly irresponsible of me. But seriously, Jason. If you’re gonna ever commit, like, city-wise arson? I’d probably condone it right now if only so I have an excuse to use time travel to get out of this situation.”
“Not committing arson unless you give me a better reason for it, Pigtails.”
“Damn.”
“But are you okay?” Damian asked again, seeing as she had completely ignored him.
“I’m fine, Damian,” she finally sighed. “And I know how this is gonna go. He’s going to totally ignore me now, until we meet during some magical crisis and he only interacts with me when necessary. Then he pretends we never met, we have a private little one-sided whisper-argument about how he will never make a good father figure and I would be better off leaving him alone, blah blah blah. Avoidance is a coping mechanism I guess I inherited from him.”
“Guess it’s a good thing I’m trying to bite that in the bud then, eh?” Marinette startled out of her sitting position, seeing John stumble into the room…
Drunk off his ass. But apparently still at least mildly coherent.
“I agree with deleted-me’s, I’m not gonna be a dad. Not me,” he tripped, landing on his still-bruised ass and hissing in pain before continuing from the floor; “So if you’re looking for another Daddy dearest, that ain’t me.”
“See, I knew this is how you’d—”
“Let me finish,” he interrupted. “I don’t know how long the booze is gonna last and I need it’s courage here. ‘Kay? ‘Kay. Where was I? Right. But I know magic, ya know. The kind that doesn’t rely on little bobblehead gods to do. I got— like, a million books. Shit ton of books. At my place. Ya can read ‘em. My books. At my place. But I ain’t gonna parent, but I can lend ya books. Maybe give magic advice. Teach a little. Little bit. Didn’t think I’d have a child, but apparently I do and she’s the fuckin’ grand guardian and a damn hero, and I don’t know how the fuck I was able to help make someone like that. But whatever, it’s not like the world’s ever fuckin’ been easy on me,” He pulled out a sample-sized bottle of whiskey from one of the pockets on the inside of his trench coat and chugged it. After a brief wince and hiss at the burn, he kept rambling. “My door’s open, is what I’m tryin’ to say. No guarantee I’ll be in any state to talk to when you walk through it, but it’s open.”
Deciding to steadfastly ignore the tears streaming down her face, Marinette just swallowed thickly and nodded.
“I, uh. I think I can work with that.”
John barely made it to the nearby bin in time to vomit into it.
— * — * — * — * — *
I hate my imagination sometimes, guys. I started imagining a convo between Mari and Constantine at like 4am and it wouldn't leave me alone until I got it down. but by the time I wrote it, I kinda forgot like 60% of the original convo and just winged it. And this was born. I 100% blame @multifandomscribette because their Bio!dad John Constantine headcannons are amazing and even though this isn't in that universe, those headcannons are exactly what inspired this. So blame them, lol.
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