#guardian angel chapter sixteen | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

jazzthatonewriterchick · 2 years ago

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HERE, KITTY, KITTY (18+ Fic)

Pairing: Aizawa x Black!Catgirl!Reader

Synopsis: In which you find yourself in the weirdest predicament after you’re scooped up and taken to a cat cafe after you decide to take the streets to fight some crime, and you’re adopted by your very anti-social and hot coworker Aizawa aka Eraserhead.

Story Warnings: Smutty smut, 18+ (MINORS GET AWAY), Swearing, Adult!Reader, Ear and Tail Stroking, Light Degradation, Spanking, Exhibitionism, Multiple Positions, Creampie, Unprotected PIV Sex, Facial, Scent Play, Collaring, Deepthroat, Cunnlingus, Begging, Edgeplay, Power Play, Rope Play/Shibari, Master Kink, Some Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Some Action

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters mentioned in this fic. However, as this is my writing, I do not give permission for my work to be reposted on any other sites that are not from my own accounts. Thank you!

Writer’s Note: Had some time on my hands in between writing papers to update. I fucking hate school man OH MY GOD...i can't wait to graduate next month. Stay safe, y'all & enjoy! -Jazz

Read on AO3 here!

Other Chapters: One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen. Fifteen. Sixteen. Seventeen. Eighteen. Nineteen. Twenty. Twenty-One. Twenty-Two. Twenty-Three. Twenty-Four. Twenty-Five.

*********

SEVEN.

If Eri has any aspirations of being a singer, she’d put Mariah Carey’s career in a fucking coffin with the sheer volume of her wailing.

Aizawa groans in agony and annoyance at the high–pitched sobs and wails that Eri has been making since early this morning when she found her precious pet missing.

It only got worse when Aizawa told her the black kitten they had both grown accustomed to had run away. He didn’t dare mention the crazy feline jumped out his window and fled across campus, never to be seen again. He didn’t want to hear how loud Eri could get if she learned that.

He did everything to try and calm her down before he was due for work in an hour, but nothing seemed to work, not even the promise of pancakes for dinner. And Eri loved pancakes for dinner! She just stood in her PJs and wailed, her cute little face as red as a tomato and contorted in sheer, internal pain and anguish.

“I. W-Want. M-My. Kitty!” she wails, each word punctuated by a sniffle.

Aizawa stares down at his poor daughter, wishing there was something he could do. He could possibly adopt another cat, but with how close Eri became with that crazy-ass black kitty, can he count on her doing the same with another?

“Honey, I’m sorry,” he laments, kneeling down to wipe at her tears. “I know you miss her, but I guess she just loved the outdoors more.”

That was the wrong thing to say because Eri only cries harder, her tiny chest heaving with the sobs that break from her throat. Aizawa swears under his breath. At this rate, she’ll never calm down before he’s due for work, which starts in an hour. He hasn’t showered, changed out of his PJs, or had his coffee. And Aizawa needs his coffee. Otherwise, his head will be fucked up all day.

However, when he hears a blessed knock at the door, he's sure he has a guardian angel. “Stay here,” he tells Eri before getting up to hurry to his door.

He opens it, finding Mic standing there in his gym clothes and carrying a shitload of stuff for Eri in a backpack that he has reserved only for her: coloring books, juice boxes; Disney DVDs; basically, anything that can distract a child long enough to stop crying.

Aizawa has never been happier to see his friend. He was hesitant about calling Mic over here on his day off, but Mic also specifically told him that if Aizawa is ever in trouble, Mic is always there. And now, Aizawa is drowning in trouble.

“Thank God you’re here,” he sighs, relieved as he pulls Mic into his dorm. “Sorry to call on your day off, but I don’t know what the fuck to do. She just keeps screaming. And I have to teach class in an hour.”

He motions towards Eri who is now sitting on the couch, sobbing away into her hands. Mic immediately puts the backpack down without another word and swoops in to rectify the situation.

“Heeeey, little listener!” he greets the red-faced girl, plastering on a big smile. “Uncle Mic is here! Now what’s all this about you crying, huh?” He plops down next to her, placing an ankle on his lap and looping an arm behind the couch.

Eri only stops crying momentarily to tell him what happened, but it comes out as a whine more than anything. “M-My kitty ran awaaaay!”

Aizawa resists the urge to cover his eyes at her wails. He’s never seen her like this before. He’s always felt that he did his best to ensure Eri was at her happiest, even adopting a cat for her to make sure she wasn’t that lonely while he was teaching or patrolling. There aren't too many young kids at UA (her age, anyway) and he knows it would be hard for her to interact with children because of what she’s been through with Overhaul.

His hands clench as he remembers that time, spending sleepless nights watching over Eri in case she wet the bed again or had another night terror. He vowed then to make her the happiest, but now, seeing her with her face wet and damn near inconsolable, he feels like a failure.

Mic tuts at his “niece’s” crying and scoots closer to her. “Awww, honey,” he coos, wrapping an arm around her head, and cradling it to his chest. “It’s okay."

“What if she gets hurt?” she sobs into Mic’s chest. “What if she never comes back? W-What if...what if…” Her words fall into broken syllables as she continues to bawl into Mic’s chest, wetting up his pink shirt.

“You’re sure you wanna watch her on your day off?” Aizawa asks nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. Mic looks at him like he’s insane. “You kidding? I’m this girl’s uncle which means I’m her second dad. If she needs me, I’m here.”

Aizawa has never been more grateful to have such a good friend. Quickly, he goes to Eri and kneels in front of her, slowly moving her hands from her face. “Hey, sweetie, Daddy has to go to work, okay?” he gently says.

He’s never seen such terror in her eyes before. She frantically shakes her head, squeezing his hands in hers. “No, Daddy!” she sobs, tearing Aizawa’s heart in two. “Don’t go!”

Aizawa would gladly create a fake villain attack himself to spare himself a day with her, but he knows his responsibilities, and that includes his students. “Puddin’, I’ve got to,” he soothes her, “but listen: how does the sound of ice cream for lunch sound?”

Eri doesn’t respond nor does she smile. Big, fat tears continue to slide down her cheeks that Aizawa wipes away. “I’ll come back and get you on my break. Be good.”

He presses a kiss to her cheek before standing and glaring down at Mic in a warning. “If I come back here and see her like this, I’ll–”

“You’ve got an hour to get ready,” Mic cuts in, barely even heading Aizawa’s warning. “If I were you, I’d stop talking and get ready. Chop, chop!” He claps twice before grinning reassuringly at his friend. “Relax, Shouta; she’s in good hands.”

Without any more time to spare, Aizawa sprints into his bedroom to get ready for work, his heart splintering at the sound of his daughter’s cries.

*********

Aizawa has never felt more hopeless than watching his little Eri stare down at her ice cream like she was expecting the damn thing to abandon her two hours later around lunchtime.

Throughout the day, he’s been worrying over her, wondering if she ever stopped crying or if the cops were called because of her constant wailing. Mic never called or texted him, so he just assumed everything was fine.

However, when he went to pick her up for lunch, she wasn’t the hyper, bubbly girl he’d come to know and love. She was despondent and blue, not even touching smiling at him when he came to pick her up.

She sits in front of him now at her favorite, quaint little ice cream shop several blocks away from the UA campus, a tight-lipped expression on her face and sadness in her amber eyes. “How’s your ice cream?” he asks, trying in vain to make today seem normal. “You barely touched it, y’know. I thought you liked cookies n’ creme.”

Eri barely looks at him. Despite looking so cute in her pigtails and frilly dress, it means nothing without her bright smile to add to the outfit. Aizawa sighs, realizing this isn’t going to work. He pushes his cup of chocolate ice cream to the side and leans over to tilt her chin up with his thumb.

“Eri, honey, I know you’re upset about the cat running off, and I’m sorry that she did. I know you really cared about her.”

The little girl slowly nods and Aizawa cringes. He feels like he just set his daughter up to grieve for her pet as if the animal is worm food by now. Goddammit.

“How about we see if we can find her, hm?” he blurts, going with the first idea he has to fix the situation. “Maybe scout the streets and put out posters.”

Now, Eri perks up, the light coming back into her eyes. “Really?” she asks curiously, her eyebrows knitting together only adding to her cuteness.

Aizawa nods, just happy to see her smile again. He’d take her to the damn moon to find this cat if it meant he could see her smile. “I’m sure she didn’t go far,” he reassures her. “She’s probably closer than we think she is.”

“Aizawa?”

He isn’t sure why he doesn’t recognize your voice when he hears it, especially the way his last name sounds on it: like music. Maybe it’s because he hasn’t heard it in a minute since you supposedly went missing this weekend, but the way his body reacts to the sound of it hits all the same–he instantly freezes and his cock is rock hard.

It doesn’t get any better when he turns around to see you standing there, a duffle bag hanging over your arm and an iced coffee in your hand.

His eyes greedily and shamelessly trail down your form, drinking in the way you look in your athletic gear: those tight black spandex pants that he’s eager to see from behind and one of those cropped Sherpa pullovers with the zipper pulled down enough to show him a peek of your pink sports bra and the slight curve of your breasts.

'Oh, my God,' he thinks. Are you fucking kidding him right now?

Your eyes widen at the sight of him and your trail shoots up straight, meaning you’re happy to see him. Happy to see him.

“I didn’t know you came here!” you giggle, motioning towards the little shop. “I always come here for the coffee.” You shake your iced coffee at him he didn’t notice until now because he was too busy thinking about spending you over.

“I’m not used to seein’ you out and about either,” you playfully say, appearing easy-going and laidback. The last thing he wants to do is give you the wrong impression. So he closes his mouth (which was slightly parted at the sight of you) and tries to act as normal as possible.

“U-Uh, you too,” he stutters. “Um…you look…different. I-I mean out of your work clothes.”

He makes a note to drink bleach later. 'Goddammit.'

You don’t seem to think it’s a weird response though. You just giggle that cute little laugh that makes his heart flutter. “Just got done with a yoga class. You look quite different yourself.” She nods at the attire that he changed into before lunch: a loose black tee, jeans, and some boots with his hair tied back into a loose ponytail. Underneath your gaze though, he feels naked.

“Daddy?” Eri’s soft, little voice drifts to his ears, and he realizes that he is, in fact, sitting with his daughter while thirsting over his crush.

You gasp, covering your mouth embarrassingly. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” you quickly apologize. “I totally ruined your date!”

Aizawa looks at Eri who curiously stares up at you. “No, it’s completely okay,” he chuckles, liking your humor. “Eri, this is my good friend, Y/N. She works with me at UA. Y/N, this is my…”

His mind pauses, wondering if he should flat-out tell you he has a kid. Niece? Little sister? Cousin?

“Daughter,” he finally decides, hating to lie to you.

Your wide eyes tick from him to Eri, realizing setting in. “Oh!” you exclaim, looking surprised but not spooked. “Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Eri. Such a pretty girl you are.” You suddenly gasp, your eyes falling to the buttons decorating the strap of her little pink messenger bag. “And you like Sailor Moon? You have great taste!”

Eri’s eyes brighten, all of her gloominess suddenly gone. “Who’s your favorite Scout?” you ask curiously.

Eri is more than happy to respond. “Sailor Mercury,” she giggles. “I have a Luna plushy too!” She sits up straighter, all gloominess gone the instant you begin engaging in conversation with her.

You give her a shocked, open-mouthed look, eyes wide and so expressive that Aizawa wants to laugh. “Mine too! I don’t have a plushie, so you’re lucky. Do you have any more plushies I can be jealous of?” The white-haired little girl practically falls out of her chair to get out her little tablet and show you pictures of all of her plushies.

As she feverishly talks about each one, you nod along and pay close attention to her, giving eye contact as needed. Aizawa watches in astonishment and utter adoration for you.

He’s never seen someone interact with a child in such a way, and Eri so excitedly to talk to an adult she barely knows. He can almost see this being a new normal, you sitting on his couch as Eri talks about her day, maybe the both of you coloring together before he comes home from patrols and you snuggle the night away.

He scowls in confusion at the thought. ‘Where the fuck did that come from?’ he thinks.

“Woooww, Eri,” you gasp, gaining his attention. You're obviously over-exaggerating to make the little girl pleased with herself. “You must be rich havin’ all those in your room.”

Eri giggles at this, shaking her head. “Daddy got them for me!” she proudly states, grinning up at you. “Except for the Pikachu one. My uncle Mic got it for me for Christmas.”

“Well, that’s very nice of both of them,” you say and shoot Aizawa a wink. You suddenly begin to back away from their table, looking sheepish. “Well, I took up a lot of your time already, so I’ll just–“

“Don’t you want some ice cream too?” Eri asks, batting those pretty lashes at you that would make anyone give in to her. Aizawa’s eyes widen at her suggestion and he quickly reacts. “Uh, Eri,” he nervously replies, “Y/N already has plans. We don’t wanna ruin them.”

“I actually don’t have any plans,” you reply, looking flushed under the spring sun .“I took off today to run some errands and I was just gonna go home to do laundry…but that can wait if you’re okay with me joinin’ you.” Your tail swishes quizzically, curling at the tip as you anticipate Aizawa’s answer.

He is sold the minute he gets a look at that damn tail. “Make room, Eri,” he says as he goes to fetch a chair for you.

You thank him and sit down next to Eri, showing her your coffee. “I don’t need any ice cream, either. I’m good with just the caffeine.”

You sit with your legs crossed and your ears tiled forward and slightly angled to the side. They twitch every so often when you hear a bird or the honking of a car. Aizawa thinks it’s the cutest thing in the world. He has to ball his hands up into fists to keep from reaching out and petting them.

Not wanting to be silent the whole time you’re here, he decides to make some kind of conversation. “Nemuri mentioned you went MIA this weekend,” he says, trying to be as easy-going as possible. “Everything okay?”

Your eyes widen an inch and your ears begin to swivel nervously. You must not have been expecting that question. But then your ears perk back up and you give him a big, wide smile that doesn’t quite reach your eyes.

“Yeah!” you reply, a little too enthusiastically Aizawa notices. “I had gone out of town to visit my folks and it slipped my mind to call her beforehand. Guess you can imagine how that resolved itself.”

Though you laugh it off, Aizawa can’t help but feel like you’re not quite being honest about your night. But then again, it isn’t any of your business. He isn’t your dad or your boyfriend. “So what did you do this weekend?” you ask, smiling down at Eri.

“We got a kitty!” Eri blurts out, unable to keep the secret in. Aizawa gives her a fixed stare. “Eri!” he hisses to which Eri immediately covers her mouth, horrified.

You look confused more than anything. “Nezu lets pets into the dorms now? He sounded pretty serious about that rule when we went over everything when I moved into the faculty dorms.”

Aizawa huffs, pinching his sinuses. Eri’s filter erasure is usually endearing, but now, all he wants to do is slap a hand on her mouth. “He doesn’t,” he sighs. “I had adopted a cat for Eri this weekend, but the damn thing ran off as soon as I got her. Guess she just liked the outdoors more.”

“We’re gonna make posters and search for her later,” Eri informs you to which you nod understandably.

You glance at Aizawa, a hint of playfulness in your gaze. “Well, your secret is safe with me,” you say with a playful wink that tugs at Aizawa’s heartstrings. “And I know your kitty will come back to you. They’re never that far away.”

Eri smiles at your advice, looking hopeful. Aizawa has never wanted to kiss someone more until you sat down and opened your mouth.

Suddenly, Eri gasps, her eyes animatedly wide. “Daddy, you didn't tell Y/N who your favorite Sailor Scout is!” she announces, very, very loudly. Aizawa has never wanted to choke a kid out more than his own daughter as you throw your head back and laugh.

The rest of the lunch lasts for fifteen minutes until it’s time to head back to work. As you and Aizawa walk alongside each other up the trail to campus, Eri is busy picking as many flowers as she can: daises; daffodils; lilacs. Supposedly, she’s going to put them all around Aizawa’s dorm to “brighten up the room”. You thought it was adorable.

Aizawa ticks his eyes over at you briefly, his heart thundering in his chest. 'Say something, idiot!'

“Thanks for joinin’ us today,” he says, grabbing your attention. He shoves his hands into his pockets. “Sorry Eri put you on the spot like that. She gets real excited sometimes.”

“Don’t sweat it,” you giggle, waving a passive hand. “She’s the cutest little thing. If anything, I should be thanking you for letting me hang with you guys. It was fun.” The cherry blossoms are beginning to bloom and he notices one petal dusting your shoulder.

“Can I walk you back to your dorm?” he asks, surprising you and himself with the sudden suggestion.

You don’t look put off by it though, but your ears still nervously twitch. “U-uh sure, if it’s not any trouble for you. I could definitely use the company.”

Aizawa internally smiles as the two of you begin to walk along the trail leading to the faculty dorms with Eri in tow. You two begin to fall in stride, walking at the same pace. It feels easy to do, Aizawa finds, and he likes doing it. Even the silence between you isn’t tense or awkward but peaceful and content.

“I hope I didn’t overstep earlier,” you suddenly say, placing a loose strand of hair behind your ear. "I really didn’t know you had a daughter and I didn’t wanna assume anything.”

Aizawa shakes his head. “Don’t apologize. I keep Eri a secret for a reason: she’s a very bright little girl with a very powerful quirk. A lot of people are lookin’ to have that to themselves, so Nezu, the rest of the UA staff, and I basically protect her while she’s here. She stays in the dorms so Nezu can keep an eye on her and so I can ensure that she’s safe.”

You nod understandably at the new information. “Well, she certainly made a good choice choosing you as her guardian,” you softly pronounce. “I see the way you interact with your students. They really like you, Aizawa.”

Aizawa flushes at the genuine nature behind your words. “They can be good kids,” he admits, thinking about his students. “When they’re not stressin’ me the fuck out.”

“Aren’t all kids stressful in some way?” you lightly laugh. Your smile is just as dazzling and illuminating as the spring sun shining above.

“I’m sure you know all about that as a counselor,” he says, hoping you’ll take the hint and tell him all about it. He wants to know everything about you…if you’ll let him.

You groan, rolling your eyes. “You don't even know the half of it. Sometimes, them kids come into my office and it’s like pullin’ teeth tryna talk to them.”

Aizawa nods, knowing a few students in mind that he can put into that category. “But if I can help at least one kid with their problems as they go through the craziness of puberty and becoming a hero, who am I to complain? I love what I do for these kids.”

The genuine and true twinkle in your eyes and the soft passion in your voice make Aizawa realize how seriously you take your job. It isn’t just a good paycheck or benefits for you–it’s much more, and it all starts with the kids.

“I can tell you do,” he softly utters, adoring you more and more with each second he spends with you out here.

You suddenly stop and stare at him, wearing an expression Aizawa can’t quite place. However, your pupils are dilated and your tail swishes slowly between your thighs, relaxed and…happy?

Aizawa needs to get better with reading cats if he’s going to be able to read you better.

Suddenly, you snap back into yourself and clear your throat. “U-Um, this is me,” you stutter, nodding up at the dorm windows. “I’m pretty close to Nemuri’s dorm.”

Disappointment blooms in Aizawa, but he shoves it away, feeling stupid. All he did was walk you back to your dorm. Of course, it was bound to end! But damn, does he want it to last a little longer, just to stand here and look at you under the sun rays and cherry blossoms.

You give him a smile that sends the butterflies into a frenzy. “Thanks for walkin’ me, Aizawa.”

“Call me Shouta,” he replies, surprising even himself with his boldness. “And you’re welcome.”

But you don’t turn to walk away immediately. He doesn’t know why, but he takes advantage of it. “You’ve got somethin’ in your hair.” His eyes fix on the pink cherry blossom petal caught in your hair by your ear.

You go to try and blindly find it, but he stops you by quickly swooping in and brushing one of your pointed ears to pluck the petal out. As he does, his thumb lightly brushes your ear, causing it to twitch slightly. He nearly melts at the feeling of your soft fur on his skin and he itches to touch the rest of you.

He isn’t sure what he would’ve done if Eri hadn’t suddenly yelled at the top of her lungs, consequently ruining the moment.

“Daddy!” She yells from across campus, making you both jump back away from what could have transpired between you. “We have to go or you’ll be late for your next class! Uncle Mic is waiting for us!”

You look at him with wide eyes and a very straight tail. 'Yep. Definitely happy.'

“Duty calls, I guess,” you sheepishly giggle. “I’ll see you later, Shouta.”

You begin to walk to the dorms and he lets you, no matter how hard he is from you saying his first name. He watches you until you finally disappear into the building, taking the scent of your perfume with you.

As he walks back to meet with his daughter and go to work, he’s all smiles.

#shouta aizawa #shoutaaa #smutty smut #my fic shit #my works #here kitty kitty #bnha smut #black coded reader #black fanfic writer #black writers #aizawa x black!reader #shouta aizawa x black!reader

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tb-gerschutz · 5 months ago

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Chapter Sixteen

Word Count: 4,168

Trigger Warning(s): obvious description of the "devil's tango", mild s*xual tension, cursing, threats of violence, etc.

Summary: Veronica and Whiskey get a new lead and hopefully a new edge in the war against Balor...

******

Let’s just say that I could barely walk the next morning.

Was it one-hundred-percent because Whiskey does an excellent job as always? Yes. Absolutely. But just because Whiskey can perform well doesn’t mean I love him solely for that. No…I love him for a multitude of reasons. In fact, the list for all the reasons why I love Whiskey is never-ending. There’s simply too many reasons.

For one, his personality is just—wow!

Whiskey is a man whose mastery in putting his girlfriend’s needs before his own is completely unmatched. Not once has he put his own needs before mine, and to me—that’s definitely one of the key factors in this relationship. He cares about me a whole damn lot, and I do the same to him. In fact, I think he cares more about me and my well-being than he does with his own.

And another thing…Whiskey is always—always—a man of his word.

He’s not the type of man to go back on his word like a jackass. He’s the type who’d walk through fire just to make his girl happy, and so far, he’s done a helluva job at that. I’d walk through fire for him just because he’s doing that for me. He’s the type of man that every girl would dream of being with. And I’m damn lucky that God managed to bless me with such an angel.

Damn right he’s my angel. My guardian angel.

He saved me when I was at my lowest in life. I was still struggling with my twin’s death, and I was struggling with getting back in touch with reality. At the time, I was battling—and struggling against—my darkest demons, and they almost won. I almost killed myself because I couldn’t handle Devin’s death. I was struggling to keep my head afloat.

Then, I got the job at the Statesman, and my life changed completely…and it’s all thanks to Whiskey. Had we not met when we did, then I probably wouldn’t be here anymore.

I was keeping in my mind my gratitude to Whiskey early this morning. Whiskey was still fast asleep when I woke up, so I decided to take this time to myself. You know, take a look out at The Strip and just—just take it all in. I hadn’t been able to do such a thing in a long time. I’ve gotten so caught up in the chaos that I haven’t been able to slow down and take anything in. It seems like life is flying by too damn fast, and it’s all because I’m getting swept up in a wild goose chase of a war against Balor Devlin.

That’s why I stepped out onto the balcony of our suite, taking in the sights of The Strip in the early morning. Even though the sun was barely peeking over the horizon, it was still dark enough that all the glorious lights were still illuminated. Just the sights calmed me down a whole lot, and seeing them made me slip away from all the chaos I was wrapped up in.

Why can’t every day be like this? I thought to myself.

I guess I can’t enjoy much peace in the field I work in.

Right when I was still taking in the views, I suddenly felt a pair of big, muscular arms wrap tightly around my waist. Right away, I knew that those arms belonged to Whiskey. I mean, who else would those arms be?

“There you are,” he said cheerfully, placing a slew of relatively soft kisses along the right side of my neck. “What are you doin’ up?”

I had to stop my fit of uncontrollable giggling to answer. “Well, I had to take in the Vegas views. I don’t get this type of peace too often.”

“Neither do I,” Whiskey added, “but at least I get a bit of a glimpse of it with you.”

“Shucks, Whiskey! You sure know how to make me blush,” I said while my cheeks turned into a bright-red color.

“Oh, please. You were blushin’ a lot more last night,” Whiskey added. “You were more red than the ripest, juiciest red tomato. I swear to Christ!”

I raised my left eyebrow in curiosity. “Was this before or after I screamed your name for the entire Strip to hear?”

“Before,” he answered.

“Wait a minute. Was this when you were whisperin’ all that dirty stuff in my ear, and I was gettin’ worked up because of it?” I asked.

I found out my answer rather quickly when Whiskey nodded up and down. “Yeah. That was it,” he confirmed. “You looked sooo pissed.”

I smirked. “Well, I do have a resting bitch face from hell. Or did you forget about that?”

A light chuckle escaped from Whiskey’s mouth, his dimples clearly showing on his cheeks. I couldn’t exactly tell what he was thinking, but I could assume that Whiskey was remembering that distinct face of mine. Or—the distinct faces of mine. He probably thinks I’m crazy as hell by this point.

“Of course I didn’t forget,” he said. “How could I forget all the faces of my girl? In fact, you have so many faces that I’m—I’m surprised I remembered them all.”

“The Mount Rushmore of Veronica Crawford,” I added cheerfully.

Whiskey burst out laughing as soon as he heard that remark. He seemed to be entertained by the fact that I came up with such a remark like that. A remark that was so off-handed and unexpected that not even the smartest of people could see it coming. At this point, Whiskey sees me as a kind, caring human being who can flip a switch to the unhinged side at any given moment. He’s gotten used to the crazy at this point, even though we’ve only been together for two years now.

Somedays, I ask myself, What the hell does he see in me?

“Come on, goofball,” Whiskey said through fits of chuckles. “Back inside, you go.”

Placing his hand gently on my lower back, Whiskey gently guided me back inside our suite and made sure to shut the door behind him. However, before we even fully stepped inside, I could hear my phone starting to ring off the hook.

“Oh, God,” I groaned. “Who the hell’s calling me this early in the fucking morning?”

Whiskey shrugged, and his brows furrowed with boiling rage. “I don’t know, but if it’s that motherfucker again, I swear to fuckin’ Christ—”

“It’s okay, baby,” I said. “I got this.”

Against my better judgment, I answered the call, taking note of the unknown number. I immediately knew it was Balor, so I decided to put the phone on speaker for Whiskey to hear as well.

“Keep in mind that you’re on speaker, asshole,” I said with an irritated tone.

“Well, that’s not the way to start a conversation. Now, is it?” Balor asked, using his sneering tone to try and work me up.

We hadn’t even been talking on the phone for thirty seconds before I was seething with rage. “Listen, jackass. I’ve known you for a long time now, and you don’t randomly call me unless you want somethin’. Now, what the fuck do you want from us?”

Balor started to put his unimportant opinion in. “Bold of you to assume I want something, Agent Blackja—”

“Zip it, fuck face!” I interrupted angrily. “You better start runnin’ that mouth of yours and tell me what your deal is before I hop through this phone, shove my fist far up your ass, and work your mouth like a motherfuckin’ puppet!”

Whiskey slowly backed away, his face looking like he just saw a ghost. He backed all the way to the double doors that led to the balcony. “I’ll just stand over here just in case you get volatile,” he said in a relatively hushed tone.

I gave him a quick little smirk before returning to my phone call with Balor. My anger toward this motherfucker continued to boil ferociously with each passing second.

“Damn. A little feisty, are we?” Balor teased.

“I can be as feisty as I want, motherfucker,” I growled. “Now, what the fuck do you want? To gloat? To scare me into thinkin’ that you’re close to my location? Not this time, pal! I’m smarter than that.”

Balor chuckled, making it quite clear that he had an evil plan up his sleeve. I could tell by the tone of his chuckle. It was evil, ruthless…perfect for a monster like him.

“I’m surprised you know all my habits, Agent Blackjack, but surprisingly—it isn’t any of that,” he sneered.

I inhaled sharply and angrily. “Well, tell me what it is now! Or else, I’m gonna find you and squeeze your throat so hard that your eyeballs will pop straight out of that goddamn empty head of yours!”

“Christ,” Whiskey whispered to himself. Poor guy must’ve been thinking how crazy I can actually get. How pissed I can really be. Luckily, that anger wasn’t directed toward him. Rather, it was one-hundred-percent directed toward that jackass known as Balor Devlin. He deserves every little thing I throw at him, and I don’t care if he doesn’t like it.

He won’t like it when I finally rip his head off his own two shoulders.

“Oh, Agent Blackjack. So hostile,” Balor teased.

“You’re one to talk, asshat!” I growled once again. “Now, start talkin’!”

Before he did finally decide to start talking, Balor chuckled lightly but in his usual dark tone. “Let’s just say that I’m one step ahead of you, agents. I have been all along.”

“How so?” I sternly asked.

“While you all continued to evade me throughout the entire country, I’ve had—a little spy following your every move,” he answered in a teasing manner. “Everywhere you all went, he followed and let me know of your location.”

I slowly turned my head toward Whiskey’s direction, and Whiskey seemed just as suspicious as I was. “Who’s the rat?” I asked with suspicion lingering in my voice.

“Oh, I’m not telling you his name, Agent Blackjack,” Balor responded coldly. “That would take away all the fun I’ll have watching you two run around like mad men.”

“You better give me a little bit of somethin’ to work off of, or else I’ll gladly rip your goddamn head off your shoulders,” I sternly warned.

After clicking his tongue a couple times, Balor sighed and finally gave in to my threatening demand. “Fine, Agent Blackjack. I’ll give you the bare minimum, so you can finally get off my ass,” he sneered annoyingly.

He paused, as if he was debating on whether or not he’d go back on his word. “His initials are A.W. That’s all I’ll give you. A.W.”

I glanced over to Whiskey, whose mind immediately started racing. I mean, mine would too. In fact, it’s already racing. Who the hell could have the initials of A.W and still work for Balor?

“Well, I’ll definitely make that work,” I said to Balor.

“I admire your confidence, Agent Blackjack. I do, but it won’t get you far,” he sneered. “I have the utmost confidence that it won’t get you anywhere.”

I chuckled. “I highly doubt.”

Balor returned the same evil chuckle he’s known for. “I’d tread with caution if I were you, agents. You can’t run and hide from me much lon—”

“Go burn in hell, why don’t ya?” I said sternly, hanging up on the call immediately after.

Whiskey came over to me, gently massaging my shoulders to calm me down. He knows exactly how to calm me down, especially after my blood boiled to its near highest point whenever I’d verbally fight with Balor.

“It’s my fault,” I said sternly.

“What are you talkin’ ‘bout, sugar?” Whiskey wondered.

I sighed. “I should’ve seen this comin’.”

“Sugar, you wouldn’t have known anyway,” he said. “This could’ve happened to anyone.”

“Yeah, but why did it have to happen to me?” I asked.

Whiskey stopped giving me a shoulder massage and took a seat on the adjacent loveseat. He tapped both of his muscular legs, as if he was inviting me to take a seat. If it was any other time, I wouldn’t hesitate to hop straight into his lap. But this time…I was hesitant. The bombshell that Balor dropped riddled me with anxiety. The type of anxiety that is capable of bringing me to damn near ruin.

The type of anxiety I came so close to feeling when Devin died. That’s how bad I was suffering right now.

“I don’t know, Whiskey,” I said worriedly. “I really should just—”

He snapped his fingers and pointed directly to his lap, interrupting me abruptly. His face was stern, and he definitely wanted his way in this moment.

“Sit down,” he growled in a low tone. “Now.”

And now…I have the overwhelming feeling to fuck Whiskey. He never fails to spark that feeling inside of me. In fact, I think the record time that he’s successfully sparked that feeling for me was two seconds.

But of course, I followed his command and moved closer to him. As I finally came in front of him, Whiskey grabbed me by both sides of my waist and pulled me forcefully into his lap.

“You listen to me, sugar,” he said in a low tone voice, his eyes glossed over with masculine dominance. “It’s not your fault that you didn’t see this coming. Nobody in this damn world who has even the slightest bit of sanity would’ve seen this comin’. Balor was just too damn smart this time.”

While still staring deep into his soul, I allowed my eyes to soften with a noticeable amount of guilt. “But I—”

Whiskey put his finger up to my lips, quieting me instantly. “Ah ah. I’m not finished.” He took in another breath before starting again. “Sometimes, sugar, things aren’t gonna go your way. There are gonna be people out there who are gonna succeed in outsmarting you. Despite what you may think, there are people like that. And all that matters is that you work your ass off to get past that.”

“So you’re sayin’ that it ain’t my fault?” I asked.

He nodded his head up and down. “Yep. It ain’t your fault. It never was. Don’t beat yourself over it. There are gonna be people out there who are gonna outsmart ya sometimes. It’s once in a great while, but there’s bound to be people like that. But all that matters, sugar, is that you work your ass off harder than them to get things back on track again.”

I nodded solemnly in response. I’ve always tried to take responsibility for my actions, and everything I did, I busted my ass to get it done and make it something I can be proud of. That’s why I always beat myself up when something I’m working toward doesn’t go the way I want it. But I know that with Whiskey’s constant reassurance, I can definitely work to get things back on track.

Thanks for that, Whiskey.

“In that case,” I started, my voice dropping to a low tone. “Let’s find out who this bastard is.”

I practically leapt off Whiskey’s lap and dashed over to my laptop, scouring the web for anything. Any information that might lead me to who the rat was. I was determined to catch this son of a bitch, and I was not—under any circumstances—going to let him get away. Not this time. Not on my watch.

“I’ll scour the news channels and see if I can find anythin’,” he said.

“Good idea,” I answered without looking up from the computer screen. “If we have any luck, this jackass takes after Balor and commits globally known massacres on a regular basis. Then again…maybe not.”

Whiskey turned away from the television. “What do you mean maybe not?”

“Well, given the fact that we barely know anything about this bastard, it’s gonna be a bitch to find any more information on him,” I said. “All we know is that he’s there whenever we’re anywhere, and that he’s been up our ass all the fuckin’ time. It’s annoying.”

“I know, baby. I know,” he said, temporarily pushing the frustration off to the side to talk to me. “I know how much you don’t like people up your ass all the time.”

I turned around in my chair to face Whiskey. Such a topic ultimately forces me to break out into a new side conversation with him. “Yeah. I fucking hate it,” I said, “especially considering that the person up my ass is a completely psychotic monster who deserved to have his ass reamed a long, long time ago!”

“I know, sugar,” he said simply.

I sighed, looking blankly at my computer screen. Apparently, finding out who someone is can sometimes be a real pain in the ass, especially considering that this person is someone I don’t know all too well.

“There’s gotta be an assload of people out there with the initials A.W.,” I said. “I don’t know how I’m gonna manage to comb through the entire database of everyone in the world to find this bastard.”

“Oh yeah, sugar. There’s definitely a lot of ‘em out there,” he said.

“You got anythin’ on those news channels?”

Whiskey shook his head. “Nope. All they’re talkin’ ‘bout is the upcoming election and all that political bullshit.”

“Great,” I groaned. “More bullshit I gotta deal with.”

“Sugar, calm down. Let’s focus more on Balor first,” Whiskey said, pausing as if a new idea had just popped into his brain. “Wait a minute…You’re good at hacking, right?”

I gave Whiskey a confused, scrunched-up look. “The hell you mean by hacking?”

“Like, hacking into websites and all that shit,” Whiskey said.

“Yeah. I would consider myself pretty good at that. Thank you, Secret Service training,” I answered suspiciously. “Why?”

Whiskey started walking over to me, as I continued to wonder: what in the everliving hell was going through his head? It’s a rare occurrence for Whiskey to ask me questions like that. He only ever asks me those types of questions when he’s in need of my abilities.

“Isn’t there a site where you can find any of Balor’s goons—or even Balor himself—and what they look like?” he asked.

“Unfortunately, babe, Balor is too damn smart to have his own website showing off his image and name,” I answered relatively quickly. “He ain’t gonna do that to himself or his goons. I can try to do a reverse image search and see if anything comes up that way.”

“You can do that?”

I shrugged. “I can try. It’s gonna be a bitch though.”

“See what you can do, and call me over if you need help,” Whiskey said, returning to the television. “I’ll continue scouring news channels and the web to see if I can find anything at all on this guy.”

“Knowing our luck, we prolly won’t find jack shit,” I grumbled.

At this point, Whiskey and I weren’t finding any information worthwhile. He scoured every news outlet known to man to see if anything—anything at all—would give us anything to work off of. Meanwhile, I wasn’t finding any images that would be of some use to us.

This guy was playing his cards intelligently.

He doesn’t want to be easily recognizable. Not by me, not by Whiskey—not by anyone. If anything, he learned to play his cards wisely because of that jackass Balor Devlin. God! That man has been on my nerves for the longest time. It makes my desire to escort him to the deepest, darkest hell even more.

Just when I thought that all hope in finding a reliable image was lost, I could hear Whiskey’s voice from across the room. He erupted in joy whilst he was looking on his phone.

“Haha!” he exclaimed.

I jolted out of my daze almost instantly. Whiskey’s cries of joy scared me to almost death. “Christ, Whiskey! You scared the shit outta me,” I said.

He confidently and quickly marched over to where I was working, his phone firmly within his hand. “Sorry, sugar. I didn’t mean it,” he said, “but I got somethin’. Somethin’ good.”

“What do ya got?” I asked.

Whiskey then allowed me to take his phone and look at the content he discovered. “News article. Apparently, that high-speed chase we were on in Cleveland was covered in a front-page article.”

“Then, what’s this article?” I asked.

“This is a follow-up,” Whiskey explained. “This is where these reporters are talkin’ ‘bout the goons who came after us.”

I continued looking at the news article Whiskey had found. “Where did you find this?” I questioned.

“The world wide web, sugar,” he answered. “Apparently, the Cleveland Herald had it runnin’ on their front page.”

“And we didn’t notice?” I asked.

Whiskey shook his head. “Well, that seemed inconsequential then. Mainly because we were in a high-speed car chase, and we were exchanging gunfire with Balor’s goons.”

I shrugged. “Fair enough. Is there some sort of picture I should discover?”

“Toward the end,” Whiskey confirmed. “There’s a mugshot of one of the guys. Apparently, he was the guy who was at the helm of the chase.”

“And Balor was the puppet master pullin’ the strings, I assume,” I guessed.

Whiskey nodded, giving me the answer I was looking for. “Do you have a USB port or somethin’?”

He fumbled around in his bag for a hot minute before finally pulling out a black cord wound up in a circle. The poor guy was so confused, and I could definitely tell by the look on his face. It was a face of shock and great confusion.

“Surprisingly, yeah. I do,” he confirmed. “Why? What do you plan on doin’ with that?”

A wicked smile appeared across my face. “Handcuffs.”

Whiskey slapped the palm of his hand to his forehead, wondering where the hell he went wrong. Meanwhile, I was cackling like a serial killer and basking in the glory of my joking sarcasm.

“Veronica Paige!” he said, massaging his forehead.

“What? It was just sarcasm,” I answered.

“Oh, I know,” he said. “I’ve been with you for two years now. I think I got a good idea of your sarcasm.”

Both of us shared a brief chuckle over that fact. I knew that as a Crawford kid, my sarcasm was always on point. That was one of my many, many quirks that ran through the Crawford line. You heard that right—my dad’s side of the family is nuts. Maybe that’s where I get my craziness from. I’m not sure.

I plugged one end of the USB cord into the side of my computer and grabbed Whiskey’s phone. That way, I can upload the image he had of this guy. As I carefully examined the mugshot, I noticed something…peculiar.

“He looks oddly familiar,” I remarked.

One of Whiskey’s eyebrows hooked upward. “You think so?”

“I know so,” I answered, “but where do I know him from?”

After the image of the mugshot had been uploaded to my laptop, I immediately got to work trying to complete a reverse-image search. I analyzed the man’s features using a special software, which did most of the work for me. All I had to do was wait for the name to pop up and do some digging on the web.

And once the name of the man in the image, I had to take a moment to look at the name first. It looked strange yet familiar. Like I’ve heard it before.

“Aiden Warszawski,” I said. “Aiden Warszawski.”

Whiskey came over to where I was looking, placing a hand on my shoulder as he looked on. He too was trying to figure out the importance of the name. “Where the hell is he from?”

“I don’t know, babe. I’m trying to figure that out,” I said.

“Impromptu background check?” Whiskey asked.

I nodded. “This software I’m on does just that. All I gotta do is input the name, and the computer does it for me.”

As I inputted the name into the search bar, I allowed the computer to work its magic and find all the information on this man. It was tedious, but you know what? The results would be worth it.

“A-ha!” I exclaimed with joy, practically jumping out of my seat. “Gotcha, you son of a bitch!”

Whiskey started to make his way over to where I was working, his calloused hands gently massaging my tense shoulders. I started to comb through his information, seeing if anything aligned with what Whiskey and I were experiencing. If there was anything at all, I prayed to God that it would help our case by a whole lot. After I checked where he was born and raised, I had to scroll back up to check his name. It seemed to line up to where he was born—Warsaw, Poland. But then, I checked his most-used alias…and that’s when Whiskey and I found out the truth.

#creative writing #pedro pascal fanfiction #writers on tumblr #writerscommunity #fanfiction #pedro pascal #agent whiskey

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the-and-sign-anon · 3 years ago

Text

Galvanize

Guardian Angel: Chapter Sixteen

Teen Wolf x Stilinski! Reader

Word count: 1,462

Series Masterlist

Masterlist

You had a lot to learn about being an angel and no one to teach you, so you focused on hunting down your memories in the weeks following the eclipse. Deaton helped look for ways to regain them, but your dad insisted on being kept in the loop as well and you were both hesitant to try anything dangerous. Stiles and the pack were always coming up with questions to ask you and tests of your abilities.

It felt good to have nothing to hide. If you got headaches or visions of the angel, you could talk about it with your dad or your friends. When you wanted to practice using your sword, Allison and her dad were more than happy to help. And Melissa kept checking in regularly to be sure your symptoms went away.

It seemed as you got better, Stiles got worse. He, Scott, and Allison were feeling the effects of their surrogate sacrifice and there was nothing you could really do to help. Each night, you would wake up at least three times to check on Stiles and see if he was still sleeping. He rarely was, and on the occasions that his eyes were closed when you passed by his door, the peace was short lived.

You’d taken to splitting your days between the station and the animal clinic. Deaton was happy for the help and you could keep both animals and their humans calm better than anyone. As October drew to a close, Mischief Night arrived. Stiles and Scott snuck into the school to set up a surprise for Coach, which you neither supported nor condemned.

Your dad told you to steer clear of the hospital for a few days, but he wasn’t allowed to tell you why. It wasn’t hard to figure that a dangerous convict needed surgery and had to be kept a secret. So you did as he asked and stayed away. Until you heard the convict was William Barrow and that he’d escaped.

You rushed down to the hospital with your dad and met up with Melissa in the hall. Your attention was partially occupied by all the flies around, but you quickly pulled your dad along to talk to her.

“These dead flies everywhere? They came out of Barrow- out of his tumor.”

“Is that even possible?” You both asked in unison with matching expressions of confusion.

“Maggots can come from the body-- it's called myiasis. But, from the stomach?” She shook her head. “It's not likely. And, there's something else... Last night, he told me why he killed those teenagers.”

You all felt the dread rising as your dad nodded.

“I read the report. Glowing eyes.”

“We know a concerning number of kids who fit that description.”

Agent McCall got everyone’s attention and you turned back to look at him.

“The stolen ambulance has been spotted. Corner of Truman and Spaulding.”

Three blocks from the school. You would have run there if your dad hadn’t rushed you to a car and driven there. The feeling in your gut was becoming more familiar; the sense that something was wrong, that danger was lurking too close for comfort and you couldn’t stop it.

As soon as you reached the school, you grabbed Stiles and filled him in on the situation. He ran through the halls behind you as more deputies followed to cover every exit.

“Wait a minute, wait a minute! The William Barrow? The Shrapnel Bomber? Spotted nearby?”

“A little closer than nearby, actually…”

Agent McCall hurried past with some of the administrators talking about the basement.

“Dad, Y/N, what’s really going on here?”

Stiles ran off to find his friends as soon as you finished explaining. You could only hope they’d all be alright. The police were already doing everything they knew how to do and you had no authority to do anything at all. You just followed your gut feelings and stayed close to your dad.

You were just on your way out when Stiles caught up to you again. You turned to face him and saw Lydia a short distance away in a doorway.

“You can’t leave yet.”

“We got an eyewitness that puts Barrow by the train station…”

McCall went by and glanced back at your dad.

“Let’s go, Stilinski!”

“Dad, please. Lydia said that he’s still here.”

“She saw him?”

“Not exactly, no.” You gave him a look to hurry it along and he sighed. “Well, not at all, actually… But she has a feeling- a supernatural feeling.”

You all looked back at her as she ran a finger over the peeling paint of the metal door.

“Lydia wasn’t on the chessboard.”

“She is now.”

“Kanima?”

“Um, banshee.”

You saw that frustrated look on your dad’s face again and Stiles tried to fix it.

“I know how it sounds, I do. But basically it means she can sense when someone’s close to death.”

“Can she sense that I’m about to kill you?”

“I don’t know…”

You ran a hand over your face. You could believe that Lydia felt something, but this wasn’t a situation for you to take any chances. Lydia waved when you all looked at her again and your dad gave a strained smile and a wave back.

“All right, look-- I'm not saying I don't believe, but right now, I'm going with "eyewitness" over "Banshee." We're leaving a few deputies here. The school's on lockdown until three o'clock. Nobody comes in, nobody comes out. That’s the best I can do.”

“Wherever he is, we’ll find him. I won’t let him hurt anyone, Sty.”

You both started to leave, but you didn’t miss Stiles’s last comment.

“You’re leaving me here? That’s not- that’s the worst.”

When you got back in the car, your dad had an apologetic look on his face.

“Why do you- Dad, what is that look for?”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

“You are not leaving me out of this!”

“I don’t want you in danger-”

“I can handle it.”

He started down the road and you knew he’d probably get in a bit of trouble for taking a detour in a manhunt to drop his daughter off at home, but you still had to argue.

“Y/N. I know you’re an angel and that you’ve got this celestial sword and some bizarre holy instincts or whatever. But this guy is crazy and dangerous. I need you- please- to just go home and wait for me to come back. I’ll keep you updated.”

“I can’t just do nothing!”

“Then go to the clinic and help Deaton. Or even go see Derek. Something. But I just can’t have you in the middle of this.”

“Fine.” You slumped in your seat and frowned out the windshield. “I’ll go play with the dogs at the clinic and pretend my closest friends aren’t in danger of being blown up by an insane convict.”

“Good girl.”

You did exactly as you’d said you would. You and Deaton looked after the animals and chatted about your powers as the hours ticked by. When night fell, a sharp pain hit you and you closed your eyes for a second. You saw Kira Yukimura, a new student at the high school, and Barrow. He was going to kill her.

“Deaton, I have to go.”

“Be careful.” He could tell from the look in your eyes and the faint glow around you that you wouldn’t be stopped.

“Always.”

You ran to the electrical substation faster than you should have been able to. It felt more like you were flying. You ran inside with Scott and Stiles close behind. Barrow got to Scott first, the electricity from the exposed wire launching him back and leaving him twitching on the ground.

“Barrow, you don’t want to do this. Believe me.”

He came at you next. When the electricity hit you, it didn’t hurt. It was far from a pleasant sensation, but it was more like static electricity when Stiles rubbed his socks on the carpet and poked you in the side. You dodged out of the way of another swing and ran past him to Kira, where she was tied up on the floor. Before you could free her, Barrow brought the sparking wire to Kira and everything went white.

It was nothing like the divine light of your visits to the in-between. Everything felt hot and you could hear Barrow’s scream before he hit the floor. Scott had covered his eyes, but you were completely focused on Kira. She’d gotten to her feet and all the electricity was being… absorbed by her. She was just as shocked as you, staring down at her hands as the sparks disappeared. Everything was dark after that. Power in all of Beacon Hills had gone out.

Next Chapter

#teen wolf x reader #teen wolf x reader series #reader insert #female reader #teen wolf x stilinski! reader #guardian angel #guardian angel chapter sixteen #my writing #haven writes

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electronicgrowth · 3 years ago

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Guardian Angel Masterlist

Ransom Drysdale x OFC

“Tell us about your relationship with Ransom Drysdale,” says Detective Elliot.

“I met Ransom years ago. He was my brother, Charlie’s roommate at Harvard. I’m Charlie’s baby sister, so he went to college when I was still really young. Charlie and Ransom did everything together. Best friends, I guess. My mom disappeared when I was a kid. She decided that she was sick of the whole wife of a public defender thing. She hated kids, so she left the three of us with dad. And then my dad died when I was sixteen. He got in an accident, the other guy was drunk. So, I went to live with Charlie and Ransom after that. They had just graduated a few years before. So, having me around must have really cramped their style,” I said.

“Where is Charlie now?” Elliot asks.

“Charlie is— Charlie passed away about four years ago. After college he got a job on Wall Street. And you know, coke is the name of the game for young guys over there,” I hesitated, “He didn’t overdose or anything. The doctors think he had an arrhythmia that he never knew about. I fell apart after Charlie died. My other brother, Ethan, is out in California doing the whole tech thing, so he wasn’t there.”

“And around that time, you became much closer with Ransom Drysdale?”

“Yes. He took care of me. I could barely get out of bed. I didn’t really know what to do. He made sure I ate and showered. Helped me go to school,” I responded,

“When you were 23 you were involved in a car accident. One where you were pretty critically injured. How did that affect your relationship with Ransom?”

“Well, it was right after I graduated college. I was working an unpaid internship at a super small publishing company and working shitty hours as a receptionist. But, I was on my own and it was fun. But yeah, I was driving home late one night and my brakes went out. I— I, um, went off the road. Well, actually I flipped the car. A few times. I was pretty badly injured. Like the works, broken bones, concussion, cuts, I actually had to have my left knee totally reconstructed. While I healed Ransom took care of me. He even convinced Harlan to help foot my hospital bills.”

“After you recovered, you went to work at the publishing company owned by the Thrombey’s? Is that correct?”

“Yeah. When I graduated, Ransom offered to help me get a job there. Initially, I turned it down because I wanted to make my own way. After my hospital stay, I really needed the money. So, Ransom helped me get a job.”

“Has your relationship with Ransom evolved beyond just one of friendship?”

“Ransom has been— the only constant in my life for five years. He’s my guardian angel, my very best friend.”

“But is there more to your relationship than a friendship, Miss Becker?”

“No.” I lied.

Teaser

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Epilogue

#ransom drysdale #ransom drysdale smut #ransom drysdale fic #ransom drysdale x ofc

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caxsthetic · 5 years ago

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Lovely Eyes

Akaashi Keiji x Reader

Hurtful Truth: Not everyone gets the privilege to be loved by the same person twice.

Pt. 2 < Part 3 > Bonus Chapter

The scent of the burnt cake could be smelled throughout the house. You opened up your eyes immediately, broke free from the arms of your lovers when you remember that you put a cake inside the oven. Your feet dashed to the kitchen, turning it off and checking out the now brown cake.

Akaashi walked drowsily to follow you, and he was sleepy after the morning rendezvous that you two shared around half an hour ago. You were baking this morning when he suddenly wrapped his arms around your figure, pulling you to the bedroom once again, didn't know that you already put a cake inside the oven.

"Kaashi! Look at what you've done!" The cake in your hand was now burnt, you whined like a child as you look at the failed masterpiece, "You shouldn't have done that you know, doing it in the morning is a no from now on!"

The black-haired man could only chuckle and walk towards you, kissing your forehead as he stood in front of you. He didn't mind being yelled at, because he knew that it was just a protest, not that you were outraged towards him for real. When his lips grazed on your skin, it's like you forget why you even got angry at him in the first place.

It's been sixteen months since the incident, the incident when you lost the love of your life because of something that human couldn't control. You don't know how mother nature works their charms, but sometimes you didn't know either the event is a blessing or a curse. Maybe, even something in between.

The first three months were a living hell. Everywhere you go, you could always see him at the end side of your gaze. You still remember every syllable that emitted from his lips at your third year anniversary. The night when he said that he didn't love you anymore, made a significant impact on your life.

You loved Bokuto Koutarou for around ten years of your life, and it's something that anyone couldn't forcibly take it off from you so easily. For three months you were devastated, your eyes will always looking at your ring finger, the empty space still reminded you about the drastic change that you never thought would happen.

But you were not alone; you are never alone in this journey of life. There will always be someone who took care of you. Sometimes without you knowing, they are guarding you. And in this particular time, that guardian angel taking a form as your current lovers, Akaashi Keiji.

When one hundred days finally passed, you got the confession that has been held for ten years. Love is not on your radar after losing someone that you truly love to the painful reality. The fact that someone wouldn't stop loving you, made you thought about all of the possibilities if you have never become a Bokuto, but instead, having Akaashi as your last name from the start.

Are you going to still have those heartaches? Would you still crying at the night you were supposed to have fun after three years married to someone that you love? Will someone fall out of love from you as Bokuto did?

Then he came, throwing away all of the doubts. Turning you to always looking forward, forgetting the possibilities from the past and support you to strive for the best version of you. Akaashi Keiji couldn't love someone else once he falls in love, even though that you were out of his grasp before, the thought of loving someone else was just so wrong.

"Everything okay, Kaashi?" Both of you were currently on a night stroll together, enjoying the breeze and the company. You were standing at the top of the hill, wind stroking your cheek as he stood beside you.

You are beautiful, always be in his eyes. Your heart was always out of his grasp, but now, he feels like the world finally gave him the chance to have you. He took a step forward, removing the strand of hair on your face, tugging it behind your ears.

"Not really," He always speaks the truth to you, never hiding any kind of thought. That was actually what brings you two to trust each other so much. Because both of you would never lie to each other, "What are you thinking about falling in love?"

His question was catching you off guard. Akaashi knew you like you shared the same mind, so it's something that he would ask if he didn't feel so sure about it. And in this case, he didn't know for sure what lays inside your heart right now. You took a deep breath, looking at the scenery that unfolded in front of you. Heart beatings a little bit faster,

"The truth? I don't know." You raised your left hand in front of your face, "Right now? I want to wake up and think everything that happened in these past few months was just a dream. Bad dream." Longing smile could be seen from your face, "But actually, I don't know that I miss being Bokuto's wife, or I just miss the feeling to be loved by someone."

Akaashi closed his eyes for a moment, trying to compose himself. His mind still conflicted to either confess his love for you or just waiting for the right time.

But then, when is exactly the right time?

"I love you," You jolted when you heard the three words coming out from his lips, "I love you since you covered for me when I forgot to bring the homework to Miyano-sensei." He remembered the time when you style your hair into a ponytail, loving how your hair seems to bounce every time you moved, "I still love you even when you walked down the aisle with my best friend."

"Keiji..."

"And I still do, after all this time." Your eyes were glossy as he poured all of his love that finally emerged on the surface, "I love you for the longest time, and it never withers." All of those words were now absorbed in your mind completely.

How could someone love another person like this? Aren't they supposed to let them go when someone they love finally out of their grasp? Why didn't Akaashi take that chance? Why would a man like him love you, unconditionally? The man in front of you has been throwing all the love that he supposed to get from someone else that might be better than you.

But Akaashi Keiji only wants you, and he wouldn't love anybody else as long as he lives.

"I couldn't say that I love you too, Kaashi." You were telling the truth. One part of you really wants to say that you love him too, but the other part telling you to wait. It will only become a sweet lie if you say it now. Akaashi nodded at your answer, understanding your feelings as you said that. You took another step towards him, grabbing his hand that produced cold sweat, "But maybe tomorrow I will, or maybe even in an hour. We never know, right?"

"W-What are you trying to say, (Y/n)?" The gunmetal blue eyes looked at you with hope lingering inside. It's something that he never has after Bokuto proposed to you, hope. You gave him a sincere smile, trying to calm down the man that always been there for you. Someone that always love you even when everything's going downhill.

"I have a crush on you, that's for sure." You giggled, feeling like a teenager in love, "If I am a high schooler, I will tell you right now that I love you, Kaashi. But it's not reaching that stage yet." One of your palms was pressed on his cheek, "I need time to heal, and it will be hard coping with my emotion." Your eyes gazing into his loving eyes, "Are you going to be okay with that?" He closed his eyes, feeling the heat of your palm.

"I will take any chance that I have, (Y/n)." He leaned down to kiss the crown of your head, "And if it has the possibility to make you mine. Always." You let out a breath that you unconsciously hold. Then you jumped to his arms, feeling the warmth that started to engulf you. Maybe opening up your heart once again wouldn't be so bad. You just need to be patient as time will take you somewhere. Somewhere better for the two of you.

Here you were now, in the arms of someone that you love. His shirt wrapped your bare skin as his calloused fingers tracing your arms with adoration. You already forgot about the burnt cake that lay on the kitchen island. Since his confession, you have been giving him all of your attention. Remembering every detail and how his eyes never leave your figure.

He was so gentle from what you can conclude after living with him for more than a year. Akaashi will always walk on the dangerous side as you cross the road, he always waited for you when you went inside your office until you were out of sight, he will remind you when you were overworking yourself. Every little thing that he did finally grow the feeling inside your heart into something more.

Like what he promised, he never stops loving you. There were times when he tried to do so in the past years, but it never works. So he decided just to stop trying and embraced the blessing of falling for someone. At the end of the day, his thought will be filled with the memories of you. But now, you were with him to actually make a new memory every day. For him, it feels like a miracle.

"Are we going to watch the final tomorrow?" You looked up to search for his eyes, "We promised Bo to come after all, and I already tell my boss about it. But could you come?" He was now looking at you too, putting his forehead at the top of your hair.

"Hm, I already told everyone that I need to support my best friend on the match." He kissed your forehead before letting you go gently, "It's final tomorrow. We have to come earlier if we want to get the perfect seat." You were leaning on your counter as he grabbed a knife from the shelf, "Help me with this cake, love. We could still save it if we just cut out the top."

Giggling, you walked towards him and kissed his cheek gently before helped him to cut the cake. Like what he said, the inside was still perfect. It's just the outside that was already burnt. Every day, he would surprise you with a little affection and thoughtful act, making you fall harder to the man.

If it takes you the biggest heartbreak that you could ever have to feel his love, maybe, just maybe... Fate is not that cruel towards you.

***

You and Akaashi come around one hour before the match has begun. The whole arena has been filled with spectators. After all, the final is really filled with magnificent players. You got the seat on the front row as always, right near the MSBY spectators. As you wait for the match to start, you excused yourself from Akaashi to go to the restroom. Better go now than leaving in the middle of the match.

As you walked to the restroom, your thought was filled with excitement for the game. Today's final, MSBY will meet a team where they have Oikawa Tooru. After the grand king comeback from Argentine, almost every team want a piece of him. It's not that you didn't believe Miya Atsumu, it's just he needs to be more careful. The entire team need to be more cautious.

Deep in your thought, you didn't realise what stood in front of you. You bumped to someone, but he was tall that made you fall to the ground,

"What the-" The familiar voice made you looked up to see the one that you bumped to, "Whoa! Mom!" Your eyes twitched as you heard the nickname from the MSBY setter, "Sorry, sorry, let me help you." He extended his right hand to help you up, you reached for his hand and dusted your coat as you stood.

"It's not your fault, Atsumu-san." You gave him your usual smile, but that's enough to make him blush a little, "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you get prepared for the match?"

"Well, I do." His voice always filled with mischief, "But I want to stroll around first, letting go all the nervousness, you know?" You blinked, someone like Miya Atsumu could be nervous after all. Maybe the pressure of international opponent could do that, "What about you? Are you coming here alone?"

"Ah, I am here with Kaashi, of course. Akaashi Keiji." Miya widened his eyes a little as he saw your expression when you mentioned the name. It was the same expression from around a year ago every time you talked about Bokuto. He immediately shook the thought out of his mind, "Does everyone okay? How is Bo?"

Even if you were no longer his to begin with, you still cared for the hyperactive wing spiker. After all, you once vowed in front of everyone that you will always be there for him. And you are not someone who will back down from your promise under any circumstances.

"Bokkun will always be Bokkun, but he's alright now." You let out a long sigh, that particular owl couldn't be read sometimes. His mood swing is the worst, and no one could predict what possibly made him goes into the dejected mode. Miya's phone vibrates with a lot of messages, he opened it up and found everyone wanting him to prepare for the match, "Ah, I am sorry, but I have to leave."

"Sure! I know everyone will do their best today." You patted his arm, a little affection that you always give to everyone that you cared for, "Go! Don't let they release a search party just to find you!" You waved your hand as Miya nodded and gave you a little salute.

His long legs stride towards the court, but he turned to look at you one more time. Noticing something that made him widened his eyes more while you still smile and waved towards him, "Hey, (N/n)." You stopped your wave mid-air as he stood there not far from your figure. He gave you a sincere smile, something that rarely appeared on his face, "Congratulation."

Before you could answer him, he turned his head and rushed back to the court once again. Leaving you there with a little smile on your face as you realised what's the meaning behind his word. After that, there is no one you were close with that you bumped to. You saw Konoha and the other members from your high school and greet each other as you walked back to sit beside your lovers.

Not long after that, the match has begun. The entire arena was so loud, but somehow you could still hear Bokuto's voice as he let out his famous line. Noting your attention was solely focused on the match, Akaashi leaned his arms to met with yours, wanting to feel the warmth of your body when you two watch the entire set.

He never thought that he would be like this, hooked for your affection. Loving you is enough before, and when you finally let out the word to him, he feels that his life is completed. Akaashi never needed validation when it comes to the relationship. But as time goes by, he couldn't help but loving every affection that you gave. Because of that, he's becoming a little bit needy along the way.

Akaashi's hand grabbing your left hand and put it on his lap, tracing your finger, starting from your thumb. You realised what he's doing, so you kissed his head with your gaze still focused on the court. The delicate touch of his finger always brings a tingle on your heart. He suddenly moved the platinum ring that wrapped on your ring finger. You jolted, wondering why he moves it all of a sudden.

"It's nothing," He knew what's inside your mind, "It's just a little bit tilted, so I correct it." Akaashi kissed your hand and gazed at you. You too, couldn't help but take a look at your fiance. His eyes were so gentle as it falls to your face, faint smile plastering on his face. He can't believe that you would be his after ten years burying his feelings inside.

"What is it, Keiji?" He loves to hear his first name rolled from your lips, "Why are you looking at me like that?" You were actually embarrassed when he started to act like this—just silence and looking at you like there's no one else in this world.

"I love you," Your eyes widened, blush spread on your face as he said it so casually, "Thank you for giving me the chance, (Y/n)." It's like that day when he proposed to you. You were too dumbfounded to let out a word, but he just waited. He waited for minutes just for you, because that's just how much he loves you.

"I love you too, Keiji." He leaned in to kiss your forehead, "And thank you by waiting for me, even if I didn't give any sign of assurance before." His hand still grabbed yours, thumb caressing the back of your hand.

Since the night he confessed his love to you, he never backed down. Not even a little. Akaashi always believes that at the end, he will get his happy ending. When both of your hands interlocked for the first time, he promised he would hold you forever. No matter what happened in the future, he will always be there, loving you with as much as his heart could give.

The two of you were just having dinner in the house. Enjoying the moment together as you two celebrate the huge promotion that Akaashi got the day before. You were wrapped in a blanket with him in front of the fireplace. It's been nine months after he confessed his love towards you at the hill that one night, and everything was looking good for the two of you.

You were pouring a glass of wine that you bought months ago from your boss. But when you are going to give the glass to him, he took it and put it on the table beside him. His eyes suddenly look serious as he gazed it on you, you blinked, wondering the sudden change of atmosphere as you look deep into his eyes.

"(Y/n), I-" He gulped, feeling jittery all of a sudden. But when your hand engulfed him, it feels like he could conquer anything in his way, "I know it's only a year after what happened, and you may feel that this is too fast since we just date each other for like months ago. But, (Y/n) I-"

Akaashi closed his eyes, trying to calm his heart rate as you looked at him with eyes that he couldn't read, "I want you to be mine. God, I always want you to be mine, having my last name on yours..." He gulped, not daring to gaze in your eyes as he looked down to where your hands meet, "I love you too much, (Y/n), I-"

"Keiji," You put your finger on his chin, lifting his head so he will look at you, "Are you... proposing to me?" He bit his lip. Akaashi Keiji was never afraid in his entire life, but the possibility that you will reject him will be his biggest nightmare.

"Y-yes." He never stuttered, but here he was now sitting in front of you like an absolute mess. His black hair was sticking on his forehead because of the sweat that he produces. You didn't really know what to say after all. There's a moment when you are sure that you love Akaashi Keiji, and it grew larger every day. But you are afraid, afraid of another possibility of love.

Then you look at his gunmetal blue eyes, filled with love and adoration. The eyes that have been looking out for you since your high school life. The same eyes who saw every detail of you for the past ten years. The same eyes, who never stopped loving you even when you once belonged to his best friend.

And just like that, you couldn't help but said, "Take me as your wife, then."

He widened his eyes, those beautiful orbs taking one look at you before pressing his lips on yours. After all of these heartaches, he could finally embrace you as someone who will love him too. Both of you shared a lot of soft kisses the entire night, showering each other with adoration. His lips seldom leave yours, and you didn't even realise when he slipped the diamond ring on your finger.

The first set is won by the opponent, making you pout the entire time. Akaashi will give you a kiss on the forehead or squeeze your hand every time the opponent made a score. Your loving act towards each other didn't go unnoticed by a particular wing spiker.

MSBY was now taking a rest to wait for the second match. His golden eyes were searching for your figure and fall towards you. He needed your attention and the loving support that you always gave every time they were taking a break. But nothing prepared him for the sight that created in front of him.

Bokuto dropped his water bottle, too shocked as he saw his best friend kissing your forehead. You two looks so perfect together, hands intertwined and gazing on each other with loving eyes. It's like the oxygen has been pushed out from his body, he falls to the ground all of a sudden, resulting in your gaze to be fixed on him.

His entire team was now trying to find out what happened to the wing spiker. Your eyes were frantic, afraid that something has happened towards Bokuto. No matter what the circumstances are, you will always care and love him, even if it's not the same kind of love that you had for him a year ago. Akaashi patted your back, trying to make you calm down.

You jolted when you feel the vibration on your pocket, courtesy from your phone. When you look at the contact name, you answered it immediately.

"Could you come here now?!" Miya shouted at the other end of the line, "Fuck, I never saw Bokuto looks like this except from that dark days." You know so well what days that he meant, "Come here fast to the locker room near the stairs, please!"

"I am on my way." You are panicked, trying to say something on Akaashi. But when you turned to look at your fiance, he just grabbed on your arms and caressed it for a while to calmed you down.

"I will wait here, go help Bokuto-san." Hearing that, you composed yourself and nodded. Pecking his cheek before dashing out to the locker room. You found Miya Atsumu and Hinata Shouyou standing in front of the door. Their eyes showing relieve when their gaze falls on you. You nodded at them as they step aside to give you the way.

You opened up the locker room, hearing a painful gasp when you enter. Bokuto curled up on the corner of the room, gasping for air like it's not there. You ran to his side, pulling him to your embrace as you cradling him. Your fingers were stroking his hair that was now become a mess.

"I am here, Bo, I am here. You are not going through everything alone." He didn't talk; he just gasped for air. You didn't know what made him like this, but it hurts your heart so much to see him in so much pain, "Kou," You cooed his name again and again. His arms finally wrapped around you after a while, afraid that you will dissipate into thin air if he let it go.

"Why-" His voice cracked, "S-since when that you and Akaashi..." You bit your lips, now understand what made the man in front of you broke down like this, "I thought you love me." His fist clenched hard on your shirt, "I-I am so sorry, it's because I said that I didn't l-love you, right?" He sobbed, wetting your lap as his head was now lying on your stomach.

"Kou, I am sorry if I hurt you for loving Keiji." He knew he started to act selfishly again, just like what he always does before, "When you didn't love me anymore, I thought I would never love someone again." Bokuto listened to your statement, still sobbing here and there, "But he showed me that I could, Kou. You wish that for me, right?"

"Y-yes." He straightened his body to take a look at you, and that feels like the biggest mistake that he is ever done. There on your ring finger, lay an unfamiliar platinum ring with round cut diamond. For three years, a rose gold coloured ring was adorning there. It reminded him that you were no longer his, and he should remember that, "You two... You two are m-married?"

"No, Kou. Not yet." His golden eyes pierced into your soul. For the past months, he tried to find someone. But he still ended up with an empty bed somehow. He missed the warm that you always radiate every morning, "What is it, Kou? Why you-"

"You will leave me." It was the most painful truth that he ever realised, "Y-You will never have the time to spend with me. Either you or Akaashi, both of you will live happily ever after and I would never be there. I will be forgotten," He didn't tremble like before, but the tears were pouring non-stop, "I need you, (Y/n). I am sorry that I ever said that I didn't love you anymore, I-"

"Kou," You cupped his cheek, gazing at the eyes that were filled with hurt, "I would never leave you. You remember the vow that I gave on our wedding day?" He nodded at this, "I said that I would never stop caring for you, I will always be there for you every step of the way, and I will never stop loving you." Your thumb brushed away his tears carefully, "Just because it's not the same kind of love, doesn't mean that I will stop loving you."

Bokuto bit his lip, restraining the tears that still want to get spilt. He must accept this; it's what he wanted after all. For the past few months, he would lay on his bed, tracing the empty side that never filled with warm anymore. No matter how many women throw themselves for him, he just couldn't do it. Every time he gave someone a chance, something will nag at his heart, telling him that it was all wrong.

By the end of the day, he realised that no one else could love him like you do.

You were no longer belong to him, and he kept saying it inside of his head. He would never get the privilege to taste your love in his life ever again. It will be all poured for Akaashi Keiji. It's Bokuto decision to let you go after all, and maybe, having you there for him is enough.

"Okay." He stood up all of a sudden and pulled you up with him. His hand was now grabbing yours, golden eyes locked to your orbs, "Then look at me, okay?" His face showing the usual grin, "Cheer for me! Tell Akaashi to cheer for me too!" Your eyes were brimming with tears as you saw how much he has grown.

For the first time, you didn't need to tell him what to do. You didn't have to sugarcoat him with something. He just realised it all on his own. Somehow, seeing him like this feels like it was your achievement too.

"We will, Kou." You pulled your hand that was interlocked with him to be in front of your gaze, "So, win this! They all have been waiting for you!" Bokuto nodded, pulling you to his embrace one more time. He kissed the crown of your head before letting go,

"Thank you, for ever loving me." He gave you a grin, then bolted out to the door. Ready to come back to the match. You chuckled by his behaviour, feeling glad that maybe, everything will turn out alright after all. Then you follow his action, running towards the stands so you could see the man that will always have a special place in your heart.

Akaashi waved at you when his eyes finally found you on the entrance, you ran and sat down immediately. You gave the man beside you a long kiss, shocking him as you put your forehead on his for seconds,

"Everything's okay?" He asked you with concern lingering on his voice. You nodded with your eyes still closed, taking his hand in your lap.

"Yes," You gave him one more peck on his lips, "Everything is okay now." He smiled to hear your answer. Both of you were now focused on the game, still holding each other hand.

The commentator announced the come back of Bokuto Koutarou to the game. There he is, standing on the sideline while waiting for the right time to go back to the court. Pride engulfed your heart as you saw him there, looking as serious as ever.

Bokuto fingers fiddling with a rose gold wedding ring that he usually put on his pocket, a token that reminded him of your unconditional love towards himself. When the coach told him to come back inside, he kissed the ring and prayed for the best before tugging it back inside his pocket.

Miya and the others have been waiting for him, glad to see their ace looking like he was back to his prime condition as he strode back inside the court. Bokuto looked at your direction. You were cheering on him while Akaashi gave him a smile and a thumbs up. Satisfied, he gazes back to the court, grinning wild when he remembered the two important people in his life.

Akaashi Keiji becomes his best friend since high school, always looking up for him until today. He was the one who introduces you, the love in his life, to be with him. But fate was always unpredictable as he must let you go, to be with someone who could love you back just like how much you love him, and now, you found it on the black-haired man.

He knows that you will always love him, and he realised that it's alright if it's not the same love as they used to. Because he knew, you poured all of your love to his best friend. Bokuto was all out of love without you, feeling so lost at first. But when you remind him about your vow, he realised that to have you in his life was enough, even if it means you will belong to another person.

It's time for Bokuto to serve, he was silent and walked to the right and left, looked to everyone on the stands then started to clap. You know what is he going to do. So you clapped, as loud as you can. You nudge your fiance to clapped louder, he shook his head at your excitement but following your act at the end.

The entire arena was now clapped for him. It was something that he always loves to do since years ago. He did it because he felt like the world are there for him, and knowing you there clapping too, feels like the entire universe is rooting for his serve. So he threw the ball to the sky and jump, hitting the ball hard to the opponent's court. It was so fast that suddenly the ball has landed perfectly. Bokuto just scores a point.

Everyone was silent, too shocked with how powerful the ace could serve. So you stood and clapped, making a chain of sound to the entire arena. You smiled so wide, tears brimming in your eyes because of how proud you are with him. He grinned and absorbed the energy from all of the spectators, raising both of his hands to the sky.

"HEY HEY HEEYYY!!!"

And maybe, just maybe, everything will be alright after all.

#akaashi #akaashi keiji #akaashi keiji x reader #haikyuu #haikyuu!!#hq #hq!!#akaashi angst #akaashi fluff #bokuto koutarou #bokuto #scenario #angst #fluff #bokuto angst #xreader

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weekendwritingmarathon · 4 years ago

Text

This weekly roundup includes fics written (at least in part) during the 1k1h sprints and/or the Weekend Writing Marathon events.

Fics are ordered first by fandom, then by word count from smallest to largest.

I’ll Follow You (Around The World) by vexbatch

Good Omens || Crowley/Aziraphale || Teen & up || No major warnings apply || 2,414 words || Complete

Summary: Crowley and Aziraphale meet up, sometime before the end of the world, to have a coffee.

Other tags: fluff, pining, first kiss

Dancing By Myself (and baby, it’s the electric slide) by vexbatch

Marvel || Clint Barton || Explicit || No major warnings apply || 1,559 words || Complete

Summary: It’s Clint’s birthday, and Natasha actually got him a really nice gift. A really nice gift that he’d like to try out right now, thank you very much.

Other tags: trans clint barton, masturbation, violet wand, pwp

An Intermission (or two) by @pherryt

Marvel, The Old Guard || none || General || Major Character Death || 1,590 words || Complete

Summary: Two short vignettes focusing on Andy and Bucky (Separately) before the next big story hits: Chapter 1: Andy isn't sure of her usefulness anymore, now that Superheroes are becoming a thing. Chapter 2: Bucky isn't sure of anything at all. Until he is.

Other tags: off screen character death, canon divergent winter soldier, Avengers, Implied/Referenced Torture, Battle of New York, Family, loss of self, Memory Loss

Outside the World by @pherryt

Marvel || winterhawk (bucky/Clint) || General || No major warnings apply || 4,767 words || Complete

Summary: Bucky doesn't really remember who he is, and what little he does remember is impossible. All his therapists have said so. There's no way he can be who he thinks he is - a character from a children's book. And yet, the world around him just doesn't *feel* right - its too dark, too colorless and doesn't match the vibrancy of his dreams. Dreams he tries to capture both on paper and on his walls. Bucky doesn't have any answers he can count on, just the hat he's kept all these years, but that guy that started following him - as vibrant and eye-catching as the pieces of Bucky's dreams - Well, he just might.

Other tags: Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat , White Rabbit, March Hare , Wonderland, Amnesia, Lost!Bucky, stranded in another world, Magic, Portals, past self inflicted hurts (but not self harm), Reunions, Riddles, names have power, Protective!Bucky, Sacrifices, allusions to greater conflict, bucky's friends never gave up, Pocket Watch, Top Hat, Recovering Memories, unwonderland, steve rogers, steven strange

Finding Me (And You) Along the Way by @pherryt

Marvel || winterhawk (Bucky/Clint) with side Steve/Sam || Teen & up || No major warnings apply || 10,031 words || Complete

Summary: When Clint retired - pre-Loki, pre-Avengers - he'd never expected that his leisurely world tour might be joined a couple years later by Captain America's best friend. A best friend who'd gone through things nobody should ever have had to go through and was just trying to find himself again. Even if Clint hadn't already promised Steve to keep an eye out for Bucky, he'd have caved in the direction of helping. There was just something about him...

Other tags: soulmates, soulmate miscommunication, telepathy (sort of) finding yourself, fluff, traveling the world, mutual pining, deaf!clint, retired!clint, nerd!bucky, soft!bucky, canon divergent, post winter soldier, journal, memories, scarf, minor references to nightmares and past abuse

Square One by @pherryt

Marvel, The Old Guard || nicky/joe (pre Nicky/Joe/Bucky) || Mature || Graphic Descriptions of Violence, Major Character Death || 15,709 words || Complete

Summary: It's been nearly 50 years since James sacrificed himself to save Joe and Nicky from a very Merrick like fate. They had no idea he was about to become a presence in their lives once more, looking almost as young as he had then. James wasn't an immortal, so it should have been impossible, but there he was on the tv, clear as day.

Other tags: Temporary Character Deaths, temporary suicide, On screen suicide, Hurt/Comfort, Healing, identities revealed, Angst, Family, finding sanctuary, There's another one, Hopeful Ending, protective Joe, Protective Nicky, Supportive Andy, supportive Nile, talk about past joe/nicky/bucky, Forgiveness, Winter Soldier, bonding all over again, post winter soldier, canon divergent winter soldier, post old guard, Tired Bucky Barnes

Not Your Guardian Angel (chapter 21) by @tryslora

Original Fiction (Welcome to PHU) || M/F/F (Shane/Pels/Jess) || Teen & up || Author chooses not to give major warnings || 3,464 / 83,881 words || WIP

Summary: When Pels wakes up, everyone she loves is there. Maybe they can heal from more than just the accident.

Other tags: Magic, College, Guardian Angel, Ghosts, Soulmarks

Not Your Guardian Angel (chapter 22) by @tryslora

As Above || 3,513 / 87,394 words || WIP

Summary: Jess wants to hug Pels. She wants to confirm that she's alive and well, but... that's something they haven't done yet.

Under the Surface by @pherryt

Supernatural || destiny (Dean/Cas/Benny) || Teen & up || No major warnings apply || 25,842 words || Complete

Summary: Dean was kicked out of his pack because he couldn't turn into his wolf, but shifters aren't meant to be alone. He finds a traveling companion in Benny, who's been on the run from his own pack for years and is desperately lonely. It goes well enough, except that Dean keeps getting sick and Benny doesn't know why, so when they find what appears to be an abandoned village, they take refuge - only to find a lone wolf still lives there and he's not too happy to find strangers in his home.

Other tags: Found Family, Shifters, Wolves, Werewolf AU, touch starved, Alone, cast out, Traveling Together, Finding Shelter, Storms, Hurt/Comfort, Sick!Dean, hurt!Dean, Bad Pasts, Fluff and Angst, Pining, Mutual Pining, loner!cas, Magic, spells, Prophecy, Fantasy AU, not a/b/o, Shapeshifting, Domestic

Wyerd by tryslora

Teen Wolf || Stiles/Derek/Jackson || Teen & up || No major warnings apply || 4,990 words || Complete

Summary: Stiles started writing the webcomic when he was sixteen. At the time, he thought the name was the height of wordplay humor. Now it's been picked up by Netflix for a six episode series covering the first published volume, and starring Derek Hale and Jackson Whittemore. What even is his life?

Other tags: AU-Actors, Comic Artist Stiles, Actor Derek, Actor Jackson, Getting together

Have you posted a fic recently? Any active WWM participant can Submit your fic here by midnight EST Wednesday and it will be included on next Friday’s WWM Fic Roundup post.

#wwm fic roundup #good omens #marvel #the old guard #original fiction #welcome to phu #supernatural #teen wolf #fanfic

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salt-warrior · 4 years ago

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WHEN EARTH TURNS TO ASHES

Masterlist

Chapter Seven: Loner Loser

"And how did you get locked into that classroom, Miss Linh?" Principal Strom stared down at Selene, his eyes empathetic and kind. Selene wished to tell him, but it hurt too much to admit the betrayal of her best friend.

"I, uh- I accidentally locked it." Selene glanced down at her shoes, her stomach churning with guilt. "I don't really know how. Someone might have locked it earlier and I just got shut it."

Shrugging her shoulders, Selene continued the lie. "I passed out because it just had this horrible stench of smoke. I think some kids were smoking in there before me because it was awful." Selene wrinkled her nose at the memory of the real smoke and how it had made her feel. "I have these really bad allergies and don't do well with smoke. Or cotton, for that matter." Selene coughed for special effect. She was a master liar.

Principal Strom remained skeptical, his too big shoulders hunching as he analyzed her. "And you're sure that there was no... sabotage? Are there any students who may be out to get you? Have you been bullied at all in the past or at the present?" He was on to her, but there was no way that Selene was going to let him get her.

"Nope, I'm fine." Selene smiled her most brilliant smile. She was good at pretending. She was excellent at deception. She was clever and sharp as a knife; but that had never made anyone want to be her friend. She had a brain, but no one to share her witty jokes with.

"Well," Principal Strom sighed. He looked worn and tired, and Selene felt bad for the man. He tried so hard to do his job and help kids; but at the end of the day, he was still getting lied to. "I hope that you will report any behavior that is against school policies, especially bullying. We have no tolerance for it here at OHS. Have an excellent day, Miss Linh."

Selene stood from her stiff seat, paying a brief goodbye. She knew that what Pearl and her cohorts were doing was wrong. They were terrible people— monsters even. She hated them all, but some small part of her couldn't tell the Principal; because she couldn't bring herself to believe it had actually happened.

Cress Darnel was supposed to have been her friend. She had been the only person to stand by Selene after Peony's death, but times change. She must have been the one to tell Pearl and her friends her fear of fire.

No, Selene wasn't scared of what Pearl and her cronies would do to her. She was used to pain and heartbreak— but betrayal was something entirely new to her. Selene had never opened up enough to a person to allow such a tragedy, and admitting it would hurt her more than any physical wound.

Selene had lost too much in life, but losing her friend to betrayal was the ultimate tragedy.

***

The buzz of a telephone over one thousand miles away tickled at Kai's ear. It had taken him only a few hours to locate the Linh's phone number and only a few more to figure out what he was going to say. By now, it was nine in the morning.

He had checked everything, making sure that it would all be perfect. The time zones had only an hour difference and it was a Friday morning. No one should yet have left for work. It would all be perfect.

"Hello?" Said a voice from the other end. It sounded young and feminine.

"Hello," Kai said in his chipper voice. He had only slept for an hour and a half, but he felt more awake than ever. "My name is Kaito Crown, and I was hoping to speak with Garan Linh."

Silence followed, and Kai wondered if the girl had hung up on him. "Hello?"

"You can't speak with my father." The girl's voice was angry— defensive. "What kind of sick prank is this?" The girl sounded upset now, and Kai felt bad even though he didn't know what he had done wrong.

"I'm sorry," Kai cut in quickly, before she could call him out for anything else he hadn't done. "Who is this?"

"Pearl Linh." The girl—Pearl— huffed.

"Well, Pearl, like I said, I would like to talk to your father on behalf of his ward, Selene." Kai stated patiently. He couldn't quite understand why Pearl sounded so annoyed at him, or why she wouldn't let him talk to her father. It wasn't as if he were trying to scam them or anything.

An agitated snarl sounded from the other end. The animal-like sound scared Kai into nearly dropping the phone. "What is your problem? Do you like causing people emotional pain, or are you just insensitive?" Kai flinched at her words. He had not expected such a retaliation to such a simple and easy question.

"I-I'm sorry." Kai stuttered the apology, a chink in his armor. "I don't mean to bring up anything upsetting. It's just that Selene has been in a terrible car accident and has suffered major injuries. I know that she's been estranged from the family, but I thought that you may still want to–"

"We don't want anything to do with that monster." Pearl's voice dripped with malice. She was furious. "Not after everything she did to our family. She took away not one, but two members of this family. She's a menace to society."

Kai felt his breath hitch. He knew that many children in Foster Homes struggled and often rebelled, but this sounded serious. Maybe the girl he had saved was mentally insane, or had done something terrible to this family.

"If you don't mind me asking," Kai said, "What did Selene do to you?" Kai hurriedly explained himself, "I'm the person who pulled her out of the car. I never met her before the accident, and she's been in a medically induced coma for about a week."

Pearl sighed from the other end. She seemed to be more relaxed knowing that Kai was just a random citizen. "I'll tell you what happened only if you promise to leave my mother and I alone. She hates talking about these kinds of things. Her mental state is already terrible and I don't need it getting worse."

"I promise." Kai said, his stomach jittering with butterflies. He almost didn't want to know whatever Pearl was about to tell him, but he couldn't help himself. He was a curious person.

"My dad took Selene in when she was sixteen. He knew what it was like to have bad parents, though he had never been in a Foster Home. He really liked her and decided to adopt her into the family. My mother was against the entire thing, and I agreed with her. The only person besides my father who wanted Selene was my younger sister, Peony. Funnily enough, they're the two who got the worst of it from Selene.

"Peony worshipped Selene. She thought that the sun shone from everything that she did. I despised her. Call it psychic abilities, but I knew that she was a rotten one. I did not expect her to murder my sister, however. I knew she was bad, but I didn't think she was so horrible as to murder a child. My sister was only fourteen.

"There was no proof that Selene did it, but everyone knew. It only took her a less than two months before she realized that no one wanted her anymore, and so she left.

"My parents had mixed emotions about her leaving. My mother was thrilled, and while my dad wasn't too fond of the thing anymore, he still wanted to help. My mom told him not to tell anyone that she'd run away. After all, Selene was almost eighteen. When Social Services found out that she'd run away and my dad hadn't told anyone, they were furious.

"My father was charged with child neglect for not reporting Selene's disappearance and being her legal guardian. He was sentenced to ten years in prison for not wanting to keep a monster in our house anymore.

"I hope that accident hurt Selene, because she ruined my life. My mother is destroyed because of what that fiend did, and left me all alone to pick up the broken pieces of my family. Don't call again." A dull buzz filled Kai's ears, and he knew that he would never speak to Pearl Linh ever again.

***

Kai smeared ketchup onto his french fry, lathering it up until it was fifty-fifty ketchup to fry ratio. He hated eating naked french fries. Thorne, on the other hand barely tapped his three fries into his BBQ sauce. Kai didn't quite understand the sauce choice, but Thorne had something against tomatoes.

"So how did Selene murder the little sister again?" Thorne asked around a mouth of french fries. Kai squirmed at spotting the specks of food in his friend's mouth. He hated when people talked while chewing food.

Kai swallowed his single fry, taking time to answer by swigging his water. "Pearl didn't say. She just said that Selene killed her and then ran away."

Right after Kai's conversation with Pearl, he had called Thorne. The phone call had drained him and set his mind into panic mode. Kai had dished out the entire story to Thorne, who seemed to think of the entire thing as one fat joke.

"Great," Thorne deadpanned, picking up his burger. "You rescued a murderer from death. Maybe she'll kill you next." Thorne tilted his head downward in a teasing way, pointing a fry dramatically at Kai.

Rolling his eyes, Kai began to dip another fry. "The thing is, I have a hard time believing it. I don't just want to condemn her for something another person thought about her. For all we know, maybe Pearl murdered the little sister and used Selene as a cover story."

"Too cliché." Thorne said. "But I do agree with hearing Selene out before judging her. This Pearl character sounds a tad bit biased."

Kai nodded his head absently, biting his lower lip. The phone call with Pearl Linh had upset him more than he thought a phone call could. He didn't want to believe that Selene was a bad person, but something inside him yearned to learn more about the angel.

"I think I want to go to Olympia." Kai said, looking at Thorne to gage his reaction.

Thorne munched on another fry. "You must be getting overconfident with your looks then." Thorne said, his words mushed by food. "Because I'm pretty sure that girl would be more than happy to punch you in your perfect nose."

"I don't mean to visit the Linh's." Kai corrected himself. "I want to talk to the school, or maybe even some friends of Selene." Kai had been thinking about doing this even before his phone call with Pearl. He wanted to understand the person he was now connected to.

"How do you know if she even has friends? The girl sounds like a loner loser to me." Thorne wiped his mouth with a scratchy brown napkin. Kai threw him a glare. "I mean," Thorne continued. "If she doesn't have any friends here after two years of living here, why would she have any up there?"

Kai had never thought about that before. He always assumed that there must have been somebody that cared about Selene, but maybe there wasn't. Perhaps she was more alone than Kai could ever imagine.

"Everybody makes acquaintances in high school whether they like it or not." Kai rubbed his eyes. He may have been energized during his call with Pearl, but getting no sleep the night before was finally wearing on him. He needed a nap.

"Alright then, Mr. Superhero. Fight valiantly, die bravely. Go figure out your girlfriend's backstory. I'll stay here... doing nothing." Thorne sipped on his Coke, pinky up.

"Like you're getting away that easily." Kai smirked. "I need you to look out for Selene while I'm gone."

Thorne choked, spitting brown bubbles onto the tabletop. "No way. Aces and spades, I am not going to watch over your murderer girlfriend. I've sworn off all women, especially those who may want to hurt or kill me." Thorne shook his head adamantly. "You can go to Olympia and do whatever you want, Crown, but I have my own stuff."

"Come on," Kai pleaded, knowing exactly how to win this kind of battle. "I'll only be gone for a day or two, and all you have to do is talk to her for ten minutes. I just don't want her to be alone again."

"I'm pretty sure she's used to it by now." Thorne muttered under his breath, earning a blazing glare from Kai. "But alright, I'll visit her."

Kai grinned at his friend. "Thanks, mate."

"Anything for my lovestruck idiot best friend." Thorne reached across the table, beginning on Kai's fries.

Kai swatted at Thorne's hand, but he had already stolen five of his fries. "I am doing you a favor though," Kai said.

"How so? I thought that I was the one visiting your murdering angel." Thorne guffawed, shoving all five fries in his mouth at once.

"Because, my dear friend," Kai simpered. "I think your lady-charming skills needs some touching up. If anything, you're the loner loser, not Selene." Kai laughed, and Thorne glared.

Thorne stared at Kai's fries, a mischievous grin crossing his features. Kai yawned, stretching out his back and closing his eyes for a split second. By the time he looked back at the table, all of his fries were gone, and Thorne was laughing.

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weakforjaskier · 5 years ago

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any favorite fics to share? links please xx

Hello anon! Sorry for the delay

I hope you like geraskier bc that’s all I’m reading and probably the only fics I’ll read for a long long time. I adore our two idiots so much!

All of these are one-shot or completed

Every Second into More by Morcalivan (one shot)

As much as he hated to admit it, Jaskier was one of those who had peaked in high school. Back then he had been universally adored and had people left and right begging for his attention. The years since then? No so much any of that. When he received the invitation to his high school reunion, it could not have come at a worst time; not only could he barely book enough jobs to stay alive, but he was woefully single. What he did have was the old standby: lying through his teeth. All he needed was one hot distraction in the form of the one person he could never get to look at him twice: Geralt.

This was so much fun to read and the smut at the end is fantastic.

Julian by vands88 (one shot)

Inspired by Spencer B’s ballet AU

Jaskier was a child prodigy who burned out before he was sixteen. Now he's going from job to job with no aim in life until he meets Geralt Rivia - the famously strong ballet dancer who has also fallen from grace after an accident that he still blames himself for.

Geralt sees a potential dance partner in Jaskier and maybe even a chance for redemption. Jaskier, meanwhile, just wants to get laid.

I loved their characterizations and everything about them. AUs are obsession for me so this one fulfilled all of my cravings

In a Little Corner That We Call Home (I Loved You From the Start) by @ohmygoshwhatascream

Jaskier falls in love with all who he meets, gifting pieces of his heart to anyone will have him.

He gives and gives and never once does he take back, but he convinces himself that he is happy. He sings of love and lust and heartache in musty taverns and dirty bars and he never stays in the same place. Always moving, always running. Always hiding.

But then he meets Geralt and their lives become intertwined. Geralt becomes his destiny and with it, he holds the key to his heart.

The thing with hearts, however, is that once you give someone your heart in all its entirety, you cannot take it back. And Geralt is not used to handling such delicate things and this time Jaskier can't just run away.

This author broke my heart in thousand of pieces and put it back together but my heart will never be the same and that’s okay. This is one of the best fics I’ve read and believe me when I say it because I’ve read a lot of stuff. It’s not an easy read. There is a lot of angst and Jaskier is tortured in one of the chapters and it made me sick to read it but at the end is so worht it.

Guardian of the Soulless by @starrose17

Modern!AU. Geralt has just left a relationship with Yennefer, the boss of a top London crime family. They leave on good terms, and he stays as a bodyguard for hire to be called upon when needed. He has every reason to believe his life will carry on as normal, but he barely gets two footsteps down the street before he finds a noisy angel amongst his monsters of the crime world. Jaskier has no idea what he's gotten himself involved with, and frankly he's more excited for it. Cue Jaskier finding a heart to call home, and Geralt realising love is what he'd always been missing.

Another amazing fic. The sex scenes are the hottest I’ve ever read. The action is so so great, you are looking for emotions? You will have a ton of emotions reading this. The end is fantastic. I will cherish this fic forever

we can help each other (we can heal together) by @marvelousmaize

Her eyes are still too narrow, too shrewd. It unnerves Jaskier. Then, softly, Yennefer adds, “Your feelings for Geralt - I had not realized.”

Jaskier snorts, but does not pretend to misunderstand. “That’s quite alright. He never did either, if it’s any consolation.”

This fic is everything I want in a post ep 6 fix it. Pining, idiots in love, found family, happy ending. This fic will heal all you wounds.

I hope you enjoy them and remember to leave kudos and comments for the authors.

#I answer stuff #geraskier fic rec #geraskier #Anonymous

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luna-almighty-god · 4 years ago

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Guardian Angel N°16 [ Yumerai ]

This is chapter sixteen! We're slowly approaching the end!

This story is obviously not canonical, please do not refer to it if you are looking for canonical information.

The drawing belongs to me, please don't take it !

Have a good read!

===

First Chapter

Previous Chapter

===

Pathetic.

Useless.

Weak.

Through feelings too powerful to be controlled, Dream had been stripped of his role as guardian of positive emotions. Not by any third party, but by himself.

Unable to save his brother from corruption, he had been forced to watch him corrupt the multiverse, corrupt his best friend, destroy the world that had been theirs by hurting the people they loved.

In the end, Dream had lost everything. Nightmare at first, then Ink, then his friends like Blue... And how to explain his horror when he had discovered the birth of Nyx? That he had seen the way Nightmare treated him, that he was helpless in front of his nephew that he was unable to help?

Dream had simply been useless.

Too weak to maintain positive emotions, to watch over dreams. Too weak to protect whoever it was. At least it was too weak as a guardian, as a 'nice little peaceful skeleton'.

So he had made a decision.

[He had disavowed his role.]

No more being nice, because in his timeline, kindness didn't lead to anything. Nothing at all. He had convinced himself of that. Trying to sound like his brother, trying to sound like Ink... useless, just useless. Only the hard way was working now, and Dream had made that clear.

Draw his bow, materialize an arrow of light, shoot without the slightest hesitation at his brother, target him between the two orbits. And even if Nightmare had managed to dodge, his stunned face was enough to anchor Dream in his ideas.

[The sweet Dream no longer existed.]

Looking for a way to make a difference, to save their world, to save what's been lost. That was the mission that Dream had set for himself. To make up for their mistakes, their weakness, by changing the moment when everything had turned upside down, that little moment that had sealed their fate.

Oh, Dream had never thought of erasing Nyx, far from it! In his eyes, the birth of his nephew was in no way the cause of this decline! No, the problem went back further, to the insecurity problems of Ink and Nightmare, but also to the problems of the whole multiverse. Because to be so easily corrupted by the master of misfortune, it was that their world wasn't going so well in the first place ...

Everything was so complicated. There wasn't just one problem to deal with, but the problems of multiple monsters. Everything had to be considered, every detail counted, every action, every sentence... Killer who sought comfort from Color to forget Nightmare, Color who was dying of jealousy because of his one-way love, Dust and Horror who saw in Nightmare a support and a model to follow to overcome their doubts and weaknesses, Error who was terrified at the idea of committing himself with Ink...

Hundreds of gears that worked with each other. The gears of misfortune that had really failed when Nyx was born.

Nyx was not the cause, only the extra element, the drop in the bucket.

Dream would have wanted to tell him so many times, wanted to reassure him ... but he had never been able to do so. For Nyx didn't listen, Nyx was stubborn, Nyx was... was... was simply locked up, imprisoned by his parents' vision. That skewed vision that put all the blame on the poor little skeleton.

“I don't know what to do to help him...” he blew, sat on the floor, head down as he felt Error come over to him.

Error who was looking in the wave, hands in his pockets, smoking a cigarette with his teeth without really enjoying it.

“It's not by words but by actions that we'll have to change him.” he replied.

Dream had gently raised his head, to observe the Glitch in silence, before looking into the void in turn to address the Destructor again:

“... I still don't understand why you're doing all this... Why you took Nyx under your wing... Why you allowed me to come live with you, with Cross and Lux...”

The other breathed a puff of smoke without casting the slightest glance at the guardian of dreams, only to answer with a shrug that made poor Dream sigh. This did not help him any more in his questioning ...

“...would you try to redeem yourself because you think you are responsible for our situation?" insisted the young dream. Do you think that if you had been different with Ink, all this wouldn't have happened?”

He felt the Glitch tensing up, only half a second before he was suddenly grabbed by the pass to be pulled against Error, to meet his eyes crackling with a rage that he was struggling to control, to swallow as the voice of the Destroyer became low, terribly hoarse, broken by the many hardships of recent years:

“... You talk too much Dream. Don't make me angry.”

Dream felt electrified. Electrified by that aura, that look, that voice... By this being that he had cherished for so long, without ever daring to say anything about it. Because he didn't want to betray Ink... and Error would never love him anyway.

*** ***

Dream shook his head, clearing his memories to stand in front of the gate that was waving in front of him. This was no time to dither. He had to cross that blue whirlwind, go back in time, save his nephew - if he wasn't dead yet ... -

But he found himself frozen, unable to take a single step. He hadn't told Cross or Lux. He had left his family behind only to take responsibility for his own actions. For suggesting the idea of going back in time, for not realizing that the gate had to be closed, for... everything. Absolutely everything. The corruption of his brother and his friend ... the fact that he gave too much responsibility to Nyx ... and ... the death of Error ...

He shook his head, took a breath, tightening his grip on his bow. His cracked crown, with missing pieces in it, seemed heavy to carry today...

[He frowned]

[He went through the portal]

*** ***

Nightmare didn't know what to think as he roamed the AUs with increasing nervousness. Everything was in turmoil, seemed incomprehensible to him and at the same time terribly clear. A truth that he refused to admit but that kept biting his mind.

Nyx possessed changing pupils, tentacles, a pronounced taste for drawing, the ability to blend into the shadows ... Nyx knew them by heart, but he also knew an Ink who seemed to come from the future.

Nyx ... was his son from another timeline.

“... Damn it...!” he growled as he quickened his pace.

Nyx was his son... damn it... it was so hard to swallow, to accept! Of course, the master of misfortune had tenderness towards the youngest, but not to the point of considering him as his child! Insomnia was his child, not Nyx! Because Nyx... Nyx was...

Nyx was his friend. A precious friend.

A friend he'd pissed off in a fit of anger, when the cartoonist went out of his way to help them, to help them have a happy life. It was because of Nyx that Nightmare had the family life he had dreamed of... and Nightmare had acted like the worst kind of bastard.

Now Nyx was missing, as was PaperJam who had apparently fled the house. Ink and Error had found out too late and were now worried to death, actively searching for their son in all universes without any possibility of finding his magical trace, as if it was camouflaged.

Nightmare growled. The magic was hard to camouflage. Powerful spells had to be used, which didn't reassure anyone about little Jammy's fate. Was it this Ink from the future who had gotten his hands on the boy? Unfortunately, there was a good chance ... And shit, "Ink from the future" was so boring to pronounce! Especially since he shouldn't be alone, and Nightmare couldn't see himself saying "Ink from the future", "Dust from the future", "Killer from the future" ... or even "Nightmare from the future". It was repetitive, boring, useless.

“Ink is so borring over paint... Can't I find a nickname to go with it?”

Slowing down his run to think, he stopped suddenly at the agreement of a weak, very weak sigh. Or rather a whisper. A word carried by the wind, it seemed to him:

“Etsuko ...”

He frowned at the arches, looked around him suspiciously without seeing anything except the few echo flowers nearby. But it couldn't have been them, could it? The echo flowers were just repeating what they heard. But it seemed like a strange coincidence that they would repeat such a word right at the very mention of Nightmare, a word that sounded a lot like a name.

The master of misfortune shrugged his shoulders: he wasn't going to worry about that. It was worth taking the ...

“Etsuko ...”

He turned to the flowers. Why did they seem so insistent? Was he getting the wrong idea, just blaming poor, harmless flowers?

He sighed:

“Okay, let's go for Etsuko...”

He waited a while, to see what would happen. But nothing... Nothing at all. And this realization tensed him: why didn't the flowers repeat what he had just said?

Suddenly his mind twisted, encountering a sudden magical apparition. His eyes widened: PaperJam ... he was not camouflaged anymore ! And from what he could feel... he was in Underlust?

Despite the terrible apprehension that it was a trap, Nightmare had no choice but to rush there, knowing in advance that Error and Ink must already be there, having surely reacted faster than him.

He disappeared into a portal, not knowing that he should have lingered longer by the flowers ... because he could have heard the sweet laughter that escaped from there. A laughter that accompanied an amused voice:

“To think that I have to intervene for silly nicknames... !”

*** ***

Life had been good to him. The last few days had probably been the best of his life. Yes Ink was happy. Happy to finally be reunited with Error, to be able to live his love with him, to be united with him. To shake his hand, to embrace his body, to devour his mouth. Exchanging caresses, tender words...

And came PaperJam, his adorable child, so cute, so innocent, so sweet and gentle. The family he had always dreamed of ... accompanied by that truce with the Bad Sans, who had offered him new friendships. Horror, Dust, Killer... but especially Nightmare.

Nightmare... with whom he should have had a child? Who he should have had... Nyx...?

When did it escape him, the Creator? When only a short time ago he thought everything was 'normal'? That Nyx was just one skeleton among many, a skeleton with whom he had befriended?

Nyx held out a chip which Ink willingly accepted, stuffing it in his mouth as he sniffed it, wiping his tear-fogged eyes. The one with the black bones slid his hand over his skull and gently caressed him, in an almost paternal gesture that soon reassured him. Finally, he finally dozed off, far too comfortable in the bed that was not his, smelling the odor of Nyx that had permeated the sheets and which, it must be said, was not unpleasant.

Nyx lying unconscious on the ground, his head resting on the knees of a worried Plum.

“... He... collapsed? Just like that?” Ink questioned, having a hard time grasping the situation as his trembling voice testified.

Plum looked at him feverishly:

“Y-Yes... I don't understand... I don't understand ... he ... He seemed to have a panic attack, then he lost consciousness!”

It wasn't a simple blackout, Ink knew that all too well. For Nyx, besides breathing with difficulty, was sweating heavily, his body boiling, as if he was in the grip of a violent illness.

“... He would be sick ...? hesitated the Creator without daring to approach.

- He was fine only yesterday, said Error, who was standing next to him. He couldn't have gotten so sick in one night in ...”

But his voice died, interrupted by another which rose softly behind them:

“... Nyx is not sick ...”

Ink and Error turned around at breakneck speed to see their little Jammy in the doorway. Jammy's gaze was fleeting, due to his fear of being scolded by his parents but also the worry of seeing Nyx in such a state. Trembling with tears in his eyes as he felt his soul beating at full speed in his rib cage, he curled up on himself, ready to burst into tears:

“...A-a... a nasty Nightmare... he hurt Nyx... a-and Nyx kept falling asleep and waking up... like he was having a nightmare...”

Ink remained mute of stupor, to finally throw himself on PaperJam that he came to hug with all his forces, perceiving all the terror which lived in him, under the glance of Error who was divided between the desire to take his family against him and the desire to find this 'bad Nightmare' to explode his face.

“Calm down Jammy... the painter breathed, gently caressing his son's back. It's all right now...

- N-No, it's not true, it's not all right!" cracked the boy as he let out a sob. “I couldn't protect my big brother... and the bad guy's gone, he'll come back, he'll hurt us... !”

‘My big brother’. These words struck Ink's mind with force as his face became pale. So PaperJam had understood who Nyx was? No, the real question was... Had PJ accepted Nyx as a real member of their family? Without worrying about some timeline story?

Error grinned at the same words, but preferred to ignore them to concentrate on another detail. He came and crouched down beside Jammy and, timidly, caressed his shoulders in a clumsy attempt to comfort him:

“... PaperJam ... Do you know where this 'bad Nightmare' has gone?”

The child sniffed and shook his head as he came to curl up more against Ink.

Error remembered an insult when he saw how his son had been upset by the whole thing. He addressed Ink seriously:

“So there is not only an Ink from the future but also a Nightmare. And it won't surprise me that there are still others, which multiplies our enemies and therefore the danger. They must know the multiverse on the tip of their knuckles, probably better than we do.

- ... What do we do then? replied his lover. Do we prepare a counterattack? Do we hide? Do we wait? We skim the whole multiverse blindly?”

Faced with the painter's terribly rough tone, Error frowned on the arches:

“I don't know Ink. It's useless to take it that way!”

The Creator shot him with his pupils turned red:

“You give me a catastrophic summary of our situation without providing any solution! If it's just to depress me by putting me up against the wall, you can keep your remarks to yourself!

- I stated the facts and the possibilities! We've never been faced with such a danger, these guys probably know us better than we know ourselves! They can anticipate our actions and...

- And what? I'm well aware of it, who do you think I am?

- For a skeleton that seems to have already given up!

- How have I given up? I'm trying to take care of my sons here!”

Error bugged for a moment, before straightening himself up quickly by clenching his fists, pushing PaperJam to squeak with fear when he saw his parents arguing like that.

“Your sons?” repeated the Destructor coldly. “You have only one son, the one WE gave birth to!”

Ink gritted his teeth, closed his eyes to put his mind in order, imperceptibly squeezing PJ against him as if to give himself courage. He finally looked at his lover again:

“Nyx may come from another timeline... but I can't see him as anything other than my son.

- ... Are you kidding me?”

Error didn't know how to feel. Anger, frustration, jealousy, misunderstanding? He could accept that Nyx was Ink's son, but ... in another timeline, and only in another timeline! Not in theirs! Because in theirs, Ink was his, his and nobody else's, let alone Nightmare's!

“Yesterday you considered this guy a friend! And now you suddenly adopted him? Stop pissing yourself off!”

But if the voice that answered him was Ink's, it wasn't his Ink's voice. An evil, sadistic voice, whose sinister sneer shook the walls of the house and the monsters in the room.

“I agree, Error. This poor version of me is really infatuated with anyone!”

The yelp of PaperJam, thrown to the ground without the slightest softness, was nothing compared to the scream Ink uttered when he was hit hard by an ink tentacle that sent him waltzing against the wall.

Although Error was caught unawares, he didn't let himself be destabilized and received his son in panic, before catching Ink with his bluish threads while making bones to defend himself. His eyes filled with anger went to a corner of the room, and a shiver of hatred ran through him as he noticed the presence of this Ink of the future, quietly leaning against a wall with his arms folded.

“You bastard, you've got guts to bring your mouth here!”

His lover's double had a bad laugh before stepping towards him:

“Don't take it like that Ruru, I only come to free you from a weight.”

The magic of Error crackled, seething with resentment at his words, and the voice of Glitch sizzled with rage:

“I will smash you. I will destroy you for daring to touch my family.”

The future Ink raised his eyes to the sky before shaking his head with weariness, as if annoyed by such nonsense:

“Let's see Ruru... I'm your family.

- Call me 'Ruru' one more time... and I assure you I won't be in control.

- ... You're hopeless. Why can't you understand all the love I have for you? I probably love you much more than that old version of me. Do you understand that? Do you understand how much this version you're dating makes fun of you? He hasn't made the slightest effort to win you over, hasn't experienced the pain and sorrow that I have. He had outside help, and now that he's got you, he's turning to Nyx! Nyx that's not yours! Who's a stupid skeleton that came out of nowhere! What's next? Who's to say this Ink didn't turn away from you? That he won't leave you for Nightmare, only for the "good" of a son that isn't his?!”

The real Ink was recovering from the previous shock and was listening, with bitterness and anger, to the words of his double. This him of the future .... Did he even realize he was talking about his son? His son who was standing unconscious in the same room with him? Did this Ink from the future only realize that Nyx was at his worst?!

“... My Ink is an idiot, Error suddenly approved. But it's him and no one else that I fell in love with!!”

The two Ink hiccupped simultaneously, one deeply outraged and the other terribly moved. Before one of them recovered from his emotions, Error threw bones in the direction of the impostor, destroying part of the house in the process under the desperate gaze of poor Plum.

The Ink of the future just had the opportunity to leap backwards without dodging the entire attack. He grimaced when a bone was planted in his shoulder and had no choice but to retreat again, ending up outside the house, in the infinite cold of the Underlust Snowdine.

Error came to rest PaperJam, furtively caressing his skull before teleporting to his opponent and attacking him again. The child squealed, his face ravaged with fear and sobs, while looking terrified at the raging battle outside.

Ink hastened to his feet to draw Broomie:

“Plum, watch over my sons!” he ordered before throwing himself into battle.

An explosion sounded, followed by a burst of magic and the shrill sound of a blaster. The blast raised a wave of snow that fell with a crash, hiding the opponents under a smoke of ice. But despite the reduced visibility, Plum and Jammy realized that neither the Creator nor the Destroyer could defeat their opponent.

[Cause he knew them by heart, as Error had guessed.]

The snow finally fell, revealing more clearly the battle that was taking place. The threads of Error were sharply cut by vile tentacles, and the Ink of the future dodged an attack without difficulty by suddenly transforming himself into a puddle of ink, before taking a normal form just behind the Destroyer that he immobilized with his appendages .... So that these can be sliced in turn. By other tentacles.

“Wha...? wondered the one from the future.

- To think that I found Ink boring... But you're worse Etsuko!” cried the familiar voice of Nightmare, a voice of fun, defiance and anger. A voice coming from everywhere and nowhere, as if out of the shadows, out of the mind.

The three opponents stopped all movement to look around them while the Ink of the future frowned on the arcades with confusion and mistrust:

“Etsuko...? he repeated.

- A little nickname, so as not to confuse our mind. And specially to differentiate a stupid painter from a crazy painter.”

Nightmare finally appeared, standing between Etsuko and the two others, stinging an icy glance on the one of the future:

“But it doesn't matter, since you'll only be dust in a few minutes.”

The nightmare master's appendages agitated, whipped the air like a threat, while Etsuko stood staring at the guardian of bad emotions.

“... Ink... Etsuko... however I'm named... blew that of the Future. Anyway... That won't stop me from killing you.”

His face was torn by a terrifying smile... and he vanished.

Nightmare winked in disappointment and winked back to swallow a scream when he felt a pain twist in his arm. He winced, realizing that Etsuko had taken him as a traitor, and turned sharply to counterattack. However, he only hit the void, which made him growl.

“Bastard... !”

He jumped to the side and felt an ink puddle slip at his feet, and his gesture was not useless, for the next second his enemy came out of the puddle and threw sharp bones at him. Dodging, feeling one of the weapons brushing against him, he weighed himself down and teleported himself to the heavens, to make a Gaster Blaster appear, with which he shot Etsuko.

Etsuko who used his appendages as a shield, before materializing in his turn a Blaster. But instead of aiming at Nightmare, he took advantage of the other Ink's inattention.

Ink, still a bit stunned, who just had the opportunity to turn his skull before being dazzled by the powerful flash of the energy beam.

“INK!” Error and Nightmare shouted simultaneously as they watched in horror as the painter was about to disintegrate.

But it didn't happen. A golden light appeared for a second, accompanied by a loud sound of teleportation. The blaster wiped out where Ink had been, but not a trace of the Creator among the cloud of dust and debris.

Everyone was mute in amazement ... before Error was startled by the realization that there was a new presence behind him.

“Is everything okay?”

He turned around, opened his eyes, just like Nightmare who was unable to explain what they saw: Ink, safe and sound, gently carried in the arms of ... No... it couldn't have been... Yet there were very few skeletons wearing such a crown. But despite the appearance that didn't deceive... Nightmare didn't know if the skeleton that saved Ink was indeed Dream.

Ink himself seemed confused about who was supposed to be his best friend:

“... Dream?” he hesitated.

No, it couldn't have been Dream. Dream was a young skeleton, smiling and sparkling, with a soft warm aura. While this skeleton... this skeleton didn't have a smile on his face, not even a shred of joy. He only looked tired, exhausted... and deeply angry.

It was Etsuko who broke the silence again, his magic crackling even more angrily than before:

“Goddamn Dream! Always in my way !” he spat.

The three skeletons of this timeline freeze, having now the confirmation that the new one was indeed Dream. But so... the future Dream? This one rested Ink with a great softness, before patting his head amicably, but always without emitting the least smile:

“I will take care of him. Rest.”

It was not only addressed to the painter but also to Nightmare and Error. Finally he came to look into Etsuko's eyes and his face became harder, more implacable.

“Destroying our world wasn't enough for you, you also had to come and wreck another timeline?

- That you who gave me this opportunity.” Etsuko replied.

Dream sighed... and the arrow he shot was faster than the speed of light.

Etsuko hiccupped, screamed, fell to his knees and grabbed his belly, to turn his bewildered gaze towards his ribs, towards THE rib that the guard had aimed at and hit hard! Marrow was already starting to flow out of the wound to stain his clothing, but before anyone could really become aware of the situation, Dream teleported himself just in front of his enemy, to prepare his bow again and put an arrow in his face.

This time, the corrupt Creator did not let it happen and teleported himself in panic, several meters away from the guardian, to counterattack with his tentacles. Dream dodged a first appendage, contrasted a second one with his bow, but was whipped by a third one. This did not destabilize him, he kept an imperturbable face, and again used his bow to shoot a new arrow.

Nightmare twitched, his eyes clutching said arrow. His twin, guardian of dreams and good emotions, had always had this ability to generate arrows of light. But this Dream of the future... Its light was not pure. On the contrary, it seemed dimmed. Like... Like it was ready to sink into darkness.

If that made him pale, seeing his brother attack Etsuko without mercy made him even more unstable.

“Are you trying to play the hero? accused the corrupt painter. You, the guardian who gave up his title after abandoning his family? You're nothing but a Dream sub-shit! Don't come and stand up to me and play the Good guy !”

The Dream Keeper tensed up, to shoot a new arrow, this time missing his target.

“... I don't play the hero ... he blew trembling. I'm not, I never was... Unlike you. You were the hero of the whole multiverse, the Creator, the Keeper. But you chose to turn your back on everyone for a stupid one-sided love.”

Etsuko trembled, shaken by his words, and his anger was mixed with guilt and sadness that brought tears to his eyes. Yet he did not cry, on the contrary: his negativity gave him even more power, and in a hateful howl he knocked down his tentacles again.

Dream lowered his bow, his eyes exhausted, as if ready to submit to death ... to finally teleport at the last moment, dodging the attack before he sighed:

“... "Deep down... maybe I would have ended up like you, if you hadn't given me the counterexample. Seeing you sink into despair made me want to move on, to tell myself that I didn't want to end up like you.”

He sighed again while closing his eyes, as if to give himself courage, then raised his head, resting his golden gaze on the Corrupt Creator, this Creator who was once his best friend.

The golden glow of his pupils changed, sank, and became darkness.

Nightmare hiccupped with terror, as did Ink and Error ...

And the Dream of the future aimed again at his enemy, materializing at the same time an arrow darker than the darkness itself:

“I am no longer a guardian. I'm no longer a Dream.”

His voice had darkened as much as his gaze, and the icy air finished to petrify the group:

“... I am Yumerai, the vengeful dream.”

===

Next Chapter

You can support me on my Utip or on my Ko-fi account !

===

Credits =

Dreamtale -> Joku

Ink -> Comyet / Myebi

Error -> Lover The Piggies

Sugar Plum -> undertale Community (formerly NSFWShamecave ?)

Paperjam -> 7GoodAngel

#Guardian Angel #nyx #dream #ink #paperjam #sugarplum #alternate universe #alternate timeline #undertale #fanfiction #errink #nightkiller #inkmare #shipchild #nightmare #error #nightink #sans

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boasamishipper · 4 years ago

Text

Which Fics?

I was tagged by @icemankazansky to answer some Qs about my fics - thanks for the tag, Carly! <33

Which of your fics…

…did you think would get a bigger reaction/audience than it got?

probably sometimes you hear the bullet, my kainora / korrasami / bopal mash au. not to say that it didn’t get a big reaction - as of now, it’s got about 3.3k hits on ao3 and more on ffn - but when i was writing it, i expected it to get a bigger audience, if only because i was also writing korrasami, which was and still is the biggest ship in the lok fandom.

…got a better reaction than you expected?

there’s a raging fire in my heart tonight, bar none. i wrote this mainly after co-conceptualizing the idea with @academicgangster, and i didn’t think anyone but her would read or enjoy it. i was very happy to be proven wrong; as of posting date, it’s still the most popular top gun fic i’ve written. honorable mention goes to when i see your face, ‘til all my sleeves are stained red, and Like Attracts Like.

... is your funniest?

‘cause a cat’s the only cat (who knows where it’s at). it’s complete and utter crack about mav and ice raising baby flerkens (set in my top gun captain marvel au series), but i think it’s definitely my all-around funniest fic. the scene where one of the cats coughs up a burglar still makes me giggle every time i think about it.

…is your darkest or angstiest?

either on the red line overload or Talk To Me Of Lightning.

…is your absolute favorite?

...........god this is such a hard question, but i’m going to have to say Lead Me On (To The Other Side), with Word on the Street and The Stars Walk Backward as a very close second and third.

…is your least favorite?

Destination Unknown. i had the right idea when i was writing it, but the execution and the ending felt pretty weak to me in retrospect. i may do a redux sometime.

…was the easiest to write?

Brilliant Beyond Brilliant Idea, my top gun parent trap au. i wrote all sixteen chapters in just under two months, and had a lot of fun while doing it - though looking back, i’d probably change a few things about the fic’s plot so it isn’t so close to the movie. (i still love violet kazansky and joey mitchell with my entire heart.)

…was hardest to write?

the house that built me. this fic fought me kicking and screaming when i was writing, but i’m really happy with how it turned out. if we’re talking about fics that are still in the wip stage, made of stardust and moon, take thy flight are refusing to cooperate with me right now.

…has your favorite lines/exchange/paragraph? (share it!)

Lead Me On (To The Other Side)

“Mav, come on, you need to drink this.”

“Don’t want to.”

“I’m not asking you, Maverick, I’m telling you. Drink the water. Come on, it’ll make you feel better.”

Maverick eyed the water suspiciously, and then his gaze fell on Ice. His forehead creased. “Who’re you?”

“Your guardian fucking angel.” Ice’s patience was firmly at an end. “Now shut up and let me help you.”

…have you reread the most?

Lead Me On (To The Other Side), Word on the Street, out along the edges, and the entire Forged in the Stars trilogy.

…would you recommend to someone reading your work for the first time?

for each fandom: the Beyond trilogy (Top Gun), the Forged in the Stars trilogy (Star Wars), and sometimes you hear the bullet and/or keep a spur handy (The Legend of Korra).

…are you most proud of?

there’s a raging fire in my heart tonight. all the love and effort i poured in (and all the time i spent perusing the mcu wikia pages to ensure maximum accuracy, given endgame was still in theaters at the time) really paid off.

i tag @academicgangster @vegetarianvampireduck @kuno-chan @raayllum @thosefiveadoraburrs and anyone else who sees this and wants to do it. yes, that includes you, i promise. <3

#my fics #personal #thanks for tagging me!#these were a lot of fun to answer :D #chaosmagicwanda

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the-and-sign-anon · 3 years ago

Text

The Whole Board

Guardian Angel: Chapter Fifteen

Teen Wolf x Stilinski! Reader

Word count: 1,569

Series Masterlist

Masterlist

It took sixteen hours for the trio to wake up. In that time, you told Deaton about the cause of your blackouts. He tried to hide his concern at what you described, but you could tell he knew what you were talking about. When you finished recounting your last blackout and how you felt coming out of it, you gave him an expectant look.

“So, what does it mean? Should I be worried about the angels coming for me?”

“You won’t have anyone coming after you. That angel has no one to back her up. She was trying to push you to open the jar because she wants you to join her in her cause. Angels like that have no concern for humanity. Despite their purpose being tied so strongly to the human race, they come to resent it. They make no effort to help, to save people.”

“But the way she talked about me, it was like she trusted that I would join her if I could remember who I was. Maybe I used to be like her. Before whatever separated me from my grace, maybe I stopped caring about humans too.”

Deaton looked thoughtful as he pondered the possibility.

“If that was the case, you’ve changed now. The fact that you were able to defy her in her domain, to drag the memories of that place back with you this time, it means you’re strong. Maybe even strong enough to reunite with your grace. If that’s what you want.”

“I want to know who I am. Or who I was, anyway. But I can’t do that without knowing my family is safe first.”

Your eyes drifted over to your brother, lying perfectly still in the ice bath. He looked nearly dead and you had to keep reminding yourself that he wasn’t. That he would pop back up with that energetic, almost frantic look in his eyes with the location of the Nemeton on the tip of his tongue.

“Stiles and your father will be fine. He’s a good kid and he knows what he’s doing more often than we think.”

You thought of your father again, trapped somewhere with Chris Argent and Melissa McCall. You hoped Melissa was filling him in on the things Stiles couldn’t explain in the little time he’d had. A part of you hoped she was explaining what she knew about you too, so you might not have to do it yourself when you got him back.

When Allison shot up out of the water with a gasp, quickly followed by Stiles and Scott, you and Deaton jumped to your feet. Isaac and Lydia ran in from the other room and watched as the three climbed out of the baths rambling about a tree that had been cut down.

“It was the night we were looking for the body-”

“Yeah, the same night you were bitten by Peter.”

“I was there too, in the car with my mother. We almost hit someone.”

“It was me- you almost hit me!”

You focused on Scott as he looked at you with a mixture of excitement and awe.

“We can find it.”

The four of you looked at each other and back at the soaking wet teens.

“...what?”

“You were out for a long time…”

“How long is a long time?” Stiles looked at you for an answer.

“Sixteen hours.”

“We’ve been in the water for sixteen hours?”

“And the full moon rises in less than four.”

Scott sparked an argument as they dried off by bringing up Deucalion and his alpha pack. Stiles tried to convince his best friend not to go, but Deaton agreed with him. The best chance you had of stopping Jennifer was to work with the alphas, whether you liked it or not.

While the others split up to find the nemeton, you sat in your room with the little glass jar in front of you on your desk. You heard Stiles drive away in his Jeep and fought the desire to go with him. If you were going to help anyone, if you were ever going to feel like you weren’t fighting a losing battle against yourself; you had to do this now.

“I can do this. I want to do this.”

You reached out, took the bottle in one hand, and grabbed the cork with the other. Though you’d fiddled with the jar before, the cork had always been stuck firmly in the neck of the bottle. You couldn’t open it before and it never opened on its own. Now, the cork slid out easily and a blinding light consumed you.

Anyone passing by that night would have been startled by the light streaming out of your window and filtering through every room in the house. For nearly a minute, the pure white glow persisted. When it slowly faded, you stood in the center of your room, transformed.

Your jeans and hoodie had disappeared, replaced by a flowing white gown. You felt cleaner than you could ever remember being and for the first time in what felt like forever, you were at peace. There was no nagging voice in the back of your head telling you where to go or what to do, no deep pull towards the woods for reasons you didn’t understand. And in your hand was the same sword only Isaac and Gerard had seen. It was smooth and bright, perfectly weighted in your grip. Like you’d been born to hold it.

With your newfound clarity came an image in your mind clear as day. The nemeton, cut down, but still powerful. So you ventured out into the raging storm once again, your dress sweeping the ground around you. Nothing could distract you now, as you stalked through the woods to the collapsing root cellar where five people you were determined to protect were trapped.

You dropped into the ruin and jammed your sword into the dirt, the hilt catching the wood beam and keeping the group from being crushed. They all looked at you in amazement, your dad most of all. Isaac was the first to speak when you offered a faint smile.

“That’s officially my favorite sword ever.”

“The sword thanks you.”

Your dad lunged forward, knocking you back in the dirt as he hugged you tightly. You returned the embrace and fought tears at the sight of him.

“I don’t think I’m in any state to know where you got a sword, but I couldn’t be happier to see you sweetheart.”

“It’s a long story for another time. I’m happy to see you too, dad.”

You all huddled together as the storm raged on. Though the others were worried, you felt the same peace you had all those months ago in the sheriff’s station when Matt and the kanima held you all hostage. You knew everyone would walk away from this.

“Dad? Melissa!”

“Stiles!” You shouted to your brother over the howling winds. “Stay where you are! We’re okay!”

A few minutes later, the storm calmed and then stopped entirely. You smiled then, the kind of radiant smile your dad had hardly seen since losing your mom. Stiles poked his head in to see you all covered in dirt and smiling stupidly.

“Everyone okay?”

“We’re all good.”

“Y/N, where did you get that dress?”

“Long story. I’ll tell you when you get us out of here, deal?”

“Deal. I’ll call Scott.”

He disappeared and you heard him talking on the phone. Before long, Scott arrived with a ladder and got everyone to their feet on solid ground. You retrieved your sword once everyone else was out, which you slid through a loop on the belt of your dress. Stiles helped you to your feet and pulled you into a hug immediately after, which your dad quickly joined.

When you got home that night, you sat down with Stiles and your dad and told them everything. You started with the dreams you’d had all your life. You told them about finding the necklace, asking Deaton for help, and your months of blackouts. Stiles had a hard time not jumping in to ask more questions and you could see your dad was upset that you’d kept so much from both of them. Then you got to the last two days, how you dragged all those missing memories back with you and finally freed your grace.

“So you… you’re an angel. A real, living, breathing angel…”

“I suppose I am.”

Your dad furrowed his brows.

“Do you remember anything from…?”

“Before I was adopted? Before I was human?” Both of them nodded. “No. Not yet at least.”

“And if it does come back?”

“Hey.” You took Stiles’s hand in yours, then your dad’s as well. “I’m a Stilinski. I have been for over twenty years. Nothing will ever change that; no memories, no angels, no amount of power. You’re my family. It’s as simple as that.”

“But that angel you saw in the… the in-between…”

“If she appears here, she’ll have a hard lesson to learn. Because you aren’t getting rid of me that easily.”

Stiles drew you into another embrace, a bone crushing hug that lasted as long as you could stand it. No matter your origins, you were his big sister and you always would be. Of all the things he had to worry about in his life, that wasn’t one of them.

Next Chapter

#teen wolf x reader #teen wolf x reader series #teen wolf x Stilinski! reader #reader insert #female reader #my writing #guardian angel #guardian angel chapter fifteen #haven writes

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the-jade-cross · 4 years ago

Text

Spirit of Autumn - Chapter 1

500 years earlier

North was humming to himself, something mixed between ‘We wish you a merry Christmas’ and ‘Jingle Bells’. He was walking calmly through the huge Globe room where the yetis and the elves were attempting to set up for the Christmas annual ball. Every century North held a ball where each of the four guardians and all other spirits would get together for a long night of fun, joy and smiles.

“Phil!” North called. “Where are the Christmas lights!?”

The lead yeti let out a loud string of gibberish before hurrying off to find the Christmas lights. North went back to organizing garland when he felt a soft breeze behind him. He didn’t even have to turn around to know who had snuck up on him.

Feather light footsteps that barely made a sound announced the arrival of North’s favorite little visitor. He glanced at the windowsill and caught a quick glimpse of the silhouette of the petite figure crouched on the sill ready to pounce like a panther. The next second, the person was off the sill and had disappeared into the rafters of the room like a monkey in a jungle.

“Getting ready early again North?” the person asked in the soft, angelic voice.

“Don’t give me that,” North remarked in his loud booming voice. “Just promise me that you’ll dance with someone other than Tooth and Bunny this year! You’re wasting your childhood by avoiding kids your age.”

The person snorted as they did a somersault into the air and landed on the ground about ten feet from North, making not a noise as their booted feet touched the ground, “In case you had forgotten, I am permanently stuck in my childhood so there’s no wasting it. Besides, Tooth and Bunny are the only ones besides you and Sandy I can dance with without getting an invitation to flirt.”

“And what is wrong with that?” North insisted. “You’re young…. forgive me… frozen in your youth and you are determined to stay single.” “I’m not determined… I just haven’t found the right person yet,” the person replied.

“Well do me a favor and at least enjoy yourself at the ball?”

There was a long pause before the person slowly came out of the shadows. All North could see of the familiar person was her hands and legs. The girl was petite even though she was frozen at the age of sixteen. She had long, slender legs, slender arms and perfectly feminine fingers but nothing about her screamed GIRL! In many respects, she looked feminine to the backbone… but once you took a good look at her penetrating amber eyes and the way she held herself, you could tell that she was tough.

Other than the long dark brown cloak that she wore with the hood up, concealing most of her body, North could plainly see the thigh high leather boots that she wore that were laced up the front. Her slender, delicate but strong hands were visible beneath the cloak, both hands garbed in black leather gloves who’s fingertips had been cut off on purpose to give her more freedom. On her back rested a huge crossbow and at her hip, a quiver full of arrows, each feathered with a different color feather.

“That’s actually what I came to talk to you about,” the girl whispered.

North cocked his head to the side, “Don’t tell me you’re going to crash the party again.”

The girl shook her head, “I… I can’t attend the ball North…”

North stopped in his work and turned to consider the cloaked figure, “That is unlike you Scarlett. What happened?”

The girl shifted on her feet nervously and sighed. “I’m…. I’m leaving the gang North.”

If North had been shocked before, he was horrified now. He dropped an armful of garland he had been putting up, only for it to fall on top of three elves who were practically squashed between the greenery.

“Yo…You’re kidding right?” North insisted, turning to look at the girl in shock. “You cannot leave the gang! Sandy and Bunny will have my head! Tooth will go frantic too!” The girl slowly shook her head, “I have to leave North. It’s for the best of the team if I do now.” “What has that got to do with it?” North insisted. “You’re the core of the big five! Do you realize that the only reason Bunny smiles nowadays is because you are here? You are the only one who understands Sandy 100%. You’re practically Tooth’s little sister and the elves and the yetis will die if you leave! Why would you even think of leaving?”

“Because I’m suffering North!” Scarlett snapped, bringing silence to the room.

North sighed heavily and placed his huge hands on Scarlett’s cloaked shoulders, dwarfing the girl with his size, “Is this because no one can see you?”

Scarlett shook her head, “I couldn’t care less if no one saw me… just as long as you guys did, and people are happy with my work… but that’s not it.”

North paused before he felt tears prick his big eyes. He knew the answer now just by how Scarlett’s shoulders slumped. “It’s because of Adrian isn’t it?”

Scarlett didn’t reply but when she turned her head to the side to avoid North’s eyes, North knew that was the case.

“I understand,” North whispered. “But where will you go?”

Scarlett sighed. “Somewhere where I don’t have to see them at the beginning of my rounds.”

North sighed heavily and slumped, “What will I tell the others?”

Scarlett smiled and held out a thick envelope, “Give this to them. In it I explain why I’m doing this and my own personal farewell to them.”

North looked at the girl a long time before reaching over and engulfing the petite girl in a massive hug. He felt tears prick his eyes, but he didn’t know if Scarlett had any but from the way her shoulders slightly shook, he suspected she did.

“When will you return?” he whispered.

Scarlett shook her head as he released her, “Who knows. A few decades… maybe a few centuries who knows… I just need to make sure that when I come back, I can return to my work as a guardian and a spirit without getting distracted by my one-sided feelings.”

North wiped the tears from his eyes with his large hand as he sniffled. “Take care of yourself Scarlett.”

The girl smiled and gave him a quick hug before heading to the window. As she passed the elves, she jingled their bells as they gave her long mournful looks. She gave each of the yetis a large hug before jumping lightly to the high windowsill. North never forgot the sight of the girl’s cloaked silhouette in the windowsill. For 800 long years that image was imprinted in his mind, alongside all the memories he held of the sweet little girl that had once been the most important guardian.

“Goodbye North,” the girl whispered before jumping out the window… disappearing.

North finally let the tears flow and Phil walked over to envelope the man in a hug. “Goodbye… Scarlett Autumn.”

#jack frost #rise of the guardians #winter #spirit #Jack Frost x oc

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mikauzoran · 5 years ago

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Lukadrienette: To Waltz Among Shades: Chapter Nine

To Waltz Among Shades: Chapter Nine: Comprehending

“Hey,” Luka snapped from where he’d been eavesdropping on the stairs.

Marinette sat back on her heels, looking over the back of the couch in surprise.

Adrien pushed himself up to gaze at Luka in horror.

Luka stalked over, glaring at Marinette. “You had no right to tell him that. That’s the kind of thing a guy prefers to tell a guy personally. You could have just said you had my permission.”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “You’ve had plenty of opportunities to tell him. Like, maybe when you two were snuggling in bed one night?”

Luka’s eyebrow twitched. “That is platonic snuggling as friends, not romantic snuggling. You don’t just say the ‘L’ word while snuggling platonically. That would be taking advantage of him when he’s vulnerable. Trust me. I’ve had a whole year to learn how to compartmentalize my feelings for him.”

“Well, tell him now,” Marinette snorted.

“After that emotional rollercoaster you two just went on?” Luka huffed right back. “He’s already overwhelmed. I’m not going to add one more thing to his plate. But enough about me. You shouldn’t have kissed him like that. You royally mess him up. You can’t just ignore him for a year and then barge back into his life and kiss him like that. I love you, Marinette, but that doesn’t mean I’m just going to let you do whatever you want. I have to think about what’s best for Adrien too, and I don’t think he needs you skipping the friendship line and trying to jump right into something romantic with him…or did you miss everything he said about gradually rebuilding trust between you two? Because I feel like that was super important.”

Marinette looked away, suitably chastised. “I may have gotten carried away.” She turned back to Adrien. “I’m sorry. He’s right. Regardless of my feelings for you, I shouldn’t have rushed things like that. I was trying to prove a point, but I took things too far too fast. Can we just start over as friends with the understanding that I adore you, I’m so sorry that I messed everything up, and I have never, ever hated you, not even when I thought you were the one who put the gum on my chair?”

It took Adrien a literal fifteen seconds before he could get his wits about him enough to respond. “So…no one’s mad at me?” He looked pointedly at Luka.

Luka stepped in with a reassuring smile, smoothing Adrien’s tussled hair. “No one is mad at you, Angel-Face.”

Despite himself, Adrien leaned into the touch. “You’re not just saying that?”

“I’m not just saying that,” Luka confirmed, moving his hand to scratch behind Adrien’s ear. “If you and Marinette want to kiss each other, I’m perfectly fine with that happening. Preferably, I’d like to be present to watch, but that’s not a requirement. Whatever you and Marinette mutually consent to is fine. It’s not cheating on me.”

“Oh,” Adrien whispered, carefully drawing his legs in, trying to put a little bit of distance between himself and Marinette for propriety’s sake without losing contact with Luka’s hand.

“Though, I kind of think—and this is my personal opinion on the matter and not a binding opinion, but—I kind of think you two shouldn’t rush things. Maybe take a month or two or three to get to know each other again as friends before anything romantic happens. Relationships are hard enough as it is. It’s probably not a good idea to complicate things with unresolved baggage. I say this because I care about you two, okay?” He reached out and gave a strand of Marinette’s hair a gentle tug with the hand not petting Adrien.

Marinette smiled sheepishly, taking Luka’s hand in both of hers and turning to nuzzle it. “Thanks for looking out for us, Bluebird.”

“Always, Chanson,” Luka promised.

“So…” Adrien spoke up again. “Sorry. Wait. Can we talk about this? I feel like I’ve fallen into an alternate universe.”

“Talking is good,” Marinette agreed, repositioning herself so that she was sitting up straight with one foot on the floor, the other tucked under her.

“Sure,” Luka consented, giving Adrien’s head one last pat before coming around to the other side of the couch and taking a seat between Adrien and Marinette.

“Hey,” Marinette whined as Luka put an arm along the back of the couch around Adrien.

“What?” Luka snickered. “You’ve been monopolizing him this whole time. I think it’s my turn.”

Marinette snorted. “Says the guy who’s been rubbing it in my face for a year now how cute Adrien is when he sleeps and how precious it is to be able to wake up next to him in the morning.”

Luka had the grace to look sheepish. “To be fair, I was only trying to make you jealous so that you’d talk to him and sort out whatever mysterious misunderstanding there’d been between you two and then be there for him while his life was falling apart…but it turns out that you were right and I didn’t know what I was talking about.”

Marinette paled. “…How long were you listening to us?” she asked as if afraid to know the answer.

Luka winced, averting his gaze. “Long enough to be very confused until I suddenly wasn’t anymore. And then I was just sorry to have learned something you’d obviously been working very hard to keep a secret all these years…but we can talk about that later—or not. Up to you, but I think right now we need to focus on Adrien.”

“R-Right.” Marinette nodded, pushing everything Ladybug- and Guardian-related going through her head to the back corner of her mind.

She looked to Adrien with a neutral smile. “What do we need to talk about?”

Adrien bit his lip, looking from Luka to Marinette. “…I…I’m a little lost.” His gaze landed on Marinette. “You said you loved me?”

“Mmhm,” she agreed, cheeks taking on a carnelian hue.

Adrien frowned. “When did that happen? Every time I’ve ever asked you, you always told Adrien that you admired his work as a model but didn’t have those kinds of feelings for him and Chat that there was another boy…until you started dating Luka, and I thought that that kind of settled things, so…now that you’ve been dating the guy you love for four years…I’m confused. When did you fall in love with me?”

Marinette sucked in a pained breath, her cheeks starting to resemble rust.

Luka snickered, apparently enjoying his girlfriend’s suffering. “Don’t you dare hold out on him. Tell him the whole truth or I will.”

Marinette slapped Luka’s thigh with a rude comment under her breath.

Luka only grinned harder.

Marinette trained her gaze on Adrien. “I fell in love with you when I was thirteen. Not long after we first met, actually. You told me you’d never been to school, never had friends before, so everything was kind of new. It was raining, and you gave me your umbrella, so…” She shrugged, smiling in a way that begged him to have mercy. “That was it.”

Adrien shook his head. “But…you said that was just an embarrassing, ridiculous crush.” The look on his face was one of betrayal. “You said that it was stupid and didn’t mean anything.”

It was Marinette’s turn to frown in confusion. “When did I say that?”

“Remember that party I snuck out for on the Liberty that summer we were sixteen? Well, it was more of a friend gathering, but we were all sitting around in the main cabin,” Adrien recounted, gesturing with his hands, “and Alix accidentally said something about back when you had that ridiculous crush on me, and I was like, ‘…Wait…. What?’, but you said that it was forever ago and that we should all just forget about it because it was stupid and embarrassing and didn’t matter and you were over it anyway.”

Marinette winced, reaching up to rub at the side of her neck. “Oh. Well. I was embarrassed, so I lied. It did matter. Adrien was the guy I always turned down Chat Noir for, so…it wasn’t a stupid, meaningless crush.”

“You okay?” Luka called softly, gently rubbing at Adrien’s arm with his thumb. “You look stricken.”

Adrien shook his head, turning to Luka. “She lied to me. I can’t believe she lied to me.”

Luka gave Adrien a sympathetic smile, squeezing Adrien’s shoulder. “Yeah, I know, P5. That sucks,” he gently consoled, a note in his voice telling Adrien that Luka could relate intimately.

Adrien briefly wondered how upset Luka actually was about finding out his girlfriend was Ladybug. He was doing an exceptional job of hiding it.

“Is it really such a big deal four years later?” Marinette broke into the moment, laughing nervously, trying to play it off as less serious than it seemingly was in hopes that someone would agree with her.

“Yes!” Adrien insisted with unexpected vehemence. “You were dating Luka at that point—like, you were sitting in his lap as you told me that you were embarrassed that you had ever liked me and, even though you had liked me, it wasn’t a big deal, and it was stupid for you to like me—so I just believed you. Unquestioningly. Because you were dating the perfect guy, and of course you were so over me and it was stupid for someone as amazing as you to have ever liked me in the first place because people don’t ever actually like the real me. Ladybug didn’t. Kagami didn’t. Marinette didn’t.”

“Adrien,” Luka called softly, trying to pull Adrien out of the downward spiral.

Adrien wasn’t having it. “And I was in love with you then. Marinette-you. For a second, when Alix said that you had liked me before, I thought I had a sliver of a chance, but…you kind of pulverized it. So, I said. ‘Oh. Okay. Sorry.’, and the party just kind of went on, but I felt horrible, so I made up an excuse about getting back before someone realized I was gone, and I went home and cried a little bit until I started getting worried about being akumatized.”

“Oh, Adrien,” Luka sighed, pulling Adrien into a side hug to more easily nuzzle.

“Adrien, I’m sorry,” Marinette responded in a small, meek tone.

“You should be,” Adrien snorted. “You stole the guy I had a crush on, publicly humiliated me, and broke my heart.”

“We can make two of those things better for you,” Luka offered.

Adrien hummed thoughtfully. “Maybe in a minute. I’m busy being a drama queen.”

Luka nodded, familiar with the drill. “Just let us know when you’re done and ready to be placated.”

“Will do,” Adrien assured, but then paused, a realization dawning upon him. “Wait.” He pulled back from Luka to stare at Marinette. “But that was when you fell in love with me when we were little. You said that you loved me now, in the present tense. When did you fall for me again?” Adrien demanded, even more confused than before.

“I didn’t,” Marinette replied simply with a shrug. “I never got over you.”

Adrien’s mouth fell open. “You didn’t?”

She shook her head, an adoring smile gracing her lips. “Earlier, you told me that your feelings for Marinette and Ladybug had never changed. Mine didn’t either. Even while I’ve been with Luka, I’ve loved you this whole time.”

“…Oh.” Adrien gulped. “I…So that’s why Luka was talking before about something romantic possibly happening in the future between us?” He looked back and forth between Marinette and Luka.

Marinette nodded. “I’ve always been honest with Luka about my feelings, and he’s always been honest with me.”

“Is a romantic relationship with Marinette something you think you’d want?” Luka inquired gingerly, aware of the fragile nature of the situation.

Adrien bit his lip but forced himself to look both of them in the eyes. “Eventually? Yes…but not right now. I’m…” He looked away. “I’ve got a lot of healing still left to do, and a big chunk of it has to do with you, Marinette. Besides, I’m not the person you knew. I’m not—” He choked back tears. “I’m not the guy you think you’re in love with.”

“Adrien?” She inched closer, concern coating her voice.

He shook his head. “I’ve changed a lot this past year. I’ve been through the shredder, and I’m not the same guy I was when you knew me. Maybe we’ll start getting to know one another again, and you’ll find out that you don’t really love me after all. I honestly don’t think you will.”

“Don’t say that.” Luka pulled Adrien back in, squeezing his shoulder.

Adrien shook his head. “Marinette, I don’t want to get my hopes up only to be crushed again. The point is, I need some time for us to get to know one another again because I don’t believe that the person I am right now is loveable.”

“You’re wrong,” Luka insisted. “You’re dead wrong, Adrien.”

“Still,” Adrien protested. “She doesn’t know. She doesn’t know firsthand what I’m like, how bad I am.”

He turned back to Marinette. “I am a pale, sick shadow of my former self, and I don’t think it’s possible to love me as I am. I’m not sure what Nino and Luka have told you, but…”

He trailed off, giving her the opportunity to fill in the gap.

Marinette exhaled slowly. “Luka is of the opinion that, if I truly cared, I’d go check on you myself. He tells me vague, generic details mostly. I get some specifics sometimes, I mean, we do talk about you quite a bit, but he’s very diligent about protecting your privacy.”

Adrien nodded diplomatically.

Marinette took a deep breath. “Nino…Nino and I don’t exactly talk much anymore.”

Adrien blinked as he tried to process her words. “What? But… You guys always got along so well.”

She shook her head, averting her eyes. “He’s mad at me for not being there for you. He’s tried to get me to talk things out with you a couple times, but it’s only ended in me clamming up and shutting him out and him losing his temper. I probably should have just told him what my deal was, and he would have told me that you didn’t hate me or blame me for your father’s death, but…”

She looked up, out the windows over the kitchen sink. “Sorry. Being Ladybug is a heavy responsibility. Being the Guardian and Ladybug can feel like being stuck in a pit with the ceiling pressing down on you sometimes, and that wasn’t a burden I could share with anyone.”

“Marinette,” Luka cooed, slipping his arm from Adrien’s shoulders to wrap around Marinette, pulling her into him, encircling her in safety and warmth. He squeezed her tight, nuzzling her hair, pressing delicate kisses to the top and sides of her head.

“Paris depends on me,” Marinette whispered, letting herself relax into Luka’s hold. “The safety of everyone depends on me. I had to keep my identity secret at any cost…even if that meant dealing with everything on my own. It was suffocating having to keep all of that to myself, but I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t risk being weak and opening up to anyone. It would put everyone in danger. I just had to suck it up and figure things out without help. There was no option to ask for help…. I just learned not to, so…it didn’t feel like telling Nino and asking for help was an option.”

“Okay,” Luka sighed, pulling back to look her in the eye and make sure she was paying attention. “Okay. No more of that. All right? No more dealing with everything yourself. No more not asking for help when you’re drowning. Em, we are a team. Teammates lean on one another. Teammates have each other’s backs. Please know that, whatever it is you’re going through, I will be there to support you. All you have to do is ask. Tell me what you need done, and I will make it happen for you. Until I take my last breath, I will be there for you every step of the way.”

“Luka,” Marinette breathed, eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

“Me too,” Adrien added softly, face set in determination. “We’re still partners, aren’t we? Partners stay by each other’s side and support one another. Marinette was always the one who would fight anyone who called Chat Noir Ladybug’s sidekick, wasn’t she? So…treat me like a partner and depend on me in the future.”

His eyes went soft with a mix of affection for her and regret. “I’m so sorry that you felt like you had to deal with everything alone all these years, My Lady. I’m sorry I never saw you were struggling.”

Marinette reached out across Luka and took Adrien’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “It’s okay, Chaton. It’s not your fault…. Thanks.” She lifted her head to meet both of their gazes. “Thank you both. I can’t promise that I’m overnight going to start reaching out for help, but…I’ll try to keep in mind the next time I feel overwhelmed that it’s okay to say something.”

“Please do, Chanson,” Luka whispered, hugging her closer.

Adrien tightened his grip on her hand, silently letting her know he was there for her too.

They stayed like that for a comfortable minute, Marinette in Luka’s arms, Marinette and Adrien holding hands, Adrien snuggled up at Luka’s side.

Adrien noted that it was nice, natural. It felt like he fit there with them, and that was a wonderful feeling.

It was over too soon as Marinette slowly disengaged, getting up and going over to the table where Sabine had left the pastries she’d been trying to foist upon Adrien.

“Okay,” Marinette sighed as she picked out a pain au chocolat and threw it on a plate with a banana. “So…I need to rely on people more…and Adrien doesn’t think he’s loveable as is.”

“That sounds like an accurate summary,” Luka agreed.

Marinette motioned for Adrien to join her at the table.

Tentatively, he did, taking a seat across from her.

She set the plate she had prepared in front of him with a command of, “Eat. I promised my mother I’d get you to eat.”

Luka came over and exchanged the banana on Adrien’s plate with an orange from the dish.

Adrien cast Luka a look of gratitude before digging into the pain au chocolat.

“So,” Luka announced, carefully moving the Fox Miraculous box out of the way before putting his elbows down and leaning on the end of the counter. “You two are going to work on being friends again so Marinette will be able to say for sure that she loves the person Adrien is now and not just the person he was a year ago?”

Marinette nodded, grabbing the discarded banana and thoughtfully peeling it. “That’s the plan.”

“It’s okay if you don’t end up loving me,” Adrien remarked, trying to be realistic. “I don’t expect you to. If we could just be friends again, even that would be—”

“—Perfect Fifth, why don’t you just eat your pastry and not worry so much about the future,” Luka suggested gently. “The future will take care of itself, so let’s just let what happens happen.”

Adrien bit his lip and looked like he was about to protest, but then he decided to concentrate his efforts on the pain au chocolat.

“We can start with study sessions,” Marinette jumped in through a mouthful of banana. She swallowed and continued, “There’s still a week before exams. We can still get you up to speed enough to pass Business.”

“And you could come over and have dinner with the Dupain-Chengs,” Luka added, stealing a lavender honey macaron from the pastry box. “Marinette told me she invited you over to cook and have dinner whenever you wanted.”

Adrien nodded. “Maybe we could do that on Wednesday.”

“Would you want to stay after to play video games?” Marinette inquired tentatively. “I guess it depends on how you’re feeling that day, but…My mom and dad would probably appreciate someone a little more on their level to go up against.”

Adrien turned to Luka. “I think your girlfriend just insulted my video game skills.”

Luka shrugged. “She’s kind of a beast. You’re either nicer than she is or not as good because, when I play against you, I don’t feel as badly beaten. I’m a total noob, and her parents both trounce me.”

Adrien’s eyebrows pinched together as he grabbed a napkin and wiped the chocolate smears from his mouth. “Let’s just say that I’m nicer.” He picked up his orange and bit into it, creating a foothold from which he could remove the rest of the peel.

“You are nicer,” Marinette confirmed, “but you’re also not as good at video games.”

Adrien flicked a piece of orange peel at her. “Why do I like you again?”

“She’s worth liking,” Luka snickered, picking up the peel that had glanced off of Marinette’s arm and landed on the table and setting it back down on Adrien’s plate with the rest of the orange detritus.

Adrien shrugged, dropping the pouty act.

“You know, we never finished watching that one anime you were showing me,” Marinette changed the subject. “We should go back to Saturday anime and Chinese food night.”

Adrien paused with an orange slice halfway to his mouth. “Which anime was it?”

Marinette pursed her lips, trying to think of what it had been called. “The one with the English title pronounced the Japanese way.”

“You just described a quarter of all anime,” Luka snorted, stealing the banana from Marinette and taking a bite.

Marinette swatted at her boyfriend. “The one with the zodiac.”

Luka raised an eyebrow. “Starry Sky?”

Adrien’s face went red. “I wouldn’t show her a reverse harem anime.”

Marinette frowned. “You showed me Ouran High School Host Club. Isn’t that a reverse harem?”

“Technically, but it’s not just a reverse harem. There’s an actual compelling plot,” Adrien explained.

Luka hummed, wracking his brain for all of the anime Adrien had showed him pertaining to the zodiac. “It wouldn’t be Etotama. …Was it Furuba?”

“Fruits Basket!” Marinette exclaimed, stealing back the banana from Luka. “That’s it. We should finish Fruits Basket…start hanging out more like we used to.”

“I’d like that. If things could go back to normal.” Adrien nodded, holding out the last slice of orange to Luka.

Luka leaned in, taking it between his teeth.

Adrien chuckled, picking up his plate and taking it over to the sink. He deposited the orange peel in the compost bin and the plate in the dishwasher before washing the sticky juice off of his hands.

Marinette swung around on her stool to face him. “The three of us should hang out more often too,” she proposed tentatively.

Adrien looked up. “Yeah?”

Luka grinned, turning his body towards Adrien. “Yeah.”

Adrien nodded again, a cautiously hopeful smile pulling at his lips. “I’d like that.”

“Maybe we could all hang out at your apartment sometime,” Marinette suggested. “I mean, if you feel okay with that. I’d love to see it.”

Adrien frowned, not yet sure how he felt about having Marinette in his space where he couldn’t escape if he needed to.

“Or we could start out here or on the Liberty.” Luka intervened, seeing Adrien’s hesitation.

Adrien finished drying his hands and turned to look at Luka with gratitude. “That sounds good. Maybe we can hang out at my place in a few weeks.”

“Okay,” Marinette hastily agreed. “Sure. Of course. Yeah. We could start out here…maybe make dinner together…watch a movie while snuggling on the couch…go for a walk by the Seine afterwards…stop by a park and just sit and talk…watch the stars.” She bit her lip, casting her boyfriend a sidelong look. “Maybe Luka could bring his guitar and serenade us.”

“Sure,” Luka consented, reaching out to twist a lock of Marinette’s hair around his finger before looking to Adrien. “If that’s something Adrien would be interested in?”

Adrien gulped, trying to restore moisture to his suddenly parched throat. “I…Yeah. Yes. I…That sounds great. I’d like that sometime. Um…When…When exactly would you be wanting to do that?”

“Whenever you’re ready,” Marinette assured. “If that’s in two weeks or two months… Whenever you’re ready.”

Adrien inhaled slowly, starting to nod. “O-Okay.”

“Maybe we can start with something less stressful,” Luka was quick to suggest. “Maybe the three of us just have dinner with my family sometimes or just get together to watch a movie or play board games or go through the pile of instruments my family has in storage. Just fun, low-pressure stuff. I think the Liberty is fairly neutral ground, if we want to start there.”

Marinette nodded enthusiastically, eager to be accommodating. “Sure. Okay. Whatever you two think is best.”

Adrien cast Luka another grateful grin.

Luka winked, returning the smile. “We’ll figure it out. Play it by ear and see what feels right. It’ll all work out.”

Marinette leaned in to press a quick kiss to her boyfriend’s cheek. “Thanks.”

“Sure thing.” He returned her kiss with a peck on the temple and then turned back to the box of leftover pastries. “P5, there are a couple cheesecake and passionfruit macarons left if you want to take those home for you and Plagg to snack on later. I will be laying claim to the lemon poppyseed one. Chanson, are you feeling more like pink champagne or salted caramel? One of each?” He pushed the box towards her.

Marinette blushed, looking away, ashamed. “I actually prefer the salted caramel. Pink champagne is okay, but I usually only take them so that I can sneak them into my purse for my kwami.”

Luka’s eyes widened, and his eyebrows raised. “Oh. Well. I guess I’m going to have some work to do relearning your favourite foods and flavours. Off the top of your head, is there anything else that I think you love that you’re not all that enthusiastic about?” he inquired patiently, trying to take it all in stride.

Marinette’s cheeks darkened. “The chocolate chip cookies are also a Tikki thing.”

Luka nodded, slowly processing. “Good to know.”

“Sorry,” Marinette whispered, peeking anxiously at him. Her heart sank when she saw the hurt that he wasn’t entirely able to hide.

Luka forced a smile, thinking it was ridiculous to feel personally betrayed over something as inconsequential as food preferences. “It’s okay,” he lied as he wondered what else he didn’t know about her, what else she’d been keeping from him.

“Sorry,” she repeated before turning her attention back to Adrien. “Hey, would you want to hang out now? Luka mentioned you’re on a Frozen kick lately. Would you want to watch Frozen II? I haven’t seen it yet.”

Adrien was tempted to say yes. He wanted nothing more than to cuddle with Marinette and Luka on the couch and savor that sense of rightless and belonging he’d felt not fifteen minutes before when they’d been loving on Marinette…but he got the feeling that he needed to go.

Luka was obviously not feeling too great about discovering that his girlfriend had been leading a double life of sorts, and he and Marinette probably needed to talk about that and get things sorted out.

Adrien needed to go for his own sake too. This was all overwhelming. Too much had happened in the hour he’d been there, and he knew he should take a step back and process. It was liable to all hit him at once and reduce him to a puddle of snot and tears. It would be better to go home and mentally sort through it, acclimate, and then come back another day to spend more time with Marinette, with Luka and Marinette both. He should be taking baby steps, not plunging right in.

“Could I get a raincheck to do that another day?” Adrien asked sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his neck. “I really need to get home and do laundry and…you know, process. Today was a lot—a lot of good things,” he hastened to add, “…but still a lot. If that’s okay?”

Marinette nodded, hopping down off of her stool to come give him a crushing hug. “Of course,” she assured into his shoulder. “Always do what’s best for you. I’ll be here whenever you’re ready.”

“Dinner with your parents on Wednesday,” Adrien blurted out. “What time?”

She pulled back with a wide grin. “Cooking starts at five. Dinner at six. I’ll make sure it’s vegetarian in case your stomach isn’t feeling strong that day, so just come whenever. Stay as long or as short of a time as you want. We’ll be thrilled to have you for any length of time at all.”

“Thanks.” Adrien let out a relieved sigh. “But the whole meal doesn’t have to be vegetarian. I know your dad loves his coq au vin and beef bourguignon. I’ll be okay.”

Marinette rolled her eyes, giving his arm a pat. “Papa will be okay eating vegetarian at least one meal a week. His cholesterol levels will thank you. Besides, he adores you, so it’ll be easier to get him to try ‘weird’ vegetables if he thinks he’s doing it for your benefit.”

Adrien broke out in a laugh. “My Lady is sly and shrewd as ever.”

Marinette waggled her eyebrows playfully.

“I’ll walk Adrien down,” Luka volunteered with an easygoing smile, coming over to Adrien’s side. “Ready?”

Adrien nodded.

“Don’t be a stranger, Chaton.” Marinette gave his arm a squeeze before stepping back and letting him go. “I’ll see you on Wednesday?”

“I’ll be there,” Adrien promised as he turned to go.

Luka and Adrien were quiet as they descended the stairs to the ground level.

Adrien reached the bottom first and looked back up at Luka, a worried frown causing a dip in his brow. “Are you okay?”

Luka stopped two steps from the bottom to blink in confusion. “Am…I okay?” He laughed, coming down to Adrien’s level to give Adrien’s hair a tussle. “P5, I feel like I should be the one asking you. That was really intense up there.”

“Yeah, and I’m probably going to have a meltdown once I stop and think about everything like how Marinette said she loves me, but she really doesn’t, and she’s not going to be able to once we get to know each other again, so…” The creases in Adrien’s brow deepened. “Where was I going with this? There was supposed to be a ‘but’ somewhere. This was supposed to be a positive sentence.”

“Hey.” Luka stepped in, hands going to Adrien’s back and pulling him into a hug. “You’re okay.”

Adrien sighed, letting his eyes slip closed as he melted into Luka’s arms, his familiar pine scent sending a rush of chemicals to Adrien’s brain, promoting a sense of calm and wellbeing.

“Yeah,” Adrien agreed.

“And you’re going to be okay,” Luka continued, running a hand up and down Adrien’s back. “You know, as much as you’re different now than you were a year ago, you haven’t actually changed at all.”

Adrien lifted his head to blink uncomprehendingly up at Luka. “Wha-What?”

“Not the important bits,” Luka clarified. “Not the things that actually make you you, Adrien. You’re different, but none of the things Marinette loved about the old you have changed.”

All Adrien could do was stare.

“I know her,” Luka insisted softly, “and I know you…and she is going to fall in love with you all over again.”

Adrien ducked his head, pulling Luka back to him, hiding his face in Luka’s shoulder.

“You’ll see,” Luka promised, pressing a kiss to the side of Adrien’s head. “Like Rose would say, it’s not going to be all unicorns and rainbows, but it’s going to work out. You’re going to be fine.”

It was nearly two minutes before Adrien could get himself together enough to respond.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

He didn’t have to ask if Luka was sure. Luka had been right the entire time. Adrien was through doubting just because he was scared to believe. If Luka said that things with Marinette would work out, everything was going to be fine.

“Do you need me to take you home? It’d be no trouble,” Luka offered, giving Adrien a squeeze as he trembled. “If you want to be alone to process, I wouldn’t have to stay…just get you home and leave?”

Adrien pushed back, shaking his head and pulling himself together. “No. Thank you, but no. I’ll be okay. I need you to go back upstairs and talk things out with your girlfriend. Things won’t be okay between her and me, if things aren’t okay between her and you…plus, I want you to be okay, and you don’t look okay right now,” Adrien added, worry clear in his eyes as he gazed up, studying Luka’s expression.

Luka sighed. “That obvious, huh?”

Adrien nodded, smiling in consolation. “You’re doing that thing where you’re not okay, but you think people you care about need you to be strong, so you push your own needs and feelings down to deal with later because the other person’s needs are more important to you.”

“Ah,” Luka chuckled ironically, mentally kicking himself for causing Adrien to worry. “You noticed.”

“Of course I noticed,” Adrien sighed, reaching up to cup Luka’s cheek and play absentmindedly with his hair. “I’ve only been watching you do it up close and personal for a year now. I saw you do it before too. With Marinette. With your family. Maybe it seemed like I didn’t notice because I’ve been a wreck, but I know how close I came to breaking you at times, and I’m sorry.”

Adrien went up on his tiptoes to press a kiss to Luka’s forehead.

He pulled back and smiled as Luka looked down at him, stunned.

“Sorry,” Adrien repeated. “But don’t neglect yourself anymore, okay? I care about you, so stop putting yourself last. You and I are a team too, so lean on me a little sometimes, okay? I know in the past you haven’t felt like that was an option, but…on my good days, I want to be there to support you like you’ve supported me on my bad days.”

Luka dropped his head to Adrien’s shoulder, pulling Adrien in tight.

“Shhh,” Adrien shushed as Luka began to tremble.

“It’s okay.” Adrien started to purr as he moved his hand up and down Luka’s back just like Luka had done for him hundreds of times.

“It doesn’t feel okay,” Luka admitted into Adrien’s neck. “I thought she trusted me. I thought we didn’t have any secrets. I told her everything. All the ugly stuff I didn’t want anyone to know. The things I struggled with in the past, the things going on in my life now, the things I wanted for my future. Everything,” Luka hissed.

Adrien gave him a squeeze to let Luka know that Adrien was there with him.

“I told her about Viperion because I couldn’t lie to her like that, but…” He shook his head. “I thought she was my other half. I thought I knew her as well as I knew myself, but…I was wrong…and now I’m wondering who she really is and what else she isn’t telling me.”

“You understand why she did it, though?” Adrien prompted gently.

He could feel Luka nod against his neck. “I understand. She had a lot of pressure on her. That’s a big responsibility, everyone’s lives depending on you, but…a part of me wants her to have made an exception for me. Like…does she not trust me? Doesn’t she love me enough?”

“I felt the same way when she wouldn’t let us tell each other our identities,” Adrien hummed sympathetically. “I was really surprised last week when I found out for sure she hadn’t told you. She said you were safer if no one knew they could get to Ladybug through you. In a way, it makes sense, but…I would have told you, if I were in her place.”

“You did tell me,” Luka chuckled softly, pulling back and straightening up.

Adrien shrugged, caressing Luka’s cheek. “I told you I would have.”

Luka forced a brave smile. “Thanks.”

Adrien bit his lip, hating the pain still lingering in Luka’s watery eyes. “Hey.”

“Hm?” Luka inclined his head, placing his hand on top of Adrien’s trapping it against his cheek.

“She’s still the same person. Trust me. I’ve had a year to lose sleep over this,” Adrien assured, laughing self-deprecatingly, “and I’ve come to understand that there was a reason why I fell so silly in love with the both of them. Ladybug is just Marinette in focus mode,” he explained.

Luka frowned, puzzling over the words.

Adrien shook his head. “She’s not a totally different person who you don’t know with some secret life you know nothing about. She’s still Marinette…she just saves Paris thrice weekly in her spare time. Don’t think too hard about this,” he entreated.

His voice and eyes softened as he smiled up at Luka. “She’s still your other half. There’s just a little bit more to learn about her now, a few more ways in which she’s the most amazing girl you’ve ever met. Don’t let this ruin what you have,” he begged. “You two are so beautiful together.”

Adrien’s smile turned bittersweet. “I’d kill to have that with someone.”

“Oh, Adrien,” Luka sighed.

Adrien shook his head, stepping back, pulling away. “Go up there and let her know that she hurt you. Let her know that if she hurts you again, she’s going to have to deal with me.”

Adrien winked, and Luka burst out laughing.

“My hero,” Luka snickered, but then his voice softened into a more genuine tone. “What would I do without you, Perfect Fifth?”

Adrien shrugged. “Be miserable, Orpheus. We both know I give your life joy and meaning.”

Luka snorted in laughter. “That you do.” He leaned in, giving Adrien’s cheek a kiss. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

Adrien nodded, turning toward the front door. “I’m just going home and doing laundry. Plagg will call if I need you. You know that.”

“Good old Plagg,” Luka sighed. “I’ll check up on you later, okay?”

“I know you will,” Adrien sang, waving back over his shoulder as he went. “Go make up with your girlfriend.”

Nino was in Adrien’s kitchen microwaving calzones when he arrived home.

“Luka called you,” Adrien accused, setting the little takeaway box of day-old Tom and Sabine’s passionfruit and cheesecake macarons down on the counter.

“Luka texted me.” Nino shrugged, setting the plate with the calzones on the island before heading back to the fridge to fetch the marinara sauce for dipping.

“What did he say?” Adrien hummed, picking up a calzone and beginning to tear off the corner. He dropped it when the steam from inside the pizza pocket burned his fingers. “Youch!”

Nino whipped around. “Dude,” he chastised, glaring as he shooed Adrien away. “Did you not just see me take those out of the microwave?”

Adrien shrugged, giving Nino a winning, “how could you blame me for anything?” smile.

Nino glared harder, not affected by Adrien’s tricks.

Adrien shrugged again, conveying that it had been worth a shot.

Shaking his head, Nino turned back to the fridge. “He just said to please check on you and that you’d probably be home in fifteen minutes.” He turned and placed the plastic cups of marinara next to the plate, gingerly popping their tops off. “What’s up?”

Adrien groaned, reaching for the calzone once more.

Nino smacked his hand. “Dude.”

Adrien shot his best friend a wounded expression.

Nino wagged a finger pointedly in Adrien’s face. “Mec, use a fork and knife.”

“Alya says only pretentious, elitist snobs eat pizza with a fork and knife,” Adrien parroted, getting even Alya’s inflection perfect.

Nino rolled his eyes. “Calzones aren’t pizza. They’re pizza-adjacent.”

“Right.” Adrien grabbed the piece he’d already torn off and dipped it into the sauce.

Nino let loose a longsuffering sigh, going to get a fork and knife for himself. “So why did Luka text me to come check on you?”

Adrien paused mid-chew to stare distractedly down at his food as if it were suddenly the most interesting thing he’d ever seen.

“Adrien? Come on. Don’t freeze me out. You okay?” Nino prompted.

Adrien shook his head, swallowing. “Marinette kissed me and told me she loved me, and I’m pretty sure Luka and Marinette asked me on a date—like, both of them. Like, I think they want me to be their boyfriend, and how the hell did I get so lucky? but at the same time that’s kind of terrifying? so I’m kind of trying not to implode right now.”

Nino stared wide-eyed at Adrien for a minute before he could formulate a response.

Adrien looked up to his friend for guidance, eyes begging for reassurance and answers.

Nino took off his hat and ran a hand through his hair. “Shit,” he replied.

Adrien sighed, disappointed in Nino’s sage advice. “Yeah. I got that far on my own, thanks,” he snorted.

Nino clicked his tongue. “None of your sass, Child. But I’m going to smack Luka. How could he possibly think springing all this on you was a good idea?”

Adrien shrugged, carefully tearing off another piece of calzone. “I don’t think he did. Marinette kind of had the reigns of the conversation. Luka was just trying to mitigate the damage.”

Nino sighed, shaking his head as he studied Adrien intently. “You okay, Mec? Anything you want to talk about?”

Adrien looked back down at his food, considering. “No. I think I’ve done enough talking for today. I can’t handle any more feelings or emotions right now. Can we just hang out and maybe play Smash Brothers or something? I need to turn my brain off and not deal with anything serious for a couple hours.”

“Gotcha. Can do,” Nino assured, reaching out and giving Adrien’s hair a tussle.

#Lukadrienette #Adrienette #Lukadrien #Miraculous Ladybug #Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction #Adrien Agreste/Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Adrien Agreste #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Luka Couffaine #Nino Lahiffe #Post-Reveal #Pre-Relationship #Mikau's Writings #To Waltz Among Shades

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electronicgrowth · 5 years ago

Text

Guardian Angel: Chapter 6

We’re getting in to where we overlap with the movie a bit. So, spoilers. I think we’re getting close to the end here friends.

WC: 2308

Warnings: talks of Plan B, police, major spoilers

One of the first things I did when I got back to San Francisco was stop by the pharmacy to get Plan B. On the plane I realized that now wasn’t the time for a baby.

Ethan was irate that I went back to Massachusetts so close to the wedding, he was also angry that I didn’t tell him. I had to remind him that I was an adult. I just proceeded to help Maya with wedding details.

Ethan and Maya got married at a hilltop winery in Napa Valley. Just family and close friends. It was a beautiful wedding. Anyone with eyes could see that Maya and Ethan were ridiculously in love. I couldn’t help think of Ransom. The last time I had seen him, he had promised me this kind of life. The marriage, the kids. I resolved to call him tomorrow.

During the reception I received several calls from a number I didn’t recognize, although the area code was a Boston one. Finally after the ninth call I answered.

“Hello?” I said, stepping outside away from the festivities.

“Leah?” The voice on the other end asked. It was a woman’s voice.

“Yes, this is Leah,” I answered.

“Leah, it’s Linda Drysdale. Ransom’s mother,” she said.

“Oh, Linda. Hi,” I awkwardly uttered.

“Hi, sweetie,” she said. What? Sweetie? Had this woman ever called me sweetie? The last time she had seen me I was getting called a whore.

“Is everything okay, Linda?” I asked.

“Actually, no,” she answered, “I need you to come back to Massachusetts. Ransom’s been arrested. And we need you as a character witness.”

“Oh god. Okay. Arrested for what?” I asked.

“We can talk about everything when you get back here,” she answered.

“Um, I’m at my brother’s wedding. But I can fly out tomorrow is that good?” I said.

“That’s fine honey,” Linda sighed, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Have a good night,” I murmured before ending the call.

The next morning I pack all my stuff and flew back to Massachusetts. I didn’t tell Ethan and Maya any specifics. But I promised to call and text.

I landed in Boston that afternoon and got a car to Ransom’s house. There were more cars in the driveway than I had ever seen. Ransom’s car wasn’t there though. I let myself in this time. Ransom was sitting in the living room surrounded by Linda, Richard, and three men I had never seen before. When I barged in, everyone turned to look at me.

“Leah, dear,” Linda smiled walking toward me, “I hardly recognized you. Your hair looks great that color.” She pulled me into a stiff hug and kissed my cheek. I wasn’t used to this level of affection from Linda, but returned the hug nevertheless.

“Leah, these are Ransom’s lawyers, Kenneth Hill, Eric Musgraves, and Rodney Phillips. Gentlemen, this is Leah Becker, Ransom’s girlfriend,” Richard said.

I awkward waved from where I stood next to Linda near the doorway. I didn’t realize I still held the title of girlfriend.

“Ransom, why don’t you help Leah with her luggage?” Linda scolded. This prompted Ransom to look at me for the first time since I had arrived. He rolled his eyes at his mother, but stood and grabbed my suitcase with one hand, he grabbed my hand in his other. He hauled the suitcase and me back to his bedroom. I could feel all the eyes on me. He quickly shut his bedroom door behind us.

“What is going on, Ransom?” I asked.

“I messed up,” he murmured, eyes on the floor. I took off my coat and scarf and grabbed his face. He looked me in the eyes, tears welling up in his blue eyes.

“We have to go back out there, the lawyers will explain,” Ransom whispered.

“Okay,” I said, nodding turning to go back to the living room.

“Wait,” he commanded, “Please put this back on. For me.” He held up my necklace. The one he’d bought me for my last birthday. The one I took off before I flew to California.

I nodded, turning around so he could put it on me. He quickly fastened it. He leaned down to kiss my neck. I closed my eyes, absorbing the pleasure. I backed into him, wanting to get closer. He turned me back around and pushed me against the bedroom door, he quickly kissed me. I opened my mouth to his and pulled him closer to me. He pulled away moments later.

“I’m sorry that I left,” I apologized, “I was going to call you.”

He kissed me again.

“Please don’t leave me again,” he begged.

“I won’t,” I promised.

Ransom held my hand and lead me out of his room. We returned to the living room, Ransom took the seat he had been in when I’d gotten there. I sat on the arm of Ransom’s chair, and he put his arm around me.

“So, who’s going to tell me what’s going on?” I asked.

The lawyers proceeded to tell me what Ransom was accused of. Conspiracy to commit manslaughter, arson, and murder. His grandfather. Fran. It was a lot to absorb.

“The police claim to have a recording where Ransom admits everything,” said one lawyer, I wasn’t clear on which was which.

“If that recording goes away, it’s all circumstantial, right?” Linda asked.

“Yes, without the recording, no jury alive would convict Ransom,” said another lawyer, “especially, if his girlfriend takes the stand and talks about how amazing he is.” Everyone looked at me. Was I supposed to say something? Luckily, I was saved by my phone ringing.

“That might be my brother, so I should get that,” I mumbled weakly. I got up and saw that it was not Ethan. I didn’t recognize the number, but answered anyway, to get out of this conversation, if nothing else.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Is this Leah Becker?” The voice asked.

“Yes, it is,” I said, walking into the kitchen, away from listening ears.

“Miss Becker, this is Detective Lieutenant Elliot. I understand that you just returned from a family wedding on the west coast,” he stated.

“Umm, yes,” I stammered, “how can I help you?”

“I would like to ask you to come down to the station. We would like to ask you some questions about Hugh Drysdale,” he declared.

“Oh, I don’t know. I—“

“Today, Miss Becker,” he said, before hanging up the phone.

I walked back to the living room. And went to sit back by Ransom.

“Who was that on the phone, baby?” He asked.

“The police,” I answered, “they want to talk to me. As soon as possible.”

*****

I went to the station later that afternoon with the youngest of Ransom’s lawyers, Rodney Phillips. I was greeted by an older woman with straw-like hair, and eyes clouded by mascara goop. I told her that I was there to meet with a Detective Elliot. I was shown into an interrogation room, I assumed that was done to freak me out. I waited about fifteen minutes before two men walked in.

“Miss Becker, I’m Detective Elliot, and this is Trooper Wagner,” one man said.

“Hi, so why am I here?” I asked.

“We just have a few questions,” Trooper Wagner answered.

“Tell us about your relationship with Ransom Drysdale,” says Detective Elliot.

“Where is Charlie now?” Elliot asks.

“And around that time, you became much closer with Ransom Drysdale?”

“Yes. He took care of me. I could barely get out of bed. I didn’t really know what to do. He made sure I ate and showered. Helped me go to school,” I responded.

“When you were 23 you were involved in a car accident. One where you were pretty critically injured. How did that affect your relationship with Ransom?”

“After you recovered, you went to work at the publishing company owned by the Thrombey’s? Is that correct?”

“Has your relationship with Ransom evolved beyond just one of friendship?”

“Ransom has been— the only constant in my life for five years. He’s my guardian angel, my very best friend.”

“But is there more to your relationship than a friendship, Miss Becker?”

“No.” I lied.

“Really?” Asked Trooper Wagner.

“We have numerous members of the Thrombey family on record saying that you two were involved. Sexually,” counters Detective Elliot.

“What does that have to do with the matter at hand?” I inquire.

“I suppose we’re just curious about the type of woman who gets involved with a man like that,” Trooper Wagner spits out, “Did he tell you what he did?”

I look down, at my fingers laced together on the tabletop. I refused to answer.

“Here’s the recording of Ransom admitting everything,” Detective Elliot said, placing his phone on the table in front of me. The recording was horrifying. I listened to it for about a minute.

“Turn it off,” I demanded.

Both men ignored me.

“I said, turn it off!” I yelled throwing the phone against the wall of interrogation room.

“We’re leaving now,” said Rodney.

“You can’t leave,” Trooper Wagner exclaimed, “she just destroyed evidence.”

“What?” I gasped.

“That was our only copy of that recording,” Trooper Wagner shouted.

“Miss Becker had no way of knowing that. Her outburst was clearly a stress-induced reaction and if you wish to charge her, you know where to find her,” Rodney maintained, pulling me out of the interrogation room, and escorting me out of the police station.

When Rodney and I returned to the house, everyone else was still there, having coffee.

“I think Leah just found a solution to our biggest problem,” Rodney smirked.

“What do you mean?” Kenneth asked.

“She threw the cell phone with the recording at a wall. And it was the only copy of the recording,” Rodney’s smirk grew into a mischievous smile.

“We’ll have to make verify that it was the only copy of the recording with our guy on the inside,” said Eric, “But this is good, very good.”

“Gentlemen, I think that is enough for today,” Richard called. The lawyers all agreed that we would meet again tomorrow. Everyone filed out. I gathered the coffee cups that had been left scattered in Ransom’s living room.

Ransom locked the door behind the lawyers and his parents. I took the used cups to the kitchen and began loading the dishwasher. Ransom followed me into the kitchen He sat at the counter, watching me place the mugs precariously on the top rack of the dishwasher.

“I guess we deserve each other,” I mumbled.

“What do you mean?” Ransom asked me.

“You commit crimes, and I unwittingly destroy police evidence,” I laughed hysterically, slapping my hands over my eyes. Ransom stood up and closed the dishwasher, he then lifted me up to sit on the kitchen counter, he came to stand in between my legs.

“How about we say that we deserve each other because we love each other?” He murmured, “Maybe the rest doesn’t matter, at least not in terms of our relationship.”

“How do you feel about everything?” I asked, reaching out to stroke his cheek.

“I don’t know,” he answered, holding my hand in place with his, “Aren’t you going to ask?”

I hesitated. I knew Ransom well enough to know what he was referring to, but I wasn’t sure that I wanted to know.

“Come on, Bunny. Ask me,” he urged, looking in my eyes.

“Why did you do it?” I relented.

“Harlan was cutting me off. I knew that I could never deserve you without the money,” he answered, “It just got out of hand.”

“Ransom, the money is nice, but it’s never mattered,” I placated.

“I’m going to find a way to provide for us,” he insisted, “And anyone else who comes along.”

@marvelismysafezone @captainsmallassrogers

#ransom drysdale #Ransom Thrombrey #ransom drysdale x ofc #ransom drysdale fanfiction

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