#he does this every morning like he’s winding up his energy to go outside

[averageapplepie]

some free serotonin for your Sunday.

[gilverrwrites]

Bat Feeder

AN: I keep seeing those rich people social media posts where people fill Dollie’s up with snacks and leave them outside for delivery drivers, and imagining doing something similar for the bats. Bat-Fam/Reader, 1K words (Batman, Harley Quinn, Nightwing, Red Hood, Robin, Signal, and Spoiler) CWs: None, just a silly little fluff fic. GN! Reader

It starts small, just a tray with some water bottles, packs of gum, maybe some protein bars and a multi-pack of chips you bought but didn’t like. You write ‘For Batman, Robin, and other vigilantes; Thanks for what you do :)‘ in Sharpie on the front of the tray and leave it on your balcony, not really expecting much, it was just a silly thought after too much doom scrolling.

It goes untouched for weeks, you’ve almost forgotten about it until one night, at like 2 AM you hear the sound of heavy boots walking on metal grate, so faint you would have missed it if you’d been asleep. Curious, you peek through your curtain and there’s Red Hood!

He stands there for a long time, motionless as he seems to stare at it, helmet hiding any real emotion until he pockets a pack of gum and water before leaving, dropping down into the street.

News must spread amongst the other heroes cause within a few days the basket is nearly empty. Enthused, the next time you go to the store you pick up some new items, just a few extra bits that are within your budget; chips that don’t taste like cardboard, candy, and energy drinks.

Your efforts are clearly appreciated as you wind up having to restock every couple of days. The energy drinks are the biggest takers, and you worry you might be supplying the younger ones with high amounts of caffeine that they shouldn’t be having.

One day you’re scrolling through insta during your work break and see Spoiler has posted a masked selfie of herself holding up a chocolatey protein bar with the caption ‘Perks of the job! 💜⭐️ #thankyoukindcivilian’ or something like that. In the back of the photo you see your basket and you’re elated.

Another day you wake up to a note wedged halfway through your window, it’s from Robin, stating that he’s a vegan and if it’s not too much trouble could you cater to that. The same day you dump a bunch of fruit that you were never gonna eat anyway into the basket and hope it will hold over until your next trip to the store where you spend ages examining the dietary information of everything you pick up, eventually finding a couple of items you hope he’ll like.

Your efforts are appreciated because the next day you find another note from him offering his gratitude.

After the novelty has worn off it dies down, you fall into a routine; they never take too much, so you only have to top it up every few weeks. Until one morning you wake up to find it completely ransacked, your sign has been scribbled out, replaced by the words: ‘THX 4 THE SNACKS’, and a bunch of doodles. You suspect Harley Quinn since one of the drawings is her trademark 3 of diamonds.

Unsure how to proceed, you clean up the mess and bring it inside. You don’t want to attract danger, but you did enjoy doing it. The graffitied tray sits by the door for a long time while you consider what to do, more and more forgotten with each day.

That’s until there’s a knock on your balcony door in the middle of the night. Seems ominous, risky in a city like Gotham, especially after what happened with Harley, but just like that night with Red Hood, you can’t help but investigate.

When you poke your head around the curtain you find Nightwing staring back at you. He smiles and waves to you like you’re long-time friends and it does a lot to ease your shock.

“Um, hi. Can I help you?” You ask as you open the door.

“Uh, maybe, see, I came all the way from Blüdhaven cause I was told there would be snacks.” He replies, dramatically looking around your balcony as he speaks. “But there’s no snacks.”

“Yeah. I stopped after Harley Quinn vandalised it.” You gesture to the now discarded red and black tray. “But I have some chocolate, if you want some. Or do you like Cheez-Its?”

“You don’t have to do that.” He sounds disappointed.

“No it’s fine, it’s no trouble, wait here!”

You raid your kitchen before returning with a handful of snacks and drinks from your own supply and offer them Nightwing.

“Oh wow, Thanks!”

You didn’t have to, but you’re glad you did. He has such a genuinely giddy look on his face.

“Really though, we don’t do it for the free stuff, we appreciate it a lot.” He speaks between mouthfuls of M&Ms. “If you ever wanted to do it again, I wouldn’t worry about Harley. She's mostly harmless to civilians these days.”

He thanks you a few more times before leaving to finish his patrol, but not before warning; “Hey, don’t open your door for any more strangers in the middle of the night, yeah? Well, unless they’re as handsome as me.”

Harley being mostly harmless doesn’t fill you with confidence, but you figure if those guys are brave enough to risk their lives fighting crime, you can be brave enough to put a box of treats outside. This time with a new sign that reads “For Bats, birds, other vigilantes, and Harley Quinn ♥️”

You hope including her might make her less likely to lash out.

From there everything falls back into normality for a while, you even start adding seasonal treats for special occasions, until eventually, they seem to stop by less and less, perhaps they grew bored or maybe you’re not a convenient stop on their latest patrol route, you don’t really mind, you persist.

Every now and again on your days off you’ll spot signal stopping by, he always gives you a smile and a thumbs up when he sees you watching him.

After months and months, maybe a year or so it happens. The big one. You’re struggling to sleep one night, the flat just feels too hot, too claustrophobic. Overwhelmed by it you storm outside, needing the night sky and its cold air but when you get there you’re greeted by an imposing shadow of a man, Batman. He’s holding a half-drunk bottle of water and his entire body is so stock still, you’re not even sure if he’s real or a statue. After a solid minute of silent staring you quietly step back inside, count to 30, and re-emerge. He’s gone, completely dissolved into the darkness of the night with half a bottle of water and a snack pack of mint Oreos.

[stainedglassvariations]

LADS and Claymores

Inspired by the lovely @heartswithinreach and her amazing imagines. I haven't posted anything on tumblr for YEARS, but I love the boys so much I decided to give it another go!

Inspired by the fact that I am, for the first time in my twenty three years of life, a heavy weapon main in this game. Minor spoilers for some of the main story and yes, no Sylus. I'm trying to be a good girl and not skip ahead so I haven't met him yet :(

Zayne is concerned. Throwing all that weight around everyday applies serious stress on your body, and he wants to make sure you’re taking care of yourself. Are you consuming enough protein, carbs, and water to aid in your muscle recovery? What about your sleep schedule? You are making sure to stretch before and after work, right? You always feel a little dizzy whenever you have dinner together, trying to keep up with his rapid fire questions. 

On a softer note, he always offers a massage whenever you come home with him. His evol leaves his hands blessedly cool as he rubs soothing circles in your knots. By the time he finishes, you’re a boneless, half-asleep heap on his bed. They also make up for the foul smelling horse pills he expects you to take with a full glass of cherry juice in the morning. 

During combat, he stays clear. He knows his strengths, and they don’t include trying to keep up with your great-sword swinging self. He can, however, freeze the feet of your targets which gives you ample time to wind up a decisive, fatal blow. And… you do look lovely under a shower of ice and Metaflux. 

Rafayel is upset. It’s hard to be your knight in shining armor when you’re swinging around a sword as tall as he is! Not that he wants you to be a damsel in distress anymore or anything, but a part of him misses the way you once needed him to come to your rescue. Plus, his flames and dagger are just a piss-poor combo when it comes to your team ups. You spend more energy making sure you don’t end up cleaving your favorite artist in two than you do fighting Wanderers.

Now, outside of fights, it’s a bit of a different story. If you can handle the weight of a claymore then surely holding him in your lap for hours on end is nothing in comparison, right? Oh, and he needs help moving a second wardrobe into his bedroom, you don’t mind do you? While you’re at it, Thomas is having a new frame delivered for his newest portrait so could you please bring that in with you?

You roll your eyes at the majority of his requests, but he always looks so genuinely put out whenever he sees you materialize your sword for combat that you don’t have the heart to say no. 

Xavier is confused. What’s wrong with a normal sword, why do you need one that’s almost as big as he is? You honestly don’t have an answer for him outside of “I like the way it feels” and “it’s hard to be scared shitless when you’ve got a big ass sword”. 

Really, watching you swing that thing around makes him feel tired. More so than usual he means. You’re not built for prolonged combat, so you go into every fight ready to put down the threat as quickly as humanly possible. He dutifully marches in after you, cleaning up the Wanderers lucky enough to escape your initial slaughter. 

It does make it weird for him whenever you ask him to open jars or help lift heavy boxes outside of work, though. Do you really need his help opening this pickle jar or are you just feeling lazy and don’t want to apply the effort? Your silence is telling. 

BONUS:

Caleb thinks you’re kidding. He laughs when you tell him that you chose to specialize in two-handed weapons, and then he sees your Hunter’s application. What follows is the most bizarre fight the two of you have ever had.

He asks you if you hit your head on the way to register or if you’re just stupid which immediately puts you on the defensive. When you deny both these things, he proceeds to lecture you on the long term consequences of muscle damage as if that’s the biggest thing you’ll have to worry about when you’re going to be out hunting literal aliens. Surprise, surprise, that makes him even more mad. 

In the end, the truth comes: he hates that you’re becoming a Deepspace Hunter. It’s a surprising show of vulnerability that makes your chest go tight and your knees weak. You toe the ground, suddenly too shy to look up at his face, and mumble something about switching over to mid-range pistols before hightailing it out of his room. You don’t, of course, you forget somewhere in the two minutes it takes to wrench open your bedroom door and dive under the covers. The look on his face when he sees you going through some exercises while back home from basic almost, just almost, makes it worth it.

[jetii]

Event Horizon

Chapter Fourteen: Remedy

Chapter WC: 7,969

Chapter Tags/Warnings: fairly graphic descriptions of wound care and blood

A/N: does anyone else blush so much more when they're writing fluff vs smut? bc my face is on fire

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Hyperspace, 21 BBY

Your back hits the mat with enough force to knock the wind from your lungs. You lay there for a moment, dazed and disoriented, before the world slowly comes back. Your vision blurs and you blink, trying to bring the ceiling above you into focus.

Anakin’s face swims into view, his hair loose and hanging around his face, strands stuck to his forehead and neck with sweat. He flashes you a grin that stretches the scar over his cheek and brow, and you roll your eyes.

“That’s three, Master,” he says between heavy breaths, smug satisfaction written across his features. You should get used to him beating you by now, but you still feel a surge of irritation and frustration, and it doesn't help that he's enjoying it.

"That's a low blow," you grumble. "Even for you."

"No, a low blow would be doing this," Anakin replies, and he brings his foot down on the outside of your knee. You cry out and kick him in the back of the leg, sending him to the ground next to you. He groans and rolls over onto his back. 

"You fight dirty."

"You're one to talk," you scoff. "You kicked me when I was down."

"You said not to hold back," he replies with a smirk. Anakin wipes the sweat from his forehead and sighs. "Come on. One more."

"I'm done," you groan. "I'm sore. And I'm tired."

"One more round," he insists.

You hesitate, your eyes tracing the panels of the ceiling. You know you should stop. Your shoulder is starting to throb again, and the ache in your bones is getting harder to ignore. But the alternative is going back to your quarters to sit alone in the dark with your thoughts, and you know that’s something neither you nor Anakin are keen to do.

After the disaster that was Saleucami, Anakin was the one who insisted that the two of you train together. He claimed that you needed the practice, but you're not convinced. In fact, you're almost certain he just wanted to get a better read on your emotional state, but you decided it would be easier just to humor him.

Besides, there was little else to do but wait until the two of you could return to Coruscant and get clearance from the Council for your next assignment. The last thing you wanted was to sit and wallow in your own self-pity.

A few rounds of sparring in the mornings quickly turned into several in the evenings as the two of you fell into your favorite pastime: beating each other up and not talking about the things that really mattered. 

It's a good distraction from the turmoil in your heart, the physical activity keeping your mind occupied and your emotions in check. You can't focus on the memories when Anakin is busy kicking your ass, and you're pretty sure the same is true for him. So you let him drag you out of bed and into the training room every morning and night. And tonight you let him convince you to stay until well past lights out. Again.

Anakin doesn't say anything. He just sits up and waits, unmoving. He stares at you expectantly, his brows raised, until finally you let out a resigned sigh and roll onto your side.

"Fine," you concede. "One more. But then I'm going to bed."

"Okay. Whatever you say."

"Don't get too excited," you huff. “I don’t plan on making this easy for you."

"You never do," he laughs.

You sit up and cross your legs, reaching forward and pressing your palms together. You close your eyes and take a deep breath, centering yourself. The Force moves through you, and your thoughts calm. You can feel the energy flowing around the room and into you like a cool stream, and the pain in your shoulder and chest fades to a dull, manageable ache. It’s only a temporary fix, and you’ll pay for it later, but for now, it’s enough.

"Ready," you say, opening your eyes. Anakin is kneeling across from you, mirroring your pose, and he's staring at you intently. You can see the gears turning in his mind, and you brace yourself. Whatever he's planning, you're certain it's not going to be pleasant.

"Me too," he says with a grin. He shifts his weight and tenses, preparing to strike.

"Good," you reply.

And then the two of you are moving.

Anakin leaps to his feet and charges towards you. His foot flies towards your head and you duck under it, spinning and lashing out with a kick. He grabs your ankle and tries to pull you off balance, but you twist your leg free and lunge forward. He dodges your fist and swings at your head. 

You lean back, and his punch goes wide, giving you enough room to plant a hand on his chest. He's moving too fast, and his momentum carries him forward. You shove him backward, and he trips over his own feet, falling hard onto his back.

You drop onto his stomach and wrap your legs around his torso, pinning him down. Your knee presses into his chest, and he wheezes, his face contorting with pain. Anakin tries to grab your leg and pull you off him, but you press down harder. 

“That’s three, Knight,” you mock. 

You can feel his anger simmering below the surface, and it fuels your own. He hates losing, and the more you antagonize him, the angrier he gets. It’s not right, and it’s certainly not Jedi-like, but you can't help yourself. You revel in the feeling of it. You want to draw it out, let him stew in it, because it makes you feel better.

Anakin doesn’t reply. He’s too busy trying to get his breath back, his face red and his eyes watering. You're about to get up when he rolls to the side, catching you off guard and throwing you off. You land hard, the impact knocking the air from your lungs. 

A bolt of pain shoots through your shoulder, and you yelp, cursing under your breath. Your arm feels like it's on fire. You reach up and cradle the wounded limb, your jaw clenched in pain. You take a deep breath, trying to block it out, but the agony is overwhelming.

“That’s four—oh, shit,” Anakin groans. His face is still red from the lack of oxygen, but there's no mistaking the guilt and concern that colors his features. "Sorry. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," you bite out.

"Let me see," he insists. He reaches for your shoulder, but you shake your head, scooting away from him. “Goldie, come on.”

"No."

To your horror, you can feel blood dripping down your arm. You pull back the sleeve of your tunic and grimace. Your bandages are soaked. The stitches must have come undone when you landed. You're not surprised. It's a minor injury, but it's deep, and it's taking a lot longer to heal than it should.

Anakin sees the blood, and his face pales. He looks away and swallows. 

"Kriff," he breathes. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," you reassure him, leaning your head back against the mat and closing your eyes. Your skin feels hot. You're sweating, and your heart is pounding. "I think we’re done for the night. I need to rebandage this."

“You need to go see Kix,” he corrects, and your eyes fly open.

"I'm fine," you snap. "Really. It's not a big deal."

"Goldie," he sighs. He's using that tone, the one he uses when he's trying to be patient and reasonable, and it irritates you. "This is serious. You need to get this checked out."

"Anakin, it's fine," you insist.

"No," he argues, and you glare at him. His brows are knitted together, and his jaw is clenched. "It's not."

"I can handle it," you grumble. You don't want to deal with the medics again, and you definitely don't want to hear Kix lecture you about taking proper care of your injuries. Or worse, have him tell Rex what's going on. The thought makes your stomach churn.

"It's not about handling it." Anakin shakes his head and sighs. He rubs his eyes and runs a hand through his hair, leaving it a tangled mess. "It's about making sure you're okay."

"I said I'm fine," you snap.

He puts his hands on his hips and glowers down at you. “Too bad.”

With a jolt, your body lifts off the mat. You hover for a moment, weightless, before your feet touch the ground, and Anakin’s hand clasps firmly on your uninjured arm. His fingers wrap around your bicep, and he takes advantage of your surprise to begin pulling you towards the door. You try to pull away from him, but his grip is too strong.

“Obi-Wan will kill me if he finds out about this," he complains. You try to twist out of his grasp, but he tightens his hold, and you stumble. "Stop fighting me, Goldie. Just let me help."

"I can walk by myself," you growl.

"I'm not so sure," he retorts. He doesn't bother looking back at you. "I think you might fall over."

"Anakin," you protest, trying to pull away again. "I'm fine."

He doesn't let go, merely shaking his head and continuing to drag you through the hallways. It's late, and the ship is half-dark, lit only by emergency lights and the glow of the panels and switches lining the walls. It's a small mercy that the two of you haven't run into anyone else save for the few troopers on night patrol. They wisely choose not to intervene.

Anakin drags you into a lift and slams his hand against the control panel. The doors slide shut behind the two of you, and the room begins to move. He stares straight ahead, his shoulders rigid and his lips set in a thin line.

“This is stupid," you grumble.

"You're the one being stupid.”

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," he snorts. "You're being an idiot."

"I am not," you argue. Your shoulder hurts like hell, and you're in no mood for a lecture. You know it's probably not the best idea to engage him, but you're angry, and the pain is making you lightheaded. "Let go."

"Nope," Anakin replies.

"Anakin," you warn.

"Look, I know you're mad at me," he sighs, and you narrow your eyes. "And I get it. You have every right to be, but—"

"I'm not mad at you," you cut in, your voice low. He turns his head and gives you a look. "Okay. Maybe a little. But mostly I'm pissed off at myself."

"For what?" he asks. His tone is soft and sincere. He's not being sarcastic or condescending. He's actually curious. "What did you do wrong?"

"I should've been faster," you explain. “I let Grievous get away, and this kriffing—“

“This again? Seriously?" He rolls his eyes and scoffs. "From what I heard, you almost took his head off. And he escaped by the skin of his teeth. You did great. Stop beating yourself up about it."

"No," you argue. "I should've been better."

"How could you have done better?" he prods. His brows are furrowed, and he's staring at you, his gaze scrutinizing.

"I..."

You trail off. You can't seem to formulate a coherent answer. You don't know what to say. You don't even know how to begin to explain the tangled mess of emotions roiling in your chest, and you certainly can’t tell him about what Grievous said to you, the memories that you thought were yours alone thrown in your face.

You don’t want to think about any of it, much less talk about it. Not now, not when the pain is threatening to overwhelm you. So instead, you look away and stay silent.

Anakin waits for a minute, and when he realizes you aren’t going to respond, he lets out a deep sigh and rolls his eyes.

"See, that's what I mean," he mutters. "You're being unreasonable. This is exactly why I'm dragging your ass to the med bay."

"I hate you," you huff.

"No, you don't," he smirks.

"Yes, I do," you insist. You glare at him. "Right now, I really do."

He shrugs. "That's okay.”

The elevator stops and the doors slide open. You step into the corridor and turn left, and Anakin sticks close to your side. His hand is still wrapped around your arm, but his grip has loosened. You're not sure if he's worried you'll run, or if he's concerned that you'll collapse, but either way, he stays close, hovering protectively at your side. 

“Well, if it helps, I think you did a damn good job," he says after a few moments of silence. "Obi-Wan did too. He said the same thing."

"Really?" you can’t help but ask. He’d been less than thrilled when you spoke, and you find it hard to imagine he had a kind word to say about you after.

“Are you surprised? He's impressed by pretty much everything you do," he chuckles. You glance over your shoulder and catch the corner of his mouth twitch upward. "Honestly, I'm a little jealous. I thought I was his favorite."

"Oh please," you scoff.

"You know I am," he insists. "He says so all the time."

"You're delusional."

"Or maybe you just don't know him as well as you think you do," he suggests. 

You open your mouth, ready to tell Anakin exactly how well you know Obi-Wan Kenobi, but the words die on your tongue, and your face heats up. 

Anakin’s brows rise, and he grins. "Interesting. I'll have to ask him about that later."

"Don't," you grumble. You look away, your face burning, and try not to think about what Anakin would say if he knew the full extent of your relationship with his former master. You're not ashamed, exactly, but things are still tense between you and Obi-Wan, and you don’t need any more drama. You've had enough.

"Fine, I’ll let it go," he laughs. He squeezes your arm reassuringly. "For now.”

You're not sure if you should believe him, but you appreciate the sentiment all the same. You round the corner, and the doors to the medical wing come into view. You let out a sigh and shake your head. "This is going to be a disaster."

"It's not so bad," Anakin counters. "Kix likes you. He'll go easy on you."

"I'm not worried about Kix," you murmur.

He looks at you curiously, his brows furrowing. "Then who—"

His voice cuts off as the door opens, and the two of you step into the dimly lit medbay. You scan the room. It's quiet. A few troopers are stretched out on the beds in the front of the ward, and most are asleep. Two are staring at the ceiling, and they both turn their heads and wave as you pass. 

The lights are off in the back room where Kix's office is located, and you’re hopeful that means he's in bed. But when you reach the entrance to the small cubicle and peer inside, you spot him, hunched over his desk, his brow furrowed in concentration. He doesn't notice you standing there. His head is bowed, and his arms are crossed over his chest, the blue glow of his datapad illuminating his face and the dark circles under his eyes.

"Hey," Anakin calls.

Kix jumps and nearly topples backwards out of his chair, but he grabs the edge of the desk and catches himself just in time. His eyes are wide, and his mouth falls open, his lips moving silently for a few seconds before he manages to form words.

"General Skywalker," he greets. He glances at you and blinks. "General Anathorn? What —"

"I’m fine," you interrupt.

"She isn’t," Anakin adds, and you glare at him. Kix looks at Anakin and then back at you, his brows rising. "Her stitches came loose. She's bleeding."

"Anakin," you hiss.

"I didn't even hit her that hard," he continues, ignoring you. "But she went down pretty quick, and now she's bleeding."

"I'm okay," you grumble. You pull your arm free from his grip and cross your arms, wincing as it pulls on the wound. "It's not that bad.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Kix says with a weary sigh. He rises to his feet and gestures for you to walk over to the nearest empty bed. He rubs the back of his neck as he follows behind you, and motions for you to sit down. "Alright, General, let's see."

The urge to protest is strong, but you’re starting to feel woozy. The blood loss and lack of sleep are catching up to you, and you're not sure how much longer you can keep going. You can't bring yourself to fight him. Not tonight.

You hop onto the bed and carefully shrug off your tunic, leaving you in your breast band. Kix steps closer and frowns. He takes in the sight of your bare skin and the dark bruises covering your torso and arms, the bandages around your shoulder stained a deep red. His face pinches into a scowl. "What happened here?"

"Anakin happened," you grumble.

"She fell," Anakin corrects.

“You fell?" Kix asks incredulously. His gaze flicks to Anakin, and his lips press together, his expression disapproving. "On your shoulder?"

"Not my fault," you mutter. “We were sparring, and—“

“You were sparring?" he repeats, and his scowl deepens. His voice is quiet, but there's a hard edge to it that makes you tense. "After I specifically told you to take it easy and wait until you had a proper check-up? I knew I should have tied you down when I had the chance."

"Oh, don't be so dramatic," you scoff, rolling your eyes. "I'm fine."

"Your arm is bleeding," he snaps. He pulls a pair of scissors from his pocket and grabs the edges of the bandages. "And your stitches are loose. This is not fine." Kix turns his attention to Anakin and narrows his eyes. "How many times did you hit her?"

"Today?” Anakin asks innocently. He shrugs. "I dunno. Like ten. Fifteen?"

"Ten or fifteen times?!" Kix shouts. The words echo through the room, and several of the sleeping troopers stir. One or two of them even sit up and look around. Kix clears his throat and lowers his voice. “With all due respect, sir, what the hell were you thinking?"

"We were just training," Anakin says defensively. "It's not like we were fighting. I could’ve hit her harder if I wanted to. I was holding back.”

“Oh, sure,” you scoff. Anakin glances over at you, and you raise a brow. His lips twitch into a cocky grin, and you roll your eyes, turning away and focusing instead on Kix. "Can we please just get this over with?"

"Yeah," he grumbles, and he starts cutting away the bandages. You grit your teeth as the material sticks to the fresh scabs, and Anakin shifts beside you, his discomfort tangible. "This is going to sting, General. Just try not to move."

"Okay," you mumble.

"You...don't need me here for this," Anakin points out awkwardly. "I'll just...uh...go..." He backs away, his hands up, and heads towards the door. "Let me know when you're done."

You nod, and then he's gone, disappearing into the darkened hallway. 

You take a deep breath and look down as Kix grabs the edges of the fabric and pulls. The bandages fall away, revealing the three gashes running down the outside of your shoulder. The stitches are torn, and a mottling of purple and yellow bruises have formed around the edges of the wounds. It's not as bad as it was the first night, but it's not a pleasant sight, and your stomach turns. You look away.

"This doesn't look good," Kix observes. His brow furrows as he leans closer. He prods gently at the area around the cuts, his touch light and careful, and you wince. "Did it start hurting while you were fighting?"

"It always hurts," you say through clenched teeth. You close your eyes and try to ignore the way your skin is pulling. "That's nothing new."

"Hmm," Kix hums thoughtfully. He turns his head and studies the bruises. "Do these hurt?"

"Not really," you reply.

"What about this?" he asks, his fingers pressing against a sore spot. You hiss and jerk away. "Guess that's a yes." 

He leans back and frowns, his gaze sweeping over the rest of your shoulder. "It's swollen." He touches near the bottom of the injury, and you gasp. He glances up at you, his brows knitted together. "That hurt?"

"Kriff, Kix, everything hurts," you snap. You take a deep breath and swallow hard, your jaw clenched in frustration. "Sorry, I'm sorry. That wasn't fair. Yes, that hurts."

"I see," he mutters. He lets out a heavy sigh. "Well, it looks like you did a number on yourself."

"Thanks," you grumble.

"I'm serious," he sighs again, grabbing a pair of tweezers from the tray next to him and pulling on a pair of gloves. "These stitches are going to need to come out. And you've got a pretty severe strain in your rotator cuff."

"Oh, come on," you protest. "It's just a scratch."

"A scratch?" Kix exclaims. He holds up the tweezers, the metal gleaming in the dim light, and points them at your face. "You call this a scratch? Have you looked in a mirror recently? Your shoulder is a mess. The bruises are bad enough, but this?" 

He gestures to the open wound and the frayed threads hanging out of your skin. "This is an absolute nightmare. You're lucky at least some of these stitches held. They shouldn't have. You're not taking proper care of it."

"I'm not doing anything," you point out.

"Exactly," he retorts. "Which is why I'm going to need you to promise me that you're not going to be running around and getting yourself into trouble."

"But—"

"Promise me. No more sparring matches. No more fights. Nothing that's going to put any more strain on this." He taps the edge of your wound for emphasis, ignoring when you wince and jerk back. "You need to let it heal."

"Kix, please," you plead. You look up and meet his gaze. "I can't do that."

"Well, I guess that's too bad, then," he replies flatly. He picks up a cloth and begins to clean the blood off your skin. "Because until this heals, you're not going to be of much use to anyone."

"Kix," you say, a warning edge in your voice. He pauses and glances up at you, his eyes narrowing slightly, and you bite back the next words on your tongue. You let out a breath and sigh. "Fine. I promise."

"Good," he says with a nod.

"Does that mean you'll fix it now?"

"Yes," he chuckles. He grabs the tweezers and presses the cool metal against your skin. "Hold still. I'm going to take these out. I'm sure they're itching something fierce."

"You have no idea," you mutter. You sit still and hold your breath as he begins to pull the threads free, wincing at the sharp pinch and tug of the stitches coming loose. It takes a while. Kix is meticulous and slow, making sure each stitch is completely removed before he moves on, and you watch him carefully. 

The tension in his shoulders tells you he's irritated. He's trying to hide it, but you can tell. You can hardly blame him. You don't think he's had a moment's peace since Saleucami, maybe even longer, and you feel a flash of guilt knowing that he's been dealing with your injuries on top of everything else.

"Hey," you begin tentatively. He glances up at you for a second, but his gaze flicks back to his task almost immediately. "How are you doing?"

"What do you mean?" he asks casually. He sounds indifferent, but his face says otherwise.

"Just, with all of this," you explain, gesturing to the empty beds in the ward and the dark corridors beyond the medbay doors. "How are you holding up?"

"Oh. Well, you know, the usual," he replies with a shrug. He tosses another ruined thread onto the tray and begins working on the next one. "Dealing with karking idiots who won't take care of themselves."

"That's not what I meant," you huff.

"It's fine," he says quietly. "It's my job."

"You—"

"We're all tired," he sighs. "I'm just glad I don't have to worry about anyone dying." He gives you a pointed look and plucks another stitch free. "Not yet, anyway."

"Kix," you admonish softly, a little taken aback by his bluntness, but he doesn't respond. The two of you fall silent as he continues his work, the only sound the quiet click of metal on metal and the soft rustle of fabric.

"So," he says after a long silence. He pulls the last stitch out and begins to dab at the edges of the wound with a wet cloth, his expression serious and focused, his eyes trained on your shoulder. "Why exactly were you sparring?"

"Why not?" you ask casually.

"Because you're supposed to be resting," he reminds you. "That was the agreement. If I remember correctly, and I do, you agreed that if you could leave your bed, you'd be good and take it easy until we docked."

"Oh," you murmur guiltily. "Right."

"And?" he prompts.

"And what?" you ask. You know exactly what he wants you to say, and you're not going to make it easy for him. You're not sure why you're so reluctant to admit your failure, but the words refuse to come out, and your jaw clenches, the stubbornness in you refusing to budge, even though it's obvious that he knows the truth already.

"General," he groans impatiently, and you relent, your shoulders slumping in defeat as you sigh, giving him a sheepish smile in return.

"I liked it better when you were afraid of me," you grumble jokingly. He rolls his eyes, but there's no missing the twitch of his lips, a small smile that quickly turns into a scowl as he shakes his head.

"You're unbelievable," he mutters under his breath. He turns to pick up the bottle of disinfectant, and you're about to make another remark when the doors slide open. 

Rex strides through the entryway, his eyes scanning the room with an intense focus. You know the instant he spots you, because his face relaxes, and his expression changes from one of concern to annoyance.

He's standing just inside the room, his arms folded across his chest, his gaze hard. You can't tell if he's mad, but judging by the tightness of his jaw and the narrowing of his eyes, you'd say that he is. His eyes travel over you, lingering on your shoulder, and then they move to Kix as he tilts his head to the side and raises a brow. 

"What's going on here?"

"Nothing," you say quickly.

"The General tore her stitches," Kix answers at the same time. He gives a cursory look over his shoulder and a nod to Rex before turning back to his work.

"Oh?" Rex says. He walks over and stands next to the bed, his arms still crossed, his expression neutral, but the disapproval is written all over him. "That looks bad."

"I'm fine," you reassure him as Kix turns back around and moves closer to you.

"No, she's not," Kix disagrees. He doesn't look at either of you, his eyes trained on his work as he pours disinfectant onto the cut and wipes it clean, seemingly immune to the withering glare you're shooting his way. "She's lost a lot of blood, and she's in pain. She should be in bed."

"I told you, I'm—"

"Fine?" Rex finishes. His tone is dry, and you can tell by the way his jaw clenches and his brow creases that he's less than impressed. He looks back down at your shoulder, his brows drawing together, and he shakes his head. "You don't look fine."

"I will be," you promise.

"If she takes it easy and listens to me," Kix adds as he picks up a needle and thread. "Now, not that I'm not happy to see you, Captain, but what are you doing here?"

Rex falters, and his gaze flickers between you and Kix. You can't help but smirk at the flustered look on his face. He clears his throat and squares his shoulders, his expression returning to one of indifference, though his cheeks are still a bit pink.

"I need a refill on my painkillers,” he says stiffly, and you duck your head, hiding your grin at the obvious lie. Kix stills, needle and thread hovering in the air over your arm, and he shoots Rex a dubious look.

"Painkillers?" he repeats slowly, staring at Rex for a second longer before he starts stitching the wound closed. He gives him another quick glance. "I can't get you to take those more than once every couple of days, and now suddenly you're running out? How's that possible?"

"You told me to use them, and I've been using them," Rex explains, a note of irritation in his voice. He takes a deep breath and shakes his head. "And now they're gone."

"Are you sure?" he asks.

"Yes," Rex grumbles.

"Have you checked everywhere?" Kix presses. "Because if you're not taking them properly—

"Kix," Rex cuts in impatiently. "I know how to take a pill. It's not that complicated. They're gone. That's all there is to it."

"Alright, fine," Kix mutters, tying the end of the thread and snipping it off before moving on to the next stitch. "I'll get you more. Just let me finish up here, and I'll grab them for you." 

Rex nods, and he falls silent as Kix works. He leans back against the bed, his arms crossed over his chest, and his eyes drift to the ceiling. You stare at him, waiting for him to look at you, but his gaze remains fixed on the lights above. 

After several minutes of awkward silence, Kix finally finishes and bandages the wound, and he rises to his feet and disappears into the back office.

You cast a look around, taking stock of the sleeping patients and empty beds. When you're satisfied that no one's listening, you turn to Rex.

"So," you whisper. Rex doesn't respond, and you continue, a hint of amusement in your tone, "What's the real reason you're here?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he says flatly, his gaze still trained upwards, his face blank. His mouth twitches into a small smile. "I'm here for painkillers."

"Painkillers," you repeat. You raise a brow and study his expression, his face unreadable. You're tempted to push him for answers, but the truth is, you're not entirely sure what to say, and a strange unease settles in the pit of your stomach. "Well, thank you for checking up on me. But I'm fine."

"Good," he mutters, and he looks away, his eyes drifting towards the door to Kix's office, where the medic is still rummaging through his supplies. A frown pulls at his lips. "What happened?"

"Anakin and I were sparring," you reply honestly. "We got a little carried away."

"I see," he hums. He tilts his head towards the wound on your shoulder. "And why were you and General Skywalker sparring at 0200 hours?"

"Because we can," you quip.

Rex doesn't laugh. Instead, he lets out a long sigh, and he gives you a disapproving look, his brow furrowed. "Is that the best you can come up with?"

"I don't know what you want me to say," you huff defensively. You cross your arms over your chest and look down at the floor. "I'm not sorry."

"I didn't ask you to be," he says calmly. "But if you're going to get hurt again, I'd prefer it if you'd try not to do it in the middle of the night."

"Fair enough," you mutter under your breath. He lets out another heavy sigh, a low, tired sound, and he closes his eyes, his head dropping forward. You shift uncomfortably and bite your lip. "How did you even know I was here?"

"One of the night guard saw you being dragged by General Skywalker, dripping blood, and figured it was important enough to report it," he grunts. His head snaps up, and he opens his eyes, staring at the wall in front of him. "What was he thinking? What were either of you thinking?"

"Not thinking was kind of the whole point," you retort with a shrug, wincing slightly as the movement pulls at the newly-stitched wound. 

Rex’s head swivels around to face you at the sound, and he narrows his eyes. You can tell by the way his mouth tightens and his eyes darken that he's worried, and a surge of guilt shoots through your chest.

You sigh and drop your hands to your lap. "Sorry. I just...needed to get out of my own head."

"What?"

"It's nothing," you mumble. You wave him off and look down at your feet. "Forget it."

He makes a low, thoughtful noise, and his fingers twitch, his hand clenching and releasing a few times before he finally speaks.

"I'm familiar with the concept," he murmurs. His shoulders sag as the tension leaves him, and he leans against the bed, his back against the edge. His expression softens, and his gaze is fixed on yours. "I just don't think it's worth getting injured for."

"Yeah," you say quietly, avoiding his eyes. "Me neither."

"Listen, I know it's been rough. We've all been through a lot, but..." His voice trails off, and he runs a hand over the back of his neck. You watch as he swallows hard and looks away, his eyes searching the floor, his face tight. "Just be careful. I don't want you getting hurt. And if you need to talk..."

"Yeah," you sigh. "I know."

"I mean it," he insists, turning back to face you, his brows drawn together in concern. "You can come to me." 

He pauses, his lips pressing together in a thin line, and he glances over his shoulder towards the door leading to Kix's office. When he speaks again, his voice is barely audible, so quiet that you almost miss it. "Any time."

Your heart flutters in your chest at his words, and you bite your lip, a small, hopeful smile tugging at the corners of your mouth. You can feel your cheeks warming at the look he gives you, his eyes meeting yours, a softness in them that makes your chest ache. 

"Thank you."

"Any time," he echoes. 

He looks up and gives you a lopsided grin, his eyes crinkling at the edges, and you can't help but grin back. Your heart is racing, and you're overcome with a sudden rush of affection for him. It doesn’t take you by surprise anymore, but it still fills you with warmth. It's a nice feeling, one that you've grown accustomed to over the past few months, and one that you find yourself craving more and more.

There's something about him, his voice, the way he looks at you, the way he cares, that makes your heart flutter. You've known him for a while now, but recently it's been stronger, more intense. You're not sure if it's because of the time the two of you have spent together lately or if it's simply the stress of war weighing on your emotions. Maybe it's because you're finally starting to see you're not alone in feeling this way, that he might care for you as much as you care for him.

Whatever it is, it's getting harder and harder to ignore. It's distracting, dangerous. And right now, in the middle of the medbay within earshot of Kix and the other patients in various states of consciousness around you, you can't afford to let yourself be distracted. Especially by Rex. Even if you wanted to. Which you don't. Definitely not. No. It's better for both of you to keep your distance.

It's safer.

It's what needs to be done.

"General," Rex says softly, bringing you back to reality, his tone cautious. He leans forward slightly and reaches out his hand as if to touch your arm, but he stops short, his fingers hovering an inch or so from your skin. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," you say quickly, blinking and giving him a reassuring smile. You lean back a little and put a few inches of space between the two of you. "Just tired. Really tired."

"Okay," he replies skeptically. His brows draw together in confusion as his gaze travels over you, his eyes lingering on the bandage on your shoulder and the bruises scattered across your chest and abdomen, before settling on your face. “I just—“

"Rex," Kix calls.

Rex's hand drops to his side and he turns his head towards the office. You follow his gaze. Kix is standing in the doorway, a small paper cup in one hand and a bottle of pills in the other. His brow furrows as he studies the two of you. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," Rex assures him.

Kix doesn't look convinced. His gaze flickers from Rex to you and then back again. His expression turns serious. "Are you sure? Because if something's going on—"

"We're fine," Rex insists, taking a step forward and holding his hand out. "You can give me the meds. I'll get out of your hair."

"Okay," Kix says slowly.

He hesitates for a moment before walking over to Rex and placing the cup and bottle into his open palm. Rex thanks him and immediately pops a pill into his mouth, swallowing it down with the cup of water.

"Remember what I said about the dosage. You're only supposed to take one. Any more than that, and you're going to be sleeping for the next two days."

"I know," Rex grumbles. He places the cup on the table beside the bed and slides the bottle into his pocket. "Thanks."

"Anytime," Kix replies. He glances at you, a small smile tugging at his lips, and he shakes his head. "Don't let me catch you in here again. I'm going to start charging."

"I make no promises," you say with a grin.

"Figures," he sighs. He walks past Rex and heads towards the back office. "Have a good night."

"Night," Rex replies. He looks at you and clears his throat. "You coming?”

"Oh. Uh, yeah," you say quickly. You scoot to the edge of the bed and swing your legs over the side. "Where are we going?"

"We're not going anywhere," he answers. He nods towards the door. "You're going to bed. I'm going to go back to sleep. And tomorrow you're going to take it easy."

"But—"

"That was the agreement," he reminds you. He gives you a pointed look. "You promised."

"Right," you agree, hopping off the bed and landing lightly on the floor. You grab your bloody tunic from the counter and slide your arms through the sleeves. Rex watches silently as you adjust the fabric, carefully avoiding your bandaged shoulder. 

He opens his mouth, and you hold up a hand. "If you tell me to take it easy, I swear—"

"You're not going to listen anyway," he sighs. "Let's just go."

"After you," you tease.

Rex shakes his head and begins walking towards the door. You fall into step behind him, your hands clasped in front of you, and the two of you slip quietly out of the medbay and into the darkened corridors beyond.

The hallway is empty save for a single trooper stationed at the end near the lift. He doesn't react as you and Rex pass him. He keeps his eyes forward, his attention focused on the empty corridor, and you follow Rex around the corner and into the next hall.

The lights are dimmed, and the soft hum of the ship's engines echoes throughout the empty passageway. The quiet is peaceful, and you feel a weight lift from your shoulders.

You glance at Rex. His gaze is straight ahead, his eyes fixed on the floor. You're tempted to reach out and try to touch his hand, but the risk of running into someone, anyone, is too high. You swallow hard and clench your fists by your side instead. 

"You know," you start casually, "If you wanted to check up on me, you could've just come by."

"I don't know what you mean," he says without looking up. His voice is flat and even, and you can't help but smile at his attempt at sounding innocent. 

"Come on," you coax, nudging his shoulder gently with yours, careful not to jostle the wound. "You can't fool me."

"I don't know what you mean," he repeats, his voice a little louder, but still without emotion. He turns his head, his gaze flicking up and catching yours for a brief moment before darting away. His lips twitch into a smile. "I'm just here for the painkillers."

"Yeah?" you prod. He nods once. "So, you're saying I was nothing but an afterthought, then."

"Yep," Rex agrees without missing a beat. You scoff, and he glances at you, his eyes shining mischievously in the low light. You can't help but laugh. The sound echoes through the empty hall, and he shushes you playfully, his lips twitching upward.

"What?" you whisper.

"Shh," he chuckles, pressing a finger to his lips. "You'll wake the whole ship."

"Sorry," you say, stifling another giggle, and his smile widens. You nudge him again and lower your voice further. "Thank you. For checking on me."

"Of course," he murmurs, and your heart skips a beat. You try to ignore the fluttery feeling in your stomach, but it's getting harder and harder to do as he slows his pace and falls into step beside you, his body a hair's breadth from yours.

The two of you walk in silence, stealing glances at each other as you go. The hallways are quiet and empty, and there's no one to see. There's no reason to rush. So you linger, savoring the moment, enjoying the closeness, the warmth of his presence. You feel better than you have in a long time, lighter somehow.

You look at Rex. His face is turned away, but you can see the small smile playing on his lips. It's barely there, but it's real, and you can't help the warmth that spreads through your chest at the sight. This feels right, comfortable. Safe. You can't remember the last time you felt like this.

“What?” he asks softly, his gaze flicking towards you.

You blink. You're staring at him, and you're not quite sure when that happened.

"Nothing," you mutter quickly, shaking your head and looking down at your feet, unable to hold his gaze any longer. He chuckles and bumps his shoulder against yours. You look back up, and his smile is wider now, his eyes shining with amusement. You bite your lip.

This is new. The playful teasing, the laughter, the smiles. The last time you had this much fun together was months ago, and you've missed it. A lot.

You keep walking, and he keeps pace, neither of you looking at each other, both of you pretending not to notice the other's reaction. But no matter how much you drag your feet, the moment has to end eventually. It doesn’t take long for you to reach the end of the hallway and stop in front of your door. 

You turn to Rex and give him a sheepish smile. "This is my stop."

"So it is," he says quietly. His eyes flick to the door and then back to you. "I guess I should let you get some rest."

"Yeah," you agree reluctantly. "Probably a good idea."

The two of you stare at each other for a moment, neither of you wanting to leave. He takes a deep breath, his face contorting as if he's in pain, and then he lets it out and shakes his head.

"Take it easy," he tells you. He raises his eyebrows and gives you a meaningful look. "And get some sleep. That's an order."

You grin and roll your eyes. "I outrank you, you know."

"I know," he says. "But that doesn't change the fact that you're exhausted. You need to sleep." He points a finger at the door behind you. "I don't want to see you again until tomorrow afternoon. Understand?"

The commanding tone of his voice sends a shiver down your spine, and you bite back a smile as you nod obediently.

"Fine, I'll be a good girl,” you concede playfully, batting your lashes, your voice dripping with mock innocence. You press a hand against your heart. "I promise."

His cheeks flush pink as he clears his throat, his gaze shifting away from you. You smirk, pleased with your success, and Rex huffs, his eyes narrowing when they land back on yours.

"Go to sleep," he orders sternly. "I'm serious."

"I know," you assure him, your expression sobering. "I'll try, at least."

He gives you a knowing look, and your pulse quickens, a tingling sensation spreading through your body. You're not sure what it is, but something about his proximity, the way his eyes bore into yours, makes you feel a bit dizzy. You lean against the wall and take a deep breath, trying to calm your racing heart.

“Only if you promise to get some sleep too,” you say finally, tilting your head slightly, a small smirk tugging at the corners of your lips. "You look like shit."

He lets out a chuckle, and his eyes crinkle at the edges. "Yes, sir."

His hand lifts in a mock salute, and you laugh, a warm rush of affection filling your chest as he smiles back. He's always so serious. It's a nice change to see him like this, playful and relaxed, so clearly at ease. You wish he could always be like this. It suits him. He's always been handsome, but now, seeing him happy, carefree, it's almost impossible to look away. 

You feel a pang in your chest, and your mind wanders. You wish it could last. You wish that he could stay. But it's late, and you're tired, and it's better this way. Better that he leave now before either of you do something you might regret. 

You smile softly at him. "Anything else, Captain?"

"Yes," Rex replies quietly. "If you need anything—"

"I'll let you know," you finish. "I promise."

"Okay," he says, his eyes meeting yours, a look of understanding passing between the two of you. His hand brushes against yours briefly before pulling away. "Goodnight."

"Night," you sigh.

Rex gives you one last smile before turning away and heading down the hall. You watch him disappear around the corner and into the dark before you finally turn and punch the access code into the keypad beside the door. It slides open, and you step inside, the doors sliding shut behind you.

You let out a heavy sigh, your body sagging against the wall as you close your eyes. You feel lighter than you have in weeks, more at ease, and a small, contented smile plays across your lips. You're not sure how far the two of you can take this thing between you, but you're happy knowing that whatever it is, it's still here. That's enough for now.

Maybe it won't last. Maybe it will. You can't know. But right now, you can't bring yourself to care. For once, you're content to let yourself have this.

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[bts-hyperfixation]

Outside of the Fox

Chapter 36 of????

1830 words

Y/N longs for a new life when the one she’d been living comes to an abrupt stop. Without much thought to those she is leaving behind, the little fox packs a backpack and disappears. She stumbles across the shelter and makes an interim home for herself while she works out exactly what she wants from her second chance.

Last

You seethe for the entire drive home. Furious at Taehyung's father for forcing him into an arranged marriage, furious at Taehyung for not standing up for himself, and furious at yourself for not trying harder to fight for Taehyung. You know better than anyone how difficult it can be to go against your family's wishes for you. But at least your family thought they were doing what was best for you, Taehyung's family only wanted to save themselves.

It takes all of your energy to try and calm down before you reach home, knowing the moment any of them scented you they would smell your anger and Taehyung's sorrow.  You contemplate heading into the main house first to shower, knowing that the builders finished one of the bathrooms last week, but you'd still be stuck in the same clothes so it'd only be dampening the smell, not removing it. 

You walk through the side gate to find Yoongi sitting out on the steps to the annexe. He looks up the moment he hears the wrought iron creak. He looks like he hasn't slept the entire night.

"Did something happen?" You ask.

"Yeah, a man I've come to care quite a lot about has suddenly become absent in my life for no discernable reason and on top of that, for some unknown reason, the woman I love stole my car and then stayed out all night without more than a brief text as an explanation," 

He looks at you expectantly, waiting. But you don't have an answer to give him. The news of Taehyung's impending nuptials isn't yours to share, and you can't tell him anything about last night without including that detail. You sit on the step below him and lean your head against his lap.

His hand finds its way into your hair easily. He gently tugs out the tangles you didn't have a chance to brush that morning.

"You don't want to talk about it? Or you can't?" He asks softly.

"It's not my story to tell," You confirm.

The two of you stay there silently for a while, watching the wind blow through the grass. You can tell he wants to push for more information, but he knows better.

Jin finally moves the two of you when he comes home from the night shift. He brings breakfast with him and gives it to Yoongi to set up, insisting that you go and shower before eating. What he didn't clarify before sending you into the bathroom was that he intended to shower with you, insisting on saving the water. 

He steps into the basin behind you and wraps his arms around your waist, kissing along your shoulder up to the pulse point under your ear.

"Is there anything I can do to remove that rotting flower undertone to your scent?" He asks before nibbling at your earlobe.

"I don't think so, Jinnie," You admit, leaning back into his touch.

He reaches to the side and takes the soap from the shelf, using it to lather up the both of you. He offers compliments as he goes, making you blush with every word. It does little to soothe the memories of your fight, but it reminds you of the love your partners have for you and one another. If anyone can figure out how to fix Taehyung's problem it's your family. 

_____________________

Taehyung sits on his sister's bedroom floor as she dangles with her head off the side of the bed like they would when they were younger. They spent a lot of their formative years here, putting the world to rights. It seemed fitting that they be here again if Eun Jin did in fact have a plan that would save Taehyung from his parent's plan. 

"When we were younger, we went to a birthday party for a girl we had never met. Mum and Dad insisted that we attend as it was for the daughter of a very wealthy shareholder within one of their companies. Now, I don't particularly expect you to remember, it was around the time you were permanently drunk. However, that party was for Y/N L/N." Eun Jin explained. 

Taehyung listens with rapped attention. His sister is right, he has absolutely no memory of this party. His teen years all blend into one drunken blur when he tries to focus on them. Eun Jin goes on to explain that his father had always intended for their youngest brother to marry into this family, at the time Taehyung had been too much of a screw-up to consider, but Jong Gyu would've been perfect.

However, they had realised that plan wouldn't work as your parents had seemed pretty set on having you marry Romero, despite him being so many years your senior. In fact, after a brief conversation with your parents, it seemed like the idea of setting you up with another hybrid had been laughable to them anyway, so Taehyung's family abandoned that plan completely. 

Now, with her parents no longer a factor in her decisions, Eun Jin is under the impression that their family would be willing to accept you as his bride. 

Taehyung looks at his sister in shock, struggling to digest all the information he's been given. It seems too simple. Too easy. 

To escape his forced marriage all he needs to do is propose to the woman he loves instead? Nothing in his life is ever that simple... Unless it could be. 

"Do you really think Father would let me out of the arrangement that easily?" Taehyung asks in disbelief.

"I think it's your best shot." Eun Jin shrugs. 

"Then I guess it's a shot I'll have to take."

"Just make sure Mom is also in the room so you can play on the little sympathy she might have for love." Eun Jin reminds him, "Also you should perhaps get your pack onboard first..."

_____________________

For the remainder of his day, Taehyung sits through tedious meetings about wedding details with a fiance who seems roughly as enthused as him. It would seem she would also rather be anywhere else, which would at least make it easier when it came down to telling her the wedding was off. The families must've known neither of them wanted to truly be there as they never gave them even a second to be alone in the same room together

The Hirelys refused to leave until gone 9:00 pm. By that time everyone in Taehyung's family was exhausted. It turned out that while the bride may not have been ecstatic about the wedding, her family was insufferably chipper. They chattered nonstop and couldn't quite tell when they had outstayed their welcome even though the wedding planner had left hours prior.

"See Taehyung-ah... she isn't so bad." His mother commented as they all sat down for their evening tea.

"It doesn't matter either way. Our deal has been struck." His father states.

They all sip their tea silently, shuffling awkwardly in their seats. Eun Jin's gaze darts from Taehyung to their father, urging him to speak. Taehyung pretends not to notice, the tea leaves at the bottom of his cup seeming far more fascinating than anything else in the room. 

In theory, Taehyung has spent most of his life standing up to his father. The only problem is that he has ultimately lost every fight, and he isn't sure whether he is prepared to finally lose the battle if his father doesn't agree with the plan they have cooked up. 

It seems that Eun Jin doesn't harbour the same fears as she rolls her eyes and takes matters into her own hands.

"Daddy?" She starts, as she always does when she wants something "What if Taehyung-ah found himself a better bride, someone who would boost his reputation just as much, if not more than the girl you found?"

"Oh don't be silly dear." Their Father chastises, "No one of that high a calibre would be stupid enough to go for Taehyung, we are fortunate enough that the Hirelys agreed to this."

"I'm right here," Taehyung grumbles at the put-down, although no one takes any notice of him.

"What if he could marry Y/N L/N?" Eun Jin pushes.

His father audibly snorts into his tea presuming Eun Jin to be joking.

"No one has seen Y/N in months Eun Jin," Taehyung's brother chimes in "You'd never find her, and why would she want to marry Tae any way?"

Taehyung shoots evils at his brother who holds his hands up in defence. 

"We've seen her, In fact, we all saw her last night sneaking into Taehyung's bedroom, and this morning when Father yelled at her for being here..."

Their father pales.

"That can't have been her, don't be silly. The girl is a recluse. Her parents told me that after her husband's untimely accident, she moved home, she's been in mourning ever since and refusing to come out, they say she isn't well in the head."

"Her parents are lying!" Taehyung bursts out.

He jumps from his seat and slams a fist on the table. He realises he may have made a mistake when his father matches his actions, a standoff taking place over the table as the two men stare each other down. Taehyung does his best not to flinch away from his father's glare.

"It has been decided Taehyung, you will marry the Hirely girl and you will like it, no more of this hypothetical nonsense. You are a grown man and you will honour the commitment you made."

"No father, you want me to honour the commitment you made not me," Taehyung's voice cracks as he finishes the sentence.

"Taehyung you need to marry, and she really is a lovely girl. You should just accept this match," His mother says trying to comfort him.

"If this is just about me marrying then why can't I choose the partner?" He turns to his mother pleading in his eyes.

"You can't be trusted to pick a suitable match." His father sighs, rubbing his brow in frustration,

"Wouldn't you consider Y/N a suitable match?" Eun Jin asks.

"I might, but there is no way that girl this morning was the real Y/N. And even if she was I'm certain she wouldn't marry Taehyung." Their father scoffed.

"So if we can prove that she is the real Y/N and she says yes you'll consider it?" Taehyung's sister pushes.

"I'll consider it, only because I'm certain this won't work out the way you want it to," Their father agrees.

Taehyung reaches out his hand to shake his father's, knowing that no deal is complete in his father's eyes without it. Begrudgingly the older man meets Taehyung's grasp.

Immediately after they let go, Taehyung reaches for his keys and sprints for the door.

"Where do you think you're going, young man?" His father shouts.

"I'm going home, I have a proposal to figure out!" He shouts back before slamming the door closed behind him."

Next

Masterlist

[artemistorm]

Mini story -- Time tries to get the rest of the Chain up and ready to travel for the day but the rest of the Chain says no.

Time strode in to the stable of sleeping heroes, surprised to see that none of them were up despite the fact that the sun was already starting to rise.

"Time to get up," He announced. "We got a long day of travel ahead of us." Several heroes groaned and rolled over in response. Time made his bed, collected his bathing items and went down to the lakeside to wash up.

The plan was to start heading toward Death Mountain to deal with some of the monster camps springing up in the Gorons' mines. They hoped to make it to Foothill stable at least but ideally as far up towards Goron city as daylight would allow.

Time washed up, changed clothes, he even bothered to shave that morning. He could normally go week between shaving his face, but the stubble was starting to itch and irritate him. Once he was done, he neatly folded his nightclothes and returned to the stable.

Wild sat by the bright young fire that another traveler had lit. He was fully dressed, but still wrapped in a stable blanket and he stared blankly into the flames.

"Wild, what do you have planned for breakfast?" Time asked.

Wild looked up, startled out of whatever thoughts he'd been lost in. He then narrowed his eyes and hissed at Time, then took out his slate and teleported away right in front of him.

"Ah, hehe. Always startles me when he does that," the other traveler tending to the fire laughed. Time wasn't sure what to make of it. Where had he gone?

Warriors exited the stable, dressed, but lacking armor.

"Is everyone up?" Time asked.

"It's... a slow morning." Warriors answered. "Expect to leave a little later today."

"Not too late, I hope," Time answered frowning. "We have a lot of ground to cover." He entered the stable to find most of the Links still varying states of waking up.

Sky was sitting up with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, but his eyes were closed and he looked to be asleep. Legend was sitting on the floor next to the bed. Wind was an unmoved mound of blankets. Hyrule lay awake and blinking dreamily up into the rafters. Twilight sat cross-legged on his bed rummaging through his bag while Four was curled up next to him in a tight little ball.

"What's going on? Why aren't you up yet?" Time asked. "We need to get going." He moved to Wind's bedside and shook what was probably Wind's shoulder.

"Come on, time to wake up," he said. Wind rolled to look at him with rosy cheeks and tired red eyes.

"No. Shut up. Fuck you," he growled and retreated under the covers completely. Time was taken aback.

There was a thump and Time looked up to see Sky still wrapped in his blanket but laying on the floor and inchworming toward his pile of stuff. Legend was up on his feet but he limped every single step he took and his face pinched in pain. Hyrule stretched and yawned loudly but made no move to get up. Unexpectedly, Wild strode back into the stable, grabbed Hyrule's bare foot.

"You're coming with me!" He said and teleported them both away, Hyrule squawking in surprise and dressed in nothing more than his pajamas.

Time sighed and Warriors pulled him back toward the fire outside. "The night stablemaster said that Wind was up in the night with nightmares," Warriors said. "Made him some hot chocolate and stayed up with him for a while. He'll likely need another hour or two of sleep at least."

"I see," Time said and sighed again. "Wind's behavior I can understand, but we took yesterday as a rest day for a reason--with the expectation that today everyone would be up and ready to go as soon as light allowed."

"Time. These boys may be heroes, but they're also boys. They need more than one day of rest once in a blue moon. They aren't perfect little soldiers with infinite energy and morale. You can only push them so far before they will push back."

"I know that, but we have a job to do. The Gorons--"

"Can wait," Warriors interrupted. "They aren't, dying, the city isn't under attack, the just can't dig rocks in their usual spots. It's not that urgent."

Time sighed yet another time. So much for their grand travel plans.

"Besides, I can tell that you need a break too," Warriors said with a sly grin. "You've been impatient recently, taking everything too seriously, skipping meals, nagging, sighing at every little thing that doesn't go according to plan... you need a break just as much as the rest of us."

Time refrained from sighing but he sure felt like it. He hadn't noticed he'd been doing those things more, but he certainly recognized the pattern. They were indeed some of his tells of being overworked.

"Is that why you aren't wearing your armor this morning?" Time deflected. "You already decided that today needs to be another rest day?"

"It's possible," Warriors shrugged.

Time was a proud man and he hated to admit it, but Warriors was right. They needed another rest day. If nothing else, they could do it for Wind's sake.

"So what do you say, Old Man?" Warriors prodded him.

"I think you and I are cooking breakfast this morning," Time answered. "For whenever these sleepyheads choose to get up."

"Eyyy that's was I was hoping to hear!" Warriors smiled. "I'll go tell the troops they can go back to bed. You break out the bacon and start mixing up some flapjack batter."

"Only if you tell the stablemaster we're camping out another day," Time answered.

The End.

[ghxstyfae]

Little Doe ♡ John B headcanons

John b is just so daddy. He needs to take care of something, and he loves taking care of his little doe.

Warning: nsfw, not x reader, bit of dacryphilia,

He calls her doe, little doe, and doe-girl most of the time

Shes actually pretty tall, 5'7, very skinny and frail though.

They met somewhere in the middle of the woods. She was foraging for berries (living her aesthetic nara smith life) to make a berry pie.

Whem she heard him rustling around, watching her, her head snapped up with wide eyes, just like a deer and thats where the nickname stuck.

When they approached her she was wary of them, but outstretched her basket to offer strawberries.

She has longg brown hair, and brown eyes that John B absolutely LOVES

Hes always staring at her wide eyes, even helps her put on mascara sometimes when shes tired before they go out

Like most my girls, shes a big fan of Sanrio, her favourite being pompompuri

Doe isnt too hard to please, one of her biggest love languages is penguin pebbling. She adores when john b brings her little things that remind him of her.

That being said she did it first, making him little knitted projects, crocheted keychains, regular rocks, crystals, or whatever she thinks he might like.

Its just how she shows her affection.

Doe girl doesnt like wesring shirts. Or bras. Half the time shes walking around home or the chateau in just her loose pants, overalls, etc. Titties to thr wind

She also likes wearing outfits like this, this, and this

Daddy jombee gets a little upset at that (^^), especially at first when he and jj walks in to her wearing her patchwork overalls and knitting in the couch.

"Doe weve talked about this before" "if boys can have their tits out so can i daddy" that shut him up quickly enough, considering neither him nor jj were wearing shirts.

Shes lowkey a crybaby, very fragile emotionally and that makes her really anxious

Gets overstimulated from people VERY easily, she lives near a forest that shes constantly exploring whwn she wants a break

Every thursday and sunday they go on a date night, but sometimes she asks to cancel whatever plans they had and either stay in or have a picnic outside.

It didnt take long for the tradition to have 1 solo date night a week, and 1 date where they're around other people

Shes so extremely kinky, but would never share that verbally

Loves to be tied up, esp with the colourful rope Jombee uses.

Shes very quiet when JJ, Pope, Kiara, etc. Are around, even though theyve known eachother for a very long time

Its not that she doesn't like them, shes just a silent soul

As i mentioned, shes a crier, and John B loves it. He loves watching her wide eyes fill up with tears as she takes him, gripping onto his back

Her nails are naturally a decent length and she shapes them sorta almond ish, but the scratch marks on daddys back are deep and sharp

She wakes up very early, almost 5 am every day, and she goes to bed at around 10:30.

First thing she does when she wakes up is makes a fruity smoothie (on weekends she'll make pancakes or waffles), take care of her plants, and finish up any laundry or dishes.

She is absolutely a morning bird, and looses her energy as the day goes on.

This results in naps from 2 pm to 3:40 (shes a creature of habit)

Shes lowkey very book smart buut not street smart at all. Kinda like Pope,

but worse, very oblivious. This is one of the reasons her and JB work so well together. He sees her as someone he gets to take care of

Holds his pinky instead of his whole hand

Doe always says the right thing. Shes a super comforting and empathetic person and is always the person to go too when you need advice

Hates scary things, she really is like a deer in headlights at any sign of horror or danger.

[pinkandbeelz]

My Haikyuu headcanons Karasuno Part 1 - FIRST YEARS

By Beelz

This Colour means = Pink has contributed to the idea.

Hinata Shoyo

🧡• Has diagnosed ADHD. He is constantly very resteless and unfocused, the main reason why he has bad grades. Constantly forgets to take his meds, especially before exams, because he overthinks and worries himself too much beforehand. Has periods of time were he will just hyperfixate on volleyball, and the team especially has to keep an eye on him during these times because he may get too focused during a game and mess up frequently, ruining the flow of the game.

🧡• Before he discovered volleyball, he enjoyed skateboarding, and he still does. He skates to school every morning, along with the occasional morning walks with Kageyama. Alternatively, Hinata uses a skateboard as opposed to his iconic bicycle.

🧡• When he was younger, he would stand outside in the rain, like plants would grow, he thought he would too. His parents told him it as a joke, considering he was always shorter than all his classmates, his parents had never expected him to actually take it seriously and did it for about a month before his parents had to get him to stop because he kept getting awful colds afterwards.

🧡• Loves spending time with the club outside of school, whether it be spending time at Ukai's store or playing just dance at Tanaka's place. Everyone knows that he'll be there every time. The team is like a second family and often doesn't have much to do at home, so he always responds quickly and always shows up.

🧡• After meeting Kenma and getting his number, they often chat about random things. Often, it's early morning, while kenma is getting ready for bed, and Hinata is getting ready for a morning run, at around 5am. Hinata will usually ramble on about his day or how a practice match went, Kenma will often listen while playing a random video game. Sometimes, they video call each other - while Kenma will put on a puzzle game for them both to play, Hinata often seeing a different way than Kenma, they usually win fairly quickly.

Kagyama Tobio

��• Loves morning walks. He will usually go with Hinata, as he knows that Hinata also needs to release some energy before the day begins. He loves the fresh smell of morning air, the sound of the trees rustling in the wind, while watching Hinata skateboard his way down the street, a couple meters in front of him.

🥛• Kageyama is very short-tempered and often needs to get away from things to clear his head. He might just sit by the ocean front while thinking about things that may have annoyed him years ago that he's still not over yet.

🥛• After he found out that Hinata skateboarded, he got into the idea of it, too. Sometimes, after school, Hinata would offer to let Kageyama borrow his skateboard to try use - as they walk home together on the same route. At the beging, it usually consisted of Hinata laughing when Kageyama fell off or couldn't go in the right direction. However, a few months later, he began to get the hang of it and eventually got his own skateboard, too, often him and Hinata will skate home together.

🥛• When he was younger, at Christmas, Kageyama would open the back of his advent calander and eat all the chocolates before the right day. He found out from his older sister one year and hasn't stopped doing it since.

🥛• One day, Hinata asked if Kageyama could teach him how to play the piano. Hinata only asked this because he noticed Kags had a piano in his house that belonged to his sister. So Hinata put two and two together and decided Kageyama looked like he could play the piano, so one day Kags invited him over and tried his best to teach him. Unsurprisingly, the session only resulted in a lot of keyboard smashing and almost ended up with someone's head being smashed into the keys - wether it was voluntary or not

Tsukishima Kei

🎧 • One year, when he was little, him and his family travelled over to britain. They went to a huge fancy museum that had a giant dinosaur skeleton at the entrance. After seeing it, he refused to look anywhere else for the rest of that day. This was the start of his dinosaur obsession.

🎧 • Always makes fun of the people shorter than him because he used to hate being tall. He was always told it was a good thing, but he hated standing out - being the tallest kid he was always pointed out and talked about by other kids. However, after he joined the volleyball club in middle school, he realised it was a blessing - and he can quite literally look down on people, so that was a plus

🎧 • Usually when he's overwhelmed or looking for a place to escape, he will just listen to music wether it be in school, walking home, or in the club room - its his way out of any stressful situations.

🎧 • He treasures his headphones as his brother gave them to him as a birthday gift when he turned 10. Akiteru had started working a few hours a week, and every bit of money he earned went towards the headphones. And for that, he was utterly grateful.

🎧 • Wastes the majority of his allowance on fluffy blankets and train rides. He loves watching the sunset on the beach, usually it would be just him and Yamaguchi - they started doing this shortly after their established friendship, but after joining Karasuno there have been times were he has invited the whole team out for a nice relaxing view, sometimes even a barbeque. Yamaguchi would invite them out for his tsunedere ass. Tsukki doesn’t wanna admit he likes them.

Yamaguchi Tadashi

🍠• Yamaguchi's first job was working at Shimada Mart. The job came up when Shimada overheard Yamaguchi talking about wanting a job somewhere, but was worried about the opportunity because he's never properly worked professionally before. He was really appreciate when he took on the job. Everything was great, he was good at doing what he was asked, always on time, etc. The only problem was that whenever a customer would ask him about something he would just freeze up, often reply stuttering and end up giving the wrong information to the customer.

🍠• After an awkward day of school, and or work, he would just lay in bed at night staring at his ceiling thinking about how dumb he must've looked standing awkwardly trying and failing to awnser simple questions.

🍠• Yamaguchi is very shy by nature, but when he's around the team, he opens up a lot. He often surprises himself with how much he is himself around his friends and how often they push him out of him comfort zone and most of the time ends up finding things he really enjoys doing with the Karasuno team along the way.

🍠• After various field trips with the team, hes found he really enjoys them. Sometimes, he manages to coax Takeda into letting them borrow the school bus. Allowing Daichi to drive as he's the only one who actually has a licence out of the entire team. It's never clear where they're going to go that night, but its always a good time wherever or whenever they go.

🍠• Has awful social anxiety. He gets really anxious when he has to do a public presentation in class. Most of the time, he'll ask Tsukishima to order food on the phone since he's too scared to do it. Absolutely hates crying in public and / or in front of people, but usually can't even control it

Yachi Hitoka

🎀• In Yachi's elementary school, they did Christmas shows for the parents every year - she loved them, and this started her adoration for acting, making it a job she vanted to pursue in the future. She always tried out for the big roles in plays when she was in elementary school. One year, she got the role of Mary from the "Nativity" play. She did a great job on stage, but as she got older she got more shy and began to stop asking for specific role - however her parents were good friends with her teacher and managed to speak for her, usually scoring Yachi a role with a lot of lines, which she was grateful for.

🎀• Once time during practice, Kiyoko called Yachi "Yacchan". She never recovered

🎀• Because Yachi wanted to be an actor when she graduated high school, she learned how to do a model walk. Every now and then, she'll randomly do a model walk in the corriders, walking back from helping at the volleyball club (when the halls are fairly empty). Once, Tsukishima caught her doing it and continued to tease her about it until they graduated, now everytime she decides to do it in the corrider she ends up getting embarrassed - doing an awkward run, trying to escape the embarassment.

🎀• She loves reading romance novels/mangas, but only when she's alone in the privacy of her own room. She only borrows them from the library and hides them under her pillow when she falls asleep. When she would read them and theres an extra adorable scene, she would do the hiding her face in the book and kick her feet thing. Same thing with romance movies - she knows fully well she'll be crying by the end of it. It's a guilty pleasure.

🎀• She bonded with Asahi and Yamaguchi over their mutual anxiety. Asahi, as the oldest, is trying to teach them both to be less nervous.

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed :) Thank you very much, Pink, for the help writing this!

-Beelz

[howlinchickhowl]

Couple of days late because I keep falling asleep while writing, but here is my little contribution for day 9 of @gallavichthings a.u.gust fiesta.

Got me stuck on your face and your body nine - college

There’s an alarm clock blaring, it’s been blaring for what feels like hours, and it’s not his. He doesn’t even have an alarm clock. This day and age who even owns a real fucking clock anymore? Doesn’t everyone just use their phone?

The noise stops, and Mickey cracks an eye open. Through his minimal aperture he can see a a light green colored towel, a pair of legs dusted with light ginger hair. Ian.

“Sorry about the alarm, I woke up early and jumped in the shower, forgot it was even set.”

He sounds so awake already, alive with energy at whatever ghastly hour of the morning someone like Ian chooses to rise in the morning. It’s as much as Mickey can do to roll over onto his back, and even that feels like too much of an effort. He slings one arm over his face to block out the obnoxious sunlight streaming through Ian’s cheap dorm-room curtains, and sucks in a deep yawn of a breath.

“It’s all good man,” He says, on the tail end of the yawn, “didn’t mean to fall asleep. Shoulda woken me.”

“I didn’t mind you staying.” The weight on the bed shifts like Ian has just sat down, and when Mickey drags his arm from his eyes to look he’s right there, chest bare, soft hairs on his pecs glistening with large droplets of water because the guy apparently doesn’t know how towels work and clambers every day from the shower dripping like an umbrella after a rainstorm.

He watches a single rivulet wind its way down towards a nipple, take a detour around a particularly thick hair and drop into the valley that marks the centre of Ian’s well defined chest.

He drags his gaze away and meets Ian’s eyes, warm and open, and it sinks in to Mickey what Ian had said. That he didn’t mind Mickey staying over. It’s crazy to Mickey how easily shit like that just rolls off Ian’s tongue, like he just says exactly what he’s thinking or feeling, in the moment when he’s thinking or feeling it. Mickey wonders what that must be like. To be just completely at ease all the damn time. It couldn’t be him.

“Well, didn’t mean to, so.”

Case in point. The words that roll off Mickey’s tongue are always awkward and stilted, and only ever half of what he really wants to be saying, and almost always succeeds in making whomever he is talking to smaller and less happy and less bright than they were before he spoke.

Something in Ian shuts down, his openness, that light inside him that Mickey is so obsessed with, can’t get enough of, dims, just a little, and just like every time he opens his mouth, Mickey regrets his words.

“What you got your alarm set for anyway?” He asks, dropping his hand onto Ian’s bent knee where he’s sat sideways on the bed. “You don’t got class today.”

One thing that’s great about Ian is that Mickey kind of thinks he gets it. Mickey’s words can hurt him but if he can get a hand on him, quickly, he recovers. Like he understands what it means when Mickey uses his touch to try and soothe the lashes his tongue doles out.

Like now, green eyes glance down at where Mickey’s hand is resting on a towel clad knee, and a little smile forms on his lips

“You know my schedule Mickey?”

Smug bastard. And he does, is the problem. They’ve been fucking basically since class began in September, since Mickey had wandered into a frat house kitchen at a party Mandy had dragged him to and shared a shot with the giant red-head hiding from the party by ‘manning the bar’. He was the least likely frat dude you could imagine, sweet and kind of shy, not interested in keg stands or embarrassing pledges. They’d ended up back in Ian’s room that night and Mickey’s been freefalling ever since. He’s into him so deep it’s embarrassing.

Yeah, he knows his fucking schedule. Knows when his classes are and his preferred times to go to the gym, knows he treats himself to lunch outside the cafeteria once a week, on Wednesdays, on a rotating schedule of alternative campus eateries. Knows he calls his big sister on Fridays, facetimes his big brother most mornings on his way to class. Knows what day and time he goes to his book club that’s not a book club, but that he won’t actually tell Mickey what it is. He knows, and he feels like a fucking pussy for knowing, and he knows that if he replies right now he’ll say something even more hurtful than he already has because his stupid fucking brain thinks it will make it less embarrassing to be obsessed with Ian if there’s no way Ian could ever possibly know.

“Got a frat thing early, philanthropy requirement, that’s why the alarm.”

There’s a blush spreading across Ian’s cheeks, the same that always does whenever he talks about fraternity stuff, he’s the only frat guy Mickey ever met who doesn’t like to let on he’s in a frat. Mickey’d asked him once, why he’d joined if he found it so embarrassing to be a Greek. He’d said that when he’d come to college he’d been lonely, had missed the noise and the company of being at home with all his siblings, the frat had seemed like a way to have that again, on campus.

“Gotta go be a good boy, huh?” Ian quirks a suggestive eyebrow at that and the shadow of a shiver rushes up Mickey’s spine. It is way too easy to get him going where Ian’s concerned. “Guess I’ll let you get to it then, I’m gonna head out.”

He rolls himself to the other side of the bed and pushes himself up to standing, starting to find where his clothes had ended up. He finds them in a neat pile on the chair by the window, shirt and pants and boxers folded, fucking boy scout.

“You don’t have to go.” Ian tells him while he’s pulling up his pants, rooting in his underwear drawer for some clean boxers and dropping his towel to pull them on.

“I got a paper due.”

“Well, are you busy later? I’m supposed to go to this open mic thing at Java John’s…”

Mickey winces at the thought of an ‘open mic thing’ and Ian trails off, finishes buttoning his shirt, smart clothes for philanthropy hours. Mickey tries not to let his gaze linger too long, but the fact is, Ian looks good all dressed up.

“But I could skip it? If you wanted to…” He trails off again, shrugging at Mickey like he doesn’t really know what he’s suggesting.

He’s suggesting spending time together, really, that’s what he’s always suggesting. All the time he’s inviting Mickey along to some event or telling him about some party, just trying to spend time with him, and every time he does Mickey blows him off, turns it into some innuendo, or manufactures the scenario so that instead of hanging out like normal people, like Ian so clearly wants to do, they end up just fucking.

It’s not like Mickey doesn’t want to hang out with Ian, properly. Without fucking. He does. He would. But the thing is, they’re good at fucking. They’ve got great chemistry and he knows he can make Ian feel good, that he can hold his interest for that, that he won’t disappoint the guy.

But without that, if they’re just spending time together and talking and not distracted by the overwhelming pleasure of an impending orgasm, Ian might figure out that in the long run, Mickey’s not smart or interesting or worth spending time with at all. And he can’t have that.

He finishes shoving his feet inside his boots and looks up, finding Ian still looking over at him, hopefully. And he wants to say yes. He wants to say sure, and sounds fun. Wants to meet Ian at the stupid fucking Java John’s and listen to some emo loser singing acoustic covers of eighties pop hits and drink an overpriced cup of coffee and just, sit next to the guy, smile at him, make him laugh. Feel the warmth of his body radiate against Mickey’s own. He wants it so badly he can hardly breathe from the wanting.

And what if he did it? What if he said yes? What if, actually, Ian didn’t find him boring or stupid or only good for fucking? What if, actually, they had a great fucking time and great sex? Looking into Ian’s imploring eyes, for the first time he believes it might be possible.

He takes a deep breath, takes a massive fucking leap, and says.

“They got beer at the Java John’s?”

The smile on Ian’s face makes his heart almost beat out of his chest, and he hopes, hopes he’s made the right choice.

[vibratingskull]

Home sweet home

Part1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Tag List

ThrawnxF!reader

It’s your first leaves and Thrawn and Eli already cry for help. In the ebullient city of Coruscant you go searching for an apartment, but the empire doesn’t treat its citizen the same.

You adjust your sunglasses, it’s a sunny day despite the clouds of pollution on Coruscant, and you can feel the wind in your hair. Leaning against the wall of the community shuttle stop you can’t resist to take a holograph of the beautiful sun and freiters rings on your imager. You will post it later. You put it away, pull down your hat on your head and observe the different ships passing in front of you in their mish mash of lines that ribbon the sky. It is early in the morning but traffic is already high. School children walk among the salarymans and other office workers. Some hail a cab while others choose to walk. A group of youths are playing hard bass much to the regret of some walkers. 

You approach the edge of the platform. That’s your shuttle. You enter, validate your ticket and take a seat. Head resting in your hand and forehead against the window’s glass you look outside as the ship took off, making your body vibrate.

It is your second leave since you took post in the marine, and you didn’t think you would have to pass it that way, but oh well. You start humming a new tone you’ve heard as the skyscrapers get blurry with the motion. This is gonna be a rough day for your muscles, it's gonna be tiring but it is to help a friend. 

You hold that though. 

Helping a friend. You bite your inner cheek. You're not gonna dwell on that again… Thrawn doesn't see you in any other way, accept it! 

But it is hard. Your reason tells you to cope with it but your heart cries every time, aching you from the inside. 

You shake your head. No! Enough with this defeated energy! 

You are young! 

With a promisng start to a great career! 

You always had your chance in the dating market, it's not gonna end now and you won't let it! You're not gonna wait for Thrawn forever and waste your best years, you need to dive right in, drink, fuck, smoke some spice (occasionaly) and make the most of your youth! Fuck this guy! Who does he think he is to shake you up like that? Starting today you take back control of your love life and forget him like the fling it was! 

You take out your comlink, searching your contacts. Who would you be down to spend time with? How about one of your new coworkers? There are a few of them you could bite into. No, it will get messy with work. Someone outside of that circle, then. Do you want a fuckbuddy or a grounded relationship? Anything that makes you forget him you decide. You scroll down the list, searching for your heart's desire. Suddenly a contact holds your attention. You consider it, your finger stopped mid-movement. Your pupil dilates considerably reading the name. 

________________________

"Thrawn wants what ?" You question, incredulous. 

"He doesn't want, he needs." Eli corrects. 

You put away your comlink for he doesn't hear you sigh at the comment. 

"That's a detail…" 

"He needs an apartment on Coruscant but he doesn't know anything about how we proceed here." 

You flick your tongue. 

"Can't he just stay at the barracks?" 

"No."

"... He has been thrown out?" 

"Yes."

You pinch the bridge of your nose. Oh the headaches in perspective… 

"And why should I come? You don't need me for that, I have other plans than this." 

You can hear Thrawn in communication with someone else in the background. It's not going well apparently. 

"(y/n) please…" He lowers his voice so as to not be heard "Please! I don't want to go alone with him." 

Visibly Eli didn't forgive Thrawn yet. You consider the situation, your options and sigh again, defeated. 

"Alright…" 

"Thank you (y/n)!" Eli's evidently relieved. 

"But you pay for the beers!" 

He laughs

"If that's all it takes to buy you, consider it done!" 

The next day you embark on the first community shuttle towards Eli’s apartment. The day is gonna be long so you should as well come early. You quickly arrive at the address you received and enter the building. The space allowed for the housing is rather modest but it is well placed and the neighborhood seems to be quiet. Eli chose well, you tell yourself. 

In the stairs you cross paths with a Togruta, you feel yourself tensing up. She addresses you with a smile and you nod to her. You hope Eli won’t have any problem in the future. By reflex you tighten the collar of your coat and pick up the pace in the stairs. You finally arrive at Eli’s floor and knock on his door.

“One minute!” You hear.

You hear ruffling sounds and pressed steps then the door slides open and Eli appears, disheveled, in what appears to be pajamas and sleeps in his eyes. You smile at this sight. Behind him you see Thrawn crossing the room in uniform, the contrast couldn't be more striking. 

Eli lets you enter and immediately proposes to take your coat and offers you some caff like the good host that he is. You gladly accept, taking the time to observe the decoration of the apartment. Not all the boxes have yet been open, stacking up in the corner of the room. You notice the foliage plants on the shelves and counter, the paint of the wall is impersonal but the pictures frames offer some warmth. You stop to look at them. You can see Eli in different settings : at the beach, at the canyon, when he was a child and older, with his parents or with what you suppose to be his friends on Myomar, broad smile and sparkling eyes with his comrades. You continue to advance until you remark some images you took yourself and send to him after. One of them is a selfie of you in a classroom with Eli sleeping on the table and Thrawn concentrates on his datapad in the background, another one his a pictures of you, Eli and Karyn in the roof garden of the Academy, pressed against one another to ensure you could all be seen on the pictures, and the last one is Eli, you in the middle and Thrawn in your Gala’s formal dress. Eli smiles lightly, annoyed by the flash of the imager, you're holding their shoulders with a large smile and eyes closed, Thrawn seems to be frowning at something behind the imager. It is a terrible picture, but that’s what makes it goofy and interesting in your opinion.

Eli arrives at your side with your caff mug and you follow him into his living room, which is a mishmash of a kitchenette and a living area giving to a small balcony. His apartment is really similar to yours, you realize. You sit down on a pouf and wait to be briefed, savoring your hot caff. You take a look at the petite table in front of you, covered with flyers and papers about housing and apartments complexes.

“Sorry to have called you on such short notice, (y/n). But we could really do with another pair of hands with this.” Eli apologies profusely.

“So what are we doing today exactly?” You take a sip.

“We need to find him an apartment, so prospect, calls, arrange visits… Everything. We need to find him a place to live other than… here.”

“You live here?” You ask, rising your eyebrow

“I am in a position where I must abuse Ensign Vanto’s amiability.” Thrawn explains.

“We really need to find him another place to live!” Eli doubles down.

You shook your head looking at them bickering. 

And that is how you spent your day, rummaging through the flyers, comparing prices and surfaces, commodities, and a lot, a lot, of time on the comlink talking to real estate agents. You inherit this task because, according to Thrawn, “people will be more receptive to a woman”, whatever that’s supposed to mean because you did not book one appointment. Everything goes seemingly well until they learn about Thrawn being an alien.

“We don’t do business with aliens, I’m sorry.”

“But he’s a respectable lieutenant of the marine!”

“We are doing serious business here, do not bother us with jokes please.”

“You don’t understand, he-”

“It’s useless. Goodbye Ma’am!”

And they hang up.

Sometimes it’s you who cut off the conversation when the discussion descends into mockery on their part. Screams were exchanged at some point and you had to refrain from throwing your comlink against a wall. You sit back, fuming. A bunch of idiots!

Noon rings and your tummy growls in an unladylike manner. Those emotions really whet your appetite. You fumble around the kitchenette, wondering what you could cook.

“Breaktime!” Eli shouts, stretching his back. He stands up and comes to your side to discuss today’s menu. You decide to go for a timeless classic : pasta! Can’t do wrong with that.

While you cook, Eli’s exit the apartment to buy drinks and Thrawn stays slouched on the sofa, continuing to contact real estate companies via message. Eli comes back with beers as he promised yesterday and briquette of fruit juice for Thrawn. You don’t comment anything but there is a thing hilariously comic to Thrawn sipping those colorful briquettes with a straw like a child would. You bring the dish on the table in the middle with the cutlery.

“All the plates are dirty, so everyone picks up from the dish!” You announce.

You clink your drinks and start eating. You slurp the elongated green goodies while sipping your beer and searching for a steal online. When was the last time you passed a day like that? Slouching with friends, beers and dishes next to you without any authority figure in sight? At some point Eli puts on music and you start banging your head to the beat. You remember starting to dance with Eli when your head was close to explode with information and boredom. Waltzing like children in the living room, you laugh heartily together and almost get Thrawn to join. Almost.

Several beers after the evening was here and with it, its dark night despite the city’s lights. You’re laying down on the sofa next to Thrawn with a flier on your eyes, you completely lost track of time and a headache was rearing its head. You sigh.

“What have we got until now?”

“We have four visits tomorrow.” Thrawn announces, still contacting more companies.

“Four? Nice!” It’s a better result than what you hoped for.

You possibly had a solution to all that, but you’re not sure you want to use it. You try raising up but a dizziness seizes you.

“Ouch… What hour is it?” You pass your hand on your tired eyes.

“Nine.”

“Woaw, I need to go home but I can’t be arsed at the same time…” You have a furred tongue “Can I use your bathroom first?” You ask Eli.

“To your left.” He answers, doing the dishes.

You splash cold water to your face, scrubbing vigorously to wake you up. You look at yourself in the small mirror, tiredness visible on your traits.

“You should stay here tonight!” Eli proposes as you get out. “I have a spare mattress somewhere.”

You look at him disoriented.

“No it’s good, I can go home.” You answer.

“It’s dark and you’ve been drinking all afternoon, you should stay here.” He insists

What does he want?

“I’m not drunk.” You spit out annoyed, and lying a little “And I’m a grown girl, I can mind myself!”

He blocks you and puts his hands on your shoulder.

“I would be more at peace if I knew you were safe.” He pivots towards Thrawn. “She should stay here for the night, it is the most secure thing to do, right?”

“Perhaps.” Thrawn looks at you both, wondering why he was thrown into this.

“See, Thrawn agrees!”

“He did not.”

“(y/n)...”

He glances at you with a stare heavy of meaning.

Oh

Okay.

“I guess I can stay here tonight after all, I’m really tired.” You yawn.

Eli's shoulders relax, visibly relieved.

“I will prepare the mattress.” 

He takes out and splays a futon on the living room, you lay down and flap your legs.

“Put down your datapad, Thrawn. We are done for the day!” You order.

Against all odds he listens and puts it down silently, crossing his legs he slouches down the sofa.

“What can I offer to you guys?” Eli investigates.

“Pizzas and movies!” You chant.

He looks at Thrawn for his opinion.

“That sounds good to me, Ensign.” 

Eli leaves to buy pizzas and fizzy drinks, while you and Thrawn are tasked to select the movie for the night.

“What about this one ?” He proposes

“No, it’s too cheesy.”

“This one?”

“Too sad.”

“How about this one?”

“It’s a hassle”

He sighs 

“This one, maybe?”

“If I say no you will get angry?”

“No.”

“...I’ve already seen it.”

“Well I don’-”

“Hey! What about this one?” You cut him off, selecting the one you noticed. “It’s a thriller about a marine officer like us!” 

He considers it, reading the summary. He nods slowly.

“It looks promising.”

“I’ve got the pizzas!” Eli comes back, arms full with cardboard boxes and cans of coke. He threw them down on the table and let himself fall on the sofa. “What did you choose?”

“This one.”

“Cool, I haven't seen it yet!”

Everyone takes a slice of pizza and plays the movies. You’re completely absorbed by it, barely eating, taken by the suspence. Or that’s what you would have said if Thrawn didn’t stop talking.

“This is a bad strategy. They can get to him easily.”

“Shhh.”

“Why the politician don’t mind it’s business? They are not supposed to interfere in military matters!”

“Shhhhhhhh.”

“I see at least five ways to get away from this situation.”

“SHHHHHHHHHHH.”

“Ridiculous, those types of weapons do not do those types of damage. Typically they-”

“Shhhh! Good grief!”

You open wide eyes at the revelation of the real bad guys, Let a “Oh” escape you at the climax , and recoil at the explosion scenes. Finally it ends. You turn towards your friends and see Eli sleeping soundly on Thrawn's shoulder.

“Aaaaaaaaw…” You whisper.

“He did not last until the end...” Thrawn says, looking at him with softness in the tone.

He slides on the side and lays him down cautiously on the sofa as you put the plaid on him. 

“He must be exhausted.” You murmur.

“He works really hard on the Blood Crow.” He says softly.

“Really?”

“He is a good officer.” He nods

“Have you spoken since last time?”

His eyes dart on you but you don’t back down.

“No.” He admits.”We did not have the time to properly discuss our differences.” He takes a break. “But I am looking forward to it.” 

“It’s good.” You agree, eyes going back to the sleeping form of Eli. 

You both look at him sleeping peacefully, he looks like an angel like that, you thought.

“You should take the bed.” He whispers.

“You sure? I can take the futon, I don’t mind.” You counter.

“No, it would be impolite of me.” This is his sole argument.

“Alright, thanks. Goodnight Thrawn.”

“Goodnight, J.C.”

You enter the bedroom, take out your clothes and go to sleep. The night is calm and you sleep in a slumber without dreams.

The next day you're on your way to the visit in a shuttle, flipping through the necessary papers to present.

“Do we get the payslip?”

“Yep!”

“What will you do if they ask for a guarantor?” You ask.

“Will the Emperor be enough as a guarantor?” Thrawn answers bluntly.

You look at him dead in the eyes.

“Pray for them to have your humor…”

Good pick they never asked for a guarantor, wrong pick they had zero sense of humor. The first one slammed the door to your face when they saw Thrawn, the second one was mysteriously not disponible anymore, a family bought it they claimed and the third didn’t open, plain and simple. Despite that you thought you would have more chances with the fourth.

“All the rooms are well exposed and you're near amenities.” She tells with a professional smile.

You visit the apartment, passing from one room to the others. Nice, you think. A little away from the base but manageable. You sit on the bed, bouncing on it to test it.

“Which one of you is interested in this property?”

“It is me.” Thrawn announces.

It lasted less than a second but her eye twitched and you saw it. It surely didn’t escape to Thrawn either but he doesn’t formalize. She put back her professional mask quickly, searching on her datapad.

“So you have your identity papers, your payslips,... “ She lists, scrolling on the screen. “I think we are all good, we can discuss the price if you want.”

“Oh, we’ve seen the price on your website.” You add.

She looks at you with an enlarged smile, twitching a little.

“Well, the house reserves itself the right to change its prices.” She has a voice too joyous to your liking.

“What kind of prices are we talking about?” Thrawn asks politely.

You move closer with a bad feeling.

“Around those orders.” She turns her datapad to Thrawn and you read over his shoulder.

You choke.

“How much!?” You push him out of your way and seize the pad. “These are not the prices announced on the site!”

Eli comes into the room, alarmed by the ruckus.

“It's a regular procedure.” She’s searching for human complicity in you, but she finds only shock and anger.

“What?!” You shout. “This is stealing!”

She tries to take back the pad but you don’t let go.

“Well.” She smiles. ”He’s not human, so… We need more insurance and we have to adjust our prices.”

You will knock her off.

“You listen here, you preppy cow-”

“Alright that's enough for today!” Eli interjects, physically removing you from the apartment while you scream.

“It should be illegal! We will sue you!” You spit, dragged by them both in the street. “Thief!”

“So it concludes this for today.” Eli sighs, a bit discouraged

“Let us take a break.” Thrawn proposes, imperturbable, your total opposite.

“What!? How can you be so calm?!” You’re losing your breath shouting so much.

“It is useless ninety eight percent of the time, only a clear head can give you the result you aspire to.” He responds in a conversational tone.

“But she tried to scam you!”

“Then consider you went furious on my behalf, it is sufficient for me.” He’s completely unbothered. Your jaw drops, sometimes you just can’t follow him. “Let us find a bar and refocus.” 

He doesn’t wait for any response and starts walking, you follow them shuffling along, shooting in garbage on your way.

They found a charming pub, and took a table outside under the blazing sun, but you're in no mood to appreciate the setting. You let yourself fall into the chair with a huff, they sit down with more manners and order for the group. You let out a big audible sigh and let your head rest on the table completely discouraged. Your solution comes back in your mind but you chase it away. The jazzy tune of the bar reaches your ear, and you start humming it.

“Well that was rather unsuccessful…” Eli let out, slouching in his seat.

“A temporary setback.” Thrawn temporizes, his hand holding his chin. “This situation will solve itself in one way or another, let us keep searching.”

“You’re right! There are still a lot of real estate companies on Coruscant. We will target those working with non-humans!” Eli cheers.

You sigh again. You don’t share their optimism, actually this unfortunate day completely 

done you in. You only deign rising from the table when your drinks arrive. You drink your juice absent-mindedly. You should have taken something stronger. Thrawn and Eli are talking in the background of your mind, your solution imposed itself to you once again. Should you present it to them? You hesitate.

“Look Thrawn. There is a spot for street art up in the street.” Eli exclaims 

“Indeed. Shall we get a look?” Thrawn proposes.

You slouch on your seat.

“You can go boys, I will keep the table while you're gone.” You incite them.

They rise to see the spot and you’re now alone with your thoughts. You inhale deeply and massage the back of your neck, thinking about this. You recently inherited an apartment from your great uncle, but you have memories inside this apartment. You’re not sure you want to get rid of it… Someone puts their hand on your shoulder.

You bolt away, turning toward the stranger and meeting with a charming smile. The blonde man looks at you with sparkling eyes, fanning himself with a fan. You recognize him instantly.

“I knew I’ve seen you somewhere.” He says, sitting down in front of you. “You were on this test at the Academy 4 months ago, right?”

“Governor Satlove…” You answer. “I mean, yes! Yes, I was at the exam. But what are you doing here, if I may?”

“I’m here undercover.” 

You frown.

 “I am here to escape from my duties.” He explains, putting one finger to his lips.

Indeed you notice he’s not into his green uniforme but a more casual white shirt he opened slightly, letting the sun warm up his pale skin. 

“You can… Just do that?”

“Of course not!” He laughs “I had to escape from my different aids to come here. But I stay contactable just in case.” He shows you his comlink. “But tell me rather, what are you doing here?” He gestures towards you.

“Me? I hum… I’m with friends. They are looking at the street art a little further.” You don’t especially want to talk but you don’t want to sever some links with a governor that could be proven useful in the future.

“The little brunette and the blond one?” He investigates.

“No the dark blue… The blue guy. And the brunette. You have a really good memory, Governor.”

“Thank you, I take good care of it. And you can drop the Governor thing, we are almost the same age.”

“Then should I call you sir?”

“Call me by my name!” He extends his hands to you. “Pleased to meet you, I am Nather.”

 You shake his hand with a grin.

“Pleased to meet you, I am (y/n).”

“(y/n)! What a charming name, it suits you very well.” He almost chants. You feel your face heated up with the compliment. “What are you doing lately? What were your orders after the exam?”

“I’m a Private First Class on the Zephyr Heavy Cruiser. We have been patrolling inside the inner rim and the colonies lately.”

“I think your ship was planned to patrol around my planet recently.” He says a hand to his chin.

“Which planet, if I may?”

“The charmant Tirahnn planet.” He displays a theatrical gesture, letting his braid fly from shoulder to shoulder.

It’s a planet right on a hyperspace lane if you recall correctly. You can’t say more.

“I’ve never seen it.” You confess. And barely heard of it you complete in your head.

“I will make you visit if you wish one day, or you will come yourself for a mission.” He starts folding one of the napkins around. “What are you doing in my region if I may ask in turn?”

You think rapidly, you should be able to tell that to a governor even if you don’t know any details, it should be okay.

“If i’m not mistaken, we are suspecting pirates to rob slaves of the empire.”

“Pirates near my planet?” He takes a choked expression. “That won’t do, I will need to pass some calls!” He finishes his folding in a crane and deposes it in front of you with a side smile. 

You smile back but it fades quickly.

 “What happens (y/n)? I see in your face, you seem to have some worries.” He asks genuinely concerned.

“Oh nothing important, just… rehashing some thoughts."

"Those looked like important thoughts." He mind-absently picks some salted nuts from the ball and throws them expertly into his mouth. 

"I hesitate to help a friend, I…" 

He darts his incisive gray eyes on you. 

"You hesitate to help a friend? I do not need to tell you that it should be an easy answer." 

"Yes, I mean no. I want to help my friend. It's just that I should renounce something I hold dear to my heart for the memory it holds. And I don’t know if I’m ready for it."

He frowns, contemplating the fact in front of him and searching for an option.

“Would it fulfill its goal?”

“Sorry?”

“The thing you’re not sure to let go, would cede it to your friend to fulfill its primary purpose?”

“Yes?”

“Then you should give it away. I suppose you don’t have a practical use for this thing or you would have advanced this argument, so you should as well cede it to your friend and permit it to fulfill its primary goal. Helping a friend is always the way to go.”

“But… I’ve got memories…”

“You will always have them! Those memories are in you, not in this thing. Don’t grow too attached to material objects, they are not built to last but our memories are in our heart and forever. “ 

You wrap your head around the argument, weighing the pros and cons.

“Maybe you're right…” You end up saying.

“Maybe I am indeed, what would you actually lose? You would hand those precious memories to a friend, there are more unfair deals in life don’t you think.”

You slowly nod coming to terms with your decision. He’s right. You hold your glass with two hands, taking a big sip at the straw.

“I think I’m gonna follow your advice and help my friend. I think I just needed a third party opinion to push me.”

“Wonderful!” He takes Thrawn’s glass and clink it with yours. “I’m glad I could help.” And takes a great sip of it. You choke on yours.

“Huh, sir…?”

“You know what, we’ll surely hear again about those pirates. We should stay in contact.” He hands you his comlink and gestures to you to give him yours. You exchange them and enter your respective number.

“Sir, this is my drink you're drinking!” Thrawn appears behind him with Eli on his heels.

Surprised, his sight goes between Thrawn and the glass. He laughs heartily.

“I am sorry dear friend! I will return it to you.” He hands him back his glass, raising from the chair. He gives you back your comlink with a charming smile. “Here you go. To our next meeting!”

You all three look at him walking away, making some calls.

“What was that?” Asks Eli, a bit lost.

“I am… not sure.” You respond.

They both sit back and Thrawn considers his well diminished drink with a raised brow.

It dawns on you that he doesn't need a Private First Class to discuss the subject of pirates and that you just gave him what he wanted. Damn, the guy is good! You think. You berate yourself a little.

“So, back on the apartment subject…” Eli starts.

“I… May have a solution to propose to you, guys.”

____________________________________________________________

The sound of an incoming message brings you back to the present time. You lower your gaze to your comm.

“I am delighted to hear from you again. How about tomorrow, 14h?”

You smile, and answer back, the heart light. 

You soon arrive at your stop, you get out, and start walking on the trails of your childhood. You traverse a park full of kiddos and their parents and grin at their laugh and their shoutings. You arrive in front of the apartment complex, entering, you cross paths with the old building caretaker.

“Oh, if it isn’t the young (y/n)! How are you doing?” She asks with her shivering voice.

“Hi, Ms Lynduty! I’m good and you?”

“Oh you know, my old bones make me suffer, but that’s the weight of the years. The young man you brought with you…”

An alarm sets off in your head, and on the other hand you're amused to hear Thrawn being qualified as a “young man”, maybe everyone looks young at this age…

“Is there a problem? He has done something?”

“No, he’s a really calm resident, It changes me from your uncle who kept bringing new women everyday! But he looks like he has some problem with all his mail.”

“I’m glad to hear that, Ms Lynduty, I’m actually here to help him. Have a nice day!” And you start working your way up the stairs.

You reach the floor soon enough and Thrawn opens his door the second you set foot on the landing.

“Thank you J.C., I am in need of assistance.”

He welcomes you and takes your coat, you enter the apartment, immediately graced by the cardboard boxes everywhere. You’re not surprised, the furniture inside the apartment was not… what you would find inside the flat of a respectable lieutenant of the marine, or any respectable person per say. A complete change of furniture was in order. You note with amusement he already has displayed holograms of art everywhere in the flat despite not having furniture.

You traverse the room as well as you can, slaloming between the boxes, the tins of paint and the tarps and sitting down on one of them.

“So, what’s the problem?”

He gestures to the pile of mail on the table. A big pile. Oh gods.

“I do not possess the vocabulary to treat those yet.” He simply notes.

You nod with a pout, well that’s gonna be fun.

“Eli couldn't help you?”

“Ensign Vanto is with his family for this leave.” He explains.

So while Thrawn is busy assembling furniture for his flat, you’re answering and filing up those mails while giving him a vocabulary lesson. Insurance, bills, tax… Everything the bureaucracy could produce, you saw it! You arrange them on the floor,stepping over it with a highlighter in hand and a pen in your mouth to complete them. It took you several hours and as much beer, generously provided by Thrawn, nonetheless to rummage through all this. You were well fed up at the end of it, with your head ready to explode.

But you couldn’t rest once you’re done, you still have to help Thrawn with his furniture and remove this unsavory fur off the walls. You had to screw, to glue, to turn, to plug, you didn’t have the time to be bored. The hours flew bye and you were far from finished. Damn those instruction manuals, they’re never in the right language. And there is always a set of screws that wasn’t used at the end and that’s not normal, so you have to reread all the instructions and bicker on what step you screw up based on the illustrations. 

“I told you the board B5 goes there.”

“But that is not possible, the C7 plank can not fit in this configuration.”

You only put up four pieces of furniture together and the rest of the boxes are staring down at you. You left out a sigh of fatigue. You’ll never see the end of it…

You massage your temples, this time you really have a headache. You put down your beer and walk in a not very straight way to sit on a cardboard box to observe your work. Thrawn finishes building up the shelf and takes some steps back to get a good look. Something hits you as you embrace the room with your sight.

“Shouldn’t we have started with the paint ?”

“It would be for another day.” He states with a soft voice.

You lazily nod. You already have all the other furniture to put up, another thing added to the list. Great. Thrawn turns his head to the window. It’s night. 

“We shall stop for today.”

“Good, cause I'm not good at anything for now.” You rise up and stumble your way to open the window and get some fresh air, you fan yourself with your hand. You drinked a bit too much, you realize. 

Thrawn removes his jacket to reveal his black tank top and you take advantage of the opportunity to take a good look at his biceps without too much discretion, he heads towards the kitchen.

“We should at least eat one meal. Are you hungry?”

That’s right, you didn’t even eat at noon you recall, at the moment this thought crosses your mind your stomach grumbles.

“It looks like so!”

“What could please you?”

You straighten up with a broad smile.

“Pizza?”

He shots you a glare.

“I had a more healthy meal in mind.”

You pout, it was worth the shot.

You finish your beer admiring him cooking, watching his hands fly expertly from one pan to the other, mincing and mixing the ingredients. You hold back a burp, hiding your mouth with your hand, you may be a bit drunk but you didn’t renounce your dignity yet. And you didn’t want to appear unladylike in front of him… Mostly that. You start thinking if you should care about that since you decided to renounce him, but it just worsens your headache.

“It is ready!” He announces, wiping his hands. “But I’m not yet familiar with your products, so I can’t promise you the taste.”

“I’m sure it will be delicious!” You cheer.

You reel back to your former place and sit down. He watches you from head to toes but doesn’t say a thing. You seize your fork and take a big bite of the dish. You wrinkle your nose. Indeed cooking is not part of his skills, the savors are unbalanced and the spice is overshadowing everything. You gulp it down, trying to keep your face as neutral as possible and shoot him a smile. You decide that you’re too drunk to care and take others bites one after the other, letting them burn the inside of your mouth with pleasure.

“I think it would be wiser if you sleep here tonight.” He says, stirring his food.

You blink mid-bite, stopped in your movement.

“No offense but you are not walking straight. I can offer you a bed for the night if you wish.”

You consider the offer, taking a sip of water. You clearly didn’t learn your lesson from the last time and you actually feel pretty wasted right now, you hardly see yourself going home in one piece tonight. You slouch back and pretend to think about it for a second. You raise your hand.

“I will gladly accept in this case!” You slide your tongue on your teeth.”I will help you place the mattress!”

“I do not have one.”

Your eyes slide to the sofa’s box still not put up and goes back to him with questions.

“Then where…?”

“I thought we could share the bed for the night.” He spills, concentrates on his plate. 

Your bite takes the wrong way in your throat and you try to cough it out. Hold on, you didn’t sign up for that!

“Wait, you’re sure?” You ask, instantly sobered up.

 He shruggs.

“I do not see how this could be a problem.” 

“I don’t have any pajamas.” You try. 

“I will lend you something, do not worry.” He appears unfazed, completely blind to your trouble.

Oh you worry, yes, but not about that.

“Cool…” You let escape in one breath “Thanks…”

________________________________________________

How did you end up in this situation?

You promise yourself to forget him and you end up in his bed. Fate has a twisted sense of humor. 

You release your breath. Calm down. Your headache doesn’t help anything.

You open your eyes in the dark room and listen to the quiet and steady breath next to you, at least one of you two is getting some sleep. But not you. You’re too tense to sleep. You hunch, trying not to touch the man sleeping next to you, pulling the covers to your chin. 

At least he had changed bed and got rid of this horrid shell bed for a standard double bed  and all the weird appliances are not here anymore. Now the bedroom looks like it came from a show home. Without personality, only practical. Cold…

But the bed is far from cold, without grazing him you can feel the warmth of Trawn’s body from where you are and you feel like you could sweat, but this may be because of your burning body. You were afraid he would sleep topless when you got to the bed, but thanks for your sanity he put on a shirt, or you would really have lost your mind. It doesn’t take much to ignite your desire lately and being in the same bed as him, so close and so far away, alarm all of your senses to the brink of overstimulation. You breathe deeply, getting back control. His scent fills the room, making you feel dizzy. You bury yourself under the cover but you smell him on it and on the pajama he lended you, you float in this shirt too large for you, you feel goosebumps point at every breath. Anywhere you go he envelopes you.

You turn your head, observing the profile that detaches itself from the wall lighted up by the moon through the blinds. You follow the line of his forehead with your eyes, the shadow of a disheveled hair strand, the curve of his eyelids that let red light pierce through, the arc of his turned-up nose, the plumpness of his lips… You gulp, your throat suddenly dry like the desert.

You keep your gaze fixated on him, telling yourself that heaven was closer than you know, that you would just have to expend your arm to reach it… You hold your breath, brushing his cheek with the back of your fingers, feeling the softness and the warmth of his skin, tender. You touch his lash with the tip of your finger, smiling at him squinting at the touch. Then your hand sneaks its way along his neck, brushing softly his apple then traveling south to his chest. You feel the fabric on the palm of your hand, you search for a second, opening your hand wide when you find his heart, feeling the steady and calm heartbeat, you savor the delicious vibrations through your skin, wanting to put your head on his chest to hear it yourself. It soothes you and you close back your eyes, ready to let the slumber take you.

Suddenly his heartbeat accelerates and his breath gets caught up in his throat. You rise on your elbow, wary of what's happening. He opens his eyes in a flash and you pull back your hand instantly. His eyes blinks, fixated on the ceiling and you hear him out of breath. He inhales and exhales several times, you look at him with googly eyes wondering what might have happened. He frowns.

“You are not sleeping.” This was not a question.

He turns his head towards you and your gazes meet. You smile lightly.

“Indeed. Nothing escapes you.”

He sighs, passing a hand over his face and ruffling his hair.

“Is everything good?” He politely asks.

You raise an eyebrow.

“It’s I who should ask that? What just happened?”

“Nothing.” He breathes

Sometimes he really takes you for an idiot, you think.

“So, “nothing” can put you in this state?” You inquire.

He sighs once again, fatigued. You feel like he’s gathering his thoughts, a hand in his hair.

“I was dreaming about… My sister. The day they took her…”

You nod pensively, it was indeed not the most peaceful memory he must have. You put your head back on the pillow, sight still on him.

“How does this make you feel?” You whisper like a secret.

“Powerless, like a child. I promised myself I would fight to never feel this again.”

There are a lot of promises getting thrown everywhere those days you thought. You put yourself closer, as if your presence would comfort him. His eyes on the ceiling you see the muscles of his throat tightens slightly.

“And… alone. I was the sole person in the cold universe.”

Did his voice crack at the end? You can’t say for sure. Your hand travels under the cover to find his, you seize it, the warmth spreading through your palm. You know how it feels and you sympathize with his pain. You would have liked to have someone when it happened to you.

“We are here.” You murmur. “I am here.” You affirm with a reassuring voice.

He squeezes your hand.

“I know.” He closes his eyes. “And I am grateful for it.”

Your heart flutters at those words and a smile grazes your lips. You don’t have the relationship you are hoping for, but you could satisfy yourself in being the friend of this out of the ordinary being. For now. 

Maybe.

“Me too...”

You’re met with silence. You listen and hear a steady breathing. He’s asleep. You hold his hand, putting your head against his shoulder and let a single tear rolling down your cheek.

You squeeze his hand, intertwining your fingers.

You will never be satisfied by it. Never. You will need to cut ties with him and keep your distance or your heart will bleed everyday.

You kiss him on the cheek, taking your resolution, tearing your heart apart. 

@bluechiss, @al-astakbar

[aparticularbandit]

(Am I) More Than You Bargained For (Yet) (IV)

Chapter Summary: “A club?” Mukuro echoes, her eyes widening the slightest bit, just around their corners but no wider.  No one else would notice that kind of shock.

Junko does.

The same way she notices that Mukuro’s eyes are now completely grey and devoid of life, the once stormy blue cloudy and absent.  They aren’t even stormy anymore; storms at least have shades in the grey of their clouds, at least move here and there with the wind, at least have layers and depth.  But Mukuro’s eyes are flat.  One singular color.  Dead.

(What happened to you? rests on the tip of her tongue, but she doesn’t ask.  That would be like saying she cared.  She’s too mad to care right now.)

Brought to you by a discussion @tobiasdrake and I had about what it would look like if Junko and Haruhi ever met.

Chapter Rating: T. Fic Rating: M for Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault.

AO3

previous chapter | next chapter

“Bath.  Now.”

Junko shoves her sister in the direction of Yasuke’s bathroom before she even gets her shoes off.  She doesn’t wait for any objections, instead prattling on as if Mukie is listening to her (she would have, once), “Leave your clothes in the bathroom when you’re done.  I’m going to torch them.”  She waves a hand dismissively.  “I’ll have something for you that’s not that mess.  Don’t whine about it, they’re totally not fixable.  Trust me, I know.”  Then she glares at Mukuro’s muddy boots.  “And clean your shoes every once and a while!  You weren’t born in a barn!”

Mukuro doesn’t say anything.

Mukuro doesn’t say anything.

In fact, the only thing Junko hears in response is the soft click of the bathroom door and the spray of the shower turning on.  She stands outside of the door and yells out, “Make sure to get behind your ears!”  Then she heads into the living room, drops onto the couch, pulls over her current project (in what feels like an infinite backlog), and starts stitching.

After a few minutes, Junko stops and stares at the project.  No.  Not that.  Then she shoves it to the side with a scowl.  She needs to stitch something else, hates that she knows that, and immediately switches to a new project.  As she does, she notices something – all of those energy drinks seem to be hitting at the same time; the haze of exhaustion that has been following her around seems to have disappeared entirely.  Then again, that might not be the energy drinks.  That might just be her sister showing up again.

She hates her.

She hates her.

It doesn’t help that Junko still thinks of the bathroom and bedroom as Yasuke’s, of the apartment as theirs, even though he’s been gone for months, living in the dorms at Hope’s Peak.  Sure, he’d returned over the last break, but it wasn’t for very long and came with the acknowledgment that Hope’s Peak didn’t even want him to be doing that.  He’s been gone for a while.  It’s still his, but really, it isn’t anymore.  It’s just hers.

Maybe it has always been hers.

The stipend from Yasuke’s internship at the nearby hospital only gave him enough for a small apartment, and when Ryoko moved in, he gave her the singular bedroom, choosing instead to sleep on the couch.  That didn’t matter; for the first few months, she’d had too many nightmares to sleep alone and found him in those early morning hours before dawn just to burrow her head in his chest, to hear his heartbeat firm and steady beneath her as he wove his fingers through her hair.  It was the only way she could sleep.

But Yasuke always needed to leave early for his internship, always woke her by his shifting when he did.  That must have been when her body learned it didn’t need sleep; that must have been when she gave up on the general idea of rest.  She can’t remember enough specifics of her life before to say that’s true, though.  She doesn’t like to think about her life before.

And here Mukuro is, fucking that up.

Junko hears the shower turn off, and so before Mukuro even enters the room again, words spit from her lips, “Why the hell are you here, Mukie?”  She doesn’t stand, doesn’t storm toward her, just stays sitting on the couch, legs tucked up under her, furiously stitching.  “I spent the last three years trying to build a life away from you, and you fucking—”  She pricks herself with her needle; her blood spills onto the white fabric.  Of course, it does.  She grits her teeth and keeps sewing.  “You told me to run away, and I ran, and you fucking followed me.”

(It’s not like she hasn’t been trying to make Mukuro show up.  She has.  But now that she’s here, Junko finds that she doesn’t want her.  Not because of a stupid, fake movie.  Not when she’s been at more risk at her job.)

Mukuro walks into the room wrapped in Yasuke’s towel, and the hot steam billowing out from the bathroom smells like blue raspberries, but the putrid stench of whatever is wrong with her follows, too.  Her skin still holds that ghastly, deathly grey shade, like it could slough off at any moment, and her stringy hair hangs even more limp than it already was.  She has bags beneath her eyes darker even than Junko’s, when her lack of sleep catches up to her.  “I’m sorry—”

Their father’s brand gleams stark against her dying skin.

“Don’t apologize.”  Junko throws the now completed fabric at her.  “Here.  You need new clothes.”  Then she storms off to Yasuke’s her room and slams the door behind her.

She waits for Mukuro to knock.

Mukuro never knocks.

~

Junko wakes early – if one can call it wakes when she didn’t sleep, when she spent those hours sitting in bed with her knees pulled up against her chest the same way she did before her becoming, despite how exhausted she still feels, occasionally picking at threads in the comforter until the sun rises and she can pretend that she got a lick of something she hasn’t – and creeps out of the bedroom with the understanding that her sister, coming all the way from wherever it is she was, would be exhausted and therefore conked out on the couch.  But as she walks to the bathroom to begin her morning routine, she hears Mukuro say, soft enough that she can barely make it out, “Fenrir’s gone.”

Good, Junko wants to tell her.  I’m glad.

But that would mean admitting that she’d heard Mukuro in the first place.  Worse, it would mean opening herself up to an actual conversation with her, and right now she wants that just as much as she wants the word Fenrir entering her life again.

So instead, Junko ignores her.

Junko carries about her morning routine as though there’s nothing different at all – bathe, curl and dry her hair, expertly apply make-up, pick out the perfect outfit – only to smell something cooking in the kitchen.  (She didn’t have any food.)  Her nose curls.  A few minutes later, she picks up her bag, slings it over her shoulder, and stops in the kitchen just long enough to say, “If your shit job is gone, then you can come to school with me.  It’s boring, but it’s less boring than being stuck around here all day.”

Mukuro stares at her over a spread of uneaten food.  (Where did the food come from?)  “You’re not going to eat?”

“Do I look like I’ll eat that shit?”  Junko gestures to herself.  “That stuff’ll just make me fat.”  She sneers.  “Like you.”

Mukuro isn’t fat.  If anything, Mukuro is even thinner than Junko herself is.  Her skin doesn’t even look like it fits, like the baggy skin of the baby elephant in that one book they’d read as a kid.  (She’d shared it with Mukuro; he hadn’t thought it worthwhile to let her have anything cute, anything fun.)

Still – it feels good to say it.

On the way out the door, Junko throws Mukuro her bag.  “Here.  Make yourself useful.”  She expects Mukuro to bite back, the way she always did when they were little.

But she’s too far gone for that.

“Yes, Ryo—”

“Not that name.”  Junko locks the door and glares at her.  “I’m Junko now.  Not that sniveling weakling.  Got it?”

Mukuro stares at her, blunt, no light in her eyes.  “I thought that was just a name for the magazines.”

“No.”  Junko presses her lips together.  “You told me to hide, Mukie.  I got really good at hiding.”  It’s the softest thing she knows to say anymore.  Then she turns and stalks off, waving a hand dismissively in the air.  “I’m surprised you even bought one of those trash interviews.  It’s just a bunch of lies, you know.”

“I know.”

“Then why would you waste your money?”  Junko rolls her eyes.  (She can hear Mukuro plodding along behind her.)  “You’re so stupid.”

She knows the answer.

It doesn’t make her feel any better.

~

Mukuro can’t start school immediately.

It doesn’t matter that her sister is here, Mukuro still has to pass the entrance exam to prove herself before being allowed to officially join the school.  So while Junko is in class, Mukuro is there, too, just somewhere else in an entirely separate part of the building, taking a test on stuff she probably doesn’t even know.  Junko can’t imagine a mercenary organization teaching their members algebra or grammar or anything like that.  You don’t need to know world history to know how to shoot someone or the best place to stick a knife between their ribs for the quickest, quietest death – and while those are impressive skills on their own (probably), they’re not the sort of thing schools like this one test for.

Still.

(She’ll be a shoe-in for Hope’s Peak, too.  By then, she’ll have a use for her.  But until then—)

Haruhi shoves Junko about halfway through the first class. “You’re not saying anything,” she complains.  “You always talk about everything, and now you’re not talking about anything.”

“That’s a real nice way of asking what’s wrong,”  Junko shoves a hand through her long pink hair – she hasn’t even put it up in her standard twintails today.  She doesn’t always.  It’s not like she’s some video game or light novel character who only ever has one hairstyle.  She just didn’t want to waste the time making them perfectly even today.  That’s all.

“I’m not asking what’s wrong.  That’s boring.”  Haruhi crosses her arms and leans back in her seat.  “Your sister looks weird.  Like maybe she died or something.  Isn’t she supposed to be in that boys’ club or whatever?”

Junko lifts one shoulder and lets it fall.  “Yeah.  Sure.  Whatever.”  Her teeth grit together.  “Can we not talk about this?  She sucks, and she’s here now, and we’re just gonna have to fucking live with it.”

I’m just going to have to live with—

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, is she going to help us with the movie?”  Haruhi presses a finger between Junko’s shoulder blades – presses, like her fingertip is a cigarette that needs to be put out, fingernail digging through the thin cloth of her shirt.

(Junko hasn’t been making her uniforms entirely wholesale.  That’s a waste of time.  She’ll modify the one she has until it’s barely recognizable, sure, but that doesn’t change what it initially was.  It’s a cheap piece of fabric.  That will never change.  Even the Hope’s Peak uniform Yasuke has is cheap.  Slightly better than the one she’s wearing now, but not by much.)

At Haruhi’s words, Junko rests her head on her desk and closes her eyes.  It’s cool.  Hard.  (Comforting, if that.)  “Probably.  She doesn’t have anything better to do.”

“Well, duh.”  Haruhi’s eyes probably narrow in frustration.  “There’s nothing better than that.  And she’ll join the Brigade, too, right?”

Junko wants to say no.  To tell Haruhi off.  She doesn’t want Mukuro infiltrating the club.  She doesn’t want to feel like this life she’s created for herself has to include Mukuro any more than it already did.  She would rather shove Mukuro to her own wasted space – on some sort of athletics team, maybe track or something – than have her around with them, with her friends.

(She has never referred to the Brigade as her friends before and actually meant it.  It’s such a weird word.)

But.

But.

Yuki still isn’t technically part of the Brigade.  She’s still part of the Literature Club.  Which technically means they’ve only ever had four members: Haruhi, Koizumi, Mikuru, and herself.  They’ve never been able to officially be a club, even though Haruhi insists they are – a Brigade by title, since they can’t be a club yet, and that likely won’t change even if they gain enough members to apply.

But that’s the point.

Mukuro could be their fifth member.

Until they find another – better – one, at least.

“I’ll ask her,” Junko grumbles out as she checks out of the conversation.  “Later.”

~

“A club?” Mukuro echoes, her eyes widening the slightest bit, just around their corners but no wider.  No one else would notice that kind of shock.

Junko does.

The same way she notices that Mukuro’s eyes are now completely grey and devoid of life, the once stormy blue cloudy and absent.  They aren’t even stormy anymore; storms at least have shades in the grey of their clouds, at least move here and there with the wind, at least have layers and depth.  But Mukuro’s eyes are flat.  One singular color.  Dead.

(What happened to you? rests on the tip of her tongue, but she doesn’t ask.  That would be like saying she cared.  She’s too mad to care right now.)

((Being mad is just another form of caring.))

“It’s not a club yet, but it will be if you join.”  Junko purses her lips together, makes a tsking sound of sorts, and crosses her arms, refusing to meet her sister’s eyes.  It’s the closest she can get to letting Mukuro know she doesn’t want her there without saying it, and as it is, she’s not sure it gets across.  In fact, it probably looks more like she’s annoyed with the idea of the club not being official in the first place instead of annoyed with her.

Before Mukuro can say anything, Junko shifts her bag higher on her shoulder and strides toward the clubroom.  “We’re making a movie.  Come with us.  See what you think.”  (As though she hasn’t already told Haruhi more than once that Mukuro would be an additional cast member for her to play around with.)

“The movie where that girl attacked you?”

“She didn’t attack me.”  Junko rubs her forehead.  Mukuro was never this dumb before; maybe Fenrir ate her brains.  Wouldn’t surprise her.  “Look, just—”  She groans, unable to even finish the sentence.  “You can hold the camera.  Or something.  I don’t care.  Haruhi will give you something to do.”

Mukuro’s brows furrow.  “I already have a—”

Junko doesn’t listen to the rest of what she says, instead striding off, walking a little faster, heels click-clacking as she does.  Whatever task Mukuro thinks she has doesn’t matter.  She’s already failed.

Obviously.

[superemeralds]

🌷How will they deal with saying goodbye?

👯‍♀️How often do they see the others? Their other friends, too?

🖤Free space! Ask what you like, or request a random headcanon

<- hit us with your weirdest shot?

🌷shadow and omega b oth have very complicated relationships w the concept of good bye. they don't really age or die? omega specifically has the advantage of having very limited emotion and a highly logic mind, so he would not waste energy mourning and accept when things end. Shadow is def still trying to figure it all out. as of rn in universe ofc he doesn't have to think abt it much yet, he's doing his best to prevent his friends from harm right now, and he'd rather just face the problems as they happen. especially in shth he learned that theres no use thinking about the what ifs, because there's a right now that needs to be dealt with. the more he thinks about what differenciates him from others the less he can concentrate on what matters: the things he's got in common. like the ground beneath their feet, the star they orbit around, the wind that blows in their faces... He knows about the inevitability of death enough through maria, and he will try his best to not make the same mistake twice. he's determined to move on. ofc its easier said than done, especially in the conceptual event that rouge would fall in combat or even worse.. because of a mistake that he made.. but there are so many possibilities that i could analyze we'd be here for ever.........

rouge herself i think hasdealt with loss before, and she might have had some history with people that she has cut out of her lives. it might seem cold but i think she as a person has mastered the art of severing. whether its healthy is not the question rn... she def has a very soft spot for shadow and omega, tho as stated above these two are really hard to kill so there's not much to worry about in that regard, if anything it's a worry that might not plague her right now, but eventually she's going to think about what it means to be the one that's being severed by forces beyond anyone's control

anyways i dont wanna get existential this morning so this is where i stop

👯‍♀️I headcanon rouge has some friends she regularly meets in her bar (i'll let it be open if it actually belongs to her or if she's just a regular) and she would def visit knuckles every now and then. not saying she'd like. actually talk to him tho. might just lurk in a bush and stare at the master emerald

omega is a tough one to think about tbh. i admittedly don't have too many thoughts on him outside of being part of the team... this is telling me i need to dig more into his individual character tbh. what would he do for fun? when not with the otehr two?? Maybe he actually is like a gamer playing shooters and made friends in voice chat. no one believes him when he introduced himself as killermachine, they think its just a nickname

shadow likes solitude, but i really like that one bit in the recent twitter take over where he and knuckles stood in the forest for hours watching the plants and animals and hwo the light changes throughout the day while going through the leaves etc etc... theyre both very connected to nature in their own ways and i think they could bond over that. also about how they both prefer solitude. they can be alone together! they dont need any words, they can just exist next to eachother for a few hours and feel good about it. he also most surely hangs out with sonic every now and then. hangingout being racing and having a good fight together. though im sure sonic can eventually convince him to spend proper time together. for example making a race into a trekking tour where they go random places sonic knows or doesnt know yet, and they learn about the culture and obviously the food. shadow does seem like someone who'd like to learn about the planet, and sonic's the type of guy who's super eager to have someone to show around and explore with that can keep up!

🖤oh man idk weirdness is super subjective. uh. i wrote a fanfic once about how team dark and team sonic have a bowling competition

[whatyadrawin]

Crystal Lake Shadows 18+ Only!  Ch 6

Masterlist

Approximately 1,860 words

Pairing: Jason Voorhees x AMAB character

Warnings: Violence, strong language, strong sexual themes

A/n: I'm sorry to everyone who has been waiting on this fic to complete. It isn't done yet but I WILL be finishing it. I appreciate your patience and interest :)

Chapter 6

                The morning came with the same bright and warm energy as the last, the singing of small birds and the gentle rustling of leaves from a lazy wind can be heard outside. Sergio woke up feeling energized and in a good mood, the fact that he won’t be alone out at the cabin today made him feel comforted… even if it’s Rob.

Sergio grabbed a panini that Marina made him and went to go put it in his tool box, when he opened it up, he realized he forgot to tell Marina about the teddy bear he took from the lodge. He picked it up and gave it another once over, every inch of it was matted and dusty but the face was still very cute and the stuffing was still safely enclosed and soft. The bear gave him a welcome feeling of safety and comfort as it likely did for whomever owned it to begin with. He noticed some stitching on the bottom of both feet, he lifted it up closer to his face and read ‘I love you’ on one foot, he looked at the other and gasped as it read ‘Jason’.

The bear fell to the floor as Sergio froze in place realizing who its owner was. His mother must have given this to him. A strange feeling washed over him as he stared at the bear on the ground laying there like it needed to be held, he felt as if he had to bring it with him. When the bear was in his hands again, he felt that same comforting safe feeling and decided to keep it in his toolbox for the next time he felt panicked at the lodge I feel like such a loser using a plush as a grown man but… it really does help even if it was …his.

The drive down to the property felt a bit strange today, there were deep clouds forming in the sky very quickly, this darkened the forest quite a bit, this made Sergio feel uneasy but he figured he could just leave if things got too scary, after all, no one said he isn’t allowed to leave when he wants. Once he reached the head of the dirt road, he noticed another vehicle stopped just before it, as he passed the car, he noticed Rob watching him, he turned his car on to follow Sergio down.

Sergio finally reached the lodge and parked closer to the door this time, as close as he could get. Rob pulled up beside him and got out

“I’m not here for you, ok?”

Sergio sighed and rolled his eyes “I know, just make sure you don’t get in the way of my work, ok?”

Rob sneered and looked around, Sergio noticed he seemed a little off-put by the dark overcast of the clouds and said “You can come inside if you want, in case it rains”

The glance Rob gave to Sergio was a mixture of gratitude and resentment, he called back “I’m not a pussy buddy, I don’t need shelter from a little water”

Sergio groaned “For the love of god Rob, just say thank you there’s no need to be a smartass”

Rob stood there and looked taken aback, it seemed no one felt the need to call him out so this response was shocking for him. Sergio got his tool box and went inside to start planning which room needed the most design changes. Mrs. P was an elusive client, Sergio never could get a hold of her and the instructions were very vague on what she needed done. He pulled up his email on his phone and noticed Mrs. P sent him a new message today, it read as follows:

‘Sergio, I want to keep the bones of the lodge the same. Don’t change the layout, don’t change the size. I want fresh new paint with the same colors, and upgrades to the utilities and repairs. The lodge needs to remain as close in theme as possible. The rightful owner needs their home back just as they would remember it.’

He looked very confused, the rightful owner? Is that not Mrs. P? the desire to upgrade and yet keep things the same seemed a bit strange but not unusual for a lot of his clients who in this day and age, badly wanted to keep the warm embrace of nostalgia in their homes. Sergio decided to make revisions to his original designs and needed to get his measuring tape.

He passed through the kitchen and stopped dead in his tracks, the knife he brought yesterday was stabbed into the wood of the counter sharp point down. He looked at it confused and nervous, he didn’t remember ever taking it out of his bag. Sergio went to grab the knife; it was really hard to pull out of the counter top as if it was thrust in by a very powerful person. The knife finally loosened and fell to the floor with a metal clang sound, he picked it up and inspected it. The blade had a rough texture on the edge as if it was sharpened with a rock, Sergio didn’t sharpen his blades so this didn’t seem familiar to him. He gave a gentle touch on the blade and his finger bled; the edge definitely had just been sharpened by someone masterful with a whet stone. 

Sergio walked back into the main room where he kept his tool box, feeling extremely confused and worried did someone come in here and take my knife just to… sharpen it? He decided to believe it was just his own imagination running wild from stress and lack of sleep, I must have sharpened it before I came and left it on the counter and forgot to pick it back up. He placed the knife back into the tool box where it once was, the teddy, still in his toolbox beckoned him to be carried around the lodge.

The day dragged on until around 4pm, Sergio didn’t see a whole lot of Rob as he made revisions to the property designs and it made him worry. He checked outside and called out for Rob to see if he could hear a response, but no one called back. Sergio wanted to leave before sunset and Rob being out and not responding was really strange. He placed all his belongings in the truck and did a once over on the lodge to see if Rob maybe fell asleep somewhere, but the building was empty. Sergio locked the door behind him and decided he needed to look around in case Rob was in trouble or lost, his phone GPS didn’t work at the lake for some reason so he just used a compass that he had on his keychain.

As he searched the woods there was no sign that anyone went through the trees, the nature was practically untouched by anyone. Sergio was still holding onto the bear as he explored and called out for Rob, the bear was like a powerful charm that prevented stress or fear to affect him. An hour of exploring was just enough time to leave room for the sun to start setting, Sergio decided to give up and head back to the truck which wasn’t so far away. He took a few steps back through some thick brush and heard a very quiet whimper and fast breathing, he stopped to look around but didn’t see anything. Sergio stood there listening to this bizarre sound trying to decipher where it was coming from, it sounded human.

He saw an old rope dangling next to a large tree, he followed the rope with his eyes all the way up this tree until he saw something large in the leaves waving around, it was Rob! Sergio was stricken with shock, he dropped the bear and immediately got to work finding a way to release the rope from the knot at the base, Rob’s weight was causing it to remain as tight as possible. Sergio called up to Rob

“Rob! I am going to get you down, ok? Don’t struggle, try to breathe slowly”

Rob flailed more violently and put his index finger to his lips to indicate that Sergio should be silent, this was strange and Sergio was confused by it until Rob whispered hoarsely

“Sergio, shut the fuck up, I seen him, he might still be around, be as quiet as possible”

This scared Sergio and prompted him to work even faster to get Rob down from the trees, whoever had set the trap was an expert with ropes and knots. After a few minutes of pulling and untying, Sergio was able to lower Rob to the ground gently. Rob took a second to untie his feet from the rope and held his head, blood had been pooling in his head and chest for a while and he felt nauseous and in pain. Sergio helped him up and whispered

“Rob, we need to head to the vehicles, can you walk?”

Rob nodded in approval, Sergio picked up the teddy bear he dropped and they quickly made their way back to the lodge where their vehicles were parked. The entire trip back to the lodge was extremely stressful, Sergio swore he could hear something in the trees rustling behind them but he kept looking straight ahead. Once they got to the lodge, Rob immediately took his keys out of his zipped jacket pocket and spent no time getting into the car and driving off. Not a single word was said to Sergio, not even a thank you, Sergio watched as he drove off like a madman, spinning the tires and kicking up dirt. Sergio got into his truck and turned on the engine, he drove away from the lodge at a normal pace and refused to look in his mirror this time in case he would see a repeat of the shadow.

Now, back at the apartment, Sergio got out of his truck and decided to leave the tool box in the truck for the next day. He was clutching onto the teddy as he made his way up to his apartment, it was sapping all of the stress, fear, and anxiety right out of him and replacing it with comfort. Sergio spent the rest of the evening in his home, he ate the mashed potatoes and gravy from the night before and decided to wash the teddy bear to restore it to a decent state. He waited patiently as the washer and dryer did their thing, once the dryer finished its cycle, he took the bear out and brushed the exterior with a bristle brush to enhance the fabrics softness. He finished brushing and took a look at the bear, the color was still faded and the body still a bit misshapen but it had a charming smile on its face and a big soft tummy and round ears to rub.

Sergio went to sleep with the bear nestled in his arms close to his chest; tonight, he got the best sleep of his life.

[codenamehazard]

InFAMOUS Headcanon: Storm clouds and rainy days

Hello! It's cold where I'm at so I decided why not jot down some more headcanons about my favorite character, Cole MacGrath, and see what everyone else thinks! Hope you guys like it!

If Empire City is similar in climate to it's real world counterpart, then I'd imagine that overcast skies, dreary weather and the odd storm are fairly common sights in inFAMOUS' version of the city that never sleeps.

That being said, I bet Cole had a bit of a love-hate relationship with rain and storms, even before his powers were awakened. Being a bike courier means he probably had to deliver packages to people in some really foul weather before. The only thing that would stop the company he worked for from sending him out to make his rounds is if Mother Nature was really baring her teeth, severe weather like massive storms, hurricanes, blizzards, coldsnaps, things that could get a person killed and all.

In this regard, Cole's isn't a fan of being out in particularly poor weather, even with wearing the proper clothing for the conditions, it's still miserable to be cold and wet, especially if the wind was cutting though the layers he put on. There have been a few times the poor man was stood outside in the rain, waiting for the recipient of a package to come and take it so he can be on his way to the next delivery.

Rainy days also didn't make for good days to be out and doing some urban exploration. Wet bars and poles made him one slip away from a broken neck or back and even as skilled as he is, there will be days he will misjudge a landing and if the ground is wet, that misjudged landing will give him a one-way ticket to slipping and landing on his ass. Makes for light hearted stories later, but they aren't funny in the moment.

On the other hand, if he knows he has a day off during a rainy day and he's not planning on being outside any longer than 5 minutes at a time, he does enjoy the soft pitter-patter of rain on the roof. He knows he's gonna be waking up bright-eyed and bushy tailed in the morning when a storm rolls through at night. The distant rolling of thunder and pattering of rain acting like a lullaby for Cole. Helping to quiet his busy mind and he sleeps like a baby.

After the blast, some things do change a little.

His distain for being out in rainy days intensifies. He already didn't like being out in the rain before, but now with his powers, it's even more of a nuisance. The rain falling on him making him look more like a human bug-zapper than he usually does. I could imagine that while the rain doesn't hurt him like being submerged in water does, the electricity popping off of his body from being coated in rainwater probably is still irritating to him, like pins and needles all over his body. He might entertain a light misting or drizzle, but a downpour? Nope. The Electric Man is taking shelter somewhere where he's not looking like a drowned rat that just got electrocuted.

Thunderstorms on the other hand? Hooooooh boy.

I'd imagine that Cole's powers of electrokinesis (radar pulse specifically) would give him a slight ability to sense changes in the weather, it's not to the extent of being able to accurately predict the weather to a T, but it's enough to give him an idea of what he should be expecting so he can plan and dress accordingly.

With this in mind, when the Demon of Empire City senses the tell-tale indicators that a storm is coming? Good luck getting him indoors. That man is gonna be outside as is he was wanting to challenge every single god of thunder in every pantheon he can think of.

Seeing as he can absorb natural lightning, thunderstorms are the perfect opportunity for Cole to really flex his powers and experiment, seeing as he pretty much as unlimited energy, not to mention he feels like a total badass doing so. It's the prime chance to go absolutely hogwild on everything. Enemies quickly learn to stay hidden during thunderstorms and the citizens best hope that the lightning they see crashing from the sky is blue and not red, lest the Demon come a-knocking.

As for his opinion on rainy and stormy nights? That hasn't changed, if anything, he's even more thankful for them so long as he has a place to sleep that's out of the rain. Stormy nights are a little bit harder to fall asleep to as his body naturally wants to get in on that electric goodness crashing outside, but once he's out, he's out like a light.

The rainy and stormy nights are now one of the few times when Cole can actually get a decent amount of shut eye post-blast. Nature's lullaby calming Cole's mind, drowning out the thoughts caused from his PTSD. (let's be real, with all the crap he went though? He most likely has some form of it.) The demons that plague him in his sleep are quieted by the gentle sounds and the heaviness of the systems acting like a weighted blanket on his body, it calms the Electric Man enough to get a nice, deep and restful sleep. One where his body is fully relaxed and the expression on his face is one of peace and contentment.

----

Sorry if this is a novel, but I hope everyone likes it!

[detectivestucks]

The Anbu Captain XI

18+ content, Minors do NOT interact

Pairing: Kakashi x F!Reader

Summary: You fill your days while Kakashi is away on his longest mission yet. When he comes home he plays a little game with you and you discover he's been keeping a secret.

Warnings: NSFW, sexual harassment, dog bite, slapping, nipple play, unprotected penetration.

Word Count: 5.8k

Art Credit: @akirasukuna

Part 10 New here? Check out Part 1

The next eight weeks feel like the longest of your adult life. For the first week you kept rolling over reaching for Kakashi only to be greeted with an empty bed. When the wind blew through the open window you’d instinctively look over only to feel the pang in your chest when you remember he’s gone. 

Little guy would see the sadness in your face during these moments and become extra cuddly, trying to give you comfort. He started spending every night sleeping against your chest rather than at your feet, almost as if he knew what was going on. 

There wasn’t a single night he spent outside since Kakashi left. You wondered how his owner felt about this. You had essentially stolen someone else’s dog but you weren’t about to go looking for his owner. You’d happily claim Little Guy as your own. 

In the mornings after breakfast, you’d let him out the door to do dog things all day while you head off to work, always meeting back up with him in the evenings when he came around for his supper. 

During the weekends he’d stick to your side the entire day, refusing to leave you alone. You appreciated this very much. With Little Guy, you felt less alone. The bed felt smaller, the apartment warmer, and the days shorter.

You also appreciated Kakashi’s friends. They checked on you frequently to keep you company. You really enjoyed spending time with Kureni and her boyfriend Asuma. They were nice to talk to and you wanted to go on a double date with them when Kakashi got back. They naturally had missions of their own so they couldn’t be around all the time but you also had Gai. He was particularly attentive to you during Kakashi’s hiatus and often escorted you around the village with a hand around your waist. Never in a way that felt creepy. Always in a way that felt protective, like he was guarding a precious treasure for his best friend.

It made you internally snicker at the idea that this lovable goof was Kakashi’s best friend. Kakashi, the calm, collected, cold blooded killer, best friends with this boisterous, green ball of energy. 

Gai made an effort to walk you home from work twice a week and always checked in on you every Sunday night. Interestingly, Little Guy was always absent for these visits but quickly returned when Gai left. Even though he was a bit bizarre, he was truly a gentleman and you were glad for his friendship. 

It was your last weekend alone before your Captain was supposed to come home and naturally you were out shopping in the village with your favorite friendly neighborhood dog. You stopped at a small tea shop and sat outside on the patio sipping your drink with Little Guy by your side. He was curled up in a ball, satisfied by the biscuit you bought for him, lightly napping in the little spot of sun on the ground. Everything is quiet and serene. 

You have a book in your hand recommended to you by Kakashi. Given its contents it was little wonder he was so adventurous in the bedroom. If this was what he enjoyed reading in his spare time, you could see where his inspiration came from. It is a little embarrassing to read the book in public, but hey, Kakashi does it all the time. Also now that you have built a small reputation for being his significant other, you figured everyone should already know why the little orange book is in your possession to begin with. 

You finish your chapter and close the book, setting it down on the table. You were ready to resume your shopping trip, wanting to make the last of your purchases before heading home. Leaning down to give Little Guy some head scratches, you try to wake him up.

“Hey buddy, you ready to go?”

Little Guy leans into your fingers, savoring the affection before getting up and shaking off, ridding himself of the dirt collected on his belly. You stand up, grabbing the book as you make your way to leave when a very large man puts you in his shadow.

You look up at him, scanning his impressive stature and large build. His muscles bulged out of his shirt and you could see his veins jut in and out between them, supplying the needed oxygen to sustain their impressive size. You feel Little Guy against your ankle and you are sure he is protectively monitoring the situation. 

“Hi, uhh, can I help you?” you say in a voice a bit more timid than you’d like.

The mountain of a man reaches for your hand to grab your book from between your fingers.

“I can’t help but notice your reading choice, sweetheart. You enjoy getting a little freaky, hmm?”

You feel the heat rise on your cheeks as you reach for your book.

“Could you please give that back?”

“You need help acting out some of these scenes sweetie?”

Little Guy begins to growl at your feet.

“Please, could I have that back? It’s a lonar.” you ask again as you reach for the book. The stranger however holds it just beyond your reach causing you to fall into him. You go to push yourself off when he wraps his free arm around your waist.

“You didn’t answer my question sweetheart.”

You feel your pulse quicken, scared of how the man is grabbing you and not letting you go. You continue to struggle to get out of his arm as you reply,

“What I do with my boyfriend is none of your business. Now get off of me and give me back my book!”

He tightens his grip on you and you see his face turn red with jealousy.The man suddenly imagining himself in competition, he tries you again,

“I bet I can make you forget about your loser boyfriend in one night.”

“Doubt it. Now GET OFF!”

You push against his chest but he pulls you in tighter, not letting you go. Little Guy jumps for the arm wrapped around your waist, the one holding you hostage. He sank his sharp predatory teeth deep in the tissue, aiming to rip his muscle from the bone. 

“OW! WHAT THE FUCK?! GET ‘IM OFF!”

The man drops your book and you snatch it up, running from the shop, grateful to Little Guy for coming to your defense. You check over your shoulder and see the pug’s little legs dangle as the man flails his arm around trying to fling Little Guy off. There is significant blood dripping to the ground. You see the fury on the man’s face and you’re terrified that he’s going to kill Little Guy for this. The man opens his fist aiming to grab the dog when you scream,

“LITTLE GUY!!” 

He immediately lets go just as the man's fist was about to squeeze the life out of his tiny body. Little Guy bounded towards you, licking his chops to wipe up the blood surrounding his mouth. You jog a little ways, worried the man will come after you but once you're certain he’s not following you, you stop near a spigot to clean off the pug’s face. 

You use your fingers to work the water into his fur, rinsing out the blood as you speak.

“Thank you Little Guy but don’t get yourself hurt. He could’ve killed you. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you.”

A little whine followed by a bark came from him and you knew he understood you. You nuzzle your forehead against his then you turn off the flow of water before standing up and heading home. You didn’t want to risk bumping into that man again today, afraid he might try to hurt your dog. Yes, your dog.

You open the door, allowing the pug to enter. You head straight for the kitchen and grab some bacon out of the fridge to fry up and give to Little Guy as a treat. “There” you say as you lower the plate to the floor. You scratch his ears as he digs in. “Thank you for taking care of me.”

You grab Kakashi’s book once more and head to the couch to keep reading. When Little Guy is done he joins you on your lap. 

You’re about to doze off and nap when you hear a pounding at the door.

BANG BANG BANG

You leap off the couch with a start, Little Guy tumbling to the floor but miraculously landing on his paw pads. Your mind bewildered, you fear it was the man. He found where you live.

“Y/N! Are you okay?! I heard what happened!!!”

…it was Gai. You look down at the friendly neighborhood dog who didn’t seem so friendly at the moment. You couldn’t help but chuckle at the pug’s sour face as you go to open the door.

“Hi Gai.” you sing as you open the door.

You note how Little Guy slinks past Gai’s ankles and trots away to avoid your loudest companion. Letting the man inside you reassure him, “Yes, I’m okay. Some guy stole Kakashi’s book but I got it when my dog bit him.”

“You have a dog?” he says looking at his feet, searching for signs of a dog.

“Well, no. …Kinda. It’s a stray that I’ve adopted. He comes and goes as he pleases but I feed him everyday.”

Unable to locate the dog you’re talking about, Gai’s gaze comes back up to meet yours with a booming chuckle.

“Well isn’t that perfect?! My rival found himself a dog person. Kakashi loves dogs!”

“He does?”

Completely blowing off your question, Gai inspects you. Grabbing your hands and looking at your arms, combing over your skin for signs of damage. 

“Gai, you don’t have to do that. I’m fine, really.”

“I can’t let my rival come home thinking I let anything happen to his paramour.”

“Well nothing happened. It’s taken care of.”you say trying to regain custody of your limbs.

He drops your arms and stares at you seriously. 

“You promise?”

You smile at him and his sincerity. He was so adorably loyal to Kakashi.

“I promise. Now, would you like to stay for dinner?”

His eyes quickly glanced over to the kitchen and back to you. “Yes please.”

“Great! Keep me company while I cook.” you say as you stride over to the kitchen. “Tell me, how was your weekend?”

Gai excitedly regales you with the details of his workouts and his current set of students. They are all about to pass on as Chunin and he expects that next year he will be granted a new team of fresh Genin. The two of you hang out till Eight, then you send him off so that you can clean up and get ready for work the next day.

****************************************************

After walking with you to work, Pakkun heads to see Kakashi to give his weekly report. 

“How is she?” he asks while hunched behind a bush, studying his target.

“She’s good. Gai nearly scared her half to death yesterday.”

He laughs before asking how. 

“A man was harassing her outside of the tea shop and when Gai found out he nearly broke down her door to check on her.”

“A man was harassing her?” Kakashi’s eyes turned dark “Details. Now.”

“He grabbed around her waist and when he didn’t let go I bit him. Let’s just say he won’t be using his right arm for a bit.”

Kakashi nodded. “Good.”

“You think your mission will end on time?”

“I’m making sure it will.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Pff, don’t act like you’re not enjoying pretending to be a house pet. I see through your act. She’s changed you.”

“Well look who’s talking.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He says with a big smile on his face.

“I’ll see you in a few days. M’kay Kakashi?”

“See you in a few days Pakkun.”

****************************************************

You get home from work Friday night, grateful that the week has passed quickly. He’d be back any day now. You couldn’t wait. You were certain you’d jump at any small sound hoping to turn around and see him.But you could live with that. Just as long as it ended with seeing him. 

As you unlock the door  and swing it open, two strong hands grab either side of your face and pull you into a passionate kiss.

You drop your bag and bring your arms up to embrace him, your favorite person. You use your foot to kick your door closed, while he reached over your shoulder to secure the lock. Your hands grab two fist fulls of his uniform as you pull him closer to you, never wanting to let him go. You both stagger over to the couch, lips locked the entire way, and stumble down onto the cushions, your body falling on top of his. 

The two of you make out like randy teenagers for the better part of an hour. You grab at his hair and paw at his uniform, slowly grinding on his thigh as small moans are exchanged between your lips. You pepper his jaw and cheeks with kisses, careful to keep your eyes closed so as not to see his mysterious face, afraid that if you do he’ll stop. 

You shift your leg so you are straddled over his pelvis, continuing to grind against him. He groans as he feels the warmth radiating from your heat and rubbing over his stiff boner. He lifts his mask before his hands grab each side of your hips, grabbing firm hold of you and controlling your movements. He dragged you harshly along his concealed length, creating friction for you both, generating a soft moan.

You lean up and shed your chunky knit sweater, tossing it on the coffee table. You reach around and unclasp your bra too, discarding it to an unknown corner of the room. Next you make work of his uniform. He sits up to allow you to strip him, while never losing grip of your hips, continuously grinding them into him, leaving both of you panting. 

You untie his headband and stare at him in both eyes, switching your gaze back and forth between them both before finally bringing the fabric over your own eyes and tie the knot behind you to keep the fabric firmly in place. 

You feel him remove one of his hands and as he sets it back down, his lips are locked over your nipple, happily dragging his tongue over the bud playfully fondling it with the pink muscle. You exhale fully, hands clutching his silver mane as you enjoy the sensation of both the friction and the suckling. It was enough to get you close. That or finally being touched after two months of loneliness, either way you were quickly approaching the edge and he was only getting started. 

You groan, eyes squeezing shut under the headband as his tongue laps away at your peak. His teeth inevitably come out to play, nipping at your skin while he worked his way over to your other breast. 

Tiny breaths sprinkled with whispers of curse words exhaled from your mouth as you felt him toy with you. His fingers playing with your abandoned nipple, pinching and rolling it. Your fingers tighten in his hair as your grinding becomes more desperate. He knows you’re close, he can feel it as your legs tighten around his hips. Your moans and whimpers building with your climax. He begins sucking harshly on the tip before he released.

“Ask”

He latches back on hastily rubbing the tip of his tongue over your bud as he hollows his cheeks. You moan loudly, your head falling backwards. He releases again.

“Ask to cum.”

Diving back in, you feel him pull on you forcefully, his teeth nibbling on the sensitive skin as you are brought to beg, 

“Please Captain, please let me cum. I’m so close. Please let me cum.”

He releases your peak and massages both nipples between his calloused fingers as he whispers in your ear, “Cum for me.” before lightly kissing your neck. You grind hard on him, feeling the torture of his fingers rolling and tugging your nipples while he tickles the senstive spots of your neck. You release, soaking your underwear as you slow your strokes against his pelvis. Riding your high while drinking in his embrace.

When you come to a stop he grabs you by the ribs and throws you down on the couch under him, yanking off your pants before shedding his own. He tuts as he slides his fingers under your thongs and peels it off of your sopping wet pussy before sliding it down your legs.

“Such a little slut for me. Isn’t that right Good Girl?”

“Mhm” you cry pathetically as you feel the cool air hit the juices dripping out of your folds. 

He brings a firm hand down on your lower set of lips making you yelp, before he rubs the area in large soothing circles.

“Lets play a little game, my love. Everytime you close your eyes or curse I will hit you,” smack “here.” you whimper as he returns to rubbing circles around your clit, already starting to throb from your orgasm and the first two blows. Kakashi lifts up his headband off your eyes to see your glassy and desperate expression.

“Yes, Captain” you whisper, making him smile under his mask.

“Good.”

He takes his length and begins rubbing himself along your folds, coating himself in your slick. You bite your lip feeling how his head nudges your little bundle of nerves. You gasp and reach out, fingers wrapping around the wrist that's supporting his weight. He pulls back and slips into your entrance, eyes immediately fluttering closed, blissfully groaning from the intrusion.

Smack

You’re eyes shoot open, core tensing up as you look Kakashi in the eyes. You see him smirk under the mask and you know he’s going to abuse how sensitive you are from lack of stimulation over the past two months. Your body no longer accustomed to his abuse.

He begins sliding back and forth inside of you. You feel yourself suck him in as he pushes up against your cervix. You were so happy to have him home, poking and prodding where you like it best. Only he fills you just right. It is heavenly how he stretches you out. The soft strokes hitting you just right. Your eyes lock onto his as the sensation fills you.

“Oh fuck Captain, you feel so good.”

Smack

You gasp and twitch violently. You forgot about the cursing. This was going to be a brutal game. If it hadn’t been two whole months since he was last inside you, you’d have a fighting chance. But he probably saved this little game of his for your reunion cause he wanted to toy with you all night long.  The worst part was he would if you weren’t careful. 

Knowing you were on to him and his motives, he started accentuating his strokes, making you groan. Bottoming out and pulling back all the way to the tip, before smoothly pushing in again. You look up at him dying to kiss him but you know you’d have to close your eyes to do so, meaning another strike. He was really enjoying watching you struggle. Overwhelmed by sensation and unable to express it the way you usually do. Your hands reach up to his neck trying to pull him down. 

“Ah ah ah, that’s cheating.” He curls his finger under your chin, lifting it so you are looking down your nose as you gaze up at him. Eyes lidded, one breathtaking stroke away from falling shut. 

“I need to be able to see your eyes, my love. If I can’t, then I won’t be able to play our little game.”

He punctuates his sentence with a harsh thrust inside and you moan loudly, your lids treacherously snapping shut. Smack!

You cry out at his harsh hit to your clit. It was swollen from the game, each time building pressure in your abdomen. He followed with more soothing circles and you so badly wanted to loll your head back in pleasure but you couldn’t. Instead you look up at him with those pathetic teary eyes and he feels himself coming undone from your gaze. 

He starts stroking faster and harder. Snapping into you with urgency. He missed you. He missed this. He missed the intimacy, the adoration, the warmth. You constrict around him as a result of the new pace and you paw at his neck, wanting him to come down and be close to you.

“Oh fuck Captain! Please!”

Smack!

“Ahhh!”

Your legs begin to twitch. The beatings start to radiate from your sensitive nub. It only spurs him on. He strokes with more vigor, pulling your hips closer to him, securing you so that you can’t slide up the couch.

“Yes Captain, it feels so good. Right there.”

He finds a sweet spot and keeps his stroke consistent so that he massages it repeatedly with his mushroom tip. He watches you on the brink of losing control as your face twists from pleasure. Your eyes are about to shut in three…two…one…smack!

Your body violently jerks as a little bit of cum is released around his cock. Kakashi growls, excited by the game. 

“That’s it Good Girl.”

He finds the spot again, stroking even faster. You bite your lip, feeling the pressure in your abdomen build even more. You are so very sensitive. Your back begins to arch up off the couch but you don’t dare close your eyes. Instead they plead with him as your brows knit together. 

Feeling wicked, Kakashi throws one of your legs over his shoulder hitting an even deeper spot and you squirm away from him. Smack!

“Fuck!” you gasp “I didn’t do anything!” smack!

“That time you did!”

He loved how your tits bounced each time your body shook from the blows. An added perk on top of how you constrict and gush around him. He was taking far too much joy in your little sport.

Knowing you can’t win, you don’t argue, you just sink back and moan from how he shreds apart your gummy walls. You continue to bite your lip, staring him right in the eyes, feeling on the cusp of another orgasm but it’s not good enough. He needs to break you. He lifts his knee and sticks your lower leg between his. Then he leans forward, stretching you out, allowing him to push deep. 

You scream out from the new angle. He’s got you and you both know it. He rails into you at an unrelenting speed. Your body thrashes around as a string of curses fly from your mouth, eyes screwed shut in a blissful agony.

Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!

Your body seizes from the blows. The pressure so built up from the game that you squirt all over his chest. Kakashi rips himself out of your tight slit to quickly massage your clit as your squirt, making your juices fly out of you from the intensity. 

“Captain!” you shriek, spray getting everywhere.

“That’s it Good Girl, that’s it.”

“Oh gods it’s too much!” 

Your fingers dig into him as you lift your head, eyes gazing up at him before snapping shut again. He delivers a final blow to your abused cunt making you cry pathetically as you twitch from orgasm. He slides back into you to ride you through it, your body going limp from the over stimulation.

“Good Giiiirl, take my dick. I know you missed me.”

You sleepily reach up, grabbing his neck and pulling him down. This time he acquiesces and buries his face in your neck, while you do the same, allowing you to pant into the curve of his shoulder.

“Thank you Captain” you whisper into his skin.

He speeds up his thrusts before growing sloppy and erratic. He was almost there, just a few more plunges and then you’d feel the familiar twitch as your walls are coated in his warm sticky mess. He strokes lightly, emptying himself into you before collapsing on top of your body. 

You wrap your legs around him and pull down his mask to kiss him like you were before. Hungry for him. You missed his lips and everything that came with them. You lay tangled together on the couch, him growing soft inside of you while you continue to kiss lazily. Your fingers carding through his strands, breathing deeply as your tongue explored his mouth.

You’re both lost in a world where time stands still as you welcome your man home, laying naked together on your couch. Happy to have him back in his rightful place. You adjust your hands, ready to grab another fistful of hair when you hear your stomach grumble. Your captain chuckles at the sound as you both look down to where your abdomen’s meet. Just as you decided to ignore it and return to his lips you hear Little Guy paw at the door. 

You look over, debating if you’re gonna answer it. When you close your eyes and turn back to Kakashi’s lips you’re disappointed to rub against cloth and find that he’s tucked them away, making the decision for you. You resign yourself to getting up off the couch and answering the door for Little Guy.

You stand up, pull on your pants  and don your sweater, not bothering to put your bra back on much to Kakashi’s enjoyment. Tugging down your hem, you turn to walk over to the door.

“I guess it’s time to make supper. What would you like?”

“Do you have ingredients to make miso with eggplant?”

You smile with a sway of your hips as you look over your shoulder. “That I do.”

You swing open the door and allow the pug inside just before you scurry over to the kitchen to get started on supper.

“Hey Pakkun, thanks for taking care of her. I appreciate it.”

The pug nods at him and replies in a deep voice, “Sure thing Kakashi. Anytime.”

You freeze. Did those two just talk to each other? You turn away from the counter and face Kakashi and Little Guy with wide eyes.

“What did you just say?”

Kakashi stopped. He had gotten so used to talking to Pakkun while away on his mission that he forgot to play pretend now that he is home. The hound walked up to Kakashi’s side and sat next to him, facing you before replying. 

“Well, I guess the cat’s out of the bag now.”

“You talk?!” You run your fingers up to your scalp as you clutch your own hair. “Oh my gods, you’re a summoning animal!”

“Sure am.” 

You couldn’t get over his deep voice. This was not the adorable pug you had been taking care of for six months. Your eyes bug up to Kakashi who was nervously staring back at you.

“I take it he’s your summon, isn’t he?”

A hand raises to the back of Kakashi’s neck where he scratches as his eye crinkles into the shape of a half moon. 

Your stare shoots back over to the dog you now know is named Pakkun.

“This whole time I’ve been taking care of you and you were spying on me?!”

“To your credit, you’re a hell of a cook. Isn’t that right Kakashi?”

“Well, I do enjoy eating out when I’m over here.” he says with a mischievous grin.

Pakkun’s face sours as he looks up at your captain. Your face turns a deep shade of maroon and you flush with embarrassment

“Really, Kakashi, did you have to go there?”

“It’s not like Pakkun didn’t already know.”

“Yeah, yeah, I smell it all over her every time you visit.”

“Oh gods,” You bury your face in your hands, playing all your interactions with Little Guy over in your head. The embarrassment only grew. “I’ve changed in front of you. You’ve seen me naked!”

“Y/N, I don’t really care to see humans naked. It’s not like I was looking.”

“You two are sick!” You start to freak out. “This isn’t okay, this is twisted, what is wrong with you?!”

Kakashi grabs around your waist pulling you in. “I’m sorry my love, I had to make sure you were safe. I didn’t want to leave you unprotected while I was gone.”

“So you enlisted a spy to live with me?!”

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t sure what else to do. I’ve never done this before. I’m not good at this.” He says beginning to feel ashamed.

You huff as you cross your arms over your chest. You were livid with him but you had to admit that Pakkun had been very helpful while he was away. He always kept you company and he did bite that guy last week. But you were also mortified that you had been treating him like a house pet, going so far as to clean his face and let him sleep in your bed. You couldn’t decide how you felt but then Kakashi’s palms left your waist to graze up your shoulders and rest around the back of your neck, thumbs resting behind your ears. He towers over you as he looks down his nose, nothing but adoration in his eyes. 

You feel your anger dissolve as you look up at him. Your arms absentmindedly unfold themselves and take purchase on Kakashi’s hips as you lean into his chest. 

“I love you” 

“I love you too, Captain.”

You savor the intimacy for a moment before deciding to get back to preparing supper. Kakashi leans against the counter watching you. He seems a little lighter without the weight of this secret on his chest. He hesitates for a moment and you can tell he’s contemplating something. You pretend not to notice as you prep the ingredients, waiting for him to spit it out. After you finish chopping the eggplant, he finds his voice.

“I actually have 8 hounds. Would you like to meet them?”

You stop for a brief moment and look up.

“You have an entire pack of them? How many did you have following me?”

“Just Pakkun.”

You think for a moment.

“Gai had mentioned you liked dogs. I see what he means now.”

He chuckles a bit. “I’m surprised he didn’t notice Pakkun and blow his cover.”

“He was conveniently absent when Gai was around.”

Kakashi gives a hearty laugh at that bit of information. “He’s good at his job. I’ll give him that.”

You smile and shake your head as you continue to chop. 

“So yes or no?”

“To what? Meeting your pack?”

“Yeah.”

“Well you’re my boyfriend. Of course I have to meet your dogs.”

“Hounds.”

You roll your eyes at him and he catches your jaw between his fingers before you can turn away. He pulls you up to his face as he threatens, “Roll your eyes at me again, and see what happens.”

Your breath falters as you know exactly what will happen. You close your eyes as you imagine it allowing the excitement to tingle across your body. He swipes his thumb across your bottom lip before letting go and allowing you to get back to the meal. You give a contented smile and he wraps his arms around your waist as he stands behind you, patiently waiting for you to be done.

He’s home.

****************************************************

Lord Hiruzen graciously gave team Ro a few days reprieve before they were sent back out for another mission on Tuesday. An entire weekend with your captain.  

The next day you went on a double date with Kureni and Asuma. It was a wonderful and classy evening full of intelligent conversation and intriguing battle stories till one Might Gai invited himself to sit at the table and join you. The evening quickly escalated to a classic challenge between rivals while you sat with Kureni and watched your boyfriend make a fool of himself engaging in a push up contest with the ever spry Jonin who wouldn’t accept a game of ‘rock-paper-scissors.’

On Sunday you met Kakashi’s hounds. They excitedly sniffed you and introduced themselves. You romp with them and pet them like domestic beasts rather than respectable ninja hounds. Pakkun gives them all a smug smile knowing that they’d have no room to talk if they ever tried to give him greif for how he behaved around you. Your love was irresistible. It turned all of them into puppies, wanting nothing more than ear and belly scratches.

Kakashi stood to the side watching you play with his pack. He wasn’t sure he could ever love anyone or anything more than he loved you in that moment. You were forever. That he was sure of. You made his cold heart warm again; his once dark life, bright again. He felt like a changed man around you. The missing puzzle piece perfectly fitting into the empty space of his heart.

****************************************************

Tuesday morning comes and he leaves you while you’re getting ready for the office. Each time he’s home it becomes harder to say goodbye. It’s harder to hide your disappointment and fear. You don’t want anything to happen to him. You want him to come home and this particular morning you broke.

“Shh, shh. It’ll be okay my love.” he says as he pets your hair

“How can you say that?” you sob into his chest

“I will always come home to you.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I could never leave you. You’re my reason for living. No enemy is going to stop me from coming home to you.”

You hold onto him tighter, unsure you have the strength to let him leave.

“I love you Y/N.”

“I love you too Kashi.”

It wrenched his gut to see you so sad, to see how much you cared for him. How did he ever get so lucky? 

“Please my love, you have to get to work and I have to report to my team.”

With one final squeeze you pull yourself off of him and wipe your tears with the back of your hand. 

“Come home, okay?”

“I will, every time.”

He gives you a passionate kiss before lifting his mask and gazing into your eyes fluttering open to gaze upon him one more time before he leaves.

Jumping rooftop to rooftop, his head feels an unfamiliar cloudiness. There was a pressure in his gut that he wasn’t used to. He tries to shake it from his mind. He has a mission to focus on. Get the job done and come home. Just like he promised.

He lands in front of the village gate to a waiting Team Ro.

“Everything alright, Captain?”

“You’re late.”

“Yeah, everything is fine. You ready?”

He gazes around his team and they all nod.

“Alright then, let’s go.”

The entire squad pulls their masks over their faces and launches into the trees standing just outside the village gate. They fly through the forest heading north, hurdling themselves towards enemy terrain. Kakashi’s mind for the first time registering the distance growing further between him and your loving arms.

Part 12 Masterlist

[0729hazel]

Abyss Diary - Chapter 1: A Sudden Invitation

In the Moor Forest, the morning sun rises slowly, like Helios saying "hello" or "good morning" to all living beings. The sun shines into the earth, and many flowers and plants are awakened by this warm light. The colour of the river bank in the southwest is like a bright aurora flowing slowly. The wind blows from the east, and the rustling of the leaves is pleasant as if a person is sitting under a tree and listening to a wonderful tune. This morning, the butterflies and yellow bees started to go to the flowers to collect nectar and then returned to their nests to start making honey. I heard that eating a tablespoon of honey in the morning not only makes people full of energy but also makes people stay young forever. It can be called a natural skin care product. Under the clear light, everyone got up and opened the window, and everyone said "good morning" to each other. So, they went about their own business.

In the very centre of this place, there is an extremely huge tree, which people respectfully call "the tree of the world". This tree has a long history. It was accidentally created when the gods created the world. The tree created by the agarwood has lush green leaves growing on the top. shine brightly. It is as beautiful as a diamond, so people also call it the "tree of crystal bloom". At that time, some minority races studied magic on their own, and some studied the tree together until the auspicious time, served the tree every day, and created a banquet belonging to each race, so it became a tradition called "Moor's Feast". According to the inhabitants of the Moore Forest in the past, there is no master in the Moore Forest, because they belong to a race that does not compete with the world. But they have many guardians silently guarding the safety of this forest. However, there is a very bold man. He lives in the "World Tree" by himself and transforms it into a tree house.

"Brothers and sisters, I'm going out to do some shopping. As for breakfast, what do you need?"

"Bread, milk, muffins!!"

"Okay, okay, wait a moment."

The man was carrying a bamboo and rattan basket, opened the door and went outside to shop. He met the crowd and said good morning, and they said good morning back. This person is in his thirties, with a dignified body, a handsome appearance, and a dignified appearance. A pair of eyes shot cold stars, and two eyebrows were like paint. The chest is wide and broad, and there is an invincible majesty. People saw him as characterized by crimson eyes and black beautiful hair because he was the first person with crimson eyes, plus that side bang, so he was loved by people. He went into a tree house made out of a bakery. His clothes are the same as those of ordinary people, but the clothes are long-sleeved and the trousers are longer.

The doorbell rang, and the owner of the bakery started working happily when he saw this person. "Lucifer, you are finally here!" The man (Lucifer) smiled and said: "Boss, you are still like this after all these years." The bakery owner said: "Oh, only Mr Lucifer is here, I must I will serve you!" As he spoke, he took the basket in Lucifer's hand and began picking out the necessary breakfast food. Afterwards, Lucifer came to the cash register, and the bakery owner carefully counted the bread, milk, muffins and other breakfasts in the basket. "Okay, there are two hundred silver coins in total. As a regular customer, I will count you one hundred silver coins." Lucifer took out one of the money bags from his trouser pocket and handed it to the bakery owner, and then picked up the basket and waved away.

After that, Lucifer went to a flower shop. Seeing Lucifer, the proprieties of the flower shop warmly entertained him: "Mr Lucifer, what kind of flowers do you want?" Lucifer thought for a long time and said, "I want the morning flower." The proprieties immediately said: " Good!" Then she went to pick flowers in the backyard of the flower shop. This backyard is very close to the World Tree. Many customers like to buy flowers and are not used to going out, so there is this flower shop and backyard. Lucifer, watching the backyard flowers, said, "Today's flowers grew very well. They're better than yesterday." The proprieties said, "Yeah, luckily that yesterday was not raining. And the flowers were not damaged." As she talks with Lucifer, she keeps collecting the sunflowers and making their bouquets. "Here's your flower, and congratulations that you're becoming one of the Archangels soon." She gave the flowers to Lucifer. Lucifer took the bouquet of sunflowers and said, "Thank you, miss." Then, Lucifer leaves the flower shop.

As Lucifer walks everywhere, everyone comes to him and says the words same as what proprieties said. Lucifer acts a little surprised and doesn't think anymore, he steps back to the tree house.

"I'm back."

Some people who staying at this tree house heard Lucifer's words, rushing to the dining room and sitting at the dining table. Lucifer put the breakfast and some flowers on the table, and then he put the breakfast on the plates and serve to them, lastly putting the flowers in the vase. Have two people grabbing the bread at the same time, and both of them started arguing and yelling at each other.

"The bread is mine, Michael!"

"No, it's mine, you damn Gabriel!"

The boy was named Michael, and the girl was named Gabriel. The appearance of both is the same as a teenager. Michael is dressed in white clothes, under the sword eyebrows that are neither thick nor light, the narrow and long eyes are like gurgling spring water, warm and moist like a spring breeze, the nose is hanging like a gall, straight like a blue distant mountain, the lips are so thin that the colour of the lips is pale, and the corners of the mouth Slightly evoked, it seems that the man is unrestrained. While Gabriel is a hibiscus beautiful face, blushing cheeks, starry eyes like waves, and pity and shyness in the eyes, the current situation is like a dream, a person can't help but stare dumbfounded.

Their sound already shouted Lucifer, Lucifer going to stop them. "Enough you two" Lucifer is using force magic to stop Michael and Gabriel. This power shocks and suppresses Michael and Gabriel, "Lucifer, stop now." Gabriel said. "We cannot handle this 'Gravity Manacle', please stop," Michael said.

'Gravity Manacle' is one of the control magics. Use this magic to bind at least four targets and continuously limit their mobility. This magic was created by Lucifer. The purpose is to help reverse the situation as much as possible unless it becomes one of the ultimate moves under unavoidable circumstances.

"Brother Lucifer, calm down." One of the people comes to Lucifer and stops him. "Yeah, Lucifer. Calm down and we talk peacefully." Another one also comes to stop Lucifer. Lucifer sighed and stop casting 'Gravity Manacle'. "Raphael, Seraphiel, are you two awake already? And you two prepared or not? It's late for now. Faster, now!" Lucifer said. "Damn, we're already late! Dinner don't worry about us, we'll fix this, Lucifer!" Both Raphael and Seraphiel said.

Raphael and Seraphiel are twins, and both of them look the same, with youthful and moonlight-white skin. But their personality is different, Raphael is a type of working hard person, while Searphiel is a loving caring type of person.

Lucifer calmed a while, now he's slamming on the table and scolding Michael and Gabriel. "Michael, Gabriel. Why are you two still fighting and arguing with each other?! Didn't I tell you two must care for each other regardless of the situation? How could you two forget it easily?!" Michael and Gabriel looking Lucifer in rage, they wanted to apologize to Lucifer but he left with the vase of sunflowers. the only thing they can do is apologize to each other. After that, they're going to Supreme Council to work.

With Lucifer, he's taking the sunflowers to the garden at the back of "The World Tree". He's heading to the grave and putting the sunflowers on it. "Mother, here's your sunflowers," Lucifer said and he's sitting behind it. "Today is not a special day, just visit you..." Lucifer said but silenced, he's taking a handkerchief to clean the grave of his mother and said, "Mother, you warned me that don't get angry easily... But I did already..." Lucifer is taking an amulet from his pocket, it's made by the feathers of the bird and some beads. This amulet was the last gift of Lucifer's mother when he was twelve. He cannot do anything for his mother but looking her death peacefully. Lucifer never shows any emotions to anyone, only facing the grave, he'll burst out of his emotions. After that, he's going to the courtyard, sits on the bench and reads a book. Lucifer didn't know how long he read the book and slept.

After almost half an hour, two priests from the Supreme Council came to the courtyard. "Lord Lucifer," they called. Lucifer woke up, looked at both of them and asked, "Is anything a problem?" Both of them answered, "Lord Lucifer. there's a problem with the staff's replacement. Please come back to Supreme Council immediately." Lucifer heard, he was heading back to the tree house and changed outfit of Supreme Council, then he followed them going to Supreme Council.

No matter where Lucifer passed by, everyone saw him and congratulated him for becoming the Archangel of the Supreme Council.

The distance between Moor Forest and Supreme Council is only 4.5 miles, need to use twenty minutes to reach Supreme Council.

"They're still in a meeting, please wait outside." The two priests told Lucifer and went inside the meeting room. Lucifer reading a book for leisure time, and suddenly he heard some argument sounds.

Inside the meeting room, an Archangel slammed the table and said, "This is ridiculous. How could the Endless Abyss want Lucifer to join these monstrous creatures?!" The other Archangel also said, "Yeah, we're never let them push so hard." At the centre of the table, the Supreme God of the Supreme Council said, "The Endless Abyss changed the Demon Lord because of the death of the former Demon Lord. I already told them never to let Lucifer join them, but they still wanted to be." The Archangel said, "But we can't let them get what they need! God, can you stop their madness?" The Supreme God sighed, and said, "Now there is a new Demon Lord. Recently there has been news of an outsider invasion. This is busy. For today's plan, we have to sacrifice him." Many Archangels heard the Supreme God's words, they cannot do anything but obey.

Outside, Lucifer heard everything and was shocked. He never expected that will have happened to him one day. He was waiting outside until the Supreme God called him to come inside.

"You want to see me, Father?" Lucifer asked. "Yes, my child. Come here and talk with me." The Supreme God said. Lucifer was sitting behind him, the Supreme God holding his hands and said, "You heard everything, right?" He asked Lucifer. Lucifer didn't say anything, he nodded his head at the answer. Supreme God said, "We have been father and son for more than twenty years. Although your mother passed away when you were young, I have seen your transformation. Calm, smart, fighting, working hard, desperate. Even, if you have a perfect will, no one can compare with you." Lucifer heard and said, "It's thanks to you, Father. If I wasn't taught by you, I'll not have these results until now."

They talked a lot until the Supreme God tells him a question. "Lucifer, are you sure that you're resigning from your work?" Lucifer said, "Yes, I have to think clearly. Father, let me join them. I promise you that I won't fall easily." Supreme God looked at Lucifer and worried, said, "It is our fault to ask you to bear all this..." Lucifer said, "It's okay, Father. I'm already thirty, and I need to face everything by myself. And can you please don't tell Michael and the others? I'm afraid that they're doing some weird things when they know I'm joining Endless Abyss." Supreme God nodded his head, and Lucifer says thanks to him. And they're planned secretly, let Michael become the new Archangel of the Supreme Council. As the reason, only Lucifer and Supreme God knew.

After that, Lucifer went to his room and packed his stuff. He heard both boys rushing to his room. "Don't rush into the hallway, Crimson! How many times have I already told you?" A boy with emerald green hair said. "Don't mind me, Juniper. Now Lord Lucifer is leaving here. And we must help him pack stuff." The boy with crimson red hair said to that boy.

Lucifer chuckled and said, "Crimson, Juniper. You both already know?" The red hair boy named Crimson said, "Yeah, Lord Lucifer. I was shocked that you resigned from your work and join Abyss." Lucifer patted Crimson's head and said, "Look at you, cry already?" Crimson wiped his tears and said, "No, I'm not."

"I will always follow Lord Lucifer everywhere. Please, Lord Lucifer, let me serve you again." Lucifer heard Crimson's words and said, "Sure, you're always serving me. Juniper also." Crimson was happy and hugged Lucifer tightly, and Juniper was surprised and accepted. Lucifer asked, "And you two, haven't packed stuff?" Crimson heard the sentence, grabbed Juniper and rushed back to their room and said, "Okay Lord Lucifer, wait for us!" Lucifer laughed and continue to pack stuff.

In Crimson and Juniper's room, both of them finished packing their stuff. Juniper asked Crimson, "Crimson, I have some questions to ask you." Crimson said, "Just asked, I'll answer." Juniper said, "Do you know where's Lady Samantha now?" Crimson thinks and said, "I don't know. The last time I saw her, and she told me that have an emergency in her family, want to pack stuff and leave. But I remembered that she's an orphan, her parents passed away when she was six. I don't know what's the reason..." Juniper heard and said, "I see... And, how about Lady Linnet?" Crimson heard 'Linnet' this word, he was angry and said, "Don't mention this traitor. Don't you remember that what's bad news on her, and almost make Lord Lucifer lose responsibility on Supreme Council?!" Juniper sees Crimson was angry, and he's going to comfort him, "Okay fine, don't be angry. I won't mention her anymore." Crimson, "And you're gonna cook dinner for Lord Lucifer and me. Okay?" Juniper nodded his head and said okay to him. After that, they're taking their stuff and leave Supreme Council with Lucifer.

Time already passed to the night, at Moor Forest.

The dinner only Lucifer, Crimson and Juniper ate. After they finished the dinner, Lucifer went inside the kitchen again and cooked the dinner for Michael and the others. After that, Crimson and Juniper cleaned the inside of the tree house. While Lucifer is sitting at the desk and writing a letter to Michael and the others. After that, Lucifer blows away the light of the candle and leaves the tree house.

Crimson and Juniper follow Lucifer's steps and go to Endless Abyss. Lucifer, Crimson and Juniper look at the "World Tree" and leave the Moor Forest. But there's something that Lucifer doesn't know, he'll face some difficulties and problems, and even the heart of many creatures.