#hey have you met my new downfall?

[natimiles]

“I’ve got the Hunter’s Curse.

Means I’m destined to betray everyone at the end. An amusing curse, ain’t it?”

Roger Barel — moodboard

Masterlists

[happeehippie]

could you do something with joe based on obsessed by olivia rodrigo?

obsessed. || joe burrow

(this is my first time doing something that’s writing instead of social media, and it’s longer than expected. i hope you enjoy.)

*if i told you how much i think about her, you’d think i was in love. *

I’m not typically an insecure person by any means, but when it comes to her I can’t help myself. When Joe and I first started dating everyone online made sure I knew that they wanted it to be her. That they were rooting for the downfall of our relationship because they believed he was meant to be with someone else. It took a huge toll on my mental health in the beginning. And as much as I like to pretend I don’t think about it, it’s never gone away. I compare myself to her at every turn, think about her often, curious if he thinks about her also..

*i’m so obsessed with your ex, i know she’s been asleep on my side of your bed.*

Joe and I had been dating for a while and he finally asked me to move in. I was ecstatic, spending every single day with the person I love sounded like a dream. No one could take the smile off my face, except her. Joe had told me to use the bedside table for some of my things, he told me to make myself at home because that’s what this place is now. I opened the drawer and found a peppermint chapstick and some lightly salted almonds.

“Hey babe?” I say loud enough for Joe to hear me from the ensuite bathroom.

“What’s up?” He pokes his head out of the door, toothbrush dangling out of his mouth.

“I was just wondering what I should do with these? I’m assuming they don’t belong to you..” I mumble, I didn’t even have to listen to his answer, I knew who’s they were.

“Uh.” Joe is frozen speechless for a moment before recovering, “Yeah, babe just toss them in the trash.”

He turns back to the sink to finish his nighttime routine and I sit there lost in my thoughts. I don’t want to think about her, I don’t want to think about the love he had before me because it’s over for a reason. But knowing that she has slept on this side of the bed that we now share is doing something detrimental to my brain. When Joe steps out of the bathroom it doesn’t take him long to notice the look on my face and the items still lingering in my hands. He walks over and gently opens my fingers to take them and toss them in the trash. When he comes back he tilts up my chin to look me in the eyes..

“I’m sorry, I should’ve checked everything before you got here. You didn’t need to see that.”

“No, it’s fine. I just wasn’t really expecting that I guess.”

“It’s in the past, I don’t care about that anymore. I always hated when she was crunching on almonds at bedtime anyway.”

We both laugh as he places a gentle kiss on my forehead.

*I’m starin’ at her like I wanna get hurt. And I remember every detail you have ever told me.*

She wasn’t supposed to be here. Joe promised me that she hadn’t RSVP’d and she wasn’t on the guest list, but here she is. Sitting across from me in all her glory, She is laughing with people I’ve never met and I’m reminded that I’m new here. I’m reminded that they had a whole life together before I came along, a life that included most everyone here. I’ve convinced myself people are staring. Do they want me gone just like everyone else? Do they think Joe would be better off getting back together with her? He told me once that they always had fun at weddings, he said things were good between them when everyone else was around. He said she smiled more and didn’t pay as much attention to the small things when there was so much going on around them. That she was always daydreaming about what they’d have one day and the tension would dissipate for a few hours. I wonder if she’s wishing she was here with him. She looks up and a huge smile spreads across her face, for a moment I think she’s smiling at me, then I realize that Joe is coming up behind me. For some reason that makes me sick to my stomach, that she’s smiling at him like that. He gives her a small wave before turning his attention to me.

“Would you dance with me? Please?” He adds at the end with his puppy dog eyes. I can’t say no. He takes me by the hand and leads me out onto the floor. “Have I told you how beautiful you look in this dress?” He whispers as he pulls me close.

“A few times. But I’m not tired of hearing it.” I laugh

“Well you do, I’ve barely been able to take my eyes off you. Everyone loves you, they’re stoked that you decided to come.” That Insecure part of me pokes it’s head out again. Do you mean it? I want to ask but that’s not what comes out.

“Are you just saying that so I don’t freak out later?”

“No. I’m saying it because it’s true.” I give him a pointed look, “And so that you don’t leave and over analyze everything you’ve done tonight.” He laughs, leaning in giving me a gentle kiss. Out of the corner of my eye I see her looking over at us and I feel like smiling because I realize.. he hasn’t looked away from me once.

*She’s got those lips, she’s got those hips the life of every fuckin’ party. She’s talented, she’s good with kids she even speaks kindly about me.*

Torture. That’s what this feels like. It’s Sam’s birthday today and he’s having a huge get together. She’s here, dancing with some of the other WAGs. Joe always said she was the life of the party, I wish I could hate her. I’m still trying to recover from the sickening feeling of watching Joe’s nephews run into her arms as they walked in when Jess approaches me.

“You’ve been staring.” She simply states.

“I know. I can’t help it.” I huff out a sigh, finally taking my eyes off the shiny bright light prancing around in the middle of the room.

“Maybe you should speak to her, she’s really great.” Bile rises in my throat at the thought of that encounter.

“That’s the problem.”

“She thinks you’re wonderful,” She doesn’t know me is what runs through my mind, “She’s glad that you and Joe are together. She wants him to be happy, and anyone can see he’s happy with you.”

“I wish that made me feel better.” I finish the rest of my drink and step out onto the lawn for some fresh air.

*I know you love me, and I know it’s crazy.*

I haven’t said a word since we left the party. Joe keeps looking over at me like I could explode any second, I can see his hand twitching like he wants to reach out and touch me but convinces himself otherwise. After several excruciating minutes he speaks up.

“Tell me what you’re thinking about.” He whispers, his voice gravely from sitting in silence.

“I don’t think you want to know what I’ve been thinking about Joey.”

“I think I already know. I just wish you’d talk to me about it. Instead of keeping it bottled up inside.” At this point we are pulling into the garage but neither of us makes a move to get out of the vehicle.

“Do you think about her? When we go to things like that do you miss her?” My voice is barely above a whisper and I’m holding my breath, I know he loves me. I’ve never doubted that. I think I just need to hear him say that he’s choosing me.

“I don’t.” He sounds so sure of himself, like this is the easiest question in the world, “I think about you. Every second of every day. When I go to things like that I watch you, I get excited when I see you with the people I care about, and when you’re not there, I miss you.” He takes my hand and squeezes it three times.

“They all love her.”

“And I love you. Hey, look at me.” I tilt my chin so that I can see him, “No more of this crazy talk okay? I love you, I want you, and I don’t like the idea of you comparing yourself to anyone else. You’re one of a kind.” I know. I know. I know.

“I think I just needed to hear you say it.” I give a small smile, “I promise.. no more obsessing over your ex.”

[babydollmarauders]

MEAN — ALEX TURCOTTE

alex turcotte x fem!reader

part of the Speak Now Fic List

summary: in which y/n opens up to Alex about the hate she’s been receiving from his fans

notes: not proofread! so sorry if it sucks!

y/nonthegram

liked by _alexturcotte, trevorzegras, and 7,297 others

y/nonthegram on a date and our waiter called me a bitch… anyone know what number i can call to complain?

tagged _alexturcotte and trevorzegras

user47 awww they went to dux in tux to support trevor!

_alexturcotte my girl 🖤

y/nonthegram my boy 🤍

user16 thank god she didn’t show her face

trevorzegras sorry, we don’t take complaints 🙅‍♂️ only compliments 💁‍♂️

y/nonthegram that feels very unprofessional

trevorzegras who ever said i was professional? 🤔

jackhughes my boys! looking dapper! and y/n!

y/nonthegram this is y/nphobic

jackhughes i acknowledged you, didn’t i?

y/nonthegram barely

colecaufield @/y/nonthegram i’ll acknowledge you! you look beautiful, y/n!

y/nonthegram @/colecaufield thank you! at least someone appreciates me!

user63 well… trevor wasn’t very far off

user77 have you ever even met her? she’s literally the nicest person ever

user21 she gives mean girl bitch vibes so idc

user98 impatiently waiting for him to dump her

user30 honestly, if he cheats on her on a roadie… would anyone really be upset?

user52 i know i wouldn’t! i think all of us are just praying on their downfall. like, he could do so much better

***

my eyes sting, locked to my phone screen. my hearing is muffled, drowning out the sound of my boyfriend and his best friend just feet away from me.

they sit on the coffee table in front of me, NHL 23 displayed on the tv. they shout curses at each other and the tv, trying their hardest to win for their respective teams on the video game. but my focus is solely on the comments of my most recent instagram post.

all i wanted to do was show off my boyfriend of five years. but his fans were being so mean.

it was nothing new. these comments happened on nearly every post i made. whether they were insulting my looks, or saying Alex deserved better, i could never please them.

usually, i only let myself look at the comments for a moment before deleting them altogether, but today was already a hard mental health day and these comments were hitting me where it hurts. i can’t help but dwell on them longer than usual. today they took my worst fear, and used it as a ‘what if?’ scenario, one of the meanest things they’ve ever done.

i sniffle, standing from the couch. shuffling quickly past my boyfriend, my head hanging low to try and hide my tears as i make my way to our bedroom, shutting myself in the darkened room, the only light being that of the setting california sun peeking through the curtains on the windows.

i crawl up our bed, burrowing myself in a cocoon of blankets and pillows, and turn my phone back on, scrolling through the comments once more. this time, i let my tears flow freely, silent sobs racking my body.

all the comments on my body, my insecurities and flaws, my relationship, even some accusing me of cheating on Alex with our friends. it’s one blow after another, each one cutting deeper than the last.

a loud cry escapes my lips and i clap a hand over my mouth, squeezing my eyes shut and holding my breath; praying to whatever higher power that Alex and Trevor didn’t overhear me from the living room.

my prayers go unanswered when our bedroom door creaks open, the light switch being flipped on, and two sets of footsteps enter the bedroom.

“hey, sweet girl.” i bury my head deeper under the blanket at the sound of my boyfriend’s voice. “you wanna show me that pretty face?”

his gentle tone brings even more tears to my eyes and despite knowing he can’t see me, i shake my head.

“y/n? are you okay?” Trevor asks softly. i feel them both sit on the bed as i hum out a ‘mhm’.

“you sure?” Trevor questions.

“why won’t you let us see you, then?” Alex asks. a hand finds my back, rubbing it soothingly, and the soft touch causes me to let out another cry. i hear some muffled whispering before someone rises from the bed.

“i’m gonna leave you guys to talk, i’ll see you tomorrow.” Trevor announces. “y/n, if you need me, just call and i’ll come right over.”

i hear his footsteps retreating, the bedroom door falling shut behind him before my boyfriend’s hand leaves my back, coming up on the blankets and pulling it down to reveal my tear stained face.

“hey, what wrong, baby?” his eyes are filled with worry, concern dripping from his words like honey. “why are you crying, sweet girl?”

“i’m fine.” i choke and he obviously sees straight through my lie.

“if you were fine, you wouldn’t be crying.” he shifts his body, moving to lay down next to me on the bed. his arm wraps around my waist, pulling me in close, and on instinct, i throw my thigh over his abdomen. his hand comes up to play with my hair, the tips of his fingers scratching my scalp in a calming manner.

“you wanna tell me what’s got my girl so upset?” he questions. he knows he has me in the palm of his hand. he knows exactly what to do to ease my mind and make me feel safe.

“comments.” i whisper into his chest, muttered by lips against his shirt.

“hmm?” he hums. my eyes flicker up to see his brows pulled down in confusion.

“instagram comments.” i clarify, sniffling and wiping at my nose with my hand. “some of your fans aren’t very nice.”

“wait what?” he asks. his hands pause their actions and he pulls my face back to look me in the eyes. “what are you talking about?”

“i didn’t wanna say anything. you love your fans and some of them are so sweet.” i sigh.

his expression is one of betrayal and disappointment. this is exactly why i kept this all from him. he loves his fans so much, i know he would never want to hear that some of them are so cruel.

“y/n, what are they saying?”

“just mean things. things i’d rather not repeat.” i unlock my phone, the screen still on the hate comments of my latest post, and hand it to him, letting him see them for himself.

“what the fuck?” he murmurs to himself. “why have i never seen these?”

“i usually delete them right away.” i confess. “i never wanted you to see them.”

“baby, you should’ve told me about these. these are cruel.” he scrolls through the comments, deleting every comment that isn’t necessarily considered nice.

“i know, but your fans make you so happy. i never wanted to take that from you.” i cry, burying my face in his chest.

“but you make me happier.” his hand rests on my head, the other rubbing my back. “you make me so much happier than they ever could.”

“it just hurts. it didn’t used to hurt this much, but after so long, the comments are getting to me.” i sob. “i just wanna feel okay again.”

“hey, you know nothing they said is true, right? you’re beautiful, and sweet, and the best thing to ever happen to me. you’re the smartest, most thoughtful, kindhearted, loving girl i’ve ever met. and i would never do anything to jeopardize what we have. i would never even think about even entertaining the idea of sleeping with anyone on a roadie, you know that, don’t you?”

i nod my head, sniffling. i raise my head to look at him, his eyes glassy as he wipes my tears.

“i love them, but i love you so much more. and they’re clearly not fans of mine if they think it’s okay to say shit like this about you, let alone to you.”

my insecurities get the best of me and i can’t help but question.

“you’re sure you’re not sick of me?” i whisper.

“you ever looked in my nightstand?” he asks, my eyebrows furrow in confusion and i shake my head.

“not recently, no.” i don’t understand his question, or what it has to do with mine.

he pushes me off of him, my heart sinking in my chest.

this is it.

he’s decided we’re done.

i don’t know what i’ll do without him.

he leans over his side of the bed, shuffling around in his nightstand drawer for a moment before turning back to me, something clasped in his hand.

“i had a more romantic plan, i swear i did. i had a whole speech planned, but my mom said that i should do this when it feels right. and now feels right.”

my eyes widen, my breath going shaky as i consider what he could possibly be meaning in this moment.

i sit up quickly in the bed, as he reveals a black ring box in his hands, opening it to reveal a gorgeous diamond ring.

my hands rise shakily to my parted lips, more tears gathering in my eyes as they flicker between him and the ring.

“you asked if i’m sure, and i hope that this ring shows you that i’m absolutely positive. i can’t imagine a life without you. i can’t imagine what my life would’ve been like if you hadn’t called me a ‘stupid waste-of-a-pretty-face hockey player’ when we were sixteen.”

“all you got from that was ‘pretty’.” i let out a choked laugh through my tears.

“and i’m so glad i did, because that one word was all it took for me to fall to my knees. to chase after you and annoy you for an entire year until you agreed to go out with me. and now i never want to live a life without you.

“you’re my biggest supporter, my favorite person in the world, and the only girl i ever want. i love your kind soul, and the way your smile brightens my day. i love your beautiful eyes and the way you laugh over my dumbest jokes. i love that you fought for us to stay together, even when i wasn’t sure if we would work after i was drafted. i love that you dance in the kitchen when you cook, and the way you romanticize every part of our every day lives. i love that you refuse to go to bed angry, and that you sing in the shower and make me duet you. i love you, for everything you are, and everything you will be. and i would love to spend the rest of our lives together, if you’ll marry me.”

i can’t even get a response past my lips, opting to tackle him instead, nearly knocking us off the bed. but Alex’s quick thinking saves the moment, swaying us sideways instead to land on our sides on the mattress.

i straddle his waist, knocking him on his back as my lips glide along his face, peppering kisses on his cheeks, forehead, nose, chin, anywhere i can reach, before settling on his lips.

i pour all of my emotions into this kiss, filled with love and happiness, joy and affection. i suckle his bottom lip as i pull back to look into his eyes, a large grin taking up the bottom half of my face.

“is that a yes?” he chuckles, a hand resting on my lower back, the other still gripping the ring box.

“that’s a yes.” i nod excessively, holding my left hand out for him. he smiles widely, making quick work of removing the engagement ring from the box and sliding it onto my finger.

“i love you so much.” i tell him, grasping his face in my hands as i lower my lips to his once more.

***

y/nonthegram

liked by _alexturcotte, jackhughes, and 11,759 others

y/nonthegram i said yes <3

tagged _alexturcotte

comments on this post have been limited

jackhughes HE DID IT?! WITHOUT US?! WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PLAN?!

y/nonthegram plan?

jackhughes i mean.. i’m so happy for you guys! i knew you guys were meant for each other!

y/nonthegram thank you rowdy!

_alexturcotte thanks bro!

trevorzegras HELL YEAH BRO! LOCK HER DOWN! SO HAPPY FOR YOU LOVEBIRDS!

y/nonthegram thanks Z! celebration lunch tomorrow?

trevorzegras just txt me the deets, doll!

_alexturcotte thanks bro, and thanks for keeping the secret, even though you usually have loose lips

trevorzegras @/_alexturcotte i resent that

colecaufield MY BEST FRIENDS ARE GETTING MARRIED!! CONGRATS YOU GUYS 🍾🎉🥳🥂💍

y/nonthegram thank you coley! 😙🤍

_alexturcotte thank you cole!

_quinnhughes when did you grow up? stop growing up! i’m happy for you two, but jeez y/n, i could’ve sworn you were still fourteen and stalking practices yesterday!

y/nonthegram hey! i never stalked practices! i simply liked to observe the sport!

y/nonthegram but thank you quinny 🤍 you’ll be my man of honor, right?

_quinnhughes it would be my pleasure, y/n/n

jackhughes hey! why is QUINN your man of honor and not me?!

y/nonthegram because if it’s you then you’re gonna wear a dress. you wanna be man of honor?

jackhughes ya know what? i’ll let Quinn be your man of honor. you’ve known him longest, so it’s only fair.

y/nonthegram that’s what i thought

lhughes_06 congratulations guys!! engagement party at the lake house?!

y/nonthegram engagement party at the lake house!

[mapileonxputellas]

Jealousy (Alexia Putellas x Reader)

I think this might have been my favourite one so far! I hope the ending was suitable, I hate writing things in the future, I just feel like I'm pre-empting things so I couldn't include the final. Request can be found here. 4.7k words. Quite a long one!

Leaving Lyon was a tough decision to make. You were captain there for just over three years and more importantly they were your family. But you’d won all there was to win at the club and when Barcelona came with an offer it felt like fate was calling you.

You were billed as the star signing, the one who could fill the void by their own captain’s absence. You never wanted to be labelled as this replacement for Alexia, though you both played in the same position you were very different players. When news of her injury reached you during the Euro’s you couldn’t help but feel gutted you wouldn’t get to play alongside her.

The previous season has been kind to you, finishing the club season with a Champions League medal and going on to win the Euro’s, but as soon as you stepped foot into the Barcelona training centre you couldn’t help but feel different, in some ways complete. Thankfully the players were all very professional and only a few joking comments were made about your goal against Barcelona in the Champions League final.

You weren’t expecting to get the captain’s armband but Alexia’s absence as well as a few niggling injuries left you with the armband and your leadership was undeniable by the coaching staff.

Alexia herself had been a mystery to you, you’d seen her around the facility and at a few games but you never had the chance to speak to her.

But today that would change as today you were informed would be her first day back in group training, she had a long way to go to be back playing but you knew how big a step this was. Just over four years ago you had been subject to those three little letters, three letters which changed your life. You were excited for Alexia, the recovery process was so long and you were determined to make her first session back a good one.

You arrived at the training ground hours before anyone else was meant to be there to add some little changes. You bought a little welcome back sign to hang on her locker, sourced her favourite wine and chocolates for her to take home after and got all the girls to sign a card on their way in.

You watched on as she came in to get changed before training, letting all her friends shower her with congratulations as you got changed with Claudia one side of you and Patri the other.

“Have you met Alexia yet?” Claudia asked as you tied your shoelaces.

“No, well not properly. I don’t think being opposing captains counts.”

“She’s lovely, you’ll both get along.” Patri reassured you. “You’re both very similar.”

“I hope so.”

There was never a better time than the present and you waited back at the end as people flooded out to get the chance to speak to her alone and introduce yourself. Only when you locked eyes on her, instead of waiting for you to finish she made her way out of the dressing room.

You always gave people the benefit of the doubt and presumed maybe she thought you weren’t heading out, instead leaving you running after her. “Hey.” You started once you were level with the Spaniard, a single glance sent your way before she carried on walking. “I don’t think we’ve met before, well properly. I’m Y/N.”

“I know.” Ok you weren’t exactly expecting that, her lack of words was cold but her the tone made it all the colder. But sometimes to your downfall you were a painful optimist and maybe she was just having a bad day.

“Erm, how are you feeling? The team really misses you out there, everyone always talks about you and-“

“Listen OK?” She whisper aggressively, her fingers reaching out to grip your wrist. “I don’t need you to give me a debrief about my own team. I know them more than you ever will and things will change now.”

“Alexia I-“

“Stay out of my way and I’ll stay out of yours.”

It shocked you how much her words hurt. You dealt with anger all the time on the pitch, getting equally angry when defending your team but this felt different. This felt like a personal attack.

You tried to hide the hurt in your face as you reached the rest of the group in the gym, all stood in a circle waiting for their captain.

“I want to say a few words.” Jona said as you stood between Alexia and Ana. “Ale we can’t wait to have you back in the team. You’ve worked so hard up until now, one final push and you’ll be back out there in no time. Let’s finish this season strongly, I want a medal around all our necks at the end of the season.”

“We’ve captured the enemy now, of course we will.” Ana teased wrapping her arm around your shoulder. “The final piece of the puzzle.”

You stole a glance at the woman beside you and almost cowered back at cold eyes watching you and Ana. You tried to give her a reassuring smile as the rest of the group started chanting her name but that didn’t stop the frown on her face. When Jona brought out the presents you had bought on behalf of the group with the signed card you couldn’t help but notice you was the only one she didn’t thank, the only one who didn’t receive a hug. Not even a glance when you heard her asking Sandra about it.

“Oh Y/N sorted it out, she likes organising things like that.” Sandra commented not noticing the anger growing on Alexia’ face.

“Oh really.”

“Yeah that’s why she’s a leader.” The look that comment made could have turned you into stone.

One thing was for sure, this was definitely the biggest hurdle you’d encountered in Barcelona.

…..

The following day was the first time you got to witness the full La Reina effect on the pitch. But from minute one it felt like she was going out of her way to make your day horrible.

When you walked into the canteen that morning and lined up alongside her you hoped maybe yesterday had just been a bad day for her however as you found the frown on her face you knew that was not the case.

But whatever was going on you weren’t going to rise to her level and gave her the smile people often described as charming. “Alexia how are you this morning?”

“Fine.”

Wow the chat was scintillating. “I’m glad there’s one apple left I can’t start my day without one.” You said noticing the one apple left as you firstly got your scrambled eggs on toast. “What about you? Any traditions?”

“No.”

It shouldn’t have really been a surprise to you when you got to the end of the breakfast bar and found the fruit bowl lacking any apples and it really shouldn’t have surprised you when you turned around and found one sat on the tray in front of Alexia, a smirk on her face as she sat down.

“Ale I thought you never had an apple in the morning?” Jana questioned. “You never start the day without an orange.”

“It’s always worth a change.” Of course it was, not at all because of the comment you’d made.

“No apple this morning?” Claudia questioned when you sat down, the smirk only growing on Alexia’s face as she looked up at you.

“No there were none left.”

“Here have mine.” Frido pushed hers down the table, being received with a thankful smile from you. “Can’t have our little superstar without her favourite breakfast.” If looks could kill…..

It didn’t stop there.

During just the warm-up of the training session it felt like she was everywhere. The occasional shoulder barge into your side during the drills, the little nicks under your feet during the rondos, you were half surprised she hadn’t two footed you during the five-a-side match.

“Do you think it will be weird playing against Vicky?” Bruna asked Alexia during the water break referencing the former Barcelona captain now playing for Roma who you’d just been drawn against for the Champions League.

“It will be weird but you should all be confident. There’s no-one left who we shouldn’t believe we can beat. We were unfairly beat in that final but this year is different, none of those players would get anywhere near us when we’re at our best.”

Usually you would assume a comment like that would be made forgetting your link to that team but you knew Alexia’s game and you knew she made that comment directed at you.

“And now with Salma, Lucy, Geyse, Nuria we’re a better team.”

She was being horrible, malicious and it was all directed at you but you had no reason why. You’d been wracking your brains all night trying to find some kind of reasoning for her seemingly hating you. The two of you had never had a run in before, well at least that was memorable enough to have some kind of grudge. The two of you had been up for awards together but she’d always won, including this year’s Ballon d’or but even then on the flight there she must have already had some ill feelings towards you.

“Come on captain.” Vicky came up beside you tugging your arm. “Let’s win this match.”

Football has and probably always will be the out you have for your emotions. Feeling happy: go and pick up a ball. Feeling sad: go and pick up a ball. Right now with the mixture of sadness and anger running through your veins you picked up that ball and gave the small, sided game your all.

You weren’t a malicious player but you got stuck into every tackling, winning most and always being clean and fair.

Maybe that meant it was fair game in her eyes, fair game to give it her all as well. Make sure she left a mark on you, never going so far as to injure you but you knew tomorrow morning you would be covered in bruises from her tight marking on you.

“That was some battle.” Jona wrapped his arms around the pair of you as you walked off the pitch. “I don’t think we can play the both of you at the same time, it just wouldn’t be fair on the opposition.”

“Yeah.” You feigned an agreement knowing how much you wanted to play with Alexia before this all happened, now you weren’t so sure.

“Go and practice your free-kicks.”

The two of you joined Mapi at the far goal posts, Caro and Salma also staying back as the others did some rondos.

It was stupid you’d played in front of millions before, you’d lifted the biggest trophy in club football and yet you’d never felt nerves like practicing free kicks in front of the Queen herself. Thankfully you thrived under pressure and all three balls found their way to the back of the net.

“Way to go princesa.” Mapi found her nickname for you soon after you’d arrived thanks to your healthy addiction to a good beauty treatment. When you weren’t playing football on a Sunday you would more than likely be found in the local spa facilities.

Mapi and Caro made their way over to the corner flag to practice corner kicks leaving the two of you watching Salma line the ball up. “Maybe if you didn’t spend so much time getting ready you could spend some time on your shooting. Any good goalkeeper would have saved all three of them.” Alexia whispered in your ear.

“They were top bins Alexia.”

“Keep telling yourself that. We don’t settle for mediocracy here, remember that.”

“It’s a good thing the manager doesn’t think that. There’s a reason I’ve been sharing the duties with Mapi.”

“You two good?” Salma asked raising her eyebrows at our hushed voices.

“We’re fine thanks.” You assured the young girl. “I was just asking about the plans for travelling tomorrow.”

“Good.”

If she was going to act like this you could take it, you were big enough to deal with someone not liking you. The problem came with the team dynamics, you weren’t about to let some vendetta affect the rest of the team.

“This won’t work if you can’t even look me in the eye.” You whispered as you made your way inside at the end of training. “Whether you like it or not we’re on the same team, when we’re on the pitch forget about it.”

“Fine.”

“Sure?”

“Yes.”

…..

Things didn’t get better, they just got manageable. You grew to ignore the glares, ignore the little comments made, ignore the fact that every morning just in case there was always an apple on her plate and yet it never got touched.

She kept her promise, no matter what she thought of you off the field, which you still hadn’t worked out, it always stopped the moment you stepped foot on the pitch. That didn’t mean you were best friends on the pitch but you could share a few tactical words and miraculously the two of you worked well together.

Maybe it shouldn’t have been as much of a surprise to you, you had spent a lot of time reading her game both for Lyon to play against her and for Barcelona to play with her. You knew all the moves she made, the way she liked to push forward and when she held back. So you adapted your game to suit that, you knew if Barcelona had to choose they would pick her and you knew you could play alongside her with a few subtle changes rather than just you or her. When she would push on you stayed back, when she moved into one area you placed yourself where you knew she liked to lay the ball back.

Today you would be pushing those limits even further as Alexia prepared to make her return in the league. Alexia had admitted herself that Chelsea in the Champion’s League wasn’t the right time to return in a match with so much at stake but today you had the chance to win the league and by half time you were already 1-0 up, Jana soon making it two in the second half.

Jona gave you the decision of when you felt it was comfortable enough to get Alexia back on the pitch and when you got that two-goal cushion you knew you would be able to control the game from here so you made the signal and waited for them to make the change. At this point you were beginning to tire having played 90 minutes just three days prior and now another 65 minutes.

When the board came up with your number on it as well as the number 11 you made your way over to the touchline, unstrapping the band from around your forearm and held it out so Alexia could put her arm through it. Without looking her in the eye you made a point of strapping it up for her and then brought her in for the usual interchange hug before making your way to the bench.

You took your seat on the edge of the bench next to Mapi, the player handing you a water bottle and allowing you to catch your breath.

“Was she alright?” You questioned knowing Alexia was in your seat only a few moments prior.

“She’s ready, bit nervous but she wants to be there for this moment.”

The final 20 minutes went by very quickly Assisat scoring the final goal to seal the league title win. On the final whistle you all made your way onto the pitch, one of your biggest ‘superstitions’ if you would call it that was to always go around and shake all the opponents’ hands before you celebrated any cup or trophy win and this came into that category. You shook all the hands of the Huelva players and their coaching staff before joining your teammates.

Ana was the first one to spot you and the Swiss giant opened her arms up for you to jump into as she twirled you around in the air. “We did it.” You shouted down her ear as you felt further arms wrap around you.

“You did it.” She put you down on the floor and put her hands on your shoulders to meet your eye. “Take a bit of credit, you’re an incredible player.”

“Thanks Ana.”

So far you were thankful no-one had noticed, or at least commented, on a rift between you and Alexia and you weren’t about to let them see it now. You joined the rest of the girls in the traditional celebration for a player returning by throwing them up in the air for three cheers before you all made your way over to the front for the trophy presentation.

“Alexia if you could follow me.” An official came down to guide Alexia up into the stands for the trophy collection. You could see the glances that came your way but in your mind Alexia was always the captain and she should have this moment so you watched on, a smile etched on your face as you saw the joy in her face at lifting the trophy.

“Y/N come on.” Before you had the chance to protest Marta grabbed your hand leading you to the front of the pack as Alexia came down with the trophy.

“This is for you two, you’re the captains.” You tried to get through to Marta as you knew Alexia wouldn’t like this.

“You’ve led this team for the past eight months. You deserve this moment as much as we do.”

You could see there was no room for manoeuvre in her tone and in her face, simply staying put where you were. When Alexia clocked you standing amongst Marta you could see the distain on her face hidden by one of the fakest smiles you’d seen in a long time. You allowed yourself this moment, tucking into one side of Alexia and wrapping your hand around the metal trophy to lift it together as one.

“You two deserve this.” Marta whispered wrapping you both in a hug and pressing a kiss to both of your foreheads. “This team wouldn’t work without the both of you.”

“I don’t think-“

“It’s true, everyone thinks it. We all love you both.”

“Thank you.”

……

After the league win it was fair to say both you and Alexia were observers of the main celebrations, both of you knowing that the Champions League was the main aim this season. You both drove the standards in training knowing what a stern task Wolfsburg would be. The games leading up to the final all had major rotation so Alexia and yourself were yet to play more than twenty minutes in the dying embers of the game together, the captaincy always with Alexia.

The day before the final it was decided both you and Alexia would be part of the pre-match press conference in Eindhoven taking your placed behind the podium with Jonaton.

Jonaton of course covered all the tactic and personnel questions before you were both in the spotlight.

“Y/N it’s hard to believe this is still your first season in Barcelona. How much would it mean for you to lift that trophy tomorrow?”

“Yeah the time has definitely flown by. I came from a team of winners and I’ve joined a team of winners and we won’t settle for anything less than perfection tomorrow. I want more than anything to feel that joy I felt last year.”

“How would you assess your first year? Did you expect to be as integral to the side as you have been both in playing and in your captaincy?”

“It’s been a bit of a crazy year. I have high standards for myself and I hope both the club and fans can see that. I came here because I believed I could add something to the team and I hope they can see what I bring to the plate. In terms of the captaincy that is simply a role I have been sharing with many members of the team even if I sometimes have the armband. Alexia may not have been on the pitch for a long time this season but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have the leadership in training and before matches.”

“We’ve yet to see much of you two together on the pitch. Does that excite you?”

“Of course, I’ve watched Alexia for a long time now and I hope we can work together on the pitch soon, will that be tomorrow? I guess only Jona knows that.”

“Alexia how much would it mean to you winning the trophy tomorrow after the year you’ve had?”

“Yes it would be very special. I’ve worked hard behind the scenes but more importantly this team has got us to this point and I hope I can be a part of the final push tomorrow.”

“You’ve probably watched a lot of this team over that past 12 months. How have you improved since last year?”

“That final taught us a lot about ourselves and of course the improvements we have to make both in terms of our play but also our mindset. Of course we improved in personnel, Y/N has been a massive part of that and answering a previous question I can’t wait to play with her.”

Wow, you weren’t quite sure if she was being fully truthful or if this was all a show but it had to be worth something, right?

Unbeknownst to the two of you, the rest of the team were watching the interview in the other room. A light murmur of chatter amongst everyone as they watched the two people they considered their captains complimenting each other.

“Have you ever noticed that weird tension between those two? I’ve never really seen them talk but they just work on the pitch, they’re different when they’re playing together.” Ingrid asked Mapi, the two of them sat on one of the beanbags. “Is it just sexual tension that neither of them will give into?”

“How can you miss it? I’ve tried asking Alexia about it but she just dismisses it. Maybe they’re hiding something, I’ve never even seen them interact more than a glare at each other.”

“Ten euros they’re together by next season.”

“Ten euros they’re together by the world cup.”

…..

Alexia didn’t say a word to you after the conference, the both of you separately making your way up to your rooms. Thankfully the club had given you all single rooms so you didn’t have anyone disturbing you as you tried to work out Alexia. She had been nothing but horrible to you since you first met each other and yet she said all that in the press conference. It just wasn’t adding up.

Your thoughts were interrupted by a quiet knock on your door if you weren’t completely silent you probably wouldn’t have heard it but you did. It was only eight o’clock but you were about to try and get an early night.

Presuming it was one of the younger ones who had forgot something you went to answer the door but instead of seeing Bruna or Jana at the door, your heart started racing when you came face to face with Alexia.

“Hi.” Her whispers were barely audible as your mind spiralled as to what she could be here for. “Can I come in?”

“Of course.” Her voice knocked you out of your daydream as you opened the door wider for Alexia. “Take a seat.”

Alexia sat herself down on the vanity chair as you took a seat on the bed, wondering what was going on with the woman as she started at her hands, picking her fingernails.

“Are you alright?” You questioned breaking the silence.

“I um, I-“ You’d never seen Alexia like this, nervously fumbling over her words and a hesitant look on her face. “I want to apologise before tomorrow.”

You hoped you knew what she was apologising for but you wanted the full clarification. “Apologise about what?”

“When I first found out I’d done my ACL I was worried about how this injury would change me, how I would never be the same after it and how different things would be when I’m gone. When I heard Barcelona were signing you I knew that would jeopardise my place on the squad, I heard everyone talk about what an amazing player you were and of course I knew that myself. Then you got the captaincy armband and it just felt like you were my replacement.”

“Ale-“

“So when I came back I had this almost anger to you that you’d got to be a part of this team, that you’d got to lead them out at Camp Nou and seen those wins. I was jealous, I admit that and I heard someone mention it once that the only way to settle this was for one of us to leave.”

“So you did all this so I would leave?”

“I thought the only way to push you to leave was to be horrible to you. I can’t believe how horrible I was to you when you didn’t deserve any of it. I’m so sorry Y/N, I’ve been waiting for this moment for a few weeks but I can’t go in tomorrow with any tension between us. We’ve got to work together.”

“Thank you, but Ale it was never you or I.” You assured her. “I came on this team to work with you not instead of you. When you came back into training I genuinely just wanted to play with you and then you seemed to be trying to make my life a living hell, it was like you were going out of your way to disrupt my day.”

“I tried to hate you but it’s just impossible, you’ve got this smile that everyone seems to love and you always give everything 100%. Plus the team love you, I’m sick of hearing Jana talk about your dancing or Mapi talking about your tattoos. I want to see that side of you.”

“Hug it out?”

“Come here.” You wrapped your arms around the Spaniard, her own arms coming up around your neck as you settled into the hug.

You could never hate Alexia no matter how much she almost pushed you to it, you could never do it, you knew what injuries could do to people and this was no different. You were sadly just the one who got the rough end of it.

“Do you reckon Jonaton will play us together tomorrow?” You asked separating from the hug, a smile on both of your faces.

“I hope so. I really hope so.”

If it weren’t the night before the final you would have been up till the early hours getting to know Alexia but instead you both went for the early night option, your dedication to the sport the biggest thing you admired about each other.

It wasn’t lost on you the few glances you got the next morning as you both walked into the canteen together laughing and joking about a story Alexia was telling you about Nala. The both of you ignoring them as you sat down, a little comment made about the lack of an apple on Alexia’s plate instead just an orange next to her avocado on toast. “I need you on top form for tonight.” Alexia had commented back.

“You’re seeing that right?” Ingrid whispered to Mapi. “Yesterday they wouldn’t speak two words together and now they’re laughing and joking like this.”

“Loud and clear. Maybe now we can see the true La Reina and Princesa on the pitch together.”

[cissyenthusiast010155]

Hii *blush* i wanted to say I really enjoy your writing is just so wholesome, and I just feel so good to be taken into a whole new universe, thanks ❤️

I wanted also to request a Larissa fic, something like femxr being a shapeshifter as well and pleasing Larissa with her shifted c*ck, plus sub\Rissa, I’ll leave the scenario up to u

Hey hey hey anon! Thank you so much 🥰 That’s the goal 💕 I’d love to write this for you ♥️

No Where Near Finished ~Sub!Larissa Weems xFem Shapeshifter!Wife!Reader

Mommy…Master List

Requests & Prompt-List

Warnings: NSFW, 18+!!, implied smut, implied eating out, smut, kissing, car sex, c!ck riding, shapeshifting d!ck, sub!larissa, etc.

Enjoy (;

Your work was having a new year gala, and you and Larissa were already running late.

You hurried to tie your tie as Larissa quickly applied her lipstick.

“Shouldn’t have lost track of time…” you mumbled to yourself as you grabbed the keys.

Larissa picked up on your words, while grabbing her bag and meeting you at the door where her lips brushed against the shell of your ear.

“I don’t know… I didn’t mind your face in my cunt for hours, while your cock twitched in desperation…” she purred, as you went to lock the door.

“Don’t push it ‘Rissa…” you growled, your shapeshifted dick still desperately needing relief.

Larissa went silent at your tone and got in the car.

The drive went by, and you made it to the gala.

Helping Larissa out of the car, you couldn’t help but stare at her and how her dress hugged her curves deliciously.

“Darling…?” Larissa asked you, as you stared.

“Sorry…! It’s just… you look fucking stunning…” you said with a warm smile, eternally grateful to have Larissa as your partner.

Larissa blushed at your words, “Thank you, Darling… You look fabulous in that pants suit as always.”

You kissed your wife on the check as you linked your arm to hers and you both walked into the gala.

The gala itself was lovely, but your mind was reeling.

You couldn’t keep your eyes off Larissa and your mind out of the gutter.

It was one downfall of a shapeshifting dick… it practically became your brain…

By the end of the night, you were tired and far too horny.

You got back in the car with a huff, placing yourself in the drivers seat as Larissa had had a glass of wine.

You began driving and you drove in peaceful silence.

Until you felt a hand on your thigh…

Your breath hitched.

“‘Rissa…” you warned your wife.

But she merely hummed and put on an innocent face, as her hand crept further up your thigh and closer to your painfully hard cock.

You had to practice deep breathing so that you didn’t crash the goddamn car.

Then she began pawing your clothes erection…

“Don’t start something you can’t finish, my love…” you growled lightly.

“Who says I can’t finish…?” Larissa purred, with that certain twinkle in her eye.

That did it for you.

With a screech, you pulled over to the side of the road.

Larissa yelped at your sudden movement of the vehicle.

As soon as you had put the car in park and signaled your blinkers, you were crashing your lips into Larissa’s.

She met your passion eagerly, letting you dominate and explore her wet cavern and draw leud moans and whines from her mouth.

Eventually, you both had to pull away for a breath.

“I want to be inside you…” you growled.

Larissa whimpered at your directness, “please, please fuck me…”

“Already begging, are we…?” You taunted.

You met Larissa’s needy and lust-filled gaze, and your patience was wearing thin.

“Take off your panties, straddle my lap.” You told her.

Without another word, Larissa began doing as you were told, while you quickly unbuckled your belt and took your trousers off.

Larissa came to straddle you in the drivers seat with your mere underwear blocking you from slipping inside her aching cunt.

“Be a doll and take off my underwear, dear…” you groaned, as she had started grinding down on your dick.

Larissa licked her lips and happily complied, removing your underwear and drooling at the sight of your shapeshifted form.

“Fuck, come here, love… Be a good girl and ride my dick…” you purred, pulling Larissa to line up her throbbing pussy with your aching dick.

A pornographic moan escaped Larissa’s lips as she sank down on you, her cunt still sensitive from your activities hours ago.

You groaned in pleasure as you felt her walls flutter around you and fully take you in.

“Please fuck me?” Larissa panted, locking her goddess eyes to yours.

You didn’t need to be told again…

You began thrusting into her soaked cunt, which quickly turned into pounding, which then quickly turned into rutting.

Sinful moans and cries were escaping both of your lips.

You were so goddamn close…

And so was Larissa from how her walls were fluttering more and more around your dick.

“Fuck Mmm gonna cum…!!” Larissa cried out, placing her forehead against yours.

“Fuck! me too, me too!!” You groaned.

You both came together, her walls clenching deliciously around your dick.

Your breathing was labored and you both stayed there for a few minutes, regaining your composures.

Then you slowly helped Larissa off your dick, being careful with how sore she was from the days previous activities.

She landed in the passengers seat with a content sigh.

“Fuck…” you chuckled breathlessly, “You have no idea how long Ive been wanting to do that…”

“We should do it more often…” Larissa hummed in delight.

“What, you riding me?” You asked.

“No, silly…” Larissa chuckled, “car sex.” she said with a wink and a wiggling of her brows.

[fanfictiongirlie]

Marvel Sing For You - Chapter One of Two

Parings: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Description: When she sings she heals anyone around, she joined the Avengers as their official healer. And Steve asks her to heal Bucky.

Rating: General Audiences

Words: 909

Music was my thing, it calmed me, and healed others. My entire life, wherever I sung, people around me felt calm too, I could stop arguments by humming, it was my gift. 

Not only did I have the calming effect, I could also heal with my vocal cords, it's what I did for a living, all throughout New York, I was known for healing as I sung. It felt wonderful to help people, however it wasn't all wonderful. 

I occasionally had people scream at me to sing for them, if I didn't sing people would become hostile, sometimes I would be suck for hours singing for so many people in public. 

Eventually Tony Stark offered me a job with the Avengers, as their official healer, I worked alongside with them and it was amazing. I even got my very own suite in the Avengers Tower, a place where I could be safe and relaxed, a place where I could sing and dance to my hearts content. 

When I first started working for the Avengers, it was exhausting, they would be gone for a mission for days, sometimes weeks, and when they came back, tired and hurt from all the work they had been doing, they all gathered into the training room, and I would sing for them. Tony had even built me a stage, so I could actually perform for them, and heal their wounds with my voice. 

Sometimes I would have to go out into the battle with them, I was trained to fight and heal at the same time, overall, I was happy. I loved helping people.. That's why I told Steve I'd help with his friend. 

I was in the kitchen on the morning I met him, I was making a coffee when I heard Steve cough behind me, I twirled around smiling, to see Steve standing there, in his Captain America uniform, Tony and Natasha were to the side of him, and on the other side was a man, who looked as buff as Steve, he looked darker, dirtier.

"Hey kid" Tony smiled to me, he motioned to the breakfast bar, I nodded and quietly copied them, each of us sitting on the chairs. My eyes met the man's eyes, he looked so sad, so broken. 

"Y/N, this is Bucky, Bucky this is Y/N" Steve spoke slowly to Bucky. I had only heard Bucky's name once, Steve had told me he lost him. I was beyond confused. 

"We'll be ok" Steve smiled to Nat and Tony, and they left. I couldn't look away from Bucky, I could feel his pain, his sorrow. The one downfall of my power, I could always feel what everyone was feeling. It's why I loved helping, I loved making the pain go away. I had never known pain like Bucky's. 

"I can feel his pain" I whispered, Bucky's eyes widened at me. 

"Can you fix him?" Steve asked desperately. 

"Yes, but it might take a while.." I explained "Does he know how I heal?" I asked, I had a feeling if I suddenly started singing it would freak him out. 

"He knows" Steve smiled sadly, he lifted a hand to gently pat Bucky's shoulder, which make Bucky flinch so hard I felt myself flinch. 

"I'm going to leave, let you do your thing" Steve smiled "5 minutes, that's how long I'll be gone" He explained, I nodded and watched him leave. 

I turned my eyes back to Bucky, his eyes were on his hands, which were resting on the table. I stood up slowly, which got Bucky's attention, I wasn't sure he would even talk to me. 

"Bucky" I whispered, his sad eyes were looking into mine, watching what I was doing, as I stepped closer to sit on the chair next to his, I felt the pain intensify. 

"Is this ok?" I ask, my knees close to his, he turned his body to face mine, he nodded warily. 

"Do you know what's going to happen?" I asked, he shook his head to say no, I nodded and took a deep breath, his eyes were still trained on mine. 

"My power Bucky, it's weird, I'll sing and you'll feel the music.. my voice flowing through you veins, it's very personal, you'll feel me completely" I explain, he nodded to let me know he understood and then he coughed, clearing his throat. 

"Y/N, please" He whimpered, I nodded, it hurt knowing how much he was hurting. I felt how much he was hurting, only I could feel. 

I drew in a deep breath, closed my eyes and started to sing. I sung softly, and gentle. I felt my song reach towards him, and I heard him gasp. I've been told it feels weird at first, feeling someone else's voice. It wasn't normal, it felt weird, I had never tried healing someone this hurt. 

It felt different, like it was draining me more than usual, it was exhausting, I kept singing, but I felt dizzier and more lightheaded with each word. 

Steve came back into the room once I had stopped singing, I suspected he had been listening. 

"How do you feel Bucky?" He asked, and Bucky shrugged. 

"Better I guess" He muttered, I hopped off the chair and Steve had to catch me as I wobbled. 

"It will take a few tries Steve" I smiled weakly, I hobbled over to the couch and closed my eyes, a nap would be good. 

[wolverinesleftclaw]

Hey sweetheart! 😘 I hope I can ask for an Elijah Mikaelson imagine where you both fell in love during the events in Mystic Falls, even though he never wanted to show feelings again, but he couldn't help when he met you. So you started dating and he's always making sure you're okay and it's all just great. That changes when Klaus comes to town and sees you with Elijah. He kidnaps you to hurt his brother and Elijah gets furious. He finds you, but you're pretty hurt and barely alive, so he needs to make a decision and turns you in the end. After you wake up he's there for you and promises to be with you forever and you're accepting your new life ?

Hope this is okay with you 🫶🏼

Save Me

18+ —— (masterlist)

He was going to be your downfall. You already knew that, but what you didn’t expect was for you’re fate to be in his brothers hands.

⋆˚✿˖° Thank you for the request my love @talesofreading ! I literally spent days working on this for you so i sincerely hope you love and enjoy every second of it. I also left it open for a second part of you wish <3 ⋆˚✿˖°

warnings: violence, mentions of kidnapping, Elijah being stubborn, Klaus being Klaus, possessive!Elijah, no mention of y/n, angst, heartbreak, biting, kinda beefy!elijah (i just always imagine him actually towering over my ocs), power dynamic, seems unfinished but i rly wanna write a second part lol

You had grown up in mystic falls you’re whole life, the quiet town where nothing ever happened. Well that was bullshit, the whole town crawled with the worlds most dangerous creatures. You had found out about Vampires after your best friend Elena started dating Stefan Salvatore then you heard about his less charming douche bag brother Damon and decided to stay away from them as a whole. Subsequently because Elena and you had been attached at the hip since preschool you didn’t have to interact with them but you sure did get filled in on all the gossip. Which was why you were currently in the car on your way to the lockwood mansion with her. Apparently the latter were on a mission to kill elena’s freako look alike great something grandma.

“this sucks” you said looking over at Elena who was driving the car — “we literally live in a town of vampires, werewolf’s and witches and the two of us are just human” you added

“yeah well i think i’d rather be human than a vampire” Elena declared stubbornly

“you know i think i have to agree because we both know that Stefan and Damon are going to do a terrible job at killing Katherine and if you were a vampire i think she’d make your life eternally miserable” you responded just as you pulled up to the Lockwood mansion. “i am so not dressed for the occasion” you muttered under your breath eyeing your oversized sweatpants and spaghetti strap tang top, you barley had time to put your shoes on before Elena was pulling you out of the house. you wrapped your arms around your body as Elena pulled you through crowds of people into the mansion. You and Elena quickly found bonnie and Jeremy quietly talking amongst themselves in the corner. Unfortunately you couldn’t get yourself to care about the conversation going on in front of you mainly because of the chill running down your spine at the sight of a man in a jester mask staring right back at you. You blinked and the man was gone just as Elena cried out in pain.

~~~~

“I can’t believe Katherine did that to you” you rushed as you tried to keep up with Elena. The night had only gotten worse and when everything was said and done Elena was a bloody mess and you were freezing.

“honestly, i’m surprised you think she wouldn’t do this to me” Elena retorted storming to her car.

you followed closely behind, “okay well don’t get mad with me it’s not my fault that you almost died” you argued back crossing your arms over your chest. “i’m sorry okay? it’s just… she’s only doing this because she’s in love with Stefan” Elena sighed.

you saw the same man from earlier with the jester mask walk up behind Elena. You’re eyes widened in worry “Elena watch out” you yelled as you ran forward to push the man away from your friend. He grabbed you and threw you against the car slamming your head into the door.

~~~

When you wake up the first thing you notice is the rope around your arms and legs. You quickly try to get out of them but fail miserably.

“Stop trying to get out of the ropes. It’ll never work” a brunette said as she walked into the room. “who are you?” you asked flinching as she walked towards you and bent down.

“my names rose.” she responded voice dead “you weren’t supposed to be with the girl” she said sadly, undoing your restraints.

“where is Elena, what do you want with her” you shook as you replied.

“it’s not what we want. it’s what he wants” she said as she looked away from you — “who’s he?” you asked lowly, she moved her head back to face you and replied “Elijah”

~~~

“oh my god you’re okay” Elena said as she rushed towards you when rose took you into the other room. “yea i’m okay lena” you smiled sadly.

“he’s here. this was a mistake” a man rushed out as he paced around the room. “Trevor in order to get our freedom we must give him the girl. This is no mistake” the woman demanded grabbing the man to a stop. “I will bring him here, watch the girls.” she asserted as she walked out of the room.

“I’m not going to make it out of here am i?” you sighed trying to fight the tears in your eyes as you looked forward towards the covered up windows.

“hey, no don’t say that. I’m going to do everything i can to make sure we both get out here alive” Elena reassured you as she held you, you rested your head on her shoulder and sighed out a breath. The weight of this situation coming crashing down on you. While you both were human, Elena was more important to the supernatural world than you would ever be. You also knew if it came down to it Stefan and Damon would leave you to die if it meant saving her. You didn’t resent her for that, you were happy she had somebody who would do anything for her, you just wished you had someone who would do the same for you.

Your head snapped up at the sound of footsteps, your breathing became shallow as Elena pulled you onto your feet with her. You were terrified, you had no idea who Elijah was and from roses reaction to him you could tell he probably wasn’t going to be a saint.

In the blink of an eye you were throw behind Elena’s back as a man took place in front of her. You saw what you would say was the most handsome man you’d ever seen. You kicked yourself. you shouldn’t be thinking that when your best friends life was on the line, but you couldn’t help but notice the way his hair fell perfectly down around his handsome face, the powerful stance in which he stood. You noted he was dressed in a suit which probably cost more than your whole life together. His eyes drew you in from behind Elena and you couldn’t look away. If this was the way you went out you wouldn’t complain.

“human. It’s impossible” he breathed out in shock. “hello there” he smirked, you noticed his gaze went past Elena and right into your eyes. He was talking to you. why would he be talking to you? You felt your heartbeat quicken and you were sure you’d held your breath way beyond your lungs capability. You quickly shifted your gaze downwards biting your lip, suddenly remembering your lack of clothing moving closer to Elena.

“we have a long journey ahead of us we should be going” Elijah says grabbing Elena’s arm and turning them around.

“And the girl? What should we do with her.” Rose asked from across the room.

Elijah’s gaze moved to meet yours again. “leave her be. Do not harm her.” he ordered rose.

Elena looked at you with a pleading look before crying out towards rose “please, don’t let him take me.”

Elijah let go of Elena’s arm pushing her towards rose. “one last piece of business before we go”

Elijah stalks towards Trevor who shrinks down in fear “you have no idea how long i’ve waited for this day” he sputtered out. You noticed how Elijah held such an air of power around himself. You wondered how old he was, surely he was a vampire. You tuned out the rest of the conversation watching as Elijah ruled the two vampires in the room with just his presence. You suddenly hear rose cry out in sorrow as Elijah smacks Trevor’s head clean from his body. You noticed that Elijah had moved his body so he was in front of you, like he was intentionally blocking you from the scene in front. Your face paled as he grabbed both you and Elena dragging you to the front of the house. “who else is here” he demanded towards rose who shook her head “no one”

His grip tightened around your arm as he pushed Elena towards rose keeping you firmly planted next to him. Damon and Stefan were playing games with him. That probably wasn’t a smart idea you thought. You felt your body being ripped away from Elijah’s grasp and slammed up against a wall. Your head hitting the wall hard. Too hard. You cried out in pain and shook as the dizziness came in waves until everything went black.

~~~

When you woke up you took note of the fact you were still in the house, except it was night time now. You brushed the dirt off of your pants as you stood up and looked around. “Elena…” you yelled out wincing when you remembered that probably wasn’t a good idea. You were answered back with silence as you made your way towards the front of the stairs. You gasped as your eyes landed on a very dead Elijah, you walked quietly towards his seemingly sleeping body. Just as you reached out to pull the coat rack from his body he awoke with a gasp of his own. Anger displayed upon his face as he ripped the coat rack from his chest and threw it across the room at a very inhuman speed. He cracked his neck and fixed his jacket before his gaze landed on you.

“what did you do?” he roared taking large steps towards you. For every one step he took you had to take three steps back. “i — i didn’t do anything” you felt your face pale and mouth dry with fear. “y — you were dead” you stuttered trying to look anywhere but his angry eyes. “for centuries now. where did the girl go?” he demanded looking you up and down as if he was trying to decide what to do with you. “i really don’t know, i just woke up on the floor. I’m assuming Stefan and Damon took her… they left me, no way they actually left me here” you rambled out as your back hit the wall. You realized you had nowhere to go as Elijah’s frame blocked you in. You noticed how tall he was, you had always been short it didn’t take much for someone to be taller than you, but Elijah; he was tall. You stood just below his shoulders, your small frame feeling even smaller as he stood in front of you.

“what wonderful friends you have” he implied looking down from your eyes to your neck where he could see the blood rushing between your veins. “they aren’t my friends. only elena is” you mumbled shifting on your feet. “hm. we should get going then” he declared swiftly pulling his jacket from his shoulders and holding it out to you.

~~

“do you always kidnap teenage girls?” you asked looking out of the window in Elijah’s car and wrapping his jacket tighter around. “do you consider this kidnapping?” he asked with a cocked head. “yes i do.” you stated firmly looking over at him “do you not?”. he looked fully at you now, “i consider this me doing you a favor, saving a poor defenseless girl from an abandoned home, to which your own friends didn’t save you from. Now i could have done what i originally intended and drained every single drop of blood from your body and left you there, but i didn’t. So No i would not say this is considered kidnapping” he replied putting his eyes back on the road. “why didn’t you kill me?” you pondered fidgeting with your fingers in your lap. you noticed his fingers tightened their grip around the steering wheel as he said “there’s something awfully interesting about you.”

~~

From that moment on you and Elijah had been inseparable. He told you about his desire to not be seen in mystic falls just yet. So you returned home and acted as if some friendly stranger gave you a ride home.

It hadn’t taken long for you to fall head over heels for Elijah, but you noticed his hesitance when it came to you. How he never shared too much about himself. How he absolutely insisted you never speak of him to anyone, as if he was scared. You had learned he was one of the oldest vampires to ever exist. A thousand years old, he was strong, and wise and he surely had a copious amount of enemies. You knew all of that should have scared you away but you found it only intriguing you more and more each day. He handled you with such care, as if the smallest of things would break you and he’d lose you forever. Yet he never said what you wanted him to say.

It had been weeks since the day in the abandoned house and Elijah had finally made his presence known to mystic falls. You especially enjoyed pretending you didn’t spend all your time with the man. You knew in your gut Elijah feels the same way about you that you do him. It was just getting him to act on it that proved to be hard.

When you saw him at the founders party all dressed in his grey suit and hair slicked back, you didn’t care who noticed you decided that you had had enough of pining over him.

“so, Mr. Smith?” you quoted raising your champagne glass to your lips to hide your smile. “not everyone can be privy to my actual identity sweetheart” he replied looking down at you. You noticed his eyes raking over your form. “you look absolutely astonishing tonight” he said voice husky as his gaze returned to yours. You almost moaned at the tone of his voice. This was what you meant, you knew he was attracted to you but he never acted on it. You figured your best bet would be to show him what he was missing. “do i?” you questioned him with a smile “i thought you’d like this dress” you winked at him as his eyes darkened. “I didn’t think you would be bold enough to test your little theory here” he smiled licking his lips before raising his glass of champagne. “what theory would that be?” you pushed trying to get him to say it for himself but before he could answer a hand wrapped around your shoulder.

“Fancy seeing you here, my, my you look amazing” Damon stated, you winced out of his grasp moving away from him. You noticed the deadly look on Elijah’s face as he stared Damon down. “Damon i do believe it’s time we have a chat just the two of us” he said through gritted teeth. The two disappearing upstairs before you could say anything

~~

You sat a the bar picking at the fruit tray when Elijah approached you again. “I’m sorry sweetheart, i had to take care of something” he said moving to stand behind you. “did you kill him” you accused taking a bite out of a strawberry. “No i did not, I should have.” he replied turning you in your seat so you were facing him. “why” you questioned looking up at him. “because i do not like the idea of him ever looking at you again.” Elijah moved his head down so he was level with your ear, “or anyone for that matter” he muttered moving your hair out of the way, inhaling your scent. “i know this is what you want, it’s what i want too. But it would be selfish of me to subject you to the life i live.” he confessed before he grabbed you and in the blink of an eye you were in a different room. “you don’t get to decide what’s right or wrong for me Elijah” you argued back pulling out of his embrace. “why are you scared, I know it’s not the reason you just gave. I know that because for months i have been living as apart of your life, i know you think giving me some noble reason will deter me from continuing this but it won’t, so what’s the real reason?” you semi shouted at him, you were angry and you had every right to be. He’d been playing that game since the day you met him, where he acted as if he wanted you and then decided he couldn’t be with you. “Because i have lost every single person i have ever loved!” he roared back with tears in his eyes “i have had every person i have ever cared for ripped away from me, for a millennium i have been dealt constant heartbreak. I would be a fool if i left myself care for another being ever again, and i would be eternally selfish if i let you in and you died at the hand of my enemies.. or worse me. But you have infiltrated my very being, every thought, every feeling is because of you, so i cannot just let you walk away, because no where is far enough for me to not crave you, you’re scent is engraved in my senses and i cannot stop it.” he confessed moving toward you, he lifted his arm and ran his knuckles down your face as he gazed lovingly into your eyes. you leaned into his hand and looked up at him through your eyelashes. He was staring at your lips, this was new he’d never done that before. Elijah leaned down until his lips were just above your own “can i kiss you” he asked against your lips. You nodded your head vigorously as he entwined his lips with yours. His lips are softer than anything you’ve ever known. The feeling in your chest was explosive, spreading all throughout your body. He tilted your head upward biting your lip in the process. you let out a moan of approval, moving your hands to lay underneath his suit jacket. You could feel every inch of his muscles tensing underneath your touch. You loved it, craved for more. His hand moved from your face into your hair, bunching it up and pulling you closer to him. You loved every second of this moment, how raw and beautiful it truly was.

When Elijah pulled away from the kiss he rested his forehead on yours, out of breath you closed your eyes.

~~

Elijah had entrusted you with the secret of the curse placed upon his brother Klaus. You were sleeping one night when he came to see you, telling you that Elena would need to be sacrificed in order for him to kill his brother. Of course you asked him if he was sure he wanted to do this and he was. So tonight he was attending a dinner party at the Salvatore mansion in order to keep and eye on Damon. You had told him you thought it was a bad idea, that you got a bad feeling from it, but he insisted he would be alright. Now it was two days later and you hadn’t heard or seen from him. You were currently on a mission to find him when you entered the Salvatore mansion to find all your so called friends having some type of meeting. “where is Elijah” you announced as you walked in. “so you are sleeping with him” Damon said back smirking as he turned around to face her. “Yeah Damon i am, you know if you were going to have such an issue with it maybe you shouldn’t have left me for dead” you said walking more into the room. “well he’s not here, so no need for you to be here any longer” he dismissed her. You looked at Elena over his shoulder meeting her gaze. She quickly moved her eyes towards the basement door. You nodded your head and turned to walk away when Alaric called out to you. “hey wait up” he called after you following you outside.

“you’ve literally never talked to me before Alaric, so unless your going to tell me where Elijah is don’t start now” you said not stopping your stride heading to your car.

“cmon now love i just wanted a chat. seems we have to do this the hard way” Alaric replied grabbing your arm and slamming your head into your car window.

~~~

you awoke to a shooting pain in your side as you stirred. “welcome back to the land of the living love” a man said crouching in-front of you “i’m getting really tired of people knocking me out” you murmured groggily.

“ah yes, you see i’ve heard my brother was plotting my demise, and since i’ve got more at stake than him i figured an eye for an eye.” klaus said reaching to grab something above your head. His hand returned with a knife, your eyes widened as he covered your mouth and stabbed you in the thigh as your screams muffled. “now living for a thousand years you learn a few things about torture. except your human and you can’t handle as much as i’d like.” he said twisting the knife, the pain you felt was white hot and expanded through your whole body. “So i’ll resort to draining all but a drop of blood from you until Elijah comes to find you.” he said with a wicked smirk, grabbing your hair and tilting your head back. His whole face changed, you remember seeing Elijah’s vampire face which you loved but Klaus’ was just outright scary. You felt his sharp teeth rip into your carotid artery, you felt every drop of blood leave your body. The excruciating pain of his teeth in your skin. You head felt heavy as it rolled to the side when he finally pulled away. “cmon love the games are just beginning.” he taunted.

~~

when Elijah had woken the first thing he demanded of Elena was to bring him to you. When she failed to find you red flags raised in his mind. You would never disappear and all he could think was you had hurt yourself in the process of trying to find him. what he wasn’t expecting was for his brother to have taken you captive. when Elijah found you, you were a bloody mess. Crimson red everywhere, you say in your own puddle of blood. Shallow breathing was all he heard as he rushed forward and held your face in his hand. “my love” he whispered trying to wake you up.

You failed to wake up after the fifth time he tried. You had bruises and cuts all over you. The wounds on your thighs bleeding the most. When you whimpered in response to him shifting you he was glad for a sign you were alive.

“Elijah” you cried out unable to move “i can’t it hurts so much” you reached out to grab his arm as he picked you up and speed the two of you to his apartment.

“i’m so sorry my love” he cried as he held your hand. “for what?” you asked weakly wiping his tears away from his eyes. “for not protecting you. I can give you my blood and it will heal you.”he said moving your body to lay down. in the process of moving you the wounds he had patched in your thighs had opened, resulting in you losing blood. Again you had become faint and in and out of consciousness.

Elijah had managed to get his blood down your throat but he knew he would lose you. he had waited to long to feed it to you. Within the next minute he whispered a quick apology into your ear and snapped your neck.

[enivez]

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN (written .9k)

SYNOPSIS…. Gaming is a common hobby for college students nowadays, with Overwatch being the game of choice for both Lee Heeseung and his favorite streamer loved.venus. The boy shows his love for his favorite streamer behind the screen name lee.bambi, though he doesn’t realize it was the campus fashionista that he hated ever so much behind the screen.

PREVIOUS | MASTERLIST | NEXT

DING! DING! DING!

You were awoken by the sound of your phone continuously going off, at first you ignored it - letting your fatigue carry you back to sleep. Though after feeling Jake shove you and Sunghoon burying his head further into your pillows to escape the noise, you finally decided to search for your phone. Reaching around the space around your pillows, you finally find the device that had disturbed your well needed beauty rest.

Oh how you wish you would’ve just stayed asleep, now finding yourself sat up straight running your hands through your hair as you read all the notifications. The two others in your bed now stirring as you begin to panic, unable to believe you had missed the stream you had promised to do. Sunghoon sat up first, rubbing your back as your breath began to become sporadic and tears welled up.

When did streaming begin to become the stress that you had first tried to escape through streaming?

“Hey what are you thinking right now,” Jake says as he hands you the bottle of water that was sitting on your bedside table. When you’re reluctant to drink, the boy opens it for you, ushering you to take at least a sip.

You didn’t have the courage to take a sip, nor to answer Jake’s question. Feelings of guilt, fear, and frustration racing through your mind. You felt silly for feeling all this over a single missed stream, it wasn’t even the first time you had missed a stream. Though suddenly you felt like everyone was watching for the downfall of Venus, the downfall of you.

You suddenly felt a small presence lick your hand, Artemis saying ‘take your time’ in his own way. Holding the small kitten up to your chest, feeling it purr against your skin. You take a deep breath, closing your eyes before you speak.

“I don’t think I can be Venus anymore.”

It was like a weight was lifted off your chest, the stress of managing these two sides of you being dispersed.

“You never were Venus, Venus is you,” the voice of none other than Park Jongseong rang out.

Looking up you’re met with the new guests in your apartment. Jay and Tsuki climb into your bed, whilst Ningning sets down a tub of ice cream on your bedside table. Tsuki rests her head on your shoulder, wrapping her arm around you.

“I remember when you first started streaming, you were so happy. I was so happy that more people got to see you be you. You’ve been running from yourself for so long.”

You can feel Tsuki’s voice vibrating through your body as she says the words you didn’t want to hear but needed to. Looking down at your lap in embarrassment, a sudden face was in front of you.

“When was the last time you genuinely enjoyed streaming or fashion,” Ningning questions as her head rests in your lap, her gaze piercing into you.

Truth is, you can’t remember. You hadn’t enjoyed anything since the start of this semester. You have felt the weight of your future crushing you, desperate to prove to the world you’re more than the name you were born with. Venus was the way you escaped that name, and now that so many are trying to take it away from you...

Jay was right, Venus is you, that’s why she exists. She wouldn’t exist without you, but as of recently she’s become more and more of what you believe you should be.

“I wanna keep streaming, it makes me happy, or at least it did. I just want to be myself, I just feel like everyone has the predetermined idea of me and I don’t want that to be Venus’ fate as well. Ever since the gossip page started harassing me, as Venus, about my identity I’ve had so many more eyes on me. I can deal with the eyes when I have my guard up, when I’m acting as [Name], but that’s not me. I wanna be silly, I wanna go on tangents about games fashion, and I want to be able to make connections without there being an agenda.”

“Then keep streaming, it's the minority of people trying to unmask you. Majority of your viewers are there because they genuinely love you. They won’t care when and if they find out that you are Venus,” Jay says as he pulls the comforter over his body, ready to go to sleep.

Despite the tears still staining your cheeks, you find yourself rolling your eyes at the eldest member of your group. You know what he says is true, though it's hard to believe when you’re so stuck in your own head. You let out a sigh, looking up at your friends that are now squishing you into your bed. A lopsided smile escapes your lips, you felt loved.

Jake and Sunghoon were devouring the ice cream that Ningning had bought, earning an earful from the girl as she braids Tsuki’s hair. Jay was already well on his way into dreamland, truly amazed by how the boy could sleep despite the chaos around him.

These were your people, you were so happy that at the end of the day it is them that you can rely on.

Ding! Ding!

A/N: angst? comfort? idk drama

TAGLIST⊹₊⋆

@cholexc @woninluv @myjaeyuns @eleanorheartschishiya @dimplewonie @heelovesmeknot @lprww @haechansbbg @xuimhao @defnotfertilizedtoesw @kgneptun @jwnghyuns @mypapergirls @bomi-ja @woozixo @icepshrince @allisonleannn @infpistj @mwahvvis @vantaetastic

[yuseirra]

Hey, I thought up a really bizzare idea regarding how onk is playing out, let's say Hikaru is Sarutahiko the sun god who is also the god of guidance, blesses the entertainment industry along with his wife, Amenouzume, who also governs over the land.. You can see my other theories on how it can be this way, there are actually a lot of things that's happened that can back this up

Ruby and Aqua were assigned some sort of mission from the gods as they were reborn, right? And Ruby said she's Amaterasu, who's also another sun god who took over Sarutahiko'a spot as a deity when she was introduced in the region where he was originally worshipped. Maybe the twins were born and Ruby was assigned to be Amaterasu because her father wasn't functioning properly after having been afflicted by the "darkness" of the industry, thus losing his original "bright lights" (Sarutahiko is also known as the "god of the bright lights" or the "great noble god-Daimyojin-") So perhaps, they wanted to have Ruby take his spot.

That's why Aqua was born with her to protect Ruby, because they needed a new "sun god" that'd replace him. If you think of it this way then it makes sense for him having to take down Kamiki for Ruby's future as well. That reasoning can make some sense then. And if Ai was essentially Ame-no-Uzume, she'd naturally want HER husband to be helped. They were a godly couple who were very loving together.

Maybe the gods in the onk universe decided Hikaru became too dark and beyond hope, so they decided they'll have Ruby to take his place instead, that's what the Mythology indicated too. Sarutahiko had to give way to Amaterasu but he did meet his wife in the process, and had children with her. And he is assigned of other tasks although not the major sun god no more. Perhaps.. The gods already had this set up even before he had met Ai... He already had those black star eyes before having met Ai, didn't he? Because he suffered from child abuse from a very young age and became hollow and empty.

Just...think of this as my struggle to try and make sense and coin up all the info that was scattered throughout the story.

+Making a small addition regarding Ai's role in all this: why was she the one that birthed the twins, then? I've seen people upset about her role in this to become just a body that was used in order to do that(I'd feel the same way if that's so too;) but hopefully it's not that way. Ame-no-Uzume(Ai)seems like a very energetic and outgoing god who doesn't hesitate to get what she wants in the end and I felt Ai and her feel so similar on that aspect when I read lores about her. Ai is in this not because she's a passive character conveniently used for the narrative, it's because that particular god did some major things that initiated changes for the other gods.

There are two major stories with Ame-no-Uzume that I found, one was about her dancing in front of a cave where Amaterasu hid away to lure her out into the world again(the Ruby-Ai parallels!)

The other is how she's met her husband, Sarutahiko. She's the one who convinced him to give up his territory to make way for Amaterasu('s descendant). Sarutahiko was blocking the way at first because who'd want to give up his role or land, his powers? But he fell in love with his to-be wife instantly(it is said she flirted with him on many sources I read from lol) and he agreed. He was kind enough to lead her the way and they wed. And they seem to be very happy together after that so, what's ends well is well

If you think about it, then, that story of Ame-no-Uzume and her husband actually does also parallel how Hikaru's downfall happened. I wouldn't say it's Ai's fault at all, I'm just saying, Hikaru ended up giving up his "nobility" the way Sarutahiko ended up giving up his control over his reign as a god. It happened out of love, but it also did lead to some kind of compensation and loss in terms of that god. He was able to do that out of love.

Ai's had a really similar effect on Ruby and Hikaru the way her god counterpart seems to have. Her role is major and Amenouzume is the one who drove the story in both cases.

Susanoo(Aqua)'s role is actually less significant in these mythologies where those three gods are involved, I think he's there because he's Amaterasu's brother and the one who took it the hardest when his own mother died. He wasn't in good terms with his own father as well. If he's the sea god, he has the upper ground in it compared to Sarutahiko(Hikaru)as well, so I bet how that's how he decided to murder him at sea. But if he does stand for that god he shouldn't die in it. That's pretty dumb.

[spectrechosts]

Necrosis

Oh boy, a new series with all new characters, this is surely not just more of the same- hey what's that series tag?

I'm kidding it is actually about and from the point of view of new characters.

But they're there.

Full Series

Lagakh sighed and rubbed her eyes, returning to the barracks she had set up a command post in. She'd barely slept since they arrived, just in time to protect the city from the undead siege they currently found themselves under.

She took a hefty swig of her coffee, the burning bitterness sharpening her senses.

And then she entered her command post to see Ryse lounging on a bench she had moved into the window's light, and sighed and rubbed her eyes again.

"Ryse, why aren't you defending the gates?" She said, careful not to sound accusatory.

Ryse was of the beastfolk, the cat variety, which led to certain assumptions about her behavior.

Considering they domesticated them, a baffling number of people seemed to think cats were secretly plotting their downfall. Dogs are man's best friend, but cats? If you die your pet cat will eat your body! Isn't that nefarious, and not something that a dog would also do when faced with starvation and the inability to unlatch your door.

So when through some wizardly experiment a bunch of animals were given varying degrees of elevated intelligence and humanoid form but still acted like the animals they had just recently been, people were… wary of the catfolk. The dogs were obviously trustworthy; just look at them running around, tails wagging, happy to do anything you ask. The catfolk weren't doing that, and so clearly were up to something.

Ryse fell more on the large breasted maid with cat ears side of the spectrum than the talking panther that will eat your children one, sporting fur across most of her body and some strange mannerisms but still having humanoid hands to hold a bow with, and this placed her firmly into the ever popular role of the brooding ranger in most people's eyes. Capable of heroism, but only reluctantly, and only for a price.

"Oh, you know me. Didn't feel like it." Ryse hummed.

Lagakh was not most people. Ryse had surely found a thousand little spots she could hole up in and not be found until they had broken the siege, and she had instead decided to place herself directly in the path of the one person who would tell her to get back to work. She wanted to help, she just also wanted to lounge around and have it look like she didn't care.

"Why didn't you feel like it, Ryse?" She asked, moving to pore over her maps. The city was walled, and there was only one gatehouse. Half their party (minus one ranger, now) was guarding it, it was the most vital part of their defense, and if Ryse didn't want to be there she had a reason.

"Too crowded for my tastes. You know I like to work alone." Ryse said, rolling onto her stomach and letting her tail swish about.

"I also know you're one of the most capable archers I've ever met, and that gate needs all the defending we can manage."

"Oh, it has it." She continued. "The wizard and barbarian are having great fun, knee deep in gore. Anything she doesn't blast he cleaves in twain, you'd be hard-pressed to find a duo more suited to turning a crowd into charred viscera."

"Don't sell yourself short, Ryse. I've seen you sink an arrow into the eye of a gryphon in flight, pry your blade between the plates of a suit of armor none of us could even dent to slay the warlord within, you-"

"Are very impressive, I know." The cat smiled, blinking at her slowly. "Against single, high-value targets. Not endless tides of dead."

There it was.

"You find it ill-suited to your talents, then?"

"I have only so many arrows, and no desire to clean corpse gunk from my fur." She shrugged.

"Would you like to help people barricade their homes?"

"Who, me? I'd steal anything not nailed down."

The orc gulped down more coffee. Ryse positively radiated smugness. Like pulling teeth with her, sometimes.

"Do you have a suggestion for what you might find worth your time?"

"Hmmmmm~"

Ryse stalked over to her, leaning over the various maps and plans with a steadying hand on Lagakh's back.

"I'm at least as capable as the paladin at healing. Have her help with the barricades and I'll replace her helping the cleric tend to wounded. She's big enough to make easy work of it, and paladins are trustworthy." She hummed.

"Unlike you?" Lagakh asked, crooking an eyebrow.

"See, you understand."

The cat slinked away, and Lagakh was entranced enough watching her leave to clink her mug off her tusk when she went to finish her coffee.

Ryse glanced back and rolled her eyes.

"Get some sleep, boss. You seem distracted."

[videogamelover99]

[Gravity Falls] Waking Days Ch. 5: Riddle Bot

Summary: Bill Cipher is reborn, but not in the way he would have wanted. Stuck as a mortal and relying on those who brought his downfall, he realizes that maybe he didn't lie as hard as he should have. [AO3 Link] Characters: Bill Cipher, Mabel Pines, Dipper Pines, Stanford Pines, Stanley Pines, Jheselbraum the Unswerving, The Axolotl Pairings: past BillFord Rating: T

A/N: TW for child violence and child death in the first scene. Thank you to @megxolotl and @nexstage for beta-reading. Comment challenge: solve all the riddles! Enjoy!

---

When the stranger came, the residents of Dimension 52 were weary. It was no surprise. Most had been refugees, their homes destroyed, and anything new, to them, was a worry at best, a threat at worst. 

Baragerth had been born in this dimension. And while his parents were afraid of ever bringing up what had gotten them to flee, he did not share that same primal terror. He knew they were safe. The Oracle had made it so.

And the stranger was just a little girl. Starving and lost, she looked like she could hardly lift a bucket, much less harm anyone. He’d insisted they take her in and care for her until she was well enough to tell them who she was. 

It had been a mistake.

Now, his eyes frantically searched the path up to the mountain as he shoved his way through the crowd of panicked villagers, who were getting their hands on whatever weapon they could find. 

He spotted the Oracle soon enough, her gait steady, her hands hidden in the sleeves of her robe. Freed momentarily from their frightened stupor, the people parted to let her through, watching as she made her way to the center of the crowd, in front of the barricaded door to Baragerth’s cottage.

Baragerth quickly made his way toward her. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

Her seven eyes met his own, and her gaze was kind. “You couldn’t have. You were doing what you believed was right.”

“If it’s really him-”

“It is.”

“Then-”

“It will be alright,” she said, this time loud enough for the surrounding crowd to hear. “Open the door, please.”

They took down the barricade. A woman next to Baragerth started trembling as Jheselbraum reached for the knob. 

He entered after her. Whatever dim light that came through the blinds was hardly enough to illuminate the shadowy figure across the room.

The girl was sitting in a chair, her feet propped up on the table in front of her. The chair would tilt back ever-so-slightly, almost enough to topple over, just on the brink. She looked bored. Her head snapped up unnaturally when she saw them enter. 

A wide, chilling grin spread across her face.

“Well well well well well, finally!” She tsked, playfully tilting the chair even further back. “Was thinking I’d have to start killing ‘em off after all. You sure take your time, lady.”

The girl’s voice was shrill and nasally, too loud for the small room they were in. She hardly blinked, and the stretched, maniacal grin never left her face. Baragerth felt nauseous just looking at it.

There was no fear in Jheselbraum’s voice when she spoke. It was calm and measured, a lake without ripples. “Why are you here, Bill?”

The girl blinked, seemingly surprised. The legs of the chair cracked against the floor as she settled them back down on the ground. He could see it now, the unnatural yellow glow of her eyes. “Dunno. Figured I’d stop by, see what you’ve done with the place,” the girl- no, the demon, shrugged. “Not often I find someplace I can’t take a peek at. Neat trick. Anyway, I don’t exactly do well with not knowing.”

“Well, you’ve seen plenty,” Jheselbraum said. “Or maybe you’d like a tour?”

The grin slipped from the girl’s face. “You don’t get it, do ya?”

“I get that you’re wasting my time.”

Baragerth flinched. The girl looked shocked for a moment, before she laughed, long and loud. “Hey, I like your guts, not gonna lie. Or maybe it’s stupidity.” She snapped to her feet, and someone at the door shrieked in fright. “You think that big frilly thing you call a god can save you? Well, sorry to disappoint, but he’s not exactly the proactive type. You’re banking on a mistake.”

“I’m not banking on anything.” There was an edge to Jheselbraum’s voice, but it wasn’t anger. Nor was it the calm she’d been with just a few moments ago. The edge was steel. “You just don’t frighten me.”

Bill Cipher scowled, all traces of humor gone from the body he was puppeteering. “You don’t know who you’re messing with, lady.”

“Do you?”

There was a flash of recognition in the demon’s eyes, but it was gone quickly, dismissed. Taking a step back, the thing in the poor child’s body eyed the cups and bowls piled high in the kitchen, not cleaned since Baragerth discovered who his new ward really was. “You remind me of someone, Seven-Eyes. Unlike you, she knew when things had to change. Which is why whatever you think is keeping you safe,” Cipher’s eyes darted to them. “It’ll fail.”

Things happened too fast for Baragerth to follow. Cipher reached for a kitchen knife. Jheselbraum freed a hand from her sleeve, holding a handful of shimmering powder Baragerth had seen her use for exorcisms. Baragerth stumbled back as the demon snatched the knife and plunged it into the girl’s stomach.

Then Bill Cipher was gone, leaving behind nothing but a streak of mad laughter. Jheselbraum darted to the girl, Baragerth close behind. The child looked at them with wild, frightened eyes. She collapsed. She mouthed something, her lips sputtering blood, before the spark of life in her gaze faded away into nothing.

Jheselbraum sat next to her for a long time. No one said a word, not Baragerth, nor the few villagers at the door.

The Oracle gently closed the girl’s eyes. 

“This is my fault,” said Baragerth.

“No. This would’ve happened no matter what we’d done. Bill Cipher’s actions are predictable when you know what message he wants to send.”

She tried to stop it, though. Inevitable or not, she tried to save the girl’s life.

“I must tell them what happened,” Baragerth said, and Jheselbraum nodded. 

“Go. I will join you.”

He looked back once, halfway out the door. Jheselbraum had not moved, her hand on the girl’s head. With a look of painful regret, her seven eyes fell shut. 

—

Hanging out in an alternate dimension with questionable places of origin was not Dipper's dream scenario, simply because he didn't even conceive it to be possible. Now though, it was close to something like heaven.

"Hey, what's this one do?" Dipper carefully pulled out a mesh of wires and gears that was wedged between the wall and a large, cardboard box. It appeared that cardboard was a multi-universal invention.

Jheselbraum the Unswerving, now known to the Pines family as "Nora", turned from the bottles she'd been rearranging to look. "That's a thermometer.”

"Oh," Dipper said, trying to figure out how this thing could possibly resemble a thermometer. Nora took it and tossed it in a box they'd been using for trash.

"You know," Dipper began again, turning back to the giant pile of stuff he'd been looking through. "When you said you needed help with Spring Cleaning, I didn't think you meant a trillion years' worth of it.”

“Does this dimension even have a Spring?" Mabel asked, sticking her head out from the other room. 

"Every dimension has a Spring."

“Really?” said Dipper.

“Really.”

“Excuse me.”

An old, steady voice cut through their conversation.

The creature standing at the entrance of the temple looked ancient, his tentacle-framed face lined with wrinkles. He seemed to be dressed in some kind of robe, similar to the one Nora had worn when they first met her. His fishy eyes were patiently trained on Nora, who, when Dipper looked back, was smiling fondly.

“Baragerth,” she greeted. “What brings you here at this early hour? You’re still due for your morning stroll on the lake.”

“Heh, you snoop through everyone’s morning routine?”

“Just yours.”

“That is a way to make an old man feel special,” his smile briefly fell. “It’s for the meeting.”

Nora blinked. “That’s today?”

“It sure is.” The tentacle man took off what Dipper realized was a hat, and wrung it politely in his hands. “I figured you’d be busy; I might as well remind you.” His eyes fell on the twins. “Alien children?”

“Some interdimensional friends. They were kind enough to help me.”

“That’s right!” Mabel said. “We’re on Spring Cleaning duty! The little vial in the corner melted my sweater!” She showed off her sleeve, half of it eaten away by the substance.

“I…see…” Baragerth cast a questioning look at Nora, who shrugged.

“They’re fine.”

“If your little friends can handle it, I think it’s best we head over now, or else…”

Nora made a face. “Karen.”

Baragerth nodded. “Karen.”

“Does every dimension have a Karen?” Dipper asked.

“Unfortunately.” Nora cast a look at Dipper and Mabel. Mabel grinned. “Maybe-”

“We can handle this,” Dipper interrupted, looking a little red. “Don’t worry. You must have…an important meeting to get to! The fate of the universe… important…maybe?”

Baragerth laughed, “Well, it’s certainly the fate of someone’s universe. Or Jompu’s shop. And let's not forget that land dispute that’s been brewing between the Dondon siblings.”

“Heaven forbid one has a tree more than the other,” Nora muttered.

“That…”

“Sounds boring,” said Mabel.

“B-but you can still count on us! We got this,” Dipper leaned on the edge of an open crate. The vials inside rattled a little. 

Nora frowned. “Are you sure?”

“Yup! Nothing to worry about! We’ve dealt with more complicated things than Spring Cleaning.”

“Well, I suppose I could leave you for a few hours,” Nora tilted her head slightly, as if in thought. “And I don’t see a future when this goes horribly wrong.”

The other three people in the room winced. 

“Literally,” said Nora. “I can see the future.”

—

“Wow, what was all that about?”

“What was what about?” Dipper nervously turned to the box he was sorting through.

“‘Y-you can count on us!’” Mabel mimicked Dipper’s high-pitched stutter from two minutes ago. “Your voice cracked like, five times in that one sentence. What are you so nervous about?”

“Nothing! I just want to help!” He put down a glass goblet with a little more force than necessary. “I mean, she helped us defeat Bill! Indirectly, but still. We owe it to her, don’t we?”

“Hm,” Mabel eyed him suspiciously.

“And it’s an opportunity to snoop around! Like- hey, what’s this?” Dipper grabbed a strange-looking metal contraption. “Crazy alien stuff! Don’t you wanna mess with crazy alien stuff?”

“That’s a whisk,” said Mabel.

“Huh? Oh.” Dipper rotated the handle, and the blades spun with it.

“Come on, you can tell me! Wait, it’s not a crush, is it? Cause this time she’s not just three years older than you, but like, a bajillion.” 

“No! No, definitely not,” Dipper sighed, and put down the whisk, leaning against the crate. “She’s just Grunkle Ford’s friend. I wanna make a good impression.”

“Oh, I get it,” Mabel grinned and rolled her eyes. “She’s into the same nerd stuff you and Grunkle Ford are into, so you wanna show you can handle it.”

“Kinda, yeah,” said Dipper. “She’s cool, okay?”

“Dunno if you’re using ‘cool’ right,” said Mabel. “Though I love the vibes,” she pointed at a large tapestry of a pink amphibian creature. “This guy looks like he knows how to party. Don’t you, buddy?” The tapestry, of course, stayed silent.

“Laugh all you want, but there’s stuff she knows no one on our planet has even a brief understanding of,” Dipper pulled out his new journal. “And I’m gonna be the first to discover it! I’m gonna ask the right questions! After I prove I’m a trustworthy recipient. I just can’t do it sorting boxes, there must be another way.” He took a pen from his pocket and chewed on it.

“Heh, well, good luck with that. I’m gonna go see what’s up with those glittery jars!” Mabel disappeared back into the room she’d been sorting through. 

Dipper tried to think of a way to impress Nora, but nothing came to mind. She’d seen all their adventures, hadn’t she? What else could he do? Build some new contraption? Figure out some puzzle? Find a lost civilization?

When none of his ideas felt sound enough, Dipper closed the journal and stared at the stain behind the helix-shaped lamp. It looked alive. Just as he got enough courage to move the lamp out of the way and check, Mabel burst through the bead curtain that led to the other room, saving Dipper from his fate. "Hey bro, look what I found! Come look!"

Dipper followed Mabel to the corner she'd been sorting through.

Whatever it was, it was covered by a plain white tarp. Mabel pulled it away with a flourish, sending a cloud of alien dust into the air. "Ta-da!"

It was a robot. A very chunky, primitive looking one, from what Dipper could tell. Its eyes consisted of four camera lenses worked into a grey metal hull, dulled with age. It didn't have a "mouth", so to speak, but instead a set of strip lights on the lower part of its head that kind of looked like one. The head was way too big for its small, cone-like metal body. It had two arms with claw-like pinchers on the ends that were set stiffly at its sides.

“Huh,” said Dipper. “It’s some kind of…robot?”

“Well, duh,” said Mabel. “What do you think it does?”

Dipper circled the robot slowly. There was a switch on the robot’s back. After a moment of hesitation, he flipped it. 

The robot made a startled dial-up noise. Its eyes glowed faintly. The light strip that served as its mouth lit up all at once, before dimming, the entire body emitting a quiet hum.

"HELLO DESIGNATION1_MABEL, DESIGNATION2_DIPPER. PROPHECY_BOT SYSTEMS ONLINE. WHAT IS YOUR QUERY?"

"Woah," Mabel said. "It knows our names?"

"'Prophecy bot'?" Dipper asked. “What’s a prophecy bot?”

"Maybe like, a fortune-telling robot?" Mabel asked. "Hey Prophecy Bot, what's my fortune gonna be today?"

The robot beeped for a moment, its lights flickering. "PROPHECY #176-14 FOR PINES, MABEL, CONTENT: THE TREES OF THE COW PASTURE ARE GREEN. TREES BEYOND IT YELLOW WITH AGE."

"Wow," said Mabel. "A riddle."

Dipper frowned. "It sounds like a fortune cookie. That had a stroke."

“Hm,” Mabel tilted her head, looking at the robot up and down. “Do you think Nora built it?”

“That, or she got it from someone,” Dipper said. “Prophecy Bot, what number am I thinking of?”

“PROPHECY #176-15 FOR PINES, DIPPER, CONTENT: DIPPER PINES ISN’T SLY. THE NUMBER HE’S THINKING OF IS CLOSE TO PI.”

Mabel laughed. “That one rhymed.”

“I was thinking of pi,” Dipper muttered, a little embarrassed. “The first ten digits of it, anyway.”

“Prophecy Bot, what’s your deal?” Mabel asked. “Why are you stuck in our friend’s crummy old closet?”

“PROPHECY #176-16 FOR PINES, MABEL, CONTENT: DEFECTIVE IS A DESIGNATION WE MUST GIVE TO ALL CREATION.”

“Huh,” said Dipper. “So it’s defective.”

“That’s mean,” Mabel said. “It’s not defective, it’s special!”

“How are you defective?”

“PROPHECY #176-17 FOR PINES, DIPPER, CONTENT: CIRCLES AND CIRCLES I GO.”

“What?” said Mabel.

“Okay, that one’s just nonsense,” Dipper frowned. Something was slowly clicking into place.

“Prophecy Bot, who’s the prettiest girl you know?” Mabel batted her eyelashes.

“PROPHECY #176-18 FOR PINES, MABEL, CONTENT: JULIANE.”

Mabel frowned. “Who’s Juliane?”

Dipper’s mind was already busy concocting a plan. “That’s it!”

“What’s it?”

“Don’t you see? This robot is defective. It gives you these riddles that you have to solve, and most of them don’t make any sense out of context. If I figure out a way to fix the base programming that causes it to spout nonsense then-”

“You’ll figure out what Nora couldn’t?”

“Yeah!” 

“And then you’ll be just as big of a nerd as Grunkle Ford?”

“Yeah! Wait-”

“Ha! Gotcha.”

Dipper walked over to the robot and tilted his head this way and that, hard in thought. “It’s gonna take a lot of debugging though. Are you gonna help me?”

“Heck yeah! I’m great at catching bugs!” Mabel punched her open palm.

“Not those kinds of bugs.” Dipper turned to face the Riddle Bot. “Let’s do it.”

—

As they descended from the mountain, the heavy forestry and weeds gradually gave way to stone structures, shops, houses, and basic facilities that made up the small village in the valley. Dimension 52 was minuscule compared to others, consisting of only a few cluttered star systems, and aside from some passersby looking for the Oracle’s guidance (or trouble), it did not see a lot of action. 

Baragerth was used to the sleepy nature of the town. It had been there for thousands of years, as long as he remembered it, and with it, the Oracle, always in the same place, never truly changing except for the different forms she took on. 

This one was much smaller than the others. Humans themselves seemed fragile and minuscule compared to the residents of most dimensions, so it was strange, why Jheselbraum the Unswerving would ever want to take on the appearance of one.

“How goes the task?” Baragerth asked lightly.

Beside him, his companion was unreadable. This, too, he was used to. “Progressing,” she answered, matter-of-fact and to the point. “How are things here? How are your people?”

“Your people are doing quite well. Save for a few tree disputes and the like.”

“I am hardly fulfilling a leadership position.”

“No. You’re the strange immortal we invite over for tea once in a while, in the hopes you’ll bless us with good harvests.” She gave him a look that was not hard to read. It was not amused. “Only joking! No sacrifices or prayers in your honor. Still, we would not be half as prosperous if it weren’t for your guidance.”

“The least I could do,” Jheselbraum said quietly.

“Oh, don’t be like that! Half of them could figure it out on their own if there wasn’t an easier option.”

“Half of them would still have a real home if it weren’t for Bill Cipher.”

The mention of the name chilled him in a way that Baragerth had a hard time shaking off. She was right, of course, but it was always a painful reminder.

He had never seen his home dimension. His mother had fled it millennia before she gave birth to him. Still, seeing some of the haunted looks in the eyes of his people could only have him guessing at the horrors they had seen. 

“I think we take your kindness for granted,” he said quietly.

Jheselbraum laughed, not very warmly. “Kindness is one thing. Paying off a debt is another.”

“You know I won’t pry into what happened-”

“And I wish it stayed that way.”

“But whatever you think you’re holding yourself accountable for is irrelevant now. He is gone.” Baragerth closed his eyes. “And good riddance to that.”

“Yes,” the oracle said, her face once again a calm mask. “He is gone.”

A young boy came running. It was Miko, the son of a scribe who came from the 43rd Dimension. He was out of breath when he stopped in front of them, his little rock-like legs trembling from the strain of running uphill.

“What is it?” Baragerth asked.

It took the boy a moment to recover. “Meeting’s been moved,” the boy gasped out. “You’ve gotta see this.”

—

“Riddle Bot, what's in my hand right now?”

“THE TRUTH SHALL BE REVEALED WHEN IT IS NOT CONCEALED.”

…

“Riddle Bot, what’s for dinner?”

“FOOD FOR THOUGHT IS THOUGHT OF AS A THOUGHT.”

…

“Riddle Bot, why are you so useless?”

“INSULTS MAY GET YOU POWER BUT NOT MONEY.”

…

Dipper didn't have the strength to raise his head from the floor and properly look at it. It felt nice, laying there, not thinking about his failure.

Next to him, Mabel was sitting propped against the robot, looking bored out of her mind. 

But he couldn't quit now.

“Riddle Bot-”

“Oh, give it up, Dipper!” Mabel gave him a half-hearted kick. “It was fun at first but all it's been giving us is a bunch of boring nonsense!”

“But if I can decode the answers-”

“Ughhhh.” 

Dipper glanced at his open journal lying next to him, and the dozens of “prophecies” he recorded there. He had plenty of data, so why wasn't this working?

“Maybe I just need to look at it from a different angle.”

He flipped the journal upside down.

And now he was acting like his sister. Maybe he had given up, if he was resorting to her methods of silliness. 

“Hey Riddle Bot!” Mabel asked. “What’s the meaning of life?”

The robot’s circuits whirred. They both held their breath.

“42.”

“That one makes the least sense!” Dipper ripped out the page of prophecies and threw the crumpled-up ball at the robot. It bounced off, the robot remaining completely unfazed. 

His eyes landed on the page underneath.

No way it was going to work. Dipper had spent weeks on the answer and came up with nothing. The clue Bill had given him had been utter nonsense. 

Still, maybe the way to fight nonsense was with more nonsense. Maybe-

“Riddle Bot, what’s 16°C to 18°C, and no higher than 24°C?”

The robot beeped as it processed the query. The motors inside it hummed, as if before takeoff. It swerved its head.

Mabel and Dipper backed away. 

Then, all at once, the robot’s body slumped, and the lights in its eyes went out. 

“Aw, you broke it,” said Mabel.

“Oh no,” Dipper walked over to it, tapped it on the head, and tried to lift one of its arms. “No no no, I really messed up.”

“Hey, come on, it’s not that big of a deal-”

“Not that big a deal?! Mabel, I broke one of the Oracle’s creations! What are we gonna tell her when she comes back?”

“One: she probably totally forgot she even had this. It was gathering dust in the corner! Two-”

Behind him, the robot suddenly roared to life. Dipper jumped away, then watched with a mix of horror and fascination as it turned its head this way and that in frantic, jittery moments, the lights in its eyes blinking on and off in a kaleidoscope of colors. 

Then it froze, staring straight at Dipper. “PROPHECY #199-3333333… FOR PINES, DIPPER, CONTENT: SHE IS WATCHING.”

It jerked itself from the spot it had been in, and with uncoordinated movements made its way to the nearest wall. 

“Wait-!” Dipper cried.

The robot raised its metal arms and, with a force Dipper didn’t think it capable of, smashed a hole in the wall. 

Chunks of bricks rained around it as it leaped through the hole. Two rocket thrusters appeared out of its hands in midair, and it flew, down the mountain and toward the town.

---

[next]

[prev]

[first]

[illusionsdelusions101]

I love you.~ Alejandro Garnacho

Word Count~ 1,027 Type~ Angst, fluff?   Being the ex of Alejandro Garnacho sure gets you stopped in the streets, I mean, two famous people, abruptly breaking up during their relationship without any further explanation to the public? It perks peoples' interests. Getting stopped for interviews and people shoving microphones in your face? Not fun.    You arrive home, your apartments warmth envelops you. You hang up your coat on the hanger, kick off your shoes and walk to the living room. A small journal lays on the coffee table, labelled "My Dear." You pick it up, along with a pen and you open the journal. You, a model for a huge clothing company, and Alejandro, one of Manchester United's youngest players, it wouldn't have been a shock if you met in a bar. Him, celebrating a victory and you, just getting an amazing new contract for another company that you signed in a heartbeat.     Subtle flirting from across the bar, sending drinks over, notes that you slip to him on your way to the bathroom and him slipping you one back once you exited. By the end of the night, you were getting your purse and coat, just about to leave when the blonde-haired soccer player stopped you.     "Hey. Can I have your number?" His strong Argentinean accent makes it sound like soothing music to your ears. You agree, without hesitation and there was the start of your relationship.     After that night, dates to a cafe, beach, arcade, pretty much anything, it was perfect. You've never felt happier. And he felt the same. He would admire you when you weren't looking. Anything about you. Your kind personality, your beautiful face, everything. He got so lucky, he couldn't express it towards you, his love. That was eventually the downfall of your relationship.    "Do you not love me!?" you cried. Tears streaming down your face, throwing a pillow on the other side of the room. "Do you, Ale!? You take me on the extraordinary dates! You take me everywhere! And yet you can't even tell me you love me!? " You screamed. Late after a date, you had a realization feeling. After 6 months of dating, he’s never told you those three words.  

“Y/N, listen to me! Pl-” He tried to reason with you. He wasn’t ready, he’d never been in such a loving relationship. He thought he did everything right! But no matter how much he wanted to say those words, it would feel ripped out of him. Torn. And it wouldn’t be fair to you if they weren’t true. 

“I can’t! I just can’t! Garnacho. Tell me you love me or leave this place. And never come back.” The tears were dropping one by one onto the t-shirt he gave you. His t-shirt. Smelled like his cologne and everything. But to you, in this moment, was the most disgusting smell in the world. You stand behind the couch, while he stands all the way across the coffee table. The apartment falls into a deep silence. The only thing to break it was your deep sob.  

“Out.”  

Amid your relationship, you created a journal, writing everything about you and Alejandro, but after you broke up, the journal had been sitting on your coffee table, untouched.  A week ago, you had realised your mistake. You let go the one person who made you the happiest. You picked up the journal on that realization, only when to open it, you found the pressed rose from your first date.  

“Here you go, my dear.” It was a warm day in Manchester, you and Garnacho agreed to meet in front of the Old Trafford Stadium, both of you wearing hats to escape the paparazzi and fan girls. “Well thank you!” You take the rose carefully, keeping it close to you, cheeks flushed a pink shade. You followed Garnacho to wherever he went. He brought you to a small lake with a couple of ducks. You had a great first date, feeding the ducks with the bread that he brought, throwing the bread at each other and then sharing an intimate kiss.  

You carefully remove the rose and start writing about how you messed up in the journal, all the things you want to tell him, but you weren’t ready. Just as he wasn’t to say I love you. You fill up a whole two pages. Saying how you were building up your courage and how you were going to tell the man you so suddenly let go, that it’s okay. You were scared, of course. He might have found someone new, might laugh at you or something. Shaking the bad thoughts from your head, you change and go to bed. The alarm clock on your bedside table reading, 00:00. 

Garnacho, on the other hand was in the middle of a party, some girl trying to chat him up. He couldn’t take it anymore. He missed you. Too much. The words “I love you” have never wanted to be said more to you. Garnacho shoved through the bodies of people, he finally ended up at the front door of the bar, he opened the door and practically ran to his car. He shoved the keys into the hole and turned them. The car came alive, and he sped off. He gripped the steering wheel. He knew your address so there was no problem there. The adrenaline was pumping through his veins. What would he even say? “I’m sorry. I miss you and I was a terrible boyfriend.” Something like that? Who knows? Who cares? He needed to see you. Badly. He saw your apartment complex approaching. He parked quickly and rushed to the door. He knew the code for the front of the building. He punched it in and swung the door open. You were everywhere in his mind. All he thought. He should’ve fought for you. He never felt more hollow after he left your apartment the night you guys broke up. He rushed up the stairs and in no time, he reached your door. He knocked. You were probably asleep, as the time read 1:00. But to his surprised, the door opened gently. 

Pt.2?

[zukosdualdao]

6, 7, 8, and 16 for the fandom asks!

6. My favorite character:

*nearly buzzing* hey have you guys heard of my good buddy zuko?

okay this is gonna be long and then i'll try to be normal shshhsghjh it's funny because the answer definitely used to be katara (and don't get me wrong, i still adore her and she is absolutely is a close second, she deserves everything tbh), but something about zuko on my last rewatch (before my current rewatch) (i am ridiculous) just... really stuck with me. i hadn't seen the show in years at that point, and while i'd always liked his story, this time around, i couldn't help but appreciate the nuance in it, as someone who is both a victim of abuse and a villain in the narrative, and how the show goes out of its way to show you why he's acting the way he is and doing the things he's doing in a way that allows you to sympathize with him (and that helps to sew the seeds of his redemption because his abuse cannot be disentangled from the fact that he was once a kid who valued kindness and things like not unnecessarily sacrificing new recruits on the front lines, and that he is now performing his father's ideals of cruelty to try to both conform and cope.)

but i also feel the show does a good job at showing this without ever falling into the trap of justifying what he's doing. and his story is really cathartic, as it's one of not just redemption but healing, and the idea that those two things go hand in hand? that the narrative didn't demand zuko hate himself to be redeemed (and, in fact, discouraged it, "pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source", after all) but instead, the actions he took toward changing his life and helping people made him a healthier, happier person??? it's just. it's so good. i could talk about zuko for hours, and i won't do that but. yeah i love this character a normal amount.

7. My least favorite character: (*i decided to interpret this as characters i don't like as people rather than characters i don't like the arcs of. that's a different, more complicated answer i don't feel like delving into at the moment.)

ozai is the boring answer, but i mean. c'mon. (he's not a BAD character, he's just the literal worst.) i don't feel like this one requires that much explanation.

also, though, i don't hear enough hate for my guy zhao. (again, good character! he does what he's supposed to in the narrative, which is overshadow zuko as a threat/villain and showcase viewing oneself as inherently superior as something that will ultimately lead to downfall, which foreshadows the defeat of both ozai and azula.) like.... i don't totally know why, but zhao actually really gets under my skin as a villain lmao. maybe it's because he's more tangible than ozai? like, ozai spends so long as this shadowy, untouchable figure, and so much about him is implied, but zhao is just right there throughout book one, being the worst. and i don't know how to explain it, because there are honestly a lot of similarities between them, but i feel like not everyone has met someone like ozai, but most people know someone like zhao. he has less power than ozai (not none, but less) but just as much ego and will rub whatever power he does have in your face and i just. yeah i hate him.

8. Is there anything I wish people would write more about in fics? (A dynamic, an exploration of an arc, just a character that doesn’t get much screentime, etc): honestly more of toph's dynamics with like, everyone in the gaang, because at a certain point, i do feel like toph gets shoved to the side a bit. (you're telling me TOPH BEIFONG of all people wouldn't have an opinion in the southern raiders?) the friendship moments we do get in the show are cute!!! she's never had friends before and now she does, let her have friends, let it be cute!

i do think some corners of the fandom try to remedy this but i just. i'm having a moment about toph pour one out for my my girl <33

16. Favorite inside joke the fandom has:

zuko, a man who cannot be killed!

[themissingnumbers]

Hey, Guys! It’s been awhile and my brain won’t shut up, so you know what that means—It’s Theory Time!

Ok, hear me out, y’all. I’m about to ramble on about this, and I’m either going to be making a lot of sense, or sound like a complete madman. Try to follow along, because I write things down in the order they appear in my brain, so it’s probably going to be a little sporadic. Please enjoy my yap session.

Ahem- Todays Topic: Red and MissingNo. (This is sort of building off of my last theory about them, so just keep that in mind.)

I want you all to know that if this actually happens, I called it- But, this entire theory came from this idea. And that idea is both very simple, and very complex:

My Idea is that MissingNo has already done to Red what Red will (inevitably) do to us.

And what is that, my fellow theorists? Use us.

Yes—I firmly believe that Red will try to use us should we ever prove ourselves to be trustworthy. After all, he’s already used/manipulated Professor Ace Maple. So, why wouldn’t he also try his hand at manipulating the Players? What reason would he have to not try and use us?

Now, you’re probably all thinking: “Wow, Red’s a crazy evil scheming little bastard-“ BUT NO! Hear me out- Red is not the villain here. No, Red is not completely innocent in all this; and Yes, Red is mentally unstable—how could he not be after spending upwards of 28 years alone in the broken remnants of his home—but Red is not the bad guy. MissingNo is. Ketsuban is the scheming bastard.

Are you still here? Good! Lock in right about now, because I’m about to get more rambly than a raccoon. Things might seem a little wack here, but just remember—these are my thoughts. Nothing here is concrete.

Alright! Hear me out y’all- Let’s talk about MissingNo, or at least, what I think about MissingNo. My initial observation about the Glitch was that MissingNo was a parasite, but now, I’m starting to think that Red and MissingNo have a more “symbiotic” relationship.

What I’m thinking here, is that MissingNo has invested in a long-term plan by latching onto Red. Think about this: MissingNo can’t get out of the distortion on its own. It needs help to reach the new world, to be summoned or pulled out by other means. If Leaf and Red met in Glitch City all those years ago, MissingNo must have seen that escape is not impossible them. After all, Leaf got out. So perhaps it’s taking a chance by latching onto the only other Player Character in hopes that, he too, would escape—and take it with him.

Think about this, too. Let’s take a moment to look at Red. Red is super skinny and malnourished, so he’s probably physically weak. He’s isolated and alone, which likely makes him mentally weak. And (while this is just an observation on my part, mostly taken from context clues and other pieces of art) Red can’t die. He’s weak, mentally beaten down, and cannot die. That would make Red THE perfect host for MissingNo—especially if MissingNo can play its cards right by manipulating him.

I believe that MissingNo has been plotting on Red’s downfall since day one. I believe that MissingNo has latched onto Red and allowed him to believe that he’s the one in control—when it’s really the Glitch that’s been pulling the strings.

Red has his own goal when it comes to escaping Glitch City—and that’s to go back home. He wants to go back to his family, his friends, his loved ones. But MissingNo doesn’t care about that. MissingNo doesn’t care about what Red wants. MissingNo only cares about what MissingNo wants. And what MissingNo wants—is out.

Red’s so mentally broken that he probably can’t see what’s going to happen. And if he can, he’s probably too desperate to care. Maybe he thinks he can handle it somehow, but I don’t know how he could.

We are Red’s ticket to freedom, just as Red is MissingNo’s way out. I think that Red, upon escaping, will backstab us, betraying us no matter how many promises we make with him—only to then turn around and be backstabbed by MissingNo, who will abandon him, leave him weak and alone, forced to watch as he corrupts and destroys the world Red wanted to desperately to be a part of again.

In short, freeing Red is not the problem. Red is fine. It’s MissingNo that makes it an issue. MissingNo is Red’s plus one, and it doesn’t look like it has any intention of letting him go until he’s outlived his usefulness. Trust and believe that I want Red to be free. I want to give Red his life back. But if MissingNo gets out—it’s GAME OVER for EVERYONE. Red included.

If MissingNo is allowed to go free, then the world of Missing Numbers and its characters are doomed. Fire would be doomed, Leaf would be doomed, Blue would be doomed, all of the other characters that we haven’t even met yet would be doomed. All of it. Red would be able to do nothing but watch as his only other place to belong is turned into a duplicate of Glitch City, as the people he knew and loved were reduced to nothing but a mess of glitches, forced to listen to broken sound bytes of his family’s dying screams on repeat forever as he gets put right back where he started—but with no hope of returning home and left with a crushing feeling of guilt, knowing that everything he cares about is gone and it’s all his fault.

But think about if Arceus saw all of this happening and decided to reset the whole world. Who’s to say he wouldn’t just get rid of Red for real this time? Everything that would have proven his existence to other characters would have been destroyed by MissingNo, so if Red goes and the world is reset, there would be nothing to say that he ever existed. Nobody would remember him, and Missing Numbers would be as close to modern-day canon Kanto as possible. It would just be FireRed, Leaf, and Blue. Just like it was supposed to be.

Hoo boy- Okay. I… think that’s it? Probably. If not and I left some gaps In my sleepy, 3 am brain ramblings, I’m sure y’all can fill in the gaps. Again, this is just my thoughts and ideas. It’s a theory. You don’t have to like it, or you could just take bits and pieces from this—it’s your choice. I’m just rambling about what I think.

Last minute ramblings about things before the end:

Hey look guys, it’s a theory that wasn’t about Fire for once-

Okay, on a serious note—can we NOT push the envelope with Leaf? Seriously. Like, pushing her for answers is like making an attempt on her life. We gotta play the game. We gotta be in it for the long con. Everything that we need to know has to come out with time—either from her or from other sources. She knows that we know. And she knows that we know that she knows. We’re aware. So let’s just chose to ignore it for now and try to be friends with her. After all, lying about what we are to each other just makes things easier for us both, right?

OKAY! That’s actually it this time. If there was anything else, I’ve since forgotten it because I’ve been writing this for a couple hours on and off. That’s all my ramblings for now. Sorry that got so long. Have a good day, y’all!

.

[goldenavenger02]

Chapter 3: Recovery Is a Violent Beast

Lloyd woke up the next afternoon.

No one had been expecting it; if they had, they would have waited with baited breath as the small monitor proudly displayed how many times his heart beat instead of going to The Crossroads to stock up on food, supplies and whatever happened to catch one of the new trainees' eye.

Instead, when his bright green eyes slowly opened with a mild, pained groan, the only person who heard it was Kai.

Kai, who was sitting alone in the medbay while Zane continued his research, with one hand around Lloyd’s left hand and the other scrolling through Chirp until he nearly dropped his phone when he heard the groan escape Lloyd’s lips.

“Hey, bud,” He let out a breath of relief, pocketing his phone before wrapping his other hand around Lloyd’s, “how’re you feeling?”

Kai wasn’t sure what he was expecting to happen, but it wasn’t Lloyd’s eyes filling with tears while he brought in a long, sniffly inhale.

“Whoa, whoa, kiddo, it’s okay,” He stood up to get closer, using one of his hands to run through Lloyd’s thin strands of hair while keeping the other firmly grasped around his hand, “don’t try and talk if it hurts, we’ve got you.”

“I-I’m sorry,” Lloyd finally choked out, his voice shuddering as he spoke, “I’m s-so sorry.”

“Sorry about-” Kai started to ask, only for him to remember the mild disagreement that had upset him the day before, but had been completely forgotten after his and Nya’s conversation in the bathroom, “oh, Lloyd…I’m not mad about that anymore.”

“But-”

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Kai cut him off, bringing his hand down from his hair to wipe the tears off of his face, “you being okay is so much more important to me than any sort of argument, you got that?”

Lloyd nodded, his eyes already starting to flutter shut again.

“Go back to sleep. We can talk more in a bit, promise.”

The pain medication that was flowing through the IV in his other hand meant that he had very little pushback or protest from Lloyd, who let his eyes close and stayed close.

Kai, on the other hand, gently pulled his hand out from under Lloyd’s head, because he knew that drooling was inevitable and it was the last thing he wanted on his bare hand.

…

He woke up in small increments at first, never really staying awake for more then ten minutes at a time.

Then it was fifteen, then twenty, and soon enough, a few hours.

On one hand, Kai knew that was good. Lloyd was getting stronger, he was pulling through and the pain was lessening. On the other hand, with the slow return of his strength was the rapid return of his insistence that he was completely fine.

“I can smell it from here,” Lloyd sighed while pulling apart the plain toast that had been brought down to him, “and it smells really, really good.”

The smell of dinner was filling the entire monastery to the point where Kai’s stomach was growling, but Zane had insisted that Lloyd needed to eat gently between the painkillers and just how close the dagger had gotten to his stomach.

“Well, pretend that your toast is the same food.” Kai suggested, trying not to look at Lloyd’s sad, puppy dog eyes that had always been his downfall.

“Toast isn’t the same thing as Zane’s teriyaki beef and you know it.”

“That’s why I said pretend, you little snot.”

“Oh, that’s just so much better than you calling me “boogers”.” Lloyd grumbled as he continued to pull the crust off of his toast before asking, “can I have a popsicle?”

“You really shouldn’t.”

“Oh, come on! It’s frozen juice. Please?”

Kai looked up from his phone to get met with the “someone kicked my puppy” eyes that Lloyd had been famous for long before he had become the green ninja and groaned, “fine, but you better eat all of that toast and it better stay down.”

…

“Stop yanking!” Wyldfyre shouted from where she was sitting on the floor outside of the medbay while Kai slowly ran the comb through her tangled ends.

“I’m not yanking,” Kai tried to keep his voice steady as he gently worked the comb through the large tangle in the middle of her hair, “but you have a lot of tangles and it’s only gonna take one too many people noticing before we have to deal with Ninjago Social Services, so just let me do this.”

“Fine,” Wyldfyre scowled but continued to sit still even when Kai picked up the detangler and sprayed it on her ends, adding even more to the strong scent of coconut in the air before switching to the hairbrush, “have you ever done this before? Because you are still pulling my hair.”

Kai had to refrain from saying “you should have seen when Lloyd let me take a brush to his hair for the first time because if you think this is bad, brushing a tangled bowl cut is ten times worse” and settled on, “that’s just what the brush feels like. But I’ve almost got all the knots out.”

“Finally! I hate sitting still.”

“Do you want me to style it?” Kai asked as he brought the brush through the sections he had separated, relieved when he felt zero knots snag on the brush.

“Style it?” Wyldfyre repeated slowly, a familiar signal that the words were unfamiliar in her mouth.

“Yeah, put it up so it doesn’t get tangled so easily. Like Nya’s and Sora’s ponytails.”

“I do not want my hair to look like theirs.” She shook her head, merging all of the sections of her hair into one.

“Nah, I’ll give you the hairstyle of a warrior.” Kai insisted, which got her to stop moving so he could work his fingers through it before deciding on simply pulling back her overgrown bangs into a hair tie, letting the rest of her hair stay loose.

“Are you almost done? I’ve been here forever.” Wyldfyre whined but stayed still as Kai finished tightening the hair tie so it wouldn’t fall out before turning on his phone camera and handing it to her.

“Why don’t you take a look?”

He watched as she held the camera up to her face before turning her head so she could see the side of her hair, but stayed silent the whole time she examined the bright red strands only to get the air knocked out of him as she hugged him tightly.

“I love it!”

“I’m glad you do, kid.”

“Kai?” Nya’s voice floated towards his ears, which made him look up from the tight hug he was still engulfed in, “I love the new look, Wyldfyre.”

“Thanks!” She said, bouncing to her feet and leaving Kai to push himself up from the floor, only for his cheeks to flush red as she added, “Kai styled it for me!”

“He did a great job,” She nodded, waiting until Wyldfyre left to go show the others before offering her hand out to Kai, which he gratefully took to pull himself off of the floor, “I need you to do me a favor.”

“Do you want me to do your hair too?” He smiled, ruffling a hand over her head where her ponytail was coming loose, making her laugh as she pulled away, “I can give you bangs again.”

“Absolutely not! You know Cole used to call it my “wack-ass bob”, right?”

“How did you ever think you and him were meant to be together?”

“Like you’ve made better dating decisions,” she retorted with a smile, her hand going to her pocket where everyone knew she kept her yang medallion, “anyway, Lloyd’s hair is bad.”

“Like the gremlin’s hair I just brushed bad,” Kai asked, already gathering up the hair care products he had just used on Wyldfyre, “or tangled bowl cut bad?”

“Bad enough that he’s trying to brush it, and considering he’s not even supposed to be sitting up without assistance-”

“Yeah, I’m on it,” Kai assured her before he made his way inside of the automatic doors just as another failed attempt of Lloyd trying to lift his arms above his head resulted in a loud hiss of pain, “don’t you know that I’m the resident hairdresser around here?”

“Nya told you?”

“Oh please, I felt those tangles days ago,” Kai lied through his teeth as he adjusted the pillows behind Lloyd’s back that allowed him to sit up, “now, let go of that brush and let me deal with this.”

“Alright, alright, just don’t yank.”

“I just brushed through Wyldfyre’s hair-,” Kai started as he spritzed some of the coconut scented detangler on Lloyd’s head, only to get cut off.

“How on earth did you manage that?”

“Because I’m her favorite, remember?” Kai retorted, slowly bringing the comb down through Lloyd’s hair and gently working it through the snags, “my point is, this is a piece of cake compared to the knots that were in her hair.”

“I can believe it.” Lloyd’s laugh sounded a bit forced to Kai which is how he found himself asking.

“How’re you holding up?”

“Ready to get back on my feet.”

“Baby steps, Lloyd,” Kai clicked his tongue as he worked the comb through a particularly bad tangle that made Lloyd pull in a sharp breath, “how about we start with lifting your arms above your head?”

The annoyed huff of breath that escaped him was the same one he had let out all those years ago when he still wore a black hoodie with badly painted bones on it.

…

“Did you know that The Crossroads has continued with our merch sales?” Zane questioned as he walked into Lloyd’s bedroom.

For everyone’s sanity, Lloyd had finally been moved to his own room after days of insistence that bordered on whining, even though Kai nearly got smacked in the head for insinuating it.

“Not surprising, given just how awesome we are,” Kai responded as he looked up from his phone, “we do transcend generations, after all.”

“Why do you ask?” Lloyd responded, putting down the lesson book that definitely did not have a Starfarer comic resting inside of it.

‘Some things never change.’

But Zane didn’t get to respond because that was when Arin ran past him, holding a stuffed version of himself as well as Sora, Lloyd and Riyu in his arms with an excited squeal.

“Lloyd, we’re plushies! This is the best day of my life!”

“That’s awesome, Arin, but I-”

“Do you want the stuffed Riyu?” Arin cut him off, holding the plushie out to Lloyd before adding in a sing-song tone, “they’re weighted.”

Kai knew fully well that if Lloyd was somehow able to deny Arin’s starstruck eyes, a weighted plushie would be damn near impossible for him to give up on.

“Sure,” Lloyd nodded, gently taking the stuffed dragon and setting it beside him on the bed, “thank you, Arin.”

Kai was glad to know some things never changed.

…

“Are you okay, Kai?” Sora’s voice was quiet as she approached him in the courtyard.

“I’m working on it,” Kai let himself move slowly throughout his forms, the tension in his shoulders lessening as he let his stress slowly make its way out of his system, “did you need something?”

“It’s…” she started, but Kai could see her apprehension when he opened his eyes, “nothing, forget about it.”

“Why don’t you join me?” Kai suggested, only continuing when she raised her eyebrow but remained silent, “moving through forms, it helps with worry.”

Sora didn’t protest as she stood still for a moment with her eyes fixated on Kai before holding her arms out and starting to copy his movements.

“What’re you worried about?” Kai asked softly after a few minutes, seeing her muscles tense from the question, “you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but from experience, talking about it can help more than moving through forms.”

Sora stayed silent.

“I’m worried about Lloyd,” Kai admitted, “I feel like I’m constantly worried about him, but this last week…it brought back some really bad memories,” He kept moving as he spoke to keep his heart from racing, “how much do you know about the prophecy?”

“What prophecy?” 

“”One ninja will rise above the others and become the green ninja. The ninja destined to defeat the dark lord”,” Kai recited from memory, “when we first started training, there were four of us. Zane, Jay, Cole and myself. Nya wasn’t a ninja and Lloyd was just a bratty kid but I accidentally took Master Wu’s bag instead of my own on a mission and that scroll was in it.”

“We all got really excited, treating it as a “who’s the best” contest and it got to everyone’s head, my head especially. But we didn’t realize that the golden weapons determined who the green ninja was, that it wasn’t in Master Wu’s hands.”

“So, if Lloyd was just a kid, how did you find out?”

“It’s a long story, Serpentine and kidnappings and Master Wu even going so far as to track down Lord Garmadon for his help,” he could tell by Sora’s face that she knew some things about the resurrected version of Lloyd’s father, more than likely from Arin rather then Lloyd, “he was different back then. But I had to make a choice. Save the fangblade to keep Pythor from unleashing The Great Devourer, or save Lloyd’s life. That’s how I found out what my destiny was, that I wasn’t supposed to become the green ninja, but that I was supposed to protect him.”

“That’s why you get so frazzled when something happens to Lloyd?”

“It’s part of it,” Kai nodded, “but after his father died, I promised him that I’d look out for him.”

“That’s nice.”

“He got possessed by a ghost the same day.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah, he’s got some really shitty luck,” Kai agreed, noticing that Sora had stopped moving through her forms at some point during his very long explanation, “what about you?”

“It’s just these stupid powers,” Sora sighed, sitting down on the stone floor, “I want to use them to protect people but they flicker out and…” she sniffled, wiping her face on her sleeve, “then I can’t do anything.”

“Your powers are not what make you powerful, Sora. Do you know how many times the others and I have lost our powers?”

“No…”

“A lot,” he stopped to sit beside her and rested his hand on her metal shoulder, “but we persevered and got through it. Sometimes by using a new technique, or going back to our weapons training rather than relying on our elemental powers. Even just knowing that true elemental power is never really lost and that it always finds its way back.”

“Can you…” she trailed off, kicking at one of the stones with her foot, “can you teach me some of that?”

“Of course,” Kai nodded, looking up to see an all too familiar set of green eyes staring at him from the now open doorway, “but if you’ll excuse me, I need to give your master a verbal ass whooping.”

Kai heard Sora laugh as he stood up, but he was just doing his best to keep himself calm so he didn’t feel like he had to move in forms for the rest of the day, all while standing in Lloyd’s bedroom to keep the young master in check.

When he got to the hallway, he wasn’t surprised to see Lloyd leaning heavily on the wall with overexertion clear on his face despite the smile.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“I just wanted to know how training was going,” Lloyd shrugged, “you’re good with them, you know.”

“I have experience when it comes to kids, especially kids who don’t do what they’re told,” Kai used as his explanation while he grabbed Lloyd’s wrist, “any particular names ring a bell?”

“I’m not a kid any more.”

“Well, then you should know how to behave.”

“Zane said I could get up today, hothead.”

“With assistance, for short periods of time. You’ve already worked through any of that pent up energy with how much you’re leaning on the wall,” Kai asserted his point as he led Lloyd down the hall towards his bedroom, “and unless you got in contact with that one elemental master-”

“Mr. Pale?”

“-then you are on a one way trip back to bedrest in the medbay,” Kai insisted, opening the door to Lloyd’s room and letting go of his wrist so he could lay down, “now stay put.”

“I’m gonna tell Nya how mean you’re being.”

“She’s gonna be on my side with this one, demon spawn,” Kai shrugged as he grabbed the green blanket off of the end of the bed and pulled it over Lloyd’s legs before looking back up at an absolutely miserable face, “Look, I hate sitting around and doing nothing just as much as the next person, but you’ll only make yourself worse if you push yourself too hard.”

“I know,” Lloyd sighed, laying back on the pillows, “I just feel like I should be doing something.”

“Tell you what,” Kai sighed as he sat on the end of Lloyd’s bed, “why don’t we do some light lesson planning? I can tell you how far Nya, Zane and I have gotten with the kids, and we can talk about what they need to work on.”

“That sounds good.”

“Good, because I didn’t have a plan b,” Kai grinned as he stood to go get the empty lesson books out of the library but stopped when he saw Lloyd frowning at his blanket, “and once you’re up to it, we can teach them about the destructive power of rumors.”

Lloyd’s laugh was so infectious that it followed Kai through the hallway.

…

“After examining the components of the blade, I first thought it was a new variation of vengestone…”

Kai knew he was supposed to be listening. Knowing what kind of arsenal that Ras’ army was carrying was going to be vital in their fight against them when they reemerged.

But, he couldn’t take his eyes off Lloyd; he was wearing the white robes again and holding Master Wu’s bo staff in his hand as he stood against the wall, a quiet observer to the team meeting around the table.

Any quick glance in his direction would be convincing that he was fully recovered, but a closer look would reveal just how much he was using the bo staff for support and the shine of sweat gathering around his temple.

“-can enhance instincts as well as natural senses- Kai?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you even paying attention?”

“Sorry, sis,” Kai apologized, getting an eye roll in response, “can we take five?”

“Fine.” Nya sighed as she ran a hand over her face, muttering something about Kai’s inability to listen to anything other than bad pop music while walking away.

But he ignored the long string of muttering and walked over to Lloyd before saying one word.

“Busted.”

“I know.”

“Come on, let’s get you sitting down,” Kai sighed as he led Lloyd to one of the chairs before reaching over and untying the green headband around his forehead, letting his hair fall loose, “when was the last time you drank something?”

“Don’t know.”

“First master, it’s like you want to go back to the med bay,” Kai pinched the bridge of his nose and pulled in a deep breath to try and calm his pounding heart, “look, stay here. Use your earpiece if you need something. I’ll go get you a water bottle.”

Lloyd’s nod followed by him squeezing his eyes shut, presumably to keep the world from spinning, was enough confirmation for Kai to use the elevator to get to the kitchen.

On his way back, however, planning some sort of lecture about Lloyd keeping water with him, that was when he heard a voice come through his ear.

“Hey, Kai?”

“What’s up, squirt?” Kai asked, hitting the down button with his elbow since he had one hand wrapped around the cold water from the fridge and the other on his communicator.

“Thank you.”

…

“You’re not gonna need stitches,” Zane determined at last after examining the cut on Arin’s cheek from his katana, “Kai, you can relax.”

“Seriously, Kai,” Arin insisted from where he sat on the exam bed, “this isn’t the worst I’ve gotten hurt by a long shot and we don’t even have to bring out the needles this time!”

‘But it could have been so, so much worse. I’ve been doing this for so long and he still got hurt under my watch.’

Riyu nuzzled against his leg to get his attention, seemingly doing his best to break through the anxious thoughts, which he could admit had ebbed away after giving the young dragon some well deserved scratches around the scales.

Only for the thoughts to come back full force when the automatic doors slid open and Lloyd rushed toward them faster than Nya could keep up behind him due to the sheer determination in his steps.

“Nya told me what happened,” Lloyd insisted as he gently held Arin’s chin in his hand and examined the wound, “are you okay? Do you need stitches? Pain scale, one to ten.”

“Lloyd-”

“Now, Arin.”

Kai always forgot just how scary Lloyd could be until he was reminded by his actions.

“It’s a two and no, Zane said I don’t need stitches,” Arin insisted, taking both of Lloyd’s hands in his own, “I’m okay, promise.”

“Thank the master.” Lloyd muttered under his breath as Nya finally grabbed his arm and forced him to sit down in one of the chairs.

He didn’t speak again until Kai looked over at him, and given how much he was panting, he knew that it had taken all of his strength for him to get down there but when he did, it was only four words.

“I get it now.”

[me-myself-and-my-fos]

The Day We Met

Pairing: Bernard x Nic Blake

A/N: Just pretend I posted this on New Year’s Eve like I had planned and it didn’t take me two weeks to finish this cause I’m a coward

Warning: brief mention of pregnancy; tooth rotting fluff

Nic could count on one hand how many times in a year were considered their ‘busiest’ time of the year. New Year’s happened to be one of them, and she had the (mis)fortune of being a manager this year during New Year’s Eve. She thought it would be no different from the chaos of Valentine’s Day or Easter or even Christmas, but no.

The door to the bakery opened suddenly, bell jingling as a tall, lanky college student in an apron and puffy jacket stepped outside. His arms had three boxes of various cookies, cupcakes, and other pastries in them as he walked toward the van they used for deliveries. Following him, Nic scowled at the back of his head. Her own arms were filled with large boxes of cupcakes and a cake.

“One job, Larry. I asked you to do one job, and that was to load the van thirty minutes ago!” She was overwhelmed and stressed and at her wits end with how packed the bakery was, as well as the orders they had to complete before it closed for the day. This was the last thing she needed. “Deliveries start in five minutes, how are we going to get all of these–”

A yelp escaped her as her world became horizontal, the patch of ice she hadn’t noticed being her downfall. Still, her grip on the boxes in her arms remained as she waited for the hard embrace of the sidewalk to hit her back. But it was an embrace that never came, and she opened the eyes she didn’t realize had squeezed shut in anticipation for her fall. Instead she found herself staring at the snowfall above, and a face came into view, eclipsing the gray sky.

“Are you alright?” Bernard asked, helping her stand upright. As she found her footing, Nic gave a shy smile to the handsome stranger.

“I’m fine,” she breathed out, slowly pulling away from his hold and over to the van. “Thank you for saving me.” She opened the boxes of orders, sighing in relief that by some miracle they managed to stay intact. She moved to face him, and Bernard quickly slipped his hands into his pockets. “I owe you one,” she told him before looking over at Larry. “Finish loading the van? I’ll be inside.”

As she carefully walked back to the front door of the bakery, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror and was unsure what the redness on her cheeks was from: the cold, the embarrassment, or the cute guy who caught her. She tried to not let the blush work its way to her ears as she stepped inside to the warm, sweet smelling bakery and tossed her coat into the cupboard beneath the coffee station. Nic took her spot behind the pastry display to help the two employees that were taking orders and filling them. The bakery was packed, so much so that Larry had a difficult time squeezing back in to grab more deliveries, and Bernard nearly couldn’t find an empty space to get inside. Nic hadn’t even noticed her savior was in the long, jumbled line to the cash register until she stood from where she had been crouching behind the pastries, filling a paper bag with sugar cookies and macadamia nut cookies.

She was face to face with him, surprised and handed the bag of cookies to her co-worker who handed them to the customer with a handful of napkins. “Oh hey, it’s you.”

“I wanted to make sure you’re okay,” Bernard said.

“I’m fine, honest,” she told him light-heartedly. “It’s an occupational hazard. But let me get you something as a thank you.” Nic reached into her pocket and took out a ten dollar bill. She handed it to the cashier. “Ring it up for a dozen sugar cookies and a small hot drink.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Bernard began, but was quickly cut off by Nic.

“This is my way of thanking you. So hot cocoa?” She asked, stepping over to the coffee pot that they had used to make hot cocoa instead. She poured a cup and took the whipped cream from the mini fridge underneath the counter, putting a healthy amount then closing the lid. She handed him the cup, their fingers brushing causing her to fight back a shiver. Pulling her hand away, her co-worker passed the bag of cookies to Bernard.

“Oh, thanks.”

“Thank you,” Nic tried not to giggle as they smiled at each other. There was a quiet pause as they did, the cashier continuing to take the next customer. But Nic was infatuated. “Has anyone ever told you that your eyes sparkle when you smile?”

Bernard felt his face grow warm. “No, no one ever has.”

“Well they should, cause it’s true.”

“Nic, we need some help back here!” Called one of the employees from the kitchen. “Truck just came in and we need another set of hands!”

“I should really get back to work…” she mumbled, gesturing to the kitchen.

“Yeah, you probably should…” Bernard nodded.

“Thank you again for saving me.”

“You’re welcome.” She gave him a small nod and headed to the back through the kitchen.

New Year's Day was hell. Not because most of the staff came in with hangovers, but because most of the customers came in with hangovers. Nic dreaded flipping the sign to say open, but she had to. Contractually, she was obligated.

The bell rang as the door opened, and Nic rolled her eyes as her back faced the door. She was still putting coffee grounds into the coffee maker’s filter. The bakery opened less than a minute ago according to her watch, and someone already came in. Taking a breath, she put on her best smile and in the fakest happy voice she could muster at 7am, faced the counter.

“Happy New Year and welcome to Cake and Bake–”

She paused when she saw Bernard standing in front of the door, shaking the snow off his hat. He looked up and noticed her staring.

“Hi.”

“Hi.” She adjusted her apron and stepped over to the cash register as he approached. “What can I get you?”

“Do you have any job applications?”

Nic was caught off guard by that, but she nodded. “Yeah, let me get you one.” She hurried into the back where the owner’s office was. As she disappeared into the kitchen, she fiddled with the keys in her pocket to unlock the office.

“Is that—” The head baker on shift, Jade, began to say, but Nic caught her off.

“Yes.”

Jade raised a brow. “Is he here to see you?”

The office door was unlocked and light illuminated the room. Nic opened one of the filing cabinets that she knew held the applications. She stepped out and held it up. “He wants one of these.”

“So he isn’t here to talk to you?” Jade asked, dividing the dough for the croissants.

“I don’t know!” Nic exclaimed quietly, throwing her hands up as she stalked across the kitchen.

“He’s cute though!” Jade told her before Nic pushed through the doors into the front of the bakery.

Bernard stood there waiting when she came out, and she held the application out to him. He took it from her, nervously looking down at the piece of paper.

“You can take it home and bring it back up when you’re done, or you can fill it out here.”

“Thanks.” He nodded and was about to walk over to the tiny table in the far corner of the bakery before he looked back at her. “Can I borrow a pen?”

Nic took the pen from behind her ear and handed it to him. Before he could take it, she pulled back. “I want this back before you leave. If I don’t get it back I’ll hunt you down.” He laughed nervously as she held it back out to him and he took it from her. “I’m entirely serious.”

“I promise I’ll give it back,” he told her then walked over to the table.

Nic watched him sit down and start to work on the application, but her attention was cut short by the door opening and the bell ringing. Taking a breath, she smiled and started working for the day.

An hour later when more employees had arrived and Nic was manning the cash register, she looked over to see him still working on the application. She walked over to the coffee pot filled with cocoa and filled a medium cup, topping it off with some whipped cream and chocolate syrup. She pulled a crumpled five dollar bill from her pocket and handed it to the cashier between customers.

“For the cocoa,” Nic said. It was a slower morning than she expected, but she figured it had to do with most people being hungover from the night before. She walked over to the table where Bernard sat and set the cocoa down next to him.

He looked at the drink and then to her. “Oh, you didn’t have to.”

“It gets cold by the window,” she told him, trying to explain away her actions. She left before the blush could consume her face, not noticing the same was happening to him.

It was another half hour before he approached the counter. The breakfast rush was slowing down finally and Nic had a moment to breathe. When Bernard came to the counter, she immediately gave him her full attention. He handed her the application and her pen.

“I’ll make sure my boss gets this,” she said gesturing with the application as she tucked the pen behind her ear. “Do you need anything else?”

“No,” he shook his head, though not ready to leave just yet.

“I guess I’ll be seeing you then?” Nic smiled at him, hoping he’d understand the invitation she was extending to him.

“I’ll definitely be by again soon,” he assured her.

Another customer approached the counter, and Nic moved out of the way for her co-worker to serve them. She waved goodbye to Bernard before rushing into the back. Jade watched as Nic entered the office and wrote something down on a sticky note before playing it on the application.

“What are you doing?” Jade asked.

“Just telling the owner I strongly recommend he consider this applicant,” Nic replied nonchalantly.

“You never do that!”

“Yeah, well, I have a feeling about this one…”

20 Years Later

Nic let out a groan as she sat up in bed, the clock on her bedside table showing it was a quarter to six in the morning. She rubbed her face tiredly, feeling the sleep fog lingering as she yawned. The light on her husband’s bedside was on, giving the room a soft glow. As she put on her glasses, the bedroom opened and Bernard entered the room with a tray of breakfast in his hands. Nic smiled tiredly at him, leaning against the pillows as he walked over to her side of the bed.

“What’s this about?” She asked, looking at the tray that he set in her lap.

“I wanted to make you breakfast in bed. For our anniversary,” he told her softly, leaning down to kiss her temple.

She hummed softly, smiling at the peanut butter and grape jelly on a cinnamon raisin bagel. She mentioned it to him the night prior— it was her first craving of the pregnancy. “Our anniversary was in September,” Nic reminded him.

“I’m not talking about our wedding anniversary.” He sat on the edge of the bed. “It’s the anniversary of the day we met. It was today, twenty years ago.”

Her eyes widened, pausing as she lifted half of the bagel up to her mouth. “No, it’s today? Already?”

Bernard nodded, smiling at her fondly. “It snuck up on us, I know. The last two months have been a busy time for us.”

“But twenty years? Where’s the time gone?” She asked in astonishment.

He reached up to tuck a strand of her messy bedhead behind her ear. “I don’t know. But you’re still as beautiful as you were twenty years ago.”

Leaning into his touch, she spoke. “And your eyes still sparkle when you smile.”

“I’ll let you eat and get ready for work. New Year’s Eve orders, they’re always the hardest to get through.”

“I will see you there, though.” She leaned forward and pecked his lips. “Once the girls are in bed tonight, we’ll spend New Year’s together.”

“I look forward to it.”