#how long is this. and i could've gone on lol. if i have anything to say i Can [never shut up]

[jnnul]

falling in love at first sight (x3)

a/n: so i woke up in cold sweat and i had to write this. there's like 30k i could've written about this but tbh, i needed to get this out lol. also taesan has been living in my head rent free so this is his eviction notice. quick note: feedback, comments, etc. GREATLY encourage writers! if you felt any sort of way (in a good or bad way!) about this fic, pls leave feedback!

word count: 6.3k

tags: college au!, basketballplayer!taesan x nurse!y/n, honestly it's just a fluff piece, idiots in love, dongmin is DOWN BAD and falls in love with the same girl 3 times, uhh y/n is a feisty nurse warnings: taesan is called dongmin, uhh alcohol + memory loss involved with getting shitfaced lol

HAN DONGMIN DIDN'T REALLY BELIEVE IN SUPERSTITIONS. to him, things like 'knocking on wood' or 'not opening an umbrella inside' were just old wives' tales that didn't have much substance to them.

but after dongmin had shattered his bedroom mirror this morning (he'd accidentally launched his alarm clock across the room after sleeping too late last night), nearly every single thing in his life had gone wrong.

he'd put expired milk in his cereal because kim donghyun (his roommate) hadn't switched out the milk like he'd promised to the day before. then he went to take a shower, only to be burned by scalding hot water since the landlord refused to change the heating system, even though they'd been suffering through the sticky heat of august for fifteen days already. as if all of that wasn't enough, he'd accidentally torn his favorite hoodie trying to clean up the fragments that'd fallen on the floor. and when he was trying to salvage his hoodie, he scraped his forearm against the fragments, meaning he had a nasty gash along the long side of it.

which meant he'd have to go to the hospital to take care of this stupid bloody mess instead of going to class.

that was how han dongmin found himself sitting in the waiting room of the urgent care center of the hospital, a shoddy rag wrapped around his forearm, his essentials hoodie covered in blood, expired milk, and mirror dust.

needless to say, dongmin had gotten more than a few strange looks from the other people in the waiting room in the last four minutes he'd been there.

"han dongmin!" the receptionist calls out, and dongmin launches himself out of his chair, impatient to get this over with as soon as possible.

something about hospitals just gave dongmin the heebie jeebies. the fluorescent lighting, the smell of rubbing alcohol, the tangible feeling of sickness that wafted through the air.

ugh. dongmin hated hospitals. in fact, he was so sure that he would never even step foot in a hospital after this. if he needed to wrap himself in bubble wrap to do so, then so be it because he hated hospitals and he would never come ba -

dongmin stops dead in his tracks, right next to the recovery bed that the receptionist had led him to. standing in front of him was the most gorgeous person he'd ever seen in his life.

you were smiling at something the patient in front of you was saying, leaning over to bandage the patient's scrape with a little bandaid that had cartoon ryans all over it.

fuck that.

dongmin was ready to break his leg if it meant that he got to stay in the hospital and stare at your beautiful face all day. before he could find something big and heavy to knock his leg into, however, you make your way over to dongmin, clipboard and first aid kit in hand.

"hello," you say with a soft smile. "my name is y/n l/n and i'll be taking care of you today. is there anything i can help you with?"

"will you go out with me?" the words escape dongmin's mouth before he can even process what he's saying and you immediately lean backwards, a disproving wrinkle between your eyebrows.

"excuse me?" you say, and it's clear that dongmin's not gonna be in your good graces if he hits on you. he really hoped you were like this with everyone and not that you just found him super unattractive or anything (donghyun swore up and down that dongmin was not ugly - especially now that he'd dyed his hair! but donghyun also never had to chase after a girl in his life so...). or worse, if you already had a boyfriend.

but before he can ruminate about your affronted stance too deeply, dongmin rushes to fix his mistake. "i mean, hospitals really freak me out. the ethanol smell and the lighting and everything kinda gets in my head, you know what i mean? do you think you could just slap some gauze on outside?"

the tension in your shoulders immediately relaxes and you take a step forward once more, setting the first aid kit down next to dongmin.

"oh yeah, that makes sense," you say, sounding relieved. "unfortunately, i can only provide care while inside the hospital to make sure that the instruments and gauze are sterile to prevent any contamination. i promise i'll be as quick as possible so i can get you out of here!" you explain, a slight pout tugging your lips down in the most adorable way as you seem genuinely sorry for dongmin.

it was official: han dongmin was in love.

"no, don't worry. take your time. i mean, the cut is pretty bad and i don't wanna leave any mirror guts in it," dongmin says. as quick as possible, my ass, he thinks to himself. i gotta find a way to make this last for as long as i can.

"of course!" you assure, before looking down at the clipboard. "so i assume you cut yourself on a broken mirror? does it hurt when you apply pressure?"

what was the answer that would keep you here longer?

"yes?"

"are you asking me or telling me?"

"telling?"

"very convincing. i'm gonna need to apply pressure and confirm for myself then, if that's alright with you?" you look at him in a way that seems to be somewhat apprehensive and dongmin has never wanted to reverse time more than in this very instant.

until he doesn't because your hands are on his forearm, examining the wound gently and applying pressure around the open gash.

"does it hurt when i do this?" you ask, eyes trained on the way that his forearm muscles ripple and move as you apply pressure in different places.

dongmin's not the most buff guy on the planet, and you checking out his muscles was definitely not for your own pleasure, but at least all of his time on the court and in the gym has paid off in some way.

"uh...no. not unless you're super close to the cut," dongmin says and you nod with a gentle smile. it's in that moment that dongmin decides that he would kill anyone and anything just to see you smile like that again,

"that's good to hear. well, i guess that all we need to do is 'slap some gauze on' after disinfecting the wound and making sure we don't have any 'mirror guts' in it," you say, a hint of cheekiness in your tone. dongmin doesn't know what it is about it but it makes him blush, regardless.

"yeah. that sounds good," he says dreamily, trying hard to compose himself once more when you flash him a questioning look.

you work carefully on his arm, making sure to give a tiny little stress ball to dongmin to use when you descend upon his wound with some antibacterial medicine and rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball.

"so, uh, you look pretty young for a doctor...?" dongmin says, trying very hard to focus his attention on you instead of the stinging pain that came with every touch of the cotton ball on his wound. the more he looked at you, the more he began to wonder if he'd seen you somewhere before.

dongmin wasn't the superstitious type, and didn't exactly believe in 'love at first sight', but no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't place you anywhere in his memory.

"that might be because 'm not a doctor," you say somewhat distractedly. "i'm a nursing student."

"oh. oh! you're a nursing student?" he asks. student. that means that you were either his age or just a few years older than him. and it also probably meant that you were a student at a university near by - maybe his?

"yep. a second year. although, don't worry, i've completed all of my first aid clinicals last year itself," you explain, leaning back in satisfaction when you finish cleaning up the wound.

"my school has a pretty famous nursing program, you know. maybe you've heard of yonsei's nursing program?" dongmin asks, eyes shining with hope.

it's only then that you look up at dongmin with an excited look in your eyes, turning to throw away the used cotton balls.

"i go to yonsei as well! i'm just starting my second year. it's a little strange because the nursing program runs through the summer, which is why i'm working clinicals right now. i'm almost done though, so i'll be switching into a field i'm more interested in," you say and dongmin swears he hears wedding bells in his mind. beautiful, kind, intelligent, and the same age as him? it was like god was basically handing his soulmate to him on a platter. maybe love at first sight was real after all.

"me too! well, i'm not a nursing major, but i'm a second year electrical engineering major," dongmin says, watching you turn back towards him with a clipboard.

"mhm, well, i've gotta tell you to be careful for the next week or so. no heavy lifting, sports, and definitely no cutting things. we don't want to make the wound worse, now do we?" you say chidingly, scribbling instructions on the clipboard of how to clean the wound with rubbing alcohol and how many pills of ibuprofen to take per day.

"of course," dongmin says half-heartedly. as much as dongmin hated the feeling of pain, the was the only way that he could think of to get to see you again was to somehow hurt himself again.

"how about you come back in a week to just make sure that it closed up well? make sure it didn't get infected or anything?" you ask, handing him the sheet of paper.

god was real.

dongmin swore he was going to go to church and donate at least 10,000 won for the blessing after blessing he was receiving today.

"oh sure," he says, a mischievous thought popping into his head. "but is it ok if i find you on campus? i have a lot of labs over the next week and i can't miss them if i can't even participate in them, so i can at least get the information. i won't really have time to stop by the hospital," dongmin says carefully, watching your expression to ensure that it wasn't changing with every word that escaped your lips.

technically, it wasn't a lie. dongmin did have a lot of labs next week but that's definitely not why he wouldn't have time to stop by the hospital.

"i don't see why not. i don't need any sterile instruments to just check quickly, so that shouldn't be an issue," you say slowly, nodding to yourself as you look around the little station to make sure you wouldn't need any of the equipment.

"perfect," dongmin says, shuffling out of the bed that he was sitting in to leave before turning around nonchalantly. "do you think i could get your number? so i know where to find you?"

you look up at him, and dongmin tries his best to seem sincere and genuine rather than as calculating as he felt, trying every tactic possible to see you again.

"yeah. yeah, here let me type it into your phone."

he hands his phone over to you, and it takes every single fiber of his being to keep himself from looking excited about any part of this transaction. you were already suspicious enough of him; you definitely didn't need more reasons to add to the list.

you're frowning slightly when you hand the phone back to him so dongmin pockets it without a second thought, to prove that he wasn't trying to be weird.

"thank you so much again." dongmin waves as he leaves, flashing the award-winning smile that he usually reserves for aunties and restaurant owners for free sides. oh, and for his fans.

you don't blush and trip over yourself when he does like his fans do - although you offer him a soft smile in return.

although, dongmin muses, i guess it would be weird if a nurse who met me for the first time would be anything like a college basketball star's fan though. maybe.

he shakes his head, opening the door to the hospital, looking down at his arm wrapped in gauze. yeah. there was no way that dongmin was taking a break from basketball. season started in less than three weeks and as yonsei's point guard, he had no choice but to just power through the injury.

it might work out in his favor after all. at least it would give him more chances to see you.

+++

turns out, the universe gives him a chance less than two days after he sees you for the first time. and in any other case, dongmin would be incredibly excited to see you again. he'd probably be ready, waiting with freshly showered hair and clean clothes and nice smelling cologne.

instead, when he sees you again, he's wearing raggedy shorts, a stained shirt, and holding a basketball that he definitely should not be holding.

dongmin knew he was fucked the moment you walked in through the double doors that opened up to the indoor basketball court of yonsei, light spilling in from the outdoors, along with the chatter and excitement of students returning to university.

you walk in wearing white, along with six other people dressed similarly, the basketball team's physician (dr. moon taeil) at the head of them all. dongmin hopes that you don't recognize him - or at least don't see him actively playing but of course, you manage to turn your head to see dongmin throw the ball out of his hands in a random direction in panic.

the ball, then of course, managed to fall neatly through the hoop, as though dongmin had intentionally thrown it there, causing him to want to die on the spot.

so he couldn't do that during a game with korea university, but now that he was doing everything in his power to keep you from seeing him play basketball, now he manages to throw it in the one place it shouldn't go.

your eyes narrow when dongmin turns to face you, your gaze falling to his (poorly) wrapped forearm. he offers you a trembling grin, which slowly turns into a frown when you look away, shaking your head as you start talking to the girl next to you.

at least you wouldn't say anything to coach about how he wasn't supposed to be playing right now, dongmin thinks to himself. even if i've effectively ruined my chances of her ever believing me about anything ever again. uh. not that i've had more than one conversation with her. or might have more in the future.

dongmin shivers, jogging over to where the basketball had fallen to pick it up and return to his place at the three-point line and continue shooting practice.

he returns to where he's supposed to be practicing, so that his back is facing the group of people who'd entered - namely, you.

"i forgot coach mentioned that we've got new on-site medical staff," dongmin mutters to himself, dribbling the ball before lining up his shot. "i didn't know that she'd be a part of that though - she can't be the sporty type if she didn't recognize me from the hospital."

dongmin is so lost in his thoughts that he doesn't even feel the dark presence looming over him until the ball is released from his hand.

"HAN DONGMIN!" someone yells, right next to his ear, and dongmin scrambles to attention, wincing when the basketball bounces off the rim and into the cart of basketballs he was practicing with with a resounding clang!

he turns slowly, eyes closed, as if that would make you go away.

"i cannot believe that i bandaged you up so carefully just for you to start playing again! how could you be so careless? do you not want to be able to play during the season? you're yonsei's ace and you're being this irresponsible!" you're heaving by the end of your rant and dongmin blinks, trying to come up with a response.

you definitely didn't know him well enough to yell at him like this - much less in front of all of his teammates - but for some reason, that's not what stuck out to dongmin.

(much to his chagrin, you being angry was hot. like really hot. especially since he'd thought you'd be the soft and cozy type, not the impulsive and quick to anger type. he really liked this side of you.)

"you know who i am?" he asks slowly.

"OF COURSE I KNOW WHO YOU ARE! OH, YOU ARE GETTING ON MY NERVES. YOU ASS, I DIDN'T BANDAGE YOU UP THAT NEATLY FOR YOU TO BE WALKING AROUND SHOOTING THREES!"

you're yelling at him, and for some reason, dongmin has never wanted to kiss someone more in his life. he'd never though he'd be this attracted to someone that he's just met yelling at him, much less in front of his entire team and her own entire team. but for some reason, as dongmin looks at you waving your hands all crazy and annoyed, all he can think about it how much he likes you.

it wasn't just physical. of course, he thought you were beautiful - possibly the most beautiful person he'd ever seen in his life and he would die on that hill - but it was more than that. it was as though he'd genuinely fallen in love at first sight.

you could tell him that you were a serial killer and at this point, dongmin would just admire your bloodlust.

"uh. dongmin?" coach jung says behind him, hands crossed over his chest. "do you guys need a moment to step out and come back?"

even coach jung seems a little bit intimidated by your livid state of being and dongmin has to cough to cover up his life.

"no coach. we're done here," you say, turning dramatically on your heel to turn back to your friends. but dongmin moves quicker than even his own mind can process what happens.

before he can think, his hand is wrapped around your wrist, spinning you closer to him, almost as if the two of you were ballroom dancing.

you look up at him, shocked, but dongmin is slow to let go of your wrist, not wanting to lose contact with you.

"no, we need just a moment," dongmin says, his eyes never leaving your own. it's clear that you neither expected this nor were used to this kind of behavior from anyone and before the fight that's building inside of you bubbles out, dongmin tilts his head toward the door that leads to a hallway extending to the equipment room, practically begging you with his eyes.

you aqcuiesce - or at least, dongmin thinks you do - from the way that your shoulder melt just the slightest and you let him pull you into the hallway.

"what?" you snap the second the door shuts behind the two of you. "okay, maybe i didn't let on that i knew you from our encounter, but that's irrelevant. i didn't need to tell you that i knew you. and besides, as your healthcare provider, it would have been extremely irresponsible on my end for me to let slip that i'm a fan - or that i know you personally at all."

dongmin can't help but let a small smile slip. "personally? we know each other personally?"

you fluster in that moment, looking anywhere but at dongmin, bringing a large smile to his face. he'd never thought that the feisty, quick to temper and quick to lose it, loud type was his type but he was starting to enjoy it very much.

"alright, well i know you personally enough, alright?" you huff, crossing your arms over your chest. "we've met before."

now it's dongmin's turn to look flustered, as he wracks his brain, trying to come up when or where the two of you have met before. he wasn't the one-night-stand type, so that couldn't be it. he also didn't have an insane amount of friends outside of the basketball team and donghyun's friends, so that wasn't it either.

"i'm really sorry - and i'm definitely trying to hit on you, just not right now - but i don't remember. i'd definitely remember someone like you," dongmin says, and he's well aware of the fact that his tone does not sound any level of displeased, and rather dreamy.

you roll your eyes, looking down at the ground. "we kissed once. twice actually. but um. that's not my point."

you clear your throat, as if you hadn't just dropped the biggest bomb of the century on dongmin, shaking your head. "why the hell are you playing basketball on an injured arm anyway? i specifically said no sports!"

dongmin raises an eyebrow. "you say you're my fan and yet you're still asking me why i'm playing when we have our first game in a week. and hold on. i'm not letting go of that first part; we've kissed? twice?"

you shrug, but it's clear that you don't think of it as nonchalantly as you're trying to make it sound when you speak. "yeah. in freshman year. once in spring semester and then once in fall. it's not a big deal. to you at least. clearly you kiss a lot of girls, if you don't even remember us kissing at all."

"now that's not fair," dongmin pouts, but he's well aware that he's not conveying this well at all. suddenly, a flash of a girl wearing a red dress, looking up at him with big eyes and a pouty lips crosses his mind.

good god. were - were you dongmin's mystery girl?

+++

"what do you mean dongmin finally found his mystery girl? the one he's been crushing on for a full year?" myung jaehyun says incredulously, instantly pulling out his phone to look you up on instagram.

dongmin sits in the middle of his friends, all sitting at the same table as they were supposed to be eating lunch, his head resting in his hands.

"you mean the one that he swore was the love of his life? god, he wouldn't shut up about that for at least six months," lee sanghyuk says, shoveling noodles in his mouth.

"try a year," donghyun groans, rubbing his forehead in pain. "do you remember the state of this kid when he woke up the next day?"

"good god, it was horrible. all he could say for a full week was that he wanted to jump out of the window because he'd lost her number and that he was never going to find true love because he couldn't remember her name, number, or even what she looked like," sanghyuck adds.

park sungho, the newest addition to their friend group, blinks, looking at dongmin, who's head is still in his hands.

"you were down bad, man," he muses and jaehyun on the side of him snorts.

"down bad doesn't even begin to describe it. it got to the point where we had 'girl in the red dress' and 'true love' jars because he would talk about her." jaehyun sighed, looking at dongmin pointedly. "he'd put enough money that we'd bought alc for the rest of freshman year. just in spring semester."

"that's what you get for trying to prove that you could drink a 4lokos without getting shitfaced," donghyun says, nose crinkling as he recalled the hours he had to spend making sure that dongmin wasn't going to die by choking on his own spit. "and he went and did it twice. it took us months to get to the point where we could invite this guy anywhere so as long as he swore not to bring her up again."

dongmin looks up, almost excitedly. "do you think that if i drink another 4lokos, we'll kiss at another party?"

sungho leans over, smacking him upside the head. "you're so fucking dumb. and i can tell just by these stories. you're not allowed to drink until season's over, idiot. and she's on your medical team. why don't you start by making a good impression while you're not so drunk you're going to start insisting that spongebob is hydrophobic."

("you were there when that happened?")

("you idiot, you thought i was spongebob. you kept throwing my drinks away because you thought i was going to disappear into them if i drank them. which makes no sense because that's not what hydrophobic means.")

("oh. sorry man.")

"yeah. just go to the med clinic tomorrow, apologize to her, and bring her flowers or something. women eat that shit up!" sanghyuk says with a mouthful of noodles and jaehyun nods, pointing his chopsticks at him excitedly.

"they do! my girlfriend always feels better with food and flowers," he says, cheeks stuffed to the brim with carbonara.

dongmin's mind races with all of the implications of doing so, but every single one of his thoughts fade away in light of the fact that he could redeem himself in your eyes. he slams his hands down on the table, swinging his legs over the bench to run to the nearest flower shop.

"i'll be back before practice!" dongmin calls out over his shoulder, waving a quick goodbye as he sprints towards the florists.

he makes it to the edge of the courtyard before he hears the yelling of his friends behind him, turning to see them waving at him (and waving some very rude fingers at him).

"YOU FORGOT YOUR WALLET, YOU IDIOT!"

+++

dongmin's friends were useless. absolutely useless.

he'd went and bought the prettiest bouquet of flowers he could find, a nice meal from his favorite bento place, and had even bought three different types of ice cream bars because he didn't know which one you'd like.

he'd walked right into the medical clinic office, his apology gifts all in hand, ready to apologize to you, redeem his honor, and become your own true love.

the last part probably wasn't going to work anyway, but the first two should've been foolproof.

instead, he manages to prove that he was a fool.

as it turns out, he wasn't the only person who thought that the flowers were beautiful; dongmin had managed to bring the queen bee as a secret surprise in the bouquet, which meant that the rest of her hive was NOT very happy that he'd committed royal kidnap, as far as the bees were concerned.

"HAN DONGMIN WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!" you yell from underneath your desk, where you were hiding from the sudden swarm of bees that had followed dongmin in.

he doesn't respond, too busy opening the window to drop the flowers out of, hesitating when he sees the number of people that were lounging around the courtyard that the medical office looked out of.

dongmin lines up the bouquet, sending a prayer to god (any one that would listen) as he shoots the best three he's ever shot in his life, so that the bouquet (and all of the bees that accompanied it) landed far away enough from people to prevent them from getting hurt.

of course, a few brave souls had stayed behind to exact revenge for their queen on dongmin, resulting in upwards of five bee stings, before dongmin finally evaded the great medical bee disaster once and for all.

he turns sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"i don't suppose i could find medical care in this clinic, could i?" he says, and he's well aware of the fact that he's flushed bright red, as he always seems to when he's made a fool of himself.

thankfully, there are only four or five people, including you, in the office to witness this disaster - although, dongmin can see the girl you were talking to yesterday surpressing a smile.

"yeah, of course you could. but we're all headed on break so unfortunately, y/n is the only person who's gonna be able to give you medical care. you know, since you've already brought lunch for her," your friend says with a knowing grin. she ushers the rest of the medical staff out of the office, closing the door behind her with a telltale click.

"you can come out from under the desk now," dongmin says, and despite the situation, he finds it adorable that in the case of a bee swarm, your first instinct had been to hide underneath a desk.

"i was going to," you grumble, slinking out from your hiding spot and dusting off invisible dust from your pants. "what were you thinking, bringing flowers with bees in them?"

dongmin blushes, tilting his head as he tries to look anywhere but where you were. "i wanted to apologize to you. in my defense, i kinda always thought bees were made up. i mean, they're so fat! there's no way they should be able to fly. that directly violates like every law of aviation in the world."

your eyebrow quirks upward as you look at the ice cream and lunch he had set down on your desk in his bee-induced panic. "i can't believe you're quoting the bee movie at me right now."

"i can't believe you know i'm quoting the bee movie. i should've known the love of my life was an internet connoiseur," dongmin says with a sigh, examining the bee stings on his arm. how did these bees even manage to crawl underneath the sleeves of his shirt?

"excuse me?" you bark, hands on your hips. "did you just call me the love of your life? when you couldn't even remember who i was like yesterday?"

"okay, wait. you don't understand. first, i need you to help me out by getting some ointment on these stings because they're starting to burn and i don't know if that's so normal. and then, i'll explain everything, trust me."

you reluctantly reach back into a cabinet that reads 'insect stings' and grab the kit for bee stings, pulling a cream out of it, beckoning dongmin to come closer so that you could treat it.

"do you remember what happened that night? or those two nights, i guess?" you ask softly, eyes trained on dongmin's arm so that you don't have to look him in the eyes and he nods.

"i remember. well, as much as i can, anyway. i was blackout drunk both times. and from what i remember, you weren't exactly sober either, so i don't know how you remember me but trust me, whatever you think about me is not true. i was - i was so down bad that my friends had to make a 'no y/n' jar!" dongmin yelps the last part when your hand on his arm presses a little too hard.

"i'm sorry! sorry!" you gasp, immediately leaning over to blow cool air on the place you'd accidentally put too much pressure. "what do you mean by a no 'no y/n' jar though? i thought you didn't remember my name."

"i didn't! and it killed me! i don't remember exactly what happened those nights but i remember how much i liked you. i remember thinking that i'd never meet a girl like you in my life. it still frustrates me that i lost your number - although, i do remember the part where you smacked me over the head the second time that we met. i think i suffered permanent brain damage from that.

"but i remember glimpses of that night. like that red dress you were wearing and how much you were rambling about stars. you were giving me an in-depth explanation about how black holes work and something about how rockets look like they're stuck in time in black holes. not the point. but the point is that i genuinely fell in love with you that first night we met.

"i've got this horrid habit though, when i get drunk - i become either super scared of water, or super infatuated with it. it's honestly a coin-toss. so imagine my feeling the next morning when i wake up with a dissolved piece of paper in my pocket that's supposed to have your number on it, semi-wet clothes, and a raging migraine.

"i thought i met the love of my life and i couldn't even remember her name, number, or even her face. it drove me and my friends absolutely nuts. me because i didn't know how to find you when i couldn't remember anything. my friends went insane because i would talk about you so much that they bought me those swear jars for every time i mentioned you.

"of course, i didn't know your name so you were just 'the love of my life' or 'girl in the red dress' but i think i dumped at least 300,000 won in those jars by the end of the semester. and then as if the universe was out to make my life living hell, we met again and i was shitfaced again. i swore to never touch a 4lokos after that, if that's any level of redemption.

"anyway. i brought you flowers and all this stuff because i wanted to tell you that - that i've liked you for a lot longer than even i've known! i remember most of the conversations that we had, even if i couldn't remember exactly who you were. when i saw you at the hospital, i genuinely thought i was falling in love at first sight. but i guess, that's kinda not true. cause that would be my third time falling in love at first sight."

"why, though? three times? i mean, i don't think i'm ugly or anything but three times? yeah, i mean i guess i kinda also had a thing for you after those two nights. god. i wish i remembered what we talked about for us to get this attached," you say, mumbling the last part. dongmin turns to you somewhat confused, watching you as you open up the bento box he'd bought you.

"you don't remember what we talked about? besides the black holes and stuff?"

"nope. but i've also got a horrible reputation amongst my friends for how much i talked about you. the worst part is that i remembered you but not what we talked about. it was so stupid because no one believed me that han dongmin, yonsei's point guard was the guy i'd had my heart for the past year." you instinctively smile the moment you take a bite of the food and even though it's so small, dongmin's heart swells with pride.

"why didn't you ever come up to me? i mean, this whole year of pining could've been avoided if you'd talked to me," dongmin says, accepting the ice cream bar you handed him. how the hell did you know that was his favorite ice cream?

"i gave you my number once, and i kissed you twice. i figured you were just ghosting me at some point if you weren't going to reach out to me. and besides, nursing really picked up right after basketball season so...i kinda just ended up torturing my friends for the past year," you say, somewhat sheepishly, but dongmin is barely even listening anymore.

after all, how many people can say that they fell in love at first sight with the same person three times?

"well. we're here now. will you go out with me? i promise i won't even touch a 4lokos!"

"deal. as long as you promise to tell me everything we talked about that night. i still can't tell why i fell so hard for you that i chased you down a basketball court in front of your whole team."

"my stellar looks? my killer smile? my stupidly handsome personality? my superb basketball skills?"

"try your stupid attraction to water molecules."

"i have a feeling i shouldn't have told you about that."

+++

freshman year, spring semester.

"really? you've never fallen in love before?" you ask incredulously. you and dongmin are sitting on the balcony of some random friend who decided to throw a party, feet dangling over the edges in between the bars.

"nah. i don't think so," dongmin says, leaning backwards on his palms. "i don't think i've ever met someone who's ever made me feel like my entire heart is their's to do whatever they want to do with."

"then let's play this game," you say, clumsily pulling out your phone. "that one thing on new york times, where you fall in love with someone within 36 questions."

"why? you want me to fall in love with you?" dongmin says, leaning over with a cheeky smile. you push him playfully, focused on trying to pull up the questions list.

"you'd do that whether i told you to or not," you fire back. "and besides, i think i'm a fantastic kisser. so you're probably already in love."

"you're right," dongmin says with a sigh. "i think i am."

freshman year, fall semester.

"question 36. i can't believe we never finished all the questions last time," you say. this time the two of you are sitting so close, dongmin can still taste the watermelon chapstick you're wearing. at this point though, dongmin might as well be the one wearing it.

"to be fair, last time i think we were otherwise preoccupied."

"get your mind out of the gutter!"

"i was talking about how many times you kept getting distracted by the dog."

"anyway. we're on question 36; are you in love with me yet?"

"i should be asking you that. i've been in love."

"han dongmin! i thought you weren't the superstitious type?"

"i'll be whatever you want me to be."

[honnelander]

busgirl

once again i got carried away and wrote way more than i planned too lol thank you to the lovely anon who requested this and i hope i did your prompt justice request: what if the reader’s a merchant’s daughter who was supposed to marry a suitor but she runs away and ends up meeting sanji

WARNINGS: none

word count: 3.4k

pairing: opla!sanji x fem!reader

summary: reader is arranged to be married but she won't stand for it. so what does she do? she runs away and meets one particular chef, begging him for help

masterlist

taglist: @smol-book-nerd @shuujin @smolracoon25 @mischiefmanaged71 @amanda08319

You never imagined your life turning out like this: still living with your father at this grown age, never having gone beyond your small island town ever in your life, and waking up every day just to relive the same day over and over again. It was torture.

Every single day of your life has been the same since you left school: you woke up before the sun rose, made breakfast for you and your father, helped prepare the wagon for its daily trip into town, then spend all day yelling in the town's square trying to sell any shoes you could (your father was a shoe merchant), pack up the unsold product at the end of the day, head home, make dinner, then go to bed soon after cleaning up just so you could wake up and do the same things all over again. You hated it.

But what could you really do to change anything? You were born to a poor shoe merchant and ever since your mother had died, things had become even tighter for your small family, of now, two.

Your father never had much, barely a penny to his name, so that meant you also had no money to your name either. Sure, you could've started a side hustle of scams and cons, maybe trying your luck at playing poker at the docks whenever pirates showed up, but how could you just leave your father like that? Just leave him all alone once you scraped together enough berry to buy a one-way ticket out of this town? As much as you were tempted, you couldn't. It didn't feel right. And besides, you were always too exhausted at the end of the day to do anything else anyway.

But then one day, your father said something that would change your life forever.

The day started out like any other. You had cooked a quick meal of toast and eggs for yourselves and once you finished your plate, you moved to get up to put the dishes in the sink for later.

But before you could get out of your seat, your dad grabbed your wrist gently, telling you to stay seated. "Actually, y/n, no need to rush this morning. We're not going into town today."

"What?" You were taken aback. You couldn't remember a day where you both didn't do this daily routine. "Why?"

Your father couldn't look at you in the eye. Instead, he kept his focus on his half-eaten breakfast, which was also weird. He normally finished eating before you. "Y/n...you know I wouldn't do this unless I had no other choice," he started.

You felt your heart drop to the bottom of your stomach. What was happening?

"But business has been really slow lately, and I tried to hold this off for as long as I could," he continued.

"Hold what off?"

He kept talking like you hadn't said anything. "But there really was no other choice." He swallowed and finally looked up and the look in his eyes scared you. You've never seen your father look that upset before...the only other time he had looked like that had been when mom died.

You tried to swallow but your mouth was dry. "Dad, what's going on?"

"And you know I always will love you, right?"

"Dad," you said a little more sternly, your heart beating a thousand miles a minute. "What is happening?" After a moment of silence, you repeated yourself. "Dad, answer me."

His next sentence hit you like a ton of bricks. "Y/n, I arranged for you to be married."

You couldn't move. "What?" you breathed.

Like always, your father continued on like you hadn't said a word. "He's a nice man, a decent man. His name is Olaf and he's from the North Blue, comes from money..."

You felt your dad tighten his grip on your wrist and suddenly you felt like you were being suffocated. You ripped your hand away from your dad's grip, the sting of betrayal hurting more than any cut or wound ever could. Tears pricked at the corners of your eyes as you fought your hardest not to let them fall. "You sold me?" your voice quivered.

Those three words finally got your dad's attention. He looked into your eyes again, hurt evident in his gaze, but you realized you didn't care. Not anymore. "No," he replied firmly. "You know I would never sell you to anyone. I would never do that."

A humorous laugh escaped your lips. "Oh? But you'd put me in an arranged marriage instead? For money?" When you blinked, tears fell down your cheeks. "Are we really that poor dad?" you spat.

"Y/n-"

"Why didn't you tell me how bad off we were before? Before-" you stuttered and waved your arms around, "before all of this? I could've- I could've done something, anything." You ran a hand through your hair as you exhaled, a sardonic smile appearing on your face as you looked up to the ceiling, up to whatever God had subjected you to this cruel fate.

"There's nothing you could've done, y/n."

"You don't know that!" you exclaimed. Pure hot red rage adorning your features as your furious eyes snapped down to look at your dad. "I could've hustled, I could've conned the guys down at the dock for some money. I could've done something instead of nothing!"

"And then what? End up dead in a dark alley once those men found out you stole money from them? End up raped?" Your dad's anger matched yours, his voice growing louder with each sentence. "Maybe become a pirate? There is no way I would ever let that happen to you y/n."

Your dad hated pirates and you knew he would rather die before he ever let you become one.

You flung your arms up in exasperation. rolling your eyes as you let out a frustrated groan. "Oh I don't know dad," you yelled, "maybe I could've joined the Marines or something!"

But your dad didn't like the Marines either. He believed pirates and Marines were the same person, just in different clothes.

"I wouldn't let you do that either, you know that y/n."

Suddenly, a thought stuck you: you were an adult, so why was your father still making all of these major life decisions for you? It didn't make sense.

But you knew one thing: you certainly weren't going to marry some rich guy you didn't know from the North Blue. Not if you were still living and breathing.

You glanced at the open window behind your dad, seeing the early morning tinges of a sunrise lighting up the sky. Perfect, you thought. Docked ships normally didn't leave port until the sun broke the horizon, so you had a chance to hop aboard any ship that would take you far far away from here. Away from your miserable life and a father you were realizing you hated.

The sky started becoming brighter by the minute and your heart rate started to spike. You estimated you had around 20 minutes or so until the sunrise broke and if you were serious about running away, it was now or never.

Suddenly, you stood up from the kitchen table and realized that your father had stopped whatever he was saying to look at you with a curious expression.

"Y/n?"

"Y-you know what dad?" your voice shook and you swallowed your nerves. "I...I think you're right? This Olaf guy probably isn't that bad and would probably give me a better life than I ever could," you ground out and forced a smile that you were sure looked more like a grimace. "I'll do it."

If today had been a normal day, your dad would've been tipped off that something was up but he was just so relieved that you were actually agreeing to all this.

Your dad had a relieved smile on his face as he said, "That makes me so happy to hear that y/n. You have no idea."

"Y-yeah, me too," you agreed with a small nod. You reached down to pick up your plates but your hands were shaking.

Your father placed a hand on your arm. "I understand you're nervous sweetheart. Why don't you go lie down in your room? There's some time until Olaf gets here. I can handle the dishes for today."

Perfect. You agreed and nodded quickly. Thanking your dad and giving him one last look before you went up to your room and never saw him again.

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

Your lungs were burning as you ran towards the docks. You could feel sweat running down your back as you pushed yourself to run as fast as you could, arms pumping and feet kicking out dirt behind you.

The sky was beginning to turn a lighter shade of orange and a ping of fear gripped your heart.

What if you didn't make it? What if all the ships were all boarded up and ready to set sail by the time you got there? It wasn't uncommon for ships to leave a tad early since most of them had a full day at sea before them but you were so close, you just had to make it. There were probably around five minutes or so until you reached the docks and you just had to get over this ridiculous hill.

But your legs were tired and your sides were cramping and you could feel yourself slowing down due to exhaustion. You weren't a huge runner to begin with but you were literally running for your life- so what choice did you have?

If you made it through all this, you vowed to yourself that you would get better at running. Who knew the next time your life would depend on it?

As you reached the top of the hill, you took a quick second to breathe and survey the docks before you but what you saw nearly stopped your heart. There were normally a dozen or so ships that littered these docks but it looked like most of them had headed out early with only a few ships remaining, and the ones that were left? They looked like they were nearly ready to leave port as well.

With newfound urgency, you sprinted down the hill, yelling out to any sailor who would listen to your plea.

"WAIT!" you screamed. "Wait for me!"

But no one acknowledged you. You started to wave your arms around, your travel bag bouncing around as you continued to sprint.

"PLEASE! I beg you!"

As you got closer, you could start to make out the names of the few ships that were there. There was one ship called "The Happy Farewell" and you figured since they were closest you would try them first.

"Get lost girl," the ship's captain sneered. "I got no use for a girl like you."

"But please, I need to leave. You don't understand," you begged.

The captain clicked his tongue as he shook his head. "Don't we all?" he muttered. But he spared you one last glance before boarding his ship and something in your expression must've been wildly desperate because he sighed before nodding towards the ship two docks down. "Zeff's."

"What?"

"Go to Zeff's ship, girl. The Baratie. He doesn't have the heart to turn away desperate souls like yourself."

Your head whipped towards the direction the captain was looking and you saw the decent-sized Baratie standing there.

"But you better hurry," he warned. "They're setting sail as soon as we leave."

You quickly looked back at the captain to thank him but he was already walking up the plank to board his ship, barking out orders to let down the sails and hoist up the anchor.

Shit. You had to hurry.

You sprinted two docks over and once you reached the dock The Baratie was tied to, you saw a couple of men in white coats loading up the last of the crates of food onboard. You had just made it.

It was weird to you that these pirates were dressed up in matching white coats and blue bandanas around their collar but, hey, it could always be worse and you weren't in a position to be picky. You would even join a circus crew at this point.

You made your way over to the closest "pirate", a tall blonde guy that had hair almost covering his left eye. He was inspecting one of the crates, clipboard in hand and checked things off as he examined it.

"Excuse me," you huffed, trying to get this man's attention. "But I need your help. I need to speak to the ship's captain."

"Don't we all," the guy replied with a good-humored laugh and crooked smile, not looking up from his clipboard.

"Please," you urged. "It's important."

The man looked up from his clipboard and did a double-take, clearly not expecting a young woman like yourself, who looked like they just ran away from demons, asking to speak to the captain this early in the morning.

His eyebrows rose as he looked you over, his smile disappearing. "Are you alright Madam? Is something the matter?"

As his eyes scanned you over, you noticed how good-looking this guy was. And here you were, all sweaty and disheveled, your hair probably sticking out in all different directions. You prayed to whatever God was out there that you didn't have sweat stains on your shirt.

What a day this was turning out to be.

You ran your hands over your hair, trying to smooth down your flyaways and hoping you looked a bit more presentable. "I will be alright, when I speak to the captain."

"Anything I can help you with?"

What the- was this guy hitting on you? Your wandering eyes snapped back to look at this man when he asked that, looking to see if he really had the audacity to hit on you while you were begging for help, but you saw no trace of flirtation whatsoever, just concern.

"Ah- no. Unless you have the power to give me a spot on this crew."

The man's eyes lit up (you noticed they were blue). "Ah, so you want to join the Baratie? Become a chef yourself?"

You looked at him in utter confusion, blinking a couple times to make sure you heard him right. "Huh? A chef?" You looked at his outfit a little more closely and turned to examine the other men who were dressed similarly. You didn't notice it before, but they weren't just wearing any white coat, they were wearing a chef's white coat. "You guys are chefs?" you asked dumbly.

The chef, as you now noticed, rubbed his jaw as he tried to hide his smile at your obvious question. "Yes, Madam. We're chefs."

"So you're a pirate chef?"

The blonde cook couldn't hide his laugh at your series of questions, his blue eyes sparkling and white teeth showing like he had just heard the funniest joke. "No, Madam. We're just chefs. Not pirates or pirate chefs."

You felt stupid and felt your cheeks heat up in embarrassment. "Oh." But if they were all chefs on this boat, did that mean... "Wait- do I have to be a chef in order to get on this boat?"

"Ah well, if it were up to me," he sighed, "I would give you a spot on the ship regardless if you could cook or not." He twirled the pencil between his fingers as he crossed his arm in thought. "Although, we do need some new waiters. The dining room always seems to be short-staffed..."

You opened your mouth to quickly volunteer yourself even though you never waited tables a day in your life but the blonde chef kept talking.

"Or," he thought out loud," if you really wanted to be a chef with no experience, there are ways you could get into the kitchen. We do need a new busboy. Or girl," he quickly corrected. "Move your way up and learn..."

The sun broke the horizon, the morning orange light now fading into yellow. You swallowed. You were out of time. If you couldn't get a spot on this ship then your life was over.

"I'll do it," you quickly interrupted and nodded. "I'll- I'll do anything. A chef, a waiter, a busboy or busgirl- anything. I'll even clean toilets if I have to. I just- I need to get on this ship."

Your desperate plea silenced the chef, pulling him out of his musings and you could see concern wash over his features. But before he could say anything else, a voice called out from the top of the ship's plank.

"Oi! Sanji! What the hell are you doing down there, son?" the man with a tall chef's hat and braided mustache called out. As he made his way down to the dock, you noticed one of his legs was a wooden peg instead. "The sun's broken the horizon. I don't know how many times I need to tell you this, but next time we pull out of port late, I'm shoving my leg up your ass and you're off the line for a week."

Sanji shook his head, for once not caring about the threat of not cooking, and looked at his father figure, nodding to you. "Zeff, you need to speak to this girl. You have to let her join our crew."

You watched as Zeff followed Sanji's nod and looked down at you with raised eyebrows. It was like he just noticed you were there. "Her? For the last time Sanji, I'm not letting one of your one-night stands join the crew," he said with an exasperated sigh and turned back towards the ship. "Pretty or not."

"Wait!" you called out, grabbing Zeff's arm and immediately dropping it when he turned to look at you in disbelief. "I, I don't know him," you quickly said, pointing at Sanji and taking a big step away from him to prove your point, "My name is y/n and I desperately need a spot on your ship, Sir. Please."

Zeff studied you for a moment, eyes scanning your face. "People like you normally aren't 'desperate' to join my crew."

"But I am, Sir. I," you inhaled a shaky breath at the thought that this man could also turn you away. "I can't stay here. I need to leave. I'll do anything. I can even scrub the toilets."

Zeff regarded you with a short sigh. "Lass, there's no way I would have you scrubbing toilets. I'd make him do that way before asking you," he said and jabbed a thumb at Sanji, silencing Sanji's scoff of disbelief with a look. His face became serious as he asked, "You're serious aren't you?"

You nodded. "As serious as I can be sir."

The head chef became quiet, looking at you like he was trying to figure out what you were running away from, but it wasn't any of his business. At the end of the day, everyone had a past and he wasn't there to judge.

"Alright, lass, you want a position at my restaurant that badly? You got it. Your first service as a busboy- girl, whatever- starts tonight." He pointed a finger at you and with a stern voice asked, "Everyone on this ship earns their keep, alright? And no talking back. Understood?"

Relief flooded your veins at his words, you couldn't control the smile that stretched your cheeks as you nodded. "Yes, chef."

The corner of Zeff's mouth twitched upwards in amusement and he nodded once. "Good." As he turned around to head back onto the ship, he glanced at Sanji. "I like this girl. Wherever you found her...good job, son." He started walking back up the plank onto the ship and called out, "Get those last few crates up on here, boy. We got to leave, we have a dinner service tonight!"

You frowned as you watched Zeff walk away, a little annoyed at the thought that 'Sanji found you' instead of you finding him. When you looked over at Sanji, you saw him still watching Zeff make his way up the plank, beaming slightly at the head chef's praise.

"You didn't find me. I found you," you said to your newest crewmember.

Sanji looked over at you, a small mischievous smile on his face. "And aren't you glad you did?"

Before you could correct him or slap him, you heard Zeff calling out to you from the ship's deck. "Oi! Y/n! What are you doing down there? I'm not paying you to just stand there all day with Sanji! There's a pile of dirty dishes with your name on them in the sink."

"What? Already?" you grumbled as made your way up the plank to board the ship.

From behind you, you could hear Sanji's laughter and you could hear it until you made your way inside.

[justwinginglife]

I've been deepdiving the hoshina tag and you are definitely one of my favourites to read from with the way you portray him 😭😭😭 so I'm wondering how it'd be with him and a reader that's always portrayed as the elegant and forward type... (kind of like shinobu kocho? if you're familiar with her) and on a rough mission he finds her like... heavily injured and he's thinking that it's the first time he's seen her so different from how she usually acts

this is my first time requesting ever.... so if there's some kind or etiquette I'm missing please don't hesitate to tell...........

THANK YOU SO MUCH! This means a lot to me! And, my dude, I just portray what I think of him- that he's the biggest freaking green flag EVER lol. And don't even worry about requesting etiquette, I just joined tumblr a couple weeks ago so you're totally fine, I wouldn't even know either. I'm just glad I could be your first request! Hope I do it justice, thanks again for your support. Also sorry for the wait. Also there were so many different ways I could've gone with this prompt so I hope the one I chose turns out okay.

Honest

There was always a line out the door of officers looking to train with you and today was no different.

Besides the fact that your technique was utterly flawless and you made combat look as graceful as ballet, you were also just stunningly gorgeous. Any man would die just to get a glimpse of you, let alone spar with you. Taking a punch to the face or a kick to the abdomen was an honor if it was from you.

And you were always the same with every man, you never showed any favoritism. You'd give them the same small smile, giving your honest advice when asked, but nothing more than that. You never even blinked at someone longer than you usually did with anyone else.

But even though it seemed like no one had caught (or could catch) your particular attention, there was in fact one man that you had to actively try to subdue your feelings for. You were thankful that no one had noticed that every time a certain Vice Captain walked into the room, your eyes always somehow wandered in the opposite direction of him. And when you'd hear him laugh or even just give out orders, your teeth would clench together to keep from smiling at his voice.

You weren't one to give away parts of yourself easily, having lost all of your family, but one day you'd suddenly found that it was much harder for you to not want to just give everything to him. Especially when you had realized that he was into you too. No matter where you were on campus, he'd make it his mission to find you, to be near you. He'd tell you his best jokes, trying to get you to crack more than just your usual small smile. He'd fight all out with you during training sessions, trying to get you to break a sweat for once, claiming that it did something to him watching you all worked up. It had become quite the strain on you, trying to treat him the same as everyone else when you were dying to just push him up against a wall and kiss him. You'd settle for even just holding his hand or brushing your shoulder up against his. But this wasn't like you- to want such immature, naive things.

You were someone who was wanted, you did not want. You were someone who was needed, you did not need. In fact, you were so hesitant to rely on anything, that if you could've figured out a way to live without oxygen you would've so as to not be indebted to the air filling your lungs.

Your skill and your independence were your swords and you wielded them with grace, distancing yourself from the crowds, but making yourself into a pretty show for them to watch. You were fine if they watched you, as long as that was all that they did. You couldn't imagine someone actually courting you, touching you, loving you.

But you did imagine Hoshina- it was more often than you'd like to admit and it irked you. You thought about just flat out ignoring him, turning down his requests to spar with you. But then he'd be different than everyone else. He'd be someone who spurred enough emotion in you to warrant unnatural behavior. And you refused to give in to emotion, especially emotion so childish and needy as something like love.

So you spent the day the way you always did, giving every officer a proper amount of time to train with you, and ending each session with a curt smile and a nod, gesturing for the next combatant to approach.

But then the alarm went off, signaling a kaiju attack. You thought you'd handle this the way you always did, no mess, no fuss, just efficient and effortless. But this was no ordinary kaiju and tonight was no ordinary night.

You had let all the lower ranking officers handle yoju duty and you had gone straight for the daikaiju. That was not abnormal behavior, you were always confident in your skills and they always served you well. But not tonight.

Tonight, you were humbled in the most brutal way possible.

Your fight had drawn you away from the rest of the squad, and now you were glad it had because you were ashamed to be in such a sorry, gruesome state. You had sustained heavy damage and for the first time in your life, you genuinely considered you might die here.

You thought of all the friends and family that you'd lost to war, kaiju, sickness. You wondered if you were ready to join them. It would be easier to let go.

"But I'm not done yet... I haven't..." You spit up blood, and shakily rise to your feet, groaning at the effort. I haven't even told him how I felt yet, damnit, you think to yourself, unable to speak the words aloud. Without meaning to, you being to cry. You don't have a free hand to wipe the tears away, as one clutches your dripping abdomen trying to stop the flow of blood, and one clings to your gun, aching as you attempt to raise it again. You fire a weak shot but your combat power is high enough that it distracts the kaiju for a moment.

And a moment is all that you need.

"Hey there, princess. You look like you could use a little saving. Don't worry, I won't tell the guys."

Right before your eyes, the beast suddenly splits into little dissected pieces and they rain down on the pavement, pelting the ground.

For the first time in years, you smile a real genuine smile as the Vice Captain holds his hand out to you. You're relieved to be alive to make it to another day, and you're shocked at how relieved you are. You don't remember when life began to feel so precious to you.

Maybe it was when you'd accidentally overheard a conversation where Hoshina was telling another officer that you'd be the one to bring hope to future generations.

Maybe it was when you'd forgotten your lunch one day and he'd sacrificed his lunch to leave it in your locker for you to find when your growling stomach had sent you hungrily ravaging through it for any snack you might've left behind.

Or maybe... maybe it was when your last living relative died and everyone whispered to each other about how cold you were for not shedding a tear and keeping your chin up when all you wanted to do was curl up and cry, but he alone told you in passing (not wanting to make a scene) that it was okay to grieve in whichever way you pleased.

And now he was holding a hand out to you. And you thought if you took it you might never let go. You might want to know where this led, what your feelings felt like when you let them roam wild, what he felt like in your arms.

Before you can decide if you truly want to take that terrifying step, his hand clasps yours and he pulls you in for a hug.

"You did good." He whispers in your ear.

You shake your head but you don't pull away from him. "I didn't. I almost died. You had to save me. I wasn't good enough."

"You're enough. You did well." He repeats, firmer this time.

You sigh against him, exhaling every pent up feeling you'd been holding on to. "Th-thank you, Vice Captain."

He pulls back a little and grins at you. "It's Soshiro, actually."

You bite your lip, trying to force down the warmth that's started to flood into your cheeks.

"You know I've never seen you like this before. It's a good look on you." He teases.

"Shut up, Soshiro."

He grins even wider at you using his first name so soon. "You get your butt kicked for the first time, you actually blush, and then you raise your voice at me? What is going on with you today?" He chuckles, nudging you playfully.

"I think... I think I might want to try something. Something different." You say finally.

He raises a curious eyebrow at you. "And what's that, princess?"

"Being honest with myself for once."

And with that, you pull him in and kiss him.

[lowkeyrobin]

hiii! hope you’re having a good day/night/whatever :D i was wondering if you could do something where the reader was fives (almost ?) s/o and then after learning about him and lila theyre upset. and then reader and diego sort of bond over the feeling and find solace in their friendship with each other. i mean this in like a thing for diego sort of way, the five thing is just a backstory. sorry if this is hard to understand english is hard

oooo okay this is cool!! ; and don't worry it's not hard to understand at all! your English is very good 🫶 ; but we are gonna pretend five wasn't trapped in his teenage body for all the time reader would've known him or wtv 💀 cause the physical and mental gap between diego and five is diabolical and idk how else to make it not weird. I usually say and enforce that I won't recognize the five/lila thing as canon but this is relevant to the story and I need diego requests lol. ; but uh yeah!! thank you for requesting, I hope you enjoy!! ; also the ending part lowkey sucks I'm sorry

DIEGO HARGREEVES ; it's called moving on

summary ; after Five and Lila get trapped in the subway, they have a double affair on you and Diego. after saving the world, you both bond over it and move on (to each other)

warnings ; language, cheating, arguing / physical fighting, knives, alcohol

disclaimers ; five is in the physical body of a 30-ish year old to make this not creepy as hell on any parts. I have a distinct hatred for whatever tf happened w Lila and Five so don't expect to see anything nice about them... ; also reader is a sparrow, didn't wanna get incest-y in here...

word count ; 1.5k

masterlist

Klaus, Allison, and Luther sit on the couch, watching over the kids while you and Diego rush to the door. Five and Lila had been MIA for hours now, you were both growing worried. Luckily, it was them standing at the doorstep.

"Where've you been?" Diego asks, slightly worried. "It's been hours"

"Seven, at that" you raise an eyebrow at Five. "You've never just gone MIA for that long. Did you find anything out on how to stop all this shit? Cause we did"

Five is unable to look you in the eye. "Uh, not really. What'd you learn?"

"Well, for one, Dad's alive, so is our mother... I think?" you begin, pulling him inside. "She's not really our mom, but she's Dad's wife, or whatever. Our actual birth mother's are alive in this timeline. And your Ben died because your Reginald shot him in the head! We think fate is coming together cause my Ben and Jennifer are together and we have to stop them-"

Diego and Lila step in behind you, joining you all in the living room. Lila's family stand in the kitchen, coming together to make some Christmas dinner food for the upcoming days. You can't help but notice both Five and Lila can't look you in the eye, how they look tired and haven't spoken damn near a word.

You four stand in the middle of the living room, shoes off to Lila's family's rules, your socks digging into the carpet. Allison, Luther, and Klaus part their attention between the kids and you four.

Diego looks down at Lila's wrist, seeing a glare from the sunlight outside on something she was wearing. He quickly grabs her wrist, confused of what she could've been wearing, as she didn't like bracelets, at least not store bought ones. She wouldn't have gone on a run to get herself a bracelet, right? I mean, what?

Diego furrows his brows at her while you press a chaste kiss to Five's forehead.

"I thought you hated bracelets?" Diego mutters, grabbing the attention of the siblings who sit on the couch.

Lila looks at him with fake confusion, trying to brush it off. "No, I don't"

"Yeah, you do" Diego nods. "I got you one for Valentine's Day and you traded it in for a Dyson vacuum."

You and Five look to Diego and Lila, listening in.

Lila is silent. "I don't like store bought ones. I kept the bracelet you made for me in that mental institution"

She had him on that one.

"Who made it, then?" Diego asks firmly.

She's silent. Five looks away from Diego.

Diego looks to him, then back at Lila. He frees Lila's wrist from his grasp, staring Five down. You look between him, Diego, and Lila, connecting the dots.

"Five?" You question, eyebrows furrowed, your voice unsure.

Diego reaches for his back pocket.

Five stuffs his hands in his pockets, head held low.

"Is there something going on between you two?" Diego asks nervously, looking between Five and Lila.

"Diego-" Lila speaks

"Holy shit, wow" Diego scoffs, looking down at her.

Klaus' jaw drops, Luther and Allison beside him share shocked expressions. You look back at the three, unable to react as you're caught frozen in the moment.

"Woah"

"Holy shit"

"I didn't see that one coming"

"Holy shit, I was right" Diego looks between the two, "I knew you were cheating on me!"

You shove Five into the wall, far enough away from the TV and the kids to not effect them physically. Diego hurls a knife at him, just missing his skull by a few centimeters, a purposeful act. He merely did it to scare Five. The knife creates a hole in the wall and a loud thudding noise that catches the family's attention.

Diego turns his attention back to Lila, you looking over your shoulder to listen. "I knew you were cheating on me at that book club"

Lila sighs. "I wasn't cheating on you... not when you thought I was"

You turn back to Five, lips slightly parted, your expression soft yet heavy. He isn't able to speak a word to you. He steps away from the stabbed wall, walking toward you. He reaches for you and you push him away.

"Y/n-"

"No!" you shudder, then speak firmly. "Get away." you back away toward Diego, unable to look at him.

"Maybe we should go-" Luther speaks, seeing how the three were witnessing an awful thing right now.

"No, we're not going anywhere" Allison replies, an arm over him to prevent him from going anywhere.

Diego steps forward, looking at Five in the eye. "Five, did you s-k-r-e-w my wife?" he spells out 'screw' since a bunch of kids under thirteen sit no more than six feet away.

"Screw is spelled s-c-r-e-w" Grace chimes in with a smile, unaware of the situation because of her small little mind.

Klaus snorts, failing at holding back laughter. Allison bites her tongue while Luther deeply sighs, keeping his laughter at bay.

Five bites his lip before slowly nodding.

"What the fuck?!" you exclaim, slinging a quick punch to his face, causing his nose to bleed.

He groans, holding a hand to his nose. He doesn't rebute, knowing he deserved that and much more.

"Are you kidding me?" you question, looking between Five and Lila. "What the actual shit is wrong with you two?!"

Lila's family peers through the kitchen door, halfway understanding what you all were saying as they weren't perfectly fluent with English. You wished you could speak Punjabi to tell them how their daughter cheated and how your boyfriend was a fucking homewrecker.

"Y/n, please," Lila speaks, trying to calm you, holding a hand out to you.

You slap her hand away, and back up toward the siblings on the couch. Klaus holds a hand over his mouth, Luther watches in silence, Allison bites her tongue.

"You're fucking unbelievable."

You cut contact with Five, Diego cut most contact with Lila and kept the kids 70% of the time. Lila paid child support, the extent of their conversations other than the kids.

It'd been a few years since your brother had to be killed. You'd been struggling a lot. In between Ben's death and the whole Five and Lila thing, you weren't okay, you didn't think you ever would be.

Most the family didn't talk to either one after the whole incident. They'd luckily sided with you and Diego. Allison still talked to Lila, but she'd created herself a whole new life, so the two didn't talk that much.

Life moves on, shit happens.

You lived near Diego, the two of you often going out with the kids to still create some sort of happy family dynamic for them. From lunch to movies, to road trips and rollercoasters, you'd do anything for those kids. You felt so bad knowing there was no way to repair Diego and Lila's relationship, wishing the kids got to have more time as a proper family.

Diego sat with you on the couch, no kids in trail this time. They were with Lila this weekend. Fruity concoctions rest in your hands, the television in front of you playing some dumbass action movie.

"People clearly don't like three children on the man they're going on a date with," Diego chuckles. "My kids come first, sorry."

You smile. "At least you're humbled and know what you're living for, what's important."

He raises an eyebrow, confused about what you're implying.

You see that look and clarify. "I dunno what I'm living for anymore. My brother's dead. My ex cheated on me and all I feel is fucking angry day in and day out. I don't know anymore"

Diego's face grows soft. "Moving on isn't easy."

You nod. "It's harder to do it alone"

He's silent for a moment before speaking up. "Maybe we don't have to do it alone?"

You raise an eyebrow. "What're you implying, Di?"

He shrugs, looking into your eyes. "Whatever you want to think I'm implying"

"...but the kids, that's gonna be so confusing-"

"You love the kids. I know you do. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been on all these adventures with us, you wouldn't have asked me yourself to make plans and come over. I know you feel the way I do."

You're both quiet, thinking over your own and the other's words.

"Maybe" you shrug.

"Maybe? I'm allowed to get my hopes up?"

"Calm down, pal" you chuckle. "Not so soon, let's like... ask the kids. I'd feel bad not asking how they felt. They're my priority, they come before us"

Diego nods. "Glad you feel that way. We should get married ASAP." he chuckles, nudging you with his shoulder.

You smile, taking a sip of your beverage. "Feels wrong to even think about this, y'know?"

"It's called moving on. It's normal, I promise"

[sahisan]

silence.

tomioka giyuu x gn!reader.

⭒ summary: everyone knows that giyuu isn't much of a talker, so this depicts the silent moments with him that you both have come enjoy.

⭑ cw: sfw. mentions of giyuu's past (final selection w sabito). a bit of angst. reader is bad at comforting. giyuu loves you sm. like loves.

⭒ wc: 2.8k.

⭑ a/n: this took me too long wth, almost a month i fear lol. this was written during my demon slayer hyperfixation comeback (it's gone now) so uh. also acheron fic coming soon (i hope soon)! pls like and reblog !!

it wasn't exactly silence after giyuu finished speaking. there were sounds of birds chirping, wind occasionally blowing, resulting in sounds of swaying leaves on the trees being more audible. some even fell because of the invisible force of the air, ending up meeting the gravel ground near the engawa.

having told a good share of his past to you—precisely about sabito and the final selection, which were the main reason he wasn't exactly thrilled about taking part in the hashira training—giyuu decided to stop himself from telling you any more, choosing to leave other topics for later.

but will you still have this 'later' now that he's shared even a small bit of himself?

to you, the silence was awkward. not having the faintest idea of what to say in reply to that wasn't exactly what you would want to experience, yet here you were. it felt useless even trying to think of something, to try and make something up in your mind, even taking a bit more time than you usually do when thinking of a response, bur nothing could've prepared you to thinking of what to reply to this.

it made your stomach churn with how you realised you couldn't seem to know what to do, what to say, how to comfort him; the closest to you person finally started to open uo, little by little, bit by bit and you instead feel like an immobile log, only being able to sit there and listen, not being able to muster up a word of comfort.

and you know, you know that it's because you've never heard the said words of colsolation in your life; thus, you didn't know how to comfort giyuu.

another gust of wind blew through the air, nearly ruffling your and his hair, and for a moment you think of giyuu with his hair no longer in a low ponytail, but instead it being messy and disarranged and you think of running your fingers through it. you hope you'll have such opportunity, even if only once.

another fallen onto your lap leaf helped you out of your thoughts; it would be even more awkward if you hadn't managed to say something at all, daydreaming and continuing on staying silent. you take the leaf between your fingers before it manages to fly away and take a look at it; elm.

"i'm... sorry," you finally spoke, voice quiet as to not disturb anything around. you felt so meek just hearing your own voice. "i don't really know what to say. but i'm sorry for what happened with sabito."

you took a pause; you were never one to have a good way with words, and it made everything even worse in this situation.

"just know that... i'm here for you whenever you want to talk to me about anything. i'll listen."

giyuu's head was in the same position as yours—lowered to look down at his lap. he couldn't say the atmosphere was tense, no, not at all. he knew this was a lot to digest in such a small period of time, no matter how long you've been silent, and he could see your hesitation in choosing the right words; you surely didn't voice your inability to properly comfort him, but didn't blame you for your lack in knowledge about it. he could guess why.

"it's alright," he said just as quietly, silently exhaling a small breath. it felt as if it was easier to breathe now that he had shared this bit of his past to you. "it was about time i told you anyways. i'm already glad you listened. don't bother with words."

you still felt that just listening wasn't enough.

"have you eaten yet?" giyuu broke another silence after a few more minutes of listening to the wind's unregulated breathing, wishing to change the topic to not overexert you mentally any further—what he's told you was enough and it wasn't like he wanted you to dwell on that story. he simply wanted you to know.

"forgot to."

giyuu knew quite well as of now that you tended to, much to his dismay, forget to have some of the meals throughout the day, and it didn't make it better when you could even skip lunch because of training or meetings or anything at all. once, he even told you that he was going to forbid you to enter the training grounds unless you've had at least two meals throughout the day. it's safe to say he physically couldn't do so, so for that period of time you and your exercises were safe.

giyuu didn't need to hear more from you. standing up from his sitting position on the engawa, he then offered you a hand to help you up. and with the gesture, you both knew that there was no need for more words.

the silence in the small soba restaurant never bothered you; it's a place where people came to eat, not to talk, after all. you two were the only people inside for now, but the sounds of utensils clanking and the smell of more food being cooked in the kitchen were very much present, and still, besides that, it was silent.

and still, your mind never seemed to get over how giyuu just brushed your inability to utter something reassuring off. maybe he didn't even want and didn't need the comfort you failed to provide; maybe he expected something like that from you, judging from your earlier reaction to his words just as he'd started talking. yes, he must've known you were bad at feelings, especially other people's, but was he used to it? he undeniably looked like he was, and that was just sad.

chopsticks carefully picking up the soba and guiding them into your mouth, noticing giyuu doing the same near you, your mind picked up the thought that, probably, saying something regarding what he told you about would be inappropriate, but you couldn't shake off the feeling of needing to get something out; something that could just show him that you understand him that much, at least.

"sabito would most definitely be out to get you for the mindset you have now."

out of the corner of your eye you notice that giyuu's hand, previously holding his chopsticks with a bit of noodles picked up, stops. it's not at all an abrupt stop, more like when coming to a thought one's mind has been chasing for a while already. you stop, too, having finished chewing.

and when the silence between you two starts feeling a little too long and a little too tense, and you start thinking that you may have said a very wrong and inappropriate thing, giyuu speaks up in a such relaxed and unimpressed manner that you involuntarily start questioning your choice of words. you'd expected him to get mad or upset, but not—

"you for yours, too."

oh.

"...touchè."

well.

the nights are—mostly—always silent.

the nights spent with giyuu are silent in their own, unmistakable way.

you two seem to create another form of serenity together—everything becomes as still as possible, wind appearing barely once for a few moments to ruffle the trees' leaves and then disappear without a trace.

your head is gently laid on giyuu's lap and gaze fixed on the night sky above with the stars filling the inky abyss, each sparkling more than the previous, as if trying to catch your attention, your eyes move from one to another, wanting to get a look at them all, wanting to engrave the look of them in your mind and keep it here; but there was just so much — you aren't sure if there even exists a number as big as the number of stars up there.

("do you think we get a star out there after death?"

"...maybe."

"would you try to look for mine when i die?"

"..."

"...sorry."

"...i would.")

with giyuu still looking somewhere in front of him—you can't quite decipher where, maybe he's just spaced out—your hand somewhere a bit lower your chest and his hand laying loosely over yours, you close your eyes and slowly inhale the night air; it smells of pine and momentarily happiness.

a few moments later giyuu's head tangibly shifts, and, having little self-restraint when it comes to curiosity, you open your eyes again—maybe he'd be looking at something different now?

and as your eyelids open, you find him to be staring at no one other than you.

eyes usually cold as a snowstorm and endless as the abyss above you both have now descended to endearment and devotion as they look into yours. they twitch slightly lower and to the side, watching your lips for a few seconds, before coming back upwards to your eyes.

he's so enchanting—close to being as enchanting as the stars he's now blocking your view of. maybe he even looks like one in your mind, or maybe it's just his endless eyes, the colors of which blend into the matching endless night sky. you notice yourself not minding the blocked view if the one doing it is giyuu.

with the main sight now being his eyes instead of the gleaming celestial bodies—you can't exactly complain—you feel like staring into them an eternity more, and then another and another until you've memorized each and every pattern in them. and you're sure that if eyes could talk, both your and his would scream affection.

"you're blocking the view," you say, having no more stars to see right in front of you, them being replaced with giyuu's face.

"you seem to be enjoying it all the same," giyuu declares, unimpressed, despite his eyes narrowing the slightest bit in amusement. you're pretty sure his mouth's corners nearly curve upwards. you would've loved to witness him smile, especially at the moment.

you hum quietly, eyes wandering over his face—how can one attract so much? and it's not just about his beauty; he's everything you've ever needed and didn't know you ever needed in your life. "i never said i wasn't enjoying it."

giyuu, too, can't seem to be able to tear his eyes away from you—starting from your eyes as well, they descend lower to your lips (he's a very patient man), neck—and he regrets both of you being too shy and humble to try and leave hickeys on each other, he would enjoy that sight very much—then your uniform which just suits you so much, and, in the end, your hand, one of which is held by his—when did he go from it simply lying on top of yours to holding it?—and he involuntarily laces your fingers together slowly, eyes following each and every movement. your hands are almost just as his—arms a bit scarred underneath the clothes, skin on the palms calloused from holding your katanas, along with healed nicks and occasional cuts.

humming as well in acknowledgement of your words, his gaze follows the trail back to your face and settle back on your eyes. he has to remind himself to not look into them too long, fearing he'd get too lost in their infinite beauty.

"we could stay like this forever," giyuu suddenly speaks up, and with the quietness of the words said they don't seem to disturb the silence at all.

"we could."

you get what he's trying to say. there was never enough time for both of you since the moment you've joined the demon slayers, and then the hashiras, signing yourself a death warrant when doing so; it's pointless to deny the truth and the inevitable, and you both long learned to embrace it.

but all the sadness and inevitableness can be forgot at times like these, right? even just for the night or for a few hours before the two of you go back to your routine duties.

"but what would you do then?" you continue, being tempted into asking the question with the smallest teasing lilt in your voice, as if prompting him to speak about his feelings about you.

feelings are hard, especially for someone like him—especially for someone with the past and job he has—but slowly, bit-by-bit, step-by-step, you try to get him to understand them, even if you're lost in your own and sometimes can't find a way out of your own feelings. you guess it comes with the job.

guyuu stops to think for, maybe, a bit more than a minute or two, and lets the silence embrace both of you again. again, it's never tense with him (you don't really want to remember the time he told you about sabito, though it still lingers in the back of your mind and comes up in the most unpleasant times), as you two gratefully grab onto the every little bit of serenity and peace you have.

while he thinks, your gaze, once again, roams over his face, with the twinkling stars now serving as a simple background for what—who—you're seeing, being a pleasant compliment to the sight in front of you. moonlight obligingly illuminates a great half of his face, letting you see most details on it, and who would you be if you missed on this opportunity?

nearly just as he's about to start talking, his lips opening and, dear gods above, he can sense your eyes shifting to his moving lips. it's always with you that he feels like a teenager—not really lovey-dovey, but it's a fact that he lets himself be more open to feelings with you.

"i would..." giyuu starts, taking a small break before continuing—to gather his thoughts, knowing you're watching him as intently as you can, and it's not in the least bit uncomfortable as it would be if it wasn't you.

"i would look at you," he says. "for the rest of eternity. i wouldn't want to do anything else besides it."

as he finishes speaking, you slowly but surely feel the tips of your ears becoming a shade of red; thankfully, it's not your face. yet.

"is that so?" you manage to whisper out, taking slow and barely audible breaths to try and calm your fast beating heart. he probably can hear it with how your back lays on his lap, but that doesn't really matter. "wouldn't you get bored?"

"never."

you're sure your face gets a small tint of red.

you, involuntarily, hold your breath after his words, eyes widening a tad bit, and it's only a few seconds later that you quietly exhale the air you didn't know you have been holding in.

the words he says are so simple—but he does have a way with them, and that's what makes you love him more and more with each syllable leaving his lips.

there's moonlight illuminating his—and your—face, and you seem to notice it just now. it shines onto a great half of his face, letting you see even more details on his skin, and if it was illegal to stare for so long, you'd be long behind bars, living your worst ever imaginable life without having something as precious and pretty as giyuu to look at.

his eyes shift. you get the hint just as his gaze moves onto your lips—you've been looking at them so attentively, it'd be a shame if you didn't notice that.

having taken a, supposedly, not so fitting of a position to kiss, you have to sit up using your hands and place them on the grass beneath you to hold yourself up, and your face moves just enough for him to understand. you don't make any rash movements; you're careful but your intentions are evident.

giyuu's face shifts closer, too. it moves forward until he feels like both your and his lips are soon to meet together. one look into each other's eyes is all it takes for his appearance to soften and lean towards you.

your lips touch in a kiss and you feel like you could die right now and there because of how soft it feels, coming from him, usually so sharp and harsh; it feels like your lips are melting together but you don't have it in you to mind—it's been far too long since you two have had any time to yourselves and your small affections and you don't know when you'll have another night like this.

his eyes settle closed the same time as yours do, and as much as you like looking at him, it just helps the atmosphere around you even more. giyuu's lips slowly, gently move against yours and you just happen to think of how tender they are, and that warms your chest more than anything.

it's silent and wordless with giyuu, and you just happen to love it.

[kooksbunnnn]

Helping Hands - Min Yoongi

masterlist

Summary: an innocent intention of helping you with your back pain, turns out to be a breaking point of Yoongi's resistance. 

Warning: a very torturing massage (for the masseuse lol), SMUT, unprotected sex (be more sensible than that people), fingering, clit stimulation, oc crying due to overstimulation, YOONGI FUCKS YOUR THROAT, his long fingers making you cum, ass slapping, sloppy kisses, multiple orgasm, slight dirty talk, its basically filth, porn with slight plot, fluff in the end because we love aftercare right?

Words: 3.2k

Rating: 18+

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

"Mmh. Fuck yea-"

Okay, this was not a good idea. When Yoongi tried to help, he didn't think it would be this tough. But you were in pain, he couldn't help it. He never felt his fingers shake, especially on a girl. But this? You?!

The muffled voices, the short-relieved moans, and the deep humming were making him go feral. He cant even see your face and he is so glad he doesn't because that would definitely make him give in. 

He knows you feel good, fuck, you sound so fucking good. The skin under his hands feels smooth, soft, and biteable. He wonders how he could bite and leave purple marks on the inside of your thighs. Fuck, he would make you writhe on his tongue, make your whole body squirm. 

Dammit!? Think of something else Yoongi. Anything!

Jin doing aegyo. Yes. Its works, he just needs to keep thinking about his Jin hyung making cute faces, while he keeps kneading the flesh of your strained waist, without making his crotch touch your ass. Oh, that perfect, round, plum ass. 

Fuck.

While he is trying his best to divert his mind, you're being a complete menace. Knowingly or unknowingly you're giving him a boner and it feels so wrong. He can't help it. He is literally hovering over your thighs, with a boner he wants to let go but the sounds, the groans, oh god help him. 

He looks at the clock and his eyes widen at how only 4 mins have gone. If only he could've kept his mouth fucking shut. 

I could help you with the pain y/n. Trust me.

Fuck his help. He needs it more that you now. He should've called a physiotherapist for fucks sake, when you told him how strained your back is. 

Shifting the pressure to your lower back, he kneads the tense spot on the small of your back. Balancing the pressure in his index and thumb fingers he massages it in circular motions.

You groan at the pressure and your thighs rub against each other. He doesn't want to think over the possibility that you might be wet because fuck that would be so hot. He spreads his palm and slightly pushes against the tight muscle, slight jerks against the skin but maybe it was the wrong move because it makes your hand clutch the pillow in a tight fist. "Mmph" you groan, the way you hold the pillow case makes his mind run wild. 

"Fucking stop." He growls. 

"What happened?"

You try turning over to get up, but he pushes you down with a hand on your neck. Gasping, you turn your head sideways, looking up at him, his eyes were already on you. You feel shivers running up your spine at the darkness visible in his eyes.

"Yoongi? Is everything okay? Did I make you uncomfortable?" You ask with a pout, with feigned innocence in your voice. You're playing dirty. 

His lips turn into a sneer and he sees how your lips twitch at his reaction, smirking at this, he asks bending forward a little. "Are you really playing dumb right now?"

He can see through you, the smile you try to keep in, the way your cheeks turn slightly red at his close proximity. Breaths turning ragged slowly. He knew you were up to something, with the amount of sexual tension going on between you two, this was bound to happen. 

Being roommates was not very easy for you two, him walking in on you taking a shower, then the shorts resting just below your ass while you cook the breakfast in the kitchen, moving your hips slightly to the tune playing in the background.

It was fucking frustrating. 

Later he realized, that you were doing it on purpose after he called the drunken kiss a mistake two weeks earlier. He didn't want to make you feel awkward since you both were roommates. But you were on a damn mission.  

He even had to take a cold shower the day before because apparently, you were into popsicles now. Sucking the soul out of it, he wanted to feel your lips around him so much, he wanted you to lick his dick just the way you were licking the Popsicle's tip. He had to hold in a whimper when you made eye contact with him, hollowing your cheeks. How did Joon and Tae not see your ministrations? He doesn't fucking know. 

But today? He really wanted to help. You came home late after an overtime shift at the restaurant. He knows how hectic being a chef is because he saw his older brother complain of back aches very often. You were complaining about the no chair policy in the kitchens lately too! So he thought he should help. Well, your plan worked, cause he was gonna fuck the shit out of you. 

Chuckling, he sits up and flips you on your back. 

"You think you're very slick with this push and pull, huh?"

Your hands automatically try to reach up to him but he hold your wrists and brings them beside your head. Leaning in, he drags your hands against the couch leading them above your head. His warm breath fanning on your skin, making it flush.

"I don't know what you're saying, Yoongi."

Smiling at your devilishly innocent doe eyes, he bites lightly at the apple of your cheeks. You squeeze your eyes shut when he moves his lips to the spot beneath your ear. He bites at your earlobe and you squirm in his hold. 

Spreading your legs with his knee he makes himself comfortable between your thighs and its then, when you feel how hard he is. You whimper involuntarily and he chuckles near your ear deeply. 

"I wanna fucking ruin you, princess." He says rutting his hips in your clothed core and you gasp. He is not rushing anything. He is very slow with his thrusts, you can feel how hard he is and you wanna rip both your clothes off but damn his strength, he is holding your arms down with one hand. 

You feel yourself leak, you feel it ooze out of you making you clench your thighs together but its of no use because min yoongi is nestled between your legs. He ruts into you and arch your back. 

"Fuck, yoongi t-touch me, please"

He licks down to your collarbone, biting and sucking in his way. His other free hand comes to your waist, going inside your spaghetti top and you gasp lightly at his cold fingertips. 

He comes up and looks into your eyes, your mouth is slightly parted and you shut your eyes in embaressment. His eyes are too observant for you, you feel too vulnerable. 

"Ah-ah, sweetie. Keep your eyes on me"

You open your eyes hesitantly, which makes him smile. Leaning down he kisses you softly, lips moving in sync, its so soft that it makes you melt. You're kissing Yoongi, your roommate. The kiss makes you feel like floating and you moan whenhis tongue enters your mouth. So much warmth and overwhelming feelings that your head feels dizzy. 

You feel his fingers reach your underboob and you shiver at his touch on your bare chest. He detaches from your lips cursing under his breath, he cups your breast, eyes flicking twice between your face and chest. 

Gasping at his fingers rubbing your perked up bud, your back arches slightly and your eyes squeeze again. Suddenly he pinches your sensitive nipple making you moan, "You sound so perfect, baby."

Giving your cheek a wet sloppy kiss, he drags his tongue down your neck slightly loosening his grip on your hands. He leans down and rips the strap on one side of your top, making your boob pop out. Freeing your hands in the process, they fly straight to his head wanting eagerly to touch him. 

But he pins them back, getting up suddenly, looking straight into your eyes. 

"Hold them still, and keep watching me." He says as he leaves your hands and gets back to your chest. Locking eyes with you he smirks and puts his tongue out. You watch as he uses his long ass tongue to give kitten licks to your perked up buds and your body jerks. His other hand busy rolling your nipple in between his index finger and thumb. 

He chuckles at your red face and how flustered you look. The way he licks at your nipple, you feel so exposed. Not that you dont like it, you just feel so open to his eyes and his hungry gaze is making you heat up. 

You feel his hand moving from inside your tank top to the waist band of your joggers. He circles the tip of his tongue around your nipple, making shivers travel down your body. Lifting his head, his hand goes inside your pants and panties at the same time cupping your soaked core making you moan.

He rests his forehead against your collarbone with a deep groan. His middle finger parting your folds and you clutch your hair in order to not move your hands. Your stomach twitches at the sensitivity and his deep voice. Breathing shakily, the room is only filled with the sound of deep shaky breathes and groans. 

"You're so wet, so warm."

"Y-yoongi please please fuck do somethin- ah!"

He slides his middle finger on your clit raising his head at the same time, locking his eyes with yours. "So fucking greedy." He bites your skin with a growl and you cry out at the sensitiveness all around your body. 

His tongue at your collarbones, his fingers on your clit, rubbing you so deliciously, hands under his command, the eye contact and the anticipation of not knowing his next move makes your body shake. 

"Yoongi please I need you inside me, please." You gasp because you feel like you're hyperventilating and you might faint if you dont cum anytime soon.

"Do you now?" 

He starts rubbing your clit in smaller sharper circles and a moan escapes from the back of your throat, eyes shutting, you feel like your body is on fire. 

"Fuck fuck please fucking hell-"

He inserts two of his fingers and latches his mouth on your nipple at the same time. You moan lewdly and he just chuckles around the nipple while he fucks you with his fingers. 

Your high pitched 'ah ahs' makes him want to destroy you, he twists his finger in a come hither motion while his thumb rubs at your clit. He sits up and removes your joggers along with your panties. Leaning back down and latching his mouth to the other ignored nipple, renetering you with his fingers as you breathe heavily. 

"P-Please make me come fuck, pleasepleasepleas-"

His fingers hit the spongy spot in your walls and he groans. He looks up, as you twist in oversensitivity, rubbing constantly against that one spot which makes you see stars. 

He wants to see you, see you come and writhe beneath him. He lifts his face off your boob and grits out, "Eyes on me, if you ever wanna come, baby." You sob as your body arches, he holds your hips down as he works his fingers with his other hand. 

"Look at me." He says firmly. 

You squeeze you eyes tightly gathering enough strength to make eye contact with him, opening your eyes you look at him and he smiles, watching you through the black bangs covering his eyes, he is so evil. Sitting up, he shifts his weight on his legs and uses the other hand to rub at your clit and the other to fuck against your spot. Your pussy gushes at this and he knows you're close. 

Your body tightens and your eyes roll back, he groans at the sight as you clutch your hair with one hand and gripping his wrist with the other. 

"F-Fuck yeah. Come all over my fingers, baby. You're fucking soaking."

Your body twitches and whatever he says is white sound to you as you hear your heartbeat in your ear. Your nails digging in his hand, and the other digging in your scalp. You came after so long and you came so much. 

You push his hand away at the overstimulation, and close your thighs due to the sensitivity. He leans in to kiss you but its a very brief one because you needed to breathe. 

"Fuck, I knew you had good hands." You chuckle breathily and he laughs at your comment. 

"You take a minute, princess, cause I am nowhere done with you." 

You giggle as you watch him get up. Removing his trousers and boxers to sloppily work up his cock. He strokes it slow and your mouth waters at the sight. His cock is pretty just like him. The prominent vein on his cock makes your tongue come out to wet your lips. 

You watch hungrily as he uses his thumb to gather the precum and use it make the strokes easier and sloppier. 

"You know?"

He says stepping forward towards you and you sit up on the couch, he comes up and rests his hand on your head, weaving his fingers through your hair. Titling your head, he wipes the wetness on your cheek with his thumb. 

"I used to love popsicles"

He uses the same thumb to run over your bottom lip as he pulls it downwards. You open your mouth slightly and he scoffs, stroking his cock with the other hand. You gasp when he grips your hair in a tight grip, wincing at the pain and pleasure combo. 

"But fuck them for making me feel so helpless that day." He grits out as he leaves his length to grab your hair in a ponytail, you part your lips and push your tongue out. Scoffing at your face he brings his dick to your mouth and you raise your hand to rest at his thighs. 

"Tap my thigh if it's too much okay?"

You nod. And he pushes in, groaning at your warmth, "fucking hell, baby" he groans with his eyes shut. You try to control your gag reflex but his length touches the back of your throat and you let out a lewd gag making him moan. He shudders as you roll your tongue around his length brushing against the vein as he pushes back and forth. Pulling back he enters your mouth once again and your eyes tear up when you feel his dick in your throat. 

"Yes. Thats it."

He says while gathering your hair and holding them as your eyes let out tears. Your slightly smudged mascara now covering your cheeks in blotches. 

"So warm. So fucking warm." He says through his teeth and you relax your throat before swallowing around him.

He moans deeply at that and you feel your cunt clench at the sound. Pulling out, he leans down at your face level and asks, "Are you on the pill?" You nod before taking deep breaths and looking at him through blurry eyes. 

He smiles before kissing you, almost falling back on the couch. He kisses you wet and urgently before lifting and flipping you on all your fours. Getting up on the couch, he gets behind you, smacking your ass cheek with a scoff bringing out a moan from you. He parts your legs and brings his fingers to your pussy to rub it in rough circles, making you whine out in frustration. 

He chuckles at your impatience and slaps your ass once again. You are about to turn and tell him to please fuck you but you get cut off when he pushes his dick inside you in one smooth thrust. You lose your balance and your head falls onto the cushion giving Yoongi the perfect arch of your back. He puts his palm on your neck and keeps the pressure there as he sets a pace that makes your eyes water, and drool forming in your mouth. 

He doesnt say anything, nor could you, the room is filled with pornographic skin slapping sounds and deep groans and moans along with high pitched whines.

Snaking his hand around your waist he pulls you up against himself, the couch cushions making squeaks as he fucks you into oblivion, you whine at the building orgasm and he chases his own high. You clench around him when he wraps one hand around your throat.

He puts more pressure around your neck. Not blocking your air passage and making it hard to breath, just making you light headed. 

"Yes. Fuck baby, I'm gonna cum. You're gonna make me cum. "

His breathy voice makes you clench. His words gritted out of his teeth indicating his climax. You reach your hand around and tug at his hair which makes him growl and reach his hand down to rub at your clit. 

Your thighs shake and you cum around his cock with a long and deep moan, making him fall off the edge too. He stills inside you and you fall on the cushions in front of you as he grips your hips while releasing. You both groan at the warm feeling of his cum spurting inside you and he gives two harsh thrusts to milk his cock entirely. 

You both stay in the same position panting and heaving until both of your highs go away. Pulling out he winces at the sensitivity and plops down on the sofa with heavy breaths. You turn around half naked with just a half torn tank top on your stomach. 

Kicking at his arm playfully, you ask for something to cover you up. "I feel cold, help me out. I cant feel my fucking legs." You chuckle and he smiles at you. You lift your leg again to kick him, but he stops it mid-air and bites your ankle. You laugh at him as he smiles and picks you up in bridal style. 

"I am a gentleman, for your information, if you didnt notice it yet."

"Oh I did notice it when you offered me a massage, you softie."

"I will drop your ass down if you say that again." He says playfully, smiling and you laugh along with him. 

After getting a nice hot bath, making out for 15 mins in the bathtub, you both change into fresh pair of clothing and play stone paper scissors to decide in whose bed you want to cuddle in. Him being the champion of this game, he won.

Laying in his bed, him spooning you, you whisper. "Yoongi?"

"Mm?" He mumbles.

"You know I like you right?" Your heart beats fast as you say this cause this would get complicated if it turned out to be a one night thing for him, because you actually had feelings.

When he doesnt answer for two seconds, you feel your heart sink and regret starts forming in you, wishing that you didnt provoke him for a meaningless fuck. 

"Me too, princess." He mumbles against your ear and you audibly sigh out in relief to which he squeezes you with his hands around your waist, nuzzling his head into your neck, pecking the top of your head. You smile as you feel sleep take over your mind, the warmth of each others bodies making you both fall into a slumber. 

The next morning you woke up with not only a sore back, but a lot of sore muscles, but at least it was worth it. 

[thegnomelord]

CH 1: With a Spark It Starts Just Like It Ended

CW: NSFW Blood, gore, cannon typical violence, M reader but can be read as GN, Mage reader, Monster 141 AU, reader is described as having thick fucked up arms.

AO3 3.7k words, more of an intro to what's to come lol.

Old man Abdul had lived a good life. A harsh one. But a good one.

He was amongst the first to grab a gun and raise the fight against the Russians, risking life and limb for the freedom of Urzikstan even as members of his pack bled and died to artillery fire and noxious gas. And he alone had survived to see his country set free of tyranny and chose to stay in the military long after his hair had greyed.

And how was he rewarded for his service?

With a 'promotion' to guard the basement of a conference hall. They even called it the 'Peace House' as if that made his position grander, though in his humble opinion the only peaceful thing happening within the halls above was the lack of physical violence.

"Hey, did you fall asleep on me old man?" Taim, a bright eyed and gap-toothed human private so young he could've been one of his grandsons, asks as he throws down five playing cards on the floor between them. Royal flush, again.

Old man Abdul's eyes are soft with a glare and he throws down his own cards, already knowing he'd lost. "Go fish." He huffs, leaning back into the chair they'd been able to squirrel away.

It was embarrassing to think that boredom could torture him more than the Russians did, but they were only a few hours into their shift and he was already thinking of biting a bullet. Chances were they'd stay down here long after the diplomats up top finished bickering about who knows what...

"Hey," Taim perks up, and from the few weeks he's known him, Abdul knows the glint in his brown eyes heralds something stupid. "How about whoever loses this round takes a shot from your leg?"

He is proven correct.

"How about I throw you into a minefield so we can match?" Old man Abdul responds, his tail wagging from side to side. His tail looks more at home on a rat than any werewolf, the fur there an accidental casualty of a Russian fire mage's spell that had taken his leg off. The prosthetic leg only fitting on his human body isn't nearly as insulting as the warding totem they'd given him to protect against lethal magic after his leg had gone flying.

Taim gulps and holds his hands up. "There's no need for that sir." He quickly adds, clearing his throat and reaching to the floor to pick up their cards and shuffle them.

Taim's warding totem slips out from beneath his jacket, but it's different from old man Abdul's. Not in appearance, with the same materials every mage will make theirs differently, but in feel. It feels different...wrong.

Eyes narrowing he reaches out and holds the piece of faintly glowing rock between his claws. Heat radiates into his fingers, the magic inside pulsing in a steady even thrum like a machine instead of beating like a heartbeat; like something not quite alive.

Abdul had been in combat long enough to know how good a warding totem is with how his body reacts to it.

The shit one he'd been given barely gets the remaining fur on his tail to bristle.

Taim's makes his skin want to melt off.

"Where did you get this?" Abdul asks, tail curling up as he lets go of the totem with disgust clear on his face. "That rock could probably protect you from L3 mage without cracking, maybe even L4." Call him paranoid, but a private getting a totem to protect him from mages rarer than unicorns doesn't make any sense.

"Oh, that-" The young man clears his throat, the totem laying flat against his chest like an insult to life. "Came from up top a few days ago, guess all those terror attacks spooked command and they want to keep us normal people safe." He realizes his words and quickly adds. "-not that I'm calling you not normal or anything sir, it's just that-"

"-You're squishier than me, yes, I know." Old man Abdul rolls his eyes, leaning back into his chair with a huff.

Taim gives a nervous little giggle, scratching at his curly dark hair. "No offence sir. It's just...you know."

"We all look out for our kinfolk first." Old man Abdul sighs, going to wave him off.

His pointy ear twitches and immediately he's jumping to his feet when his sensitive hearing picks up the sound of the elevator mechanism running. No one is supposed to come down at this time, and Abdul already has his rifle raised to point at the elevator doors by the time Taim is able to get to his own feet. The old werewolf doesn't even need to say anything for the young man to stand on opposite side of him, they work together well, both guns aimed at the person revealed by the opening elevator doors.

It's just the janitor.

Taim lets out a small breath and lowers his gun, relaxing as the janitor gives them a small greeting both of them have to strain their ears to hear as a face mask muffles their words.

"That was a bit embarrassing." Taim chuckles weakly, nodding his own greeting and taking a step back so the janitor can push the heavy cart past them. Abdul notes the janitor's hands are thick and large, the veins poking out beneath latex gloves. Murky water sloshes inside the mop bucket, the trash bag filled to the brim and budging.

It's just a janitor.

But like an annoying tick on his ass, something doesn't let old man Abdul relax.

There's a buzz in the back of his mind like the one he'd get when he was being watched, and when he catches sight of the janitor's eyes beneath the wide-brimmed cap that buzzing stops; Instead replaced with a flash sense of wrongness in his bones and the feeling of tar inside his heart and an indescribable scent — like stale beer and burnt grass and deep dark rot — it has his fingers moving to the trigger before the sight of magic melting through latex can make the short trip from his eyes to his brain—

Glowing lines spring into thin air to form magic circles before their eyes.

The warding totems shatter.

'Pop' goes a head.

Both bodies drop to the ground.

"Could have told me there was a dog." Your words scrape against your throat like shards of glass from the disuse, melted latex stretching into long strands as you take off the cleaner gloves and throw them away, your fingers steaming and glowing hot with mana before you hide them away in tactical gloves.

"I-" Taim tries to say but his voice fails him, eyes and mind still blinded by the harsh glare of magical fire.

"Save it." You cut him off, pulling open the lip of the trash bag to dig out your facemask helmet. It's both a full face helmet and a gasmask, scratched up from years of use but still able to protect your head while keeping you anonymous. A shame it can't filter out the stench of burnt flesh, but you've gotten used to it.

Taim's vision clears and the moment his eyes settle on the charred remains of Abdul's head— the hollowed out skull where concentrated flame had burned a hole straight through everything in it's path, the flesh and bone charred black —he's scrambling away as fast as his feet can push him, the shattered remains of your warding totem crumbling beneath his fingers. Bile rises in his throat and he coughs when he breaths in, but his stomach is thankfully empty so he ends up dry heaving.

"On your feet." Your words are hard to understand under your gasmask, but you don't need to raise your voice. The tone you use has him scrambling to his feet in seconds.

"I- I- yes sir!" Taim manages to stutter out, doesn't even have to fake his fear as he stands at attention. He watches you reach into the dirty water to pull out a Handheld Personal Computer and shake off the residual droplets to ensure it still works before putting it in your pocket.

"When is the next check in?" You ask, reaching further into the trash bag to grasp the handhold on the heavy gas canister hidden beneath office trash. You pull it out without much effort, setting it carefully on the ground so you can recheck that the release valve is intact.

"20 minutes sir." Taim responds and he doesn't need to know Arabic to know what's inside the canister when a grinning skull is printed on the metal.

You let out a low sound, and Taim tries not to peer too closely at you. Sometimes he wonders what face a person who burns people alive without a single second of hesitation could have, but then you look at him and he sees that unnatural glow of mana in your eyes behind the darkened lenses of the helmet and he's glad he's met with the emotionless visage of the mask rather than the one beneath it.

"You have 10 to get out before Hell opens up." You say, standing back up and picking up the canister without complaint. "Use the emergency tunnels, don't spook the VIPs."

Taim is human, not sensitive to magic like the monsters are, but even he can feel the latent mana in your veins that strengthens your body. Like maggots at the back of his skull. It makes a second round of bile rise to his throat. "Yes sir."

You pay close attention to him until he disappears down the corridor before going the opposite way. Alone, it is easier to calm the lingering heat in your veins until the eternal engine of mana in your chest fizzles down to embers like a sleeping beast. Can't have your mana mess with sensitive electronics, even if that does leave you exposed on the cams (as if there's anyone alive to watch them)

"Ifrit, status?" The small radio in your ear crackles.

"Moving to the target, encountered and neutralized a wolf." You answer, taking sharp turns as you follow a path you'd memorized beforehand. "No other monsters to report."

You were lucky to run into one down in the bowels of the conference hall instead of at the front gate. Otherwise your espionage mission would have turned into a frontal assault. Not that Khaled would have minded, you were getting paid to send a loud statement after all.

"Good." You don't need to see his face to know he's smirking, your employer wasn't a huge fan of subhumans. "Continue to the objective."

You respond in affirmative, coming to a heavy metal door, locked with a passcode and even a palm scanner; It's all a valiant effort to keep sensitive data safe, but it may as well be cardboard to you. You summon another circle, this time right on the door, biting your tongue. You're not good with 'subtle' but you haven't forgotten what Taurus or Sierra had taught you; first pushing a bit of loose ash magic between the large atoms making up the metal to disrupt the bonds, then a single pulse of fire ignites the volatile ash and has the entire bottom half crumbling into red hot shards.

Molten slag drips down to the floor when you duck down under the remaining half of the door to find yourself in the server room. Steam rises when the cold air meets your hot skin, but you hardly notice as you first head to the ventilation system at the back of the room. It's dark, but you don't bother turning on the lights, the subtle mana in your eyes enough to give you primitive night vision.

"Ifrit to Alpha-Actual, connecting the payload right now." You say, setting the canister down. The ventilation collects the air from the server room to push it through the entire building and then outside, so all you have to do is melt a hole through the exit pipe until it's big enough for the hose on the canister to fit snugly inside.

"And the files?" Khaled's voice sounds in your ear once you're finished.

"Going now." Standing back up you head to the central server. Taking out the HPC you hook it up to the mainframe, watching the screen until it shows 'connection secure'. "I'm connected."

"Copy that." Your eyes scan the cracked screen (which you broke less than a week after getting it), seeing the file transfer start before Khaled even finishes speaking and trying to read and memorize the names of dozens the files but they change too quickly. "File transfer ETA 5 minutes. Sit tight."

Giving confirmation you keep an eye on the doorway. Though you are positioned in such a way that you'd see the shadow of someone coming in before they see you, years of being behind enemy lines and acting as a friendly to your foes has taught you to be careful. Especially when you can't use more than a smidgeon of mana without frying the entire server system.

You are lucky that no-one comes, the remaining guards too busy guarding the diplomats above you to check what's beneath their noses. While waiting you access the public stream to watch the peace talks, setting the sound to the lowest possible setting so you can keep an eye on the diplomats in case you need a change of plan.

"Got the files, you're clear to finish." You're moving before Khaled can finish speaking, leaving the HPC to hang by the cord from the server. "Oh, and remember: Loud."

"You get what you pay for sir." Kneeling down next to the gas canister you check to ensure your gas mask is firmly on and breathing in deeply; It restricts your breathing and makes muscles work harder, but your body is so used to it that it feels like coming back home.

"Letting the gas out now." Even with the gas mask you still hold your breath when you open the valve, the gas hissing as it escapes the canister, the fan right next to you helping push it through the system. You know there's not enough gas to reach the diplomats on the top floor, it's part of the plan, so when the gas pitters out you cast another circle inside the pipe.

The servers around you flicker meekly and crackle with electricity when you use your mana fully; Something intense and suffocating burns behind your sternum for just a second before liquid mana is rushing down your veins into your hands and coming out through the magic circle as copious amounts of ash.

The rotating fan right next to you spews some of your ash right back at you, flooding the server room in magic that has long since accepted your body enough not to hurt you. But even your seasoned stomach feels tight when you breathe in the mixture of ash and toxic gas, the chemicals turning your magic a nasty shade of green, and you make a mental note to change the filter when you're done with the op otherwise the toxified sediment collecting in there will poison you for months.

You can hear the diplomats begin to cough over the livestream in the HPC, but it all feels so distant when you shift and feel cold dog tags press against your burning chest. They're light like a noose around your neck, yet the absence of weight mocks you in a way their owners no longer can.

There's a familiar sting in your bones when your mana reservoir begins dwindling, but it's easy to push through it until the engine in your chest goes into overdrive from the stress the magic puts on your body. You only stop when the burning mana in your veins starts burning small holes in the sleeves of the janitor jacket, revealing bits of your mage marked skin.

Stopping the flow of ash your hands find themselves in your pocket, taking out a lighter. It's one of those old zippo lighters, the exterior is rusted from years of action and numerous initials are scratched into the metal, but somehow it still functions; It's the strange thing about it— the more you use it, the longer it lasts. Stop, and it dies.

"It's a bit like you, firebug."

Absentmindedly you trace the scratched initials in the metal, trying to ignore the hollowness in your chest when the screams beyond the smokescreen of ash start sounding familiar.

"Going dark." You say to them, flicking it open.

One spark is all it takes.

. . .

With Makarov having gone underground like a wanker after his escape from the gulag, Price and Laswell had been stuck with their heads in mountains of paperwork searching for the bastard. Price had known he'd be in for a headache the moment he agreed to let the boys watch a live football game between England and Scotland, but he reasoned they'd all been working hard enough to earn even a small break.

At the very least it gave them all a moment of reprieve from the stress of a possible world war.

It didn't stop Soap from being a bloody muppet.

"Oh fockin' 'ell!" Soap roars and jumps to his feet, growling at the teli where a ref held a red card above her head. "That should've been a yellow! Fock, one more eye and the ref's a right cyclops." He waves obscenities at the teli as if the ref can see them, his tail hitting Gaz every time it wagged.

"Soap!" Gaz groans and stretches one black wing to smack the werewolf over the head with his long flight feathers to stop him blocking the screen.

Though Gaz's wings are hollow, the smack still hurts. "Ow, what's that for?" Soap groans, rubbing the back of his head.

"At least take your defeat with a wee bit of dignity." Gaz smirks, folding his wings.

"Bold assumption he has any." Ghost mutters next to Price, making him chuckle.

“Oh ho! I’ll get me dignity when the bloody ref gets off 'er knees an’ stops blowing the entire game.” Soap turns to playfully snap his teeth at Gaz. "And what's tha-"

The football match cuts out, replaced with a news segment.

"-Oh, what the fock?" Soap grows quiet when the newscaster begins speaking.

"We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you breaking news. As we speak, the conference hall in Al Mazra, where diplomats from over 40 countries had come to discuss peace and trade agreements with the newly reinstated Urzikstan government, burns in the flames of another terrorist attack."

The footage shifts to a drone filming a bird's eye view shot of violent flames spewing from every hole and window to engulf the entire three story building in consuming fire, heavy plumes of smoke rising into the sky like a maw of a hungering beast to spew a storm of ash and cinders down to the ground. The clouds of ash have a sick green undertone to them.

"Shit." Gaz sucks in a breath.

"Mokarov's done hiding." Ghost notes, leaning in to look closely at the screen with narrowed eyes.

"How the fock did we miss this?" Soap asks the question in their minds, turning to look at Price. "This popped up like bloody whack-a-mole."

At that same time Price's phone rings. The dragon quickly fishes it out of his pocket, seeing Laswell's name as the caller ID before he picks it up while the reporter drawls on.

"Price, are you-"

"Yeah, I'm watching the teli." He cuts her off, knowing what she's going to say. Distantly he can hear the same news report sounding on her end.

"Authorities warn citizens to vacate the immediate area as toxic gas has been detected in the air. Military forces are already enroute, but the prospects for the diplomats survival are nonexistent."

Price's draconic eyes focus on the screen when the footage shifts to that inside the conference hall. Two diplomats argue about something Price can't begin to try and untangle, his focus on one man near the back who begins coughing. More follow suit, and even over the screen Price can tell the signs of toxic gas inhalation by the way more diplomats begin wheezing and coughing wetly.

"This isn't the Russians." Kate says after Price has put her on speaker.

"How come? Looks like some terrorist shite Makarov would pull." Johnny says, his tail curled up and the tip wagging occasionally as he pays attention to the screen.

Seconds later plumes of blackish-green smog erupt from the vents above the diplomats, spewing out with such force it knocks the the camera and the man behind it down to the ground. Ash Magic, Price realizes when he sees smoldering cinders drift almost peacefully in the all consuming fog. Seconds later something causes a spark and the volatile ash magic explodes.

"Ash mage." Ghost grunts, "Just great."

"Makarov doesn't use mages." Price says, scratching his beard.

"No, but Al-Asad does." Kate's voice drifts through the silent room as they watch several APC's arrive on the scene, armored soldiers exiting. But without any monsters who can stomach the heat like Price and with the fog of ash so thick it could be cut with a knife, the best they can do is secure the perimeter. "The CIA intercepted his broadcast before it went public, this is just the start."

Gaz hops off the couch, crossing the small distance to tap one claw at the screen. "What is that?" He asks. Seemingly hearing him, the drone camera focuses on where the main entrance of the building had been.

A dark silhouette of a person can be seen in the flames, growing darker and more refined until finally a featureless helmet emerges from the flames, a deep glow emanating from behind the lenses. It's followed by a body, clothes burnt away in some parts but the flesh beneath unharmed. Price can tell immediately it's a mage by the state of the arms — even from far away it's easy to tell the mage marks, the skin turned rough and dark like cooled magma, veins brimming with volatile mana.

Before the soldiers can fire a single bullet you lift one hand up, the dark mage marks turning to bright like fresh lava when mana flows from your chest to your fingers. A magic circle etches itself into the ground in an instant, so large the surrounding buildings fall into it's perimeter.

And with a second motion of your hand everything erupts into an all consuming cloud of ash.

Laswell's voice rings out. "That's Khaled's new attack dog."

Price and Ghost share a look, both know what will happen long before some nervous soldier caught in the ash cloud pulls the trigger. The cloud of ash explodes the second a spark is created in a weapon's chamber, plunging everything into chaos.

Great, a new wanker to worry about.

Price sighs, brows furrowing. "That's trouble all right."

Tag list: @resident-cryptid @diejager @lovingtyrantkitten @lieutnt

Masterlist <- Chapter 1 (you are here) -> Chapter 2

You can imagine the helmet however you want, but it's in the style of the Devtac Ronin helmet.

[moodymisty]

I would like to throw Sanguinius into the “wants to hunt down his beloved to satiate his latent predatory instincts” arena (especially since he doesn’t indulge them nearly as often as Leman & Lion do, he needs to cut loose 🥴)

But ALSO… Horus wants to be so sugar daddy coded. He wants to actually have kids so not like your typical sugar daddy but he wants to provide for his beloved he wants to drown you in luxury and gifts. It gets him harder than tungsten carbide when he sees you looking dolled up to accompany him somewhere and he knows he bought every single thing you’re wearing (probably down to the underwear cuz we been knew he nasty like that lol). He didn’t just want to raise kids he wanted to occupy that perfect paternal figure archetype as a provider (because he has daddy issues that he “copes” with by trying to one-up Emps XD) and part of the perfect image of his future would probably include a spouse he would spoil and treasure like nobody’s business. This man lives for the constant adoration he gets so of course he wants to hear it from you. The thank yous and bashful looks as he hands you ANOTHER priceless piece of jewelry, mewling and moaning as he’s balls deep in you that you don’t NEED another fur shawl and how people will gossip. Let them talk, let every ear on Terra know the warmaster can and will provide only the finest of the fine things in this whole galaxy for you. Cuz that gets him off too XD

ALKJDFLJSDFLJSKDFOW4ITREHDFNB AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

-----------

"Oh thank you! Warmaster Horus gifted it to me."

You've found yourself saying those words a lot lately, tumbling out of your mouth even before you realize you're saying them.

The dress you wore with sleeves billowing over your wrists, with a train that dusts across the floor is a gift from him, along with the jewelry you wore; The heels you have on are from Horus, custom made from the hide of an animal sourced from a recently annexed planet.

The lingerie you wear under your dress is from him as well- a bra, garter belt, panties and stockings all matching and delicate with lace and silk.

Horus had loved that gift of his in particular, shown in how gentle he was in assisting you while putting it on. And taking it off, now a moments later.

"It sounds like the primarch has quite the warchest, if he's lavishing you with so many gifts." You smile nervously, trying to laugh it off.

You know that despite the relatively simple nature of the comment, that it's implications are less so. There has been gossip going around, talking about Lupercal's spoiled little princess, his brat, and he's been on a manhunt to find the sources of all this talk.

He hasn't told you what he's going to do when he finds out who is nattering insults, which worries you more than a little.

"I keep telling him to stop, that he has thousands of men to feed, but he doesn't really listen."

They smile at you while you try and shrug off their comment, polite and insincere, but amicable enough. At least your response got them away from Horus' gifts.

It's a bit difficult to fend of prying questions about the Warmaster when he isn't around, as many lords and ladies are eager to know anything any everything that could give them a head up. They are all quite interested in the primarchs and their legions goings on, but Horus in particular is of much interest.

Only when you return to Horus' private Terran chambers can you breath, feeling the ache in your feet after so long in heels.

You're taking pins out of your hair when Horus returns, watching you put the pins in a little container before turning to him. He's in his casual war, a massive pelt draped over his shoulder ending right where the start of his baggy brown trousers begin.

"I apologize for missing you, I wish I could've gone but the Mournival had some urgent questions they needed answered." He glances over you, see how you've begun to get ready to settle down. "I hope it went well in my absence, at least." You nod.

"It did, don't worry."

He lets out a soft 'good' in response, but he's already getting down on his knee and pulling something from his trousers.

"I do have something for you. I was going to give it to you before we left, but I suppose I can gift it to you now as an apology for leaving you alone."

You watch as he opens a small box for you, and the shine instantly catches you attention.

They're earrings; Small, delicate and feature a beautiful teal gem as the centerpiece. Horus chuckles.

"You should put them on. I would help but, my hands are not suited for such tiny details."

You can't resist the urge to smile back as you take your current pair out, swapping them for Horus' new ones. He watches with interest the entire time, even as you glance in the large vanity mirror to see them.

"They're perfect Horus, thank you."

You lean forward to wrap your arms around his neck and give him a kiss to the cheek, your lipstick leaving a mark on his tanned skin.

"You always get me so much though, are you sure it's ok?" Horus laughs, a deep chesty laugh as he puts a hand on the small of your back and pulls you closer.

"Ok? Whatever do you mean?" You purse your lips.

"I just don't want you lavish me in all these things when you might be able to use that income for more important things." Horus lets out a softer, quieter laugh, kissing your forehead.

"My love, don't you worry about those things. I have them all handled." His other hand comes up to rest on your jawline, cradling it in his massive palm.

"I only wish to make sure you don't want for a single, solitary thing. If you want something, it is yours. I will make sure of it."

You smile at him, gentle and sweet. You love Horus so much, the feeling is palpable. You wish he wouldn't give you so much however, the gossip is becoming unmanageable. Each time you mention it however

Horus always shrugs it off, saying that they can gossip all they want- It only shows off just how well he takes care of you.

"Do you mind helping me with the buttons on the back of my dress? The handmaid helped me earlier but I think they're off cleaning."

Horus nods and gestures for you to turn around, unfastening the buttons at the nape of your neck. While they're small they aren't as small as the earrings, so he's able to manage the delicate task somewhat easily.

Farther down the trail of buttons eventually the shoulders slide off of you, and the dress pools at your feet.

"You wore it again today,"

Horus says while he looks over your back, and there's an unmistakable look in his eyes at the sight of his gifted lingerie. You turn around, unable to help the way you cross your arms across your stomach.

"It matched the dress, so I thought i would."

His hand drifts over your right thigh, up over the lace top of your stocking, before drifting up and over your hip. He leans inward to press his lips to your collarbone, before lowering to your sternum.

"I should get you another."

You stutter and try to decline his suddenly exclamation as his hands drift upwards, threatening to push your bra up over your breasts.

"Horus, I don't need another, please-"

He hums, and you can feel the vibration go through your chest.

"If you're going to wear it under your dresses then you need multiple, of course."

He's not going to budge on this, and his distractions of kissing your skin are working masterfully. A whimper leaves your throat as one of his hands slides to gently cradle your bottom, and his lips push up your skin to nip at the sensitive skin just below your ear.

"Then... Could you do it in silver? ...I miss the silver of your Luna Wolves regalia."

Horus chuckles, but unlike the one earlier that was so sweet, this one has far more rumble, deeper in his throat.

"Consider it done, my love."

[eternalmoonlight18]

Please Please Please (Don't Prove 'Em Right) Chapter 7

Trafaglar Law x afab Female!Reader

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Chapter warnings: none!

Summary:

You are the Heart Pirates' beloved cook and sniper. However, you were also an insufferable troublemaker who always seemed to get on Law's nerves. He swears he's going to get rid of you one day, but as much as he hates it, why does he find you fascinating? Was it because you reminded him of someone he was greatly fond of?

As your relationship with Law grows, he only hopes you don't fucking embarrass him. After all, he has an image to uphold as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

This story starts off as short stories between (Y/N), Law and the Heart Pirates, then picks up into the One Piece canon timeline, starting from Punk Hazard. This is a slow-burn Law x Female Reader story!

Updates every Monday!

Cross-posted in Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/57651295/chapters/146705491

Chapter 7: Birds of a Feather

Chapter summary: You and Law finally meet the Strawhats, and Law proposes an alliance with them. A big secret is revealed, and you do the unthinkable to Law!

A/N: I'm alive! That Ao3 curse is real LOL but im okay now. I feel bad for being gone for two weeks so I'm going to whip up another chapter by Friday. Thank you for your patience friends!

ps. i gave lots of hints about your brothers in the previous chapters, so i hope everything makes sense LOL

I also created a taglist. Let me know if you want to be a part of it!

wc: 4.2k

The kitchen was your safe space. It always has, and it always will be. Your earliest memories of cooking were at DanDan's shack, where you lived with your three brothers and DanDan's band of thieves. While your three rowdy brothers made a ruckus in the nearby forest, you found your passion in the kitchen. The aroma that would fill that tiny shack filled the air as you cooked was one of your core memories growing up, and you couldn't help but dream about that time.

You recalled that one night when everyone was eating your cooking after a long day of criminal activities. You made spaghetti with roasted wild boar, and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

"This is amazing (Y/n)-chan!" your blond brother exclaimed. His cheeks were adorably filled with food as he continued to wolf down your food. 

"Yeah! I always love it when you cook!" your younger brother squealed as he took a whole mouthful of the boar's leg. 

Your elder brother, who remained quiet, refused to compliment cooking, but his actions said otherwise. He, too, like your other two brothers, was wolfing down his fifth bowl of spaghetti. You giggled at the sight, causing the boy to turn red in embarrassment. 

The thieves and Dandan were also shoving the food down their throats. 

"You're the best out of all these brats here! At least you know how to fill our stomachs!" the tall and burly woman praised. The compliment made you beam with a smile, much to the boys' dissatisfaction.

"HEY! Quit playing favourites, you hag!" your eldest brother shouted.

"Yeah! We're the ones who caught the boar! If we didn't catch it, then big sister wouldn't have cooked it!" the youngest exclaimed.

"It's so obvious that (Y/n) is your favourite." the blond boy huffed. 

You stuck out your tongue at your brothers. "Stupid! If I didn't cook it, all of you could've starved because none of you can cook for shit!" you retorted.

The four of you started to get into a physical quarrel until someone stomped into the cabin and hit your head. 

"QUIET YOU BRATS!" a deep voice boomed, and all of you froze. You knew that voice too well.

It was Grandpa Garp.

The four of you whined and groaned in pain as a large bump started to appear on your heads. When the boys realized that Grandpa Garp was the one who hit them, they proceeded to run to a corner in an attempt to get away from his monstrous strength. But you stood your ground and glared up at him.

"Old man! What was that for? I didn't even do anything!" you exclaimed.

The three brothers' faces fell. Dandan and the thieves started clamouring because they were afraid that Garp was going to cause a scene. 

The broad man started to smile like a madman. At this sight, your younger brother started to shiver with fear.

But unexpectedly, Garp simply picked you up and started to smother you with hugs and kisses, much to everyone's shock.

"My sweet (Y/n)! Oh, how I missed you!" he said as he peppered your cheeks with kisses.

"Let go of me, you old geezer! I can smell your stinky gross breath!" you grunted as you attempted to push away from his strong hold on you. However, your efforts were fruitless, and Garp continued to shower you with affection.

"Eugh, that's so disgusting!" The older raven-haired boy revolted.

"That old geezer never gets mad at older sister..." the youngest muttered in jealousy. 

"I bet you wish that were you right now, right Ace?" the blond teased the older boy.

"Say one more thing, Sabo, and I'll burn your stupid top hat right now!" Ace sneered back.

The whole cabin erupted in laughter at the chaos that ensued. As Ace and Sabo started to hit each other, the younger boy tried to join in, only to be pummeled at the same time by the two older boys. The poor, younger, raven-haired boy stumbled back and rubbed his cheeks in pain. 

"You guys are mean!" he whined as tears prickled in the corners of his eyes.

"No one asked you to jump in, Luffy!" Ace scoffed.

"Guys, help me!" you squeaked, breaking the boys' attention away from each other.

The three looked up at you, trying to break free from your grandfather's strong hug. They shrugged and continued to quarrel with each other.

You closed your eyes in defeat. Your sleep slowly caught up to you from a long day. But it was cut short by a loud bang.

BANG BANG BANG

Jolting awake, you found yourself sitting up from the bed. As you slowly scanned your eyes around the room, you realized that you had a vivid dream of your childhood. You sighed and smiled to yourself. As much as you found your brothers annoying, you couldn't help but miss them, especially Luffy, your younger brother. Some people said the two of you looked alike, while some said that the two of you looked nothing alike. But at the end of the day, Luffy and Garp were your first family, and as much as you wanted to get away from them, you always found yourself seeing them again.

BANG BANG BANG

You groaned. "What the hell is that noise?" you muttered to yourself. Getting up from the bed and throwing in a pair of comfy grey sweats, you walked out of the room and followed the sound of the loud bang. As you walked in the corridors of the laboratory, it seemed that the whole place went down in chaos when you overslept. Caesar's men were running around all over the place, and the siren was blaring. The speaker was replaying the same alert over and over again: intruders had breached the laboratory. 

You curiously walked up to a group of Caesar's men. "Hey, what's going on?" you asked. 

They looked at you in silence before they said, "Hey, aren't you with Trafalgar?" 

"Well, if I was, I wouldn't be here looking for him, would I?" you scoffed.

The men looked at each other, then faced you. "You're coming with us," they affirmed. They proceeded to grab your arm, but quick reflexes were your strength, so you used your free hand to grab the pistol that was strapped to your hip and shot the man who grabbed you on the head. The other two men tried to grab you as well, but you ducked and spun your leg to topple them over. 

Another group of men saw your assault and proceeded to go after you. 

"What the hell is going on?! Why is everyone chasing me!" you yelled. Running through the corridors, you ran for a good five minutes, avoiding every one of Caesar's henchmen. 

As you turned a corner, a door appeared down the hall. With the henchmen hot on your tail, you ran until the door was at your reach. Swinging the door open, the cold winter air hit your lungs. Unfazed by the sudden change in temperature, you ran out and slammed it shut behind you and barricaded it with a rod you found leaning against the wall. Once you realized that they couldn't burst through, you slumped against the door in exhaustion. 

You didn't realize that Law and a bunch of other pirates were staring at you.

You felt stares piercing into you. Facing up, your face lit up as you saw your captain looking at you with a stoic expression. Then, to his right, you saw a man dressed in a long striped coat with a strawhat on his head. You felt your eyes bulge out with surprise once you realized who you were looking at. 

"LUFFY?!" you exclaimed in shock.

The straw-hatted man turned his head, and his face broke out in a huge grin once his eyes landed on you. 

"BIG SIS!! HEY!!" he yelled back as he ran to you. Your younger brother engulfed you in a bear hug, and you reciprocated.

Meanwhile, everyone around you froze on the spot. Not because it was unbearably cold but because they were confronted with the biggest revelation, especially for Law. 

"Big sister?!" everyone around you exclaimed in surprise. 

You turn your head and see Law with the most bewildered expression you've ever seen in him express. While his eyes were deadpan and void, his mouth as agape as he bore his stormy eyes on you and Luffy.

"Oi Luffy!" the cyborg man, who oddly had a woman's voice, called out. "What do you mean, big sister? You're telling me that she's your big sister?!" 

"Yeah!" the tanooki animal called out, who oddly had a deep voice. "She's part of Trafalgar's crew and your sister?!"

Shaking off his shocked expression, Law marched up, wedged between you and Luffy, and faced the latter. 

"Hey, Strawhat-ya, you can't just accuse my subordinate as your sister!" you sneered.

Luffy simply gave Law a confused look. "Why would I lie about big sis (Y/n)?" he pouted.

The doctor's face twisted into a darker scowl. In an attempt to calm him down, you place a gentle hand on his left shoulder, which seems to temporarily work. The Strawhats, except for Luffy, raised their eyebrows in interest. 

"But wait, I've seen her bounty poster before, and it never mentions her last name!" The blond man with an oddly high-pitched voice called out. 

"Well, the reason for that is-" you started. But you promptly stopped as you realized what was going on with these people and why their voices didn't seem to match their appearances. Whipping your head to face your captain, your suspicions were confirmed when Law refused to meet your eyes as he turned his head to his side comically. A large tick appeared on your forehead as you grabbed the jacket collar of your dear captain. 

There was that one time when you, Penguin, Shachi, and Ikkaku all switched into each other's bodies. You ended up in Penguin's, and he ended up in your body, and you had to practically beg Law to switch you back before that perverted crewmate did god knows what to your body. 

And it seemed that your damned captain did it again, this time with your brother's crewmates. 

"You shambled their hearts, didn't you?!" you sneered at him.

"I don't know what you're talking about." he stoically said.

"Don't play dumb with me, captain, switch them back now!"

The Strawhats watched in amusement and giggled amongst each other.

"What's so funny, guys?" Luffy curiously asked as he picked his nose. A booger stuck to his index finger, and the Strawhat absentmindedly flicked it to the tanooki. 

"HEY! DON'T FLICK YOUR BOOGERS AT ME ASSHOLE!" he boomed angrily. 

"Shihihi! Sorry Chopper!" 

"It's Franky! I'm stuck in Chopper's body!"

"Oh, you airhead, can't you see? I think the warlord has a thing for your sister!" the cyborg giggled.

"Huh? A thing? What thing?" Luffy asked.

"Of course, you don't know, you're an idiot. Trafalgar fancies your sister. It's so obvious; the warlord never displays this much emotion." the blond man sighed. 

"Nami and Chopper are right, Luffy. It's interesting, to say the least." the dark-haired woman lightly giggled. 

"I still don't get it, Robin." the Strawhat pouted as he glanced at you and Law, who was now fully listening in on what the Strawhats had to say about your relationship. While Law's face remained annoyed at the fact that they were gossiping about him, a light tinge of red appeared on the tip of his ears, but they were unable to decipher if it was from the cold or embarrassment. You, on the other hand, were looking away and staring at the snowy ground as if it was the most interesting thing ever.

"If you guys are done gossiping about me and (Y/n)-ya, perhaps we can continue with our conversation." the doctor coolly said. 

"Hold it! Before we can agree to anything you say, you need to switch us back, Trafalgar!" Franky/Nami shrieked.

"Yeah!" everyone else agreed.

You elbowed your captain, earning a quick glare from him. But alas, he sighed and caved in and switched the hearts of the Strawhat members.

Luffy's crew quickly celebrated the return of their hearts to the bodies before Luffy continued.

"So, what did you want from us, Traffy?" he inquired.

You quietly hummed to yourself. "Traffy, I like that nickname."

"Your younger brother is a bad influence on you," Law muttered quietly. Then, he quickly continued. "I propose an alliance with my crew and your crew, Strawhat-ya. I have a plan to take down one of the Four Emperors."

A collective gasp and murmurs immediately sprung up amongst everyone.

"Hey, Luffy," Sanji/Nami spoke. "Traffy may be the captain of your sister, but we can't trust him."

"We're pirates, after all. You need to be careful of who you're going to make alliances with, Luffy." Robin warned him.

Confused, you tilted your head to the side. "I trust you guys, why can't you trust us?"

Robin looked at you with kind but hesitant eyes then looked back at the Strawhat. "Luffy, do you trust him?"

 Your younger brother flashed a bright smile with a gleam in his eyes. His crew deadpanned.

"He and his sister are too trusting!" they all thought simultaneously.

"Hold on," the long-nosed man who you learned was Ussop started. "Traffy, you may think that an alliance is a collaboration between two crews right?"

"Well yes, that's what it is." Law deadpanned.

Ussop started to pat his captain's back as he continued. "Well, that's not what he thinks. Our dear captain thinks that an alliance means being friends. Isn't that right Luffy?"

"Yep!" your brother exclaimed with an eye-splitting grin. 

You started to jump up and down with excitement. Facing Law again, you grabbed the sides of his arms and started to shake him aggressively. "Captain! How exciting is this?! We have new friends!"

"The hell we are (Y/n)-ya! Remember, this is a mission! And quit doing that; I have a reputation to hold here!" Law exclaimed.

"What reputation?"

"Did you forget I'm a warlord?"

"Oh, that! But you don't scare me!"

The tattooed doctor scoffed and looked back at Luffy and the Strawhats, who were staring at him. 

"Oi Traffy! You and big sis look like really close friends!" Luffy called out.

Law's ears turned bright red.

"Enough of this nonsense! Now, are you going to help me or not, Strawhat-ya?" Law pressed on. "Now let me explain what's going on; we're going to take down Kaido. But we need to take down his subordinates before we do so. Now, Doflamingo supplies Kaido with artificial Devil Fruits called SMILE and weapons. And Doflamingo gets the SMILE fruits here, with the production of SAD gas, which Caesar Clown is overseeing. Our goal right now is to take down Caesar's operation and take him hostage against Doflamingo. The rest will work out."

However, once Law finished his lecture, you and none of the Strawhats were listening.

"Okay! So it's time to take down this lab!" Luffy affirmed.

"You got it Lu! It's so good to see you again and to do something with you finally!" you giggled.

"Were any of you idiots listening?!" Law growled as he glared at you and Luffy.

You and your brother looked at each other, then looked at Law. But at the same time, both of your eyes averted to the side, refusing to look at the warlord with your mouths pouted to the side.

"Yeah, we heard everything..." you both muttered at the same time.

Law's face twitched in annoyance. "I should've known. They both have the same lying face." he thought.

"Both of you guys have terrible poker faces!" the Strawhats exclaimed.

"Oh, you guys are siblings alright." Chopper giggled.

You broke out of your lighthearted actions and frowned. "You also have to help with the kids that are trapped here. I'm assuming you guys encountered them?" you darkly said.

"Yeah! They were begging to let them out!" Franky exclaimed.

"Anyways, now that we're in an alliance, you have to help us save the kids as well. Caesar is using them as his guinea pigs!"

"That I can agree with!" the blond said with a high-pitched voice. For some reason, Nami was in Sanji's body even though Law switched back the hearts of the Strawhats.

"Now, wait a minute, we're only taking down this operation (Y/n)-ya." Law countered.

"You can't be that heartless to leave those kids behind captain!" you complained.

"Do not push my buttons again (Y/n)-ya!" Law growled.

However, instead of yelling back, you pulled an unusual move that was new to Law. You remember Bepo pulling off a cute look every time he was in pain or whenever he needed something from Law. And for some ungodly reason, the captain's usual stoic facade was no match for Bepo's adorable glossy eyes. 

And so, you decided to pull off the same move to convince your captain to save the kids as well.

As you predicted, it worked a little too well.

"Please? Can we rescue the kids?" you begged him sweetly with glossy eyes.

As soon as you hit Law with those cute eyes, the poor man became immobile. He bore his steely eyes onto yours, and a bright blush bloomed across his pale cheeks. His pupils started to quiver, unable to hold his feelings of cuteness and aggression.

You inched closer and brought your face closer and pressed on, trying to break his resolve and to agree with you to rescue the poor kids. However, what you didn't predict is that he was going to transport you away from the group.

And that's what he did.

"Shambles." the doctor muttered, and within a split second, you and Law were teleported away from the group and into the middle of nowhere.

"Wha-" you stuttered, your ass hitting the pillowy snow on the ground. "Hey, what was that for you asshole?!"

You looked up to the looming man in front of you. His eyes were darkened and he was trembling.

You scoffed, unfazed by his spontaneous behaviour. "And why the hell are we away from Luffy and his crew?! I thought we were going to be in an alliance with them?!" 

The tattooed captain suddenly grabbed your sweater and hoisted you up to face him. His tattooed hands roughly cradled your cheeks as he finally revealed his face to you once more. He was still blushing, but his eyes held emotions of embarrassment and anger.

"You need to watch how you act around other people (Y/n)-ya! I don't care if it's your brother and his crew, I have a reputation to uphold here!" he growled.

Your head tilted in confusion. "Why are you so concerned with your reputation? You're already scary enough to anyone; you're a warlord for fucks sake captain!"

"I need to be taken seriously here!" he continued to lecture you.

"Let go of my cheeks!" you demanded as you squirmed to be free from his grasp. You successfully got Law to unhand your cheeks, but it didn't seem to faze him as he continued to ramble. 

"Just for once, I need everything to go according to plan! Do you know how long I've been planning this for? This isn't just about taking down an Emperor (Y/n)-ya, this is about avenging-"

Sick of hearing his rambling, you frantically grabbed the collar of his black coat, brought his face down to your level and gave a rough peck on his cold pale cheeks.

For once in his 26 years of life, Trafalgar Law has shut down.

The kiss only lasted two seconds, but for him, it lasted for five. He swore that his heart stopped, then started to run on five shots of espresso. 

You didn't think much of it, sure you harboured attraction towards your dear captain, but you saw how stressed he was regarding this whole mission, and quite frankly, you were tired of hearing him yap nonstop, so your mind conjured the most ridiculous thing you could think of and kissed him on the cheek.

Though your lips were chapped from the cold, you briefly felt his cool, soft cheek and a bit of his stubble as you pecked him.

Once he shut up, you pulled away, put your hands on your hips and started lecturing him. Law remained very still as he was processing what just happened.

"Captain, I understand that everything is happening now, and you're nervous about it going wrong. But for Neptune's sake, can you please shut up?! Calm down! It's going to be alright!" you pleaded.

The tattooed captain finally broke out of his frozen state and looked at you. "You- you!" he stuttered.

You flashed a mischievous grin. "What, a handsome man like you never got a kiss on the cheek?" you teased him.

That comment seemed to trigger him even more. "H-handsome?!" he squeaked. He was being completely out of character, and you were living for it.

You burst out into hearty laughter. "I'm just kidding, captain! Now, since you've calmed down, can we please also rescue the kids along with this whole plan to destroy the lab?" you asked.

Bewildered, Law covered his face with the brim of his fur hat and shook himself to calm down. Once his emotions settled, he looked up and faced you, with the usual stoic facade gracing his features once more. 

"Why do you want to rescue those kids so bad?" he inquired.

You hummed before you gave him your answer. "They reminded me of Luffy and me before we found our family." you finally answered.

The doctor's face softened at this confession. He knew that the past was a sensitive topic, and he didn't want to press on further out of respect. "I see. Very well, I'll help with rescuing the kids. You could've told me that in the first place before you pulled that ridiculous stunt. Speaking of which, where did you learn that from?"

"Isn't it obvious? From Bepo!" you giggled as you tried to eat the falling snow around you.

Law shook his head and softly smiled. "You're always full of surprises (Y/n)-ya. But can you please tone it down especially now that we're going further into the mission? Just please don't embarrass me is all I ask of you."

"No promises, cap! Did you like my surprise of giving you a peck on the cheek?" you cheerfully asked. You were met with a deadpanned face from your captain, but a light red was tinging his ears once again.

"Don't say stupid things like that! Now, let's head back," he demanded. Taking one more look at you, the man grunted. "Aren't you cold? You're only wearing long sleeves and joggers (Y/n)-ya," he asked.

You looked down at your outfit and jumped, suddenly realizing that you were severely underdressed for the weather. You screamed and latched onto your captain as you were looking for immediate warmth.

"CAPTAIN!! LET ME IN YOUR COAT!" you chittered.

Law scoffed and reluctantly opened his coat and zipped it up with the two of you inside. "We're heading to your room first and picking up your coat before we head back to the Strawhats," he muttered.

"So toasty~" you sighed as the tattooed doctor muttered something along the lines of "she's going to the be the death of me one day" as he Shambled the two of you back inside. 

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

BONUS SCENE

"Hey Luffy, so how did you and (Y/n) grow up together?" Chopper asked.

"Well, she was kind of boring. While Ace, Sabo and I were out in the forest, she always stayed behind cooking! She makes the most yummy foods!" Luffy exclaimed. "Oh wait! There was this one time when we pranked Grandpa by drawing on his face while he was sleeping. He was super mad, but for some reason he only punished me and not big sis." he pouted.

Luffy's crew burst out into laughter at the story. 

"I see, you and (Y/n) are truly birds of a feather!" Robin said with a smile.

"What? We're not birds, we're people!" Luffy declared, clearly confused by the metaphor.

"You dumbass, what Robin meant was you and your sister are alike!" Sanji/Nami explained.

The Strawhat hummed in agreement. "I guess so! I'm glad that I got to see her again, but she never told me that she was with Traffy!" 

"Yeow! They make a pretty cute pair, don't you think?" Franky piqued up.

"Yeah! They look like best friends to me!" Luffy agreed.

The crew looked at each other and sighed. "Our captain is a total airhead, you guys." Ussop sighed.

"What?" Luffy pouted.

Robin gave a soft smile to her captain. "You'll see it for yourself soon Luffy."

A bright smile appeared on his face. "I can't wait to be friends with them!" he giggled.

The rest of the crew started to chat amongst themselves as they waited for Law and (Y/n) to come back so that the alliance would be finally brought to action.

----------

TAGLIST:

@hopelesslover06 @shakysif @eyes-ofhell @letmereadchristonabike @bi-narystars @valval08 @urbisexualfriend @emmaiscool22 @deathsmajestysworld @sp1ng @kitsunechan707 @orange-milky

[kozachenko]

(Click the image for better quality)

Yipeeee that Keiki and Mayumi fanart I posted the WIP of is finally done woooo- This piece was a very experimental one that I'm kind of OK on. Maybe because I've just gone insane looking at it for so long and I'm my own worst critic lol.

Artist's Notes;

So I've once again been playing around with my rendering style, mainly because I have been wanting to improve my lighting for a while now and as I was just scrolling through Tumblr, I saw some of the official art for that one webcomic-turned-animated-TV-Show Lackadaisy and was immediately inspired. I also have seen a technique a few times in the past where the lineart and shading are merged together, so I've been meaning to try that for a little while.

I did some experimentation on this one sketch of Keiki I posted in my sketch dump and I really liked the results of it, so I carried those over to this piece.

I ended up scaling up Keiki and Mayumi from the original WIP because I felt like they were both getting lost in the composition, and I'm glad for that because I think it works a lot better. I'm not a fan of how Mayumi's sword turned out at all, but it's not really meant to be the focus of the piece so eh. Overall, I think I could do better with my colours, probably because with Keiki and Mayumi's colours, I did them flat in greyscale and then used a brush on the overlay blend mode to colour all of them over, after which I changed the base layer for their colours from white to yellow and then lowered the opacity so it all went together better. I also decided to use gradient maps for a lot of the background elements, mainly to experiment with getting in my values first to make them pop out more. I ended up finding a really nice sky gradient on Clip Studio Paint that I really liked, and that kinda helped to establish the colour scheme of the background a lot. I think the whole "start in greyscale then colour" thing really works better with painterly styles rather than more illustrative ones, and while it is good at making sure your values are more readable, I honestly don't think I have the skill level to pull that off yet. Honestly, I think I've been looking at this drawing too long or maybe I added too much to it, but I wish I could've made the colours less monochromatic, but I'll just save that for the next piece I do.

I do love how the flame (...well it's more of a weird space rift than anything in this piece) and the lighting turned out, those were fun to do. I was initially struggling with the flame and how Mayumi is positioned in front of it before realizing "Oh wait! This is a weird abstraction of a weird creature! I don't have to follow the laws of anatomy!" and just dislocated it's flamey bottom jaw from the main body. I also changed the colours of it since I was really not liking how incredibly bright it was when it had lighter colours. Again, the gradient maps served the more painterly style of the flames well.

I also love how Mayumi turned out. I could do her sleeves better but that's more of just me needing to study how those types of sleeves fold in that position more. I'm also very happy with the posing, the technique I used for that was taking photos of myself in the positions I wanted, blocking in the silhouette and then modifying that by adjusting it to my lines of action that I drew on top of the original photos, and then sketching over the silhouettes and drawing in the shapes of the hands overtop of the photo if I needed to get the fine details right. As for what I do to take the pictures myself, I use a tall chair I have, prop up my phone with a phone stand, put on a ten second timer and scramble to get in position. Yes, I did have to use a bunch of thin markers I had to try and get the hand positioning on Keiki's pose right, yes I do have a fake sword that I used to get the positioning of Mayumi's arms and hand right, the sword was for an old Halloween costume from several years ago. I really like how both Keiki and Mayumi turned out in this drawing, I'll have to play around with these designs for them more in future drawings.

Also, if you wanna know why I draw buildings like that, when I watched Fantasia 2000 as a kid (One of the Disney movies where they make really beautiful animations to classical music) the way they drew the buildings in the first few sections Rhapsody in Blue segment (the jazz one with the cities) changed my brain chemistry and now whenever I need to draw buildings really quickly, I refer back to that. Since the buildings aren't really the main subject, I didn't put much thought into them.

As you can tell I am very tired of this piece, mainly because I made things harder for myself by overcomplicating the process compared to what I usually do, mainly with the whole "starting in grayscale then adding colour." I'd honestly just prefer having a black layer set to colour that I can just toggle on and off when I need to see the values, but it was good to experiment. And that was mainly the point of this whole drawing, to experiment. I'm definitely going to have to play around with this new style I'm going for, mainly because I liked how it turned out a lot in the augmented Keiki sketch, and also because I want to find ways of making it suit my style more. I also really want to keep experimenting with my lighting like this, it's very fun. Last but not least I am never starting in greyscale again because dear god I do not like the workflow it forced me into. I don't have a problem with the method itself it's mainly just a skill issue lol.

If you wanna read my headcanons for these two, I put them in my WIP post, so you can read them there if you want to. The more I look at this the more I prefer the simplicity of my WIP. I might go back to this and just take away the fancy colours and effects to see what it looks like without all of that stuff and reblog this post with that drawing, but for now, I don't think I can look at this drawing again for a while.

[thelovelylolly]

Hi! Another request you can take as long as you want to do write this!:) a billy hargrove x yn based on the song heather by Conan grey! Fluffy ending please!:))

Heather

Summary: You wish you were Heather... Warnings: hurt/comfort, self-doubt, reader is described as shorter than billy, fem reader, not proofread bc im a bit lazy at the moment lol Word Count: 826 Notes: i cant believe its been like 4 years since conan gray dropped kid krow im going CRAZY AHH

Having a crush on Billy wasn't rare at Hawkins High. Only a few girls were able to win him over, but those were flings to Billy. You were one his best friends, so you saw these girls fawning over him first hand. You saw all the girls laughing just a bit to loud at his jokes and trying to get their hands on him. But you couldn't blame them, he was handsome and charismatic.

It was no surprise that you caught feelings for him, too. You were better at hiding them since you figured you weren't his type.

That's when Heather came into the picture.

She was, at first, like the other girls trying to get Billy's attention. Then, things changed into something else. It wasn't a fling like all those other times, Billy seemed to actually be interested in her. He took her on a nice dates, walked her to her classes, helped her study.

Of course, Billy still hung out with you, but it felt like he was slipping away. It frustrated you, yet you said nothing. He was happy and that was enough for you.

Heather was everything you wanted to be. She was smart, funny, talented, pretty. She was the kind girl next door, the girl everyone would want. You quickly came to terms that she was the girl for Billy, because that's how it always worked. The popular, perfect girl always ended up with the popular guy.

You were fine just standing to the side and letting your best friend be happy. Did it hurt watching your crush be with another girl? Sure, but it would pass.

It had to pass, right?

You tried to make it pass, but Billy started to hang out with Heather more often and spent less time with you. You knew they hadn't made anything official, but things could've changed since Billy didn't have time to tell you.

One day, you even saw her with his jean jacket around her shoulders as she walked to her next class.

That's when you started to distance yourself from Billy. You were still there for him if he needed you, but you didn't want it to look like you were trying to steal him away from Heather.

Sometimes, they would catch your eyes as they walked past you at lunch and it made your heart ache.

You really wished you were Heather.

----

You were lounging around your living room on a Friday night, your parents having gone out with friends. You caught up on some magazines you followed and watched some shows, but you were bored. You'd usually spent your Friday nights with Billy doing dumb teenager stuff.

Now, you opted to stay in for the night.

You were flipping through one of your magazines when your doorbell rang. You sighed and tossed your magazine down onto the coffee table. You grabbed a nearby hoodie, not really paying attention to it, and pulled it over your tank top and sleep shorts.

You quickly went to your front door, sparing a quick glance out of the side windows before opening it.

Billy stood there, his hands in his pockets. You saw his eyes look you over before meeting yours.

"That's my hoodie," he said softly.

"What?"

"You're wearing my hoodie," he repeated, stepping inside.

You glanced down, noticing that he was right. He must've left it the last time he was over. You looked back up and saw a smile on his face along with blush on his cheeks.

"What are you doing here, Billy?" You asked.

"I..."

"You...?"

He sighed before pulling his hands out of his pockets and cupping your face with them. He quickly closed the space between you, giving you a short yet passionate kiss. When he pulled away, he kept your face in his hands.

"I really like you."

"R-really?" You asked, still processing if that kiss was real or not. "But what about Heather?"

"She didn't want anything serious," he answered, his hands slowly drifting down to your waist. "And she made me realize that I really just wanted you, she even told me to tell you that I like you."

A smile pulled at your lips as you felt your face heat up. "You got a taste of your own medicine, huh?"

He chuckled. "Guess so."

"Can I be honest?"

He nodded.

"I've liked you for a long time."

You reached up and cupped his cheeked, pulling him into another kiss.

"I could tell," he murmured against your lips.

You pulled away, playfully hitting him as he laughed. "You jerk!"

"I had a good reason why I didn't say anything!" He quickly said. "I promise."

You closed the door behind him then took his hand in yours, leading him to the living room. Then, you smiled and replied, "looks like we have time for you to explain."

He smiled, getting butterflies from knowing that he was the reason you were smiling. "Gladly, sweetheart."

[cyren-myadd]

Do you have any thoughts on the fact that in first scenario Spider was supposed be from Mexico and his name was Javier?

I don't think we ever had any real confirmation of original-Spider's ethnicity or nationality, but when his name was first announced as "Javier Socorro" a lot of people assumed he would be Latino Hispanic (from a Latin American country) instead of White Hispanic (from Spain) like he ended up being. That meant he very well could've been Mexican, or at least half-Mexican on his mom's side since I think he was always intended to be Quaritch's son. I believe they changed his first name to "Miles" to make the connection to Quaritch more obvious.

If Spider had been Mexican, it wouldn't have really changed anything in The Way of Water. He's still a human, and being a different color wouldn't change the way the other characters perceive him. The only thing that would've been different is that he wouldn't have had the nickname "monkey boy/monkey mascot," since having Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang calling a Hispanic kid monkey would NOT have gone over well.

Even though making him a different ethnicity wouldn't have changed the movie itself, I actually think it might've changed the way he was perceived by the audience.

This is a thought I've had in the back of my head for a long time, and this question finally gave me a reason to type it all out. But before I get into it, I do want to say that I am white and American, so I'm speaking from the perspective of a white American when I make this analysis of Spider's character and how he was perceived by American audiences. Now let's get into it:

Spider was a pretty controversial character. A lot of people hated him, but there was also a minority of people who really loved him too (me lol). Some people hated him because they felt like Neteyam's death was his fault or because they didn't like that he saved Quaritch in the end, which are reasons that wouldn't change because of his ethnicity, but there were also people who hated him because of his appearance. Spider was often described as "feeling out of place" and off-putting to some viewers. After I saw the Way of Water with my cousins, one of them (he is also white) told me that he hated Spider. When I asked him why, he shrugged and said, "he's a white boy with dreadlocks!" like that was the only reason he needed.

Now I'm just speculating here, but I think a small part of the reason why so many people can't stand Spider might be because he is white. Not because of racism against white people, but because of the context in which Spider exists as a white person. The Na'vi are very obvious allegories for indigenous American, African, and Maori people, and the RDA is a very obvious allegory for European colonizers and US corporations that exploited those groups. I can't speak for the rest of the world, but in America there are social controversies over white American people taking items that are culturally significant to other groups and wearing them as costumes. I know there's a lot of controversy over what is and isn't cultural appropriation, but when it comes to specifically white people wearing specifically Native American clothing, it's generally regarded negatively since most Native American people have said it's disrespectful because the clothing has cultural and spiritual significance.

And then we have Spider, who is not only white, but is also the son of two people who actively harmed the Na'vi, and he wears Na'vi clothing.

In the context of the Avatar movies, it makes perfect sense that Spider would dress and act the way that he does. He was raised alongside the Na'vi so it's all he knows. If you were going to fit Spider into the greater allegory of Avatar, he is similar to the historical figure, Olive Oatman. When Oatman was a child in the 1800s, her family was killed by a group of Native Americans, and she and her sister ended up being taken in by the Mohave people. She lived with them for several years before returning to a white settlement, and during that time she was assimilated into the Mohave tribe, wearing their clothing and receiving traditional tattoos. (Her story is super interesting, you should totally read more about it!). Spider is like a sci-fi version of Oatman, since his parents were killed by natives and he ended up being taken in by them and assimilating into their culture. In the context of modern day culture, a white woman getting Mohave tattoos would be considered appropriation, but in the context of Oatman's situation, it makes sense. Same thing with Spider. In-universe, adopting Omaticaya culture makes sense.

However, if you look at Spider through the lens of modern American cultural context, he looks an awful lot like a white kid dressing up in the traditional clothing of a culture his people harmed. If Spider had been raised on earth and was actively benefiting from the RDA's exploitation of Pandora, then what he's doing would be considered appropriation. But he wasn't. Even though that's not what Spider is, the association is still there. So when people see this "white boy with dreadlocks" as my cousin put it, they feel like there's something wrong with what they're looking at because they associate his appearance with cultural appropriation. I think if Spider had been cast as Latino, he might have been received a bit more favorably by the audience.

Once again, this is all just speculation, I don't really know if Spider's perception would've been different if he'd been a different ethnicity, and I acknowledge that most of the hate Spider received had to do with his character actions. However, I do believe that American audiences may have been partly influenced by the concept of cultural appropriation, which is where that feeling of Spider being "off-putting" comes from. I think it's definitely where my cousin's dislike of him comes from, since it's not about anything he did, but rather how he looks like.

[mysadblacksoul]

Backslide - 3/13 of the Clancy album

Grab a coffee and let's start this madness

MV

Tyler is wearing the same clothes that he wore in Overcompensate MV to I would assume that this MV takes place right after

Let's break down the signs first

We see the return of Ned Bayou as well as FPA, now standing for Food Petrol Etc.

You can buy 9 buns for $21, love the symbolism

There is a Jim sign omg. Baby is having his own bubblegum business

Of course the Bishops sign with 9 lines marked on it

I could've sworn that the black sign says "Dema Vapes", but looking closely I believe it's "Velma Vapes" lol

What is more, the cones (?) are yellow and I'm pretty sure that the fact that there are 5 of them is not an accident

They sold him bread that went bad lol. Nah for sure it's not the case since he gives the same bread to a child

But I believe that the scene and the lyrics are closely tied with Stressed Out

Now the next scene is interesting

I think that the bad weather is a simple metaphor for feelings of anxiety or fear

We can see that Tyler was contemplating then he was suddenly pulled from his thoughts

This is when the scene changes to normal, right? Exactly on the line It's over my head

Then we move to the scene with the kid

And I really believe that this little lad is personification of Ned

Like he has the same boba eyes lol

No but for real, this is parallel to Chlorine - kid is giving Tyler a cup just like Tyler gave to Ned. Yet he accepts it and drinks whatever is inside and Ned just shudders

Another interesting thing, that could make my point more valid is that the kid literally asks Is that a stain? You should change / Are you doin' good? / Did you solve all of your problems? like he knows Tyler very well and is in a way looking out for him

It's like he's keeping Ned by him - okat I'll stop

It might be a stretch, but the N kinda looks like a mirrored band symbol, do you also see it?

If 0.75c is equivalent to the cost of one bun than Tyler is being ripped off since he paid $21 for the pack instead of $6.75 lmao

Something is really wrong with those buns lmao

Then the mood changes again, but this time is even worse. Like his mental health is declining even more and even faster

The bread is wet, the day is ruined, thanks Mr. Joseph

You killed it Josh, love your creative mind

*funny music stops*

Now let's talk about the way how the MV is looping itself

I would say that it is a demonstration of the twisted circle that is life

Maybe it's a very basic analysis but I think of all the complicated lore-oriented MVs this one is uncomplicated

What is shown here is how our psyche can play tricks on us and how we can complicate a rather simple situation ourselves

If Tyler hadn't had dark thoughts then nothing would have happened to the bread, so he would have just gone and given it to Josh

This shows how our psyche itself can abolish the situation in which we find ourselves

Looping, on the other hand, shows that as long as we don't do anything about it ourselves, we will be stuck in this fishbowl (see what I did there?)

Maybe it's one big AD to check your mental health and a sign to try to get better

Lyrics!

Rat race, place to place, adding weight / Tendencies on repeat, innit? - rat race for sure happened in Dema, and repeat is literaly the loop, innit meand that Clancy is canonicaly British

Benefit from a shoe with no lace - shoe with no lace would make you fall back on the behaviour that you are running from

Take the seat with the crease in it - seat of someone who already tried to change their life, or even who had the same dreams and hopes for better future like Clancy

This could be parallel to When I leave, don’t save my seat/ I’ll be back when it’s all complete from Chlorine

I don't care, you control me / Leading me anywhere - well, all I should say is Dema don't control me and we all know the rest of the story

I don't wanna backslide to where I've started from - he doesn't wanna go back to his back habits as well as doesn't wanna go back to his life before he tried to escape

There's no chance I will shake this again - if he falls back one more time that will be the end of him. His psyche won't take it anymore and his plans will be buried

'Cause I feel the pull, water's over my head - this is parallel to Fall Away And I, I can feel the pull begin. But it also gives me the parallel to Holding On To You MV, the scene with the rope

Strength enough for one more time - like I said, this would be the last attempt to change everything

Reach my hand above the tide - it could indicate that his physical strength is also wearing out

I'll take anything you have / If you could throw me a line - again with the line. But it also can mean that he can endure anything now, he just needs a little helping hand

I should've loved you better - this line can be directed both to himself but also to the person who extends his hand to help. He might not have appreciated both parts before and now regrets it

Do you think that now's the time / You should let go? - This line is like both a request and an apology. As if he wants to say “I'm sorry I treated you badly before but please don't leave me when I need help”

Bad place, on a hundred-dollar bass - this line is also giving me Stressed Out. You can imagine the cheap bass being transported on the bicycle right?

Kinda wishin' that I never did "Saturday" - I think that he doesn't mean the MV irl lol, but the regret of taking part in Bishops' manipulation altogether

Is that a stain? You should change - a play with mentioning Saturday and the lirycs She said that I should change my clothes

Are you doin' good? / Did you solve all of your problems? - like I said before I believe that this is Ned looking out for Clancy, wishing him well

Thanks for asking, in a way, but / Accidentally uncovered a new one yesterday - safe to say that he is not doing better lol

What happened to what I brushed under the rug? - what happened to how well he used to be able to hide his problems and true feelings

I used to be the champion of a world you can't see / Now I'm drowning in logistics - if viewed as a fact that he created this world it now looks like he wants to regain all control over it. Logistics is to take care of the management of planning. And once again we see the mention of drowning

The bridge is acting as an externalization of his myhs and fears that even if he is outside the Dema, the Bishops will still have control over him

The entire song is about both regaining conrol over the world of Dema but also regaining control over himself, his psyche.

The main theme is about not going back to old habits.

The most important thing here is progress and pushing forward.

Because one wrong move can make all the work in vain and we will sink to the very bottom.

Safe to say that I liked it haha

[dinoburger]

obligatory post for my thoughts on the final comic - I'll do a summary with minimal spoilers before I nitpick

but that is to say... I don't know, I feel more elated to finally know what this section of the continuity has for us in its entirety. It was consistently inconsistent and a lot of the flaws I've already griped about remained to the bitter end.

I think in some ways, this leaves the door open for the text to be reinterpreted, because there won't be as much lingering on this thought that there might be something more just around the corner that ties everything up neatly, thoughtfully and unexpectedly. That's more vindicating than anything.

I don't have to wonder if there's something I've missed, the Team Fortress 2 comics will never be The definitive comic for me nor is it the be all and end all of what canon has to offer. And that's fine. It's easier to enjoy in this sense.

I did enjoy the ride more than I expected, but it might be because I've already experienced the 5 stages of grief with this piece of media.

Seeing Makani dive back into that 'dark Victoriana' sort of aesthetic for the flashbacks while still maintaining the comic's humour was a lot of fun. I'm really surprised that they even attempted to dig into the lore as much as they did, because in my mind I wasn't expecting that - they could've maybe had Zeph mentioned, or a short glimpse of a flashback, just to tie up some loose ends of the story and have the mercs go back to stupid antics - but it was a lot more involved than that.

I do like that we saw a lot more of Admin. Just because I've spent so long wondering at how to approach her character and what she's been set up for. I've seen it interpreted differently but, I think her obsession for the game itself being what drives her makes a lot of sense - she's too far gone, and been too far gone for a long time. Seeing her just get unhinged is a lot of fun.

I was a bit shocked to see young Gray because I've had my specific interpretation of him for a long time. He... essentially did what he always does, driving the plot forward and being a bit of a non-character, but I was surprised to see him at all.

none of the supernatural stuff was touched on at all lol - both Admin's more ambiguous stuff and... Zeph being sort-of-alive and also a ghost?

this is one of those points where I really do think the games/blog contain a different continuity to the comics.

I felt completely blindsided by that, also how strikingly similar the set up is to how I wrote the conduit was making me wig out.

Again... I don't think there was ever going to be a way for them to wrap up everything neatly. So many characters were left in the dust, even the main characters didn't get many lines, Engie was a non-character, Fred's fate is unknown, there was that hilariously inconsistent retcon with Silas no longer being Zeph's brother but still really obviously in the family picture. The whole deal with the Darlings was never explored in depth. CMedic. Maggie being a non-character. I'm sure there's more that other people have brought up.

But, I'm glad they didn't. I don't think any of those points would have been done justice in the limited frame. I'm glad that even the "definitive canon" is contentious enough and contradictory enough that we should be able to reexamine it on a basis of what it did do, not on what it didn't do.

The ending was cheesy, but not unexpected. And it's in keeping with everything else the comic was doing. Not that that's a good thing, but, now we can look at exactly what the text has to say and recontextualise it from other interpretations of the characters. I think that's preferable.

[morganas-pendragons]

till we were too far gone | master chief

@empresskadia inspired me to continue writing this, on top of my recent rewatch of s2 -> so here's the next part of my series, which drops into parts of episode 2. the next part will combine 3 and parts of The Fall of Reach!

I was listening to Cassandra by Taylor Swift (this series is based off of You're Losing Me by Taylor Swift) when I wrote this lol SO if there's references to that in here, oops

***

You cannot help the urge. A natural human urge, a desire, to meet him in his spot on that bench where his soul calls to yours. You can't help it.

If only John would take it.

"What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

"Like I said," You removed your hood and slipped inside the room. "I know you. We need to talk."

There were so many things you could've said in those few minutes that passed after the door shut. You knew he had questions about Ackerson, about what Ackerson had asked you and what he'd said to you in that initial meeting following your return from Sanctuary.

Do you think that, at his core, The Master Chief is broken?

The longer you'd looked between John and the AI that bore a remarkable resemblance to Cortana, the more you were beginning to question if he was.

"I don't know what Ackerson said to you," You said quietly, gaze averted to the floor as you fidgeted with your fingers in your lap. "Or why you've been so on edge recently. You haven't breathed a word. I don't expect you to. I just... I need to know."

"Know what?"

"When did you stop trusting me?"

His form is imposing as he stands, green eyes shifting to the side to stare at the dormant AI. Your breath catches at the sight. There hasn't ever been a time where you've found yourself intimidated by John, much less afraid of John. That was then.

This was now.

"When you became one of Ackerson's lackeys and refused to tell me what he was saying to you!" John hissed. "Why wouldn't you say anything after you left his office when we debriefed from Sanctuary? What did he ask you? Why were you in there so much longer then the rest of us?"

You almost want to hit him for the clear implication behind his questions. John, the man you have loved for so long now, either thinks you are a liar or a spy for ONI. It's enough of an implication for you to retaliate. To lash out. To use your own anger and do something about it.

You don't. Instead, you reach outward to cradle his hand in your own and press his fingers against your cheek. You don't speak for a long minute.

"You've been angry since they took Cortana out," You said. "I used to be someone you trusted. Someone you confided in." Your lips are poised to say someone you love, but you're a little too hesitant in that thought because he's never outwardly confirmed it for you. Better to deny than assume. "I am capable of many things, but containing that fire that's been building in you.... I don't want to be burned."

All of the rage and defiance that's made him imposing in these precious moments of privacy deflates as soon as John recognizes the fear behind your words. He willing to be perceived as many things by the people around him, by the public eye.

He is not willing for you to see him as someone to fear, as a threat. Not when The Master Chief still struggles with comprehending the way he feels about you.

"Soles," John started, swallowing the knot in his throat as he moved his fingers to tangle in your hair at your temple. "There are alot of people I would burn without fear of repercussion. Most of them deserve it. But you-"

"What about me?" You interject.

I would burn down entire galaxies if it meant that you were kept safe.

John doesn't give voice to those thoughts though. He can't. Not with Ackerson sniffing around, not with the two of you in ONI's crosshairs. He will not risk you.

Before he can give some kind of sufficient answer, the door is opening with another client wanting to come through. Your hood rises on instinct before you are disappearing out the door as fast as you came, leaving nothing but the phantom feeling of your warmth under his fingers.

***

"And you're sure?"

"Of course I'm sure, Kai. Have we met Mr. Emotionally Repressed and Has a Death Wish?"

Kai snorted as you narrowly blocked her attack and pivoted your feet to navigate across the gym floor. You'd spent the last few days actively avoiding The Master Chief unless you had a reason for direct contact. Kai had been a welcome reprieve from the constant torment of your thoughts. She provided plenty a distraction from them veering back toward John.

That was where they always went.

"You know him as well as I do, Soles," She murmured lowly, grunting as she blocked your own strike with both of her gloves. "And you know he cares. Ackerson coming in to take over for Halsey is a problem. He's just trying to keep you safe."

"He doesn't need to keep me safe. He needs to stop treating me like I'm the enemy! Or even worse, a liar. I may be many things. A weapon, sure. A soldier? Yeah. A liar? Not to him. Never to John."

Little known to you, Kai is incredibly aware of the actual reason John is trying to keep you off of Ackerson's radar. He and Parangosky could collaborate and have you sent back to the Headhunters without a beat of hesitation if they believe you could be an asset to the war elsewhere. With his reawakened affection and desire to protect you, he won't be risking it.

"Sierra-343," You turned your head toward the door of the gym where a crew hand donning UNSC blues stood with a cradled datapad in her arm. "Colonel Ackerson is asking for you at the ONI building."

Dread flooded your veins as you relaxed your body and began removing your gloves. That was twice now. What on Earth was Ackerson so insistent in getting out of you?

"Duty calls, 025."

"Give him hell, 343."

You dressed back into your flight suit and took the quickest route to Ackerson's office in the ONI building. What you found waiting for you was John, who seemed to be in heated conversation within Ackerson's office. The person in question who was looking for you was lounging comfortably in his chair behind his desk.

You jumped out of sight before either man could see you.

"She has no recollection of what you say you encountered on Sanctuary."

"That's impossible. Did you ask Silver's newest member? Our Headhunter can tell you. They were there with me on the ridge."

"I haven't. They're far more loyal to you than I anticipated. Regardless of whether or not they were to agree or disagree, that's not the point." Ackerson waved a dismissive hand. "Put yourself in my position, John. Given your recent behavior... would you trust you?"

"You can't win this war without us, sir."

"And you're right!" Ackerson exclaimed. "We need The Master Chief. I need that Headhunter. We all do. But John, at the end of the day, you're both just people in suits."

You slipped out of your corner by the wall and folded your hands behind your back as you approached the office. The impassive expression on Colonel Ackerson's face shifted into something warmer as you approached, beckoning you deeper into the office.

Things were beginning to make more sense. Ackerson was the problem. He was far too interested in you. In what you knew about John.

If distancing yourself saved him, you'd risk it.

You'd rather him be alive and hate you than love you and be dead.

"Sierra-343, thank you for coming to see me. Please." The Colonel extended a hand before his gaze fell back to John. John had not moved since you'd entered the room. "Master Chief, you are dismissed."

Unease licked at the corners of John's mind as the two of you met eyes, if only for a moment, before you were turning back to the chair offered to you and sitting in it to speak to the Colonel directly.

Whispers of disbelief echo in the back of your mind.

It's Ackerson. He's the problem. He and Parangosky are going to be the end of you.

"I'm assuming you heard the duration of that conversation." Ackerson idly remarked. "And I come to ask you this question again now that I am aware you have. The Master Chief has made it clear that you were present with him and Perez during this supposed attack on Sanctuary."

You leaned forward and pressed your elbows into your knees, expression impassive. "No matter what I tell you," You replied gravely. "You would not believe me. Why would you? You have no concrete proof, so there's no reason for the UNSC or ONI to take up arms against a threat. You'll just do it when it's too late and Reach is a graveyard." You nod. "Yes, I was there on Sanctuary. The Master Chief and I directly encountered Covenant Sangheili and were overwhelmed by the mass of them. We do not know why we made it out, but we did. Are you inclined to believe me? Unlikely."

"It sounds like you blame ONI for the losses The Covenant caused. I would expect you of all people to comprehend the magnitude of what they can do, as you suffered and survived it first hand during your time on The Exalted. Your team did not."

Ackerson wants you out.

You slammed your hand against his desk and shot upward. "The losses I endured were because the UNSC did not do anything. You had your best weapon in your own grasps with Cortana and John being a singular unit. You botched that." Shrugging, you sat back in your chair and crossed your arms over your chest. "I'm going to be frank with you. I do not care what happens to ONI. Not you, not Halsey, not Parangosky. The only thing I care about is that your continued pursuit of my past is causing my team leader to treat me differently, and your continued denial of The Master Chief's recounting of Sanctuary is sowing doubt among Silver Team. We are supposed to be unified, not disjointed!"

He smiled. That Colonel, damn him, looked up at you and smiled.

"You've given me quite a bit of information that will prove vital to my investigation, Sierra-343. Thank you. I can certainly ascertain the extent of what he sees in you." Ackerson extended a hand towards the doorway of his office, and you felt your heart sink as your eyes followed his clearly offered exit. He had gotten exactly what he wanted. "Dismissed."

You did not allow your head to hang until you were alone in the elevator. You would not give Ackerson the satisfaction of knowing how defeated you felt.

***

"We're being called out for a mission? Seriously? To where? I thought Keyes had grounded us until further notice."

Kai tossed you your helmet as the two of you stood at your lockers. "Visegrad Relay. Chief says that's Cobalt's last known location. He wants us to find them as a way of preparing for when The Covenant land on Reach."

"He's getting more reckless," Your eyes slowly shifted to the other side of the room in search of John. Part of you, a deeper part you would never allow to see the light of day, was wondering if he'd finally had enough and went AWOL. "I miss Cortana. She kept him far more in line than any of us ever could."

"You severely underestimate your own role in his life, Soles." Kai called over her shoulder.

"This is the same man who implied I was a liar and a spy in one breath!" You whipped around to face your sister in arms, eyes brightened by the ever-constant anger you've felt begin to settle itself into your bloodstream. Spartans are made of quite alot of things. Part of you wonders if your child counterpart was as fueled by their anger as you are. "I don't know what they did to him, but that is not the same man I treated on that medical table. Ackerson is trying to warp the story and turn us against one another. Don't let him ensnare you too, Kai."

There's not much left to say after that. Kai wants to encourage you in remembering who John is as a man - someone who would always put the betterment of his men ahead of himself, a soldier who saw very little importance in his own life and would always go to great lengths to ensure everyone else made it home.

You had been the one to ensure he came with them. The one to remind John that there was someone to come home to. To drag his bloodied body back in your own arms, determined to keep him alive and to teach him the importance of his own life alongside his men.

You needed him alive. Not because the UNSC did to fight their war, but to continue to walk this path as a Spartan and allow yourself to love in the way you believed he loved you.

Maybe that too was just another dream. Everything he'd done prior to Cortana being removed felt as if it were a dream, slipping out of your fingertips before you could grasp onto such precious memory.

"Do you know what happened to Cortana?"

The question in itself causes you to pause. Now that it's been asked, you realize that you don't. You don't know what happened to Cortana.

Why? Why was her location so secret, especially given the fact she was such a crucial asset to the UNSC's intelligence network?

Where are you, little love?

***

"Copy that, Bravo. 3-2 out."

You peered at the cockpit from where you sat in the bay with Vannak, Riz and Kai on the Pelican that John had commandeered. "No training?" Vannak called out. "I thought we were going to Longhorn valley."

"Sad." You pouted playfully, laughing when Vannak turned to glare at you. "I was looking forward at pounding all of you into the dirt."

"Change of plans," John interjected. "We're going to Visegrad Relay. Riz?" With a motion of his head toward the cockpit, Riz nodded and stood to her feet to take the pilot's seat in the front of the Pelican. "The comms array on Sanctuary went down just before The Covenant attacked. Visegrad went down a few days ago. They sent Cobalt. We're going to get them back."

"Chief, with all due respect, I really hope you are not sending us in blind." You replied uneasily. "Are we cleared for combat?"

"Affirmative."

Something tugged at your stomach as you watched his eyes deliberately avert yours. Liar. You are a liar, and a hypocrite, and I will never forgive you if this goes south.

For someone who had shown and claimed he cared so much about you, it felt like the two of you were standing on opposite ends of the chasm waiting to fall. Too far gone to attempt to reach the other on the other side.

It was just a matter of time before the darkness took you both.

You and Kai were ruminating on too many questions that both of you knew were going to be left unanswered.

"What exactly is the mission?" Kai asked.

"The Covenant is on Reach."

part three?

[tangled-wires-and-a-dead-heart]

gonna shoot 18, 20, and 3 ur way for stp ask game >:)

Thanks for the asks!!!! :D ask game here!

(there's light spoilers(? I think they're pretty light anyways) for the new pristine cut content under the cut!)

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3. (Explore) Who's your favorite Vessel?

I really like a lot of the vessels! I'd even go as far as to say that I love the vast majority of them! But, if I really had to narrow it down to just a few of them then I'd probably say…

Wounded wild (the first vessel that I ever found, she'll always have a special place in my heart <3)

Thorn (I'm pretty sure that you could've guessed that from looking at my Tumblr’s layout lol but I'm just totally in love with thorn and her route)

Spectre (I love spectre a lot and I just can't find it in my heart to not let this sad little ghost possess me (actually heartbroken when I had to try and slay her for the new spectre chapter 3))

Nightmare (she's really creepy and I'm totally in love with the vibes of her and her route)

and the Cage (she's actually so cool I love her. She's new so I haven't really had much time to properly articulate real thoughts about her but. She's just so cool to me.)

18. (Explore) You are an Echo of a man long gone, how would you deal with the events of the game?

I can't really think that I would be much different from the narrator in the actual game. If I was in that exact same situation as the narrator in the original game I don't think that there would really even be anything that I could/would do differently lol.

20. (Explore) What's your favorite ending and why?

I really like the ‘and? What happens next?’ ending!!! I honestly just find it really sweet and I feel like it's a very nice wrap up to the game as a whole. It's my go to ending that I get whenever I play through the game! I love just being able to walk out of the cabin, hand in hand with the princess after everything. Lowkey cried when I got it for the first time.