#i guess this is basically just a plea to get people to stop falling for blatant pr schemes

[keepthedelta]

not people losing their minds over oscar's broken rib saying he'll take everything to his grave we'll never know anything about his life as though he didn't tell us all about it completely unprompted??? if he was really trying to keep it private we wouldn't have found out about it until lando wrote a jenson button style tell all book that mentioned it off-hand in a paragraph mostly about golf and mcdonalds

[youandtom2]

An Avenger's Revenge (dark!Peter Parker)

CHAPTER 2 // SERIES MASTERLIST // MAIN MASTERLIST

Summary: Spider-Man was just one of the mighty, powerful Gods that rule the Earth. A night of death, betrayal, war and defeat turns him into a myth, a memory to be forgotten about by the other Greedy Gods that share this planet. Without his generosity, the world takes a turn for the worse and the people are desperate for a solution. With a rebellion on the horizon, it may be your only chance to rise up against the Greedy Gods and restore Spider-Man's legacy.

Themes: dystopian, futuristic, smut, angst, death!, dark concepts**, a tad bit fluff :) **T/W: attempted sexual assault

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

There’s noticeable unrest in the slums. The town square is riddled with the haunting sight of armoured men in navy blue, flexing their guns as a warning while their soulless eyes glare at you through their visors. They are figures of tall stature that emanate a foreboding presence like a lingering smell, and once you get a whiff of them, they’re hard to get rid of. As if he couldn’t be any more vain, Captain America’s men are replicas of him: personalities arrogant enough to don the armour that flaunts and flatters their physical strength. Inside those helmets are empty minds so very dependent on instructions and commands fed to them by Captain America, and no matter how sadistic the order is, they will do it with no questions asked. They terrify you because you know there are no limits to their actions. Guess that makes you terrified of Captain America too.

Their business here must be warranted, because why else would officials of Captain America bother with the outer slums of vagabonds and degenerates? Your feet land shaky steps, briskly walking past a group of them as they storm into a shack and shout demands that you can’t quite make out amongst the screams. Keeping yourself guarded lands a few suspicious eyes and you can only assume that someone here has committed a crime, and the guards are here to deliver retribution on Captain America’s behalf. 

Furtively, you walk further away from the town square, just minutes from your shack. A step or three, a hop over the sinkhole, a swift turn of the corner and…

“Hey!” A demanding voice yells from behind. “Stop there!” Fuck, fuck, fuuuuck. It’s okay, you have nothing to hide, you haven’t done anything wrong. 

A fast, hard hand tightly grips your shoulder, slamming the back of your head against the scrap metal of a stranger’s shack behind you. Why they have to handle you so viciously, you’ll never know. 

“Got something to hide?” The guard asks with a condescending tone you don’t appreciate.

“No! Nothing! I haven’t done anything wrong!” 

“I’ll be the judge of that. Spread your legs.” 

“What?!” 

“Are you deaf? I said spread your fucking legs. You need to be thoroughly searched.” 

The moment the words leave his lips, your stomach plummets. The shock of what is going to happen robs you of your speech and as you stand shakily on weak legs, you can feel your skin paling. The guard swivels you around and detains your hands within his own, kicking your legs apart. A leather-clad hand snakes its way down your back and around your waist, groping and prodding even though he knows there’s nothing there. It snakes around to your front, resting just on top of your pelvic bone and you feel yourself sweating, murmuring pleas that fall of ignorant ears. Just before the unthinkable happens, a voice angrily yells from further down the alleyway and in seconds, you’re relieved from your living nightmare. 

The man you see approaching the guard has no more authority over him than you, but his stride would convince you otherwise. Easily towering six foot three, he isn’t a man you would want to mess with. He’s dressed in the basic uniform every worker is given but they are clearly ill-fitted as the muscles on his arms and his shoulders stretch the thin material. His legs don’t share the same proportion and it’s because of that that you guess he’s a miner, or at least, was a miner. All arms and no legs. 

“Get away from her you filthy pig.” The man brutally shoves the guard who falls quickly to the ground. You find your opportunity and spring to your feet, running behind the brute of a man who seems to be protecting you. “Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?” 

The guard dashes to his feet and pulls a baton from his side with an angry roar, whipping it open ready to use. At the first sign of resistance, other guards come running and very soon, you and your saviour are outnumbered, a point you make very obvious to him. “That may be, but remember, the people outnumber the Gods,” he replies. That’s…certainly an interesting and optimistic view on things. 

The growing number of navy guards doesn’t deter him for one second and knowing what’s ahead of him, he peers over his shoulder and murmurs words only you can hear. 

“Better run, kid. This is gonna get ugly.” 

“What about you? Why don’t you come with me?” 

The guy chuckles. “I can take ‘em. Besides, we need to look out for each other, yeah?” The man promptly points to the side of his neck where he gestures to two small marks tattooed onto his skin; two dots that sit beside each other, a red one and a black one. Your eyes narrow at them having never seen such a mark before. They’re almost invisible if you don’t know what you’re looking for, but your eyes firmly latch onto them now that he points them out. You have no idea what they mean, but you don’t have the time to stop and ask. “Now go. Run!” 

You don’t spare a second glance behind you when the ruckus begins. You don’t want to believe that your hero is the one crying out in pain, and although it’s very likely, turning around would only confirm it. So instead, you race on, panting and heaving with heavy breaths as you sprint towards your shack. 

“Oh my Gods!” Alma screams as you come crashing through the door. “What’s happening, are you alright?” 

“I…I…was getting…the guards, they…” 

“Calm yourself dear, take a deep breath.” For the first time in weeks, Alma stands to her arthritic feet and wobbles her way to you, her ankle clearly causing her grief. “Here.” She scoops up a cup full of water and hands it to you, gone within seconds of touching your lips. 

“The guards are in the square, I think they’re looking for someone, I’m not sure. On my way back, they stopped me, Alma, they wanted to…search me. They-” Your bottom lip begins the quiver, the words sitting anxiously on your tongue. “They were going to--” The words refused to leave your lips.

“Oh my dear, are you okay?” 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m okay. Someone helped me just in time. A man. A miner, I think. I didn’t know his name but he helped me escape.” 

“Bless him. Generosity is rare around these parts, appreciate it while you find it.” 

“I don’t think I’ll be able to find him to thank him. Captain Ass’s guards didn’t take too kindly to his ‘generosity’.”

“They never do. What did he look like? Maybe there’s someone around here that knows of him?” 

Alma listens as you describe your hero and all the while she listens attentively but nothing of significance sparks her interest. That is, until you mention the tattoo on his neck. 

“What?” 

“Yeah, two dots on his neck.” 

“Describe them in detail.” Her voice is stiff, biting words at you as you continue to silently question what it is about this tattoo that intrigues her so much. 

“Um…” Your eyes scrutinise the tense hand on your shoulder as she waits with unblinking eyes. “One was black, the other red. They sat next to each other on his neck just behind his ear--Alma, why are you asking? What does it mean?” 

Alma silently retreats back to her rocking chair, slumping carelessly onto the thing and sinking her face into her hands. Whatever it is that’s bothering her is consuming her, and it’s starting to consume you too. Your mind is bursting at the seams, waiting impatiently to get an explanation to your confusion, answers to questions and more keep coming the longer Alma tortures you with silence. A chorus of why, what, who, where, when, and how sings, backed by a throbbing pain that circles your head. With one final demand, Alma finally alleviates your curiosity. 

“A long time ago, when I was a girl, there was an attempt of a rebellion against the Gods. At the time, infinity stone production was slow. The conditions in each faction were the same, everyone worked the same hours, everyone got the same benefits if any, until the people were sick and fed up of the Gods treating them like slaves, like tools, so…understandably, they started an uprising. It started in Captain America’s faction then somehow, word got across the waters and people seemed to believe in it, saw their opportunity for freedom and got involved. It started out peaceful, y’know, strikes, protests, demonstrations but nothing came to fruition. The Gods ignored them and nothing changed, no surprises there. So it resorted to more violent means; destroying temples, crushing infinity stones, bringing down Gods’ monuments, it was chaos like I had never seen before. My mother wouldn’t let me leave the house for weeks while my father, the fool, joined the bloody uprising and got himself killed. Anyway, to prove that you were on the side of the people, a mark was tattooed onto your neck. Two dots, one black, one red. One for unity, one for strength.”

“Like the one on that guy’s neck?” 

“Similar. They weren’t placed beside each other, they were stacked; one on top of the other. I can only assume that the one your stranger had is just a remodelling of the old mark. A symbol for a new rebellion.” 

“What happened with the old rebellion?” 

“I’m sure you’re aware of the rivalry Captain America and Iron Man had, yes?” You nod your head, sinking down lower next to Alma. Of course you knew it existed, but you never knew why it existed. With a little more patience, Alma reveals more. “The riots became too hard for the Gods to ignore, especially when the mining and manufacturing of their precious infinity stones came to a complete stop, so obviously they had to respond. However, none of them could agree on how they were to respond. On one side, you had Iron Man taking pity on us, realising how harsh the Gods had been treating their people, and you know, the conditions were far worse back in my day. He was willing to offer us breaks, health care, more suitable living accomodations--”

Hang on, that sounds familiar. “But he did that, didn’t he?” 

“He did. But, on the other side, you had, as you say, Captain Ass wanting to punish us for revolting. As a God, he felt disrespected and wanted to use what power he had against us to make sure it never happened again. And like Iron Man, he stayed true to his word. Work increased and food decreased, anyone caught with the mark was to be shot against the post. Captain America made it very clear that he was not going to accommodate any kind of rebellion in his faction. Iron Man didn’t agree with it.” 

Helena’s words from earlier loops around your head. ‘That rival they had decades ago fucked him and us over completely.’ Tougher conditions, harsh punishments. The dots begin to align, ironically, and slowly the puzzle pieces begin to slot together. Even Tony’s decision to bestow the faction onto Peter makes better sense, because he knew Captain America would abuse the people that were left unpunished after the uprising.

Peter was on Tony’s side.

The message flashes before your eyes; it was never about power with Captain America, it was about revenge.

“So what about the others? Hawkeye, Black Widow, The Hulk, what did they do?” 

“Some sided with Iron Man, some sided with Captain Ass. It was just potluck who decided to side with who. It was essentially the difference between life and death for some. It’s why every faction has different working conditions and I thanked every single second I was able to live in Iron Man’s faction, but with him gone and the possibility of a new resistance rising, I fear that we might not be so lucky this time. We made the mistake once before, we can’t afford to make it again.” Tears begin to well up in her eyes, rolling down her cheeks like rivulets. No one can express the sadness that shakes her voice more than she could, having those raw emotions stir in her as they did all those years ago. “Promise me you won’t get caught up in it all.” 

For some reason, there’s something inside telling you that you don’t whole-heartedly mean it when you make that promise to Alma. Perhaps, considering all that has transpired in the last two years, it’s realising that none of it can be excused; the arrogance, the injustice, the greed. Maybe what you’re realising now is actually the same epiphany Tony had too late in his life, unintentionally passed onto you. What the Gods are doing and the heinous injustice they curse this planet with is simply unreasonable, and it cannot be allowed to continue. 

And as the echo of a gun being fired from the town square reaches your ears, you make your decision.

~~~~~

The minute you enter the factory, you know something is wrong. The air is tight, and the atypical lack of voices in the room makes for a very unsettling atmosphere. Everyone has their eyes on their hands, not daring to stray for a single second, especially under the scrutiny of Captain Ass’s men. Looking around, their numbers have doubled.

A buzzer resonates around the room, signalling the start of the working day, and the conveyor belt starts to roll in infinity stones, dug fresh from the mines early this morning. You take to your station just to the left of Mina and immediately begin picking up the dirt-covered infinity stone, polishing it to a sheen. Too scared to do anything rash, you give her a subtle nudge with your elbow.

“Why is it all so tense in here?” You whisper. 

“Captain America suspects that infinity stones are being stolen. So we’re all being watched.”

“What? That’s crazy, why would he think that? We can’t do anything with them, they’d kill us if we tried.” 

“I know, but I think he’s so paranoid that he’ll assume anything.” 

You hum, not fully content with Mina’s reasoning. It just doesn’t make sense. Infinity stones are practically useless to humans, unless you had a death wish, sure, but they are an invalid currency amongst the slaves. You can’t harvest their power like the Gods can, so why would someone be stealing them? For blackmail? Protection? Security? 

“Is that why the guards were invading people’s shacks last night?” Memories of last night flash before your eyes. The guard. His hands. The bile in your stomach. Your saviour. The gun shot. 

Mina nods, eyes cautiously peering up to the guards leaning over the ledge of the upper balcony, all identical to one another except for the General, who stands outside the factory owner’s office, watching with an evil grin on his face, dark features casting a shadow on you all. He’s Captain Ass’s right hand man. Some original’s call him the Winter Soldier and warn of his temperament, detailing the grim horrors they’ve seen him do with that daunting vibranium arm of his. It must be serious if he’s involved.

“Typical of him to blame us humans. Scum of the Earth we are, yet without us he wouldn’t even have his precious infinity stones. I’m fucking sick of it. It’s not fair and it isn’t right--”

“I know, Mina, I know. But you have to keep quiet--”

“Why should I?” Her voice raises and she whips around to face you, dropping her tools and the infinity stone onto her work table in a clutter. It’s only when your eyes land on the soft blue and purple haze circling her blurry eye that you realise why she’s getting so worked up. Apparently you aren’t the only one who had issues with the guards last night. 

As it happens, a few surrounding guards begin to shuffle on the spot, growing more suspicious of Mina’s behaviour. They creep closer and closer as Mina continues her rant. 

“We’re fucking starving here, all because the Gods are too lazy to harvest their infinity stones for themselves. How is that right? And why is nobody batting a fucking eyelid that Iron Man and Spider-Man’s factions have been destroyed, their people kidnapped and forced into slave labour.” 

“Shh, Mina, they are, but here’s not the place to be talking about it.” 

“What? What are you saying?” 

You grunt quietly, accepting that Mina isn’t going to rest until you spill what Alma told you last night. But with the guards slowly enclosing in on the space around you, you quickly improvise a plan that will hopefully keep you out of trouble. As discreetly as humanly possible, you snatch both you and Mina’s polishing brushes, much to her disapproval, and snap them in two under the conveyor belt, the action hidden from the guards. With conviction in your step, you motion Mina to follow you towards a door in the corner of the room. 

“Hey! Where do you two think you are going?” The mechanical voice of Captain Ass’s men sends a shiver up your spine, last night’s nightmare flashing in your mind again. Nevertheless, you swivel to face the guard with a face of steel, almost sneering at the Captain America emblem embossed into the uniform. 

“Our tools broke. We need to get more from the store room. I’m showing her where it is.” 

“Hurry the fuck up. You’ve got work to do.” 

With a breath of relief, you grapple onto Mina’s arm a little tighter and with hurried ambition, you find respite in the darkness of the store room. A bulb above you struggles to emit even the faintest of lighting, but you make do, because what Mina is about to hear is more important than what she sees. 

“How I would love to punch those guys in the throat.”

“Yeah, no kidding. Listen, I had a little…run-in with one of the guards last night. Before things escalated, this stranger helped me. I didn’t question why at the time, I was just thankful someone showed up. He told me to remember that the people outnumber the Gods, then pointed to a tattoo on his neck. Two dots, one black, one red, sitting beside each other.” 

Mina looks blankly at you. She can’t seem to process anything you're saying until she can understand why you’re telling her this, but until then, her face stills in a scowling, narrowed-eyed look of confusion. “So…what--you met a guy with a tattoo?” 

“It’s not just that! Alma knew what the tattoo meant. It’s a symbol for rebellion, an uprising against the Gods, proof that people are batting an eyelid at all of the things they’ve done.” God, what is it going to take for Mina to react to anything you’re saying? “Imagine it, Mina, justice, equality, freedom, no more working in factories scrubbing stones, no more sanctions, no more hungry days. What if this rebellion is our only chance of getting that?” 

“And you’re sure it exists?” 

“I’m certain. They could be the reason behind the infinity stones going missing. Less infinity stones, less power for them, right?”

The next time you hear Mina’s voice again, you notice that it holds a little more confidence and understanding, like it’s all coming together for her. Like she might have a little faith. 

“And the people outnumber the Gods.” 

“Exactly.”

“Okay.” Mina blows a sigh through her lips. “Okay, okay, we’re actually going to do this right?” Is she…pacing? “We’re actually going to join a cult to overthrow the Gods. No big deal. Right? You can just find that stranger that helped you, and then, y’know, viva la revolution.”

“Um…slight issue. I’m afraid my stranger is…no longer around.”

“What do you mean?”

“He was shot.” 

“Oh.” A mournful silence fills the air. Without even saying the words, you both come to understand exactly what it means for you if you are to take such a risk of joining a rebellion. To succeed would mean freedom. To lose would mean facing execution. All or nothing. “So what do we do?”

You scratch the back of your head, afraid to admit to Mina that you don’t actually know and as you look around as if to find your answer, your eyes catch onto a glint in the corner. Something that caught the very small beam of light and reflected it back to you—

“Hello? Did you hear me? What are we going to do?”

“Oh, um…I-I guess we’ll just need to keep our eyes and ears out for the moment; anyone with the tattoo, who act suspicious or speak of anything about the rebellion. Remember, it’s two dots next to each other just beneath the ear. We should be careful and not jump to conclusions before we’re sure they’re part of the rebellion. I wouldn’t be surprised if Captain Ass’s has ordered secret spies to catch people out.” Mins murmurs in agreement, nodding her head. “And the other thing we should do is…hope.” 

“Easier said than done,” Mina retorts. “We should agree on a meeting spot to report back if we find anything. Here won’t do, it’s too obvious. It’ll need to be at night too, under the cover of darkness and where no one is likely to go.” 

“The watering hole. Quarter past midnight. Every Monday and Thursday. Tell no one. Deal?”

Mina stretches her hand out in front of her. It’s still slightly too dark to see what emotion she carries in her eyes. But her voice speaks of a confidence that you can only envy. “Deal.” 

“We better go, we've been in here too long,” Mina warns, making her way to the door with a new polishing brush. 

“I’ll follow right behind.” 

The light from the main factory area enters the store room and reaches beneath the cabinets and shelves where you saw that glint earlier. Curious, you drop to your knees and sink low to the ground. What your eyes see is nothing like what you expected and your breath is quickly taken from you. Crawling across the ground in a single file is an army of spiders, dragging behind them broken pieces of infinity stones encased in cobwebs. The line stretches around the perimeter of the room, from one hole in the wall to another. You quickly decipher from the map of the factory in your mind that just on the other side of this wall is where the disregarded infinity stones are dumped. Stones that have been broken in transit, or are tarnished by other natural elements, but yet these little spiders, the same kind you found crawling across your arm the other day, are collecting them. 

Your mouth hangs open in bewilderment, struggling to comprehend why they would do such a thing. The mystery quickly wraps itself around your brain, diseasing your mind with questions that don’t have answers. Although you’re coming up completely blank about everything else, if there’s one thing you’re absolutely certain on, it’s that there’s a purpose behind this and you won’t be able to shrug off these little spiders as easily as you did the first time you found them. 

It’s just not part of a spider’s nature to collect infinity stones…

“What do you think you’re doing?”

You turn to find a guard filling the frame of the doorway, blocking the light to the secret beneath the cabinet. But the more you look, the more you realise it isn’t just any guard. It’s the Winter Soldier, standing tall with his vibration arm curled by his side. He has a wicked smirk on his dark features, no doubt conjuring up a plan that’s just as wicked to appease the sadist inside him,  and you fear you may be involved. Those piercing blue eyes glow from behind his black hair draping over his face, and they have you in his sights. It’s incredibly intimidating. You feel like you can’t even take a breath without his permission. 

“I…I d-dropped my brush.”

“And you expect me to believe that, do you?” 

“Please, I-“

“Do you think I'm stupid?” He moves to take a step further into the room. 

“No! No, of course not. I just came to get my brush, I promise."

The Winter Soldier grins maliciously, telling you that he doesn't buy your act for one second. A thick, heavy feeling of dread coils around your throat and you feel all the air leaving your lungs. With his vibranium arm grinding by his side, you fear that you might be standing at death's door.

[merakiui]

hii could we get an angsty scenario/hcs of xiao and scaramouche/any characters you prefer! who are basically head over heels for someone but that person keeps getting with the wrong people and constantly getting their heart broken? Preferably with a good/fluffy ending but it’s up to you!

cw: angst + heartbreak  note - decided to go for scenarios! (❁´▽`❁)*✲ﾟ*

[Xiao] 

One Call Away—

The sudden shout of his name had brought him out into the open, where he finds you sitting in a field of wildflowers, your head hung and quiet sobs racking your hunched form.

“You called?” The gruffness in his voice startles you and your head snaps up. He notices your pained expression and the tears that refuse to cease, and it gives birth to a strange feeling within his chest. “What happened? Surely I am not too late.” And then he shakes his head. “No, I’m never late.”

“Ah... I’m sorry.” You sniffle, pitifully rubbing at your eyes. “I guess your name slipped out. I didn’t mean to bother you. I just didn’t mean to call for you either.”

Xiao raises a brow and then surveys the surrounding area. “Well, it doesn’t look like you’re in any mortal peril. In that case, I’ll leave you to—”

“No!”

Your sudden shout startles the both of you, with you drawing back and Xiao’s eyes widening ever so slightly. He wonders why you’re crying when beautiful scenery surrounds you. Are you truly that pathetic? Are mortals usually this weak-hearted? Xiao can’t wrap his head around the idea of grief; he’s an immortal who has seen plenty of hazardous scenarios worth grieving over. Yet with the passage of time he has learned to let such emotions drift away on a wind current. Emotions are useless to an adeptus.

But now he’s stuck with them.

“No?”

“D-Don’t go...” Your voice wobbles and you wipe at your reddened eyes. “I don’t want to bother you, but could you stay here with me? For a little while, at least. It’s all I’ll ask...”

He feels like he should decline your desperate plea before it spreads its perplexing roots throughout his system. The words are practically on the tip of his tongue and he struggles to verbalize them. If he could, he’d shake his head and vanish from your sight. There’s something about your expression that forces him to stay, and he truly detests the way his emotions run wild at the prospect of something he can’t quite comprehend.

“Fine.”

And so Xiao listens to you. It’s something he does best; his eyes and ears are open as he gives you his full, undivided attention. Half of him observes your reactions as you explain what happened and the other half zeros in on the way your subtle hand motions. While he might not be anywhere near a cupid—and he would never be caught giving out relationship advice to mortals, which is something he couldn’t do even if he tried—he is still a being of immense power. From what he’s able to understand from your explanation, your loved one decided to part from you because they believed it just wasn’t working. And you, having been struck with an immense sadness, failed to call out to them to clear up any misunderstandings.

Eventually, after internally wrestling with his own thoughts and feelings, he asks, “Do you want me to teach them a lesson? Should you need them to feel the same amount of despair you’re feeling—”

“Oh, no! No. No. They don’t deserve to be punished for that. I understand now that our feelings weren’t the same. We really weren’t working and that’s okay. It just...hurts.”

Xiao tilts his head, an innocently childish show of confusion. “Where?”

“It’s not a physical pain, Xiao. I mean, it could be. But...this is more emotional.” Your hand reaches out, fingers wrapping around his wrist. He stares down at your hand and he almost pulls away. Before he can even consider what’s happening, you’re guiding his hand to where your heart is. “In here. It hurts now, but I’ll overcome it eventually. I’m used to it anyways...”

The straight-faced adeptus remains still as he feels the fast-paced beat of your heart. Mortals have always been weak in his eyes: feeble beings who break at the slightest inconvenience. Although you don’t seem close to shattering and that confuses him more than he’d like to admit. Perhaps you are one of the more resilient humans he’s come across in recent years. It’s strange when he feels your heartbeat, so very certain and alive with the sour feelings a heartbreak brings. He’s never understood that either. Heartbreaks and relationships. The differences between friendship and romance. Both can be seen through to the very end, if fostered healthily.

So then why are you so sad?

Truthfully, you’ve always seemed sad to Xiao. As an adeptus, he’s never been able to fully grasp the meaning behind human emotions. They’re insignificant in his eyes, mere flashes of feeling that can hurt and blind. They’re troublesome and useless—certainly not something he would ever want to experience. But those emotions can heal and bring cheer. They’re not all entirely bad, nor are they as evil as he seems to think they are.

Xiao realizes his hand has been on your chest for a while now and he’s been staring at you so much that you’ve begun to shrink away, partially embarrassed to have him analyze you with so much scrutiny.

“Is...something wrong?”

He shakes his head slowly at first before retracting his arm. And then he notices you’ve stopped crying. He’s not sure when this happened, but he’s oddly relieved to see your neutral expression. Somehow your crying face is painful and it wounds him in a way he never would have imagined.

“Thank you for listening to my rant. I know this is probably meaningless to you, since you’re an adeptus and all, but it really means a lot. So I’m glad I was able to get these things off my chest. I feel a lot lighter now.”

“You’re not sad?”

“Ah. Well...” Your gaze flickers, eyes darting to and fro while you struggle to look at him. “I’m still sad, but I’ll get over it! Don’t worry! I’m resilient!”

Xiao’s brow furrows in confusion. As he has thought plenty of times before, mortals are far too complex. Eventually he sighs and says, “It’s okay to cry. Don’t keep that inside, okay? You’ll just hurt yourself even more.” Now he’s avoiding your gaze and there’s a barely noticeable tinge of pink dusting his pale cheeks. He’s really not good at consoling humans.

“Oh, Xiao.” You pull him in for a hug and he stiffens, trying to squeeze out of your arms like a cat near water. But then he feels your fingers digging into his arm and he realizes that you might actually need this hug. Despite the fact that he’s not used to freely giving out hugs—or even cheering up mortals, for that matter—he is definitely out of his element. “Really, thank you. I promise to make you an Almond Tofu as thanks.”

“There’s no need for that.” Hesitantly, as if he’s worried he’ll break you, he wraps his arms around your form. “I’m just helping you because you called my name. That’s all.”

But that’s not the full truth. Hidden in those words is the real reason why he even bothered to stay despite the false alarm. And it worries Xiao when he thinks about the implications. He really does like you and this admiration has surpassed platonic love. As long as you’re okay, though, he’ll swallow his feelings in favor of making sure you’re always happy. It’s one of his duties as your friend.

Friend. A word Xiao never thought he’d ever use, but it feels nice. He likes it.

Yet The Distance Remains Harrowing.

[Scaramouche] 

To Mend a Broken Heart—

You’re spilling your emotional guts in front of the Sixth of the Fatui Harbingers, tears freely running down your cheeks like two faulty water faucets. It’s a pathetic sight, really. Scaramouche witnessed this exact show just a few weeks ago when you were so certain that that fisher was the one. Now, after meeting and getting together with someone else for a short time, you’ve come out of yet another relationship, unhappy and unsatisfied.

He’s jealous. There’s no denying the envy he feels when you talk so highly of these people and then wail about them a few days later. It’s a vicious cycle of mending a fragile heart and then breaking it into pieces all over again. With no end in sight, you fall victim to your own demise in the pursuit of love. He wonders if you’ll ever learn to choose your next partner carefully rather than settling for anything with a pulse.

“This is exactly what I said would happen, was it not?” he says with a sigh. “Oh, woe is you. If you were smarter, this last relationship might have lasted longer.”

“That’s rich coming from you. I’ve never seen you in a relationship before,” you mutter, wiping angrily at your eyes. His eyelid twitches at the not-so-subtle jab. “Ugh!I hate being so unlucky! This is the worst.”

“Rather than your foul luck, I think the problem lies within you and your taste in partners.”

Sniffling, you lower your head onto the table, hoping to just melt into the crafted wood before you end up making even more of a fool out of yourself. It’s rare to be in the company of Scaramouche, considering how often he’s assigned missions that require swift travel and a covert profile. But whenever you do find yourself sitting across from him, indulging in light snacks and tea, it’s always because you’ve lost your latest lover; and your own sadness requires the nullifying effects of Scaramouche’s cynicism.

“They’re good people! I just don’t know why it never works out. We’re happy and we both like each other—it doesn’t make any sense. Am I missing something? Is it my fault? They probably got tired of me because I’m not a good person.“

“Perhaps.” He takes a moment to sip his tea and you muster a weak glare. Only Scaramouche can delight in his beverage while you’re holding back another onslaught of tears. “Your crocodile tears are hardly flattering and your apparent need for consistent affection might come off as clingy. And you have a tendency to find flaws within yourself whenever something doesn’t go your way. Adding onto that, you doubt yourself a lot and you’re always quick to take the blame for things that are out of your control. In a way you are partially—”

“I get it. I’m not a good person.”

“I never said anything of that sort. Now you’re just asking for pity.”

Oh, how close you are to punching that smirk off of his face.

“Then since you seem to know everything, my oh so helpful friend, why don’t you tell me what I’m missing?”

“With pleasure.” His cup finds the surface of the table as he ponders your demand for a moment. “You’re missing someone who meshes well with your personality.”

“That’s not true. Everyone I’ve been with so far—“ His skeptical look makes you stop short. “Okay. Maybe we forced it because we thought it was love. But that’s besides the point! There was still an attraction! I think...” You huff and bury your face in your arms, nearly almost sprawling on the table. You’re too depressed to even consider how impolite your actions look, and Scaramouche scoffs at your poor display of manners. “Where am I even going to find someone who ‘meshes well with my personality,’ hm?”

“I’m sure you’ve already found them.” He clears his throat, tracing a finger along a sanded knot in the wooden table. “You’re sitting across from him.”

Whether he intended for you to hear that whispered part, you can’t say for sure. But your head perks up and you fix him with a lopsided grin. “You’re kidding.”

“Hm?”

“Me and you, a couple?” A small giggle escapes your lips and you swipe the remaining tears out of your eyes. “Don’t joke about that. I’m trying to be sad here!”

It wasn’t a joke, he almost says and he catches himself, suddenly self-conscious.

“I don’t think we’d work out,” you continue, motioning between you and him. “We’d hardly see each other and you don’t seem like the type for romance. Besides, I’m not attracted to you in that way. You feel the same, right?”

Scaramouche stares into his cup before he meets your gaze, a tight smile gracing his expression. “Of course. Your inability to settle isn’t all that attractive.”

Your eyes roll and you finally pick up your own cup to take a large gulp of lukewarm tea. The bitter Harbinger observes your actions with narrowed eyes. There’s a distinct pain that taps at his hardened soul, splitting it apart as your words echo within his spinning head. I don’t think we’d work out. I’m not attracted to you in that way. Why is he suddenly feeling...upset? He’s not one for pitiful emotions; he’s a Harbinger, not a lovesick fool! He ought to glare at you and storm off, demanding the two of you never speak again. But he won’t say that because he doesn’t want to hurt you. Because he cares for you. Because he loves you.

You feel the same, right?

No, that’s not right. This is the love he’s been wallowing in since he first got acquainted with you. It’s strange when he remembers every event that has led up to the blossoming feelings that reside deep in the epicenter of his heart, but it’s even more strange that he can’t find the courage to voice his own opinion.

“We wouldn’t mix,” he reaffirms your statement with a cold tone. There is no warmth in his eyes. “After all, your taste in tea is as bad as your taste in partners.”

And even though he wishes you could see through his walls—just this once he’ll allow you to tear them down for the sake of a half-baked confession—you just sit there and grin, no longer teary-eyed and forlorn. How odd. His heart feels far heavier than it’s ever been before. And you’re already scanning your surroundings, hungry for a love that will never keep you sated. Perhaps you weren’t even sad in the first place.

Upon realizing this, Scaramouche wants nothing more than to disappear into the wood like a feeble worm and never come back out.

You Must Break Another.

[panlight]

i think one of meyer's biggest problems (i mean aside from the obvious) is that to her, the characters in her book that aren't bella and edward are just set dressing. she doesn't understand that anybody could see esme, for example, as a tragic character whose human life was defined by loss and abuse, because to her, she's just a plot device. she's The Mom, full-stop. jacob's imprinting doesn't register as horrifying because renesbait is the perfect daughter who deserves the perfect happy ending (a doting husband and probably kids), and jacob is just perfect for her! he's big and strong and loyal, and he won't age and die on her! she doesn't seem to get that people could see these characters as anything other than vehicles for bella and edward's story (and renesbait's, down the line). she has exactly one (1) story that she wants to tell, and anything else is just flavor text.

though to be fair, this started as her personal fantasy. when she got a book deal, she then had to go and beef up the story, which i think is where a lot of the worst stuff comes from.

Yeah, pretty much this.

And this is why romance novels and rom-coms that focus on just one couple (vs an ensemble like Love Actually or something), usually have a pretty limited cast because, who cares? The point is the relationship between the two leads, you don't really need or want anything else. Maybe a quirky or sassy friend (Alice) and a rival (Jacob) or some sort of inconvenient girlfriend/fiancee/ex (sort of Tanya? but not really) and that's all you really need. Family might exist for funny meeting-the-parents scenes but you don't need a backstory on the parents. You don't need a backstory on the quirky friend.

But after she invented Edward, she said she couldn't imagine him without a family. He MUST have a sister like Alice. But that's not enough. SM is from a big family, Edward deserves a big family, so then she invents all these other characters to be The Mom and The Father Figure/Mentor, then The Big Brother. Then oops, Quirky Sister and Big Brother need romantic partners, so here comes Mean Sister and The Vampire-y One. And now you have this huge cast with thinly sketched (but interesting!!!) histories that she doesn't plan to actually DO much of anything with, they just exist to be The Family. None of them have a story arc of their own. I mean I guess there's sort of "Rosalie learns to like Bella" but that's still Bella-centric and is more about Bella's fantasy of a perfect forever family. Does Jasper improve his control? Is Alice vicariously living through Bella's human experiences meaningful? Does Carlisle successfully convince others to try vegetarianism? Who knows, who cares, not the point.

And then she just keeps adding more characters! The cast of the Twilight novels is huge; it's like a Harry Potter universe of characters when the storyline is a pretty insular romance. She invents all these fascinating characters who can turn into wolves and then again, doesn't follow through with anything. Does Leah find peace? Do she and Emily mend their friendship? Who is Embry's father? Doesn't matter. Not relevant to Bella's story.

There's the Volturi, who at first to seem to be about world building and lore, but then they just sit on there thrones so much they've started to petrify. They literally don't do anything! And again, to tell this story you maybe need like one leader and one scary weaponized vamp, but we get THREE leaders and a whole bunch of named vampires with different powers who again, never really get to do much of anything. What's the point of the history between Amun and Demetri when it's never mentioned at all?

Then all the visiting vampires. She obviously LOVES Garrett and Benjamin, you can just feel the "aren't these characters SO COOL?!" pulsing through the page. But other than Garrett's big speech [which feels weird because we only just met this guy. Usually a character who had been there since the beginning would have this moment, a moment that we had been building up to for four books. Maybe Carlisle gets to make his final plea for vegetarianism. Maybe Esme, always quiet, always on the sidelines, steps forward and surprises everyone with her defense of her family and their way of life. Maybe Jasper, the one who wasn't totally sold on this diet, who wouldn't have tried it at all if not for his gift basically forcing him to, gives an impassioned speech from the POV of a former human-blood-drinker that appeals to the other vampires better than any of the veggie-from-the-start Cullens could. But no, it's Garrett, whom we met like 50? 100? pages ago, but since we're told he's a Revolutionary, and a Patriot, that's all the weight we need], none of them really matter or do anything. Benjamin could have left Amun in the end and that would have been something, but, no. It's still Bella's shield that gets all the credit for saving the day. It's still her story and her fantasy. And that's fine! Certainly there are plenty of male-centered power fantasies where some average guy turns out to be the chosen one and better at something than the people who have trained for it for years and gets love and power in the end.

It's just weird that the story she wanted to tell was pretty much just Bella and Edward Fall in Love and Get Married and Bella is the Best Vampire and yet she invented all these other characters without giving them any larger purpose. They have backstories that SEEM relevant but never go anywhere. Esme having met Carlisle when she was a human teen never comes up. Carlisle's mother dying in childbirth is never mentioned during the debates over Bella's pregnancy. Emily's scars are clearly supposed to be a warning about the dangers of being involved with supernatural beings, but it's a warning Bella ignores (and that's not even getting into using the suffering of an Indigenous character to teach a white girl a lesson). Leah's dad only died so Edward could be confused about 'the funeral' and think it was Bella's; it's never really brought up otherwise. There's no reason the rest of the pack has to be so crappy to her, it doesn't go anywhere. How much would the main story really change if Edward were the only vampire and Jacob the only wolf? Sure, some plot beats would be different without Alice to predict things, or without the tension between the Sam and Jacob factions in BD, but overall you could tell basically the same story without literally everyone else.

[angryschnauzer]

Full Mast

Summary: Your idyllic life as a trophy wife of a rich lord is suddenly disturbed with the arrival of a pirate ship and a mutiny... what will your husband do to save you from the pirates grasp?

Fandoms: Henry Cavill, Sand Castle - Movie, Mission Impossible: Fallout, Night Hunter, Hellraiser Hellworld

Pairing: Captain Syverson x Female Reader.

A/N: This is a CRACK FIC. After a brief discussion with @nuggsmum about the cheap romance novels that you could find in the 80′s and 90′s, i called upon the awful storylines, plot holes, and general cheesyness of those books that walked so fanfiction could run. Read the warnings please.

Storyboard note: The only artwork i could find that was suitable to show a Henry-like character included the woman seen above. I tried to crop as much of her out as possible, the story itself does not describe the female reader at all.

Warnings: NSFW, 18+, Very Dubious Consent, Dub-con, public fingering, public sex, shackles, imprisonment, very corny word choices that echo back to the romance novels. 

Full Mast

You resisted the strong arms that pulled you along, the rough blindfold shielding you from your destination, and yet you could hear the call of the gulls so you knew you were near to the shoreline. The cloth tied tightly around your mouth to gag you overwhelmed your senses, the rich musk of male sweat reminding you in no uncertain terms that these were far from civilised men that had snatched you away from your husbands rose garden as you’d been quietly cutting blooms in the dewy morning light.

The ground beneath your feet changed from loose earth to cobblestones, and you could smell the stench of the docks; of the gutted fish and the slop buckets, of the morning after the night before sailors' tavern. You had never been inside but had heard tales of the men that frequented it; dark and dangerous, men that circled the globe as well as the law. Your husband had regaled you with stories of such men, no doubt to frighten you from wandering off, but the man your father had arranged for you to be married to was but two generations your senior, old enough to be your grandfather, and rarely finished a story without veering off to start another. You’d had no say in the matter, the Lord had paid your father a princely sum for your hand in marriage, ignoring your pleas and protests. It had been three months since your father had hopped upon a spice ship returning to Europe with his gold, forgetting about his only daughter.

“Almost there” a gruff voice uttered, and you were suddenly hoisted over a wide shoulder

“Mmmmfff!” you exclaimed around the gag, but your protests were not heard as the men climbed the gangplank and aboard a vessel. Soon you were tied and thrown into a small room, left alone in the darkness as you heard the ship being prepared for sail.

-

The ship was on the open water when you were pulled out into the bright daylight, having managed to work the blindfold lose you were now wishing it was still in place, the bright carribean morning sunshine now blinding you as it glinted on the crystal blue waters. Big men stared hungrily at you as you were dragged across the deck to a small staircase that led up to the ships wheel and that’s when you saw him;

“Captain! Here she is!”

The big man at the wheel grinned, his bushy beard and cropped hair doing little to distract you from his piercing blue eyes that shone with a marked interest. Nodding to a young dark haired man he handed the control of the wheel over before quickly descending the stairs and landing steadily on his booted feet just inches from where you stood. With a toothy grin he looked down at you, his gaze falling to your heaving bosom where the stays of your corset had become loose in the struggle, licking his lips before he addressed one of the men gripping your arms;

“Well ain’t she a peach… caught a good one here Constable”

Your attention snapped to the man at your side and you suddenly realised who he was; Walter Marshall; the town constable. His wild and unruly hair and stone cold stare had kept order in town for as long as you’d lived on the island, but you recalled the last town meeting that had been held at your husband’s mansion had been far from smooth, with a number of towns people getting into a heated argument with the lords and gentry, Constable Marshall being one of them.

“You can still smell the roses on her Sy” the man on your other side commented.

The Captains beard tickled your cheek as he leaned forwards and inhaled, his nose brushing against your bare neck and sending a shiver down your spine, the whimper that escaped your throat barely audible and yet he pulled back, a faint look of surprise on his face that was quickly replaced with a smirk;

“She might be smellin’ of sumthin’ else once we’re done with her” he paused and nodded to the man on your other side; “Walker, shackle her to the rigging chest, we’ll be in the shadows of horseshoe cove shortly until it's time to do the sail past… her husband will realise paying the towns folk their dues is the only way to ensure he can live his idyllic life”

-

An hour of being chained to the enormous storage chest had given you time to watch the goings on of the ship, the way the men worked together, and you’d learned a thing or two about what had seemed to be your boring and idyllic island life had in fact been a town of corruption and mutiny. Captain Syverson had been a Navy Captain, retired once injured but seemingly now fully healed. Walker had been Infantry with the Fusiliers and was a crack shot with both a pistol and a rifle. Of course you already knew of Constable Marshall, and from eavesdropping the conversations you’d learned that they had scuttled the entire islands ships; anything the gentry owned was out of service and unable to sail. With the fishing fleet having left for open waters at dawn there wasn’t a single seaworthy vessel left on the island. Covert operations had meant the fuses for the island’s canons had all been removed in the dead of night, meaning a quick attack would be out of the question. Captain Syverson planned to sail just out of shot reach of your husbands mansion, the ransom note having already been delivered that morning an hour after your disappearance, and only the sign of a yellow flag being waved would ensure your safe return. 

When the dark haired deck hand suddenly came to sit next to you, you were surprised as he started to remove the scarf that still acted as a gag;

“Don’t scream, ok? Capt’n has told me to make sure you drink, he doesn’t want you passing out from thirst”

You nodded and the younger man carefully untied the scarf, before taking the earthenware flagon and lifted it to your lips, the cool ale it held soothing your parched throat. Tipping it a little too much it spilled from your mouth and onto your chest, his eyes going wide in fear;

“I… I can’t touch you… Captain’s orders”

“It’ll dry, its hot out today”

“You’re surprisingly unafraid”

“Should i be afraid?”

He shrugged;

“Dunno. I’m Mikey by the way”

“Aren’t you a little young to be a Pirate?”

Mikey shrugged;

“I guess it was just the inevitable”

Through the conversation that followed you found yourself telling him all about yourself; how your father had basically sold your hand, how your husband was literally only on paper, having far more predilection for the handsome young footman than for you. Mid sentence the Captain’s voice boomed across the deck;

“Mikey! Back to work!”

“Yes Capt’n”

-

When you heard the bells chime of the church on the hill to say it was noon you were moved, the ship sailing around the side of the island and into position 100ft from the shoreline of your husband’s property. With your arms pulled above your head, you were tied to the base of the mast, the big captain coming to stand at your side, his eyes glancing at your breasts as they threatened to spill from your corset that had become loose and had slid down your ribcage.

“What do you see Walker?” 

Peering through the spyglass the moustached man paused before he spoke;

“No yellow flag Captain… wait a moment... they’re using semaphores” He was referring to the message flags that the Navy used to send messages from passing ship to passing ship, each small triangular flag each meaning a different seafaring reference; “Hang on… ‘No duties owed’”

The Captain roared and grabbed the spyglass, peering through before grunting  and handing it back;

“Lets see if we can change his mind, eh?”

Pulling his knife from his thigh holster he hooked the blade beneath the stays of your corset, tearing the garment in two and watching as it fell to the deck at your feet, your breasts now on full show and greeted with a wild cheer from the crew. Syverson turned to Walker;

“How about now?”

He peered through the spyglass before letting out a defeated sigh;

“Same again… no duties owed”

“So, he’s sticking to his guns… let’s kick this up a level”

Turning back to you he smirked;

“This ain't personal sweetheart…”

To your surprise the big man started to gather your skirts, your eyes wide as he pulled up your petticoats and his large hand slid between your silky thighs, finding you without your undergarments and he cocked an eyebrow;

“Your men found me before I had dressed fully for the day”

“I ain’t complainin’ sweetheart, makes it easier to find…”

His hand found your petals and you groaned quietly as he discovered you slick and ready, his calloused fingers seeking out your clit before he slid two into your velvet channel, filling you more than your own fingers ever had;

“Tight little thing, aren’t ya? Your husband got a small dick?”

You turned your head to face him, emboldened by the wanton display;

“I wouldn’t know, i’ve never seen it”

The Captain froze;

“Fuck”

His hand stopped, still inside you and you could feel your walls trembling with excitement around his digits as his men approached, Walker and Marshall both having heard your admission;

“Sy… we gotta continue, we’re owed for three months pay from the Lord…”

He nodded to the mansion;

“What’s the message?”

Checking again, Walker sighed;

“Return Cargo. No duties owed”

The Captain roared with anger;

“The fucking bastard! Every single man on this ship is owed half a years wages, and for what? Keeping his idyllic island life”

The look on his face had changed, and you finally saw the Pirate in him as he approached you, wrapping a big hand around the back of your neck and kissing you roughly. When you willingly opened your mouth and your tongue pushed against his it gave him the green light to go ahead, his body pressing you to the mast and you could feel his hardness pressing against the thin layers of your petticoats. With a flurry of hands he pulled your skirts up and unbuttoned his breaches, revealing his fat length, almost as thick as your wrist and patterned with veins. 

You may never have lain in the marital bed or known the intimate touch of a man, but you had sought your own pleasure with your fingers and even the occasional candle from your husbands drawing room. But you’d never had anything as large as the Captains throbbing length inside you. You hooked your leg over his hip, pulling him close even though your hands were still tied, and let out a cry of pleasure as his hot flesh speared your soaked cavern.

Syverson ravaged you against the mast, fucking you with such a fury that you could feel your body start to tighten around him, and with a cry you came, pressing your head back against the hard wood, a blissful smile across your face as you had your first ever orgasm that you hadn’t given yourself. You were vaguely aware of him pulling out, fisting his shaft and spilling his seed over your bare thighs, before your skirts were dropped and he was fastening himself back into his breeches;

“Well?” the Captain demanded of his men.

Constable Marshall cleared his throat;

“There’s a new semaphore… Cargo Abandoned”

“HE WHAT?” you spat out, filled with anger that your husband would just leave you to the Pirates.

“Very well” Syverson nodded; “Hoist the mainsail, we sail for Kingstown”

He turned to you whilst addressing his men;

“Get her down and have her taken to my cabin” he turned to you; “You ever sailed before?”

“Spent a decade on spice ships Captain” to which he nodded.

“At least you have your sea legs then”

Mikey had unshackled you and was stripping himself of his vest, helping you to slip it onto your arms so you could cover your naked chest.

“Michael?” the captain boomed; “... find her some of the chests of finery we took from that French vessel a couple of months ago”

“Yes Father”

“He’s your father!?”

Mikey nodded;

“Welcome aboard The Cavillry. We’re like one big family here”

Just then the bow hit a wave as it reached the deeper waters, spray splashing up and soaking you, much to Mikey’s amusement;

“You’ll get used to being wet here”

Part 2 Link HERE

-

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Masterlist can be found on AO3, link HERE

[jishyucks]

It's the Thought that Counts ‣ njm

‣ genre: implied f2l, fluff, pining, female reader

‣ wc: 1.3k

‣ summary: In which you're Jaemin's plus-one to a wedding and questions start to run through your head rent-free

‣ an: (pretend Jaemin and Jaehyun are cousins in this)–idk if this is cute, but it was cute to me (◕‿◕), it's lowkey cliche but who doesn't like cliches... anyways, gonna start writing 'shorter' scenarios so I can post more frequently, enjoy!!

There was no denying that you’d rather be at home binge-watching a kdrama right now instead of attending a wedding. But because Jaemin had asked you to be his plus one ever so cutely, you couldn’t help but give in to his pleas before he could even begin his nearly endless tangent about why attending weddings was somehow significant to other events in life.

You had nothing against weddings, in fact, you’ve watched the Crazy Rich Asians scene so many times you can’t even count every single time you did, but it was the formality that made you not want to go. Though it was understandable why it was a formal occasion, you wished you didn’t have to care so much about what you wore just to go. Yet here you were, sitting in the passenger’s seat of Jaemin’s car all glammed up to go to his cousin, Jaehyun’s, wedding

“The guys are going, too, so not everyone will be complete strangers,” Jaemin mentioned, “I wanna see your reaction to them in suits and ties.” He turns into a parking lot in front of a venue that was completely packed. You could see other guests making their way into the building, smiles plastered effortlessly on their faces. You figured that this wouldn’t be that bad, especially because of how joyful the occasion was.

Jaemin pulls into a free parking spot, double-checking his reflection in the mirror, “Why didn’t you tell me my hair is all weird?”

You shrugged, “I didn’t think it looked bad.” And it was true, Jaemin looked good no matter how he was styled, but you swore to yourself you were not going to admit that out loud. Especially not to Jaemin.

You hear him huff before reaching up to fix tufts of his hair to look neater. He pats it down before nodding in satisfaction and turning to you, “Are you ready?”

“Yeah, especially since it took you long enough to fix your hair,” you joked. Pulling the car door handle, it pops open, allowing you to slip out easily. Jaemin follows in pursuit, dusting off his suit as he stands up.

“Ya! Na Jaemin!” You look around almost instantly, trying to pick out who called your best friend from the fairly large crowd of people. After a short while of searching, you finally identify them. Among those entering the wedding’s venue, you find the one and only Lee Jeno waving his arms shamelessly to catch yours and Jaemin’s attention, “Over here! Jaemin! Y/N!

You smiled and waved back, trying not to laugh obnoxiously at how ridiculous Jeno looked. As you and Jaemin begin making your way to him, you could see Mark and Chenle join Jeno at the curb, waving along.

“You guys look handsome as always,” you compliment, wondering why Jaemin wanted to see your reaction as if you’d be laughing your ass off at the sight of boys in suits.

Mark beams, “You look beautiful, as always.”

You miss Jaemin throwing a look at Mark before turning to you, “Hey, you didn’t say that to me…” You turned to find Jaemin looking back at you with a pout and a puzzled set of eyebrows, “Don’t I look good?”

You feel your heartbeat quicken in pace at your friend’s wish for a compliment, “Only a little.” A lie. He looked the most attractive out of basically everyone present, but you knew that if you did end up telling him that he looked handsome as hell, it was you who was gonna be losing your shit and not Jaemin. Jaemin would use this opportunity to tease you, and any boosted attention from Jaemin was basically someone asking to be punched in the gut (and hard).

Ignoring the stank glare Jaemin gave you for your reply, you turn back to Mark, Jeno, and Jeno, “Anyways… Where are the others?"

“Inside getting seats,” Chenle replied, “I guess we should go in and join them.” The rest nodded, all turning towards the building and following the other guests through the many entrances. You stuck by Jaemin’s side, who had suddenly gone quiet at the sight of all of his relatives and family friends

“Jaeminie! Is that you?” Out of nowhere, an older boy approaches your small group on the way to the main ceremony area. Jaemin motions for you all to go ahead of him, “Wait! Who’s this? Your girlfriend?” Before you could leave Jaemin’s side to follow the other three, the curious look Jaemin’s relatives had been giving you stopped you in your tracks. He was talking about you.

Jaemin abruptly chokes on air, brows raising in a slight panic. His attention shoots towards you, eyes wide at the assumption, “Oh! Nononono, this is my–uh–really good friend, Y/N!” He laughs awkwardly and turns back to his relative. Did you notice the way his ears turned red?

You would be lying if you said that that hurt a bit, but it was true. You nodded, “Nice to meet you!”

“Y/N this is my cousin, Youngbin,” Jaemin introduces, “Well, Youngbin, nice talking to you, but we really need to get to our seats before they’re gone.”

“No problem,” he smiles, “My mom’s holding my seat, I just had to go find something.” Jaemin nods before maneuvering you towards the actual ceremony area, leaving Youngbin without hesitation.

“I’m sorry about that,” he mumbles, “He’s always been really blunt and stuff.” You two spot the others sitting closer to the front but still in the middle seats.

“It’s okay, Jae,” you say, “It happens.”

Jaemin could only respond with a smile before you both were settled in a spot together between Donghyuck and Jisung.

“You two look cute~” Donghyuck whispers into Jaemin’s ear. There was a hint of a joking tone lining his words, yet Jaemin could sense he was serious.

“Hyuck, shut up,” he whispers back, poking his thigh, “My cousin already mistook her as my girlfriend and she looked offended.” The guests were quickly getting settled, meaning that the ceremony was about to begin.

“You do look like a couple, though, not gonna lie,” Donghyuck shrugs and shifts away into Mark’s side before Jaemin could even attempt subtly poking at him again.

“Yeah, whatever,” Jaemin mumbles. I wish.

The ceremony soon begins, shutting up any ongoing. conversation within the room. Everything went as planned. It was just like they were in movies or shows or books. The groom’s reaction to the bride’s entrance was your favourite part; the reactions of the guests to the bride was a beautiful experience too.

Throughout the entire ceremony, you couldn’t help picture how your wedding would be like or how you would want it. Yes, it was somewhat selfish thinking about yourself during the joyous occasion of another, but there was no stopping your active mind, especially since you were currently attending a wedding.

Would it be better for there to be many guests or only limited to close family and friends? What about the colours? A theme? Which of your friends would you choose as the maid of honour? Where would want it to be?

You let your thoughts run free while miraculously still paying attention to the emotional ceremony. At one point during the vows, you felt a tear threaten to fall, but you sucked it back in.

If someone had been able to read your mind, they were probably drowning in countless of your questions to yourself. It was then the final question had somehow overshadowed the previous ones.

At that moment, the minister spoke with his chest, “You may now kiss the bride!

Watching the two newlyweds lean kiss, you feel yourself unconsciously turn your head up to look at Jaemin, who had been completely stuff throughout the wedding.

Who would your groom be?

As the guests all begin to clap for the couple at the front of the room, your eyes settle on Jaemin, heartbeat skyrocketing.

Jaemin was already looking back at you. And little did you know, he was asking himself who his bride would be.

[katnissmellarkkk]

Hmmm I should probably wait another day to post part two of Finnick being there for Everlark / being their friend but I don’t wanna sooo. Here it is 🤗

-

I see my mother lead in a group of mobile patients, still wearing their hospital nightgowns and robes. Finnick stands among them, looking dazed but gorgeous. In his hands he holds a piece of thin rope, less than a foot in length, too short for even him to fashion into a usable noose. His fingers move rapidly, automatically tying and unraveling various knots as he gazes about. Probably part of his therapy. I cross to him and say, “Hey, Finnick.” He doesn’t seem to notice, so I nudge him to get his attention. “Finnick! How are you doing?”

“Katniss,” he says, gripping my hand. Relieved to see a familiar face, I think.

-

Finnick, who’s been wandering around the set for a few hours, comes up behind me and says with a hint of his old humor, “They’ll either want to kill you, kiss you, or be you.”

-

Just as the elevator arrives, Finnick appears in a state of agitation. “Katniss, they won’t let me go! I told them I’m fine, but they won’t even let me ride in the hovercraft!”

I take in Finnick — his bare legs showing between his hospital gown and slippers, his tangle of hair, the half-knotted rope twisted around his fingers, the wild look in his eyes — and know any plea on my part will be useless. Even I don’t think it’s a good idea to bring him. So I smack my hand on my forehead and say, “Oh, I forgot. It’s this stupid concussion. I was supposed to tell you to report to Beetee in Special Weaponry. He’s designed a new trident for you.”

At the word trident, it’s as if the old Finnick surfaces. “Really? What’s it do?”

“I don’t know. But if it’s anything like my bow and arrows, you’re going to love it,” I say. “You’ll need to train with it, though.”

“Right. Of course. I guess I better get down there,” he says.

“Finnick?” I say. “Maybe some pants?”

He looks down at his legs as if noticing his outfit for the first time. Then he whips off his hospital gown, leaving him in just his underwear. “Why? Do you find this”— he strikes a ridiculously provocative pose —“distracting?”

I can’t help laughing because it’s funny, and it’s extra funny because it makes Boggs look so uncomfortable, and I’m happy because Finnick actually sounds like the guy I met at the Quarter Quell.

“I’m only human, Odair.” I get in before the elevator doors close.

-

At dinner, Finnick brings his tray to my bed so we can watch the newest propo together on television. He was assigned quarters on my old floor, but he has so many mental relapses, he still basically lives in the hospital.

-

Finnick presses the button on the remote that kills the power. In a minute, people will be here to do damage control on Peeta’s condition and the words that came out of his mouth. I will need to repudiate them. But the truth is, I don’t trust the rebels or Plutarch or Coin. I’m not confident that they tell me the truth. I won’t be able to conceal this. Footsteps are approaching.

Finnick grips me hard by the arms. “We didn’t see it.”

“What?” I ask.

“We didn’t see Peeta. Only the propo on Eight. Then we turned the set off because the images upset you. Got it?” he asks. I nod. “Finish your dinner.”

-

“This is what they’re doing to you with Annie, isn’t it?” I ask.

“Well, they didn’t arrest her because they thought she’d be a wealth of rebel information,” he says. “They know I’d never have risked telling her anything like that. For her own protection.”

“Oh, Finnick. I’m so sorry,” I say.

“No, I’m sorry. That I didn’t warn you somehow,” he tells me.

Suddenly, a memory surfaces. I’m strapped to my bed, mad with rage and grief after the rescue. Finnick is trying to console me about Peeta. “They’ll figure out he doesn’t know anything pretty fast. And they won’t kill him if they think they can use him against you.”

“You did warn me, though. On the hovercraft. Only when you said they’d use Peeta against me, I thought you meant like bait. To lure me into the Capitol somehow,” I say.

“I shouldn’t have said even that. It was too late for it to be of any help to you. Since I hadn’t warned you before the Quarter Quell, I should’ve shut up about how Snow operates.”

-

Finnick and I sit for a long time in silence, watching the knots bloom and vanish, before I can ask, “How do you bear it?”

Finnick looks at me in disbelief. “I don’t, Katniss! Obviously, I don’t. I drag myself out of nightmares each morning and find there’s no relief in waking.” Something in my expression stops him. “Better not to give in to it. It takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart.”

Well, he must know. I take a deep breath, forcing myself back into one piece.

“The more you can distract yourself, the better,” he says. “First thing tomorrow, we’ll get you your own rope. Until then, take mine.”

-

The camera pulls back to include Peeta, off to one side in front of a projected map of Panem. He's sitting in an elevated chair, his shoes supported by a metal rung. The foot of his prosthetic leg taps out a strange irregular beat. Beads of sweat have broken through the layer of powder on his upper lip and forehead. But it's the look in his eyes--angry yet unfocused--that frightens me the most.

"He's worse," I whisper. Finnick grasps my hand, to give me an anchor, and I try to hang on.

-

“You have two hours to get footage showing the damage from the bombing, establish that Thirteen’s military unit remains not only functional but dominant, and, most important, that the Mockingjay is still alive. Any questions?”

“Can we have a coffee?” asks Finnick.

Steaming cups are handed out. I stare distastefully at the shiny black liquid, never having been much of a fan of the stuff, but thinking it might help me stay on my feet.

Finnick sloshes some cream in my cup and reaches into the sugar bowl. “Want a sugar cube?” he asks in his old seductive voice. That’s how we met, with Finnick offering me sugar. Surrounded by horses and chariots, costumed and painted for the crowds, before we were allies. Before I had any idea what made him tick. The memory actually coaxes a smile out of me. “Here, it improves the taste,” he says in his real voice, plunking three cubes in my cup.

-

Haymitch’s footsteps are still echoing in the outer hall when I fumble my way through the slit in the dividing curtain to find Finnick sprawled out on his stomach, his hands twisted in his pillowcase. Although it’s cowardly — cruel even — to rouse him from the shadowy, muted drug land to stark reality, I go ahead and do it because I can’t stand to face this by myself.

As I explain our situation, his initial agitation mysteriously ebbs. “Don’t you see, Katniss, this will decide things. One way or the other. By the end of the day, they’ll either be dead or with us. It’s . . . it’s more than we could hope for!”

Well, that’s a sunny view of our situation. And yet there’s something calming about the idea that this torment could come to an end.

-

I want to run, but Finnick’s acting so strange, as if he’s lost the ability to move, so I take his hand and lead him like a small child.

-

"Oh, Peeta," says Finnick lightly. "Don't make me sorry I restarted your heart." He leads Annie away after giving me a concerned glance.

-

I'm unaware that my feet are moving to the table until I'm inches from the holograph. My hand reaches in and cups a rapidly blinking green light.

Someone joins me, his body tense. Finnick, of course. Because only a victor would see what I see so immediately. The arena. Laced with pods controlled by Gamemakers. Finnick's fingers caress a steady red glow over a doorway. "Ladies and gentlemen..."

His voice is quiet, but mine rings through the room. "Let the Seventy-sixth Hunger Games begin!"

I laugh. Quickly. Before anyone has time to register what lies beneath the words I have just uttered. Before eyebrows are raised, objections are uttered, two and two are put together, and the solution is that I should be kept as far away from the Capitol as possible. Because an angry, independently thinking victor with a layer of psychological scar tissue too thick to penetrate is maybe the last person you want on your squad.

"I don't even know why you bothered to put Finnick and me through training, Plutarch," I say.

"Yeah, we're already the two best-equipped soldiers you have," Finnick adds cockily.

"Do not think that fact escapes me," he says with an impatient wave. "Now back in line, Soldiers Odair and Everdeen. I have a presentation to finish."

-

Boggs told Peeta to sleep out in full view where the rest of us could keep an eye on him. He isn't sleeping, though. Instead, he sits with his bag pulled up to his chest, clumsily trying to make knots in a short length of rope. I know it well. It's the one Finnick lent me that night in the bunker. Seeing it in his hands, it's like Finnick's echoing what Haymitch just said, that I've cast off Peeta.

-

He weaves the rope in and out of his fingers. "The problem is, I can't tell what's real anymore, and what's made up."

The cessation of rhythmic breathing suggests that either people have woken or have never really been asleep at all. I suspect the latter.

Finnick's voice rises from a bundle in the shadows. "Then you should ask, Peeta. That's what Annie does.”

-

Masks go on. Finnick adjusts Peeta's mask over his lifeless face.

-

"I just murdered a member of our squad!" shouts Peeta.

"You pushed him off you. You couldn't have known he would trigger the net at that exact spot," says Finnick, trying to calm him.

"Who cares? He's dead, isn't he?" Tears begin to run down Peeta's face. "I didn't know. I've never seen myself like that before. Katniss is right. I'm the monster. I'm the mutt. I'm the one Snow has turned into a weapon!"

“It's not your fault, Peeta," says Finnick.

-

I shout a warning to the others to stay with me. I plan for us to skirt around the corner and then detonate the Meat Grinder, but another unmarked pod lies in wait.

It happens silently. I would miss it entirely if Finnick didn't pull me to a stop. "Katniss!"

-

[yunkiwii]

—potions gone wrong—

☆ hogwarts au ☆

pairing: bsf!hyunjin x gn!reader | ft. jeongin and mentions of minho

supportive oc: angela, female

genre: sfw. comedic and chaotic, may be considered fluff by some people

wc: 2.4k

warnings: hints of jealousy, mentions of illegal (magical world wise) actions, potion-induced obsession

a/n: i'm pretty sure that in the harry potter series amortentia doesn't work the way i described here, but let's just ignore that shall we? ♡

summary: two boys decide to make a love potion to conquer the crush of one of them. unfortunately, something seems to have gone wrong and y/n needs to step in..

shout out to: ficscafe prompt dialogue event ♡

↳ "I'll give you 20 bucks if you kiss me."

↳ "I don't think that's legal, but we can work around it."

↳ "Shut up, this isn't a wattpad fanfic"

Completely imersed in the pile of books you gathered in the library in order to try and understand more about potions, you get startled when a boy throws himself into the chair next to you, a yellow stripped tie hitting your head in the process.

"I'll give you 20 bucks if you kiss me."

"What? No!", you give him a disgusted and confused look before digging your head into the old dusty pages again.

"Come on!! Angela keeps coming to me trying to snuggle and kiss me and-", as dramatic as he is, Hyunjin pretends he is going to be sick, exaggerating on the nasty sounds way too close to your ear.

"What? Why?", your bestfriend finally caught your full attention as you turn to face him, "Wait, Angela as in like, Angela your major crush perfect-Angela? Weren't you supposed to like, I don't know, enjoy the attention?" But then the face he makes, his cheeks turning shades of pink as his gaze drifts away from you and he sinks down in his chair in embarrassment, realization hits you, "No! No you did not! Are you like what, dumb?", you flick is head inducing a loud squeal to come out his mouth.

"It was Jeongin's idea!", his voice three pitches higher than before, "And I can't be that dumb if I managed to make that stupid love potion work. But that's beside the point, will you do it or not?"

"Do what? Kiss you? And how will that help you dimwit?", you went to flick his head again because, to be fair, he deserved it, but Hyunjin knew you too well and held your hand in time to stop you from hurting his pretty face, as he likes to state.

"To break the curse! Make her give up on me by making her think we're together or something!"

"What curse? There is no curse! And she isn't even thinking right now, she might just kill me out of jealousy!", at this point you're pratically yelling at each other and are forced to leave the library, resuming this odd conversation on your way to Ravenclaw's common room.

"I still can't believe you let yourself go with what Jeongin tells you. He's evil you know?"

"Should've guessed by the green scarf huh?", you slap his arm lightly, not very fond of the jokes made regarding the fact your other best friend is a Slytherin.

"So, how do I solve this?", he basically pleas at you as you sit down on the desk next to the fireplace, as far away as possible from your housemates. Every two in three students has made, or attempted to make, some sort of potion or spell to have something in their advantage. However, amortentia wasn't just "some potion", and if some were to find out that Hwang - head in space - Hyunjin succeded at his attempt they would never leave his poor ass alone, so for now your plan was to keep this subject as low-key as possible.

"Marry her." you say nonchalantly while, without his knowledge, already looking up all about amortentia, its possible side effects and how long it would take to wear off - if ever-, receiving a whine in return.

"It was really fun at first, you know? The flirting was cute, the smooches were great," and boy he put some emphasis on that adjective,"but now it's like she's obsessed with me! She's clingy and talks with that annoying voice and I can't seem to get rid of her!" Hyunjin throws himself face down into the old couch and whines again, words muffled by the pillow where he burried his face. "She's probably standing right outside the door just now!"

"Wait, what do you mean it was fun at first? How long has this been going on Hwang Hyunjin? And why am I only knowing of this now?", you turn around in your chair way too fast, hitting with your knee on the other chair next to you before facing the mop of brown hair all spread around the blue pillow.

"Well, I barely ever saw you all week!", the boy turns his head just the minimum amount to look at you, "You're either with your nose buried in those old books, or with your hands all over Lee Minho! Not my fault you no longer have time for your friends..."

"First of all," you pull out the pillow he's laying on, his face falling on the black cushion as a few curses leave his lips, "lower your tone! I did not spend the week with my hands all over Minho, I am tutoring him in potions!"

"Which you're not that good at, that's why you walk everywhere with those fat books..." Hyunjin rolls his eyes at you as he recovers the pillow from your hands again, "Don't deny it (y/n), you've got the hots for him!"

"Oh sweetie, I sense jealousy in your tone... is that why you gave Angela a poorly made potion?", you show him the page you've been reading between the backs and forths of your not so relevent argument, only for him to realize the potion should've worn off two days ago. Instead, it only got worse. "Perhaps you could use some reading too huh?"

The boy rips the book from your hands, grunting between his teeth sounds you doubted to be words as he makes his way out, only to shut the door as soon as he opens it, squealing loudly when his eyes meet the ones from the Gryffindor's brunette standing right in the middle of the hallway.

"I'm telling you (y/n), she won't leave me alone! It's like she's obsessed!", Hyunjin keeps his back against the door, afraid the girl could open it by some miracle driven by her potion induced feelings, hence she doesn't have the password.

"Well, you see Hyunjin... that's because she is! And it's your fault, you should simply face it..."

"Oh I'm going the kill Jeongin...", the boy grunts ignoring your words completely as the whines coming from the other side of the door overlapped them, "Can you go get him? Or get rid of her?"

You make your way to the door Hyunjin refuses to unblock and, when words and pushes didn't make the tall boy move, you had to resort to your wand, although the simple threat was more than enough for him to make way for you. He stayed hidden in the corner as you parted the door slightly to tell the girl her beloved had disapparated from there, and she should probably look at the quidditch court. The fact she believed you only proved how strongly she was affected by the potion, since everyone knew Hyunjin would never go to a sports court by his free will and disapparating into and out Hogwarts wasn't possible at all.

As soon as the path got clear you both made your way to the shrieking shack through the whomping willow everyone was so afraid of, but that was exactly why the three of you claimed it as your secret meeting place.

Jeongin was already waiting as you sent him a message through your magic notepad when you got rid of Angela, and you had to secure Hyunjin to not throw the book at the Slytherin boy who only laughed in return. The laughter didn't last long though, because you only stopped Hyunjin so you would be the one scolding the younger one, flicking his head the same way you did to the lover boy earlier.

"Hey! What did you do that for?", the boy frowned at you rubbing his forehead.

"To bring you back to reality, so you can both fix the mess you made!"

"But what's the problem?" Jeongin looked at you with honest confusion on his face, "Is this about the potion? You know that thing wears off in like a week or so right?"

"Exactly... do the math now genius..." Hyunjin rolls his eyes before leaning his back against the spiderweb covered walls.

The three of you spent the whole afternoon trying to figure out what went wrong in the first place, you analyzing every single detail of the procedure, and the boys trying to recreate every step they took to reach the final product. But, after hours of research and theories nothing seemed to have gone wrong, well except for the exaggerated and long-lasting effect of the potion.

"We should just obliviate the poor girl..." suggested Jeongin at one point, head in his hands as a sing of withdrawal.

“I don’t think that’s legal, but we can work around it...” You agree with him closing the book you were now reading for the fifth time.

"Are you guys serious? Because that sounds great! Can we get away with it?" Hyunjin's eyes were sparkling in hope as he shifted in his seat to a more straight up position, ready to do whatever it took to get to walk in peace around the school, without being unexpectedly smooched in the cheek and squezeed into a hug every time the girl spotted him.

"No, it's a joke!" You both sigh at your friend's desperation before calling it a day, deciding to resume your research first thing in the morning.

As per usual, you met with the boys for breakfast at the dining hall, though this time they weren't alone and you couldn't help out a giggle when Angela, as glued to Hyunjin as possible while feeding him something funny looking with a spoon, winked at you as soon as you sat in front of her and next to Jeongin. The latter looked almost as horrified as the pampered boy, and you had to focus to try and keep yourself from bursting into laughter before the scene that was unfolding in front of you.

Hyunjin looked like an annoyed pouty baby slumped in his chair - as an attempt to go unnoticed -, while the smiley girl, - one that seemed to have way too much energy in the morning -, pulled some strands of the boy's hair behind his ear before kissing his cheek, "You're so pretty Hyunnie-jin, and I hate to leave you," the girl pouts as she pinches his cheeks rather aggressively, "but don't worry sugarplum, I'll be waiting for you in the astronomy tower when you leave class." This time the kiss is aimed at his lips, but Hyunjin antecipates her intentions and dodges his head with a slick move, just not fast enough to be fully free of her, ending up with her lips awkwardly attached half to his jaw, half to the corner of his lip.

"So you decided to give in?" You couldn't help the grin that was forming on your face, finding it hilarious how the universe always had a way to keep things balanced.

"Shut up. I had to if I didn't want to starve myself, it was one sacrafice I was willing to take." Hyunjin furiously rubs his face with a napkin, as if it would erase the memory of the previous demonstration of affection.

"I say it's the karma, you were basically playing and manipulating her the moment you gave her the potion, now you face the consequences."

"It's like she's taking revenge..." Jeongin mumbles more to himself than to his friends, but he was still heard, and had now two pairs of eyes locked on him waiting for a further explanation to what seemed to be a pretty plausable theory. "We already concluded we didn't do anything wrong, right?"

"Yes, it's still hard to believe though..." you take a sip of your pumpking juice with a raise eybrow, honestly still impressed at how they pulled that off.

"So what if she got aware that Hyunjin gave-"

"We, Jeongin, we!! This wasn't just me okay? I just got the, uh, benefits?"

"Ok, sure, whatever... What if she became aware that we," emphasis on the pronoun as he glanced at Hyunjin, "gave her a potion and now that it wore off she is pulling this act as a pay back? Because, according to our lover boy, if it was nice at first then why would she suddenly start acting all obsessively?"

Both you and Hyunjin took a moment to reflect on this new theory, one Jeongin was really proud of as showed by his smug grin when he crossed his arms and relaxed back in his chair.

"I hate to admit it, but that makes a lot of sense... and explains why she winked at me when I got here..."

"Okay yes, she is faking it... why else would she wink at (y/n) when I'm the one she's supposed to be focused on?", the boy threw his arms up with a questionting - and slightly offended - look.

"Time for confrontation!" you were already standing up with Hyunjin following the lead, but you held yourselves back when you realized Jeongin wasn't moving, looking between the both of you still grinning.

"I've got a better idea..."

It was a terrible idea, you thought, and wanted no part in it at all so you let the boys discuss the details while you just sat there judging their poor life decisions.

The plan was for Hyunjin, instead of confronting her and get it over with as you suggested, to play along as if he too was deeply in love with her, and see who would break out of character first. As much as you tried to explain how childish and stupid the plan was, the boys simply wouldn't listen to you, convinced this was the best idea they've ever had.

Hyunjin got oddly excited about this and ran to astronomy class, already antecipating the act he would pull off when he'd see the girl waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs when he'd get out, leaving you and Jeongin alone in the dining all. The contrast of your opinions on this was pretty clear in your faces, Jeongin laughing loudly, you furrowing your brows and shaking your head in disapproval.

Then, all of a sudden, the boy stops laughing and looks at you, "What if they actually end up falling in love after all this?"

He sounded seriously concerned yet amused at the same time, while you only rolled your eyes at him before collecting your books and leaving for class as well.

"Shut up, this isn't a wattpad fanfic."

networks: @ficscafe @k-library @k-dinernet @districtninewriters

taglist: @dreamwrld @su-lix @bobateastay @leihey @serialee @hyunsluvv

⇢ let me know if you want to be added to the taglist ♡

[willowbleedsonpaper]

Winter In The Shade VIII

Part VIII

Sirius Black x Ravenclaw Reader

W.C. : 2793

Requested by @amourtentiaa : It is Sirius’ fifth year at Hogwarts, the same year he ran away from home and to the Potter’s. Soon, he discovers the unfamiliar sight of his brother Regulus smiling and looking truly happy, next to him a Ravenclaw girl who immediately captures his interest. What will happen when the Black family gets involved in their sons lives and the ones they hold close to their hearts?

Warnings: Food. Mentions of eating.

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Masterlist | Series Masterlist

“You have all of your things?” you asked him, arms intertwined as you walked all the way to the train. It was a cold morning, your voice turning into a cloud of breath each time you muttered a word. Small snowflakes filled the air as some landed on top of your head and the reddish parts of your cheeks. Your eyes turned from Regulus to the top of your nose where one small flake settled, the only thing pulling you from the haze of the light snowfall being Regulus chuckle at your side. You pursed your lips in amusement as you blew some air, the little hairs falling out of your hat moving with the motion. “Stop.” you chuckled.

He shook his head, eyes glued to the front with his chin up all the time. It was impossible to get Regulus in nothing but perfection. Perfect posture. Perfect words. Perfect grades. Perfect imperfections.

“You keep getting those flakes off your face.” he laughed, his eyes sparkling as he glanced at you “Ten more will take their place.”

You narrowed your eyes at him, using your hand to shake the snowflakes off your face, scrunching your nose as shivers ran down your spine at the cold feeling of the snow melting against your skin “They get in my eyes.” you murmured, shaking your head in defeat “But don’t change the subject! Do you have all of your stuff?” you asked again, eyes falling to the small suitcase on his other hand “You're going for two weeks, you know?” you asked him incredulously.

He nodded his head in acknowledgement, not saying a word as you shrugged your shoulders, holding tightly to his arm as you both approached the train.

Few students were left near you, the small crowds there boarding all together as the train started to make more noise and the vapor in the sky clouded, the train announcing itself it was almost time to go.

You pulled Regulus' arm, stopping his steps a few feet from the door. He was standing right in front of you, lowering his suitcase to the floor as he placed his free hand over yours holding onto his arm. No words were exchanged as you both stared at each other, your eyes saying more than either of you could muster with words. But still, words were needed.

“Have fun.” you told him, your voice turning to your imitation of a mom voice, making him roll his eyes. “I mean it.” you said, pointing a finger at him “You will go home and be happy because it's christmas. You’ll enjoy it with your family, eat all the food you can, and get your presents.” you said with a smile. “Of course, the first few days you can be miserable because I’m not with you…”

“Right.” he scoffed, shaking his head.

“...even cry a little. I will be waiting for your tear stained letters.”

And then the silence fell between the two of you again. Were you supposed to feel that emotional? Was he feeling the same tightness in his chest? You felt your lower lip start to tremble, the hopeful thought that it was your imagination or the cold air disappearing as he tilted his head. His eyes were almost guilty as they followed every movement of your face.

“Y/N…” he started to say but you raised your hand to his chest, turning your face to the side as you used your sleeve to wipe the few tears that started to pool on your eyes.

“Don´t.” you laughed, voice raspy as you let out more breathy laughs “Merlin, turn around while I compose myself.” you told him, using your hand to push him away.

You should have known he already had a secure grasp on your wrist, your attempt to push away useless as he pulled towards him. It took you one word from him to wrap your arms around his chest, his arms holding you close to him as he rested his chin on top of your head, the light sounds of your crying only audible to him.

“You know I’m coming back, right?” he asked. There was no teasing in his voice, no joke, no attempt at humour. You nodded your head against his chest, tightening your hold on him. “It’s not even two weeks, I’ll be back before you even know it.”

“I know.” you said, slowly walking away from him. Holding your head low as you cleaned your face before you looked back at him.

Your eyes met his and the whole world stopped. You two were the only ones standing out in the cold morning. The voices faded, the images of everything surrounding you melted to simple colors without shape. You were sure when you died, your first request would see the exact moment Regulus Black became so important to you. You would give everything you had to see the moment where two souls connected on such a level your body aches from being away from him for just two weeks.

The whistle from the person gathering all the people meant to board the train pulled you out of your trance, making you turn your head in the direction of the sound.

Regulus took in the moment, your face turned from him as the distraction provided with the perfect moment. The hand that was not holding your reach to the inside pocket of his coat. A small package wrapped neatly with a small green bow on top laid on his hand as he waited for you to turn back to him, but it felt you were avoiding the sight of him, your side profile making the air get caught in his lungs as he could see the tears still streaming down your cheeks.

He called your name softly, the word barely a whisper that reached your ear in a plea. You purse your lips, a tight smile in its place as you turn to him, your eyes immediately falling to his hand and erasing any act from your face.

“We agreed on no presents.” you said, brow furrowed as you looked up to him “Remember?”

He had the ghost of a smile on his face as he offered you the small package “Don’t think of it as a present.” he said, watching the usual sparkle of your eyes return “An apology. For making you cry.”

Your shoulders fell back to their place as you relaxed your muscles, a side smile making its way to your lips as you took the present from his hand “I guess I can accept that.” You didn’t miss the satisfactory look on his face as you tugged the present under your arm, crossing your arms with an amused look “An Slytherin apologizing? Might ruin your evil reputation, don’t you think?”

The smirk on his lips grew as he watched the man blow on his whistle once more, the place deserted except for the two of you standing there with the confidence enough to mask the emotional goodbye that was unfolding “A Ravenclaw showing any sign of emotion?” he said back, licking his lips as his eyes returned to you “Someone might get the idea you actually have a heart.”

You bit back the laugh, shaking from the cold and the urge to burst out laughing “Go,” you pushed him softly, getting the suitcase in his hand as he walked to the door, you following close behind him “Before you find out how heartless I actually am.”

He boarded the train without another word, the smile never fading from his face. He didn’t dare to look out the window while the train started moving, he feared he might get one look at you and jumped out of the train before it was too late. He had matters to attend back at home.

“You're not boarding the train, miss?” asked the man, hand in the handle of the door as he entered the train.

You shook your head, smiling tightly at him as you took a step back, and another, and another. The train started to move, first slowly like it carried the heaviness of your wish for Regulus to stay and then more fluidly, realization settling deep inside of you as you accepted that even if you didn’t like it this was for the better.

*******

“Merry Christmas, Y/N!” cheered Félix as he saw you walking down the stairs of the common room, eyes still laced with sleep as you rubbed harshly there and your entire face. You only registered a pair of arms circling your middle with the strength of Christmas morning , making you place your arms instantly around the boy's head in some sort of hug.

“Merry Christmas Félix.” you said in your most cheerful tone, even if your voice was raspy he seemed satisfied, taking your hand and dragging you to the couches near the fireplace, the low fire offering enough warmth to make you sigh as you sat down “Got any presents?” you asked him after a big yawn he mimicked not one second later.

“Plenty.” he laughed, as his arms tried to pile up everything he got from under the tree. You raised your eyebrows in surprise as he kept piling up his present in front of you, his parents were definitely making it up for not celebrating Christmas with him.

You lowered yourself to the floor, sitting next to him “And do I have any presents?” you asked, knowing perfectly well the answer.

“Two.” said Félix, reaching his hand under the tree for you. He pulled the small package from Regulus and a bigger box with the writing from your parents sticking out on the note. You took them from his hands, smiling at him as he was basically shaking from excitement. Oh, to be so young on Christmas morning again. “Shall we?” you asked him. He didn’t bother with an answer, ripping the paper from the first box at reach, tuning you and the entire world from his perception. You chuckled softly, taking your own presents.

You were more curious about Regulus’ present, the agreement you two made clearly a joke that left you feeling guilty on the train station once you saw he got you something. He was supposed to honor your agreements.

Taking your time, seeing Félix still had a mountain of presents to open, you slowly unwrapped the paper, an old looking book showing itself under the dull brown paper. But you knew better, a smile forming on your lips as you took all the paper away. It might have looked like a book but you knew it was more, something you had seen once and had obsessed over.

“A box that looks like a book?” he asked you once you presented the idea to him, the look of disbelief in his eyes making you roll your eyes. “Why would you want that?”

“Have a little imagination, Black.” you scoffed, never losing your smile and excitement.

He shook his head and you jumped in front of him, making a show with your hands to try to act mysterious “A book that you can hide in plain sight. A box to hold your secrets.”

Smiling to the memory, you ran your finger over the lid. Moving the box in your hands to take a look at all of its faces, it was the last thing you did to open it. The smile on your face only grew, a picture of the two of you laying inside the box.

You didn’t know who took the picture, the frame showing you and Regulus in the library, sitting down on the table with the entirety of your books open before you. You had a wild look on your face, hands pointing to different books as your mouth moved at light speed, across from you Regulus holding his head on his hands with a confused look before he dropped his forehead to the table.

You laughed at the memory, closing the lid of the box and taking a look back at Félix “Let’s get breakfast.”

*******

To say the Great Hall was empty was a hopeful attempt to paint a more cheerful picture in your head. You doubted the entirety of the people sitting on the middle table of the Great Hall could fill an entire classroom, the students from all ages and houses gathered at the very front of the room, all bundled together to keep the cold at bay and have some company for the day. This was the first time you had stayed back at Hogwarts for the Holidays, not once imagining that it would be like this. They were all laughing, the cheerful sounds echoing from the empty walls of the room as their smiles reached their eyes. You always thought that the few students that stayed there would be all by themselves, at least that was what you were planning on doing, but seeing them all gathered together around the food, sharing their stories and exchanging small yet thoughtful presents, it warmed your heart and gave a more hopeful look into the next few days.

Félix jumped beside you, running the few last steps to the group as you followed. “Merry Christmas, Ravenclaws.” said one of the older Hufflepuffs, Peter.

“Merry Christmas.” you said, meeting eyes with everyone on the table as you sat down. You started to put food on your plate, sensing the quiet that fell over the group as you took your first bite. “Is something wrong?” you asked, seeing as everyone had their eyes on you, small giggles escaping their lips.

“You’re new.” said Peter with a smile, taking a sip from his mug as they all nodded in agreement “It’s usually the same people that stay at Hogwarts around this time.” Your face fell, looking down to Félix who was happily munching on a piece of fruit until his eyes met yours. “You stay here every year?” you asked him, the pit in your stomach growing as you remembered you were the only two Ravenclaws in the Castle.

He shrugged, taking another bite from his breakfast as everyone gave him a look. He sighed in defeat, dropping his fork “It’s not that bad.”

“It really isn’t.” added another girl, giving Félix a nudge in the arm “We have fun.”

“Still,” intervened Peter “This is your first time here. Why is that?”

You relaxed a little on your seat, spinning the fork in your hand “Didn’t feel like going home this year.” you lied, lowering your eyes. If they realized you were lying or not, they said nothing about it.

Breakfast took a peaceful and quiet time after your introduction, chatting away about everything and anything. It was when you all had finished that the place started to gather more energy, the fuzz of all the possibilities for the day started to become more tangible.

It was like the energy summoned them.

The loud whistles an shouts started to come even before they were inside the Great Hall, the doors bursting open with the full force of the four man running inside and jumping over the table, wands at hand pointed at the ceiling that impressively changes to the most pure color white, the cold air rapidly flowing over the cheeks of the cheering students at your sides, snow falling over the plates of forgotten food before them.

It wasn’t until they ran all the way to the group that you started to recognize them, the world slowing down before your eyes. The first one, passing right next to you with a grin on his face was Peter Pettigrew, he would sometimes wave at you around the halls after he helped you when you were just a lost first year looking for the charms classroom. Then, as if he just had gotten down from his broom after a successful Quidditch match, James Potter met your eyes briefly with a smirk, his eyes darting to his side as he pointed in your way with his head, Remus Lupin waving in your way before he got pushed from the back, your eyes quickly following the hands still close Remus’ back, following the pattern of the ridiculous ugly sweater he wore, his smirk melting into a soft smile as he faltered next to you.

Sirius’ eyes followed your form, making sure he was actually seeing you there and it was not another dream, but not even his head could come up with the smile that adorned your lips. He wasn’t that powerful.

“Merry Christmas, Y/n”

You considered him, the flutter of your heart giving you the answer straight away, the warm feeling inside your chest contradicting every single word you had spoken the days before.

“Merry Christmas, Sirius.”

Skittles

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Marauders

@destourtereaux

[ladyeliot]

Stay with me

Prequel to  It will always be you.

Pairing: Tony Stark x Avenger Female Reader

Summary: Because of the consequences of your actions, 117 nations come together to create the Sokovia Accords. Now a decision hangs over you, whether to sign them or not, whatever you do will have repercussions.

Warnings: Angst.

Word count: 3702

A/N: Civil War. Some of the dialogue is taken from the film. Sorry for my spelling and grammatical mistakes, English is not my native language, I am learning.

Reader Powers: Psionic. You use psionic force to track any sentient being. You also create psychic shields to protect yourself. You can project psychic force bolts which have no physical effects but which can affect a victim's mind, causing them pain.

The evidence was clear, the position you were currently in had come about because of some very poor performance on your part, the news had echoed the catastrophes you had caused, especially the attack on Lagos, the governments had lined up to stop it and come to a common agreement to keep you under their command. Deep down you all knew that day would come, though you were confident it would be further away. It had been almost four years since Tony Stark had rescued you from your past, from being a contraption held in a laboratory for research. You had been offered a future where you no longer had to run or hide, you had been offered freedom, a purpose in life, but that bundle of paperwork in front of your eyes was meant to make you a prisoner of the government once again.

The discussion had been getting louder and louder, the different opinions countering each other were causing the nerves to come to the fore, alternating the atmosphere. Although the resolution was clear, there was nothing to be done, you were either with them or against them, becoming a fugitive wanted by the whole world. The Sokovia Accords were established by the United Nations and ratified by 117 nations, and what they proposed was to regulate the activities of the altered individuals, namely that the Avengers would cease to be a private organisation, and from now on would operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel, and only when and if that panel deemed it necessary.

There was no turning back, the consequences had been placed before you for the acts you had committed, it was a one way street, not a return. Secretary Ross had been in charge of presenting you with the whole set of papers that would have to be signed by you, but convincing you all to agree was not going to be so easy. 

“So let's say we agree to this thing,” Sam said, unresponsive to the situation. “How long is it gonna be before they LoJack us like a bunch of common criminals?”

“A 117 countries want to sign this,” Rhodes reminded him.  “117, Sam, and you're just like, ‘No, that's cool. We got it.’”

Unlike them, you chose to keep a few metres away from the meeting table, remain silent and meditate with yourself on the proposal, not that you didn't know the pros and cons or the consequences of not signing the agreements, but that you wanted to analyse the situation from different points of view without the others questioning your opinions.

"Tony. You are being uncharacteristically non-hyper-verbal," Natasha said, turning her gaze to Tony.

“It's because he's already made up his mind,” Steve's tone seemed harsher than usual.

“Boy, you know me so well,” Tony countered sarcastically, then turned his gaze and gestured in your direction.  "She does seem to have made up her mind what her decision is."

You felt the gaze of everyone present focus on you, who unlike him preferred to be absorbed in the shadows, hiding from the attention of your companions. But in the end, perhaps his words were true and you had made a decision, a decision that you were not going to allow anyone to choose for you.

"I guess it's not as simple as you're trying to make us believe Tony," your tone was calm and affable, knowing that you were about to receive a sarcastic and ironic counterattack from him.

"Simple?" he gets up from the sofa raising his hands, walking towards the kitchen area, where you were sitting on a stool. "You think it's simple for me?" he pulls a mobile device out of his pocket and sets it down right in front of you on the top, the device projecting an image of a smiling young man. "Oh, that's Charles Spencer, by the way. He's a great kid. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA. Had a floor level gig at Intel planned for the fall. But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul, before he parked it behind a desk. See the world. Maybe be of service. Charlie didn't want to go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is what I would do. He didn't go to Paris or Amsterdam, which sounds fun. He decided to spend his summer building sustainable housing for the poor. Guess where, Sokovia."

You look down, you understand perfectly what he means, you remember what happened in Sokovia, you remember because you were there, you saw with your own eyes what happened and also the consequences of your actions. But you knew that any decision had consequences and they could have been much worse if you had not acted, although there were also causes for your own fault.

"He wanted to make a difference, I suppose," Tony continued, looking directly at you, his tone rising and stiffening. "I mean, we won't know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass."

After his last word, silence filled the room, everyone in the room was reliving the ghosts of the past. Tony definitely realising that you weren't going to look up to return his gaze decided to head back into the room with the others.

"There's no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check! Whatever form that takes..."

You felt his voice trailing off, then Steve seemed to come in to debate various points, but you could barely focus on what each of them was saying. An internal struggle was going on inside you, and you couldn't wait to see who was going to win.

"I have to go."

You looked up after hearing those words spoken by Steve, his body rose energetically, dropping the agreements from his hand. That was the beginning of all the consequences that were to come after we had made the decision not to sign.

Your steps were decisive, you walked through those long corridors that had become your home for the last few years, knowing that you would most likely never see them again, or at least not for an indefinite period of time. You truly believed you had made a decision, a decision that could become the decision of a lifetime, a before and after in the life process you had created for yourself. You believed that you knew the consequences, that you would be willing to face them as they came. You knew there were going to be setbacks, obstacles, but you didn't expect one as big as him to stand in your way.

"So you've made your decision?" the figure of Tony stood in the doorway of your room, a serious look on his face seeming to immobilise you. "Are you going to leave with Steve?

"I think it's for the best," your words were blunt, as you packed your most essential belongings into a rucksack.

His body entered your room just before the door closed behind him. You knew Tony well enough to know that his next words to you were likely to make an impression on you, but your mind was made up.

"Did you hear anything I just said in the living room?" he pursed his lips and ran his fingers nervously over them.

"Don't make this difficult for me," those words left your lips almost as a plea.

You barely looked at him, your back was turned to him and your eyes were focused on the inside of that backpack that seemed to have no end.

"I suppose you know that your decision is a single ticket," his words were firm. "That you're basically signing your own fucking sentence."

"No," you dropped the backpack and turned to him to find yourself face to face. "That's exactly what I'm running from," you sighed. "I think you of all people know that I know what it's like to be someone's property, that I've been for far too long and that's what really scares me," your pupils dilated as you remembered every single moment you'd lived hidden from the world, being an experiment. "I don't need guys in ties fighting for their own interests telling me what to do or where to go, because my freedom ends when they command me," the seriousness on Tony's face had relaxed, he kept his gaze on his feet and nodded. "I want you to know that I'm going with Steve because you had already made your decision."

The tension spread slightly around you, so much was hidden in those words, much more than what was shown. The complexity of the situation went far beyond signing or not signing the agreements, it was the break-up of a group, of friends, of family, something that could never be put back together again.

"I... I don't know if I'm going to be able to protect you," Tony clenched his jaw as he denied to himself, resting his brown eyes on yours again.

"I never asked you to."

You knew perfectly well how much your words must have hurt him, and what he meant when he said he couldn't protect you. There were so many hidden things in the air, but this was not the right time to start that conversation, maybe it was too late, nothing was going to change things so you asked yourself to please not make things more complicated. You turned around and nimbly zipped up your backpack, everything you had of great sentimental value was inside.

"I'm sorry," you whispered, hanging the backpack over your right shoulder and looking up at him.

"You're not sorry," his tone became serious, but at the same time indifferent, he was hurt. His gaze turned away from yours.

"This isn't what I wanted to happen," you whispered hoping that wasn't the last image you would see of him before you left.

"So, all you have to do was stay," those were the words that almost caused something inside you to stir, but you only gave a small, wistful smile as you looked at his face.

"You know I can't," you whispered hoping he wouldn't extract his share of indifference towards you again. "Please don't make it more complicated for me, because I can't deal with you right now.”

It was impossible to explain to you at that moment the dilemma that was building up inside you. On the one hand your ethics and your values were what prevented you from signing those damn papers that limited and curtailed your freedoms, it was something you assumed. On the other hand, how could it be so hard to leave Tony, why, what was going on right now that you couldn't face?

"Maybe you should just leave now," Tony slipped his hands into his Tom Ford trouser pockets and focused his gaze on the door to your room.

You nodded slowly, your brow furrowed and your lips parted as you didn't expect those words at all, you were ready to start an internal struggle, but he had already sentenced the conversation.

"Alright," you muttered, taking a step backwards, away from him. "Bye Tony."

As you got closer to that door a lump settled tighter in your throat, like a dramatic movie you expected him to say something to stop you at any moment, but he didn't. The door opened and allowed you to leave. The corridors seemed miles long, perhaps because time was slowing down. A black car could be seen from the wide glass windows, there were Steve and Sam waiting for you. A guilty smile appeared on your face as you walked back through the hall, bidding farewell to those present.

As you stepped outside, the air seemed to open up your lungs again, which had been stuck after the last goodbye you had said to Tony. Sam was inside the car, and Steve took care of getting your rucksack into the boot, along with his shield and Sam's wings.

"Are you all right?" muttered Steve, to which your response was a gentle nod.

As you rested your hand on the handle to open the car door, you couldn't help but direct your gaze towards the top of the building, right where you had left Tony a few minutes ago. But there was definitely no sign coming from that spot to stop you from continuing on your way.

The next few days the situation became more complex than anyone here would have expected. Agent Carter's funeral passed without incident, Natasha appeared to inform you that she was leaving for Vienna to sign the agreements, that there was still a chance for you to change your minds, but none of you did. Perhaps it was for the best, because during the signing an attack happened on the spot, an attack that changed the course of things. All eyes were on the Winter Soldier, Bucky, that directed Steve, Sam and you to Bucharest in a supposed attempt to get to Bucky before the authorities did.

"They're on the roof," Sam reported over the intercom.

"Steve get out of there right now," you said hiding on the roof of the building next door. "I can sense you but I can't surround your body with psychic energy unless you come out into the open."

That day was one of the worst failures you had ever managed to pull off, perhaps it was obvious that things didn't go quite right when feelings ran high, and it showed in Steve, especially when law enforcement trapped you in that tunnel.

"Stand down, now," War machine appeared before you to end the fatal chase and set you on your way to Berlin.

You knew what would follow, there was only one way out or the consequences would be far more extreme, either sign the agreements or become prisoners of the law. Things were different for you, Captain could have his shield removed, Sam could have his wings removed and T'Challa, who had appeared in pursuit out of nowhere could have his suit removed too, but you and Bucky were far more dangerous, especially as your powers and dangers were in the mind.

When you arrived at the facility in that armoured truck Bucky was put in an extreme protection capsule, that marked memory making you remember the past time.

"What's going to happen to him?" asked Steve walking beside you in the direction of Everett Ross, Deputy Commander of the Joint Forces.

"The same as you. Psychological evaluation and extradition," he focused his gaze on you.  "Miss Y/L/N, let's hope you'll be cooperative."

You understood his words, you knew the fear you could cause, force could be controlled, the mind was much more complicated.

"Of course," you affirmed with all your good intentions.

You didn't know where, but you assumed that in a few minutes you were going to meet him again in some remote part of that building, you could feel it. First it was Natasha who approached you, and then when you stepped inside the control room there was Tony, talking on the phone.

"[...] consequences?" he turned his body towards you, his gaze fixed on you, which made you cross your arms and look around, avoiding her. "Of course there will be consequences."

"Consequences?" asked Steve with a serious look on his face.

"Secretary Ross wants to prosecute the three of you. I had to give something."

You walked away from them, realising that you had two armed men following your every step around that room. You watched the monitors, every corner of the planet seemed to be controlled by them, there was nothing they could miss, you could even see yourself reflected in one of them.

"Is it worth it?" you turned your face to find yourself face to face with the one who had made you doubt your decision a few days ago.

He took his right hand out of one of his trouser pockets and made a slight gesture for the two security officers who had been assigned to you to move a little away from you, offering you some privacy.

"What do you mean?" you cocked your head to one side. Your voice was stiff, you were tense enough about the situation to offer him a friendly tone.

"I don't know, was it worth risking everything to find yourself back here with possible legal charges?" you didn't deny it, Tony's words hurt.

"Are you rejoicing?" you squinted, uncrossing your arms and turning your whole body towards him.

"How do you think this will all end?" he ran his index finger down the side of his mouth, his nervousness showing. Those words made you shudder. "Now you have a chance, don't let it slip away."

"Please, don't make this worse than it already is," your pleas were in vain. The last thing you wanted right now was a lecture from Tony.

"This wouldn't even abe problem, if you wouldn't make one out of it!" his voice was authoritative.

Your refusals and hesitations had gotten on his nerves, it was evident in the way he was addressing you. That was the last thing you wanted to do, to cause trouble, but it was clear that you were on the defensive against any verbal attack Tony might offer you. Sparks could almost fly between your gazes, which were still on after the conversation was over. You had no idea what was going to happen next, so you were grateful that Natasha caught Tony's attention at that moment, breaking into a battle that wasn't going anywhere.

The hours passed really slowly, so you found a space in a glassed-in conference room to settle in, under, of course, the watchful eye of the guards in charge of you, until you were called in for your psychological analysis.

"Do you need anything?" the door closed behind him.

"Are you playing good cop?" you asked watching as he dropped his blazer on a chair and sat down right next to you. "You're not giving up, are you?"

"I'll take every last cartridge," he leaned his elbow on the table and dropped his chin into the palm of his hand. "You know, I was just remembering earlier when we all went to that Italian restaurant in Soho on your birthday, and then we were at the concert by.... Oh, what was the name of the band? "

"What are you trying Tony?" you cocked your head to the side with a small smile on your face.

"I'm trying to... how do you say?" he rested his index finger on your lips. "Signing a peace agreement? Trying to get to your sensitive spot, because you have one, right?"

"I don't know, I guess if you have one I might as well, huh?" you arched an eyebrow, intertwining your fingers on the table, causing him to make a gesture of placing his hands on yours, but he never got to touch them by restraining himself, so you ignored the gesture.  "Do you want to sign a peace agreement with me, or do you want me to sign the Sokovia Accords?"

He took a breath and let it out slowly through his nostrils. He was completely frustrated, you knew it, you could feel it, he had rarely been involved in those situations that were out of his control.

"Listen," he paused slightly, bringing his fingers to his chin. "I think it's time that I..." he tore his gaze away from yours, let it wander, searching for his words as he gestured with his right hand. "I've tried many times, to do this but.... God, this really is the worst time to do it." He looked around nervously and then crossed his arms, but quickly pulled them apart. "Whatever. We're... well, I... it's likely that I, maybe, can feel..."

You would remember that moment all your life, especially since you wouldn't know until many years later what he meant to say to you. At that moment the lights went out, the monitors stopped working and everything was dark around you, only red flickering lights would have made their way into your darkness. Your head swivelled around you in search of whatever it was that was going on, Tony got up from his seat and placed his glasses over his eyes.

"Friday, give me the source of the blackout," he said to himself.

Finally your eyes focused on Steve and Sam, who were standing next to Sharon in the next room. You listened as Sharon informed them of Bucky's location, and a last glance towards you informed you that they were going to head that way, but just as you were about to leave that meeting room a hand came down hard around your arm.

"Stay with me," the trembling words that came from his lips seemed to shake your insides.

"I can't," you mumbled through your teeth almost with all the pain in your heart.

His fingers loosened, allowing you to leave the room as quickly as possible, but you took one last second to contemplate his face and how many feelings were hidden in it. You knew you only had one chance, everyone present was distracted enough to find the reason for the blackout, you had only a few seconds to get out of the room without being seen, and a couple of minutes before they noticed, so you didn't take long to do it.

A new decision piled up on your list, always facing the consequences you had acquired, and fighting against the feelings your heart presented to you. It wasn't easy, you hadn't given it much thought either, but what you did know was that you didn't regret having done it, at least so far.

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[butwhatifidothis]

For a change of pace I’m going to actually say something nice about a character, and that’s Claude (under the cut cuz it got a bit long and I remember!! that’s a fucking thing you can do lmaooo).

Like, there’s honestly a lot to this character that I find very striking and sadly gets overlooked in favor of either making him a complete joke or a complete/near complete sociopath. I like that Claude initially believes himself to be this beacon of hope to this silly land of Fodlan because of his view as an outsider... and then realizing and acknowledging he’s not, that while an outsider’s perspective takes away the bias of growing up steeped in certain ways it also leaves holes that he just can’t catch without someone showing him due to his ignorance of said culture. He thinks he has Cyril and Rhea pinned down to rights because of course he would, why wouldn’t he... and then he actually talks to them and is shown wrong, and he listens! With Cyril he likes being shown the truth even if it means it puts him and his previous beliefs in a nonperfect light! With Rhea he doesn’t just reject her words even though they blow a giant hole in what he thought of her for the vast majority of the game!

And the way his trust issues are handled, while I do think could have been dealt with better had the route focused on his character more, I still absolutely love it. It’s so subtle but consistent throughout pre ts/post ts VW, how often he “makes sure” the Golden Deer are by his side, how he always has to find the “right time” to reveal his plans to them because he genuinely thinks they won’t trust or believe in him, how he genuinely thought that Hilda and Judith would abandon him if things got too dangerous for them personally (in AM for Judith, Hilda for both CF and AM), how you never really get Claude’s full story anywhere even in the end or the S support (almost like that’s a big source of trauma for him and he’s a secretive guy because of that trauma that doesn’t magically stop being a thing because you wanna kiss him! Congrats IntSys for once you managed to get something kinda right!), how even something like you calling him a stalwart ally is responded with a wink and a deflection saying that you’re just flattering him (because you can’t actually believe he’s a good ally too, right?), but then you see him actually trust someone and oh. Oh man. The difference is night and day. How he pleads with Dimitri to stop fighting and join forces in both AM and VW despite Dimitri being off the fucking walls at the time, how he honestly believed that Dimitri would not only recover from his madness but still come to his aid in AM, hell even in CF he honestly believes that there’s no way Byleth would kill him despite them deliberately forcing the Alliance into the war by invading them, shown by his shock and hurt if you actually do - Claude puts his trust in few people but when he does he does and that’s honestly so indicative of how drastic his trust issues affect him.

You see that growth more blatantly in his supports as well - compare how worriedly Claude deflects Hilda’s observation about his knowledge of how Almyrans see the Gonerils pre ts to him inviting her to meet his parents post ts. Similar with Leonie, how he offers to take her to his homeland, something pre ts Claude would never dream of. 

And then there’s his empathy and compassion! Like often he’s very careless when it comes to trying to discover the truth yes, but when he sees there’s a line he’s going to cross if he does? He steps back, always. His supports with Marianne show this amazingly, with him thoughtlessly stepping on her insecurities, trying to apologize and make her feel better but failing, and then ending with him opening up to her about his own life - something he very, very rarely does - to make her feel less alone with her struggles. His ones with Flayn even say straight up that he dislike forcing secrets out of people, and when he says he’ll give up trying to get Flayn to talk herself... he does. Legitimately. Afterwards he just spitballs theories to her. Even when he sees he’s hitting close to home when he correctly guesses Flayn and Seteth’s relationship he doesn’t push farther than that despite the huge implications of what that means. And this “I don’t like to force secrets out of people” line is backed up by you losing support points with him if you try to dig at Flayn after Remire.

And we know that Claude doesn’t immediately think of the commonfolk in his dream via his supports with Cyril, but damn, when they’re in front of him, when they’re directly in his care? Claude arguably goes the farthest of the three lords to portect them. Mr. “Tactical Retreat” suddenly puts himself in direct danger by painting himself as a prime target for the Empire to attack in AM and CF. He involves none of the other houses and tell his men to retreat should things get dangerous for them (as shown in explore dialogue with CF!Lysithea and what he says if Judith and Hilda die in AM/CF in their respective maps). He calls in the Almyran army in CF and on the Kingdom army in AM - forces with trained soldiers ready to fight, not civilians desperate to live. And speaking of civilians, he evacuates all of Derdriu’s civilians and closes down entry into Derdriu. Even with him planning on retreating himself should things go badly that takes some nards to go through with given how easily things can go badly for him should just about anything go awry; he goes the distance for those under his care.

And also how readily he offers his support and understanding to the more emotionally abused characters. Look at his talk with Dimitri during Golden Deer’s Plea, back at his supports with Marianne, how he sympathizes with Rhea - someone he actively disliked/distrusted for most of the game - once he hears her story.

And yo, man, his backstory? Imma be real, very rarely do I get invested in “racism bad” storylines because so often they fall into “white man bad POC good” black-and-white (lol) mentality, but this? I actually felt this. So rarely is a mixed race person’s perspective shown in regards to racism since it’s more complicated than “whitey bad POC good”. No, both have people in them that are raised with beliefs that breed racism. They’re not evil people, they’re a result of the culture that raised them, and that raised those that raised them, and so on and so forth. He gets that his dream is unrealistic and that it’d take a very, very long time to implement even if it did happen and even then would face extreme backlash from people from both sides, but he believes in this dream. It’s what lets him face on Edelgard in CF despite the insignificant chance he has of winning if he does so, what pushed him to go beyond his familiar home of Almyra into the completely unknown Fodlan, what drives him to aim for Almyra’s throne despite his position as the youngest prince (aka his weak connection compared to his half-brothers).

And like, Claude shares with Rhea in that IntSys dropped the ball on their characters anyway, despite how much thought was put into them. Rhea is stripped of damn near any agency in post ts, non-CF routes and Claude has noticeably less direct attention given to his upbringing compared to Edelgard and Dimitri (and small things like no appearance from either of his parents’, no child portrait, stuff like that). This is most likely due to their routes basically being copy-pastes of each other so it had to be compatible with both characters so both characters had to suffer for it. But like, for what we got? I still love it.

[deobienthusiast]

forever have my heart

• pairing: lee jaehyun (the boyz) x reader ft. Jacob, Kevin, Sunwoo, and Juyeon + slight mentions of Sangyeon

• word count: 3,545 words

• genre: ex to lovers!au, angst, fluff

• rating: PG

• warnings: sad hyunjae, sad reader, crying hyunjae, basically all about hyunjae

• notes: if the warnings didn’t give it away i don’t know what will🤷🏾‍♀️

• requested: yes | no by anon

You remember that day like it was yesterday. You remember that entire year, and the year before that. It wasn’t hard to distinguish the day you met Lee Jaehyun, or Hyunjae as he liked to be called. Hyunjae was loud, bold, and out there. He loved having the attention on him, and he befriended people wherever he went. The day you met him was nothing short of a mere coincidence.

Valentine’s day, and you had been stood up. Lucky for you (or so you thought), so did Hyunjae. You both ended up at the same McDonald’s and ordered an oreo mcflurry. Low and behold, their ice cream machine was down. To say you were pissed was an understatement. All you wanted was to drown your sorrows in a large oreo flavored ice cream cup. Was that too much to ask? The boy sitting next to you seemed to sense your anger as he spoke.

“I know an ice cream place just up the way from here. If you want, I’ll take you.” The boy had offered.

Blonde hair covered his head and a grin made its way to his lips. You gave him a confused look as you spoke.

“Do they have french fries?” You asked him.

The boy nodded before holding out his hand. “I’m Hyunjae.”

That day, you shared a large oreo milkshake and some french fries. Hyunjae made you laugh until your stomach hurt and no more tears could come out of your eyes. You both learned that the other was stood up, and Hyunjae couldn’t have been happier. He used the time to cheer you up, and get to know you. That day you got Hyunjae’s number, and you two became inseparable.

Hyunjae became your everything. He exceeded your expectations on love. Making you smile and laugh was his daily mission. You were never alone, until you were.

It seemed as though things were going swimmingly with Hyunjae. You both told each other you loved each other, you had met each other’s parents and families. Everything seemed okay. You were madly in love with Hyunjae, and you were convinced he was the same with you. That was until he stopped showing up.

It started with dates that he’d start showing up late too. Hyunjae would never stand you up, until he did. You never got upset at first. Hyunjae was a busy man. His job required a lot of his attention almost every single day, and you were prepared for that. The time away from you that it took, however, wasn’t something you were prepared for. You pushed through it, though. You did it for love. You did it for Hyunjae, and you thought he would do it for you.

The day you two broke up was burned into the back of your mind. It was a day you would never forget.

It was your one year anniversary. Hyunjae had taken the day off, and he had told you that he prepared a day of excellency and he couldn’t wait to spend it with you. It was a day you were so looking forward to. Except when you woke up, everything went downhill. You tried to look past the silly mistakes that were made, and eventually you did. The day, however, just got worse. Arrangements had fallen through, Hyunjae had gotten called into work. Nothing was going the way Hyunjae had planned it. He did continue to mention a dinner that you two would have when he got off work. Things were starting to look up. You had gotten all dressed up in a new outfit with which Hyunjae had insisted you wear to dinner. Getting all dressed up wasn’t exactly anything you really cared for, but you did it for him. All for him to do the one thing he promised you he wouldn’t do, stand you up. For someone else, at that.

You had sat at the highly expensive restaurant for almost two hours, waiting, hoping that he would show up. Only for you to sit and eat a meal by yourself. You didn’t do much eating that night. The sight of other couples loving and doting on each other just made you sick to your stomach. Unfortunately for you, it only got worse. You had taken a ride to the restaurant that Hyunjae had set up for you, leaving you with no way to get home. Almost every car service was booked up for the night. This left you to call a mutual friend of yours and Hyunjae’s. A sweet boy named Jacob. Jacob was one of Hyunjae’s closest friends, and was the first person to meet you when you and Hyunjae got together.

“Thank you for this Cobie.” You had told the boy softly.

Jacob gave you a small, sympathetic smile. “No problem.”

You let out a sigh as Jacob spoke again. “So where is the man of the hour?”

You let out a laugh. “You tell me. Hyunjae had gotten called into work. I guess time just got the best of him.”

Giving Jacob a look, you noticed the confused expression he was wearing. “Cob, what is it?”

“Hyunjae never came into work today. He specifically asked for the day off, and Sangyeon isn’t the type of boss to call someone in on a day they requested off.” Jacob explained.

The car came to a slight stop before you recognized the front yard you were pulling into.

“What do you mean he never came in? Hyunjae told me he got called into work.” You exclaimed.

The quiet boy shook his head. “I had to work today. I had just gotten off when I got your text message. He wasn’t in the office at all. Come to think of it, neither was Juyeon. I remember them talking a few days prior about a guy named Sunwoo. Apparently he was supposed to be in town. Juyeon was trying to convince Hyunjae to come hang out with him and the guy.”

You hummed in response. You had heard about Sunwoo. An absolute party animal who was spoiled to no end. He never had to worry about a job because he had his parents inheritance to fall back on. Hyunjae always claimed Sunwoo brought out the worst in him. Whenever Sunwoo was in town, Hyunjae was off his rocker in an attempt to keep up with the younger counterpart.

“He stood me up, on our anniversary, to spend time with a boy that can’t even keep himself in a committed relationship for longer than a week. Everytime Sunwoo gets into a relationship, he’s convinced that this one is the one. Sunwoo still acts like a child. I’ll never understand why Hyunjae hangs out with him.” You yelled the last part as you hopped out of Jacob’s car, trudging towards your front door.

Jacob had followed you out before a car came barrelling into the driveway. As if on cue, Sunwoo, Juyeon, and Hyunjae got out. All three of them were laughing like there was no tomorrow. The sight of them made you want to scream. Hyunjae’s eyes were focused on his younger friend before they met your cold, desolate stare. He stopped in the yard, the two boys with him not realizing as they bumped into him.

“Yo, what did you stop for? I know we haven’t drank that much.” Sunwoo said with a laugh before he, too, met your gaze.

“You never told me Sunwoo was in town.” You called out across the yard.

It was at this moment that you were glad you and Hyunjae didn’t have any neighbors. The home you two shared lay at the end of a dirt road that only harboured one other house that was all the way at the entry of the road.

Hyunjae’s eyes left yours momentarily as he took cautious steps towards you, eyeing the boy next to you. “What’s Jacob doing here?”

Jacob looked between the two of you. “I provided transportation. That’s all.”

“Yeah. You know our anniversary dinner at the crazy expensive restaurant you booked? The one where you sent a car to drive me there? The dinner that you never showed up to because of him.” You pointed your finger at Sunwoo as Hyunjae gulped. “Jacob told me you never went into work today. The moment he mentioned Sunwoo, I started to wonder. Just how many days did you really put off for?”

Hyunjae shuddered at your tone. “I took my vacation time off. I had accumulated about a month of vacation time.”

You nodded at his words. Not bothering to say anything else, you had headed into your home, slamming the door behind you. You locked it as you heard Hyunjae run up the stairs. His fists slamming hard on the door. No listening to his pleas, you packed two suitcases before coming back downstairs. Laying them on the ground, you walked towards the door, opening it as Hyunjae fell inside. He lay eye level with the suitcases as he scrambled to his feet.

“What is this? What are those?” Hyunjae asked quietly.

He closed the door behind him as you spoke. “I can’t do this anymore.”

You kept your head down. “It has nothing to do with Sunwoo or work. It’s just you. I think we’ve grown apart.”

Hyunjae’s eyes widened as he was starting to pick up what you were saying. “No. No, I don’t think that. We haven’t grown apart. Look at me. You’re my everything. You mean the world to me.”

His voice cracked slightly as he continued. “Please don’t leave me.”

Tears welled up in your eyes at his words. “I’m sorry, Hyunjae.”

You remember picking up the suitcases, and having Jacob take you to a hotel across town. You made sure he didn’t tell Hyunjae where you were staying. That was the last day you and Hyunjae had seen each other. You didn’t feel like going back for any of your things. Everything you had, you shared with Hyunjae. That was almost two years ago.

You still remember that day, but you had managed to pick your life back up and move on. You had your own friends along with the ones you shared with Hyunjae. The only one you really kept in touch with was Jacob. He had helped you pick yourself back up. You eventually got a new place with a roommate. A funny, artistic boy named Kevin. Kevin, Jacob, and you became the three musketeers. Jacob even got engaged to the sweetest girl you had ever met. She was like a female version of Jacob, and he seemed so smitten over her.

“Hey! What are you wearing to Jacob’s engagement party?” Kevin asked you from outside your bedroom.

Opening the bedroom door, you were met with Kevin holding up different shirts. You laughed.

“Those are both absolutely horrible, Kevin.” You told him.

Kevin dropped both the shirts to his side as he whined. “Well help me then. I’m supposed to be one of his groomsmen and I can’t even dress myself for a proper engagement party.”

Letting out a chuckle, you followed Kevin into his room as you walked straight to his wardrobe. He fell back on his bed as you searched through his clothing. You pulled through each pair of pants and nice button up shirts he had before settling on a nice suit. Pulling it out, you laid it on top of Kevin’s body nicely as he lifted his head.

“See? This is why we’re friends. This is why I like you. Who else would help me get dressed for an engagement party?” Kevin said with a smile.

Shaking your head, you headed towards the door as you yelled. “Nobody! Now get dressed.”

You were excited for tonight. Jacob was over the moon in love with this girl, and he couldn’t wait for the chance to have everyone that loves him in the same room supporting him. Plus, Kevin and Jacob thought it would be a good opportunity for you to quote on quote “get back in the dating scene”. You never agreed, but you weren’t going to argue with the two of them because there was never any winning.

You got changed into your outfit of choice, fixing up your hair, and everything else that needed a touch up. When you were finished, you headed to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water. You scrolled through your social media before hearing Kevin yell from the top of the staircase.

“You should’ve just become a fashion designer.” Kevin said as he made his way down the stairs.

His hands were fiddling with the bow tie around his neck as he finished tying it. You looked over his outfit before focusing back on his hands.

“Kevin, enough with the bowtie.” You told him as you headed his way, pulling his hands away from the garment.

You untied and retied the bowtie for him, straightening it out before dropping your hands. “Now, stop messing with it. Don’t touch it. Or I’ll let you walk around the party with a crooked bowtie until someone points it out, and you know someone will point it out.”

Kevin smiled at your words before you both heard a beep from outside the door. “That’s our ride. Time to go congratulate the bride and groom-to-be.”

Smiling, you kept a grip on the water bottle you had opened as you headed for the door. Kevin quickly ran back up the stairs and came back down with a bouquet of flowers as you laughed.

“Awe, Kev. How sweet!” You said before he pulled his hand back.

“Haha, very funny! They aren’t for you. They are for Jacob and Mina.” Kevin said with a smirk, making you roll your eyes.

The car ride to the venue Jacob had booked wasn’t very long as you and Kevin made small talk. He mentioned this funny girl he had met at work, and it made you smile like no other.

“I’m so glad that you like this girl. Did you get her number?” You asked as the car came to a stop.

Kevin shook his head. “I was too nervous.”

You laughed as Kevin helped you out of the car. He clutched the bouquet of flowers in his hand as he headed towards the entrance. Your arm was looped with Kevin’s as you both scoured the building, taking in all the people that were there. You were quick to point out Jacob’s family. His parents and brother were seated at the head table where the wedding party was to sit. You allowed Kevin to take you towards the table as Jacob noticed you two.

He came up to the both of you with a huge smile. “There you two are! I was wondering when the most important pair of my wedding party would show up.”

You and Kevin both smiled as Jacob pulled you both into a hug. He pulled back from Kevin as he walked off to hand Mina the flowers he brought.

“I’m about to go steal your fiancé.” Kevin said jokingly.

Jacob rolled his eyes at his friend as he turned back to you. You gave Jacob a smile as he pulled you in for another hug.

“I’m so glad you’re here.” Jacob said softly.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world Cobie. This is your second big day because the wedding is obviously going to be the true big day.” You replied.

Just as you said that, you saw him. Your smile faltered slightly as Jacob let his eyes follow your gaze. There, standing in the middle of the ballroom, was none other than Lee Jaehyun. He let out a sigh before looking at you.

“I know you still have your reservations about him, but I couldn’t not invite him. He’s my friend.” Jacob reasoned.

You shook your head. “I’m not mad at you. I can’t tell you who you can and can’t invite to your engagement party.”

Jacob smiled before stopping. “You should talk to him.”

Shaking your head, Jacob laughed. “Probably not.”

He went to speak again before someone yelled out to him. He gave you a smile before walking off. You took the opportunity to get yourself a glass of champagne as you looked over the decorations that were hung up. Pictures of every moment that had been captured in Jacob and Mina’s relationship hung up all around the room. Each picture with a date and sweet caption written on each photo. The captions written by both Jacob and Mina. You smiled as you heard someone speak from behind you.

“It’s beautiful isn’t it? Their relationship? I think it’s incredible.” Hyunjae’s voice said quietly.

You kept your back to him as he chuckled softly, taking the initiative to step forward so that he was beside you and visible in your peripheral vision.

Hyunjae spoke again. “You look amazing tonight. I mean, you look amazing all the time, but especially tonight. Of course, you’ve always stood out to me.”

You gave him a side eye look that made Hyunjae crack a smile. “What? Are you trying to woo me now?”

The boy shrugged. “I don’t know? Is it working?”

You shook your head, turning your attention back to the pictures hung up on the wall. Reading the sweet captions to yourself, you were pulled out of the moment you had created for yourself by the same boy.

“How have you been?” Hyunjae asked.

Shrugging, you caught the boy’s attention. “I’ve been okay. Found a job that I really like. I met Kevin, and he keeps me pretty busy.”

You turned to point at the boy who you had mentioned as he saw you and gave a friendly wave and a smile. Hyunjae watched the way your face lit up as he looked back at the same boy.

“That’s Kevin? He seems nice.” Hyunjae said.

You chuckled. “He’s incredible, in more ways than one. Should’ve given that girl his number.”

“Wait, he’s not your boyfriend?” Hyunjae asked.

The laugh you let out made Hyunjae laugh himself as you covered your mouth.

“Kevin? My boyfriend? Absolutely not. He’s great, but not my type. I’d much rather keep him as my roommate.” You told him.

Hyunjae felt his heart pick up as he spoke again. “Hey, can we talk outside? Just the two of us.”

You finally turned to look at him fully making Hyunjae lose his breath. You looked absolutely stunning. You just happened to get even more amazing as time went on. You kept your gaze on him and went to answer before being interrupted. The devil, himself, threw an arm around Hyunjae’s shoulders, throwing off the boy.

“Hyunjae! Man it’s been so long. I’ve missed you, bro.” Sunwoo said.

Not wanting to be in his presence any longer, you headed outside to get some fresh air. Sitting outside on your own, you let yourself get lost in the night sky before being interrupted, again.

“There you are. I’m sorry about that.” Hyunjae apologized.

Shrugging, you looked at him. “Still hang out with Sunwoo?”

Hyunjae shook his head, catching you off guard. “No, actually I haven’t hung out with him since you left.”

Your eyes widened slightly in surprise. “Oh. I didn’t know that. You know, you didn’t need to cut off a close friendship of yours because of me.”

“Yes I did,” Hyunjae started as he sat down next to you. “You are the love of my life whether you’re with me or you’re not. I know my crazy friendship with Sunwoo was a part of the reason you left. I was hoping that distancing myself from him would bring you back to me. Jacob rarely gave me updates, and you never really gave anything away on your social media. I just tried to do everything I could to get you back.”

His statement made you scoot closer. “Sunwoo’s your best friend.”

“And you’re my everything. No matter what, you forever have my heart.” Hyunjae told you softly, looking you in the eyes this time.

Your breath got caught in your throat. “I love you, too.”

“Y-you do? Even after everything?” Hyunjae asked softly.

You nodded. “I never stopped. I think that's why I never bothered to get back out on the dating scene. Despite how hard Jacob and Kevin tried, I didn’t want to be with someone else. I guess I was just always holding on to this hope that we’d be able to try again. Truth be told, Jacob invited a lot of his single friends because he wanted me to mingle with them.”

Hyunjae laughed. “Glad I got to you first then.”

You laughed alongside Hyunjae as he leaned closer to you, his hand now placed lightly above yours, both your pinkies interlocked.

“I missed you.” Hyunjae said softly.

You smiled to yourself as you turned to look at the boy. He leaned his forehead against yours as you took the first step, moving your head just enough to peck his lips.

“Does this mean you’re going to come home with me?” Hyunjae asked.

You pulled away as a mischievous smile made its way to your face. “You’ll have to go, and fight Kevin for me first.”

Hyunjae grinned. “Name the time and the place, my love.”

[flooffybits]

Knight in... Dark Armor?

Idol: Kim Yoohyeon (Dreamcatcher)

Anon: Hello there! Can you do a scenario with Yoohyeon being the clumsy puppy she is and 8th member reader being there to save her all the time? She ends up saving her so much that it becomes a running joke among the group and fans, reader even getting named as Yoo’s knight in shining armor/prince charming/any other name bc i am terrible at them 😅 Thank u!

☕buy me a coffee☕

It was no secret that Yoohyeon and Yubin were close. Most would consider them to be the closest in the group, given they were born in the same year and spent most of their time together.

But everyone also knew how you were always one step behind the pair and looking after the big puppy whenever something happened to her, either consciously or unconsciously coming to her aid and saving her just in the nick of time.

She’s clumsy, as you and Yubin say.

But the difference was, Yubin could never prevent the other woman’s accidents like you do.

“How many times do I have to tell you to watch out?” You sighed when you had successfully grabbed the back of the brunette’s shirt when she tripped over her own feet while trying to carry her bag in one hand and an armful of clothes in the other.

Her face was a few inches away from the ground and she would have surely hurt herself if you hadn’t stopped her fall. But with the way things went, your members ended up getting a laugh with the tallest member’s predicament.

“I think we have to handcuff the two of you together just so we’re sure Yoohyeon doesn’t get into another accident.” Handong teased, causing a pout to form on the said girl’s lips when she finally stood upright and dusted herself off with a blush coating her cheeks as Yubin added, “She won’t mind that. I think Yoohyeon would love being stuck to Y/n for the whole day.”

“Yah! That’s not true and I’m not that clumsy!”

But just as she threw her hands up, she accidentally hit one of your shelves and knocked over one of the books you and Yubin bought, but you were quick enough to catch it before it could reach the ground.

“Y/n unnie has gotten so used to your clumsiness that she basically has a sixth sense.” Gahyeon gestured to you as you placed the book back in its place and made sure all of your things were in places where they wouldn’t fall so easily in the event someone, namely Yoohyeon, bumped into it.

You turn to the giant puppy that was now pouting and whining next to your leader. “Have you seen all the videos of you two online? There’s a compilation of Y/n being your personal bodyguard.” Bora explains as she scrolls through her phone to show the amount of edits fans have made with you two together. Each titled had the same concept: Y/n being Yoohyeon’s savior or Y/n protecting Yoohyeon.

“How do people even have the time to do all of this?” Siyeon mumbled when she looked through the search results and watched one, spotting a fan meeting during your You and I era with Yoohyeon slipping on a handkerchief and you quickly broke from the formation to grab the taller woman and letting her land on you instead of the harsh floor.

Yubin eyes her best friend briefly and shakes her head. “You can deny it all you want, but we all know it’s true.” She teases as you walked over to sit next to Bora at the dining table. “Let her be. Yoohyeon is Yoohyeon and there’s no changing that.”

“Yah! What does that mean?” Said girl demanded while everyone laughed at your antics. “It just means you’re clumsy and you’ll deny it anyway.”

..

“You’re doing this on purpose.”

“I wasn’t the one who picked.”

“Stop bickering. You know that it’s for the best.”

Yoohyeon pouted as Minji cut both of you off and pointed in your direction. “But you always put me and Y/n together! I’m tired of her face.” She whined whilst you playfully roll your eyes as Bora gasped in mock surprise.

“How can you get tired of a face like this?” She asked exaggeratedly while cupping your cheek. “If you don’t want Y/n then you can switch with me.” She stated and the big puppy whined even more. “Why?”

All of you looked at her in confusion by the sudden change. “You just said you didn’t want Y/n unnie.” Yubin pointed out and Yoohyeon shook her head as she wiggled herself between you and the dancer.

“I don’t want Sua unnie getting her. I won’t be able to take her back.” She claimed and Handong shook her head while rubbing her forehead. “I think a change in partner could be a good idea.” She says while your members exchanged looks, the smirk on Bora’s face widening.

Yoohyeon’s eyes widened when she realized her mistake. “No! I take it back!” But her plea fell upon deaf ears as Siyeon clicked her tongue. “I guess if that’s what will make Yoohyeon feel better, we can switch it up.” 

“Since Sua unnie already asked for Y/n unnie, who else is partnering?” Gahyeon inquired and Yoohyeon began to shake your shoulders in protest. “I don’t want to switch! Tell them to stop!” She complained and you chuckle while shrugging your shoulders. “I mean, it was your idea. Take a break from my face.” You tease before Bora was pulling you away.

In the end, you were three people away from the latter with Bora, Gahyeon, and Siyeon standing between you as you greeted all of your fans at the venue. Yoohyeon was left sulking as she watched you and the dancer happily interacting with one another.

Of course, fans were quick to notice and cooed at the sight.

Though when Yoohyeon had to get something from your managers, you kept a watchful eye on her as she passed by you, only to reach out when she nearly tripped on her heels.

It caused Yubin to shake her head while Bora laughed into the mic she was holding. “Ah, even when you’re not next to her, Y/n is rescuing you.” The older woman teased as Yoohyeon’s face turned a light shade of pink as you helped her back on her feet.

“Yoohyeon is always falling for me so I have to catch her.” You said playfully and the blush on her face worsened when she hit your arm. “Yah!” But the crowd only cheered as you sent a wink her way and your members cringed while others laughed as well.

“Yoohyeonnie should start paying Y/n for being her bodyguard.” Siyeon commented and Gahyeon agreed. “What do you all think?” She had asked before turning the microphone towards your InSomnias as they all agreed in unison.

Your laughter rang out before you decided to poke some more fun at the taller woman. “Yoohyeon doesn’t have to pay me. Just love me back and I won’t mind rescuing you.”

“I don’t need rescuing.” Yoohyeon retorted, though her blush refused to leave her face as Minji spoke up. “But you didn’t deny loving her back.” She pointed out. “Of course I love unnie.” Yoohyeon replied confidently before you sent her a heart.

“Yoohyeonnie, I love you!” You tell her and Handong covers her mouth while giggling. “We know you do.” She replied and Bora hit your arm. “Yah! I thought you were mine?” She joked and you raise your hands in defense.

“I can be yours and Yoohyeon’s.” That comment made everyone in the vicinity scream before Yubin patted Yoohyeon’s back. “Honestly, it’s funny because Yoohyeon said she didn’t want to be with Y/n anymore but started complaining as soon as Sua unnie said she would take her place.”

“Stop it, don’t say it!” The big puppy protested while shaking Handong’s arm and Minji just laughed at her members before speaking up. “Okay, I know how to resolve this issue.” She stated before she walked over to you and walked to the end of the line. “I’m taking Y/n away so none of you can fight over her.”

At the end of the event, Yoohyeon managed to get to your side and you found the younger girl clinging to you with a pout prominent on her features. You merely smiled at her and gently patted her arm before kissing her temple in assurance.

After that incident, she never complained about having you close to her because she’d rather have everyone teasing her than to be apart from you for so long again.

[2manyfandoms2count]

Sleepless in Paris

I ended up not posting anything Ladrien in June when I'd planned to do something, but then I saw the last prompt of @ladrienjune (Speechless), and since it tied in with an idea I had a couple of weeks ago... Here you go!

Established Ladrien, Adrien receives a text from his girlfriend and overthinks its meaning. Thankfully Ladybug comes and clears things up.

Loosely based on a quote from Le Discours, a novel by Fabrice Caro.

Read on AO3

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Adrien, we need to talk.

Adrien read the message over and over again, like an overworked student stuck on a paragraph whose meaning just won’t register.

He tossed his phone aside and lied back down, rubbing his eyes as he did so.

Oh, how much he regretted ever getting Ladybug a private phone so they could communicate. It had seemed like a good idea after their third close call, when she had almost swung into his room like she owned the place (and maybe she did, she was his girlfriend, after all, anything was possible), in the middle of an impromptu piano recital his father had requested. Thankfully, the false notes he’d made upon seeing her almost crash into the window had covered any sound she’d made as she changed course, and made sure his father and Nathalie’s attention was on him, and not on the red blur just outside.

She’d laughed so prettily when she’d unwrapped the box and noticed that he’d painted little black dots on the back of the red phone case. She’d insisted on paying him back in kisses and sweet nothings. Even if he’d wanted to, he wouldn’t have been able to refuse; his girlfriend was convincing like that.

Yes. Those had been the good old days.

The ones when the messages he received from her didn’t come as a blow that made his stomach tie into knots and question if he was going to be okay (although that might not have been entirely true; the feeling he’d gotten when he’d read “I love you” on his screen, written down, not just whispered between two makeout sessions or before she left, a permanent trace of her feelings, could definitely have fit that description, but the difference was that he’d questioned if he was in heaven, then).

The timestamp of the message read Monday, 4:36pm. He’d managed to type a “when?” at 5:58pm, which she’d seen at 5:59pm. Nothing since. That was new, too. Even messages that didn’t require an answer always got at least a couple of emojis in reply.

It was now Tuesday, 6:12am, and he hadn’t slept a wink, dissecting the five words, twenty characters, like they were a long lost spell that could fix hunger on Earth.

The first thing he’d noticed was the full stop. That didn’t bode well - even he knew that nobody ended a text like that these days.

Then, the comma. A pause. Not great either, in the context of a relationship.

Especially when it came before a “we need to talk”. He didn’t need to have seen many romantic comedies to know that this was probably an end of the line warning.

Even his name was a sign.

Adrien.

Not “my prince”. Not “my love”. Not even “my Adrien”, like she’d taken to calling him recently. Just plain old boring Adrien . Until the message had arrived, he hadn’t realised they’d been on a downward slope, but maybe he’d been too busy burying his head in the sand to notice. Maybe deep down, he’d known that it wasn’t viable.

That Ladybug, basically a goddess among men, had no business being in a relationship with a commoner like him, however much she tried to fool herself by calling him her prince. Adrien. The more he read it, the more emphasis he put on the second syllable. Ad- rien . Ad rien. Towards nothing. Maybe she’d known they were doomed from the start, that they had no future, but she’d tried anyway.

Maybe he was reading too much into it and the lack of sleep was making him delirious.

Whatever the outcome, he supposed they’d had a good run. He’d cherish all of the moments they’d spent together.

Actually, he thought, sitting up again, maybe that was what she needed. Maybe he could change her mind if he reminded her of all their good memories. There was no way she couldn’t be convinced, or at least persuaded, by his plea. He hadn’t gone six months playing a double game of putting on a fake insensitivity mask over the one he wore with Chat Noir's to avoid her seeing through him, when she deserved to be showered in compliments at every moment of the day, for it to end this way.

He loved her.

He picked up his phone again and pressed the dial button.

One tone. Two tones. Three.

Adrien suddenly remembered the time, hastily hung up, and facepalmed audibly, making Plagg roll over in his sleep and hiss.

“Sorry,” he whispered, before turning his attention back to the phone.

If his call hadn’t woken her up, then his mistake would be the first thing she’d see when she did.

This was bad. It wasn’t like he could go delete the evidence. He didn’t know where she lived, and since he doubted that she slept while transformed, there was no way to track her. Which would also be bad, he reminded himself, but maybe this emergency would justify it.

Anyway,  he couldn't cry over spilt milk, but maybe he could escape. Just move somewhere, preferably on the other side of the world. He could change his life, his name (actually, could that alone change the outcome of their relationship? If he changed it before planning anything, could they pick up as if nothing happened, and would the timeline be fixed? He wished he’d thought about it before calling her), and raise hamsters in the mountains. What he didn’t know couldn’t hurt him, right? And then he could live happily ever after in the sweet, sweet illusion that despite them being miles apart, he still lived in a world in which he was Ladybug’s boyfriend.

He didn’t know if he preferred the idea of her never coming after him, or her seeking him out, even if it was to deliver bad news, but it didn’t really matter. The plan sounded good. Foolproof.

He hopped off of his bed and pulled a suitcase out of his closet. He’d always wondered why his father stored them there when it really seemed like an unnecessary temptation, but at least it was useful now.

If he was to start over somewhere, he needed to leave Adrien behind. The guy was a train wreck anyway, but unfortunately for him, a train wreck people would want to find, when he just wanted to be left alone to mope.

No more white shirts, then. They were too recognisable. He found a collection of dark hoodies at the back of the closet and stuffed them in the bag, along with t-shirts (they’d be hidden under his hoodie so he could keep those), a pair of jeans and some shorts.

He came back into his room and put his suitcase on his bed, scanning his surroundings for other essentials. His eyes landed on the fencing cup he kept his Ladybug pictures in. He’d definitely need those. It would help maintain him in his illusion. He also needed his Ladybug pyjamas, which he kept hidden since he wasn’t sure his father would approve of them. They’d be perfect for his new life.

Plagg stirred on his pillow. Before Adrien could ask himself whether it was reasonable for the small god to come with him, there was a knock on the window, and he froze. He turned around slowly; Ladybug stood in the window frame, looking glorious in the soft dawn light. He noticed she was holding a small paper bag in her left hand. He was sure it could fit everything he’d ever gotten her.

“Going somewhere?” She frowned, hopping inside before he could even move.

Adrien stared at her, before guessing he’d better bite the bullet. “Well I just figured I’d rather not stick around if you’re going to break up with me.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

He watched her face fall and started to doubt his conclusion.

“Break up with…” she muttered slowly, as if tasting the words, before shaking her head. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Adrien, we need to talk.” He airquoted. “I get it, it’s fine. I’m-”

“Adrien, I’m not here to break up with you. At all.” She shook her head again and took a step forward. “What would make you think that?”

“Adrien, first of all,” he stated.

“Your name?...” She tilted her head inquisitively.

“You used to call me my Adrien. Or sweeter stuff.” He pointed out.

“Oh Kwami.” She shook her head, trying to repress a smile, although the blond didn’t notice.

“And then don’t think I didn’t notice you being less present lately.” He waved a finger at her, feeling himself blush. He knew his accusation was a tad hypocritical; sure, their date hangouts in the previous few weeks had been less frequent than they’d been at the beginning of their relationship, when she’d drop in practically every day, but they’d also been full of Akumas and photoshoots, what with his father’s new collection dropping. She’d managed to beat him to his room most days, hanging out around the windows as she waited, which had made it very difficult for him to sneak back in.

But on the occasions they had seen each other, she’d also seemed more lost in her thoughts than usual. Nervously wringing her hands together while they chilled in front of a movie, despite him soothingly raking his fingers through her hair. Being even more elusive about what was going on in her life, if that was possible. Looking at him with determination in her eyes, opening her mouth to speak, only to close it and shake her head with a sigh.

“I’m really sorry about that, my love .” She gave him a pointed look as she took his hand. “I’ve just been thinking a lot lately, about you, me, our relationship. How, you’re right, it might seem like we’re spending less time together to you , but…” she trailed off, biting her lip.

“How could that statement have a but ?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Well, um, I had this sort of crazy idea, because we’ve only been dating for six months and it’s totally not like I ever imagined us getting married and having three kids and a hamster or anything…” she mumbled nervously, and Adrien felt his heart flutter in his chest. “Anyway, I’ve been trying to get a hold of Chat Noir all night to check that he approves the idea, and also because I feel like it’s kind of an unspoken agreement that unless it’s an emergency and it really feels right, we’d do this together first, but he’s not replying and I was awake and you were awake and I thought…”

“Okay my… Lovebug, breathe.” Adrien’s caring boyfriend instinct kicked in as her rambling gave him confirmation that their relationship wasn’t in immediate danger, and he placed his hands on her shoulders, taking a deep breath to show the example. She mirrored him, and they breathed in sync for a couple of cycles, until he was satisfied that she’d stopped hyperventilating. He lead her to his couch and helped her sit down.

“Croissant?” she asked shyly, presenting him with the bag she’d brought. A pastry bag. Not a bag with his belongings. He really needed to stop jumping to conclusions.

“You know me so well.” He smiled brightly as he took one of the baked goods. They were still warm. The croissant didn’t last long in his hands. “Anyway,” he gulped down the last bite, “if you don’t mind me asking, what was your miraculous idea?” He smiled at himself, proud of his pun.

“Well, I was thinking that I could reveal my identity to you,” Ladybug replied, daintily wiping the corners of her mouth with a tissue.

It was a good thing Adrien was already sitting down, else more than his jaw would have ended up on the floor.

“Your… Your identity. Reveal. To me.” He asked seriously, hoping his words would make sense to her. It was better than remaining speechless.

“Yes, I am considering it,” she laughed. The sound made his brain tangle even more.

“Why?” He croaked.

“Well, as I said, it would enable us to spend more time together.” He raised his eyebrows, but she didn’t elaborate. “And I don’t know, I feel like it would be right. You’ve got something, Adrien.” She smiled tenderly.

“I… I do?” He felt himself blush.

“It’s just a croissant crumb, there, let me get it for you.” She leaned forwards and kissed the corner of his mouth. The contact jump started his brain.

“Ladybug, this is serious.” He backed away slightly. “Why me?”

“Fine.” She sighed. “Well, you're my boyfriend, but I know you a lot better than you might think. Before you say anything, no, I can’t tell you why yet, I need to speak to Chat Noir first. But there is something about you, Adrien. I feel like I can trust you. With this. Because of course I trust you otherwise.”

Adrien looked down at his hands and twiddled his thumbs, pouting as he thought.

“Adr- Sunshine? Is everything alright?” Ladybug placed a concerned hand on his thigh when his silence stretched to a slightly uncomfortable length.

“When you talk to Chat Noir, and he agrees to your plan…” He looked up and met her gaze.

“If,” she corrected him, but he waved her interruption away.

“...Will you guys reveal your identities to each other? Will you ask Chat Noir who he is under the mask?” He felt almost feverish as he searched her eyes for a hint of the answer before she could speak.

“Um, yes, I guess that’s how I saw the discussion going.” Ladybug frowned. “Are you concerned that it will change our relationship somehow? Because I promise it won’t, I-”

“Oh Bluebell, it definitely will, but not in the way that you think.” Adrien pecked her lips, a mischievous smile spreading on his as he pulled away.

“Oh?” Ladybug blinked a couple of times. Adrien tried to hide his smugness at her speechlessness.

“Yep. You see, I’m one hundred percent paw-sitive your dearest partner will agree to your plan.” He grinned, watching the realisation dawn on her face.

“How hard was refraining from making cat puns in the past six months?” Ladybug finally sighed, a small smile tugging at her lips.

“Very, my Lady.” He pouted. "But not as hard as refraining from kissing you on patrol."

“Maybe you can help him pay up all the Camembert he owes me for sitting through him ranting about all the missed opportunities,” Plagg called out, making her jump slightly. Adrien rolled his eyes.

“Anyway, you were right, your plan really will allow us to spend more time together!” His face lit up like a kid's on Christmas morning.

“You don’t know the half of it.” Ladybug shook her head, before looking back up at him, an indecipherable look on her face. “Need a lift for school?”

“That’s all you’ve got to say?” Adrien looked at his girlfriend with kitten eyes, disappointed that she hadn’t held up her side of the bargain.

“Well, it’s time to go if you don’t want to be caught by your bodyguard.” She shrugged, stood up, and extended a hand toward him, the twinkle in her eye the only tell in her poker face.

“Ladybug…” He whined, pouting.

“What, Chaton?” Her smile finally broke free. “It’s very literally on my way. I can drop you off at your seat, and then walk to mine… Right behind you.” She booped him on the nose.

Once again, Adrien was thankful he was already sitting down.

As she carried him to school, Adrien decided sleep was overrated. Sometimes reality was the best dream of all.

[s-creations]

Return the Flames - Chapter 13

All at Dead Bird Studios knew of Amos' (The  Conductor's) ability. How the owl could suddenly erupt into flames if  angered enough. When the studio first opened, Dominic (DJ Grooves) was  told that Amos had his ability under control. Nothing to worry about. No  possible loss of anything from an open flame.

A few years later however, and that control seems to have lessened to a dangerous degree.

It should have just been a simple, week long drive to fix the problem. It really should have been.

Dominic should have asked a lot more questions and should have been prepared for a twist ending.

_________________

Fandom: A Hat in Time           Rating: General Audience           Relationships/Pairings: The ConductorXDJ Grooves         Warnings: Eventual depictions of violence, slow burn relationship, named characters, attempt of an accent, being hunted down, a race against time (sort of).

As the sun slowly descended over the horizon, Amos was slowly making his way up the mountain. 

  It was a painful process. Every part of him was screaming in agony. Attempting to fully put itself back together as Amos charged forward. As best he could. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been out since his fall. All he knew was he’d been away from Dominic for too long with the creeps breathing down his neck. So, even though all he wanted to do was sleep, Amos pushed forward. His mind focusing on getting back to Dominic. 

  The area was quiet. Sure, Amos was climbing up a mountain with wind roaring around him. But he was expecting to hear something. Or at least see something that counted as trouble. Anything. However, there was nothing. No noise, nothing showing that C.A.W. was still attempting their capture. It was unsettling. Because Amos wasn’t fully sure what to expect when he reached the top. 

  Had Dominic and those Nomads successfully block the way in? Or did they maybe chase off C.A.W. by some miracle. No, if that was true, he had a feeling Dominic would be hanging over the edge of the mountain, helping Amos up. So did that mean C.A.W. had captured them all? Were they going to be used as bait to better lure Amos out? 

  The owl let out a strangled cry as part of the mountain fell underfoot. Amos scrambled to find his footing again before falling too far down. Panting hard, pain flaring up again, a few minutes passed before Amos felt he could move again.

  He was getting closer. The familiar cart was getting bigger. A carved out, leveled section of the mountain was what said cart was resting by. Still no signs that anything was amiss…

  Amos really needed to keep his mental mouth shut. 

  He was only a few feet away when an explosion sounded. Not directly above him, but to the left. Amos assumed that was another entrance that Bakle had talked about. Rocks went flying away, Amos thankful he wasn’t under where that was happening. The relief was short lived when a rock seemed to shine in the dying light. Amos realized it was a large chunk of ice. Pure ice that looked like what Dominic had created back at the camp. 

  The owl’s attention snapped forward hearing desperate cries and shouts echoing from the temple. It seems as if the fight Amos had been fearful of was finally happening. 

  He was moving faster than he’d ever had before. Claws cracking the flat plateau as he finally reached the temple entrance. The doors were already open, showing a raised pillar in the center with a midnight blue feather resting on it. Amos paused, laying his eyes on it. His heart rate speeding up, feeling a pull deep in his soul. Which was instantly broken when he watched as a familiar C.A.W. agent slammed Dominic against said pillar. 

  Anger that Amos had never felt before filled him. Every part of him felt as if he was on fire. But it didn’t hurt. In fact, nothing hurt anymore. All he knew was anger and an overwhelming need to protect. 

  Amos knew he didn’t pass out. But all went black as his basic instincts took over. 

  __________________________

  There was not much that could be done but wait for something to happen in the temple. 

  Dominic felt uncomfortable with how quiet it was. Sure he could hear the wind and the crackling of the ice he’d made as it settled. But no one was saying anything. Bakle and his father were resting by the pillar. The penguin sitting on the steps, facing the entrance they’d come through. 

  “Where are you Amos…” The penguin muttered weakly. 

  “I’m sure the Child is alright.” Bakle offered as an attempt to calm Dominic. The child faltered when he didn’t receive a reply. Instead of dwelling on it, Bakle’s attention turned to the wall of ice and stone. “Do you think they’re gone?”

  “I doubt it,” Dominic replied, “If I had to take a guess, they’re trying to ‘solve’ this. Break the wall down somehow.” 

  “Oh…”

  Dominic was pulled from his own thoughts hearing the quiet reply. He looked over, finding Papa attempting to comfort his child. Letting out a low sigh, the penguin made his way towards the other two. “I’m sorry. I really wish this wasn’t happening.”

  “I… We don’t blame you or your partner sir.”

  The penguin flushed, but made no comment. “Still...what an absolute nightmare this has become. A road trip turned into a life and death struggle. How ironic that a rather cliche movie plot has become reality. Wonder if Amos and I could profit off this somehow.”

  “It certainly is an interesting story.”

  Dominic laughed softly, going to make another response. Only to pause, hearing something strange. A sort of ‘ping’ sound that sounded from the ice/rock wall. Leaving the other two, Dominic approached said wall.

  Hearing mumbles and harsh whispers as he neared it. A familiar hissing sound followed. A sound that Dominic had heard numerous times in Amos’ movie. Before an explosion went off…

  Dominic wasn’t able to get a warning out before the wall was blasted away. He was stunned, unmoving as he was sprawled on the ground with his ears ringing. There were muffled shouts and panicked pleas. Dominic looked over to find Papa being held down by thick ropes. Struggling to get to Bakel, who was being held back by two agents. 

  Any thoughts of helping were immediately broken when Dominic was picked up and thrown. His back hitting the pillar and collapsing at the base of it. Getting no time to recover as he was picked up once more. Hands grabbing his collar and pushing him against the pillar. 

  “You think you’re so clever…” The head C.A.W. agent growled darkly. “You’re just prolonging your fall.”

“And you...really are...full of yourself…” Dominic choked out. 

  “You could have avoided all of this! If you just gave us the Phoenix at the beginning-”

  “Why would I! You’re going to kill him!”

  “Because nothing that dangerous should exist.” 

  “Amos is not dangerous! He’s scared and in pain. He would never intentionally hurt anyone. You and your agents are the dangerous ones.”

  The crow’s feathers ruffled, beak opening to make one final comment. Only to release Dominic and step away when fire erupted between them. Stumbling away as well, Dominic collapsed once more. Leaning against the pillar as he looked up, mouth dropping as what he saw. 

  Amos stood between Dominic and the agent. Hunched over and breathing hard, his entire body was shaking. With rage or exhaustion, Dominic couldn’t tell. The most alarming feature were the flames. The tips of each feather turned to flames that combined with the rest of them, growing and in turn, making Amos appear larger. But the most outstanding part was the color. It wasn’t the typical yellow and orange, not the threatening burn that Dominic had been used to seeing. These flames were a merge of colors. Deep blues and purples, with the tips of the flames a bright pink, melding together with the natural orange of Amos’ feathers. It was as if day and night were competing to shine the brightest. 

  The penguin was in absolute awe. The agent, however, was less than impressed. 

  “There you are… I was wondering when you would stop hiding behind your accomplices.” The crow said calmly. Even with torn and tattered clothes, staring down an angry creature that was engulfed in flames, the agent seemed to act as if he was in control. “Now, do you plan on coming quietly? You’ve honestly caused enough trouble.”

  “You absolute peck neck,” Amos growled dangerously, “You chased me down, threatened me, threatened the people I’m with, drugged me, and ya think I’m the problem?”

  “Yes.”

  “Ya absolute wretched person-” The owl stumbled slightly when a familiar dart entered his arm. The agent who fired it looked pleased...only for their smile to slip away when the dart actually melted away. 

  Dominic flinched when, in a flash, Amos was suddenly standing before said agent. Grabbing the gun and easily melting it before the shaking crow. “I would highly suggest ya run.” 

  That was all it took for the surrounding underlings to frantically rush towards the exits. Practically tripping over each other with small, terrified chirps. Now free, Bakle rushed over to his father as the larger Nomad sat up slowly. The lead crow watched on furiously as their team ran out. 

  “You idiots, we’re so close to ending this! Where do you think you’re going?” They let out  small squawk when a clawed hand grabbed the front of their collar. Amos towering over them, glaring with a scowl. 

  “Ya should have run when ya had the chance.” 

  “I will bring you down.”

  Dominic stood up, hand reaching out to pull Amos away. “Sweetheart-”

  “Sir!” Bakle called out, him and his father hiding behind one of the large pillars. Getting Dominic’s attention, the young Nomad pointed towards the opening in the ceiling. 

  The sky was filled with stars, the inky black in such contrast towards the bright afternoon. The moon was in full view in the opening, almost touching the other side. Below it, the feather was giving off a gentle glow. Amos, who had also looked over hearing Bakle, had his attention drawn towards the feather. 

  Before he could move, Dominic let out a yelp of surprise as the larger Nomad lifted him up. Pulling both the penguin and his son behind the pillar again. 

  “What is happening?” Dominic frantically demanded, struggling to get out of the grasp. 

  “No sir, don’t go out!” Bakle gripped the penguin’s arm. 

  “What-”

  “The Child needs to return the given power.”

  “I don’t even know what that means!”

  On the other side of the temple, the C.A.W. agent struggled to break free from Amos’ grip. The owl fully focused on the feather. Beginning to walk towards it when the moon filled the opening fully. Dragging the agent along with. 

  “What do you think you’re doing creature!” The crow spat.

  Amos didn’t respond, keeping a tight grip on the agent as he reached the base of the pillar. Dominic was able to peak around just as Amos began to reach out. The penguin was pulled back gently and kept in place just as a clawed hand collected the feather. 

  To anyone outside of the temple, the peak of said mountain suddenly erupted into flames. Every available opening had a pillar of fire escaping from it. The tallest seen from the top. One could make the assumption that it touched the heavens. 

  The trio that were tucked behind the stone pillar cowered away from the flames. The heat unbearable as it quickly traveled past the group. Dominic screwed his eyes shut to protect from the blaring light. There had been a brief sound of a scream of pain and fear before it had been cut off by the roaring fire. 

  It all lasted for a few seconds. The deafening silence that followed seemed to cause more fear than the fire. Dominic let out a slow, shaky breath, pulling away from the rest to step around the pillar. He retched at the burnt husk of the C.A.W. agent. The blackened bones showing it’s beach open in a forever silent scream. The feather had returned to the top of the pillar. At the base of it, completely unmoving, the tips of his orange feathers burnt black, was Amos. 

  “Amos!” Dominic rushed over, rolling the owl over to cradle him close. Amos didn’t react, head rolling to the side to rest against Dominic’s shoulder. The fear only grew when he realized the owl felt cold. Frozen even. 

  “Amos… Amos, please, you need to wake up. You can’t...you can’t do this… We were going to make movies together, remember? Going to take the world by storm, right? ...Amos?” Dominic gave a small sob, pulling Amos closer. Hiding his face in the orange feathers. 

  “Please come back…”

[bigboomboi]

Fated~ Poly BakuDeku x Reader

Words: 5,469

Warning: Burn injuries, an angry Pomeranian trying to be sweet and it kinda working but only because of the broccoli baby.

Staring down at her wrist, Y/N inspected the small orange mushroom cloud tattoo on her skin. It sat below her first mark; a cute lavender bubble symbolizing her own quirk. Both appeared years ago, one burned bright into her skin the day she manifested her quirk and the other sat, fading in months later.

It’s said the marks are to connect you with your soulmate. It seemed to be another evolution to come with the quirks as the quirkless didn't get the same predicament throughout life. Actually, there were even a few quirked people that never gained marks. While it seemed unfair and people hated that quirked people got the ideal life and were handed their other half almost straight out the gate, some loved the fact most quirkless people had the option to find their soulmate naturally.

There were even people that covered their mark with another tattoo, to try and avoid searching for their person. Some invested their entire being into finding that special someone. They even made dating apps to share pictures of your mark to help you find your match.

Y/N fell in the middle, she didn’t despise the idea of finding her soulmate, but she didn’t want that to be a major factor in her mind. She didn’t want to spend her life trying to find a person that very well could reject you.

Yes, even if fate had intertwined your hearts, you could reject the idea. While you could only reject your soulmate after meeting them, it was only done with a simple two words- ‘I reject’- and the idea scared the hell out of her.

So here she was, hiding her mark under bracelets or long sleeves, scared of finding her soulmate because two stupid words, but even more terrified because of one stupid thing. The pretty colourful cluster of stars tattoo… sitting just right of her soulmate’s mark.

She had two soulmates.

Of course, there were people out there that dated their soulmate and another set of soulmates, or a fated couple found their third in another kind person. But never has she heard of being given two soulmates.

Now she could be rejected…twice.

“Okay, so since it’s just us girls, I say we watch shitty chick flicks and whine about being single.” Mina huffed, plopping down on the couch.

“Mina… Toru has a boyfriend… and Jirou is dating Mo…” Uraraka pointed out.

“Okay, but I am single I would like to whine about it.” Mina groaned as Y/N sat down. “You and Y/N are single too so, we could still complain.”

“Hey, hey. Don’t bring me into this. I tried my hand at dating, that’s just bleh.” Y/N cringed.

Jirou scoffed. “That’s because you keep putting all your heart into people who aren’t your soulmate.”

“Hey, I like keeping my options open! It’ll happen sooner or later.” Y/N defended herself.

“It could be sooner if you stop hiding the mark.” Mina cheesed. “You know the point is to find the matching tattoo?”

“Yeah, yeah. Maybe I just really like surprises.” Y/N sighed, trying to focus on the two women trying to hide the baby from the rambunctious fairy god mother on the screen.

“Your person kinda has to see the mark for it to click in your heads.” Uraraka hummed. “So, if you hide it…”

“It’s not completely invisible, I don’t always cover it. Any one can see it at anytime.” Y/N rolled her eyes.

“Mmm, okay… Y/N didn’t notice the look Mina gave to Jirou. “Then let us see-.”

Both Mina and Jirou went to tackle Y/N but an instant bubble appeared around her, bouncing them off. “You always try this, Mina.”

“Damn it…”

Leaving the matter to rest, the girls continued to watch the poor obedient fifteen year old send away her only friend. Okay, so yes… Y/N hid the marks for the most part. She wasn’t trying to avoid people seeing the marks per say, but she was just trying to keep it out of… people’s sight…

Actually, she was trying to avoid them being seen, but really, in her defense. The last time someone saw two soulmarks on her wrist she was harassed and bullied until she had to move. So, she felt it was in her best mind to hide her marks and keep a lookout for two matching her own.

And she hoped the girls would leave it alone but-

“Okay… Just a little peek.” Mina whispered.

“No.”

“Just for me?”

“No, Mina.”

“At least describe it a little.”

“No.”

“I just wanna see it.”

“I don’t care.”

“I’m you’re best friend, please.” Mina dragged out the word, as long as her breath held out for.

“Aright, you know. I’m really tired, ladies. So, I’m gonna wrap this up and head to bed.” Y/N sighed standing, letting Mina and Uraraka fall into her now vacant space. “Goodnight girls.”

Ignoring their mixed groans and pleas, Y/N continued to leave, irritated with Mina’s questioning. She didn’t even stop to collect her small throw blanket, but Mina yelped and rushed up the stairs to apologize. She hadn’t meant to piss off her friend, but-.

“Wait! Wait, Y/N, I’m sorry!” She squeaked, slamming into the door that was closed in her face.

“Go away, Mina.” Y/N. “It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not…” Mina whined.

Y/N bit her lip and started at the door. Her first real best friend stood on the opposite side of the door and would probably sit there until she opened the door, like she always did when they fought. But really, she thought about leaving her there and sneaking out the window in the morning, because she was pissed, truly.

“Look, Y/N, I know you don’t like talking about your mark and it’s not okay I kept pressuring you to show us-.” Mina mumbled.

Angry, Y/N yanked opened the door, watching Mina stumble in from leaning on it. “You’re right! It’s not okay! It was mean and stupid and I honestly don’t know why you were so hellbent on seeing it, you never are! Our entire time of being friends- which is three fucking years- you never bugged this much to see it! What is your fucking deal-?”

“Mine rejected me.”

“With trying… to… what?” Y/N continued her rant, before fully recognizing her friend’s words. “What did you say?”

“My soulmate rejected me.” She repeated. “He goes to another school; Asaki Eizo. He’s top of his class, an adorkable nerd. He’s already probably got collage recommendations… he um… He feels that such a um, eccentric personality would distract him form the real things in life. ‘Honestly, I feel you’re too childish to live the life I want.’ His exact words.”

“He called you childish?” Y/N blinked.

“Yeah, but we could still be friends! We hang out every now and then! Just not as… soulmates.” Mina whispered the last part.

Y/N clicked her tongue and nodded slowly, before deciding and grabbing a hoodie. “I’m gonna need an address.”

“What? No. No!” Mina yelped and pushed her friend back in her room. “You can’t go kill him!”

“I never said I would kill him. Just maim.” Y/N tried to press past her friend, but she held fast.

“No, no. People get rejected all the time! It’s okay!” Mina flailed her arms, looking comically like a bird before she tackled her friend to the floor. “I just, I just wanted to see yours because I like the idea of my best friend getting her forever person, even if I don’t…”

Y/N sighed. “Honestly, I might be in the same predicament as you, babes.”

Mina furrowed her eyebrows and sat up on the girl’s lap. Y/N tugged off the bracelets she was wearing and pushed her sleeve up a bit. Mina did her best to keep eye contact with her friend, just incase she wanted to hide it again. But Y/N didn’t, she raised her wrist in between them, revealing the several marks on her skin.

“You… There are… That’s an odd soulmate mark…” Mina muttered.

“No, it’s two. I have two soulmates…” Y/N groaned falling back. “I have two chances of getting rejected.”

Mina pouted and laid down on Y/N, to cuddle her. “I don’t think that would happen. Maybe they’ve already found each other, and they are just waiting on you.”

“I feel like I’d be intruding on a happy relationship.” She sighed.

“I don’t think the fates would have intertwined you to just hurt you.” Mina said.

Y/N played with Mina’s hair. “Mina… You literally just told me that your own soulmate rejected you because you’re a fun girl. So, I don’t think the fates were thinking too many things through at their round table.”

“Mm, yeah, but you know what they say. When you get rejected by your soulmate, it’s the fates realizing they found someone better for you and a new mark should form.” Mina mumbled, sleepily.

“Yeah, yeah. When I see a new mark glow on your skin, I’ll believe it.” Y/N snorted.

 “Today’s task is simple. Save the victim before the building comes down.” All Might said.

“Before it comes down? As in actually collapse?” Mineta already had tears filling his eyes.

“It’s what you’ll have to do as heroes.” Tsu commented, before smacking the small grape boy with her tongue. “Stop crying.”

He continued to cry anyway. All Might sighed. “There’s no hidden objectives, or priorities. But it is an incredibility dangerous situation, so you’ll actually have to thinks the entire thing through and when you think you have a plan, you’ll have to make a backup. Stay on your toes, save the victim and don’t get crushed.”

“What happens if we don’t get out in time?” Y/N asked.

“There is a timer, the building won’t actually fall if there is anyone still inside, but you will have failed the test if you can’t get the victim out before it ‘falls’.” All Might answered, surely.

Now each team went through the buildings while the rest of the class watched. There were three separate building, each with different hazards. The timer was set for thirty minutes, the story plot was villains attacked, blah blah blah, the building would fall in thirty minutes and there was still someone trapped inside. A basic training op.

“Hey, you’re not wearing your bracelets today.” Mina noted, holding her hand.

“Yeah, guess I should try and put myself out there.” Y/N sighed. “Plus, can’t let you find your soulmate first, markless.”

“Oh, ha ha. You think you’re funny.” Mina rolled her eyes, playfully.

“I think I’m fucking hilarious.” Y/N grinned, before raising her friend’s wrist. “I wish it would manifest already, looking at bits and pieces of it for the last month is aggravating.”

“Yeah, me too. But think about it, I’ve spent the last four months soulmate-less. Maybe I’m emotionally shellshocked and my body’s trying to fight fate off.” Mina giggled.

It had been two months since their conversation in Y/N’s bedroom and since then, Mina had convinced Y/N to not hide it when they went out into the real world. Especially when they went out without their classmates. Which they’d done a lot more, in hopes to find one or both of Y/N’s mates and maybe to kick start Mina’s new mark. Still she hid it whenever she was at school, this had been the first time she hadn’t tried to hide it. And she prayed it wouldn’t come back to bite her in the ass.

“Y/N, Bakugo, Midoriya. You’re turn.” All Might, clapped her on the shoulder.

“Be careful.” Mina let her friend go.

“Probably won’t.” Y/N cheesed.

And here she stood in between the childhood frenemies, staring up at Building B that bent halfway up at an uncomfortable angle. “I’ll bet you boys my left arm that are victim is up at the top…”

“Probably.” Midoriya sighed. “Any ideas.”

“Stay out of my way.” Bakugo muttered.

Y/N rolled her eyes and turned to glare at the blond. “Yeah, no. We’re a team. So, we work as a team. Otherwise, I will bubble you right here and now and have you follow us like a an explosive toy.”

“I’ll blow your stupid bubble open.” Bakugo snarled down at her.

“Oh, really?” She asked, scoffing.

“Wait, guys, the test is about to start. Maybe we should handle this later…” Midoriya tried.

Y/N ignored him and softy booped Bakugo’s nose. “Do it then.”

A loud shrill echoed through the air, signifying the start of the test and Bakugo was encased in a see-through sphere. Midoriya blinked at Bakugo’s entrapment and then at Y/N who raised her brow expecting him to say something, but her look convinced him to just turn around and head inside the building.

The two quietly searched the building and made their way up and over each obstacle, Bakugo screaming and exploding in his bubble every five seconds. Coming to a two sided elevator shaft, they all paused. The elevator itself was tilted and seemed to be caught on the walls of the shaft, making a bridge way to the otherside.

“Alright, I’m gonna bubble you two through first… Because I feel like if you breath on that thing… it’ll fall.” Y/N sighed.

“We could probably just jump it.” Midoriya suggested.

“We should avoid shaking the building at all, we should treat it as if it would actually collapse. Which, honestly. It might…” Y/N carefully peeked out into the shaft and looked up to find another elevator several stories above. “Also, I’m pretty sure if we put too much weight on this thing, it’ll pull the other one down.”

“I’m gonna push the angry Pomeranian over first and then you. Alright?” Y/N stated.

“Angry Pomeranian?!” Bakugo shouted, his palms crackling.

She giggled and stuck her hand into the bubbled and pat his head. “Yep, keep being an ass, I’ll get you a collar.”

He snatched her hand and tugged her close, trying to force her into the bubble. “Let me out of this damned bubble.”

“I was going to after I got you across, stop being a dick for five minutes or you’ll stay in it!” She snapped, pinching his cheek.

“You had better or I swear I’ll…” He trailed off, looking at her arm. At her multiple marks.

She hadn’t noticed where is eyes locked and hurriedly thrusted him across the opening, before turning to Midoriya and bubbling him as well. She, much more gently, pushed him across the opening before following them herself. And true to her word, she released Bakugo from his soft cage.

“Now, be good or I’ll put you back.” She warned.

“Piss off.” He grumbled. “We got fifteen minutes left, let’s find this idiot doll and get out of here.”

Midoriya and Y/N nodded in agreement and hurried through to the top of the building. Surprisingly, without many words, they worked together well. And when ideas were shared everyone listened, for the most part. They were a good team together, despite, being randomly thrown together.

Y/N gently, bubbled debris out of the way, unaware of the blonde analyzing her and Midoriya. Her soulmate mark matched the one Midoriya had on his own wrist. She’d been there, right under his nose for the longest time, and the dipshit didn’t ever notice.

But Bakugo didn’t notice either. Hers matched his as well. Neither boy noticed that their soulmate was with them every day.

Smoke filled the air as they cleared a hole through the floor above. They could hear the crackling of flames and see the orange light fill the hall above them. Carefully everyone climbed up to the next floor and eyed the fiery hall before them.

“Alright, boys, bubble time again.” Y/N sighed, and looked over at Midoriya who opened his mouth. “Don’t you dare say ‘we can jump it’ because again, unstable building.”

Midoriya turned red, at having been caught. “I- I wasn’t going to say that…”

“Yes, you were.” Both of his teammates said.

“I just don’t want you to overexert yourself, Y/N. You’re the only one whose used their quirk the most here.” Midoriya justified.

“It’s the safest one to use in this situation.” She shrugged, bubbling him. “I’ll only be tired if I use my bubble for an extended amount of time.”

“You had my in a bubble constantly, earlier.” Bakugo pointed out.

“Yeah, see. We can just jump across!” Midoriya tried, but she flicked him across anyway.

“For like three minutes. Five at most.” Y/N rolled her eyes and bubbled Bakugo as well. “I’m fine.”

After she dropped him off, she followed and landed softly. “See, no harm done. I’m a big girl, boys.”

“Well, cool it a bit, dumbass, we’re not useless.” Bakugo grunted, flicking her forehead.

Was that what this was about? “I never said you were, guys. Sorry, if I made it seem that way.” She apologized, following Midoriya to the second elevator tunnel.

This building was so tall, stupidly its elevator shafts had been stacked with a thin base floor between them. Bakugo peeked through, to deem it safe and carefully stepped across, Midoriya moving to follow when the building shook violently, knocking them all to their knees. Not a moment later did the creaking elevator a few floors above drop.

Bakugo yanked Midoriya out of the way, just in time as the elevator crashing into the base floor. Y/N yelped, flying back into the fire from the impact. She shook away her dizziness and stared at the flames surrounding her bubble- thankfully, her reaction time was fast.

“Y/N!” She heard Midoriya yell back at her.

“I- I’m fine. Just caught me off guard.” She panted, looking up at the elevator that almost crushed him. “What about you?”

“We’re fine, no damage.” Bakugo called back. “You’ll have to climb through the elevator to get over here.”

“Alright, well, uh.” She rolled herself back towards the elevator. “You guys go on ahead, I’ll catch up.”

“We can’t leave you.” Midoriya started to come back for her, but a bubbled filled the elevator blocking him.

“Just go, damn it. We’ve got just under ten minutes left, go find the damn vic and I’ll catch up.” She ordered. “I’ll be right behind you guys.”

She lied. Unintentionally, but still. She was trapped against the ceiling in her bubble, protected from the burning flames around her but unable to move. Her bubble had been stuck for the last three minutes, and it was actually starting to get hot inside, the walls of her bubble burning her skin a bit. She needed to get out of the fire, quick before she was seriously burned.

Y/N attempted, again to roll out of the flames but really all she succeeded in was rolling herself in the awkward crevice she was stuck in. Now she was mostly upside down, her forearms pressed against her artificial wall. It was almost like she was pressing herself against hot glass and granted her bubble kept out the black smoke, she had no fresh air. So, the air she did have was getting thick and stuffy and she was going dizzy. 

"Y/N!" A voice shouted at her.

Gasping, Y/N looked around to find Bakugo and Midoriya with the victim doll. They managed to find their way back to her part of the maze of death and she just about cried.

"Oh, I could kiss you two right now!" She grunted, her flesh burning. 

While Midoriya blubbered, turning twenty-five different shades of red, Bakugo rolled his eyes at her, smirking. "And here I thought you were going to be right behind us.”

"Oh, screw off." She tried to laugh through her pain. "Now please, figure out how to get me out of here, I'm actually being poached."

Thinking for a small moment the boys had to put together a plan. If Midoriya were to full cowl into the flames, this floor would probably give away from the force, taking them all down. Bakugo could have probably blasted her out of it onto the other side, but again they were stuck with their partner being unreachable. 

"Boys, just go. You got the victim, the place is supposed to come down in minutes." Y/N coughed.

"Can't leave our partner in here, shit face." Bakugo grumbled.

"Well, you gotta or were all screwed." Y/N argued. "Look I'll be fine, I’m sure someone will come in and help me in a few minutes."

“And you’ll boil alive, yeah right.” Bakugo glared, still thinking.

“Nah, I’ll be fine. A few burns never killed anyone.” She huffed.

Bakugo gave her a look as to shut up, but she kept going. "C'mon Deku, you know I got this. You guys finish the mission."

As soon as Midoriya opened his mouth to try and side with someone, Bakugo leaned down and pulled off his com so she wouldn't hear what he said. Whatever he said made the poor little broccoli boy's jaw drop and eyes grow to the size of moons. Not finding the room to care, Y/N closed her eyes, panting and waited for them to leave.

She heard footsteps and looked back to see Bakugo hauling ass while Midoriya just stood there. "I'm pretty sure you're supposed to follow him."

"Ah, well…" Midoriya coughed, nervously. He seemed way jumpier after what Bakugo said.

"Izuku Midoriya, you will not jump into this fire!" She realized what he was going to do.

"I'm technically going to jump through it." He winced at hearing his full name.

"I think the hell not!" She snapped. "There is not enough space for you to jump. You will just launch yourself into that wall and probably take down this whole floor!"

"Yeah, that's the plan." He nodded.

"What about Bakugo and the hostage?" She glared.

"Part of the plan." He answered, vaguely. 

"Yes, the sudden plan you didn't tell me anything about." Her scolding made his face twist into a pout, like a sweet little puppy that got kicked.

"You would have been mad at the plan." He argued.

"Deku… I'm mad right now. If you jump into this fire, I will beat you with Bakugo and then strangle him with your intestines. Don't. You. Dare-." Her threats were cut off by Bakugo's voice in the coming.

"Oi, shut up and trust us. Now hurry it up, damn nerd!" 

Y/N groaned knowing they weren't going to listen to reason and they'd probably end up failing this exercise and end up in the nurse's office. Really, she was just overwhelmingly scared her partners would be hurt. She almost certainly didn't care about the grade or herself but just them. 

Y/N watched Midoriya spark, before lunging at her. He hissed at the heat of her bubble burning through his costume and onto his skin. Once again, she watched green sparks travel up his arm as he reared back to punch out the cracked wall.

Once they emerged into fresh air, Y/N let her bubble drop fell fully into his arms. As she warned, the building started to crumble from where they emerged and continued downwards. The building began falling over, dropping debris everywhere. As she and Midoriya fell through the air, Y/N watched the building, internally fretting over Bakugo.

Suddenly an explosion erupted from a window and out came the devil himself. Bakugo launched out the window and directly into the two hurling towards the ground. He snatched them out of the air, redirecting their bodies out of the way of the falling building parts.

Panicking, as they came closer to the ground, Y/N quickly encased them in a bubble, despite Bakugo twisting around to take the brunt of the impact. They hit the ground and bounced a few times, rolling around inside her bubble. They rolled to a stop and she let her bubble pop.

They all looked at each other, dirty, burn and dazed and the victim doll safe. The timer dinged overhead, signifying the end of their simulation. Y/N laughed and fell back to lay on the ground, prompting the two boys to look over at her.

“What the hell are you laughing at?” Bakugo huffed and leaned back on his hands.

“That was way more dramatic than it had to be.” She snorted, bringing up her arms to cover her face.

“Y/N… we should probably get you to the nurse’s office.” Midoriya mumbled out, looking at her burns.

Later that night, Y/N grumbled glaring at the angry burns on her arms. Recovery girl managed to reduce them to minor second degree burns, but they still needed to be taken care of outside of the nurse’s office. She had been sitting there for a solid ten minutes, at least, trying to tell herself to just pick up the damn wet cloth and press it to the burns… but it hurt so five seconds after doing so she dropped the towel back into the bowl.

She needed to clean and wrap the burns before she could go downstairs. She took a deep breath and reached for the wet rag again, but thankfully, a soft knock echoed from her door. She jumped up to answer her savior and pulled it open to find her most recent teammates standing there.

“Oh, hi guys.” Y/N greeting, briefly noting Bakugo’s arm hanging over Midoriya’s shoulder. “What’s up, whatcha need?”

“H-Hi, Y/N we just wanted to, uh, um. Well-.” Midoriya tried to stutter out. “We brought you this for your burns!”

Midoriya thrusted out a small bottle of cream. “Aw, thanks. That’s sweet of you.”

“Yeah, yeah. We gotta talk. So, you gonna let us in or what?” Bakugo grumbled, tugging Midoriya closer.

“Ah, blunt as always, Bakugo.” She rolled her eyes and stepped back and gestured into the room. “But, yes, come in.”

Y/N closed the door as they stepped through and took opposite seats. Bakugo in her previous seat and Midoriya on the edge of her bed. The air grew tense and awkward as Y/N moved to stand next to Bakugo.

She played with the cold water in the bowl, still trying to convince herself to clean her burns, but as the minutes dragged on, she became distracted by the two boys in her room. She would absolutely be lying if she were to say she wasn’t attracted to them.

Midoriya; sweet and kind. Probably has killed a fly on accident and cried about it. A cute little broccoli babe. Bakugo; hot-headed and loud mouthed. Probably tells Midoriya he killed a fly just to watch him cry. A hot angry porcupine. She wasn’t stupid enough to try anything with either of them, but a girl could dream, yeah?

“Fuck, come here.” Bakugo suddenly yanked her arm and grabbed the cold rag before pressing it to her arm.

“Ow! You asshole!” She yanked her arm away. “That fucking hurt!”

“Well, I’m tired of sitting her watching you play with the towel instead of cleaning them like you’re supposed to be doing, shitty woman.” He grumbled reaching out to grab her arm again.

“Kacchan, you can’t be so rough.” Midoriya stepped in and stopped him. “Sorry, he get’s like that when he’s worried.”

“It’s okay. You don’t need to worry, though.” Y/N sighed, letting Midoriya take her wrist, the one that was unmarked. “What did you guys want to talk about.”

“Yeah, um…” Bakugo handed him the wet cloth and tugged Y/N to sit in his lap. “Sorry, for being an ass today during training.”

Y/N blushed at her new seating predicament, but she covered her embarrassment with an attempted joke. “Okay, Midoriya what have you done with Bakugo? He’s openly showing he’s worried about his friends and he’s apologizing?” She winced as he patted her wound with the cold towel.

“Yeah, that’s because you’re not his friend.” Midoriya coughed. “Neither of us are.”

For some reason that made her heart hurt. She talked to both boys relatively often, not enough to be as close as she and Mina were, but she was sure she could call them both friends at least. “Well, ouch. Was I that bad of a teammate today?”

“No, you idiot.” Bakugo grumbled, wrapping his arm around her waist tighter and reached over to grab the gauze she was supposed to use and handed it over to Midoriya. “You weren’t great, but you weren’t shit either.”

“Kacchan, be nice…” Midoriya warned, weakly.

“I am, this as nice as I’m gonna get, nerd.” Bakugo muttered laying his head on her shoulder.

Y/N winced again, when the green haired boy wrapped her arm. “I’m sorry? What the flying fuck is going on?”

“Um, I- we… Um.” Midoriya stared at her arm, before looking up at her. “We match.”

Y/N blinked, confused at first. What did they match? Clothes? No. Grades for the match? No. she was two points below Bakugo and one above Midoriya. What did they- Oh.

“Oh.” She breathed.

“Yeah. ‘oh’.” Bakugo grumbled, raising his own wrist up to reveal his marks to her as did Midoriya.

Y/N sat frozen, staring at the matching nine marks shining against their skin. Midoriya began to pull his arm away, to finish dressing her arm, but she was quick to grab him. She brushed a thumb over his tattoos, not noticing the bright colour washing over his face. She grasped Bakugo’s arm and did the same, a gently shudder running through him at the contact.

They matched.

“Y/N?” Midoriya called, bringing her attention back.

“Yeah?” Her voice cracked, and his fingers reached up to brush across her cheek.

“Why are you crying?” Bakugo hugged her a bit tighter at Midoriya’s words.

Y/N sniffled and laughed. “I’ve been so scared to meet you two, I hid my marks for so long.”

“What the hell you do that shit for?” Bakugo grunted, handing her arm to Midoriya so he could finish. “We could have been gotten this over with three fucking years ago.”

“Exactly, I’m not ready to be rejected by one of my soulmates, let alone both.” She cried.

“Rejected?” Midoriya choked. “You think we’re going to reject you?”

“Why the hell would we do that?” Bakugo snapped.

“Any number of reason, really.” She sniffled, pulling open a drawer and pulled out a small legal pad. “They might not be gay. They could be gay for each other and not want a third. They could think multiple people in a relationship is gross. One could think I’m ugly-.”

Bakugo ripped her pad out of her hand and threw it in the trashcan. “All I’m hearing is bullshit. What is with you two thinking this way?”

“Shut up and hand me the gauze.” Midoriya glared up at Bakugo. “You told me to jump off the roof, so could you blame me for being scared you’d reject me.”

“You didn’t even talk to me about it. You ran away, avoided me and then tried to reject me yourself!” Bakugo reached over and thumped him in the forehead. “Almost fucked up everything, dumbass.”

The boys argued back and forth for a moment, Bakugo reaching to attack Midoriya and the latter crying and swatting at the explosive hands gripping his collar. Y/N laughed, easily breaking up their bickering. Both boys smiled, hearing her laughter, if sounded different hearing it now. Especially with what they now knew.

It sounded better.

“This is gonna be one hell of a ride.” She laughed.

“Fate probably said we’d need someone to maintain the speed on this roller coaster.” Midoriya joked, kissing her wrapping after he was done.

“Yeah, better hold on tight.” Bakugo kissed her shoulder.

“I’m not letting go anytime soon.”

 Bonus:

“What the fuck is it supposed to be?” Y/N tilted her head looking at Mina’s fully formed mark.

“I don’t know, I’m really confused.” Mina sighed. It honestly looked like two red jagged planks crossed in the middle making an ‘x’ shape.

“Watch it, Pinky.” Bakugo huffed, dropping on to the couch and thumped his boyfriend’s nose who laid cuddled into Y/N’s stomach.

Midoriya grumbled and curled further into Y/N’s tummy and Y/N swatted away Bakugo pestering finger.  “Stop that.” She ordered.

“He’s gonna ruin his sleep schedule.” Bakugo kept pestering him. “He’ll be up at two am and I’m sending him to bug you.”

“And I’ll call you to come help tire him out.” She smirked, pecking his lips cheekily.

“You guys are so cute, it’s fucking gross.” Mina gagged. “Anyway, I wonder what their quirk would be?”

“I dunno, maybe they’d a treasure finder… like ‘x marks the spot.’ Or something.” Y/N offered.

“Or hardening… because I’m pretty sure that’s Shitty hair’s mark.” Bakugo informed dryly.

Mina blinked at him and then at the person of interest as they popped into the room with Sero. Y/N bubbled Midoriya and leaned to the side, just because she knew what Mina was going to do.

Three…

Two…

One.

“Kirishima show me your wrist!”