#i had to not check twt for the entire day when that happened i was SO furious

[unfortunate17]

hey! I hope you're not drunk when you read this but anyway. I have dmed you in person before but I feel like I'm gonna go on a rant here again and tell you that I absolutely adore, admire, worship, breathe, live, laugh, love your works. I don't think in my entire time being in this fandom I've ever had a writer that characterized wilmon in the exact way that I love. the way you write their dynamics, the way you see them, the way you portray their love and their insecurities and their flaws and their emotions.... I could die. I went on a whole spree and read every single one of your works months ago. when it ended and I saw that there's no other work I got so sad. this is absolutely no attempt of mine to make you write more and more or update frequently btw. you do this for free (which is just insane bc I would genuinely pay you) and you have a life so I absolutely do not expect you to devote yourself to this just bc some random tumblr anons appreciate your work; however I do want you to know this: I think your works are one of the only reasons I still stay in this fandom. checking your acc on twt or on here to see if there's any new update or if even you've tweeted/posted sth new about wilmon or if you have a new fic coming up is one of the only things that attaches me to this fandom still. I think I'll leave if you ever decide not to write anything wilmon related anymore. it's such a joy that you exist. I know people can have dark days and esp since I think you live in the us and things have been looking kinda heartbreaking and doomed, I just want you to know it's an absolute joy of mine to just know that you exist. I don't even know what you look like. I just know your name (funnily enough you are just unfortunate17_ to me) but your very existence and the things that you write are a reason for me to live and you give that to me (and us) for free. so thank you ❤️ I love you and I hope you have a very happy life. I wish we could be friends but I have absolutely no idea how to make that happen and I'm not even sure you would find me interesting enough to be friends with me. but nonetheless thank you so much. I could never thank you enough.

im going to be so real when I say this: this might be the kindest most thoughtful message I’ve ever received and I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you saying all this. I’m not worthy of this level of kindness anon 😭 im just so happy that I’ve been able to bring you some amount of joy and entertainment.

I’m literally loathing the idea of ever publishing this ask because I go back to it sometimes when I’m feeling particularly down about writing - which has happened quite a bit lately, writer’s block is HERE baby.

That being said, if you’d like, please dm me again 😭 I have a private account on twt that I would love to share with you if you’d like!! I’d also straight up give you my phone number if you’d want to be friends 😃🤝

[saintsugu]

ive taken the past few days to gather my mental bearings and try to properly formulate my thoughts. as a survivor of csa, i do not take these topics and criminal allegations lightly.

- starting with the two (2) threads that i wrote on twitter: writing has always been a form of therapy for me. I began writing on Twt, rather than just post on this blog, for a reason. It was separate from the the friends i’ve made on here. I’d be able to write things that about trauma that i’m too ashamed to admit. I could discuss topics that have been prevailing factors in my own real life without feeling worried about being shamed. I get that these are taboo topics (and for good reason), but I don’t know where the conclusion formed that just because i was discussing / consuming these topics through fiction, automatically meant that i was getting off on the idea of it happening in real life; especially compared to the possibility that maybe i was using it to cope.

Everybody has lines they’re not willing to cross. I get it; I have those too, believe it or not. for me— as a survivor, discussion of underaged content falls into the same category alongside of noncon, stepcest/incest and cannablism. None of which i support in real life yet all of which i have at some point consumed via fiction. Now obviously, these standards aren’t the same for everyone, but in my mind there is no difference. I would never accuse someone of being a r*pist if they wrote noncon. I would never claim that it’s dangerous for them to interact with women in their real lives.

People deal with trauma in different ways. When I first started to write dark content on my old blog, i dipped my feet into dubcon. I didn’t care much for it. But then in the months following, i was SA’ed by my best friend. I then began to write graphic noncon. And i felt a bit better— a bit more in control. I was now choosing when and where i was viewing and consuming fiction with these topics, rather than when i had something i did not want forced onto me.

It’s taken me a long time to begin to process certain things that took place in my childhood. Having to process something, that happened more than a decade ago, entirely alone with zero support from anyone i know is difficult. I found a way to help myself cope. My methods may have been unsavory and uncomfortable for people, but not to the extent of graphically telling me how to k*ll myself in my inbox. Yes, I did write and consume underaged fiction in order to cope with my personal trauma. I fully own up to that. At the end of the day, fiction is just fiction.

Concerning the ‘expose’ post, the OP also claims that this was not to start a witchhunt, just to shed light to the situation; all the while, they were in my inbox telling me to kill myself before even making a post. Alright. People have had no issues calling me the f slur, making transphobic remarks/purposely misgendering me, and of course, graphically telling me how i should end my life. They’ve sent hundreds of asks claiming they care about the situation, when in my opinion—which might not mean much, no matter how you feel about me, if you resort to threatening, hate mobbing and threatening me irl, you are not handling things in the right way either.

In regards to the minor in my following list, i don’t know who she was or if her pinned post had changed. when i read the expose post i immediately unfollowed her and checked to be met with the fact that she didn’t follow me and we had shared a total of zero messages between the two of us. I am unsure if her pinned post changed or if I had foolishly followed her without checking to a full extent. Either way, we had no interactions. That might sound like a copout but unfortunately, i have no other commentary i can share on the matter.

at the end of it all, i can only control my own boundaries. i tag everything accordingly and that is the most i can do. drawing and fictional pieces cannot be considered cp.

[straykidsnerd255]

Heyooo, how are you doing ? Car i ask for some hc of sisyphus, kardia, albafica, degel, rasgado and elcid, sick, s/o come to check on them and asleep they pull her into a hug ( they're not really conscious) ( they have a crush on s/o) s/o try to escape, and some other saint explain what happened afterward. I dont know if i explain well TwT, btw have a nice day and thank you so much if you do my request TwT .

You explained it just fine. I understood what you said. Enjoy!!

They get sick-Pull you into a hug-they have a crush on you

Sisyphus:

You go to check up on him because you heard he was sick

When you reach the room he is in, you can see that he is sleeping and decide to leave the things you brought next to his bed.

As you put everything on the table, you feel two arms snake around your waist only to find it was Sisyphus.

“Sisyphus what are y-”

He pulls you into a hug which happens to be him laying on his side with you laying next to him on your back. His arms are locking you in. 

You try to escape but you are nowhere near as strong as he is and are trapped.

Tenma walked in to see what happened and giggled. “He has a crush on you Y/n. Just let him have this moment. He isn’t feeling too well.” He said. Once he got a nod from you, he covered you and Sisyphus with a blanket and left.

Kardia:

When you heard Kardia got sick, you were at the infirmary in a second flat.

You brought everything that you would need as you were not gonna leave his side while he was sick. 

“What are you doing Y/n?” The nurse asked. You looked up and gave the woman a smile. “I don’t want to leave him alone.” You answered. 

You were currently fixing his blankets when you felt his arms wrap around you.

“Kardia, are you feeling ok no-” You were suddenly pulled down and pressed up against his chest. Your eyes widened and your face bloomed into a red hue. 

You struggled to get out of his hold but forgot this man was hella strong.

Degel walked in to grab something to help a saint that was training and noticed you. “What are you doing? He is sick. This isn’t a time for you to cuddle with him.” He said. You explained to him what happened. “He’ll be better soon. Just let him do this.” Degel said before leaving. You groaned in annoyance before cuddling up into Kardia’s arms and closing your eyes.

Albafica:

You were in the nurse's room in an instant. 

You placed a bag on the table and sat down near the front of the bed. “Albafica, I told you not to push yourself.” You whispered. 

You pressed a hand to his forehead and winced at how warm his head felt. You grabbed a washcloth and ran it under icy cold water. 

You placed it on his head and watched as his scrunched up face melted.

You smiled softly before grabbing a book and began to read. You were engrossed in the book before realizing it was time to change the washcloth.

As you stood up, he turned his body and wrapped his arms around your waist.

You panicked but you fell back onto the bed and his arms wrapped around you. He kept you close to his chest and wouldn’t let go. You struggled but couldn’t get free. Before long, the door opened and Dohko peaked into the room. He saw the both of you sleeping and smiled. He grabbed a blanket and placed it on the both of you before leaving the room.

Degel:

You rushed into the room Degel was kept in and sighed in relief. 

“How is he doing? Is there anything that I can do to help?” You were nervous that he wasn’t getting better as his face was bright red. 

The doctor told you that he had given Degel all the medicine that he was about to give the saint and that they just had to wait now.

You stayed with Degel for the entire day. Just talking to him. 

You told him everything that you had one that day. Told him what you managed to accomplish. You were really proud of yourself. 

You soon found yourself standing by the bed to trade washcloths. 

His arms wrapped around you and pulled you down onto the bed. “Wha-” You tried getting out of his hold but couldn’t. Sage walked in just as you were getting comfortable. “Keep him company, that idiot has a crush on you.” He said before grabbing what he needed and leaving the room. 

Rasgado:

This big idiot. You told him not to keep training when he started to get sick.

“What did I tell you? You are so dumb sometimes Rasgado. I don’t want you to get hurt. You are still human, you know.” You mumbled.

You switched out the washcloth on his forehead before sighing. You sat down in the chair near the head of the bed and sighing in content when you closed your eyes.

A few minutes passed before you needed to get back up and change the washcloth.

You finished putting the new washcloth on his forehead when his arms wrapped around you tightly and pulled you on to the bed. 

You tried to get out of his hold but he wouldn’t budge. 

A dark blush appeared on the bridge of your nose as you lay there pressed close to his chest.  The door opened and you noticed Yato looking at you with wide eyes before he darted out of the room. You rolled your eyes before closing your eyes and sleeping.

Elcid:

When he gets sick, he gets really sick. 

You walked into the room Elcid was staying and you couldn’t help the tight feeling in your chest seeing him so vulnerable. 

“Get better you idiot. You owe me an explanation on why you got so sick that you ended up in the infirmary.” You mumbled.

You moved around the room getting things organized

You grabbed a washcloth and got it wet with cold water before placing it on Elcid’s forehead and watching him visibly melt against the bed.

You went to grab something else before feeling your arms wrap around your waist. 

You yelped when you were suddenly pulled into a warm chest. You tried to get out of his hold but he was too damn strong even when he was sick. As you lay there, you slowly grow tired. You closed your eyes and fell asleep just before the nurse walked into the room. You have never been more comfortable in your life.

[sanstropfremir]

I'm so glad that you mention BTS's collaborative issues because on top of that ARMYs (twt especially) are so hostile against anybody they collaborate with. In the case of Dem Jointz, they completely disregard his part in creating Run BTS just because it's their song. Like this man produced this song and there would be no Run BTS if Dem Jointz did not produce it (or at least in his way). And this hate(?) they have for NCT is out of line. They choose Sticker to sum up NCT's and Dem Jointz's music catalogs when they know damn well both of them have other music compositions. Hell, Dem Jointz has Grammys due to his productions.

DEFENDING DEM JOINTZ WITH WORDS IS NOT ENOUGH I NEED A GUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! seriously the shit that they were saying when the tracklist came out was fucking vile and shows just how braindead these people are. like the way that they completely ignore his influence within kpop but also OUTSIDE of kpop because he's not the 'artist' of the songs...................ugh. celebrity culture my beloathed i hate you so fucking much.

[calamitydaze]

I am not giving anyone grace for triggering people into reliving their traumas. They loved to boast about how many followers they had and they should’ve thought of those followers before having very public meltdowns and gassing eachother up. I am sorry but i am very very angry. If any single one of them is claiming that dtblr wasnt a hivemandy clique they need a reality check. All of them converging on discord and making similar essays one after the other following every big event smh.

I have been on tumblr fandoms for 10 years, dtblr was the first experience with knowing the names of people after the blogs and having to learn it to follow along what is going on… what a joke to say it wasnt cliquey.

Dream doesnt care about what is going on in tumblr, he doesnt care if he has a community here or not, this community was for itself and as i’ll never forgive twt updates for triggering people into mass anxiety and panic attacks and triggering their trauma, i’ll also be not forgiving those that have done the same here. I expect apologies for those that they have hurt and not 100 page essays on how they justified that behaviour to themselves.

I’m sorry for the vent but i keep seeing young people say they were massively triggered by tumblr and the update account that day and i get so angry everytime i think about it. these “sorry i am back, turns out i overreacted and it wasnt that wrong” posts arent helping my anger. There were people here that didnt have their discord clique to fall back on and their reactions hurt those people much more than anything dream was ever accused to have done…

i mean, that’s definitely fair. i hope it didn’t sound like i was trying to excuse or downplay what happened with people reacting the way they did, bc i absolutely agree that genuine harm was caused that needs to be acknowledged-- when you brag about your influence in some scenarios, you need to take responsibility for that influence in others. when i said that people should be given grace i more so meant the average blogger who was just like “yeah i’m done with him goodbye” only to walk it back later, but i also can’t really find it in myself to say that big names shouldn’t be able to come back too if they want (with the exception of dwtupdates, fuck those guys). i completely see what you’re saying and i agree that it’s irritating to watch so i’m not trying to convince you of anything, but i guess from my perspective most of these people are also fairly young, just as emotionally invested, and potentially also triggered by the initial accusations, the only difference is that they have 4k followers and a discord server of mutuals whose opinions they trust. and so one person getting upset leads to everyone’s emotions ratcheting up until dream is a morally bankrupt groomer and the entire top level of bloggers are suddenly gone. maybe that didn’t make any sense but basically i think that while they should absolutely be more responsible (and reflect on it in private even if they don’t apologize), i think it’s ultimately the fault of dtblr’s structure and that inherent cliqueyness and i have a lot of sympathy for the individual people

[itssleepyrabbit]

hi! wow i super love your art and i don’t have enough dabihawks in my life 🥺 was wondering if you had any fic recs for them?? 💕💕

aah thank you so much!! 💕💕 💕💕

BOY IF I DO HAVE!! alright buckle up this might get long (most are fluff and SFW~ i’ll put a NSFW warning but be sure to look at tags in all of them!!)

Bed I made (lie in it with me)��by  silverwordswrites

“Touya is in desperate need of a plus-one for his brother's wedding and Keigo is infinitely curious about the man who he was sure used to hate him in college.” 

-- the summary says everything and honestly it’s one of the most romatics dabihawks fics i’ve read.

On-going

He Doesn't Love Me by  Fatally

“Dabi doesn't love him. He's accepted that thorny truth, swallowed it down and let briars grow in his chest, drinking down his blood like water.Or: The one in which Hawks settles for pining for his entire life and doesn't realize Dabi's been staring at him the entire time, too.” 

-- I love pinning Hawks with a burning passion.

Completed

sweetheart, is that you? by  fuckendeavor666

“dabi and hawks say i love you (without actually saying i love you) in five different ways.“ 

-- This is my absolute fave dabihawks fic

Completed

Deck the Halls With Boughs of Folly by  DrAphra

“In which the League has acquired a new fancy mansion -with all the heating and food and plush beds they could possibly need - but they still prefer to spend the day out in the wilderness with just each other. Plus Hawks.“ 

-- Honestly all Aphra’s dabihawks fics are more than worth it but this one has a special place on my heart.

Completed

fuck, im so young - orphaned

“Todoroki Touya writes poems.

Words upon words of heartfelt confessions, letters of sing song fantasies, syllables of feelings he never got to say out loud.

When Todoroki Touya hits sixteen, he burns himself to death.

When Dabi hits twenty four-

He meets Hawks.” 

-- i don’t know how to explain but this fic it’s pretty

Completed

Feathers and Feelings by  Toboe1087

“Hawks keeps leaving feathers on his pillow, and Dabi's about had it.

(like hell he'd let anyone else have them, though)”

-- Dabi preening Hawks feathers is a blessing

Complete

(this is not a) swan song by  bittermoons

“"Who's your favorite, then?"

"Hawks." Touya doesn't miss a beat. "Definitely Hawks."

"What? Seriously? How come?"

"He has his flaws, but at the end of the day, he's trying to do good. It's something he always strives for. Dabi, on the other hand...if it weren't for Hawks, he wouldn't be a hero, that's for sure."

[Or: How a secret is revealed, and what comes afterwards.]”

-- Adorable no quirks AU with manga artist Touya and oblivious Keigo! Another author i adore pretty much all dabihawks works.

Completed

You can't trap the sky in a bottle by thyandra

“Letting Toga organize the accommodations for their trip might have been a mistake. This particular truth becomes obvious to Keigo as he opens the door of his hotel room for the first time. There, staring back at him mockingly, is a single, king-sized bed. It’s only by virtue of all the years spent perfecting his poker face around his adoptive parents, that he manages to keep his face straight. At his side, Touya clicks his tongue. “They must’ve given us the wrong key.””

--(no quirks AU) I really love they way Dabi and Hawks are written here i can’t express it in words and so so much pinning

Completed

A Tale as Old as Time by  EloFromMars, Gotcocomilk

“Dabi and Hawks are hit by the most improbable Quirk: both are yeeted in Fairytales land and have to rely on each other to get out of this.“

-- this was such a fun read omg

Completed

A Romance Written All Over Your Body by  minatsukinoamayo

//NSFW mind the tags!//

“Hawks is assigned to infiltrate the League of Villains in order to expose them. Hawks usually never fails a mission, but Keigo usually never falls in love, either.A story of how Hawks falls from grace to become a villain, because hero society has failed them all.

OR

5 times they're not in a relationship and 1 time they are.“

-- you know those fics you say “one more chapter” and it’s 3AM

Completed

it caught spark in your eyes by  youareoldfatherwilliam

//Mature - Implied Sexual Content//

“Keigo’s quirk is powerful, but sometimes it comes with unintended side effects.

Or: A 5 + 1 fic of five times the more…instinctively bird-like parts of Keigo’s quirk took over accidentally during his relationship with Dabi, and one time it happened entirely on purpose.“

-- I was screaming about this particular fic on twt the other day pls give it a read if you can it’s so so so good! Any fic that has Hawks with bird traits has a special place on my heart

Completed

The Others by  threesipsmore

//Mature - 2 sexual scenes, nothing too explicit but they’re there//

“"Skeptic's starting to think he’s more important than me,” Toga sneers, an acidic edge to her voice. “Making decisions on his own, sending out birdie without even talking to me first.”

She’d simply acquiesced to cooperating with Skeptic, but from day one the complaints had never stopped. In this tiny room layered with sushi and cakes, Dabi was forced to listen to her whining.”

-- You go birb, you get that man

Completed

Equivalent Exchange by  inexchangeforyoursoul

“Keigo blinks the blurry oblivion away from his eyes, although some part of it is oddly stubborn and to stay indefinitely. There's three things he's certain of: first, he’s alive. Second, just by looking at the bed and windows he can tell this is no villain hospital or torture room. Third: something feels wrong. Very wrong.

The silence… is deafening.

xxx

To obtain, something of equal value must be lost.

If so, what of a bird that has lost its wings?”

-- i had so many feelings reading i can’t physically explain them to you also PINK HAIR DABI PINK HAIR DABI

Completed

dabi's 5-step guide to being a better parent than endeavor by  twinkfrankenstein (orphan_account)

“A little voice inside his head whispered spitefully about how this was no place for a child, and how he was making a mistake and would only traumatize the kid, yada yada. He responded with an equally spiteful-

“Fuck off, its not like I planned to do arson today.”

(or: how Dabi becomes a good dad just to spite his own, realizes he kinda sorta maybe likes Hawks for realsies, begrudgingly admits the League cares and finally comes to terms with his protective side. Not in that order.)“

-- this legit made me laught out loud idk what else tell you

Completed

The Todoroki In-Laws by  aphrodaisyacs

“Over 10 years after the fight against the Paranormal Liberation Front, Rumi, aka the part-time hero Miruko and the proud wife of one Todoroki Fuyumi, decides it would be an awesome idea to create a groupchat with the significant others of the other Todoroki siblings.

Maybe things would be easier if its members weren’t two Pro Heroes, a former one and a rehabilitated villain, but…Honestly, where’s the fun in that?”

-- this is not dabihawks focused but it’s so funny pls

Completed

With Being Petty Comes Consequences by  CursedUndead

“"When we were saying fuck pro heroes, I didn't think you literally meant FUCK them," Tomura grumbles, kicking over an empty beer can.

"Pretty judgmental for someone fucking a pro twice their age," Touya says.

Tomura squints, and says, "Ten years is not twice my age."

Or, after spending Enji's money, Touya is forced to babysit for the number 2 hero to pay him back. Touya makes it his life's mission to fuck his new boss.”

-- this only has 4 chapters but i know it’s going to be one of my faves

On-going

The Truth series by  AmethystUnarmed

-- Hawks gets hit with a truth quirk and starts to be actually free by the power of love, friendship and a bit of crime <3

The last entry is on-going

and if we sit and count it up it's really not a lot by  sincerelysamedt

“Hawks finds a bento box in his messenger bag and almost cries.

"Is that a loving wife bento?"“

-- please PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD READ THIS ONE /sobbing noises/

Completed

steal your heart by  darlingest

//Mature//

“When infamous thief Hawks announces that he is going to steal the heart of Endeavor's son, everyone expects him to prey on Shoto Todoroki - nobody suspects Touya to be the actual target.“

-- Villain Hawks and civilian Dabi are my guilty pleasure and this one it’s so soft too i’m- djsahfdjkfhadf

Completed

darling, thank god it’s this universe we’re in (and you can annoy me as much as you please) by  juurensha

“ Todoroki Rei divorces Endeavor and moves all four of her children into a small apartment next to a boy with wings as red as the hair of her eldest son. “

-- This was one of the first dabihawks fics i ever read and, to this day, i come back to it when i feel i need the extra burst in happy feelings and check their other works too! Honestly all are such a good fucking read

Completed

[kimistorm]

[Lee Minho] Cats are the Worst

Fandom: Stray Kids

Pairing: Lee Know/Lee Minho x GN! reader

Requested by: AvatarKyarra

Prompts: 6) “That wasn’t supposed to happen” and 9) “Don’t freak out”

Word count: 1.7k

TW: Mentions of food

AN: Lol <1k was a bit of a lie apparently. Anywho, thank you for the request! Sorry if the writing feels a little clunky/repetitive TwT BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, Hyunjin is back!!

“I don’t know, do you think he’ll like it?” you asked your phone that was on speakerphone as you scrolled through the list of recipes on your screen.

You heard an exasperated sigh from the other end of the line, “of course he’s going to love it. You’re his significant other.”

“Yeah, but he’s not that fond of sweets,” you bit your lip and ran a hand through your hair in frustration.

Han let out another groan from your hesitance, at this point, he was probably more frustrated than you, “have you seen him with Felix makes brownies?”

“Okay, but Felix’s brownies can make anyone melt.” You bit back in response as you thought to the cheery blond’s sweets. They always made you feel better, even after a rough day.

“He’s going to love anything you make him,” Han told you with finality, though this would be the fifth time he’s told you this. “But the more time you waste doing this the less time you have to make it.”

You snorted, knowing Han also had streaks of indecisiveness, “when did you become decisive?”

“Since you spent nearly an hour going in circles with me.” You let out a yelp of surprise, not realizing how much time had already passed. “Just make cookies! They’re going to be faster than a cake.” Your black-haired friend quickly told you, hoping to take this opportunity to give you a decision.

“Okay, okay, thank you!” you hurriedly clicked on the recipe with the highest rating and number of reviews.

“It’ll be amazing!” Han rushed to tell you as you fumbled with your phone to hang up.

“Thanks Han! If we have any extra I’ll bring you some!”

“Go, go go!” Han cheered before hanging up. With a determined nod, you ran around your shared kitchen for the ingredients. You frowned when you couldn’t find any more chocolate chips, Minho must’ve eaten them because you could’ve sworn you had some last week. It looks like you’ll have to change your plan and make sugar cookies. You found a simple recipe that allowed for decorating and decided that you’d decorate them. That’d be a cute gesture, right?

With clumsy precision, you measured out the ingredients and mixed them together to form the dough. You frowned as the recipe called to chill the dough for a couple of hours. You weren’t going to have time for that, so you’d have to skip that step and hope things still turned out all right. With the use of a couple of spoons and a butterknife, you were able to scoop out some relatively flat cookies onto the baking tray and pop them into the oven. It was a shame you couldn’t find the cat-shaped cookie cutters that you thought Felix gave you for Christmas, but they were very lost. Now that you think about it, you weren’t sure if you saw them since the day he gave them to you.

It was with a sinking heart when you realized you would have to wait for the cookies to cool before you could ice them. “It’ll be okay, right?” you worriedly mumbled as you glanced at your phone to see how much longer you had until Minho came home and the timer telling you that it would be close. Letting out a somewhat panicked but quiet, “aaaaaa,” you set to cleaning up the bowls and utensils you had used to make the dough. In no time they were on the drying rack and you grabbed a smaller bowl to make the icing.

You fished through to the back of your pantry for the somewhat old bag of powdered sugar that you used to decorate pancakes with and then never used again. You were glad to see it was still powdery and usable. You were measuring out the powder for the icing when a light body made its way to your side.

“Hey Doongie,” you cooed as you pet the cat who leaped onto the counter for some affection. “We’re going to make your dad cookies, what do you think?” dark eyes blinked at you lazily. “Ah, maybe that’s what I get for trying to talk to cats.” You sniggered when you got no response. You turned around to check the next steps of the recipe, but quickly spun around in fear when you heard the hollow ‘thunk’ of something plastic falling to the ground and an indignant ‘meow.’

“Oh no!” you panicked when you saw Doongie sitting cleanly on the counter where you left the white cat, but there was no bowl of powdered sugar. That was spilled on the ground. “Why’d you do that?” you wailed at the cat who you swore was smirking at you. You grew even more scared when you saw the disturbed flour on the ground. It was thrown all over the place and you saw pawprints leading out from the mess. “You didn’t!” you scolded as you followed the trail of white pawprints, already fearing for the mess that was being tracked all over your apartment.

Thanks to the visible trail, you were able to find the victim hidden in one of the cat houses perched on a scratching post. “You wanna come out?” you cooed to the cat enshrouded in darkness. You needed to see the damage that was done. Two eyes seemed to stare back at you from the darkness, blinking only once. You let out a sigh before returning to the kitchen to grab a cat treat. Doongie meowed pleadingly with you, going as far as to put a paw on your arm when you fished out a treat, “no.” You told the cat sassily, “you’ve caused enough trouble.” You swore Doongie rolled their eyes at you as you walked away.

“Come on out,” you gently cooed as you waved the treat in front of the opening to the cat housing. There was a moment of silence, and then a head popped out. You quickly moved your hand away so the cat would have to reach, and gasped when you saw the white cat who emerged. “Oh no Dori!” the normally striped gray cat was almost completely coated in powdered sugar. “On second thought,” you put the treat back into the housing, “you can stay in there.” You were not looking forward to washing the dark cat.

You left the cat to the darkness of the cat house and the treat before returning to the kitchen, letting out another wail when you saw Doongie playing around in the pile of sugar. “No! Bad cat!” you weren’t keen on another set of sugar tracks around the apartment so you slowly came closer to pick up Doongie. The white cat froze and stared at you, nimbly jumping out of the way when you lunged forward to pick them up. “No! Come back here!” you raced around the apartment chasing the white cat.

After a few seconds of chasing them, you decided to give up, hoping Doongie would calm down and sit instead of running around the entire apartment to cause an even bigger mess. You quickly closed the door to the bathroom where the cat was currently taking refuge and closed all the doors to the rooms. Hopefully this would keep the damage contained. With a sigh you set to cleaning up the powdered sugar that had splattered to the ground and somehow onto the cabinet right next to it.

You heard the deadbolt click and your heart sank as the door opened to reveal Minho, “hey,” while you were sad your cookies weren’t ready in time, seeing him always put a smile on your face and you got up from the ground to greet him, “you’re home early.”

“They let me leave earlier,” he smiled as the two of you quickly kissed. There was a meow and he looked down in confusion at the half-white half-gray Dori.

“Dori?” he kneeled down and rubbed the cat lovingly, “what happened?” he asked as he turned his attention to you.

“Don’t freak out.”

His dark eyes widened, “that’s not reassuring at all.”

“I was trying to bake you cookies, and then Doongie knocked the sugar bowl onto Dori.” Minho let out a quiet yelp and began inspecting Dori for any wounds. “Sorry.” You muttered shamefully, you were just trying to celebrate.

“Don’t worry about it,” Minho smiled as he pulled you into a hug, “that’s so sweet you tried to make something for me.”

“I guess I made something.” You muttered bitterly into his shirt, “a mess.”

“It’s the thought that counts,” he told you gently, “they’re self-cleaning,” he gestured toward Dori, “it’ll be fine. Probably.” You giggled at his last comment, relieved to find he wasn’t mad. He was an angel, if your positions were switched, you definitely wouldn’t be as cool-headed as he was right now. “Is something burning?” Minho asked after a moment and you let out a scream, running over to the oven and completely deflating when you saw the blackened cookies.

Minho aided you in opening the window and airing out the open oven so the fire alarm wouldn’t go off, “that wasn’t supposed to happen.” You mumbled sullenly as you took out the cookie sheet and cautiously broke one of them, causing it to completely shatter and reveal how deep the black reached. “I kind of don’t want to scrape off the burnt parts to get to the good stuff.

Minho peered over your shoulder and popped one of the broken pieces into his mouth. His eyes watered at the hot treat and he frantically waved a hand over his open mouth to try and cool it down. “Yeah, it’s kind of bad.” He answered honestly as he engulfed you in a back hug, “and it burned half of my taste buds before I even tasted it.” You deflated at his blunt comment, “don’t worry! Let’s go buy some cookies at the bakery down the street!”

“But I wanted to make you something to celebrate,” you pouted, looking sadly at the blackened sweets.

“Just being with you is enough,” he smiled into your neck.

You hummed and leaned into his touch, “you’re too nice.”

“Come on,” he gently tugged at you, “let’s clean up the cats and get some cookies.”

“I love you,” you told him softly as you gave him a kiss.

“Love you too.”

Masterlist

[thoughts-on-bangtan]

Memories of 2020 - Initial asks and a small discussion

*cracks knuckles* Here we go.

If any of you have spent any amount of time today on any ARMY sns platform, I’m sure you’ve seen the mess which, as seasoned ARMY, I can tell you was the exact same mess we see...every single time. I can’t particularly say I’m surprised by any of it, especially when watching the entire process, as in the first clips hitting the TL and then the rest slowly following suit like a flood building steadily as the hours went by.

From anon: be ready for insecure vminies 😂

I’m pleased to report it wasn’t actually as bad as I expected, though now that I’m typing this I probably jinxed my own luck and the flood of asks will come soon enough, but maybe not. I’m holding on to the latter.

Based on the cycle in which these things happen every time, as in that the first clips that hit the ARMY spaces are Xkook ones, followed by vmin and other ships, and lastly more OT7 content, I expected our asks to go haywire after that clip, you know which one I mean. But we’ve only gotten two (?) about it, kind of, so I guess most people understood that it was just for laughs and nothing serious that anyone would have to get insecure over.

From anon: Sigh. This is my first memories of bts as army and i'm already tired of how all of twitter seems to be about 1 j*/k*ok moment now. There were so many j*n/kook m*ments and hugs and a sweet h*pe/k*ok backhug moment and a good number of vmin moments including slow dancing so why is the focus always on that one ship?

Here’s the thing, maybe my TLs are just well curated, I don’t know, but on mine no one really focused on that moment? Even non-shipper OT7s just briefly had a chuckle and then moved along to other things, awww’ed at vmin moments, there was lots and lots of talk about J*nk*ok being super cute and there being so much content when it comes to their interactions, there was a lot of chatter about basically every duo and OT7 moment. I know ship specific spaces went nuts, Xkookers butting heads like their lives depend on it, but outside of them?

“All of twt” is an exaggeration and I know, believe me I do, that Xkookers have the ability to make it seem like everyone just cares about their moments because they themselves (the shippers) are loud and seemingly everywhere, but when you look past them, that isn’t the case. Shippers have a tendency to generalize, especially those who follow a lot of their fellow shippers, but when you step outside of shipper spaces, things look very differently.

Like anon said, though I’d like to preface this by saying that I haven’t seen the entirety of Memories of 2020 so I can only go by what I have seen though I’d say I’ve seen nearly everything that was posted on twt or at least as much as I could find (including Xkook things), there were a lot, and I mean a lot, of amazing moments between basically all the members, regardless of who your favorite duo might be, I’m sure there was something for you there. Even those who are supposedly a rarity. And even as vminnies, this time around we had a feast with so many amazing vmin moments, some funny ones, some random ones, some super cute ones, whatever you want, there is something there for you to find. And the same can be said about so many other duos, we even got Yoongi and Hobi FaceTiming each other, and Yoongi saying they look like a couple while looking at the pictures Hobi chose for the coffee truck he sent to Yoongi’s Daechwita MV filming set.

There’s one discussion I’d like to get out of the way below the cut, but after that I will have another post very, very soon in which I want us to just have some fun and look at vmin, namjin and the other moments because there is just so much to find. And this is just day one of people having the DVDs, these discussion will continue for a while because, like I mentioned before, Memories are a treasure trove for OT7 content and fun stuff, and there’s more than eleven hours worth of it to be watched, discovered and discussed.

But, okay, let’s get into that moment since anons wanted to talk about it and know my thoughts on it, so let’s do just that. And yes, other anon from a while ago, I remember you once mentioning how I shouldn’t talk about other ships and shouldn’t “debunk” them and their moments, though I’d hardly call this debunking, but as I said many times since our first post, I’m ARMY before I am a vminnie and namjinist, and our blog is called thoughts on Bangtan and, as far as I’m aware, both JK and Jimin are part of Bangtan, so I don’t see a reason why I can’t show my perspective on it and also voice my grievances with shippers when it comes to that moment. And, before anyone comes into our asks to yell at me for being toxic/problematic or only doing this to make my ship look better or whatever, no, that isn’t the point, like at all. 

“Debunking” moments makes literally no difference whatsoever in the grand scheme of things and doesn’t affect reality, all I am doing is having a chat just like everyone else. I’m not even asking you to agree with me, you’re more than welcome not to, I can’t and won’t stop you. Also, just so you know, my initial reaction was just to laugh amused by it, no hard feelings, so I’m not the bad guy.

That being said...the Xkook moment.

Here’s the thing, when it first surfaced many hours ago, the moment itself was cut down to show just the moment of Jimin leaning close to JK and JK leaning back and turning his head away so his cheek faced Jimin...and cut, some even cutting off the video before JK turned his head. That’s it. People, as in shippers, freaked out, and everyone else had a good laugh and moved along to other things, even vminnies were joking about it and everything. I saw none of my fellow vminnies getting angry or insecure about it. Then, as time went by, someone else posted that scene but this time also showing the things leading up to it, so putting it into context instead of removing it. With the context suddenly the whole thing looked and felt completely differently since moments prior Jimin was pretending to stab JK with the pointy end of his mic and then acted as though to check if he was d*ad, as in the end of the scene. Turns out it was just for giggles and not some grand romantic moment in a room full of people and a camera close to their faces.

By that time, of course, those who cared most about that moment had long decided what meaning this holds and didn’t care once context was shown. Gifs and art had already been created, the yelling was loud, and the fights between Xkookers were reaching levels of toxicity I hadn’t seen in a while, which was disgusting and fucked up the say the least. But, the thing is, I don’t think the moment itself was the issue. In context and as rational ARMY you know it was just Jimin playing around with JK as they usually do, things we’ve also seen other members do in similar (though not quite like this) fashion, and after eight years since debut and nine of knowing each other, this isn’t shocking or new in any way. No, the issue were Xkookers and the way they treated this moment, some even going as far as taking screenshots and editing them to make it seem like they were about to kiss, as in they changed the placements of their heads to fit their narrative, as well as others making gifs where they play the moment backwards (leaving out the part where JK leans his head away and to the side) and thus they created their own version of the moment which was different from what had actually happened.

That is my biggest issue with this whole thing. The blatant manipulation of moments to create narratives that don’t match reality, twisting them and using them in stupid pointless fights. But imagine vminnies were to do any of that, all hell would break loose and we’d be attacked without mercy because how dare, and yet they don’t follow their own “logic” and “rules”. It’s more than okay to find any and all moments cute, we all do, to make jokes and whatnot, but twisting context, manipulating it and basically creating your own version of it goes too far. 

Take what we are given as what it is, instead of what you want it to be.

So, now that that’s done, please fellow vminnies and ARMYs, don’t be insecure or let people ruin your mood and fun over it. It’s not worth it. Instead let’s check out and have a talk about some of the fun vmin and OT7 moments we got, along with other ones, including my reply to another anon when it comes to namjin. Of course what I will mention in the post (HERE) is basically just the tip of the iceberg since tumblr has a limit on pictures and everything, so just know there is so much more still left to see than just that.

Before I’ll go, for those who still feel a little insecure/doubtful/whatever else, while I was working on this post and the other one, another anon sent in this well timed vmin ask:

From anon: I have to say this as a Vmin supporter. Whatever is going on with Vmin we can rest assure what they is special/untouchable. They graduated HS & college together, going for Bachelors together. Jimin-ah I like you the most. I want to live with my lovely Taehyung for the rest if my life. Their future is together, friends/soulmates or more they said it. I won’t tear down other members closeness (good for them) their bonds don’t erase Vmins. I’m just happy with the moments Vmin allow us to see.

[tteii]

a sakuatsu fic

tags: exes to lovers, married skts, inspired by captain holt and kevin’s kiss

ao3 ver. | unedited twt thread ver.

“You what?” Miya Osamu couldn’t help but raise his voice when he heard his twin spouting stupid shit. Only the counter and the wooden spatula he was holding was preventing him from strangling the annoying blonde in front of him.

“I’m not talking to you.” Atsumu turned his direction back to Rintarou, his twin’s boyfriend of sixteen years, as he continued eating his onigiri. “So, I was saying一”

Osamu shoved another onigiri on his twin’s mouth. “Why the fuck do you need to make a Grindr profile? I thought the couple’s counselling was going well.”

“First of all, I could’ve died一”

“But you didn’t.” Rin said as a matter of factly then, kissed his boyfriend on his left cheek. “Gotta pick up the new batch of tuna in the market. Will be back in an hour.”

“Ugh! Have some respect!” Trying to throw his chopstick at the love birds, which he failed miserably, resulted in a fake gagging just to show his disdain because why not?

As soon as Rintarou left the shop, it became quiet until there was a soft sniffle. “It was okay, at f-first ‘til一”He started crying, tears and snot. Thank god Osamu was quick enough to pat his twin’s head as an act of comfort. “T-the psychologist told me一sniff一 to have more time. And I was like, excuse you doctor, you’re not paying for my rent and medication!”

“Ssh, it’s alright. Did you explain to them your side?”

“No! How could I when the gorgeous bastard agreed and pointed out that I barely have time for sex let alone weekly dates!” More sniffles, more wailing.

It wasn’t his fault, not entirely. True, that ever since he got assigned to a bigger project, he rarely had time. Blame the architect firm for sending him to Aomori! Blame the expensive rent in Tokyo with its boxed apartment. Blame his ADHD and its fucking caviar price meds.

Blamed everything and he ended up losing the love of his life.

After several threatening texts to Rintarou and excessive pleading that his life depended on this fucking finally, he was ready to thread the waters and catch some big fish with tight fitted pants and black turtleneck to add some mysterious effect.

10 minutes!

The guy, Akiteru, was already 10 minutes late.

“It’s okay, you’re just used to Omi’s timeliness.” Atsumu murmured under his breath, chanting it like a spell.

“Miya?”

Dirty blonde? Check.

Beige trousers? Check.

Suede loafers? Check.

Long nails? Check.

Atsumu was baffled. How could someone check all his run-towards-the-exit-asap list.

First, there could only be one blonde in the relationship. Beige trousers made him icky like a melted popsicle in summer time. Suede? Hard to fucking clean, it should be forbidden. Leather was popular for a reason! Long fucking nails?!

Atsumu was about to faint. Or burst. Or scream. It didn’t matter. The moment his date went to the restroom, he immediately paid for his drink and immediately ran for his sanity.

Of course, he sent one last message to the guy before deleting the app.

Sorry, forgot to tell you I’m allergic to suede and alcohol. Thanks for your time.

- Miya A.

//

“So…?” Rintarou wiggled his eyebrows, taunting Atsumu before whispering something to his boyfriend’s ear.

“Nothing! And stop talking behind my back, I’m literally sitting in front of you guys!”

“Jealous.”

“Green-eyed monster.”

Atsumu sighed because no matter how good he lied to his co-workers about his date that ended bragging for three whole days, unfortunately, he could never fool his twin.

“What should I do…?” It sounded more sad? Ah, dejected. Defeated. Like a loser.

How could he think that a dating app and a date in the bar could make him forget about the one and only Sakusa Kiyoomi. Four years of pinning since high school. Another five years of dating, learning, familiarizing and memorizing every single non-hypoallergenic sanitzer there was in the market. And three and a half years of being married, sharing a house, their love and life.

How stupid could he be?

No one could replace Kiyoomi in his life. Not that he wanted to. He just…he just wanted to give him a better life. Bigger house. A backyard and a big dog. Europe trips.

Things he couldn’t give him when he was a broke college student and a struggling 24 year old competing to get a job in the most sought-after architecture firm in Tokyo.

He just simply wanted to give him the life he deserved.

So what went wrong?

“You know he loves you, right?” Osamu broke the silence. “You’ve known each other for years. Do you think he’s the type of person to give up easily?”

“B-but, I hurt him, Samu. Made him cry.”

“Like it’s the first time? Remember when you had your first fight? Outside my dormand you were carrying his shirts and hoodies in a plastic bag, ready to throw it in his face in case he asked for a break up?”

Atsumu remembered it all too well.

Last year of uni. He spent the night at Rin’s dorm because he caught Kiyoomi talking to a girl after turning him down for a date. He was crying the whole night. Asking if he was worth it. If Kiyoomi actually loved him in the first place. If everything they had was real.

And when he was going down the stairs, with the plastic bag full of his boyfriend’s clothes, he saw Kiyoomi standing outside the dorm, cheeks stained with tears and a bouquet of white lilies on his hand.

A symbol of devotion.

“You think Omi’s going to run under the rain, shouting my一”

“Miya Atsumu!” That was his name, coming from a familiar voice.

He stood up from the couch and as he was looking from the window of his twin’s second floor apartment, he saw a dark figure standing outside the building.

Just like before.

Umbrella and slippers be damned. All he was thinking was to get to the door as soon as possible一

“Miya Atsumu! Miya! Atsu, please…”

They said it only happens in the movie, a kiss under the rain that is.

They said it only exists in Nancy Meyers movies.

He was no Nancy Meyers or in a romance film but everything felt right, even magical.

The wet kiss. The tears hiding under the rain drops.

The quiet I love yous. The warm hug amidst the cold winds blowing harshly. The several sorrrys shared between another kiss.

How their hands trembled at the touch of each other’s skin. How their hearts were about to burst simply because their love for each other was so much.

“Com'on lovebirds! You’re both gonna get sick!” And just like that, Suna was again standing by the door. Osamu was behind him, chin perched on his shoulder.

“I love you.”

“No matter what.”

- fin.

[lightneverfades]

That Damned Gazebo

Frostiron Holiday Wishes Challenge ❆ 🎅🎄 Prompt by @snarkyship Fic written by @worstloki Note: AH! So sorry this is a late post, tumblr messed up and I didn’t receive this on Xmas day! Ah! Thank you @worstloki for resending! TwT <3333

Wish (Prompt/Idea): Human/no powers AU. Sort-of-enemies to friends to lovers.Tony rents this house/bungalow by the sea for the summer, with a kind of private beach where there is also a cute gazebo. Only that the gazebo is exactly halfway with the other property (by some mistake?). And the tenant of the neighbour bungalow is Loki, who's not so keen on sharing. So Loki&Tony will start a "war" to gain possession of the gazebo, doing their worst using the excuse of "this is my half, I can use it as I want". ((Optional: there is a table right in the middle, so at the beginning they sit at their own side glaring at each other, before starting deploying more convoluted tactics)).Mischief after mischief, they will start to know each other and of course everything will end with one of them inviting the other to their half for a romantic dinner and they'll end up sharing more than the gazebo <3((I hope it's enough clear and but also not too detailed??)) 

Stupid cute bungalow. Stupid cute gazebo. Stupid cute neighbour.

All Tony wanted was a vacation; a break from running a business and having to argue for his ideas to get accepted by the marketing teams and just some time to lay low and relax.

All Loki wanted was a break from being upstaged in his section of the family business by his brother; some time off to cool down and de-stress and lay low and relax.

But instead only half their regular favourite beach house was available no matter how much cash they offered to throw at the real estate company renting it out. Could they have picked a different place to stay? Maybe. But none of the other decent rentables this far west have a gazebo, and they would have nowhere to sit alone and admire the waves from afar if they took a place without one.

And, of course, that’s where it all started— that gazebo.

That damned gazebo.

———

Day 1

Tony Stark, genius, entrepreneur, philanthropist, makes his way unsteadily down the sandy-grassy slope from the bungalow to the beach, arms filled with an excessive amount of floating supplies, a personalized towel, sunglasses only half on, a fun-sized bottle of the finest sun lotion, a laptop because he may leave the stock market but the stock market may not leave him, a black Prada shirt over khaki Hawaiian shorts, a speaker for music, hot-rod red flip flops, a bag of snacks, a thin multipurpose blanket, and a polaroid.

He almost slips a few times on his way down, and he thinks he sees a crab and swears, but he does make it down to the brilliant white-sand beach of Malibu unharmed.

His plan is simple: spend the day in the shade of the wooden gazebo, sneak a peek at how his business is holding up, check his emails, play some Tetris, sunbathe around noon when the sun is highest, back under the shelter till the sun starts going down, into the water for some splashing, drying off as the sun sets, listen to some tunes while laying under the stars for a while.

Just a regular day off at his favourite beach.

He walks to the shaded gazebo area and draws the curtain to enter, and dumps the entire contents within his arms over the table in the center. He turns to open up the curtains on all sides but is interrupted by an ahem.

Tony turns, and, in the curtained darkness, makes out the figure of a person.

He must be the one who booked out the other half of the house, Tony thinks, eying the stranger sitting at the opposite end of the table with only a book and bottle of water. Show-off minimalists, Tony thinks, saltily.

“I would prefer if you didn’t open those,” he says, and Tony doesn’t recognize the accent, but there definitely is one. Maybe it’s a blend?

“But what’s the point of sitting under a gazebo on a beach if you can’t see the view?” Tony asks, pulling one open, letting in some light.

The man practically hisses at Tony for doing it, which, okay, weird, but that’s normal when you’re assaulted with bright light and have been sitting in the dark.

“How were you reading in the dark anyway? Don’t you know it’s bad for your eyes?”

“I assure you I was able to read just fine.”

“Yeah… I’m opening the rest of these too…” Tony says, reaching for the curtain by the other side.

“Not if you wish to share this table, you won’t,” the man threatens.

“Are you… trying to bribe me?” Tony asks, shocked, because who does this guy think he is?

“Compromise with,” the man has the gall to say. “And with table space, yes,” and Tony sputters. What can he even say to this. He’s here for a vacation, not to argue with strangers who are taking up half the gazebo space that should be his!

“Half,” Tony suggests, because he will not sit in the dark all day and miss out on his beach-view just so he gets to use the table. “You get half of this space, and I get the other half, and we can do whatever we want on our sides.”

The man sighs. “Fine. That sounds fair.”

The two of them spend the entire rest of the day sitting at opposite sides of the table pretending they’re not intentionally glaring and making crazy faces and trying to telepathically get rid of the other when they’re not looking.

Tony doesn’t comment on how the man barely gets any reading done and the man in turn doesn’t comment on how much equipment Tony brought down that he doesn’t use at any point in favour of using the laptop to retain his spot under the gazebo.

Schedule be damned, Tony is going to enjoy his vacation, and that means enjoying his duplex bungalow, even if someone else is renting half, and enjoying his gazebo that may be in-between the properties and they both may be paying for but is 100% actually his.

They wait each other out, and both head up to their houses at the same time; around midnight.

———

Day 2

Loki wakes at his usual time, showers, pointedly gets dressed into anything but the black shirt he has that matches what the man had on yesterday, and grabs his book before he heads down to the beach.

Having to share the same table was, simply put, incredibly awkward, but Loki has faith in it not happening again. He’s just going to make his way down to the gazebo and spend the day relaxing and rereading his favourite series without a pretentious-bearded neighbour showing up and making things weird.

“YOU!” Loki hears, and turns to find the same man from yesterday rushing down the slope towards him, “WHY ARE YOU UP AT THIS TIME?!”

Loki takes in the sight of the man dressed in a half-buttoned-up hawaiian shirt and pajama pants, with only a laptop and towel in hand, hair clearly fresh from bed, and, before he thinks better of it, counters eloquently with, “why are you half dressed?”

The man waves his arms in frustration, “I was tired! And in a rush! You don’t get to judge me, you’re the other f*ck who woke up this early!”

“I… normally get up this early…” Loki informs him, backing away slowly.

He can’t believe he’s going to have to deal with this guy again.

At least his sweatshirt has a green hood so he can block the guy out of his sight, right? He won’t spend the entire day rereading paragraphs because the man at the other end of the table is making him feel anxious, right? Surely the man is bringing the towel to lay in the sand which means he won’t be needing the gazebo, right?

Loki literally booked this bungalow because it’s in Malibu, and no one pays for a place like this in Malibu when you can rent a lower quality place and spend the money on beach parties and drinks. The fact that it’s far enough from home to make him feel safer was a bonus, but he really just wanted to be alone for a few days.

Loki takes a seat, and crosses one leg over the other, getting comfy so he can lean the book on the table. He tries not to get annoyed that the curtains are still parted halfway. He wouldn’t mind if the ones on his side were open too, but at this point he’s not acquiescing a point to the stranger.

The man pulls the wooden chair out and sits down opposite him.

Of course he does.

Why wouldn’t he.

“So you’re really going to keep reading in the dark?” he says, flipping open his laptop.

“Yep, and that suits me just fine, thank you,” Loki answers neutrally.

“Does my no-light-reading-neighbour have a name?”

“Do you?”

“Tony.”

“Loki.”

“Nice to meet you, Loki,”

“Thank you.”

Loki uses his bookmark to flip to his page, and starts reading. He will not get distracted by this Tony. It’s totally normal to share this table. It’s not huge, but it’s built for at least six, so there’s space. Maybe not enough to lay on, but it’s enough distance to ignore the clicking of Tony’s keyboard as he frantically presses keys.

Loki is two hours into enjoying his reading time, and he thinks he was doing well.

He’d smiled every time Tony yawned because with eye-rubbing and deep sighs that man was not used to getting up early, but he’d actually gotten through nearly three chapters without incident.

Then, the infuriating man had plunked a speaker onto the table and started playing AC/DC.

Now he’s reread this one line at least fourteen times and still doesn’t know what the red-head was doing with Jon.

“Why?” Loki asks, “Why must you do this? You can see me reading, you’re blocking out the distant sound of waves hitting the shore, it’s not even at a decent volume, so, why?!”

“Sorry, what was that?” Tony answers, “Did you say something? Because I couldn’t hear you over the music, but it sounded like you had an issue with what I was doing on my side.”

“Your music is not staying on your side!” Loki argues, but only receives a shrug and an increase in volume.

He presses his lips together.

Fine. If you’re going to be petty about this, then I can too.

Under the table, Loki kicks Tony.

He hasn’t got shoes on, but he’s always had a knack for aiming very well, and Tony’s whimper (?) (it’s hard to tell with the music so loud) assures him he hit the shin bone well enough.

By the time Tony is done cradling his leg and looks up at Loki with a mix of anger/betrayal, Loki is already reading again, the perfect image of serenity.

Loki tries not to laugh as Tony discovers his legs are not long enough to kick back.

———

Day 3

Tony didn’t bother trying to wake up before Loki this time.

He went at his own pace, and remembered to change out of the pajamas, brushed his hair, had coffee, and took the time to make himself a few sandwiches to enjoy through the day.

Yesterday he even went for a quick swim around ten at night and headed straight back up to his side of the bungalow, because he’s a responsible adult who doesn’t need to out-do a stranger’s sleep-schedule. Or leg-length. Or laugh.

It isn’t a competition or anything.

By the time he makes it down to the beach, he finds Loki sitting under the gazebo, alone, with all the curtains tied open.  

He’s also... wearing a black Prada shirt which matches the one Tony threw on this morning?? What?! Taking up half the space on his side of the table with 1 (one) bottle of water wasn’t enough, he also has to taunt him by wearing the exact same thing?!

He storms to his side of the gazebo and slams his palms down, taking satisfaction in the fact that Loki was startled and drops his book onto the table. Tony hopes he’s lost the page he was on.

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Hello, neighbour,” Loki greets, gingerly picking up his book again and giving a hesitant smile. “I didn’t realise you would be wearing the same shirt again, but I was hoping we could get off on a different foot today?”

Huh, well, would ya look at that, Tony thinks, I actually won. The sucker is gonna admit I’m too much and wave the white flag.

“That... actually sounds great,” Tony answers with his award-winning client-smile, sitting down opposite him. “This whole thing with splitting the table and curtains in half was a bit ridiculou—”

Tony yelps and stands up and starts frantically rubbing his hand over his butt which is stinging— he looks down at his seat and sees the culprit —a crab, menacing in all it’s crabby glory.

“Are you... okay?” Loki asks, far too confused, far too innocently, far too worried for it to be genuine, “what’s wrong?”

Tony, outraged, yells at Loki, “DID YOU FRICKIN PUT A CRAB IN MY SEAT?!”

“I— what?”

“WHO THE F*CK CALLS A PARLEY AND CRABS SOMEONE?!”

“No! I didn’t— are you okay??” Loki says, and he’s gotten up and rushing over and...okay, MAYBE he didn’t mastermind the crab.

“NO, I AM NOT, BUT THANK YOU FOR ASKING,” Tony screams, backing away from Loki, and running towards his bungalow.

Running in sand is hard, but Tony discovers it’s much harder when your butt is stinging.

———

Loki… did not put a crab on Tony’s seat.

He’d honestly wanted to draw up a truce, maybe have an actual conversation with Tony, and he even brought a towel and wore a change of clothes underneath in the event that the man wanted to go for a swim and wouldn’t mind if Loki joined.

He’d even brought snacks to share.

But now he feels bad.

Had kicking him under the table every time Tony had put the volume too loud or managed to slide low enough to kick him back or played We're Taking the Hobbits to Isengard been bad? Had it been too much? Why else would Tony assume he’d actually try and hurt him?

The glare-offs had just been fun, faces when they thought the other couldn’t see wasn’t bad-intentioned, the kicking hadn’t meant to injure. Loki had thought they were getting along. Perhaps he had misunderstood? Perhaps the other had not felt they were fun little pranks?

He owes Tony an apology.

———

Tony has been icing his butt for an hour. If he had any duct tape, he would’ve duct taped the peas to his butt.

Tony is thinking about how if he had any duct tape he would’ve duct taped the peas to his butt by now when someone bangs at his door.

Gee, I wonder who it could be, Tony thinks, as he goes to answer the door. Just so many people who visit this private beach residence. In all honesty it’s kind of sweet that Loki would turn up to check on him at all really.

Tony leaves the pea packet on the nearest counter and goes to answer the door. Good thing about this bungalow: it has many spare counters for things like dumping peas. An excessive amount of counters, even, and he questions what the designer had been thinking.

Tony swings the door open, “Hey there, crab-man.”

“I’m sorry,” Loki blurts.

“Hey, it’s okay, it doesn’t even hurt that much anymore, but at least you’re owning to it.”

“I didn’t set that up! I wouldn’t actually try to cause any lasting damage,” Loki explains.

Tony sighs.

“Yeah, I figured, I was just caught up in the moment and shouldn’t have blamed you.”

“Would’ve been a very Shakespearean betrayal too…” Loki muses.

“So… anything else you came to say?” Tony asks. Although he’s not sure why.

“Would you be feeling up to sharing the table like normal people?”

“Oh, come on, where would be the fun in that?” Tony jokes.

“You… weren’t hurt or offended when I kicked you or said your music taste is dumb?”

“Course not. We’ve all had wild college nights out, believe me, kick to the shins was nothing.”

“Crab grabs though…”

“If you want to share the table like normal people we will not be mentioning the crab grab.”

“Deal,” Loki says, and he’s beaming as if he’s won a prize. Which is really cute. Which is why Tony doesn’t regret slamming the door in his face.

Stupid cute neighbour.

He needs to change anyway.

———

Loki and Tony hang out under the gazebo, and they share the table.

Every so often Loki will read a line or two aloud and Tony will find himself snickering in response to Loki’s comments on the lines if not the lines themselves. Every now and then Tony tells Loki to look over at his screen as he invests in either the stock market or a round of Tetris.

Around noon Tony asks if Loki would like to sunbathe with him and Loki sees no reason not to join in. He doesn’t have any sunscreen of his own but Tony has plenty and is happy to share.

They talk about their work, and what they’re avoiding (family) in their little getaways from home, just things about life generally.

The sun is going to set soon when Loki asks if Tony would like to spend some time by the water with him.

The two of them spend a good thirty minutes hitting each other with floaties when they aren't sitting around in them, and, despite wading in till their knees, and flinging water at each other, they manage not to get too wet.

They sit in the sand watching the sun set in beautiful streaks of purples and orange as they dry off their feet.

Loki brought two towels in case of such a scenario (which Tony finds very endearing and sweet) and they lay on them as they watch the sky darken to reveal the stars. Loki tries to point out some constellations but Tony is convinced he’s making them up. Maybe he is.

The two of them share sandwiches and chips and chocolates and decide to head up early at around nine.

Tony invites Loki over for a movie, and how can Loki say no? He only just met him, but he’d rather be stuck sharing this bungalow and beach and gazebo with him than have to return home in a few days.

The house is huge, and there is plenty of room on the couch for them to be spaced out, but they choose to share a blanket and stay close because they want to.

Loki hadn’t planned on sleeping over, but he stays late and falls asleep in the middle of a movie and Tony doesn’t mind at all. It’s hard for him to mind when he’s also fallen asleep.

———

Day 4

Tony wakes early.

Not Loki-early, but earlier than usual, because he’s looking forward to spending time with Loki.

Hmm. Maybe it is technicallyyy still Loki-early. Whatever.

Except, Tony wakes up alone and walks down the slope to the gazebo, and finds it empty. A quick scan of the beach also yields no results. Which is concerning, but not overly so. Maybe he just has something else to do today?

Tony gets through a few hours by rotating through Tetris, League of Legends, and Galaga, before he gives in and walks up to Loki’s half of the duplex bungalow.

He bangs his fist on the door and waits.

About a minute later, Loki answers, in green-plaid pants and a vintagey AC/DC band shirt, hair looking only half brushed.

“Are you seriously wearing that kind of shirt as pajamas?”

“Yes. And good... morning?”

“Morning!” Tony cheerily greets in return, before his expression gets less so, “why aren’t you out today?”

“Good afternoon? I... just wasn’t feeling too well, a bad day I guess,” Loki explains, which Tony understands. “And I already over-lived my stay with you yesterday, so I thought you could have the gazebo all to yourself today, since I’m not really in a beach mood anyway.”

And that’s a big no in Tony’s book because no he didn’t go too far or over-stay anything and no he doesn’t owe him anything and no in general because Tony liked spending time with him! He’s fun and caring and Tony’s wondering where this guy was for every other vacation he spent here because Tony considers him a friend!

“That’s sweet,” Tony lies, “I’m not really in a beach mood either.”

“Ah. Would you… like to come in?” Loki asks, hesitant.

“Of course buddy, if my friend wants to stay home I’m sticking with him.”

Loki stands aside, letting Tony into the bungalow that he’s used to owning on his own, but, shockingly enough, doesn’t mind sharing anymore.

“Would it be bad to ask what kind of bad mood?” Tony questions, taking a seat by the TV. It’s off and he doesn’t see a remote.

“A bit, yes, but I value the thought,” Loki answers, checking the kitchen cupboards.

“So what were you doing in here all alone without me, beach buddy?”

“Reading.”

Hmm. Tony considers. They did do what he had wanted yesterday.

“Can I join?” Tony inquires, “if you have any spare books, that is.”

“I didn’t know you could read.” Loki says with half-hearted disgust, walking behind the couch to a small bookshelf.

“Harry Potter, you got me,” Tony states in the driest tone, “Ha ha.”

“I’ve got the second Game of Thrones—“

“There’s a book?!”

“And the series hasn’t updated in years.”

“Bummer, hate when they do that, but at least the show ended?”

“Yeah, badly,” Loki points out. “I’ve got the Lord of the Rings trilogy.”

“I thought you didn’t like the hobbits being taken to Isengard,” Tony pouts.

“Not when it’s on loop and happening the sixth time in a row,” Loki says, dropping the book into Tony’s lap roughly.

Yeah, okay, the man isn’t feeling well, maybe he should leave? But Tony doesn’t want to leave him alone if he’s feeling bad either!

Tony opens the book, skipping through the contents and prologue-y pages. He will enjoy the book and he’ll do it while sitting on the opposite side of the couch because if Loki doesn’t want to lay across and tangle their legs under a blanket that’s up to him. Besides, that’s more an afternoon activity, and Tony isn’t tired at all, so he’s sitting up properly. Which contrasts with Loki’s slouchy leaning-into-the-couch.

“You know, if it’s too quiet, or the book doesn’t interest you, you can just watch something, I won’t be offended.”

“Not so fast, crab-man, I’m doing this to have fun and try something you enjoy, because I like spending time with you, and think that’s fair,” Tony states, and oh sh*t Loki looks devastated. Quick, something fun, something fun, “So I will definitely be trying to read it... at least a bit, before I do anything else… because I may vehemently not-like reading, but I do enjoy your company.”

“Okay,” Loki verbosely replies.

Tony tries to figure out what he’s done wrong but Loki’s opened his book up already.

Tony manages to get through the book in about two hours. Which means he didn’t actually read through it, he just tried, and kept skipping to pages further along that looked more interesting. To be fair, there is a lot of exposition and world building that he knows doesn’t matter because it’s not in the movies.

Loki’s been shifting how he’s sitting at twenty minute intervals, but Tony hasn’t moved lest he come off as restless and not loving the book.

“You can put something on,” Loki suggests, having noticed that Tony is done.

“It won’t disturb you?”

“Not if you don’t have it unreasonably high.”

Tony looks around for the remote, and doesn’t see it. “Any idea where the remote is?”

“Eh, it’ll be lying around somewhere. Maybe check the kitchen?”

And so, Tony sets out on a quest to find the remote.

He doesn’t find it.

He looks through every inch of the couch and in every kitchen cupboard but all he finds are pop tarts and pennies.

At some point Loki puts his book aside and decides to watch him look. He’s even smiling a tiny bit which Tony takes for a good sign.

“Hey, so, I couldn’t find the remote.”

“That’s a shame,” Loki says, and he’s definitely smiling, “would be horrible if someone knows where it is.”

“YOU!” Tony says, rounding in on him, depression be damned, he’s been looking everywhere for an hour now! “Where is it?!”

“Wh— why do you think I would know?” Loki says, turning his face away, his arms crossed pretentiously.

“You’re laughing!” Tony says, pointing a finger at him. “I spend ages looking for this legendary remote and find out you’ve been playing me the entire time” —Tony pokes a finger in the center of his chest for emphasis— “and you’re laughing!”

And okay, it’s a little funny, and Loki’s having fun, so Tony huffs a laugh too.

“I’m not laughing,” Loki tries to say flatly, face turned away, as he clearly tries not to laugh.

Tony being Tony does the only respectable thing in this kind of scenario and jumps onto the couch, straddling Loki, so he can turn his face back towards him.

“Where’s the remote!” Tony yells, to no avail, not even a reaction to having sat on his legs. Is Loki even breathing? His smile is clearly becoming harder to hold…

“Tell me where the remote is” — Tony grabs the thick novel Loki had been reading — “or I’ll take out your bookmark!”

“No!!!” Loki says, trying to grab hold of his book. “Not the bookmark!!! That’s my one weakness! Please, no! Anything but the bookmark!!!”

“Don’t make me do it!! Because I will!!”

Loki chuckles.

“Fine, you win, here” —Loki reaches a hand under the pillow behind him, and holds up the remote.  

Tony snatches it immediately, and gives Loki a peck on the cheek thanks before getting off and going back to his side of the couch.

If Loki looks a little confused about the quick kiss, it’s gone by the time Tony is done flicking through the channels and decides a nature documentary is something they could both enjoy. When Mr Attenborough mentions otters holding hands when they’re happy and Loki asks if he can hold Tony’s hand of course Tony says yes.

Later, when Loki insists on cooking for the two of them he throws together some instant noodles and adds in carrots and peas and egg and mushrooms, and he asks if Tony would like to share the meal down by the beach, he agrees.

“You sure you’re up for this? I don’t mind eating back in the bungalow, and if you’re feeling uncomfortable I’d rather just go back,” Tony makes clear.

“I don’t actually know why I thought staying home would make me feel any better,” Loki says lightly.

“Hey man, sometimes you’ve just gotta stay home, it happens, don’t worry about it,” Tony consoles, carefully going down the sandy grassy slope to the beach, his huge bowl of noodles held in both hands. It smells great. “Besides, focus on the date for now.”

“This isn’t a date, I just asked you out to the beach to eat some comfort food with me.”

“The very definition of my ideal date,” Tony says, listing, “I was invited, there���s comfort food, we’re both already in our sexy pjs, there’s a beach, I think you’re a great friend and we could be more if you wanted, I’ve got my speaker in case we want some romantic classical music, the sunset will happen soon, what more could I want?”

“We also held hands for ages earlier and you kissed my cheek.” Loki winces, “this is totally a date.”

“Sure is.”

“How did I miss that?”

“If it’s any consolation, I was kidding, but you seem on-board, so… it’s a date?”

“It’s a date,” Loki confirms.

“Noodles on a beach is actually one of my secret fantasies,” Tony says, deadpan.

“Well,” Loki suggests, also deadpan, “there’s plenty of space under the gazebo.”

“Table is kinda obstructive,” Tony points out.

“Only if you’re not creative,” Loki counters.

Tony wriggles his eyebrows, and they both laugh.

———

Loki twists the last of his noodles and stabs his last carrot on his fork and puts it in his mouth. He looks into Tony’s bowl, and finds he’s actually finished first.

“You’re an even slower eater than me,” Loki notes aloud.

“Am not!” Tony blubbers out through a mouthful of noodles, “I’m just taking my time to savour it.”

Loki hums, and puts an elbow on the table to watch him finish up.

“So, what do you want to do now?”

Tony slurps up the rest of his food. “Well, now that I’m done, kiss?”

“I was thinking we could stand by the shoreline and get our feet wet, maybe walk up and down the beach a bit…”

“I mean, I’d rather walk up and down you,” Tony says, making a show of looking over Loki, who in turn snickers.

“I’m sorry, that was terrible,” Tony laughs, “it’s just, walk on the beach, that’s so freakin romantic, yeah I’m up for that.”

And it’s nice knowing that they can still hang out as friends, even if Loki is admittedly also intent on the kissing part.

They leave their bowls and flip flops in a pile in the sand and walk to the shore together.

Tony’s hand is warm in his as they swing their arms gently and just take in the salty air and talk about things; just facts about themselves and stories about life and things they like.

Loki’s not sure how much time has passed but it’s dark and only the night sky and it’s reflection on the water provide any light when he presses a hand under Tony’s chin to tip his face up so he can kiss him. It’s slow and sweet, and Tony— even though Loki finds it hard to believe in the moment —kisses back.

They pull apart, and everything is irrelevant in the face of the happiness they feel in having found each other, even by chance.

They kiss again; slower, deeper, and with an urgency ill-befitting of the time and space they have available.

———

Day 5

All records of the final entry have been [REDACTED] until further notice to maintain the rating of this fic.

It can be recalled that the [REDACTED] information featured notable involvement of local gazebo space not limited to below, above, and/or against the table, various uses of the excessive counters both halves of the rented space, more than banging on doors, and future plans for the continued entanglement of [REDACTED] leg distribution underneath blankets.

The reader is warned not to attempt searching for and/or to develop any interest in a desire to search for [REDACTED] records in future placements.

(The End.)

[kylorengarbagedump]

Little Bird: Chapter 36 (NSFW)

Read one AO3. Part 35 here. Part 37 here.

Summary: Your bullet wound is tended to. Somehow, Gilead makes things like this even more awkward than normal.

Words: 6600

Warnings: woundplay, bloodplay

Characters: Kylo Ren x Handmaid!Reader

A/N: Hiiii! I am so glad to hear people enjoy my self-indulgence, so, here, have some more! Haha. Can't help myself, have loved this shit since I was young.  Please forgive me. As usual, I am so grateful for y'all. You truly brighten my day--I feel so lucky to have what I have. I love y'all very much. I try to respond to as many comments as possible. Thank you thank you. TwT <3

You weren’t surprised that Johana was furious when she opened the door to find you, yet again in the arms of your Commander, the both of you drenched with rain and iridescent with blood. 

What did surprise you was how quickly this fury crumbled into a trembling, panicked concern. 

Her attention darted between your wound and his face, and she moved toward you, half-reaching toward your arm, then thinking better of it. “What--what happened?” She glared at her husband. “What are you doing here? Take her to a hospital!”

Kylo pushed past her, wet boots squeaking on the hardwood, and Johana growled, shutting the door and trailing behind him. His grip was tight, fingers pinching your flesh. 

“I’m going to call the ambulance,” she said. “I’m not letting a Handmaid bleed out in our--”

He whirled on her, and you rocked with him, stomach churning with the sudden movement. “Pryde is staging a coup,” he replied. “Until I discover the reach of his influence, there is no safer place than this home.” He paused. “For her. And you.”

Silence lingered for a moment, and Johana’s expression sharpened, lips parting. Her eyes followed the grain of the wall, slow air leaking in her lungs. She glanced at the floor, horror falling like a curtain over her face. 

“Commander,” she said, “I…” She swallowed with a frown. “Commander Pryde stopped by the house this morning. He wanted to speak with you. I…” She stepped toward him, chin quivering. “I told him you’d left and hadn’t informed me where you were going, I shouldn't have said anything, I’m sorry--”

“Enough.” Kylo tensed, a wall of muscle against your frame. “It’s irrelevant now. Once she is stable, I’ll be departing with the Knights.” He adjusted you in his hold. “There’s a bullet in her arm.”

Johana gazed at him, hands wringing together, and sighed. Sucking in a long breath, she stepped forward and studied your wound. Your face flushed in embarrassment, expecting admonishment, or even cruelty from her, but it was as if she’d transformed, taken on another skin. She was calculating, cataloging something as she stared, leaning on her toes, humming in thought. There was no evidence of the woman you feared in the person before you--she’d been replaced by a confident, objective analyst. 

“Well, there’s no arterial damage,” she said, “she would’ve bled out already. The tourniquet isn’t necessary.” She eased closer, mouth screwing in thought. “Might’ve clipped the humerus, too hard to tell.” Eyes narrowing, she pressed her thumb to the perimeter of the wound, and you seethed--Kylo’s fingers bit into you. “It’s not infected yet. I can clean it. Stitch it. Even if we’re going to keep her out of the hospital, she’ll still need antibiotics. And to rest for at least two weeks.” 

“I’ll arrange for it,” he said. “I’ll return when this is resolved. You will be responsible for her.” He shifted close, voice low. “This is an order as your husband. Do you understand?”

Johana nodded, glancing at between the both of you and then to her feet, face pink. “Yes, Commander, I understand.”

“Prepare your supplies.” He turned and strode down the hall.

Kylo carried you through the home into his bedroom, shutting the door and locking it. He eased you to the floor and popped the tourniquet from your arm--you winced at the release of pressure, the new pulse of pain through your nerves. In silence, he crossed to the bathroom, and you heard the squeal of an opening pipe, the gush of a spigot, and blushed. He was running a bath for you.

When he returned, he removed your coat--his coat, technically--and tossed it to the ground, leading you toward the bed with a gentle hand while he gathered the hem of your nightgown and drew it over your frame. It stuck to you like plastic wrapping, leaving damp stains on your skin--and you plopped on the mattress as he guided it over your ribs. He raised your uninjured limb and lifted the rest of the gown over your head, your arm, and then down over your wound. You whimpered as the fabric peeled from your aching flesh, leaving you in your soaked undergarments.

Focused, he took your legs, throwing your socks and shoes to the floor, before looking to your bra, reaching behind you and unhooking it. You were speechless, teeth chattering, pain biting like skeleton claws as you watched your Commander--the man who had just single-handedly slaughtered dozens of soldiers--tend to you like you were the most precious, most delicate creature he’d ever had under his hands. His fingers were firm, soothing you with even the slightest touch, and he met your gaze, sliding his thumbs toward your underwear, warm brandy gleaming in his eyes.

Still trembling, you nodded, and he wedged them free, fabric bunching as it rolled down your thighs, and added them to the sopping pile of clothing on the hardwood. Having finished that, he released you and began to strip himself, starting with his boots and coat, still without words as the mountain of garments grew larger. He was stoic, never once sneaking a glimpse of your body until he was nude, too.

Though you’d cum for him four times already, and though your cunt twinged from the recent stretch of his dick, it was impossible not to revere him, like this, skin smoldering in dim light. Kylo Ren’s broad, crushing power and his beauty were seemingly disparate--yet the clean strength of his body only served to accentuate the elegant curve of his nose, the petal-pink of his lips, the soft, wet waves of his hair. He returned the stare, gaze dancing over your figure, but only in quiet, worried praise, as if you were a damaged triumph of art that was his to repair.

Blinking, he broke away, and walked to check your bath. Inside, you heard the splash of water, a knob adjustment, and he appeared again, silent as he scooped you to his chest. The shivering hadn’t stopped, and now that you could see it, you noticed that the bleeding hadn’t fully stopped, either. It wasn’t a river, more of a weep, tiny trickles pushed from your pulsating flesh as it rippled with every beat of your heart. You couldn’t see the bullet in the red mess of meat--and as you crossed the threshold, you wondered how far down it had gone. 

Kylo’s bathroom was wall-to-wall white subway tile, extending to the walk-in shower at the far end, the floor a pattern of black and white ceramic diamonds. The towels, too--whether hung or stowed or folded--were white and black, every accessory a silvered pewter. A ceiling light exposed the steel-grey skies outside, the room illuminated by two incandescent glass sconces above the mirror. The air was hot and thick--water half-filled a large clawfoot tub, and your Commander suspended you above it, lowering you into the bath like you’d splinter from shock. 

Relief was immediate, and you sighed, an imitation of a corpse in his arms. Heat engulfed you, sucking the tension from your skin, the steady stream of the spigot drowning your anxious mind. He released you, let you float, and your head rolled along the tub, a soft, satisfied hum escaping your chest. Steam wafted into your sight, and you breathed it in, hoping to fill your lungs with its comfort while Kylo pulled up a wooden stool. He removed the towel folded on top of it and sat, adjusting until he was at your side.

Your cheeks burned as you watched him gather the towel in his hand and pass it under the spigot, mesmerized by the taut muscles in his arms, his back. It was the third time in 24 hours you’d seen him without clothing, and still you salivated for it, each time an entirely new experience to your mind. Ignorant of your admiration, Kylo wrung the towel of excess water and lathered it with soap before gazing at you, face blank--your lip wibbled, your heart skipped. If it weren’t for the gunshot wound in your arm, you’d try to prod yourself awake.

His free hand cupped the back of your neck, eased you up, while the other started at your shoulders, drawing slow, soapy circles down your mottled neck and clavicle, moving to your uninjured arm, cleansing away the cold film left by the rain. He shifted then, to your chest, sitting you straighter, and washed the mud and splattered soil from your breasts and abdomen, caressing you with the cloth, pushing the fear from your flesh. You trembled in the tenderness of his touch, throat tight with emotion you were too terrified to name.  

Noticing this, Kylo shushed you, placing his lips to your forehead, murmuring something at your hairline that you couldn’t hear. Prickles of affection blazed through your nerves, your blood racing, and he sat back and lifted one of your legs from the tub, scrubbing it clean, passing the towel over the ticklish soles of your feet. You hid a giggle, wriggling from the contact, and he squeezed your ankle, holding you still until the muck was gone. One leg completed, he switched to another, untarnished section, and repeated the action with the other leg, never once breaking his attention from his task.

With both spotless, he switched sections again, and leaned you forward, rubbing soap into your back, strong thumbs pressing along your shoulder blades as he passed them, massaging down the line of your spine. You groaned, shuddering, goosebumps alight in the wake of his touch. He shushed you again, and washed you over with water, easing you back to the tub before spilling the soap clear from the rest of your body. The warmth flooded you, eyes fluttering in delight before settling on him.

His brow furrowed, and he lifted your wounded arm, coasting across it with a new patch of cloth, skimming the sensitive skin, brushing away the sludge and caked blood, revealing fresh, pink flesh. Your free limbs tweaked, and you grimaced in pain, but kept otherwise still, choosing to fixate on his pursing lips, how meticulous he’d become in his movements. Baffling, how this one man was both the blunt-end of a bludgeon and the precise feather fountain-pen--as deft with his hands as he was deadly. The last of the grime was wiped free, Kylo scrutinized his work, folded the towel over, and wet a clean swatch.

He then cradled your head, weaving through your hair, focus following his fingers while he wiped your storm-smattered face, swiping at your lips, under your lids, the rust smeared on your chin. As he dabbed your nose, he glimpsed you, and your lungs stalled in memory of the first time he’d done this--the first time he’d ever made you feel human, the first time he’d ever made you feel cherished. You gazed at him, your chest thumping with an appreciation so swollen you were afraid it would split through your sternum at a pinprick’s pressure. Kylo blinked, averted his eyes, and with a soft pat of your cheek, he sat back, appraising, his own face still sullied with crusted crimson. 

Words wouldn’t find you. You grabbed for the towel instead, taking it from him and sitting straight. Swallowing your nerves, you preened the loose strands of hair from his face and swept the cloth over his forehead, down his nose--he froze under your touch, his irises clouded with confusion. Hands quaking, you continued, smoothing over his cheekbones, along the line of his jaw, scraping away the remnants of battle. His mouth twitched, his throat knocked, and when you finished, you draped the towel over the tub’s edge. 

Finally meeting his stare, you exhaled, stroked his face with your thumb, tracing the edge of his scar. It was lithe, almost lovely in its length, cresting down his neck and over his collarbone, a rose-gold crack on his alabaster skin. Yet what made it beautiful was its origin, its legacy--the knowledge that he’d earned it in the act of saving you.

His eyes were liquid amber, gilded rims glimmering with a feeling you could only identify as gratitude, a reflection of the recognition you felt in your soul. It was an acknowledgement that in this mire of madness, you were thankful for each other, thankful that through the suffocating strangle of Gilead’s air, you’d discovered breath in the other’s embrace. He glanced at your mouth, and you wet it--something distant and familiar lingered on your tongue. Before you could give it life, Kylo tugged you by the neck and against his lips.

The kiss was tentative, exploratory, his mouth skipping over yours, testing your need, ghosting tingles at your nerves. You whimpered into him, clutching the back of his head, skating nails over his scalp as you returned his ardor, your tongue out slipping to taste him--he tilted his head, capturing you, his own tongue rolling slowly over yours. A quiet groan escaped him, and he pulled you closer, holding your head in both of his enormous hands, one stroking through your hair, the other keeping you still as his mouth grazed you. Your thighs braced together, forcing friction as fire dripped like oil between your legs. 

Kylo guided you back to the tub, chasing you, never increasing his insistence, taking time to brand you in dedication, rather than desire. Humming with pleasure, his tongue slid past your teeth, and the hand in your hair glided down your neck, over your shoulder, gripping it, as if to prove you were alive. You shivered, worked your lips over his like he was to be savored, flesh plumping from the pressure--underneath the running water, the only noises were your and his hidden breath, and the slick sound of your meeting mouths. Passion crept through you now, signaling a need that, despite having been more than sated this morning, was happy to awaken from its slumber.  

You shifted closer, growing needy--the sudden movement speared your arm with agony, and you yelped, breaking the kiss. Kylo nuzzled you with his forehead.

“Do you want relief?” His hand traveled from your shoulder, inching down your chest. “From the pain.”

Tremored, eager air left your lungs. “Yes.” You nodded. “Please.”

He pressed his lips to yours as his hand fell to your breast, groping it absently, thumb petting your pebbling nipple. You squirmed, releasing a moan, and he silenced you with his mouth, kneading your tit, making your stomach tighten with hunger. Giving a nip to your bottom lip, he kissed across your cheek, huffing into your ear while his hand dipped into the water and drifted over the rolls of your belly.

“Be a good girl for me.” Long fingers crawled over your mound, and you nodded, legs parting in welcome. “There we go...”

Two digits trailed up and down your outer folds, teasing them, and you gasped, throwing your good arm around his neck--his breath was slow and quiet at your ear, the baritone resonance of his voice rumbling through you. One finger drew up your slit, glancing over your clit, and you squeaked, core clamoring for more. 

“That’s it.” His mouth moved to your cheekbone, following your jaw. “I’m going to make you feel so good.” He licked up your pulse. “You’re gorgeous.”

Gooseflesh erupted over your skin, vision fuzzing with joy. “Even… even like this?” You nodded toward your wound.

“Mm.” Kylo kissed your throat, prying open your folds, probing your layers. “Especially like this.”

His thumb grazed your clit, and you whined, jerking him closer--he growled and taunted your entrance, swirling a single digit in its slick, daring to press in only half a centimeter. Your hips shifted, cunt craving more, but he refused to yield, thumb passing your nub with long, torturous strokes.

“I know men who’ve broken over a bullet.” He wiggled in another half-centimeter, and you clenched. “But you haven’t shed a tear.” More kisses to your throat, suckling at your heartbeat. “My brave little bird."

Heat rushed you in waves--at this rate, he'd have you cumming without even having to go inside of you. "Why should I be afraid?" you whispered. "I have you."

His breath hitched, and he plunged in, curling inside of you--a sigh left you as you throbbed around him, even knowing one finger wouldn't be enough. You adjusted your weight on his neck, bringing him closer, letting your injured arm dangle out of the tub.

"That's right. And you’re being so good for me," he murmured. "Getting so wet. Always ready for me to make you cum..."

Kylo slipped out, then pushed back in, then out, and in again, relishing in the tight ridges of your cunt as he stretched you open. You bucked your hips, trying to fuck him in rhythm, water sloshing in the bath--but he dodged you, forcing you to meet his pace, swiping back and forth over your clit in little bolts of bliss while he exhaled in excitement.

"Relax." His mouth moved from your neck to your shoulder, teeth dragging new welts over your clavicle. "I thought you were going to be my good girl." 

You swallowed and stilled. It was hard to control yourself when the rush of pleasure was numbing everything else. "I-I will. I'm sorry." 

"Better." Kylo caught your lips in a brief kiss, rewarding you with a second finger, crooking them both inside of you--you cried out, spasming in delight. "Fuck. How does a cunt this little take me so well, hm?" Another kiss, lingering. "Just thinking about how tight you are makes my cock hard." He smirked against your mouth. "You know I think about it whenever I wake up. And before I go to sleep."

You whinged, lava boiling in your blood--you wanted to melt into the water, liquefy in his hands. "Oh..."

"That's right," he said. "I make myself cum every morning thinking about fucking you. And it's never enough." He was panting, kissing back down your neck, to your chest again. "I could fuck this pussy every night for the rest of my life and it wouldn't be enough…"

“Kylo…”

Your brain swarmed with that distant feeling again, dizzying you, robbing you of language, weakening your joints. You clung to him, a raft in the sea of your lust, choking back your moans as his palm rocked against you, thumb circling your clit, fingers thrusting in and out of your cunt--you let your lids close, let pleasure encompass you, let yourself submerge to his will, trusting him to give you exactly what you needed. His lips scorched your shoulder, singeing a path toward your wound, but you were too rapt to notice, too elated to care. 

When he kissed it, something snapped--perhaps it was the plush of his mouth on the tender tissue, perhaps it was the ecstasy already seizing your sanity, or perhaps it was the delicious slice of pain twisting through it all. Whatever it was, you sobbed, back arching, pussy clamping down on his hand like it would sever him clean, head thrown back in a plea. Kylo stopped, purring with satisfaction, lifting his pretty, stained scarlet lips from your arm. You met his eyes, shaking, too embarrassed to say a word. 

Thankfully, he appeared too engrossed to further humiliate you, kissing the top of your shoulder before falling to your wound again--he rolled his fingers inside of you, rubbing the bundle of nerves in tight, quick strokes, and let his mouth sketch the edge of your injured flesh. You winced, writhed, jaw dropping in an open, continuous pant, and he licked light lines around it, lapping the seeping blood; when you clenched again, he slipped his tongue into the hole.

Your sight went white, you collapsed in the bath, a mix of scream and squeal shredding your throat. The sensation was a knife, carving bliss into your skin, your cunt pulsing with greed as your Commander laved you from the inside. Everything blanked, your only reality consisting of the thumb caressing your stiffened clit, the fingers pumping into your throbbing pussy, the tongue digging absolute pure pleasure-pain into your veins. Your hands furled into fists, teeth cutting your lip while you fought to find yourself in the hurricane that had replaced your brain. 

“Kylo,” you whimpered, as it was the only word you could remember, “Kylo, Kylo…”

“Good girl.” He moaned, lavishing hot, open kisses at the frayed flesh. “So good for me, so perfect--”

“Please.” Your lips buzzed, unsure what you were even asking for. “Please, I--”

Somehow knowing what you needed before you did, Kylo’s bloody mouth met yours, his thumb worming through your wound, and you shrieked into him--he swallowed every cry, painting iron along your tongue, kissing you in anxious fervor. Your orgasm bubbled with volcanic intensity, gravitation at your core, absorbing each spark of nerve and billowing to something so powerful that you were afraid you would shatter if it burst. 

Kylo nudged his digit deeper, pain ricocheting to your cunt, while his other hand flicked your clit fast, stuffed a third thick finger into your pussy, coiling and delving and fucking you wide, and you suffocated in his kiss, winding your tongue around his, gasping, groaning, and he drove into your hole, filling everything inside--you ruptured, ecstasy exploding through you, escaping in euphoric shrieks into his throat, happily consumed by the voracity of his mouth. He led you through it, easing his thumb free, rubbing you through the aftershocks of your climax as you descended, crumpling limp in the water’s warmth, chasing his gentle, lazy lips.

By the time you’d regained control of your faculties, you’d realized he’d pulled out of you and turned off the spigot, leaving you to soak in a bath that had risen past your breasts. And he was still catching his breath--through your daze of disbelief, you saw him stroking his hard, needy cock, pounding it to his own release. Kylo sought your mouth again, but you shifted away, enthralled by the sight of your Commander, cheeks flush, jaw dropped, thrusting into his fist. He huffed with a half smirk, leaning back, allowing you to see the contractions of his stomach, the flexing in his chest.

“You like that?” He pushed the skin to the head, coaxing a drop of precum from the slit, smearing it over his shaft. “Is this making you feel good?”

Your mind was mush. All you could think to do was nod.

“Fuck…” Kylo’s pupils were blown, his chest heaving. “Then you can remember this when I’m gone. Think of me like this.” He rolled his palm around his length, tugging it faster. “Think of me fucking myself because of you.” 

Saliva pooled from your cheeks, your eyes pinned to the muscular slabs of his legs, how they spread and framed his cock, long and thick and beautiful, how his hand wrapped around it with a soft shuffle, how his flesh bounced with the effort. You could see the peaking tide of unadulterated pleasure, his face obscene with it--his head dropped onto his shoulders, his thighs tensed, hand a blur over his dick. 

“Fuck… fuck.” His voice was shredded with bliss. “You want to watch me cum, little girl?” 

“Y-yes…” 

His lids closed, he gasped. “Tell me to cum.”

You almost choked. “Christ. C-cum for me, Kylo--”

Kylo Ren snarled your name, gripping his cock as it twitched and pulsed between his legs, sticky cum shooting in spurts onto his sternum, roping over his abdomen. He groaned, jerking himself into sensitivity, sucking in a deep breath as his hand slowed, head falling forward, the tail of his climax dissipating. When he was finished, he exhaled, paused, and gathered some of his seed onto his fingers. Your throat thickened--and he held you in his stare, sucking them clean.   

No words would come to you. Between the still-crackling cinders of your orgasm and the image of him eating his own cum, you’d temporarily lost your ability to speak. Kylo smirked--he kissed you a final time before tucking a lock of wet hair behind your ear and rising to his feet.

Your Commander walked to the sink and grabbed a towel, wiping away the remaining blood and cum and debris. In the valley of post-climactic rapture, watching him--this man, your savior and enslaver--you yearned for that moment in the cemetery, before you’d been shot. The moment when it seemed as if he’d considered you--a moment you felt him echo when he’d said every night for the rest of my life. You sank into the bath, that nagging, terrifying feeling welling within you again. You shoved it down, knowing that to name it while still wading in uncertainty would damn you to despair.

“Um. What you said earlier. Is that something you’d want?” you asked. “To… have me? Every night? For...” The rest of the words wouldn’t leave, stuck like impossible barbs on your tongue.

He said nothing, taking a swig of water from the sink and swishing it in his mouth before spitting it into the basin in a pink spray.

“I think we could do it.” You were being careful--but you were less afraid of his words than your own. “We could have that.”

Still silent, he took a fresh towel and rustled it through his hair, whipping excess water from the curls.

“I know you believe in destiny,” you said. “But what if you have two?” He stilled--you continued. “What if… I saw another path. Where you--where we were free?” 

Kylo Ren glanced over his shoulder, considering you. There was not a single hint of emotion in his expression. Your chest tightened.

“It would make me happy,” you murmured. “What about you?”

His gaze fell, wandering the tile, the walls, until it led him to the mirror. He stared into himself, like a stranger to his own reflection, jaw steeling. Rain rattled the skylight, thunder crashing through the clouds, a rumbling of the past--he remained there for a moment, inspecting his face, searching for something, wallowing in recollection. His back crested, muscles hardened, and he tore away, eye twitching as he looked back to you.

“There are greater issues to rectify,” he said, and left the room.

Wilting, you slid deeper into the water, keeping your arm tossed over the edge. It wasn’t that you had expected him to drop it all and agree, like a hero from some romance--yes, darling, let’s steal away at midnight--but you had hoped for some concession, some inkling of hope that he wanted to sustain what was unsustainable. Yet, in the back of your mind, you both understood there was only one way he could do that. And it would involve abandoning everything he’d ever known. 

The question you weren’t willing to answer was how you’d balance your willingness to wait with reality. Running was not an option, now--not as long as your Commander had both the will and the governmental power to find and keep you. No matter his compromises, the existence of Gilead meant his inherent rejection of your agency, his unwillingness to let you go, despite it being your only wish. 

And every second wasted translated to years of lives hanging in turmoil. The next time you met with the Resistance, you knew you’d do whatever they asked to help them cripple Gilead. One way or the other, they would bring you your freedom. You just hoped that by the time they were ready, a time that could be days or weeks or years, he’d be coming with you. 

Some might think you were asking too much--for him to relinquish his power, destroy as much as he could in the process, escape with you into anonymity--but the Kylo Ren you knew was capable of anything. You’d ask for all of it, or ultimately accept none.

 Of course, you’d need to heal from this damn gunshot, first.

Kylo returned, dressed and dry, adjusting the cuffs on his coat. “Two Knights will remain in my absence. Johana will care for your wound and get you to rest.”

“Oh,” you said, starting to stand, “okay--”

“Don’t move.” 

Confused, you stopped, splashing into the tub. Johana couldn’t see you naked, and especially not while you were covered in his hickeys and bite marks. “But--”

“A precaution,” he said. “To protect your temperature.” 

“But...” You folded your free arm over your chest. Your options were paltry few, and inviting in a strange, possibly deceptive doctor, one without any personal investment in your well-being, seemed even less appealing. “Okay.”

“You will be safe.” He scanned your body in the bath. “Be good, little bird.”

A jumble of words waited on your tongue: Be safe, be careful, I’ll miss you, I…

Instead, you only nodded. “I will.”

He met your gaze a final time in silent regard, and turned to leave. You listened to the sound of his boots cross the floor, wondering how the water had made it into your eyes. Blinking, you wiped your cheeks. You weren’t sure how long you laid there after your Commander had left--only that when you heard the creak of the bedroom door, steam had fled the air, and your breathing had evened out. 

When Johana entered the bathroom, she brought a tote with her, avoiding you entirely as she plopped it next to the sink and washed her hands. Finished that, she pushed her sleeves to her elbows and grabbed a pair of gloves from the bag, pulling them on before fishing through it again. Chewing her cheek, she procured a needle, a pair of tweezers and scissors, a few square packets, dental floss, a roll of gauze, two tiny white tubes, and a small plastic bottle of clear liquid. She laid them out on a towel, picked it up, turned to you--and nearly flung all of it across the room.

“Jesus Christ.” Her face contorted in a mix of disgust and dismay--she went to say something else, but shrugged it off, heading to the stool and sitting down. 

You blushed, taking a quick inventory of your chest. Yes, it definitely looked like an animal had savaged your upper-torso--and, in a way, that’d been exactly what happened. Settling on silence, you stared at your feet. There were no words you could think to say that would ease the awkwardness of her acknowledging the evidence of her husband’s illegal affair. 

Johana sighed, took one of the tubes, squeezed its contents onto a gloved finger and rubbed it over your wound. You squeaked in pain, watching as it worked into a lather before she took the bottle of liquid and squirted it over your skin (water, to your relief). Stone faced, she patted it down with gauze before grabbing the needle and one of the packets--an alcohol wipe, you now realized. You frowned.

“Wait,” you said. “Aren’t you going to… um. Remove the bullet.”

She snorted. “Not unless you’re interested in bleeding out in the bathtub.” Tearing the packet open, she plucked the wipe free. “Digging around could further traumatize the wound,” she said. “It’s safer to leave embedded projectiles where they are.”

“Oh.”

Her brow furrowed as she sanitized the needle. “Yes, oh.” Contrition flashed over her face. “Not that you had any reason to know that.”

Regret puddled in your heart--not for what you’d done, but that you’d both been placed in this hell at all. At least you’d had a distraction in the form of the Commander. Johana had been floundering alone for, maybe, the past three entire years. You knew she was miserable, knew that you’d seen a moment’s hesitation before she’d stolen the switchblade. Even if that object was long-gone, if you could soften her, even a little, maybe she’d hear you out. Maybe freedom was a possibility for all of you in the home--the Marthas included.

“I’m sorry,” you said, nodding toward your chest. “I wasn’t expecting--”

“Don’t really care.” She wound out a string of floss from its container. “The faster you get pregnant, the better.” 

“Is that why you won’t report me? Or the Commander?” you asked. “You just want me to get pregnant?”

“Yes.” Narrowing her focus, she held up the needle in one hand and the floss in the other before glimpsing you. “And no.” She paused. “It’s not like you’re the worst Handmaid I’ve had.” 

A reluctant grin pulled at your lips. “The dinner party?” 

“Ha!” It wasn’t a true laugh--more like a squawk. “The only other person who has ever talked to Commander Hux like that is my husband.” Pride twinkled in her eye. “But seeing his reaction to you was even better.”

You chuckled. “Was he always such a bastard?”

“Oh, yes,” she replied. “Always.” Her mouth opened to speak, but she said nothing.

Silence descended over the bathroom; thunder rumbled under the shower of rain. Johana looked between the floss and your wound.

“Anyway, the Commander’s preoccupation with you won’t be a problem once you give birth.” She tossed it and unfurled a longer strand. “And I know you can’t help yourself anyway.”

“Ms. Johana, please.” You sighed. “Do you really care about him?” you asked. “I mean. Even after…” Invoking her dead husband’s name seemed tacky. So you didn’t.

She rolled her eyes. “What does it matter?”

You shrugged your good shoulder. “I just…” Quiet, you sought out her gaze. “You really loved him.”

“I did,” she said. “So what? He’s dead now.”

“How did you meet him?”  

Johana didn’t respond, focused on threading the needle, taking one, two, three attempts before the floss passed through the eye. Blowing frustrated air through her nose, she wiped tweezers down before using it to pinch the needle. Turning to your arm, she went to poke you--and paused.

“Church.” Her voice was soft. “I met him in church.”

Using two fingers, she compressed the sides of the wound together--you flinched--and pierced the bottom, pulling the strand of floss through. It was a tiny nip, hardly comparable to the pain of the wound itself. You shook the discomfort away.

“What was he like? Ah--”

“Stop squirming.” Johana exhaled, looping the floss and making another stitch. “Very traditional,” she said. “Very organized.” A tiny smirk eked over her lips. “Very bossy.”

You raised a brow. “Oh?”

She fought the urge to smile. “Oh, he was funny about it,” she said. “He liked things to be a certain way. He was always teasing me for fussing until it was perfect.” For a moment, she looked content, sapphire glittering in her irises, face glowing as she slipped the needle through again. “He had high expectations. I could always meet them.”

“Oh.” Kylo Ren, you imagined, was a devastatingly unfair change of pace. “It must be hard. The Commander seems so different.”

Like fog, the facade of peace faded, revealing the vacant, tired bags beneath her eyes. “He is.” She jabbed you, perhaps a little harder than intended--you winced. “But...”

You frowned. “But?”

Johana’s hands froze, and she swallowed, shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter.”

She said nothing more, face drawn in focus as she made another stitch, and another. You watched, almost in awe of her nimble fingers; you knew for certain it’d been over three years since she would have last done this, and probably longer than that. If you hadn’t known her in the context of being your Commander’s Wife, you never would have guessed it.

“Being a nurse was probably tough.” 

A short, tight laugh caught in her throat. “Dealing with bureaucratic red tape and doctors all day? Yeah. I don’t miss it.” Her tone softened, and she shrugged. “But I was good at it.”

“I can tell.”

“I’d hope so. I was top of my...” She sighed, rolling her eyes again. “Whatever.” With the tweezers, she wreathed the floss in on itself, made a knot, and tied it off. “I don’t have the luxury of surgical thread.” A snip as she cut the loose ends with the scissors. “This will pop if you’re not careful.”

You nodded. “I understand.”

Exhaling, she took the second white tube and collected a clear gel from its tip, spackling it over your sutures like paste. Satisfied, she then grabbed the gauze, binding your arm in several rotations before cinching it tight. For a moment, she stared at it, and then peeled off her gloves and rolled up the towel with all of her supplies. She brought it to her tote and stuffed it inside before marching out of the room, leaving the bag on the sink.

Beyond the door, you heard her shuffling in the bedroom, and you let loose a long, disappointed sigh. She’d been a tougher nut to crack than you anticipated. It wasn’t as if you were queen of mind games, but you’d at least expected her to be intrigued by the chance to open up to anybody other than her pillow. But perhaps you couldn’t blame her for not trusting you when you kept showing up to her home with increasingly bizarre injuries. 

Johana entered the bathroom again, a heavy, black robe in her arms. “I don’t have one that will fit you.” She flopped it open, held it out. “He’s never worn it, anyway.”

You stared. “Oh.”

“Don’t just oh,” she said. “Come on.”

With a wobble, you eased yourself to your feet, steadying with the wall as you stepped out of the tub and into the robe, allowing her to bundle you in it. Johana guided you with a hand on your back to Kylo Ren’s bed and observed while you climbed on. 

Offering a restrained grin, you said, “I know you don’t like me. And that I keep getting hurt. But thank you.” 

“It was an order. I follow them.” Her gaze traveled your figure, and she sighed, grabbing one of the pillows and fluffing it. “Look. I don’t--I don’t dislike you.” She wedged it behind your back. “I just don’t get why he keeps doing all of this. I don’t know what he sees in you.”

You frowned, face hot. For once, you actually felt insulted. “Maybe it’s because I see something in him,” you replied, bending so she could fluff another. “Something that you might not care to see, anyway.”

She balked, shoving it under your shoulders. “What are you talking about? We’ve been married for three years.”

“And you’ve never stopped loving Moden that entire time.”

Johana paused and looked at you, propped upright along the headboard. You sat there, smothered in your robe, supported by cushions, constricted in a full-body cast of cotton. Her gaze drifted to the floor, and she raised her brow in thought, folding her arms over her chest. There it was--the gap in her shell.

“Maybe it’s all for the same reason,” you said. “The fact that you still love him. The fact that the Commander seems attached to me. The fact that I keep getting caught up in... everything.” You held your breath, and let it go. “Maybe it’s all because this entire thing is just… bullshit.”

She blinked. Then glanced up. “You might be right.” Her fingers burrowed into her arms. “But Moden expected me to get remarried if he passed. And he expected me to carry on what he couldn’t.” She swallowed, jaw tensing. “I don’t intend to disappoint him.”

With that, she spun, flouncing into the bathroom to grab her tote, and crossed to the bedroom door. She met your eyes in silence before staring at the hardwood. A weight, laden with deferred, unrealized, and deadened dreams, suspended between you. Shaking her head, Johana opened the door, slipped into the hall, and shut it behind her.

[softlilacmoonlight]

Satan x Reader - Drunk off of You

(Y/N) pov:

Flashbacks/Explanation/Prior Needed Info

I CAN'T BELIEVE HIM... UGH... THAT LITTLE SH--! I am fuming hot mad. My day didn't go from the typical zero to sixty. Nope. It went from 60 to 120! My day started off by being late for breakfast. Not that bad, right? WRONG! Beel left absolutely no food, so guess who's going to school on an empty stomach. Yay...

Once at school, I sat down in my chair right on the bell, but regardless it gets worse. Even though I made it to class before the teacher started lecturing, and still on the bell mind you, she still gave me a detention slip for being late! I wasn't even late! From there I found out that I failed a math test, and I entirely forgot about my biology test. To add to all of that, I have homework in all seven of my class periods. (Thank heavens demons have study hall TwT)

The cherry on the top occurred during lunch. I was sitting at the lunch table talking with the brothers when suddenly I get a call from my boyfriend. I've been dating him for about, oh, six years. I'm currently twenty-one. Anyway, I excused myself from the boys and went out into the hall to accept the call.

To sum it all up in one sentence, he dumped me. He dumped me because he was "insecure" about me being around the brothers and the rest of the men. I'll be the first to openly state that they are hot, but I would NEVER cheat. Ever. So, after listening to all of his "insecurities" and "heartbreak", I decided to take a peek at his Instagram. Mind you, I was utterly devastated, but I had a horrible gut feeling.

Nevertheless, I checked. When I opened the page, my gut sank just like all of my previous hopes and dreams for our relationship. My best friend cheated on me with my boyfriend. The little s---. Let's just say that I was a little nasty, and I texted her boyfriend. He was, fuming, to say the least. We both agreed that we would remain friends and talk on a regular basis, but we were both wrecks. We probably both are still. I know I am.

Suddenly the bell rang and knowing that I would have been late, I ran through the halls. Tears were pricking at my eyes, and I was struggling to make it to class. Cue the next catastrophe. I, being my fumbling self, tripped, broke my leg, and sprained my wrist. So, I had to call Lucifer. At the beginning of class. For help. He rushed out of the classroom and quickly found me. After this point, I can't remember what happened. I just remember Lucifer trying to keep me awake with literally no success.

After I woke up, I quickly realized that I was in my bedroom, and this is where the tale picks up. Me, fuming hot mad, embarrassed, and utterly ashamed, laying in my bed hurt. Regretfully.

End of flashback/Explanation/Needed Prior Info

Thankfully, the brothers are leaving me alone. At least after I yelled at them, made Mammon cry, had a Levi episode, Asmo trying to make it better by suggesting "fun time", and much more. Even Lucifer didn't get angry with me, so that was the one good spot in all of this mess. Satan surprisingly didn't say anything. He just left.

Satan pov:

Hhajksbiyfgaiufbajdbkhf... shwat's goin on brofers? I fweel swo dwunkth. I hwaven't dwunk anythwing wough? Fait, wshasn't (Y/N) swuper angwy?

Qwickly I walshk ower to mwy gwirlfwiend's, no (Y/N)'s, room. What wam I swayin? (Y/N) wain't me gwirlfwiend. Ha.

I knwock on (Y/N)'s dwoor, bwut she ain't answerin. Becwause of that I walk wight in. "(Y/N) where awre ywou?"

"Satan?" Oh, thwere she is. "What are you doing here? Why do you look drunk?"

"Well, I whanted two swee mwy gwirlfwiend. Oopsie, sowwy (Y/N). Ywou're mwy fwiend. Although I fwas goin to awsk ywo to hwang wout wit me."

(Y/N) pov:

"Satan. You are making no sense." I state. "Again. Why are you so drunk?"

He shrugs his shoulder sloppily. He looks super drunk. "Shwell, I cware abwout ywou. I thwink I'm dwunk off your anwger. I rweally want to dwate ywou, bwut I know thwat ywou hwave a boyfwiend. Cwould ywou cwalm down? I'm swo dwunk wight now."

"Sorry, Satan. I'll try." I concede, mainly for the poor fourth-born.

He carelessly teeters over to the bed and flops down. "Why awre ywou swo angwy?"

"It's a long story," I whisper

"Welpsh," he slurs. "I got pwenty of twime bwefore thwis wears off."

Hence how he got me to gush about everything and anything that has happened to me. I tell him about school, about the stress of being good enough, about my ex and his cheating, and literally just everything. Every once in and while Satan adds a comment with his drunk and slurry speech. Eventually, I finish telling him everything in a loud and heavy huff.

"Wosh, (Y/N). I'm swo sowwy. I would never tweat you lwike that jewk." states Satan. That is before he starts to cough violently. "Oh, geez. My head's pounding. (Y/N)? What's going on? How did I-"

I shake my head and let out a little chuckle. "You got drunk, like really drunk off of my anger. Sorry, Satan. I didn't realize that it would do that to you. I'll try to stay calmer for you."

"No." he rushes over and gently caresses my face. "If you feel hurt I want you to talk to me. What happened. Go through it again while I'm sober."

So, I go through it again. This time around I'm the one calming him down. Don't ask me how, but we ended up laying on the bed with his head on my chest.

"Satan?" I whisper.

His head shifts slightly. "Yes?"

"Do you love me? I-I m-mean... when you were drunk you said I was your girlfriend before you corrected yourself, a-and you said that you w-would d-d-date me." I quietly stutter.

He sighs into my shirt. "My stupid mouth. (Y/N), I am terribly sorry. Yes, i-it's t-t-true, but I realize that you probably aren't ready. These things take time. I do love you with all my heart, and therefore I'll wait till the end of infinity for you."

"I don't want to wait," I mumble.

His head shoots up to look me in the eyes. "(Y/N), you just broke up!?"

"Yes, I know." I shake my head at him. "But. I should have realized that you were always here with me. Supporting me. Caring for me. Also, I didn't break up with a loyal boyfriend. He was a cheater and a liar. Therefore even though I am hurt, I would like to start things with you. It would be slow but... will you show me what a boyfriend, a proper gentleman, should be like?"

"YES! I mean..." he slows and clears his throat. "Nothing would make me happier."

Excitedly, he hugs me again and reburies his head in my chest. "Satan?"

"Hmm?" his smooth voice hums.

I let out a little chuckle. "Thank you. I love you too. Could you get off my broken leg please?"

"Sorry!" he exclaims, fumbling off the bed like a goofball.

I let out a deep guttural laugh that's loud enough to attract the other brothers. "I love you Satan."

"WHAT'DA YA MEAN!!!!!????" Cue Satan chasing Mammon for the next hour due to him ruining our moment. Oh, well. Boys, brothers, will be boys.

[gordvendomewhore]

heyo this was supposed to be attached to a reblog of @schoolfullofmorons‘s post but it is so outrageously long and has taken several days and therefore is its own post now LMAO

because this is super long, everything is gonna be under the keep reading thingy teehee

anyway,,, i present to you: all nine preppies, and how they would act during quarantine 

(please note that these are just headcanons and honestly are pretty ooc considering the fact they’re all assholes who would protest quarantine with signs that say “WE WANT HAIRCUTS” but GOD i just wanna pretend they’re decent people for a day or two)

derby:

thinks the virus is a joke and would 100% protest quarantine, but still gets SUPER antsy and jumpy when anyone coughs or sneezes around him

wastes a bunch of water and half a bottle of soap washing his hands for ten minutes straight, but totally not because he’s scared or anything!! the virus still totally isn’t real!!!

since there’s only the household help he can boss around, derby gets bored and lonely pretty quickly, and misses feeling in control.

in attempts to fix this, he tends to call up bif or some of the other preps just to half heartedly yell at them about every little inconvenience that happens in his day to day life, but they’re really dismissive and say things like, “yes, yes, derby, whatever you say.”

(they all know derby is just expressing how he misses them in the only way he knows how.)

derby probably spends a bunch of time lounging around the house, watching the workers do their thing and thinking about how he’s sooooo much better and fancier and richer than them.

however,,,,,, he ends up watching them so often and so intently that the workers get confused and wonder if derby is interested in trying out what they do around the house (cleaning, cooking, gardening, etc.)

so they offer to teach derby, and of course, derby gets wildly upset and most likely threatens both their jobs and their lives haHa

it doesn’t stop him from watching just a tiny bit closer though, you know,,,, just to make sure that these paupers are doing everything to the harrington standard

derby pays off the teachers to keep his grades up and acknowledges school in absolutely no other way.

bif:

while bif is concerned about the virus, he doesn’t really care about school closing down.

school was never his main priority, but he’ll still make sure to tune into a couple of his online classes every week because of the sheer guilt that starts to pile up over time.

however he will NOT do anything with his assignments except read over them, and similar to derby, pays off a nerd to do his homework for him to make it seem like he’s actually doing something.

BUT you can totally bet that bif is one thousand percent upset over the boxing gym being closed down!!

he still has his personal gym in his mansion, which he now uses a lot (partially because he has so much time to kill, but also because he’s still butthurt over jimmy’s scrawny ass beating him)

but it’s not the same because now he can’t train with the other preps!!!!!

how will he know if they’re improving? or if they have the proper stance??? or if they’re swinging with the right force????? or if—

but yeah, bif makes sure to check up on the preps every once in awhile to see their boxing progress

he finds quarantine to be incredibly quiet and empty, in a literal and metaphorical sense.

he isn’t lonely per say, bif actually finds a lot of peace in the silence!

he gets a lot more time to think than he normally does and that’s a gift within itself.

...but his days are usually filled with never ending whining and the loud screaming of faux accents, so the sudden change feels strange, but not unwelcomed.

(plus he still has derby bothering him 24/7 so it’s not like much has changed anyway LMAO)

bif may not admit it out loud, but he misses his prep family clique members a whole lot. :(

gord:

this bitch couldn’t care less about the whole situation.

he spends his days at home binging every movie and tv show known to mankind, expanding on his beauty care regimen, and doing major amounts of online shopping; daddy’s card isn’t gonna just spend itself after all!

he’s actually clearing out the entire aquaberry stock as we speak.

gord is aware of the dangers of the virus, but hey, he’s not stepping a foot outside anytime soon, and he’s always been the hygienic type, so why stress over something out of his control?

this king is absolutely thriving, the outside world truly does not matter to him anymore.

(but did it ever?)

gord will admit that he misses his friends, but it’s not like he has no means of communication with them!

you can bet your ass that every single prep is being hit up with a selfie of gord‘s magnificent face every single day of the WEEK baybee.

gord would also be the time to experiment with new hobbies and activities, yknow like a bunch of random shit like knitting or wood carving just to say he’s actually done something during quarantine.

he’s also the type of person to get really obsessed with social media quarantine too LMAO he probably gained thousands of followers on twt or tiktok or some shit for thirst trapping

gord would 100% open an onlyfans too, but he doesn’t need the money

plus, the world already can’t handle him and he CANNOT be held responsible for the chaos that will ensue if he does more than mere thirst traps

with school, he skips out on the online classes for subjects he doesn’t take an interest in, but rigorously studies for the ones he does care about (especially if they’ll play a big part in law school!!!

tad:

oh poor baby, he’s stuck at home with his horrible excuse of a father.

tad, like the other preps, doesn’t care for school (“money gets you farther in life than education ever will,” derby harrington at some point), but that doesn’t stop him from sucking himself into his education.

he attends all his online classes, does all his homework, studies optional material, does extra credit, anything to keep his mind away and busy from his dad.

(idk what tad’s dad does for a living but let’s just pretend he’s an essential worker and is out of the house often because i do Not Want tad suffering more than he has to)

he’ll take lots of walks around the neighborhood, and spends a lot of time hanging in the park.

plus gord usually calls him every other day or so to keep him company and the two will just chill together and talk.

tad probably gets into some soft hobbies like keeping up a diary, sewing, painting, and maybe even slowly picks up baking again.

gord probably sent him a bunch of tiktoks of people making frog bread and tad knew in his heart that he needed to make frog bread too LMAO

tad is canonically the type of person that would bake for your bday, so he experiments around with cakes and sweet treats in general he thinks the other preps would like.

there’s an Entire Fridge in his house dedicated to his baked goods now. that’s how often tad bakes.

he also looks forward to the day he can see his friends again and plans out all the things they’ll do once they’re reunited.

the preps are more of a loving family than his real family ever was, and tad doesn’t plan to let that fact go by unnoticed in the future :))

parker:

he lowkey goes insane.

parker has no idea what to do with himself now that he’s stuck at home with his parents and sister.

don’t get him wrong, he really loves his family, and genuinely enjoys the family activities his mother forces them to bond over, but what else is there to do?

he’s bored.

plus, parker gets up in his head way too often, and now there’s nothing to distract him.

he never really had any particular hobbies, and you will never catch him doing school work (he pays off his teachers).

and even though being at school sucks because bullworth academy itself sucks, doing things with the other preps made parker forget about his lack self importance and direction in life.

it seems like the end of the world to him, more because of his life and schedule being interrupted rather than the virus itself.

when he’s not with his family, parker spends a lot of time lounging in the mansion’s garden with the garden gnomes, and talks to them pretty often too (we’ve all heard those voice lines LMAO).

parker talks about everything and anything with the gnomes, and allows himself to just rant about life.

and sure, he thinks people who talk themselves 24/7 are hella crazy, but hey!! the gnomes love to listen!!! so therefore parker isn’t crazy!!!!!

he probably ends up doing gardening as a small hobby, and he genuinely likes it!

...even if it does have him down in the dirt and covered in sweat amongst other filth.

parker’s one of the less pretentious preps, so i can see him putting his entitled behavior aside, even if it is only this one time and for this one thing.

after all, his money and status don’t exactly matter anymore; everyone’s busy caring about more dire matters.

after the initial boredom, i can see parker letting loose and maybe even becoming a more decent person while in quarantine.

bryce:

he is 24/7 anxious.

it’s not specifically because of the virus itself, or because of school closing down, but it’s just the whole situation in general that makes him nervous.

bryce is stuck at home with his mother and father, in what bryce likes to call their cozy mansion, but what derby likes to call their oversized blue collar cottage (which bryce finds dumb because his parents don’t even work blue collar jobs).

his father, even during these dire times, is still gambling and wasting their money away, so that just hella adds onto bryce’s anxiety about the situation.

golf & yacht (where bryce canonically works) closes down since it isn’t considered an essential business, and so bryce ends up losing his job.

he’s really desperate to find another place to work, and rightfully so!! he doesn’t want his family to be losing more money than they gain.

bryce probably ends up working somewhere a step above fast food (he isn’t that desperate), like a cafe, since some are still open and surprisingly busy.

because of this, most of his hours are spent split between working and sleeping, and bryce doesn’t exactly have time to think about anything else other than family and money issues (something he thought he’d never have to worry about).

but bryce hides his physical and mental exhaustion quite well, mostly so that his life proceeds without anyone wasting his time with questions of concern.

sometimes the preps that aren’t as judgmental as the others (tad, gord, parker, pinky, bif) will check up on him and even offer to lend his family some money, but bryce knows better than to accept donations of any kind.

he tries to attend the online classes that he can, and does a lot of his homework with tad.

chad:

put simply, chad is fine.

he wasn’t particularly shocked when the virus was reported to be spreading, or when school was closed down, or even when he had to say goodbye to his fellow preps and the harrington house, and leave to his home in old bullworth vale.

chad was never strongly effected by any of this, and honestly is just really relaxed.

chad’s relationship with his parents is quite well (despite their occasional nagging), and he has a lot of hobbies that filled up his time during school and still fill up his time now.

so unlike tad or gord, chad doesn’t go searching for new activities to keep him busy or give him a sense of meaning and accomplishment.

chad wakes up early in the morning, when the sun is still rising, spends his day playing with his dog, chester, jogging around the neighborhood or park, boxing in his home gym, talking with his family, attending his flute lessons (which are now online), and then he goes to sleep with a tired mind, yet a well rested soul.

the only thing he doesn’t do is his school work (he pays off his teachers like derby), but occasionally you’ll see him attend an online class or two.

he lives his life on a clean schedule, and enjoys the alone time he gets during these tough times.

there’s no significant change in how he goes by his days, and chad is perfectly content with that. :)

justin:

he’s vibing.

at the beginning of quarantine, justin probably spent a bunch of time laying in his $10,000 satin sheets, doing nothing but thinking about random shit ranging from whether or not his family should invest in a second jacuzzi, his raging insecurities, how big his muscles are, or if he’ll ever get a chance to talk to the ted thompson himself, but that all gets old REAL quick.

he’s the type of person to be like, “i’m too rich to be sulking around!” even though those two things don’t exactly correlate in this situation LMAO

(but oh well, justin is a prep after all, their whole personalities are based around money.)

similar to bif with his boxing, justin throws himself entirely into swimming!

his family owns an indoor and outdoor pool, but nothing will EVER beat the feeling of swimming in the ocean for him.

there’s just nothing that feels the same, not even a pool with saltwater will ever mimic the feeling.

so justin will often times travel from his cozy home out to the beach just to swim and chill out in the sand for awhile, whether it be for thirty minutes or a whole afternoon.

omg he also gets really into corona virus gossip

*justin the the prep group chat* “guys, i heard that if you put an onion in every corner of your house, you’ll be safe from corona”

“guys did you know that if you drink a shot of vinegar everyday it’ll clean out your immune system?”

“GUYS omg i just heard that if you bathe in a mix of egg yolks and nesquik chocolate milk powder, you’ll be immune to corona!!!”

and everyone is just so tired of him (except for parker who believes almost everything justin says and derby who encourages his behavior on because he lives for chaos)

he pays off his teachers for grades lolol mr. hattrick didn’t get fired for us to just forget these canon facts

honestly justin completely forgets school exists as a whole.

pinky:

pinky is completely sucked into social media.

she has an account on every big platform out there, each one being incredibly active, and each one having a cult following.

and now she gets to be even more active than she was before!!

pinky spends all of her time doing complex photoshoots in her bedroom, experimenting with intricate makeup looks, binging tv shows with gord, and contemplating whether or not she should give herself bangs (you can bet all of this shit and more is going onto her accs too).

pinky also spends a lot of money ordering random shit she doesn’t need and sometimes doesn’t even want, but hey!! it’s free serotonin, and pinky’s therapist says that serotonin is a good thing ahahA

sometimes she’ll even order something and just send it to random addresses just for the fun of it.

pinky is like santa, but with better fashion taste and a little less no slave labor.

speaking of therapy, her sessions are now all online because we practice social distancing in this house teehee

shits and giggles aside however, pinky is thriving!

she’s happy, and healthy, and safe in her mansion, and besides the general feeling of unimportance and lack of meaning during these times where time itself doesn’t feel like it exists at all, she’s fine haHA.

her parents keep nagging her to talk to derby and to “hang out with her future hubby while the streets are empty and there’s free time!” but pinky is NOT breaking quarantine to hang out with a boy who made her wait for a whole three minutes on their date.

(she had a nicer time with jimmy than derby would’ve ever given her anyway.)

surprise surprise! pinky also pays the nerds to do her work, but still attends most of her classes for fun, mostly so she can help tad and bryce with anything if they need it.

real queen shit if you ask me.

whew, thanks for reading all of that if you did!! sorry it was super long but enjoy your preppy food lmao

oh and my anon asks are on now so go ahead and send me some shit if you want to!! headcanon requests, drawing requests, questions in general lol anything

anyway bye byeee uwu

[b1a4seeyou]

Restoring Trusts (Sebastian x Farmer!OC)

Summary: Zera’s first day in Pelican Town!

Sidenote: The zine is finally out!! My piece to From Grandpa’s Farm zine!! It’s completely free so go ahead an check out other people’s works. Thanks to @lbzines for giving me this opportunity!! TwT

>> CLICK HERE TO THE ZINE <<

>> You can read it in AO3 too <<

The view of the blue sky with the rays of sunshine seeping through between the collided clouds as they hide the sun’s presence. The everyday morning view as she gazes up from the windowsill. Time to start the day! Pulling away the bed sheet while stretching her arms, Zera takes out a notebook from the drawers to check for today’s to-do list.

It has been two days since Zera’s arrival in Pelican Town. Inheriting her grandfather’s farm is still a challenge to her, but she will never say no to a challenge! Besides, taking a break from the city life is what she had always wished for, and the letter came just right on time.

“Thank you, Grandpa. You know your granddaughter way too well.” Hugging the letter to her chest, she whispered to herself, hoping her grandfather heard her appreciation.

Arriving at the farmhouse with no one to greet with is already lonesome, but the time to be independent has come, for she will decide her life and her alone! Tending a farm? No problem! Looking after animals? You got it! This is her grandfather’s treasure, and from the on, she will cherish it as much as her grandfather did.

After watering the crops and clearing out the debris and weeds around the area, she wipes the sweat from her forehead and checks out the tasks from her to-do list. Now for the last task for today.  Ah, she almost forgot to meet some villagers she couldn’t meet on the first day! All that’s left is… As her fingers flip through the list, it stops at one name. The name of someone she had the difficulty to talk with, someone she couldn’t find the time to find him. 

“Right. I still need to introduce myself to him. He lives with Robin, right? I can get some materials while I’m at it!”

Setting her task in check with determination, she dusts out her gloves and heads for Robin’s cabin.

Admiring the forest’s beauty on the hills while strolling to the destination, she never thought she wanted this in her life. The city life was too cramped for her fragile mindset. The bustling noises from the vehicles and people’s chatters. The continuous stresses from her workplace. The banters inside her family’s continuous issues.

She almost had enough and her motivation to live on slowly dropped. But now that she’s here, she has regained the sense of calmness she had been missing. The peaceful atmosphere from nature’s silence, the chilled air from the blown wind. Nature has never failed her with their ways to relieve her tensions. Oh she had wished this opportunity to come knocking on her door.

Now standing in front of Robin’s cabin, she quickly scans through her to-do list for the necessary materials before entering, greeted by a friendly woman standing behind the counter.

“Good morning, Zera! How’s the farm life treating you?” she asks while leaning against the counter.

“Pretty good, I guess. I’m still getting used to it but I’m getting there!” Looking at Robin with her determined expression made the woman chuckled with glee. Zera already sees Robin as a mother to her, still hoping her real mother could treat her as lovingly as Robin does.

From business talk to casual conversations, the two got along with their stories and jokes. Too absorbed with the conversation, Zera glances over her shoulder and spots a silhouette passing by her. “Ah, it’s him!” She found the person she was looking for and waved her hand to his direction, but no response other than a quick glare to her before descending to the basement. 

“Oh,” she sighs disappointingly. 

“I’m sorry about Sebastian, that’s just how he usually is,” Robin notices her feeling defeated and tries to comfort her, “I know you want to make friends with him, and I’m sure he appreciates it! He’ll open up to you.”

“Well, no pressure on forcing people so I understand.” As much as she smiles at Robin in hiding her sadness, the heavy feeling inside her chest weighs her mood down.

Even after leaving the cabin, her mind is filled with the thoughts of Sebastian’s glare on her. From what she heard from every villager she asked before, Sebastian gives cold shoulders to others a whole lot. He must have his reasons for his behavior, she understands that seeing strangers trying to be nice with you alerts danger bells inside your head. But to the entire village? What could have possibly happened for his hatred towards these people?

While wandering along the bridge to the beach in deep thought, a shake from a phone vibration awakened from her overthinking. Searching through her overall outfit and pulling out her phone, her expression darkened. “Dad...”

She really doesn’t have the mood to answer his call. She doesn’t want to get herself involved in her family’s issues anymore. But then again, what could possibly be the reason her father called her? Gulping away the lump inside her throat, her finger hesitantly hover over the green icon before sliding it to answer.

From a simple greeting, the father enthusiastically rambles about how the family is going and about his work on and on. Hearing how cheerful he sounded on the other end, maybe picking up the call wasn’t a bad idea. Well…. She hoped it was…. After a few minutes of ramblings, the father’s voice turns serious, anxiety scorching inside Zera’s body.

“Listen, the reason I called you… I want you to come back to the city.”

Zera gasps in surprise. 

“I know, your grandfather gave you the inheritance to you. But you can just sell that place right? Make some money out of it! Why bother coming to a lowly countryside anyway?”

Zera becomes speechless. She can’t think of anything to reply back. Even the drizzling raindrops falling above her can’t bother her to move a muscle. 

“Think about it! We really miss you, Zera. Come back to us, okay?” 

Even after ending the conversation with those last words, she still can’t believe what she just heard. Selling her grandfather’s farm? The only possession he left behind after his passing? Her only getaway ticket?

The rain had gone heavier a while ago, but she doesn’t bother to seek shelter as she leans against the bridge railing in distress. With her palms covering her face, she doesn't know if she should cry or scream her feelings out. How could her father say that so casually about her grandfather? Didn’t they used to come by here for vacations? What made him say so lowly about the country life? Questions among questions come piling inside her mind, ensuing her anxieties burning inside.

That’s when, a voice she never heard of shocks her to face their way. Eyes widened, the person she’s been desperately trying to get along with is standing before her. Noticing his features are covered with his hoodie, the expressions he’s making clearly can’t be seen with the rainy weather accompanying it. 

“What are you doing here?” 

Sebastian sounds confused as he looks at her drenched figure. She quickly ruffles her wet hair from the excess water, even though it’s still pouring, and gives him her usual smile. Of course, there’s no response. Ah, maybe he really does hate her for coming to this town. She lowers her gaze to the river, staring at her glum reflection. 

Just when she has surrendered herself to the rain, a presence hovers above her. An umbrella? Is this coming from… 

“Here, you need this more than I do.” 

He holds out the opened umbrella to Zera with his other hand stuffed into the jacket’s pocket. Hesitantly taking the umbrella, Sebastian leans against the bridge railings with her. While the two silently listen to the sound of the pouring rain, Zera wonders to start up a conversation with him. Trying to come up with a topic in mind, Sebastian has already come up with one.

“So, did something happen?” 

Zera looks over to his side. 

“You were standing in the rain with nothing to shelter yourself. Did the call hurt you or something?”

She can’t tell if he’s being nosy or being considerate, but maybe he is concerned from the tone of his voice. 

“It’s nothing, really. Just family stuff.” She scoffs.

“Did you come here to escape from them?”

Now that shocked her. Well, he was standing on the other side of the bridge right after the call ended so he might have overheard the whole conversation. Well, she can’t hide it anymore. It must have been written on her face by now. She takes a deep breath and carefully lets out the hidden feelings inside her.

“I… guess you could say that. The city life isn’t my kind of lifestyle.”

“What kind of lifestyle do you want then?” 

“You know, something quiet… Something I can do stuff by myself without no one pushing me to do it based on their specific way… ”

“And you picked this place? It’s not how you like it, that I can tell.” 

“Well, at least you get more nature scenery here than the city. I like the countryside more.”

“If you like it so much, then why did you look depressed?” 

Her eyes cast to the water. Should she say it? Should she tell him about the conversation? 

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about it. I’m not as bad as what everyone said to you. I kept my word when I said so. Besides, you’re not gonna bottle it up, are you?”

He’s right. She shouldn’t bottle her unwanted feelings inside, she doesn’t want these guilty feelings to ruin her life in this village. No more hardened feelings. Time to let them out! As she takes a deep breath, she finally talks it out about what happened. The sudden force of dragging her to come home. The sudden look down to the countryside life. Her overthinking of which side she should take. To the very end, she told him. To the very end, she looked over his way to see his reaction about this matter.

To see him listening to her intently, she wonders. Is this the first time they ever talked this long? Is this actual progress on getting his friendship flag up? Even after telling the full story, her mind wanders on how he would respond.

“So, you’re saying you want to stay here more than living in that cramped place right? Then why are you so worked up about? Tell him you like staying here. Tell him you rather have a life of your own since you’re a grown up now.”

She nods in agreement. He has a point. She has to stand up for her own decisions or this won’t go anywhere. She’ll give her answer once she’s ready. Now with her mind cleared from worries, another comes into thought. She finally gets to talk with Sebastian! Her final checklist has crossed out. But of course, she’s not gonna end there. She still wonders as to why he tried to help sorting her personal problems. Now that she still has her chance, she asked what was on her mind.

Even though her question surprised him, he scoffs a little and says, “I… kind of relate to your situation, for some reason.”

“Oh? How so?“

“I’m not telling.” His heart bar isn’t full enough? Sounds fair. They only just started talking anyway.

Zera chuckles a little before facing him. “Alright. But thanks for your help.”

She extends her hand to Sebastian, inviting him for a handshake. Even though it’s awkward for his side, he shakes it anyway and nods. 

“By the way, I don’t know if you’ve heard of me by now, but I’m Zera. I hope we can get along from now.” She smiles, now with her cheerful self. 

“Sure. Let’s get along then.”

[han-jisung]

my doctor story:

so like i rlly don't know what to say & why i'm saying this here rn but... well this is crazy

everything started in the waiting room when i had to wait to go in & yea. so in the waiting room it is always very quiet right? & i also always have my phone muted then if i'm not listening to music & yea so i even checked whether i had it muted before. but yea i somehow went on twt and found video and was playing it & SUDDENLY my phone turned on the volume!!! dhdjfj and i was like no.way. it was a video of jisung's intro part in double knot from a live performance aaand yea... i couldn't stop it cause my phone somehow didn't work like i wanted it to??? this never happened to me?? and yea like after a few seconds i could only stop it and hfdjdkdkkd it was so embarrassing & i only said a short "sorry" after it & everything was quiet then like so awkward djfjfj so yea everyone in this waiting room basically heard jisung's legendary intro part djdhdkdkdk

and then after i finally could talk w my doctor & everything; she also draw my blood? like she did take it away? withdraw it??? (i hv no idea rn rlly what it is called) and like after it i was in a not so good state bc i cannot deal w it last time i passed out after it & i did it almost again but yea so i also did not sleep the entire night and more so i was feeling very very very bad otherwise i wouldn't go to a doctor BUT

after my doctor did her part another one came in cause like it's an office where more doctors work? like about three? & she's not my usual doctor but she did it bc it wasn't much that still had to be done AND suddenly she noticed smth on my backpack.. she noticed my jungkook keychain!!!! she said "oh a bts fan!!" and i was like no way but after a bit i thought okay well she's probably one of the newer fans like everyone here who only knows bts.. but like we started to TALK about all of KPOP

and she told me how she loves jungkook the most & how she loves hobi's bright personality so much & the way namjoon speaks and writes his lyrics and i??? she knew them???? she knew them ALL and she's an army together w her daughter!! like she also went to 2 concerts of them last year and this year!! and like i said me too!!! and we talked about the concerts and stuff!!!! and also she said actually i love the song 'dope' the most and i was like NEVER CAUSE DOPE IS MY FAVOURITE!!! i got into them because of dope back then i said!!!! and she said me too!!!!!! avdjdjdndnfk so yea we had so much stuff in common and she also did not stop talking about jungkook and yea me too me too me too love of my life yea

and then i also suddenly asked do you maybe know stray kids too? u probably dont it's okay! :( but theeen!!! she said of course i know them!!! aahhhhhdnfnfnf she KNOWS STRAY KIDS and "never u really know stray kids???" "yeah!!!" and then she also talked about all the posters her daughter has in her room of them and how she also loves them and then i showed her my lockscreen of jisung and how much i also love that boy and she said "omg jisung the boy w the cute cheeks" and i dhdjdkdkdnendjf YEA SO she knew them all she knew everything man & then she asked me whether they'll come here one day and i said they already did! and that i saw them in august & how i talked to jisung and everything i told her!!!! dhdjdjdj and omg djdjdj

and so yea i also asked her whether she knows got7!! bc if i'm already talking about my main groups the last group has to get included as well right?? and yea i told her that i'll see got7 in two days!!! in concert! and she didnt know at first who they are and i was so :(((( but she immediately took out her phone and told me to write it down the name so that she can check them out later!!! so like i promoted them again dhffndjdjd this time not in school but infront of my doctor yvdbdbdb so yea when she saw the name written down she said she has heard of them before! and yea djdbfbfb omg so much rlly we also talked about other groups as well but yea mainly those ones and!! she did also want to take a selfie w me fjdjdjd like i was like WHAT I LOOK SO TERRIBLE fjfjfj bc it has its reason why i'm at a doctor right?? i was about to pass out a few seconds before fjdbdjdb but yea we took a photo together w my keychain and to show it to her daughter also dhdjdjd

so yea we were both so happy & excited and i think i'm gonna changed my doctor now to her lol

[catflowerqueen]

Déjà vu (Oh, the Irony)

Summary:

Jirachi comes to the Wigglytuff Guild for a visit, and inadvertently grants a wish with some interesting consequences for Team Rainbow. After all, it's one thing to know, mentally, that Paula and Laura are rather young for being such being good explorers. But this... this is something else entirely. Also, Drowzee gets a new appreciation for the meaning of the word "irony."

Knowledge of my “The World’s Treasure” and “Missing Scenes” story is vital for understanding this. Feel free to view those stories, as well as this one,on my fanfiction .net account or ao3 as well. My username is the same in both places.

And my askbox is open if you have questions.

Author’s Note: This is somewhat of a new series of stories that I’m going to attempt, but don’t expect updates too often, as I’m still getting back into the swing of creative writing. Also, with this story in particular… don’t expect updates for at least the next two weeks, because I have a lot of major papers due for school soon as the semester is ending, as well as paperwork to grade, and I already spent today writing this when I really should have been working on those instead.

 This is technically non-canon for the eventual storyline I have planned, but all backgrounds and histories—both for the characters and for specific locations/things discovered through use of the Dimensional Scream ability—are the same as those in the World’s Treasure and Missing Scenes series—it’s just that this is not the method in which those histories and backstories are going to be revealed when it comes to that point in actual canon. …assuming I eventually find the time to actually write said canon out. I still want to! I’m just continually busy with other things, because Real Life is complicated. Also, I have some stories in another fandom that I want to write as well.

 As this technically takes place in the future of the TWT and MS universe, there are a few things that might be spoilers. I’ll try to be vague in the story to avoid that as much as possible, but I can’t guarantee that some things won’t slip through. 

Check the author’s notes at the end if you want a bit of background for what exactly is going on in this universe at the time of this non-canon scenario. Otherwise, please enjoy the story.

-----

Chapter One: Bidoof’s Wish

“Are you two sure you’re up for this already?” Chatot asked, glancing between the two girls of Team Rainbow with a look of concern on his face.

It wasn’t the first time they had been asked this question today. Even though the… incident… with the outlaw known as the “Dreamy Blackmailer” had finally resolved and Laura was given a clean bill of health by Nurse Blissey from Magnezone’s Police Headquarters, and then taken an additional week off to try and heal a bit mentally, their friends throughout Treasure Town and the Guild were still concerned. After all, not only had the incident had brought both of them face to face with some of their worst nightmares—literally speaking—it hadn’t happened too long after the Weathered Peak expedition. And while no one had been in the best of spirits after that expedition, what with the overwhelming failure to actually find anything of interest aside from a new definition of “extreme weather phenomenon” and, in Chatot’s case, a rather horrifying lesson from an injured and delirious Laura about the myriad of ways that one could construct prison cells and stockades from repurposed caves and rock formations, Paula and Laura had definitely been hit the hardest. Sure, Chatot was a close contender for that position, what with the aforementioned front row seat to that lesson on prison cells and stockades, but Laura had been the one to actually suffer the injury and the experience of reliving some terrible memories during an expedition she hadn’t really wanted to go on in the first place; and Paula had to endure what was technically blackmail—and from the Guildmaster, of all people!—which forced her to be split from her partner during the exploration, meaning that she wasn’t there to stop her from getting injured or provide moral support in the aftermath, compounded with the fact that the lack of treasure meant that they had gone through all that pain for nothing. Or at least close to nothing, since even though the goal of the blackmail—to get Laura and Chatot to spend some time alone together so that they could clear the air between them, make up from their recent fight, and get back on friendly terms—had technically worked, even Wigglytuff agreed that it really wasn’t worth it when the price had been injury and trauma on one hand and betrayal and worry on the other. He still felt guilty about it now—especially since the memory of the blackmail probably did not help Paula at all during the aforementioned Dreamy Blackmailer debacle—even though Paula, Laura, and Chatot had forgiven him for it.

Suffice to say, Team Rainbow had really been put through the ringer lately, so it wouldn’t have been surprising if they weren’t quite ready to get back to exploring yet. Then again, this was Team Rainbow they were talking about, who had the unfortunate tendency to downplay any problems they were having via overworking themselves in an attempt to get people to stop worrying about them. Which of course just made people worry about them even more.

But at least it meant that Paula’s response of “Yes. We’ll be fine—don’t worry!” as she adjusted her treasure bag, her partner nodding beside her from where she was just finishing up a swap with Croagunk, didn’t come as a surprise.

So it was with a resigned sigh that Chatot finally waved them off with only a minor admonishment to be careful, and the two ascended from the lowest guild level in order to head off on a day of exploring. But he couldn’t help but follow them with his gaze, and once they left his line of sight his eyes still lingered a bit on the top of the ladder before he blinked and shook his head, determined to put the inevitable worry he still felt out of his mind and get back to work running the guild. Today, after all, he also had the additional task of preparing some informational pamphlets for Drowzee to look at in regards to how to manage an exploration team. He didn’t actually expect the Hypnosis Pokémon to arrive in town from the little exploration he had decided to undertake as a sort of goodbye to being a solo explorer until tomorrow—or possibly later tonight, at the earliest, in which case it would likely still be too late for him to actually have time to meet with Chatot—but it never hurt o be prepared.

He sighed again before glancing about, noticing that everyone else who was with him on the lower level was in the same boat, despite their attempts to hide their true feelings. Croagunk was determinedly looking down and organizing his items in pure silence, with none of his usual mutterings and praise towards his prized Swap Cauldron. Loudred was attempting to use a stage whisper—with an emphasis on “attempting”—to get Diglett to let him know when Team Rainbow fully left the premises, even though Diglett’s job was only to monitor those coming in rather than those leaving, since determining moving footprints wasn’t an easy task. Wigglytuff had his door cracked open, and his mouth was quivering, as if it wanted to form into an uncharacteristic frown.

This, Chatot determined, was where he should focus his energies for the time being, as an upset Wigglytuff was never a good thing. It would also be a good segue into preparing those pamphlets for Drowzee, as a seasoned explorer such as Wigglytuff would be sure to have some good advice for the ex-outlaw, especially considering his own past as the apprentice of an explorer with a history as an outlaw. But before he could start to make his way over, he was interrupted by Bidoof coming down the ladder with a very perturbed look on his face.

“Bidoof? What are you doing back down here?” Chatot asked, equally as thankful for the interruption as he was annoyed at the fact that the apprentice was ignoring his orders. “I thought that I told you to look over the job boards today.”

Bidoof cringed at the glare on Chatot’s face, even though it wasn’t at its usual levels of scariness. “Oof… Sorry Chatot, I.. I really would like to do that but…”

“‘But?’” Chatot sharply prompted.

“But… but the boards are both empty, by golly!”

“Squawk! What? What do you mean they’re empty?!”

“There’s… there’s no jobs left on them, no siree!” Bidoof shook his head, “I think Team Rainbow took most of them for themselves… and then the other teams hanging around took the rest of them… and by the time I got there, there was only an S-class outlaw job left… which I don’t think I’m ready for anyways… but then Team Poochy snatched it right out of my paws before I even got the chance to look at it too closely, yup yup!”

“That’s…” Chatot got a twitch beneath his eye before sighing in defeat. The sequence of events was extremely plausible, as unfortunate as it was—especially the part about Team Rainbow grabbing the majority of the jobs from the boards before anyone else got the chance. Chatot could remember very well that same scenario happening shortly after Laura asked her goddess’ permission to stay in the Pokémon World, rather than return with her to Earth… and even before then, there was that incident with Laura right after she returned from wherever she had been after the future was saved. Add Paula’s exuberance and love of exploring into the mix—especially when she, too, was trying to convince everyone that she was actually fine and recovered—and it was practically a given that the two would ignore the guidelines for how many requests that a single team should realistically take on at once. It wasn’t that they couldn’t do all of those jobs successfully, but more that they shouldn’t. Although Chatot did appreciate the influx in treasures, bounty, and reward money that it generated for the guild, it was a bit inconsiderate to the other exploration teams that would come to the Wigglytuff Guild specifically for the use of the boards, not to mention that it denied those still apprenticing in the guild the chance at a little training. Also, it left them all worrying over the two girls’ mental and physical health even more, since they had all seen the consequences of their overworking themselves in this manner many, many times. It made Chatot consider, not for the first time, the possibility of him and Wifflytuff setting up a board specifically for Team Rainbow’s exclusive use, just so that the two could ensure their precious graduates safety and wellbeing. But on the other wing, he supposed that it rather defeated the point of their having graduated if he and the Guildmaster were still regulating what the two could and could not do…

But all of that was something to consider at a future point in time. He would definitely have a little talk with the two of the two members of Team Rainbow when they finally returned to town at the end of the day, but for now he needed to figure out something else for Bidoof to do.

“Very well,” he said, “I suppose I can’t exactly fault you for that, so for now why don’t you—”

But he was cut off by a surprised exclamation from Loudred over by the sentry post. “WHAT?!” he yelled, before hollering again, “Hey, BIDOOF! Diglett says you have a VISITOR at the entrance!”

“A visitor?!” Bidoof repeated in surprise as he and Chatot headed over. “Golly, that’s sure a surprise! Who is it?”

Loudred turned to call back down to Diglett, intending to ask for more information “HEY Diglett—!”

“Yes, I heard!” Diglett called back up before Loudred got the chance to finish his question. “Give me just a moment… Okay. He says that he is… Jirachi!”

“W-WHAT?! J-Jirachi?!” Loudred and Chatot repeated incredulously. “Wh-Why would Jirachi come here? And to meet Bidoof, of all pokémon?”

Bidoof frowned in confusion. “Jirachi… Jirachi… do I know a Jirachi…? Maybe… oh!” He smiled as he finally remembered. “Diglett! Ask him if he’s the one from Star Cave!”

Then, the others understood as well, remembering the Snover incident from so long ago, when Bidoof took the initiative to go on an ill-advised and technically against the rules trip to Star Cave after having been tricked by Snover, and how he was able to explore the depths all on his own after the rest of the guild rescued him, culminating in his meeting with the legendary Wish Pokémon. He never did them what he ended up wishing for, though—only that it was granted, but the effects would take a while to actually manifest. There had been some wild speculation running through the guild for a while, until the incident was nearly forgotten in the excitement over Team Rainbow joining the guild a few months later.

“The answer is… yes!” Diglett called back in excitement. “This is the Jirachi from Star Cave!”

“Well don’t just STAND there!” Loudred whipped around and demanded of Bidoof. “Go up and MEET him! And then bring him down HERE so we can see him, too!”

 -----

A few minutes later saw Jirachi in the bottom-most level of the guild. He didn’t seem at all bothered by the fact that he had amassed an audience, as all of the apprentices who were left in the guild (which ended up being everyone but Dugtrio, basically, as he was out getting more job requests in order to fill up the boards while the others were stuck waiting for his return since they, like, Bidoof, had been a bit too slow to pick any before Laura and Paula nabbed them all). Instead, when he wasn’t turning this way and that as he levitated, taking in all the sights, he was focused on his friend.

“Ooh… This place is really interesting!” Jirachi told Bidoof in excitement. “If it’s always like this, then I can see why you like exploring so much, Bidoof. I thought that I would be tired after journeying all this way, but the energy surrounding this place is so exciting! It’s perking me right up!”

“Yup, yup! The guild is pretty great!” Bidoof agreed with a smile. “And… gosh, it sure is nice to see you again Jirachi… I must admit, I’ve been meaning to come see you for a while now… I wanted to thank you for granting that wish for me, but it’s been so busy that I never had the time to!”

Jirachi smiled. “Ha ha… That’s all right, Bidoof. With a wish like yours… it’s only to be expected that you would be too busy to find the time to visit. And… I’ve been sleeping a lot again lately, so I may not have noticed even if you did come by,” he admitted with a sheepish grin. “But that wish of yours… well, it’s not exactly why I came by, but now I’m curious; where are those buddies of yours you wished for? Have you been teaching them lots?”

Bidoof blushed a bit, slightly embarrassed about the fact that everyone in the guild now more or less knew what he wished for so long ago, but he also couldn’t help but smile at the thought of his friends on Team Rainbow. “They’re out exploring right now! They already graduated from the guild, see, and… well, gosh, I don’t know how much of it is do to anything I taught them, but… I’m real proud of Team Rainbow, yup yup! It was so much fun to be with them when they were still apprentices, and they still live nearby so I get to see Laura and Paula nearly every day!”

Jirachi’s mouth formed an “o” of shock. “Did you say that one of the buddies I influenced to come here was… Laura? Of Team Rainbow? That’s what you said, right?” He looked around at the others, verifying if what he’d heard was correct.

“Hey, hey! That’s what he said, alright!” Corphish nodded

“Oh, wow, wow!” Jirachi clapped his hands and spun in excitement. “That’s great! That’s actually exactly why I came in the first place!”

“Oh, oh?” Wigglytuff asked. “You wanted to meet friendly-friend Laura? Why?”

“You see, I don’t really get out much,” Jirachi admitted, to the surprise of no one, “so I’m a little… or, rather, a lot… behind the times when it comes to some things… or, really, a lot of things… but… sometimes while I’m dreaming, my psychic powers act up a little, and I hear whispers of conversations. Rumors. And sometimes they’re really interesting! So, I wake up in excitement! But… I don’t really have a way to know if these rumors are true, since I live so out of the way, and travelling can get so tiring so I usually just fall back to sleep.” He huffed a bit in frustration before brightening again. “But! This time! This time I heard some rumors about a girl named Laura… who joined an exploration team called Rainbow… who is currently a treecko, but who some say used to be a human!” He paused again to clap and spin with excitement. “So I just had to know if they were true. I had to! And I remembered! This time I had a way to verify those rumors! You, Bidoof!”

“H-huh? Me?!”

“Yes! You told that you were a part of a guild—and not just any guild, the Wigglytuff Guild! That place—this place—has tons of information, right? And tons of explorers! And you! My friend! So I thought… if I came here… I could verify the rumors! And that hopefully…” Jirachi got quieter, and seemed almost wistful. “Hopefully… hopefully some of them would be true. And that it would mean… well, it would mean what I hoped. That they… that she… well. I’d better not say… just in case I’m wrong… I don’t want to get my hopes up too much.”

“Well… golly! I’m honored, Jirachi!” Bidoof said, slightly nervous about potentially disappointing his powerful friend, but still hopeful that he would be able to help, and happy to get the chance to ramble on about Laura, and Team Rainbow in general. “So let’s see… Laura… well, first off—yup yup! The Laura that I know, who joined Team Rainbow and the guild here… she really did used to be a human!” Bidoof verified. Then, when Jirachi’s grin turned from wistful back to gleeful, he decided to add, “She is a treecko right now, but she surely did used to be a human, yup yup! And we even got to see her human form for a little bit, too! I don’t know to much about humans in general, but I thought she was really pretty, so I reckon other humans would think so too. Especially her eyes—they looked like rainbows, and still do even though she’s back to being a treecko now, yup yup.”

“Oh… oh…!” Jirachi clasped his hands in front of his mouth, his eyes widening and starting to shine with unshed tears of joy. “And… and one more thing! Did she… does she… the Dimensional Scream? Is that an ability she possesses?”

“Yup yup! It surely is!”

“Hooray!” Jirachi exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air and spinning in ecstasy, laughing as happy tears escaped his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. “Finally… finally a Rainbow Child is visiting again!” He slowed down his spinning, sighing wistfully again as he slowly calmed down. “It’s been… so very long. I know I slept through most of it, but… it must have been nearly a thousand years since I last… since she last…” he sighed again, this time in resignation. “But… you said that she’s out exploring now, right? So I guess that means I’ll still need to wait a while to actually see her again…”

“Oof… I reckon that’s true,” Bidoof said, frowning at sad his friend sounded about that fact, and feeling bit sad himself at the thought of how long Jirachi had waited to see the Rainbow Child return, even as he was shocked at the timespan and surprised at the fact that Laura’s past incarnations apparently used to visit the pokémon world a lot… as well as curiosity and unease about the fact that they had apparently stopped some thousand years ago.

“Oh!” Wigglytuff suddenly explained, clapping his hands together. “I know! I know! Bidoof, while we wait for Team Rainbow to come back… why don’t you show Jirachi around Treasure Town? Give him a tour! It will be fun!

“Ah! Yes, guildmaster, I concur!” Chatot agreed with the flap of his wings. “That is an excellent idea! And while you’re there… as I was about to say earlier… Regarding the day’s duties, since Dugtrio is not yet back with replacement jobs… please do a survey of the shops in town; it is important to know which get the most use from the members of our esteemed guild, and in what ways… and if any of them will be offering new services soon which we should be aware of.”

“Oof… I, uh… yes siree, I will do that,” Bidoof said, his happy mood at the thought of getting to show Jirachi around town becoming slightly dampened by the fact that it wouldn’t be a day off, like he’d thought, but rather an exercise in multitasking. “Come on, Jirachi, I think I’ll show you Spinda’s Café first…”

With that, the two headed off, and Chatot set the rest of the guild to do some mild cleaning and reorganizing until Dugtrio finally made it back and they could do some real exploration work.

 -----

Team Rainbow still wasn’t back by the time that Bidoof’s tour/survey was completed. This was a bit surprising, as the whole endeavor had taken a bit longer that Bidoof anticipated, since Jirachi stopped frequently to either admire something or because he needed to rest a little bit before continuing. He was, after all, a sleepy pokémon in general, and hadn’t been lying about how long his journey had been. Some of the things he stopped to admire seemed a bit mundane by Bidoof’s standards, but if he really had been sleeping for nearly a thousand years, then he figured that it would make sense that Jirachi would have missed an invention or innovation or two that was commonplace now. …Though he wasn’t sure if that fully explained why the legendary seemed so enamored by the dandelions dotting the path in some places. Surely those existed for far longer, right?

In any case, the tour was also lengthened by the fact that many of the shopkeepers seemed ecstatic to talk about their shops and wares, especially the Kecleon brothers… and Marowak, who seemed to take the opportunity as a chance to test out the new pitches he was considering to entice more pokémon to come train at his dojo… but Bidoof figured that at least part of that was excitement over seeing a legendary wandering through town. The last time that had happened had been with Cresselia, after all, and while it had been fairly recent, the circumstances surrounding it had… not been the greatest. By the time that Bidoof was finally finished and ready to report back to Chatot, Jirachi was understandably bored and uninterested in hearing a bunch of information that he’d already heard throughout the day. So, he opted to go visit the Beach for a while instead. He seemed weirdly excited by the prospect, too, but Bidoof figured that it had something to do with Laura, or the Rainbow Child in general, so he let it go without too much comment. He invited Jirachi to come have dinner with the guild when he was finished at the Beach, but Jirachi declined, citing interest in seeing what the Café’s menu was like in the evening. Though he did promise to come and stay at the guild for the evening if Team Rainbow still wasn’t back by then.

So this is why, when Jirachi failed to return to the guild like he promised a few hours later, long after dinner was finished and with still no sign of Team Rainbow, Bidoof found himself heading towards the Beach, intent on finding the legendary. Dinner had been a bit earlier than usual today, so the sun hadn’t yet fully set and he found the Wish Pokémon fairly easily. Unfortunately for Bidoof, the reason that said pokémon hadn’t returned to the guild yet was because he—rather predictably, in hindsight—had fallen asleep. So then Bidoof was faced with the somewhat arduous task of waking him back up.

One fight and several bruises on Bidoof’s part later, and a more-or-less awake Jirachi was yawning drowsily and looking around at his surroundings in mild confusion. “Hah… yawn… Ah, I’m still on the Beach…?”

“Erg…” Bidoof groaned a little, “Yup yup… I reckon you fell asleep here.”

“Oh… right… I was going to head over to the Café, but I felt so tired that I decided to rest for just a little bit longer… and then… well.” Jirachi said, blinking, as he finally noticed Bidoof. He easily spotted the bruising and ruffled fur, and had the tact to look sheepish as he put two and two together. “I must have attacked you in my sleep, huh?” he guessed. “But I see that you managed to wake me up again, so that’s good! I… probably owe you another wish for the trouble,” he finished, the last part in a mutter.

“H-huh?” Bidoof said, a bit confused before it clicked what Jirachi meant. “Oh! No, no, that’s fine,” Bidoof shook his head. “I don’t really need anything. But… you said that you wanted to stay in the guild if Team Rainbow didn’t come back in time, right? And, well, they’re still not back yet, so…”

“They’re still not back?” Jirachi tilted his head. “Is it normal for them to be out exploring so late?”

Bidoof shook his head, a frown on his face. “No siree, it really isn’t…” He sighed in sadness. “To tell you the truth, everyone at the guild… we’re all really worried about them. Some real stressful stuff has happened to the two of them recently, and I reckon that working hard like this is probably the only real way they know to cope with it, but… golly, it just isn’t right!” He stomped his foot in frustration. “It’s so unfair… all of these stressful and trying things seem to happen to them… the whole Temporal Tower thing from years ago… the thing with Darkrai… the other thing with Darkrai… and then what’s been going on recently… and they’re still so young! Paul is only sixteen… and Laura is just fourteen… and… golly, I know exploring is really fun for them, but with all the other stuff… sometimes I just…” Bidoof’s frustration simmered down a bit and he sighed mournfully.

“What is it, Bidoof?” Jirachi asked, worry and empathy on his face for both his friend and the plight of Team Rainbow.

Bidoof sighed again, looking down at his feet. “Sometimes… I wish that the two of them had the chance to just be kids again. Even if just for a little while…”

At those words, Jirachi twitched a little as something resonated inside him. “I see,” he said, his eyes starting to take on a faraway look. “Bidoof… you never fail to amaze me. Of all the possible wishes in the world… all of the things people have asked me for before… and you always, always choose not to be greedy; you always choose to help others… it makes me like you even more!”

“I… wait. What?” Bidoof asked, blinking in confusion and looking up before cringing back in shock at the sight of Jirachi, who was floating even higher in the air than he typically did, eyes glowing.

“And I suppose, technically, this is my fault a bit, too,” Jirachi said, more to himself than to Bidoof, in a voice that seemed to echo slightly with power. “I could have chosen someone other than Paula to nudge in the direction of the guild… and if I’d been more aware… I could have eased that poor girl’s suffering… and maybe the visits wouldn’t have stopped… or if not, I could have spent those years preparing… I could have done something to ease the suffering of the last one, instead of wallowing in loneliness… I’m the selfish one this time, so really…”

Jirachi tilted backwards as his eyes slowly closed… but as they did so, the one on his stomach—which Bidoof hadn’t even known existed—opened instead, brimming with even more light and power. But its owner took no notice.

“Really…” he repeated, as his true eye fully opened. “Granting this wish… it’s the least I could do!

Bidoof screamed and slammed his own eyes shut as the brightness spilling out of Jirachi’s true eye grew to blinding, and the wave of power that Jirachi unleashed was so huge that Bidoof briefly lost his footing. He thought he heard a thump as something fell to the sand, but other than that… there was stillness and quiet for a few minutes before Bidoof dared to risk opening his eyes again to try and figure out what happened. He glanced around… and then immediately jumped to his feet with a cry of alarm when he saw that Jirachi was facedown on the sand, shaking with the aftereffects of whatever he had just unleashed.

“Jirachi!” Bidoof called, rushing over and helping him to sit up. “Are you okay?! What just… what just happened?! What did you do?!”

“Oh… Bidoof…” Jirachi slurred, one of his regular eyes cracking open lazily. “I think I… ngh… I think I… overdid it… a little…”

“Overdid… what?! What just… what just happened?!”

“That wish… sigh… it was… really good… but… really draining. I think… sigh… I think I need to sleep for a while again. I should wake up soon… to fulfill the rest of it, but… yawn… until then… please take care of me… zzz. Zzz…”

And with that, Jirachi fell asleep. He was so completely dead to the world that even his psychic powers were inactive, and nothing Bidoof tried could wake him up. He had no choice but to struggle and shift Jirachi onto his back so that he could carry him to the guild, all the while wondering what exactly just happened, and getting a sense of foreboding that he’d accidentally done something wrong…

-----

“…I see,” Chatot said, glancing at where Jirachi lay asleep—and drooling a little bit—on the bed in the room at the end of the hall where they’d placed him after Bidoof had returned, shouting frantically about there being trouble. He’d had to shoo everyone else except Wigglytuff away because, as usual, the other apprentices were too nosy for their own good, but after doing so he’d had Bidoof recount exactly what happened to leave Jirachi in this state.

“And you have no idea what happened when that power was unleashed?” he confirmed.  “Or why Jirachi even did… whatever it is he did… in the first place?”

Bidoof looked uncomfortable as he shook his head. “No! No siree, I have no idea! I’m just as lost as you are! Except…” he paused.

“Except…?” Chatot prompted.

“Well… last time… when I met Jirachi the first time in Star Cave… he told me that he granted wishes to those who managed to wake him up. And… and when I found him on the Beach, I had to wake him up so that I could bring him back here, so… so I reckon that maybe he counted that, too? As fulfilling those conditions?”

“I see…” Chatot murmured, nodding to himself, “that makes sense… So then that power… I would assume that means…” he raised his voice back to normal levels and asked, “Did you make a wish? Or say something that could be interpreted as such?”

“Oh, gosh… uh… I don’t think so… lemme think…” Bidoof started muttering to himself and pacing, trying to push past the worry and remember what it was that he said right before Jirachi went all strange and glowy. “I said that… and then there was that… and then Paula and Laura came up and… and… oh.” Bidoof stopped dead in his tracks. “I think… uh… oh golly, I think I made a big mistake…” he whimpered.

“Don’t worry Bidoof, it can’t be that bad!” Wigglytuff assured him. “What happened? What did you say to friendly-friend Jirachi?”

“I j-just…” Bidoof gulped, before continuing, “I was just talking about how worried we’ve all been since Team Rainbow has been under a lot of stress lately… and I was frustrated today, especially, since they still aren’t back yet after taking on so much… and I was saying how it was so unfair considering how young they are… so I uh, I may have accidentally told Jirachi that ‘sometimes I wish that the two of them had the chance to just be—’”

But the end of his inadvertent wish was cut off when the three of them heard shouts of alarm coming from the main area.

“Eek! Oh my gosh!”

“What in the…?!”

“Hey, hey! What the heck?!”

“Dad, why are… how can…?!”

“Is that…?”

“What in the WORLD is going on here?!”

The three of them rushed out just in time to hear a voice which they hadn’t expected to hear until tomorrow begging, “H-hey, can everyone please calm down a little bit? Or at least your voices? You’re scaring them!”

“Squawk! What is going on out here?!” Chatot demanded.

“Chatot!” Drowzee, who had indeed arrived a day early and stopped in at the guild despite the late hour, answered brightly, looking highly relieved to see him. For some reason, he had Team Rainbow’s treasure bag slung over his shoulder, and in his right hand…

“I know I’m early… and I wasn’t planning on stopping in so late, “Drowzee started to explain, a bit of suppressed panic mixed in with the awkwardness he still often felt around the guild members, despite everything that they’d been through together recently, “but there was… I ran into, uh, a bit of a problem as I was heading into to town, and I’m really, really hoping that you know how to fix it,” he finished, glancing down a bit to the right as he did so.

Chatot followed his gaze, and was then dumbstruck by what he saw. “But that’s… what is… what?” he demanded. “I just… what?”

In Drowzee’s right hand was held the hand of another… and this hand belonged to a human. She was tiny, Chatot supposed, at least compared to the last human he’d seen. Her outfit, a cute little dress with matching leggings, was… well, he could tell that it would have been white, if not for the grass and dirt stains covering it. Her hair was equally white, rather than the brown that he would have expected, considering the girls eyes—which were the familiar, rainbow-colored ones belonging to his dear friend and precious graduate…

She looked like she was relaxing a bit after holding herself tense—likely in response to the yelling earlier—and she looked around, making small noises of excitement as her smile grew and grew. She spotted him and gasped in wonder, leaning forward and unconsciously trying to tug her hand out of Drowzee’s grasp, as if she wanted to dash forward and get a closer look at the pretty, talking bird in front of her. But she couldn’t really make any serious attempts to do so, as her other hand—and the attached arm—were too occupied holding onto a tiny, adorable, pichu who was teary-eyed and sniffling, periodically turning her head to hide her face in the human’s collar.

That combination… an electric-type rodent with a human companion… appearing at the guild around the same time that Team Rainbow was expected back… Team Rainbow’s treasure bag in Drowzee’s grasp… it couldn’t be… and yet…!

“Drowzee… is this… are they…?” Chatot couldn’t quite formulate the question, his voice sounding strangled from sheer disbelief in spite of the fact that there was no denying the proof in front of him.

“Yeah…” Drowzee nodded, still feeling shocked himself at the situation. “I happened to meet Team Rainbow at the crossroads when I was headed into town, and then while we were talking, Laura and Paula… they suddenly turned into… well. This.”

Chatot was struck silent, but Wigglytuff was finally able to break his own as he turned to Bidoof and asked, “So… what was it, exactly, that you said to Jirachi?”

“Th-that…” Bidoof whispered, shaking his head at the sheer absurdity of the situation “that sometimes…. I wish that the two of them had the chance to just be kids again.”

No one had a response. The entire guild was silent as they all took his words in…

…and then, with a singular voice, Drowzee, Chatot, and the other apprentices all screamed, “YOU DID WHAAAAAAAT?!!!”

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Author’s Notes: Important background for this story: This takes place when Laura is about 14 and Paula is about 16. The two girls have recently had some very emotional things happen to them recently, with the most notable things being Laura getting injured and then trapped in a cave with Chatot during an exploration to a place that she already had some mixed emotions about in the first place. Throughout this Paula was upset that; first off, Laura and Chatot hadn’t been getting along recently; secondly, in a somewhat misguided attempt to get his friends to get along again, Wigglytuff pulled rank and declared that Laura and Chatot had to explore together, alone, so Paula wasn’t there to stop Laura from getting hurt or help her through the emotional memories; and thirdly that—inevitable successful reconciliation between Chatot and Laura aside—it was all for nothing since no one even found any treasure anyways.

 The second big emotional thing to happen was that some outlaw with the ability to travel through dreams—so probably, like, a gengar or some other ghost- or psychic-type—struck Treasure Town while Laura was away visiting Mason/recovering from the recent emotional stress and started plaguing everyone with nightmares and diving into their subconscious thoughts in order to acquire blackmail material (which is part of why they were able to stay at large for so long). This of course includes Paula, who was probably among the primary targets since her fame and notoriety would have been too enticing to pass up. They are eventually caught around the time that Laura gets back, and then they decide that the best way to hide/escape would be to essentially take Laura hostage by diving into her mind and forcing her into a nightmare—similar to what happened to Azurill. Except this turns out to be a huge mistake on their part, since Laura’s mind ends up so confusing and cavernous due to the fact that she’s had so many reincarnations that the outlaw basically gets lost and trapped, necessitating outside help. This leads to Drowzee and Cresselia—who had been using their abilities to help catch the outlaw in the first place—to have to team up with a different outlaw with dream walking abilities and more familiarity with Laura’s mind in order to successfully rescue her—and the perpetrator themselves, by this point. Unfortunately, Paula is, once more, stuck behind and unable to help her friend, which of course does not help her mindset—which is still recovering from her own stint at being this outlaw’s victim, especially in light of how big a role blackmail played in this incident, considering her experiences with it on the recent expedition. Also not helping is the fact that she and Laura have somewhat of a bad history with the person teaming up with Drowzee and Cresselia, and has not forgiven him for what he did even though Laura has.

 But the trio is successful, and decide to form a more permanent team together—partially with the intent that it will help the third member with parole/rehabilitation.

 So at the moment this story begins, Team Rainbow is suffering from emotional exhaustion—Paula feeling useless and Laura just… a mess in general—and is only just starting to get back into exploration work, all the guild members are upset after having watched their friends suffer—and in some cases being to blame for some of the suffering—and are continually being struck with just how young these two actually are despite having been through so much. Drowzee is also still hanging around town, or at least close enough to it to visit frequently—both because he, too, needs to recover mentally from the rescue mission and because there are some logistical issues regarding his new team and circumstances that need to be finalized. Mason may or may not be helping with that, since he also has a history with the third team member, but one that is decidedly less fraught with tension and bad blood, on the whole—which may actually be one of the things that everyone else finds so surprising/unnerving about the whole situation, to be honest.