#i know his nose is wonky but let it lie | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

beenbaanbuun · 3 years ago

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Match Made in Heaven - Kim Taehyung

Word Count: 3.5k

Genre: fluff

Warnings: chubby!reader, internalised fatphobia, regular old fatphobia, Taehyung is a flirt, Taehyung is a thirsty mf, cursing (if i’ve missed anything, lmk)

‘Opposites attract’ was a lie, it had to be. Since moving from America to Korea, you’d been on blind date after blind date and nothing. Not even the slightest spark.

You moved to Korea because it was so much different from the small town in Oregon that you’d spent your whole life bumbling around. Everything in the small country seemed like heaven compared to the overly-patriotic hell you’d grown up in. You seemed to have brought a little slice of America with you, though, always being too ‘Western’ for most of the men you’d been on dates with.

You know what ‘too western’ meant almost immediately after the first guy dumped you. Looking around you all you saw were intelligent women with perfect hair, perfect faces and perfect bodies. Now, you may have been blessed with intelligence, but your hair was always messy, your nose was a little wonky from when you’d broken it as a child, and you were nowhere near the weight that the beauty standard required you to be.

‘Fat’ one of the men had even gone as far to call you once you’d ordered your meal at the restaurant you were both eating at. You were a little confused about why he stayed for the rest of the meal when he clearly wasn’t attracted to you, but at least he paid for it. Safe to say you never spoke to him again, not that you did with any of the other dates.

You had to admit, you were a little confused when your roommate had decided that she wanted to send you on yet another blind date, clearly ignoring the little outburst you had after the last one went wrong. Either that or she just didn't understand the words ‘never again’. You knew your accent was a little hard to understand sometimes, but you didn’t doubt for a second that she understood you.

“This one will go well, I promise,” She dragged you by the hand towards the cafe the date was supposed to be at. Despite your protests, she’d manage to get you dressed, made up and out of the door with plenty of time to spare. So much time, in fact, that you knew you’d be waiting for at least half an hour before the supposed ‘man of your dreams’ showed up. “Besides, Y/N, opposites attract.”

Those two words made your blood boil.

“You said that the last 20 times, Hajoon,” you struggled to keep up with the excited woman in front of you as she guided you through the streets towards wherever you were heading, “I think its time we gave up on the whole ‘opposites attract’ thing, don't you?” She shook her head, letting a giggle out.

“I think we just have to find the right opposite.”

The cafe was almost empty when you arrived… almost. In one of the booths at the back sat a man with black curly hair. You couldn't see his face, but by the way the barista was staring at him, you could tell he was pretty.

You couldn't take your eyes off of him either. You could only see him from the back, but everything about him entranced you. His broad shoulders were tensed up, his muscles visibly rippling under his striped shirt. In his left hand was a mug, the tendons in the back of his hand shifting as he fiddled with the handle. The sight of his slender fingers made your mouth water, so you decided to focus on something else instead. As much as you didn't want to go on this date, it felt rude to be preoccupied with another man.

“Shit, he’s early too!” Hajoon jumped in excitement. Your eyebrows furrowed, only being able to see the one man in the room. You wondered if he was your date, but just as quickly as that thought came to you, you threw it away. If he was your date, then you may as well call it a wasted evening already. There’s no way someone as pretty as him could want someone like you.

“Where?” You asked her, wanting to see your date before they saw you.

“In that booth over there,” Oh no. Please, God, no. Anyone but him, “The one in the stripy top.”

Fuck.

“No,” You shook your head, trying to pull your body away from hers. You were going to go home, take your stupid dress off and lie in bed with him on your mind and your hand between your legs. “There’s no way I’m going on a date with him.”

“Oh, grow up,” She rolled her eyes into the back of her skull, groaning out in frustration when you refused to go into the cafe. “What’s wrong with this one?”

You’d warned her before about beautiful men. They didn't respect you, any of them. Either they were unbelievably rude, telling you all about this marvellous diet that they’d researched that they thought would help you, or they wanted to fulfil some weird fantasy they had involving fat girls. Either way, you had neither the time nor the energy to deal with it. Pretty men were a no-go.

“Look at him,” You spoke a little too loudly, grabbing the attention of the man sitting at the table. You hadn’t realised it, but he was now staring at you, a little smile on his face as he watched you argue with Hajoon, his childhood friend. “He’s fucking gorgeous. You know what I’ve told you about pretty men.” That made his smile even wider. Someone as radiant as you thought he was pretty? It must be true then, he thought.

In all honesty, he’d only come on the date to satiate Hajoon’s constant questions about when he’d finally find a girlfriend. The answer was usually ‘when one comes along’ but she wouldn't take that as an answer. ‘What if one never comes along?’ was her usual reply, ‘I can get you a date if you want one’ usually following. Normally he said no, but it had reached a point where even that didn't work anymore and he was backed into a corner.

Obviously, he’d heard all about you, as well as some of the tales from your many blind dates. Hajoon was very proud of her influence on your dating life, finally being able to play matchmaker like she always wanted. Taehyung, on the other hand, felt a little sorry for you. The shit that you’d had to put up with over the past year was unbelievable and he honestly couldn't believe that people could be so rude to someone else, purely based on the fact that they maybe didn't fit the beauty standard. It didn't take long for Taehyung to decide that if he was going to go on a date with anyone, it would be you.

You had to have at least one good date, right?

“Okay, but I know this one personally,” Hajoon whined, practically begging you to give her friend a chance. You still weren't sure, though. She’d claimed to know most of the men personally, and yet it usually turned out that they were just some randomer that she’d met at a bar. “I trust him with you. Please.”

Her puppy dog eyes always worked with you, which is why you let out a sigh when she began to look up at you through her lashes, convincing you without words. You definitely made the wrong choice of roommate.

“On one condition,” You couldn't believe you were agreeing to this… “You never send me on another blind date.” You could see the conflict behind her eyes. On one hand, she really wanted you to go on this date. On the other hand, she absolutely loved to meddle…

“Fine,” She blurted out, trying to ignore the sound of her own heart shattering. “No more matchmaker.” You smiled at her gratefully, giving her one last hug before entering the warm cafe that your mystery man was in.

When you stepped foot into the warm building, you let out a sigh of relief. As pretty as the dress you were in was, it offered no warmth whatsoever. The puffy lilac tulle was nothing more than a way to distract people from looking at the person wearing it too hard. It was nothing more than a way to make you look prettier than you felt.

You felt your goosebumps melt away, but they came back with the first step you took toward the man at the table. Nerves bubbled up inside you, making you feel a little sick. He was everything you wanted, and you were undoubtedly everything he didn't want. As usual, you couldn't quite figure out what Hajoon was thinking when she chose this man, but for some reason, you had a lot of blind trust in the woman.

“Hi,” Your voice cracked as you called out to the man, breaking him out of the trance he seemed to be in. He glanced over to you, a slight blush rising to his cheeks as he caught your eyes. You watched as his pupils dilated, his eyes filling with glee. “You must be my date for the evening…”

“Hey,” He muttered out, tripping over himself as he stood to shake your hand. “You must be Y/N. I’m Taehyung. You’re…”

He stopped talking, letting his eyes scan over your body for a moment or two before he continued. Through the window, he hadn’t truly managed to take in how breathtaking you actually were, every curve and dimple of your body adding up to how angelic you looked, especially in that dress that was making him think less than holy thoughts about you. Despite how much he wanted to take a peek, he refused to let his eyes linger for too long. He’d heard about all the freaks that only wanted you for one reason, and he was not about to become one of them.

“You’re amazing.” A small grin rose to his face as the words left his mouth. Amazing didn't quite describe how he felt about you, but it was pretty darn close.

“Amazing?” You furrowed your eyes at him, never having been described as ‘amazing’ before.

“Yeah,” With your hand still in his, he lifted it up to his lips, placing a gentle kiss against your skin. “You’re amazing. Beautiful too.”

You were a little taken aback, not knowing what to say or do in this situation. Amazing was one thing but beautiful? You were certain that he couldn’t truly mean that. Not when he looked like he’d been carved by the Gods. He looked like an old statue that you’d find in a museum. People would go just to fawn over him, wishing that men still looked like that.

“You’d be in the minority with that opinion.” You chucked out, trying to make light of the situation. It only made him shoot you a confused look. He knew you didn’t think much about yourself, but he never thought it’d be this bad.

“I don’t believe that for a second,” He smiled, finally taking a seat again. You hadn’t realised the two of you were still standing, too busy staring at him. Embarrassed, you followed in his footsteps, letting yourself fall onto the seat. “I don't know how anyone could look at you and see anything less than an angel.”

“Hopefully not a bible accurate angel,” At that he let out a loud laugh, his nose scrunching up as he tilted his head back. “Those guys are kind of scary.”

“I don’t know,” He managed to get out between laughs, still smiling brightly at you. “I think they're kind of hot.”

Not it was your turn to laugh at his joke. It was only a few minutes into the date, but you could already tell that Hajoon had done good this time. If this was to be your last blind date (which you really hoped it would be) at least you were having fun.

Once the laughter died down, he spoke again.

“I think you’re hotter than any angel though.” What?

You were a little taken aback by his sudden confession, just like you were with everything else he’d said about you. Amazing, beautiful, angelic, hot? None of those words should’ve come out of his mouth to describe you, and yet there he was, right in front of you, saying those words. There was no humour in his eyes, no laugh on the tip of his tongue. Everything he said was genuine, and you couldn't quite believe it.

“Why do you say that?” Now it was his turn to be confused. How could you not see it? How could you not look at yourself in a mirror and realise how perfect you were. Everything from your head down to your toes was perfect and Taehyung decided right then and there that on that night, he’d make you realise your true worth.

“Because I have eyes and a brain,” He took a sip out of his coffee cup, letting his eyes peer over the top of it so he could watch your reaction. You had a solemn look on your face, your eyes cast down, your bottom lip tucked in between your teeth. “Anyone who says otherwise clearly doesn’t.”

“By your logic, I’m blind and dumb.”

“And I’m going to make sure that by the end of the night you have 20:20 vision and a brain that competes with Einstein’s,” He shot a wink at you, making you blush. He really did think you were pretty. “Come on, let's get this date underway.”

Taehyung held out his hand, standing once more from the table. You weren't sure what was going on, but for some reason you trusted him. There was just something about him that made you want to know more. You wanted to be with him, to spend time with him. He was special.

Just for one night, you decided to switch off your brain and let Taehyung take control of it. You’ve always wanted to know what it would be like to feel beautiful. Maybe he could be the one to help you do that. You grinned, placing your hand into his. It was like looking into a mirror, your date’s face lighting up once you gave him your wordless permission to take you elsewhere.

The walk to where ever it was you were going was certainly cold. As hard as you tried, you couldn’t hide your shivers, your body shaking every so often. Being the gentleman that he was, Taehyung offered you his jacket, to which you declined his offer, letting him know that you were fine. He gave you an unconvinced glare but didn't say anything else about it.

The shivering didn’t stop though, and Taehyung only grew more and more concerned. Your dress was thin, not to mention short. As much as he loved the dress, he couldn't help but internally scold you for not wearing more.

“Wear my jacket,” He stopped dead in the street, shrugging his coat off and holding it out to you. You shook your head, denying his request again, only to get a low growl in return. “Put the jacket on, or I’ll put it on for you.” That was hot, and also tempting. There was a part of you that wanted him to ‘put it on for you’, but maybe that would've been too forward of you to ask him to do that.

“You know,” You grabbed the jacket from him, shaking off the tingling that had erupted all over your body, “I was okay without the jacket.” He sighed.

“You’re stubborn,” So was he, you almost shot back, but you stopped yourself. Your abrasiveness was also something that others considered to be ’too American’ about you. You refused to let that be your downfall this time, not when you were actually enjoying your night. “It's cute though.” The smirk on his face was a little annoying.

“Are you always so flirty?”

“Only with women I’m attracted to,” You choked on your own spit making him chuckle to himself. “You okay, angel?”

“Shut up,” You took a moment to catch your breath, breathing heavily over and over until finally, you were getting enough air into your lungs. “You look the sort to find a lot of women attractive.” He shrugged before setting off walking again.

“Not really,” He turned to watch you as you jogged a few paces to catch up with him. You looked so sweet standing there, cheeks red as the cold air whipped across your face. The moonlight hit your face perfectly, highlighting the cupid’s bow on your cushioned lips. If he’d known you for a little more than half an hour, he’d probably kiss you. The last thing he wanted to do was scare you off, so he decided against it. “None as much as you.”

He looked just as perfect as you did. There was a permanent grin on his face as he walked, showing you just how much he was enjoying the date. His floppy hair sat over his eyes, curls shifting gently as the wind blew his hair softly. His gorgeous honey skin seemed to twinkle in the gentle glow of twilight. The night sky, as beautiful as it was, had nothing on the man next to you. You felt like you must've done something pretty special in your past life for this man to think so highly of you.

“Why are you staring at me?” Shit, he noticed.

“I’m not.”

“Don’t lie, pretty,” The nickname made your chest flutter with glee. “I know what it feels like to be stared at.”

“You’re pretty,” You’re voice was barely above a whisper as the words spilt from your mouth. You hadn’t meant to say it, but you couldn’t stop yourself, the words coming out before you’d even fully realised you were speaking. “I mean… shit.” Cute.

“I guess I am aren’t I,” He jokingly bragged, “It helps with my job if I’m pretty.”

His job? You hadn’t even noticed that you hadn’t learned any basic information about each other. You didn't know his age, his job, his favourite colour. The two of you had been too busy enjoying each other’s company.

“Where do you work?”

“I’m an idol,” He said it so nonchalantly, but the confession stunned you into silence. An idol? You were on a date with an idol, and said idol thought you were pretty. The idol was giving you the best date of your life. “You’ve gone awfully quiet.” Of course you had, how could you not?

“How come you didn't tell me you were an idol?”

“I didn't think it was important,” He hummed, “Besides, I was too focussed on you.” His excuse was cheesy, but you thought it was cute.

“On me?” You wanted him to compliment you again. You craved it.

“You’re pretty too, you know,” There it was. Your whole body lit up when he said it. “And I’m really enjoying spending time with you.”

You had to agree with him. Spending time with Taehyung felt freeing like you didn’t have any burdens weighing you down. Not to mention the fact that he made you feel wanted. He made you feel attractive, just like he promised he would. At that moment, nothing could knock you down; you were the prettiest person alive.

“I’m enjoying being with you too.” He chuckled at your response. Not a cruel, mocking chuckle, but a soft one. One that let him know that he thought you were sweet.

He couldn't take it anymore, though. The desire to kiss you, to hold you, to be close to you; they were all too strong. Over the course of an extremely short date, he’d fallen well and truly head over heels for you. You were beautiful, funny, intelligent, and most of all, you liked him for him.

He glanced over to you, looking so infuriatingly hot stood there in your little dress, his coat handing loosely from your shoulders. It covered your dress, your soft thighs peeking out from underneath it. As much as he’d tried to restrain himself, he didn't think he could anymore. He needed you to be his in every way possible.

“You’re American, right?” He asked, taking the both of you off-topic. You nodded, a little confused as to why he was asking. That's when a smirk rose to his face. It was a different type of smirk, a dark one. It was charged with something that you couldn't quite place your finger on.

“How about we lean into your culture,” He grabbed your hand, pulling your body tightly into his. His voice was lower than before, rumbling through his chest as he spoke. You shivered once more, this time it was him that caused it, shooting threads of lust through your body. “And take this back to my place?” Silently, you agreed, nodding your head in desperation. You wanted nothing more than to be with him at that moment.

It turns out that Hajoon wasn't such a bad matchmaker after all.

#bts #bangtan #bts oneshots #bts oneshot #bts scenarios #bts requests #bts fluff #kim taehyung #taehyung #v #taehyung fluff

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ecto-american · 4 years ago

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Humanity

Upon their arrest by the GIW together, Valerie learns something interesting about Phantom and herself that make her question just how human both herself and Phantom are.

note that this isn’t a phic phight thing, just something i wrote literally months ago for Lexx but forgot that i wrote

on FFN and AO3

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They didn't even have the decency to arrest her before Mr. Lancer's class. Being arrested for...well, the Guys in White were never really clear as to why they showed up to Casper High to arrest her. But whatever the reason, that would have been one hell of an excuse as to why she was not just missing, but why she couldn't turn in that book report that she not only didn't do, but hadn't even read a single page of yet. Valerie had an inkling she knew why, but she remained completely silent the entire march out the front doors of the school. She wasn't an idiot after all.

The agent to her left opened the door, and the agent to her right put his hand on her head to duck her into the white SUV. The door closed, and Valerie glanced to see just how tinted the windows were, as well as the police-style framing of the windows and the separation between the driver and passenger as well as the backseat dwellers.

"Oh, I was wondering why we stopped here."

That familiar voice made her jump, and she turned to see Phantom. He was in the exact same predicament. Hands behind his back, leaning against the seat, though she could immediately tell that his handcuffs were much clunkier and glowed. Obviously anti-ghost.

"You!" Valerie hissed. She immediately leaned into the window, lifting her leg up, and she began to kick him repeatedly. "What the hell are you doing here!?"

"Ow!" Phantom hissed as she got him in the shoulder, and then his rib. She didn't stop, and she didn't miss. "AH! Fuck, stop it! OW!"

"Knock it off!" one of the agents boomed. The sudden, strict tone made Valerie pause. She kicked him one more time, square in the face, before finally stopping.

Phantom made a weird wheezing noise, and she saw him shift to rub his nose on his upper arm and shoulder. He frowned.

"My nose is bleeding," he complained.

"I hope your nose is broken!" Valerie snapped back at him.

Phantom glared at her. He made a weird noise in his throat, and it took Valerie a moment to realize what he was doing. Preparing spit. And indeed, the ghost teen stuck his tongue out, drool instantly dripping, and he leaned in. Valerie instantly leaned away from him.

"Ew! Gross! Get away from me!" she complained.

"Nu-uh!" Phantom replied, his tongue still out as he continued to scoot. He got close enough to open his mouth, and some of his saliva dripped onto her knee.

"Gross, gross, gross!" she shrieked. Valerie kicked him in the side, and Phantom let out a pained wheeze.

"Knock. It. Off," the other agent snapped at them. They had gotten into the driver and passenger's seat, and both were glaring at them.

"She started it!" Phantom accused. The driver frowned at him, obviously not amused. Phantom scooted back to his side of the backseat. Valerie stayed pressed against the window and door. She could hear the drive mutter something about hating kids before turning the vehicle on, and they drove off.

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

They made the duo sit in the interrogation room for three hours, according to the clock. They had, thankfully, just connected the teenagers to the table via a long chain and handcuffs, so that they could at least be a bit more comfortable, even though Phantom, and for some reason her, were both given anti-ghost bracelets to wear. A box of tissues were also tossed onto the table, and Phantom had spent the first half hour tending to his bloodied nose. He stuffed all the used tissues, grossly, into his pocket, though she suspected why he did that. It had his DNA on it.

Phantom nor her attempted conversation. Neither were stupid. They essentially stared at each other and the walls, their only words were occasional out-loud wondering of when somebody was going to show up to question them already.

Obviously her more pressing question was why the hell they were still together. For some reason, Phantom was with her every step of the way of their weird little field trip. They got escorted in together, processed together, and now were sat at the exact same interrogation table. Why? She had absolutely no idea. Didn't they normally separate people they arrested?

At exactly 6:38 PM, somebody finally opened the door, and she and Phantom sat straight up.

The agent that sat before them was a large man, muscular and tall with big hands and sunglasses that fully blocked any chance of the teens from seeing what he was looking at.

"We know you're both half-ghost."

Valerie's mind instantly went to Vlad. That must have been what he was...she had been debating with herself for weeks now as to what he was. A ghost disguised as a human? A human who had ghost powers?

She pushed those aside to look at Phantom. To her surprise, he was pale. Nearly as white as his hair, with anxiety sweat drops beginning to form. Her interest peaked instantly. Silence hung in the air. The man said nothing, simply keeping his attention intensely on them. Valerie

"That's ridiculous," Valerie finally said something. She nearly added that the entire idea itself was ridiculous too. Well, it kind of was. It was so weird to grasp, but it wasn't really something that she wanted to think too hard about these days, and especially now. There was nothing more that she'd love to do than to throw that manipulative old bastard under the weird half-ghost freak bus. However, not only was it probably not a good idea to start beef with a literal superpowered-villain billionaire...but Dani was still out there.

"Don't lie to me." The man sounded agitated. "Both of your ectoplasmic readings are abnormal."

Ectoplasmic reading? Her? Valerie stared at him as if he had grown a second head.

"I shouldn't have any ectoplasmic reading," she pointed out. "I'm alive. Alive people don't have ectoplasmic readings."

The man opened up his folder, pulling out a few choice pieces of papers to slide her way. Phantom silently watched them, his eyes wide and his face looking utterly blank yet...so fearful. Valerie opted to ignore him for a while, accepting the papers to hold as she read through them.

She was familiar with how to read ectoplasmic readings, charts and monitors by now. Green eyes scanned the data, frowning in confusion as she checked the details, and she could see out of the corner of her eye Phantom leaning in to read too. She adjusted her position so that he couldn't.

This description was definitely her, and...she was giving off ectoplasmic readings. Not really in the same way as a normal ghost; there was something distinctively different about hers that any set of trained eyes could pick up on. But how?

"I don't understand," Valerie spoke slowly. "I'm alive." She put the documents back down on the table. "You can take a swap or slap some ghost goop stuff on me. Hell, prick my finger." Valerie held her palm out to the man. Her anti-ghost bracelet sparkled a bit in the light of the room. At least she now knew why they made her wear the bracelets too. "I'm not dead."

The interviewer stared intently at her hand. He gave a neutral hum of acknowledgement, swooping the papers back up.

"Testing and experiments will be reserved for a later time," he replied. Valerie got instant goosebumps. Testing and experiments? "Maybe a few hours in holding will help you realize why you should just come clean to us."

"Can I get some water first?" Valerie asked. The agent snorted in amusement as he stood up.

"Ghosts don't eat or drink."

She felt numb, and she had no idea how to respond to that. Two more agents came into the room, and they silently took the teenagers further into the building until they reached a door. The third agent opened it, and Phantom and Valerie were ushered inside.

The room almost immediately led into bars, and the first thing Valerie could think of was just how much it looked like jail. Two uncomfortable looking bunk beds on either side, a toilet in the middle, a small sink, and no windows. The light was dim, and the room was cold.

Phantom was pushed in first, and then Valerie, and the bars clunked as they closed. She turned to see the bars begin to glow as the bars were locked.

And there was no goodbyes. The agents were eerily silent as they filed out, and the door was shut behind them. She could hear the faint click as it also locked.

Valerie turned to see Phantom's reaction, and he still looked shaken and pale. She already suspected the answer, but she needed to hear it.

"So...are you?" Valerie asked.

"No!" Phantom's answer was way too quick. "What about you? Don't you hate ghosts?"

"I'm not half ghost!" she snapped back. "I have no clue why they'd think that."

Phantom studied her for a moment. His eyes lit up.

"Your suit!" he declared. "The one Technus gave you. It must make your reading wonky."

The second he reminded her, she felt a cold shiver. Suddenly her heartbeat felt off, and she assumed she was colder than usual because of...ya know. That couldn't be true. It had to be wonky readings. The suit was so nice...so much nicer than the suit that she had made herself. It was so much more powerful, so much nicer, just flat out cooler.

She put her heart over her chest. She still had a heartbeat, right?

"What's your excuse?" she asked. Phantom didn't say anything. He turned his attention to the wall, staring blankly at it.

"...Why would they let us stay trapped in here together?" Phantom changed the subject. Valerie narrowed her eyes at him, but she had to admit. It was a good point. "Especially knowing that we'd just plot our escape together."

"Pump the breaks, Phantom. I'm not escaping," Valerie scoffed. "They'll realize their mistake and just let me go."

"Well, they're not gonna let me go," Phantom frowned. "The Guys in White don't exactly play nice with ghosts. And I'm not leaving without you."

"Not my problem," Valerie replied. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Unless...of course there's a reason for it to be my problem."

"You can't just do it out of the kindness of your heart?" Phantom sounded sarcastic, despite staring at her desperately. Valerie crossed her arms. "Please?"

"Give me one good reason to escape with you."

And thus began a staring contest. Phantom shifted from foot to foot, and he glanced at the floor. A lightbulb made the realization click. The GIW knew her identity. They arrested her at school. But they didn't know Phantom's. Nobody probably did. This was likely a ploy to get them to reveal themselves to each other. How or why, Valerie wasn't sure. But now it was glaringly obvious to her.

Phantom was half-ghost. Just like Dani. Just like Vlad. The Guys in White don't play nice with ghosts, and she had a strong feeling that they didn't care much about playing nice with humans either. Especially if they suspected that there was ghost within them.

"Nevermind," Valerie sighed. Phantom stared at her, and he...looked scared. "I can destroy ghosts…" But I really can't take part in destroying a human.

Phantom grew a bit pale again, as they both knew the unspoken words. He took a deep, shaky breath. His reaction was all she needed to know, that this wasn't some weird lie or ploy.

"So. What's our game plan?" he asked.

Valerie studied their surroundings. She reached out to touch the bars of their shared cell, taking immediate note that she wasn't shocked.

"Well, obviously there's that big shield outside," Valerie lightly mused.

"I can get past that shield," Phantom spoke up. "Under the...right circumstances."

Valerie nodded. If Phantom was able to turn human away from the prying eyes of cameras and more, they could both obviously escape right out the front door. Hell, they could likely utilize both Phantom and his? Human? Side? Whatever he was called.

"This facility was designed for ghosts, not humans," Phantom continued. "If we worked together, we can probably make a quick exit." Valerie hummed in agreement.

"That's not just enough," Valerie replied. "I'll just get arrested again. They know who I am. Like, they know Valerie Gray is the huntress." Phantom frowned, and he thought for a moment.

"We could maybe delete their evidence files or something?" he suggested. Valerie paced their cell for a moment.

"There has to be some kind of computer security room somewhere," Valerie spoke aloud to herself. "If we can find it, we can probably wipe evidence and also fully take down the shield."

Phantom leaned against the back wall of the cell.

"I don't think that's enough," he replied. Valerie stopped pacing to stare at him. "We need to make sure the Guys in White don't do this again. Ever. Never even have the chance to get to this point again." Valerie scowled.

"They help hunt ghosts!" she protested.

"And they'd consider Danielle a ghost and rip her to shreds," Phantom countered. The reminder of that little girl hit her straight in the gut. She sighed.

"I don't know," she said slowly.

"They're a government organization, they'll rebuild," Phantom pushed. "We just need to stall them long enough to buy time for us to figure out how to keep you, Danielle and I safe."

She hated it, but...yeah. She wasn't really in the best position either. Valerie had no clue what was going on with her, but the Guys in White were incredibly persistent...and she knew her dad wouldn't be able to afford a lawyer for her anymore.

Valerie held her wrist up. Her suit's bracelet was basically hidden underneath the anti-ghost one, but she could still feel it there. Her suit wasn't gone. She could still access it, and that made her feel more confident in that she was still human. Which she had to be. Right?

Valerie activated her suit, and she held her wrist up to read the screen. She pressed a few buttons.

"I think I can figure out a map of this place," she said. "And from there we can see where's what."

Her forearm glowed brightly as it gathered data. It took a few moments of calculating, but soon, she had her results. Phantom was soon peering over her shoulder, both of them studying the map.

"How accurate is this?" Phantom questioned.

"It tends to be fairly decent. Sometimes it's hit or miss with collapsed buildings, but overall it's spot on," she replied. She adjusted the screen, zooming it out. "I can only get the floor we're on though."

"That looks like it could be some kind of utility room," Phantom pointed to a specific room. Valerie zoomed in on it, studying it.

"Yeah," she said slowly. "Yeah. Gotta be. It's got a lot of power coming to or from there. Has to be a source, or at the very least some kind of major technology area."

"Either way, we should destroy it," Phantom said. Valerie frowned.

"I don't know," she hesitated.

"I mean, you can't even summon your powers."

Phantom glanced down at his wrists, glancing curiously at them before setting his sights on Valerie's arms.

"Can you shoot them off?" he asked.

Valerie tried to summon one of her weapons. She waited. And she waited. Nothing came, and her gut became queasy. She couldn't get her ghost weapon. None of them would summon. This had to be a bad sign. Or was it just the GIW prepared against humans too? That was the most logical explanation. She couldn't be…But also she could be...after all the ectoplasmic readings...

"Um, actually, I think I can…" Phantom's voice caused her to truly look at him again. The ghost was fiddling with his wristbands, using his knees to lock it in place as he attempted to slip his wrist through the band with no success.

"Here, let me try," Valerie interrupted him. Phantom glanced up at her.

"Can you shoot them?" he asked. Valerie forced a weak smile, but she held up a screwdriver.

"Got something even better. My travel tool kit," she replied. After too many breakdowns in the field, she had replaced a small pouch that previously held smoke bombs, something she rarely used, with a few small tools. It was easily one of the best choices she made.

Phantom held his wrist out to her, and she turned the bracelet around. Eventually she managed to pry a piece of the metallic covering off, exposing screws and a few wires. Valerie didn't undo or cut anything right away, both her and Phantom silently trying to make sense of the connection and mechanics behind it. Would really suck to find out the hard way that disconnecting a certain wire would trigger an alarm, after all.

"I think you shouldn't touch the red wire," Phantom lightly mused. "Pretty sure that's a power, and if you turn it off it'll be bad news."

"Mmm, yeah," Valerie agreed. "I think I can just unscrew this though, and we should just be careful to not slip the wires off."

Phantom nodded, and he waited patiently as she did just so. After twenty minutes of careful disconnecting, Phantom had two hands free, and he flexed his hands with a happy sigh.

"God, that just feels so much better," he told her. He motioned for her to hand him the screwdriver. "Here, I'll do yours." Valerie shook her head.

"I can't leave. I won't say anything if you escape, but they know my identity."

Phantom frowned.

"I'm not leaving you here. Come on, you saw your map. We can destroy their power. We can destroy this entire building," he began, only for Valerie to cut him off.

"And do more destruction? Is that all you think about?" she snapped. "You're safe. They know my identity. You want me to get more charges or something? I can't risk it. I'll just stay here. They'll figure out soon enough that I'm fully human." A full human who apparently had mixed logic as to whether or not they could use their ghost hunting suit. If she was fully human, she could summon those weapons, right? Unless it was specifically preventing any ghost weapon, regardless of the user, use it.

"Red, I don't think you understand," Phantom told her. "They're not going to go easy on you. Even if you prove you're human, they're not going to believe you. You heard them. They already denied you contact to the outside world."

That reminder sent a chill down her spine.

"Then tell my dad," she told him. Phantom stared at her. He began to unzip his suit, and she instantly began to look away. "Dude, what the hell?"

"Valerie, look at me," he demanded.

"You're naked!" she protested.

"I'm not naked, just look."

She decided to humor him with the intention of taking a quick peek. But when she saw him, she felt a cold sweat hit her. Phantom had only zipped enough to expose his chest, and there was a distinctive Y-patterned scar on his chest that stood out against the other scars.

"This is what happened last time I was trapped here. I'm not going to leave you alone here," he stated. He suddenly looked away, and he quickly zipped his suit back up. "There's no way in hell I'm going to risk this happening to you. Red, you need to come with me."

That urgent gut feeling of needing to go finally crashed into her. The GIW would never believe her. Not just because of stubbornness, but...Valerie herself wasn't even sure anymore.

She swallowed dryly, and she nodded. Her right wrist was offered to him.

"Do you know what to do?" she asked. Phantom scowled.

"I just watched you do it," he reminded her. She rolled her eyes, but held her wrist up for him, and a half hour later, she too, was free.

She wasn't sure if she was more concerned or relieved to instantly feel that distinctive rush of power back. The second Phantom removed her bracelet, she knew that she could summon any of her ghost weapons now at her fingertips. But she could still summon her suit regardless, and activate her GPS abilities. Was this normal? Valerie had no clue what this meant anymore.

"So, next step, I think we can escape through here."

Valerie looked up to see Phantom was now floating by the vent at the top of their cell. He was already using her screwdriver to undo the vent cover. She pulled her map back up on her forearm, glancing at it and studying it.

"I'm pretty sure the vent will go straight to that electric room," she told him.

"Oh, now you're finally seeing the big picture?" Phantom lightly teased, glancing over his shoulder as he popped the vent cover off. She nodded at him, but didn't crack a smile.

"...You and Dani may look just alike, but I never want you two to have matching scars," she said. Phantom's smile dropped, and he nodded in agreement.

He placed the vent covering on the top bunk, handing Valerie back her screwdriver. She slipped it back in it's pouch.

"Here, I'll give you a boost up," Phantom offered, pressing his hands together. She nodded, stepping a foot onto his hand. With ease, Phantom pushed her up, and she grabbed onto the vent, pulling herself in. It was surprisingly fairly roomy yet not, and she managed to get comfortable on her stomach, pulling her map back up.

"Ready to commit several federal crimes?" Phantom's voice half joked. She looked behind her the best she could to see the ghost right behind her. She snorted in amusement.

"Ready as I'll ever be," she replied. "Just follow me. It's time to give these idiots hell."

And hell they did. Who knew that the Guys in Whites headquarters could cause such a colorful explosion.

#phics #my phics #danny phantom #danny fenton #valerie gray #humanity

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harrysweasleys · 4 years ago

Text

both a little crazy // d.m

request: Hi! Just noticed ur requests r open! Can u please do a Draco x Slytherin Reader in which the Reader is a bad boss biatch and is TOTALLY savage, but her and Draco hides feelings for each other?

warnings: very brief mentions of torture, language?? not proof read bc i am sick and dont feel like it i am sorry

word count: 3.1k

a/n: don’t mind the fact that i based the reader off of rosa diaz. :)))) enjoy! (also yes i reposted this bc my tumblr wasnt working and tags were wonky!)

——

Your head was held rather high as you entered the Great Hall, your eyes pointed straight towards the Slytherin table in hopes that no one would talk to you as you walked over. It was way too early for conversation, in your opinion. Any attempt would just be sour.

You took your usual seat next to Pansy, who’s head was down on the table as she breathed slowly — quite possibly sound asleep. It wouldn’t be a surprise. She was not one for early mornings either. Quite possibly less so than you were.

The empty goblet in front of you was quickly filled with pumpkin juice before you took a big gulp, hoping the familiar liquid would help bring a bit of energy into you. However, that was a failed attempt as you felt your eyes stay heavy, your head swaying to the side slightly before a loud voice startled you out of your dozed out state.

“Crabbe, shut your mouth,” you snapped, silencing the boy sitting across from you who looked over with wide eyes, his mouth closing slowly, “You just woke up half the bloody hall with your laughter.”

Pansy jumped up from next to you, thick red marks across her forehead that resembled the wooden carvings on the table she was just rested against. You let out a low chuckle, eyes darting towards the entrance to the Hall — what you saw made you stop your laughing and sit up straighter.

Draco, accompanied by a brunette Slytherin, waltzed in with a smile on his face. You looked down immediately, hating the bubbling jealousy that threatened to emerge. You had seen the two together before but it didn’t help the sudden onslaught of negative emotions every time you saw him with her.

Maybe, possibly, you’ve had dreams where you use muggle torture techniques to keep her out of your life.

But no one needed to know that.

“Ah, Malfoy’s brought his admirer,” Pansy sighed, resting her chin on her hand, “What a surprise.”

You scoffed, trying to play it off, “When doesn’t he?”

No one knew of your little crush on Draco Malfoy. And if things were to go your way, no one would ever know. Being sly was always one of your specialties and you were rather proud of that. You didn’t let people in on a lot of secrets and you were bound to keep this one to yourself too.

“Fair point,” Pansy said lowly as Draco walked towards the table with an arrogant smirk on his face. A pleasantly attractive smirk, yes, but it was arrogant nonetheless. And you wanted to bite your own tongue off at the knowledge that the brunette was the one that put it there.

He sat across from you, seated between Crabbe and Blaise, but you didn’t greet him. Pettiness was overtaking your mood and you sat quietly, not even turning up to face him as you picked at some breakfast foods to put into your plate. Your day already felt like it was ruined — as dramatic as that was.

“You ready for tonight’s Quidditch game?” Blaise asked nonchalantly, taking a sip of tea and raising his eyebrows at Draco. You hid a scoff.

“Yep, can’t wait,” you sighed, leaning forwards, “The rain will really up the fun factor.”

You looked up at the bewitched ceiling, the heavy rain clouds pouring down on the students below. The drops obviously never reached anyone, but it was still awfully gloomy. You always hated playing in the rain. You’d end up in bed, shivering and wet with the early signs of a cold.

“Only reason I joined the team was to take down Gryffindor,” Draco sneered, “Will gladly get to do that tonight.”

“That’s if we win,” you scoffed, “Potter’s always got one up on you. You should probably fix that.”

After saying the words, you felt guilt blossom in your chest. You knew Draco’s weakness was the fact that his ‘sworn enemy’ Harry Potter always beat him — you had never really thrown it into his face until now.

You could see the change in his mood from the way his eyes grew slightly darker, glaring at you as if he wanted to retaliate. His shoulders slouched downwards and he leaned forwards on the table.

“Well, what’s got your wand in a twist this morning?” the corner of his lip curved up into a smirk and you had to force yourself to look away from him so you wouldn’t cave.

Shrugging, you kept your voice neutral, “Just saying. Maybe it’ll give you more incentive to win and prove me wrong,” you picked up your cup, avoiding eye contact if at all possible.

He eyed you, confusion laced into the creases of his forehead. You had never snapped at him like this before but you just couldn’t help it. The faint smirk quickly vanished and was replaced with a scowl as he turned down to face his plate.

You bit the inside of your cheek, absentmindedly picking at the scraps of bacon and toast on your plate. This section of table grew awfully quiet at your outburst, an awkward air surrounding all of you.

Being friends with Draco, it wasn’t rare that the two of you bickered. He always carried his nose and chin high, and sometimes you liked to knock him down a peg, no matter how much you swooned over the platinum headed boy. His charismatic charm was just one of the endless reasons he always thought he could get his way.

“Seriously,” Pansy leaned over and whispered in your ear, “What’s up? Why’d you say that?”

A blush rose to your cheeks and your snapped your head to her, “Out of my business, Parkinson.”

Her eyes widened and she held her hands up in surrender, “My bad.”

You let out a huff and went back to eating your meal, very much aware of Draco’s eyes piercing the top of your scalp as you kept your own eyes facing down, attempting with all of your might to avoid any more conversation than necessary.

Tonight’s match should be fun.

——

As usual, Potions class was a complete drag.

Snape was in his usual foul mood, nitpicking every single damn thing. You were used to it by now, having been in Snape’s house for nearly six years now, but it didn’t mean you particularly enjoyed it.

Least of all now, after being paired with Draco for a potions assignment.

If this were any other day, your heart would be doing leaps inside of your chest right about now — however the idea of just the two of you having to work together and talk was slightly nauseating after this morning’s outbreak.

“So,” he sat next to you, sliding awkwardly into the empty seat, “You still mad at me?”

You scoffed, flipping through the pages of you book, “Wasn’t cross with you.”

Fun fact about Draco Malfoy; he always saw right through you.

“C’mon,” he nudged your shoulder, causing you to look up from your book, “Don’t think you’ve ever spoken to me like that before.” His soft voice and piercing eyes were so hard to lie to. You always found yourself tempted to spill your deepest darkest secrets.

“I said I wasn’t mad at you,” you forced a smile, “I’ve got... other things going on.”

He didn’t believe you for a second, “What other things?”

You blessed Salazar and all of the Hogwarts founders that Snape decided to do his rounds, cutting your awkward conversation short and placing a piece of paper on your desk — the name of the potion you’d have to make.

Wiggenweld.

Grinning, you re-opened your book and began scanning through, landing on the very worn down page with said potion on it. You couldn’t count how many times you’ve made this, which was great since you could do it easily and get away from Draco as soon as possible.

“Stop ignoring me,” he pushed, a small smile on his face, “We’ve gotta team up and play well together tonight so you might as well come clean.”

“Stay out of my business and I won’t have to hex you,” you said through gritted teeth, your voice low so no one could overhead. You reckon that’d be quite embarrassing.

He leaned even closer to you — close enough that you could smell some sort of faint cologne and laundry detergent lingering on his house robes. Close enough that you could see the small strands of brown hair in the sea of bleach blond. Close enough that his eyes weren’t just blue; they were turquoise. Green stars scattered amongst a sky of blue.

Close enough that you nearly forgot to breathe.

“I’ll find out eventually, you know?” he looked over the page in your book and began writing the ingredients and steps down on the parchment in front of him.

You fought back a chuckle at his childish handwriting.

He offered to go get the ingredients and you let him do so as you cleaned up your desk, preparing it to become a potion station. You hated working in a dirty environment and so you attempted to make the dingy desk as spotless as possible.

Your partner had been gone for quite a while as you felt slightly guilty. There were quite a few ingredients to Wiggenweld and it’d be tough for him to walk back with everything in his hands. You gazed over to see if he needed help, your heart leapt up into your throat.

Draco was leaned up against the wall, his arms crossed against his chest and a smirk on his face as he chatted to the same Slytherin girl from breakfast.

You bit down on your tongue, fighting a deep breathe that would surely give away your overwhelming jealousy. After taking a good long moment to calm down the rapid, angry beating of your heart, you balled your fists behind your back and walked over to him.

“Give me these,” you snatched the bottles and ingredients from his hands, looking anywhere but his eyes as you turned away from him, “When you feel like actually doing the work, that’d be great.”

Storming back to the table and placing everything down in a somewhat organized fashion, you decided to turn over to Blaise at the table next to you, “Wanna switch partners?”

He let out a low chuckle, looking over to the quiet Hufflepuff boy that was chopping away at the other half of the ingredients, “Mine’s actually working so I’d say no.”

“So selfish,” you scoffed, shaking your head, “Mine’s off being a git.”

Dropping the tool he was using to grate a unicorn horn, Blaise crossed his arms and walked over to you, “Lucy? She’s great.”

You let your hair fall from behind your ears to hide your frustrated blush, “Yeah, she’s real great. Taking his time while he should be here working”

If you had looked away, you would have missed the smirk that overtook his face. However, you noticed it, and it only made the blush on your cheeks grow even deeper.

“Oh, I see what’s going on,” he wiggled his eyebrows.

“No you don’t,” you snapped, “Go back to work or I’ll cut your tongue off and use it as an ingredient.”

He stepped back, but the smirk and amusement never left his face. Blaise was intuitive, yes — but you were being incredibly obvious, that much was certain. Him putting the pieces together was your fault, really.

“Oi, don’t attack me. If you’re to go after anyone, wouldn’t it be her?” he nudged his head in the direction of the girl that Draco was now walking away from, “after all, she’s the one stealing your man.”

“Shut your face,” you spoke lowly, glaring him down with all of your might as he walked back to his table with a chuckle. You watched as he went back to work before you decided to do the same yourself, picking up a tiny bottle and reading the label before unscrewing the tiny lid.

Draco’s bright head popped up on the other side of the table, “We getting started?”

Fighting the urge to snap, you nodded your head slowly, “So kind of you to join. Now get to work.”

He brushed your comment aside, stepping closer to you and ignoring your demand to get to work, “Do you know Lucy?”

Biting down on your tongue, you shook your head, “Nope. Your girlfriend?” You hated how bitter and insecure you sounded but at the moment, that was really the least of your concerns. All logic has been thrown out the window.

He rolled his eyes and let out a small laugh, “Bloody hell, no. She’s actually interested in Zabini. But I was wondering—”

“Wait, what?” you asked, nearly knocking a tiny bottle over as you leaned into the table, trying to get closer to him as if your hearing was off. Which, by the sound of what he said, you assumed it might be.

“What?” he stopped, “I’m trying to help her get with Zabini. He keeps talking about her.”

Suddenly, you felt like a complete idiot. The blush on your cheeks resurfaced and your heart did a leap against your ribcage.

“Oh,” you looked down, letting out a humourless chuckle, “I’m so sorry.”

Of course, you had jumped to conclusions. That’s what you always did. And now here you were, looking like a complete idiot and making your feelings blatantly obvious. The one thing you had been trying to avoid.

“Sorry? For what?” he was now the one to be confused, “What’s going on?”

“I—,” you blinked rapidly, looking over at him and trying your best to come up with any sentence that could make sense, “Nevermind. Let’s just get back to work.”

He furrowed his eyebrows, clearly put off by how oddly you had been behaving all day so far, but he didn’t press the subject. You knew he’d ask you about it later, but that was for another time. You couldn’t exactly blame him either. If the tables were turned and he was the one behaving oddly, you’d be on his rear about it too.

You made a promise to yourself to talk to him after tonight’s game. The conversation might end up going against your one goal, and it might end up going really badly for you, but you had to tell him. It was time.

——

The Quidditch match ended up being a breeze. You guys ended up victorious by a landslide, Draco catching the snitch with a massive grin on his face. The relief spread through your body like a tidal wave as you watched him hold up the tiny golden ball — but what was even better was watching Gryffindor stalk off the field with glum expressions.

A real victory.

The Slytherin team gathered down on the pitch, surrounding a boastful Draco as he held his head high. A part of you wanted to go down, give him a hug and apologize for the rude comments you made this morning — but the other part of you thought that he was fine celebrating without you. You’re the one who made him feel like complete crap this morning; why would he want to celebrate with you?

You smiled from afar, walking into the Slytherin tent. You were alone, obviously. Everyone was still shouting and cheering on the pitch and you highly doubted the partying would end anytime soon.

The perfect escape for you.

You hung up your broom and removed your uniform, bundling yourself in a comfy sweater and leggings so you could walk back up to the castle without getting too cold now that the sun was gone.

Hoping no one would catch you sneaking off before party plans were made, you began to open the tent door, only to be interrupted by a voice.

“Not sticking around?”

You spun on the spot, facing a rather sweaty and satisfied looking Draco. You cursed his good looks under your breath, knowing that you’d have a hard time saying no to him while he looked like this.

“Not feeling well,” you lied, shrugging and looking down at the ground.

He stepped closer to you, “Right, you’ve been odd all day. What’s wrong? And don’t say nothing again.”

You took a deep breath, biting your lower lip as you gazed back up at him, looking into the eyes that made butterflies fly wildly in your belly.

“I spoke to Blaise and I think I know what your problem is,” he stepped even closer, the space between the two of you now only a few inches.

Letting out a small laugh, you shook your head, “That little git.”

He pursed his lips, placing one of his warm hands on the side of your cheek. Your breath hitched in your throat and you leaned into his touch, not sure where he was going with this but enjoying every second of it.

One step closer, and he was nearly flush against your body. He was radiating warmth, his entire body still high off of the win, and you swore he could feel your rapid heartbeat.

Why else would he be smirking like that?

His smirk didn’t last long, however, as his lips pressed against yours.

Many people say their first kiss with their crush is soft, delicate — this wasn’t the case here. His lips pressed against yours with feverish passion, bringing the temperature in the small tent up by at least ten degrees. His lips were hot and wet as they moulded against yours, both hands cupping the sides of your face as he locked his body up against yours.

How many times you dreamt of this, you couldn’t count. But by Merlin, was it better than you could have ever imagined. You felt as if you were dancing with him, letting loose and moving to a rhythm of heartbeats. It was truly a beautiful feeling; one that you hoped you’d get to experience again.

“Well,” he muttered against your lips after pulling away, “Guess I was right.”

You wanted to retaliate and give him a sarcastic comment, but your mind was too numb and flummoxed to do so.

“Sorry I was acting all crazy,” you sighed, looking up into his blissful eyes, “Perhaps it’s true when they say jealousy makes people do crazy things.”

“It’s alright, love,” he smirked, placing hands on both sides of your waist and pulling you even closer, “We’re both a little crazy then.”

It felt like hippogriffs were fluttering around your belly as he kissed you once more, hands tightening their grip as he deepened the passionate act.

This would be awkward to explain when the team walked in, but for now, the two of you were perfectly content as you were.

Finally together.

——

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#draco malfoy imagine #draco malfoy imagines #draco malfoy x reader #draco malfoy one shot

401 notes · View notes

nbrook29 · 4 years ago

Note

48,44 ✨

Another anon:

54 and 52

I chose 48 and 52.

48. Just shut up already.

52. Kiss my ass

After angsty start yesterday, we’re going back to the regular fluffy scheduling 😂

* * *

“I'm sorry!”

Silence.

“I swear I didn’t know!”

Robbe huffs in disbelief at the blatant lie, typing a little too forcefully on his laptop and ignoring Sander’s lying ass standing in the doorway. He needs to focus if he wants to finish this essay anytime before the end of the week, but his head feels like an empty void. The last paragraph doesn’t even make much sense, he notices when rereading it, but there’s nothing he can do about it now; he’s been staring at the page for nearly twenty minutes without making any progress and with each one he feels more frustrated.

“Robbe?” comes in a small voice.

He rolls his eyes.

“I’m-”

“Oh my god, just shut up already, I can’t focus.”

In the corner of his eye he can see Sander’s face fall at his tone, and he feels a pang of guilt at his outburst, but.

He’s really mad at him, okay?

Sander knew what he was doing, knew how much it was going to hurt him, but he did it anyway, the bastard. So now, he’s going to get a silence treatment whether he likes it or not. Maybe next time he’ll refrain from doing such outrageous things.

Suddenly, a light bulb goes on in his head and he feels a wave of inspiration, quickly putting his thoughts to paper before they will slip through his fingers again. He’s so into it that he barely notices the dip in the mattress next to him, only looking up when he feels Sander trying to surreptitiously scoot closer to him, a deer in headlights expression on his face when Robbe cocks an unimpressed eyebrow on him.

“Cuddles?” Sander offers weakly, and Robbe can see right through him; he wants to butter him up in hopes that he’ll forget about the betrayal, but Robbe tells himself in a stern inside voice to be strong.

“No.”

Sander’s whole body slouches in disappointment and he has the nerve to pout at him. Then, he lights up like a Christmas tree.

“You know, I can make it up to you,” he shoots him a lewd smirk, eyebrows waggling as he moves even closer to him.

“You know,” Robbe mimics him, “you can kiss my ass.” He groans at Sander’s intrigued face, eyes narrowing as he shoves him without real force behind it. “Don’t even make that joke.”

“I wasn’t-”

“Yeah, right.”

Robbe then gets 5 minutes of blissful silence during which, he has no doubt, Sander is working out another strategy. He manages to finish up another wonky paragraph when Sander apparently decides he has had enough. He pounces at him from the back, tackling him to the bed mindful of the laptop and hovers over him with a smug smile, pressing Robbe’s arms to the mattress so he couldn’t get away.

It’s so fucking unfair how much strength he has in those noodle arms of his because no matter how much Robbe huffs and puffs, he can’t pull his own arms away. Finally, he gives up, the fight escaping his body as it sags into the mattress, eyes shooting daggers at Sander’s gleeful face.

“Get off me.”

“You have to forgive me first.”

Robbe gives him the “are you kidding me” look before changing his tactic.

“I can kick you in the balls, you know,” he says sweetly, sending him a fake sugary smile of his own.

Sander’s jaw drops comically, his eyes swivelling down to assess the position of Robbe’s knees. “You wouldn’t.”

“Wanna bet?”

Sander opens his mouth probably to deliver another comeback, but he must have decided against it because his face morphs back to being remorseful.

“Baby, I’m so so so sorry, you have to believe me” he leans down to rub their noses together and damn, Robbe can feel himself melting against his own will because that particular move always makes him weak in the knees. “I really thought they were Milan’s.”

When Robbe continues to glare at him, not trusting a word he says, he adds, “You always eat the fromage ones, not the vinegar ones so how could I have known?”

“You could’ve asked,” Robbe replies petulantly, but the sincere regret on Sander’s face is quickly washing his anger away.

He knows it’s stupid, but he was really looking forward to those chips today after finishing his biology assignment.

And Sander had eaten them. All of them. His chips.

And he can’t exactly get up and go buy another bag because it’s a holiday in Belgium today and everything is closed.

“I can make us pizza? Or anything else you’d like? Croques? Pancakes? Mac and cheese? Cupcakes?” Sander bumps their foreheads gently, blinking up at him hopefully. “Just, please don’t be mad at me anymore?”

He sounds so sweet Robbe can feel the last bits of anger disappearing, a smile threatening to break on his lips, but he bites on it, wanting to milk the situation a bit more.

He purses his lips, pretending to think about it. “I’m not sure I’m convinced.”

Sander groans, resting his head on Robbe’s collarbone with exasperation. “What do you want me to do then?”

Robbe pretends to think about it, but before he can come up with anything useful, Sander beats him up to it. “I can offer some sexual favors, relax you a little so it’d be easier for you to write.”

He’s so predictable Robbe just rolls his eyes on him with fondness, finally letting the smile bloom on his face and he loops his arms around his neck, Sander not wasting another second before slotting their smiling lips together.

#wtfock #my fics

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meetmymouth · 5 years ago

Note

An angst blurb where y/n caught Harry in a terrible lie and how he tries to fix everything

thank you for the request mwah hope you like this :’)

1.8k below the cut!!!!!

(there might be some typos and stuff like that but i’ll fix them later sorry)

Y/N took a deep breath as she closed the front door behind her. It was Thursday which meant happy hour at the pub near their flat so she was excited for cider after cider and well, to see her friends. Despite feeling drained from the week’s workload and her boss cornering her about the next week’s article, a tired smile appeared on her lips at the thought of letting loose with the people she loved the most.

She took her Adidas trainers off and placed them next to Harry’s Nikes while tying her hair into a messy bun. After doing her ‘after-work’ routine in the bathroom (washing her hands, taking her rings and earrings off...), she made her way towards the stairs that led up to the bedrooms, passing the quiet living room in which the telly showed Nigella on mute.

Since Harry was having time-off from work, she knew he was either in the bathroom or doing something in their bedroom upstairs. Since he wasn’t anywhere to be found downstairs, she made her way up to their bedroom, noting to fix the wonky photo frames on the walls that welcomed her as she took each step. When she came to the last step, she called his name.

“Harry?”

When no one replied, she opened the slightly ajar door to find a tall body sleeping between the covers. As she made her way towards him, she smiled at his lack of clothes and damp hair which caused a dark patch on his pillow.

Taking a look at the digital clock on the bedside table, she patted the area where Harry was laying to make sure she wouldn’t sit on his legs.

“Baby,” she whispered while she gently petted his cheek. She couldn’t help but feel tingly when her palm made contact with his growing scruff.

Harry nuzzled his cheek into Y/N’s palm and slowly opened his eyes which showed he couldn’t have been asleep for more than half an hour.

She smiled at the sleepy boy and gave a kiss to her nose.

“You OK babe?”

“Yeah, just passing time while you’re being a boss ass babe at work” he murmured and lifted himself on the bed, getting closer to her. “Missed youuuu,”

“Missed you more” it was true. Ever since Harry started spending most of his time at her flat since he was taking some time off from recording and meetings, they both became somewhat clingy and needy for each other which- she didn’t even care to be honest.

They were always together. They woke up to each other. They cooked together. They had sex at least twice a day. They touched each other like they were teenagers and they went to sleep after they read their books in bed, side by side. Sometimes she offered to read him if she thought the book was something that would interest him while Harry too loved reading bits from his book because he knew she liked collecting quotes in her notes app.

While she was daydreaming about their routine, Harry got up from the bed and made his way to the wardrobe.

She looked at his pale bum and chuckled.

“Doing squats lately?” she asked, knowing how he kept complaining about his bum getting bigger because he couldn’t stop eating too much carbohydrates (she caught him stealing bread numerous times from the bread bin before bed).

He scoffed as he struggled to put his boxers on and Y/N went to hug him from behind and she kissed his shoulders which were still warm from his nap.

“You’re so cosy. Mmm, look at these broad shoulders. You’re well fit, aren’t you,”

“Yeah, mock me arse and then compliment me shoulders. That won’t work”

She smirked at the way he leaned back on her body and how he stopped trying to get her boxers on as they stayed very low on his hips.

“Why you leaning back on me then huh?” She touched her lips to his left shoulder again and blew a raspberry as he wiggled his shoulders in hopes of breaking free.

He turned and surged forwards, capturing her lips in a needy kiss. As she opened her mouth, he immediately went for her tongue. She chuckled at the spit running down his chin and wiped it off with the palm of her hand.

“Messy”

“I like it messy”

“Yeah you’re such a boy,” she kissed the side of his mouth and they parted.

“You coming with? To the pub?” she asked and watched as he took her beige trousers and a white t-shirt from the wardrobe.

Satisfied with his nod, Y/N placed one last kiss between his shoulder blades and left the room, wanting to take a quick shower before changing into her most comfortable jeans- if there was such thing.

Remembering the forgotten toiletry bag downstairs beside where she threw her bag on the sofa, she left the bathroom without his trousers on and went down the stairs, laughing at Harry who sent her a wink from where he was seated on the bed.

It was nearly seven which left her an hour to get ready. It was fine, she thought and spared a glance at her legs while she walked, noticing the little growing hairs. When she arrived where her makeup bag was, the letters on the coffee table caught her eye.

Piled up letters and parcels weren’t anything unusual for their household though Y/N made sure to open everything in time in case they got anything urgent like bills and stuff like that. Since there was one teared open, she put the makeup bag back and took the rectangular envelope in her hands.

They weren’t a sneaky couple: neither Y/N or Harry ever went through each others’ phones or went behind each others’ backs in any way. Hence why she felt like she could take a look inside the envelope since she didn’t even read the name on it first.

She unfolded the paper which looked like it’s been read before and started reading it herself. It was obviously a legal letter of sorts but she didn’t know much about those so she didn’t care much until she went to put the paper back to where it was that she stopped abruptly. A name caught her eye and she re-opened the paper.

There it was, in bold, both Harry’s and Camille’s full names.

She didn’t know any legal terms but what she’d gathered from the letter was that Harry waiving something something house something something and lots of numbers.

At that moment, Y/N pierced everything together and her body felt like it was on fire.

Harry, her boyfriend of two years, who was also upstairs in their shared bedroom, had paid for Miss Rowe’s Los Angeles mansion.

Now, she didn’t know what her house looked like but according to the numbers on the letter, it wasn’t a simple three bedroom house.

She threw the letter on the sofa and ran upstairs. Part of her was trying to be calm because you know what, she was an adult! That being said, this was massive. Huge! Her boyfriend was paying for her ex girlfriend’s house.

She didn’t care that it was his ex girlfriend. She just hated the fact that he never ever thought of mentioning this to her. Because he knew how crazy it would sound.

“Y/N? It’s nearly seven,” Harry caught her from her shoulders before they came toe to toe.

She shrugged his hands off and took a second before deciding on how to go from there.

Harry watched her with curiosity since she looked like she was holding back an ear piercing scream which- she somehow was. Her mouth was twitching and he could tell that she was grinding her teeth.

“Is there anything you want to tell me?” she asked but didn’t stop there:

“No, fuck it. When were you going to tell me how much of a sneaky bastard you were?” she watched as his mouth opened and closed in shock.

“What?”

Y/N wanted to slap herself. She wanted to stump her feet and cry and she wanted to puke.

“You’re a sneaky bastard. You paid for her house?” a sarcastic laugh left her mouth as she kept going.

“You actually paid for her house and you didn’t think of mentioning it to me? I mean, I don’t even give a fuck if you were still friends with her. Or met up with her. You know I’m fine with it. I don’t give a fuck. But paying for her house?”

“Y/N-”

“No. Don’t. This is big, Harry. This is fucked up. You went behind my-”

“It’s not like we’re poor so we won’t have any money left!” his tone matched hers now and it made Y/N angrier.

They were stood in the middle of their corridor, Y/N in nothing but her knickers and the blouse she wore to work today and Harry with only his trousers on.

She felt herself getting sweatier by the second.

“You’re a fucking joke. You think I’m angry because you spent money? I’m not your mother, I don’t care what you spend your money on, you muppet. It’s the fact that you never mentioned this to me. You realise how big this is?” She tried passing his lanky body but he grabbed her arm.

“Look, I’m sorry. I was going to mention it to you, I was waiting for the appropriate time!”

“Appropriate time?! Are you fucking with me? There’s nothing you could say to make this better, just get out of my face. I don’t want to look at you. I’m serious”

“Y/N, please. Just- let’s just sit down and talk-”

She finally went past him, right into the bedroom as she looked for something to cover her bare legs. Harry didn’t make any sound as he possibly waited for her to come out and have a ‘proper’ chat but it wasn’t going to be that easy. She didn’t even want to hear his voice. After she was successfully dressed in a pair of old joggers, she grabbed Harry’s checkered jacket from the rack, opened the door and passed Harry as he followed her like a puppy down the stairs.

His silence spoke volumes; he knew he was guilty so he opt for silently following his girlfriend around as she collected her phone and her bag.

“Where are you going? You know we never leave this house without talking it out!” He finally spoke, his voice cracking a tad.

She scoffed and put her trainers on. As she took the car keys to Harry’s Mercedes, he caught her arm again.

“Leave it, Harry”

“No, look at me,”

“Fucking leave it! Go and have a look at your other documents in case you find another statement that shows how much you paid for her car. Don’t call me”

***

this is SO long for a blurb so i might make a part 2! didn’t proofread but will do later tonight.

send me more blurbs i will write shorter ones i promise lol x

#harry styles imagine #harry styles #harry styles smut #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles blurb #harry styles one shot #harry x reader #my writing #harrysgucciloafers #harry styles x y/n #harry smut #harry styles writing #ask #anonymous #blurb asks

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trentaafcsblog · 4 years ago

Text

February 14th

Anyone You Like

Warning - this is really shit, I’m so sorry!

“Happy Valentine’s Day, my love” he whispers as he snuggles up next to you, pressing a kiss onto the tip of your nose and smiling when you start to stir from your sleep. His heart going all fuzzy as your face scrunches up and you lift your arms above your head to do your classic morning stretch - something so simple but he was literally obsessed with it, having seen you do it pretty much every single morning for the past six years.

“Hi” you’re saying when you finally open your eyes, burying your head into his chest as he brushes your hair away from your face and wipes the sleep from your eyes, mumbling an ‘I love you’ when you lean up to kiss his lips before stopping yourself from going any further.

“What’s that?” you’re asking as you shuffle out of his arms and pull the duvet away from your face, looking up at the ceiling and realising that it’s completely covered in red and white balloons with pieces of gold ribbon dangling off them. Your lips going all pouty as you sit up to get a better look at everything, noticing the rose petals that are sprinkled on the floor and the huge bouquet of red roses that are waiting for you on your bedside table, a little card in the top that reads ‘I love you forever and always’ - a saying that you’d picked up along the course of your relationship and something that had a much deeper meaning than people probably realised.

“Babyyy” you’re cooing as he goes all shy and giggly, hiding his face under the covers because neither of you were ones to make a massive fuss like this, particularly on Valentine’s Day because you don’t see the point in celebrating each other on one specific date when your love for one another grows more and more with each passing day. “I love you so much” you’re saying as you try to pull the duvet away from his face, fighting a losing battle when he rolls over and prevents you from seeing his blushing cheeks, leaving you with no option other than to lean across him and attack him with kisses until he’s forced to look at you.

“Stop” he giggles when he gives in and reappears from under the pillow, looking up at you hanging over him with the same look in his eyes that he had when he first realised that he loved you, one that let you know that he was yours until the end and that he’d go to the ends of the earth to see the little smile that’s now on your face. Just staring at one another for a few seconds, still in shock that you get to call the other person yours after all this time. Wondering what the hell you did to deserve one another and be lucky enough to experience all of life’s journeys with them, and all of the challenges that you thought would break you both - yet here you are now, probably the most content you’ve ever been, with a future ahead of you that you could only have ever dreamed of. But your little romantic moment quickly comes to an end when his tummy starts rumbling, just like it always does when it gets past about 7am, knowing that food probably occupies his mind more than you do as you lay there and roll your eyes at him.

“Just you wait until you see what I’ve done” he winks before springing out of bed, heading downstairs and reappearing a few minutes later with a huge tray piled up with all kinds of plates and bowls. Orange juice sloshing over the side of one of the glasses and making you cringe when it leaves a trail of little splashes all over your white carpet. “It’ll come out, don’t worry” he’s telling you before putting the tray on your lap, clearly not as bothered about the mess that he’s made as you are, dreading to think about the state of the kitchen going by the array of different breakfast items he’s brought you. Waffles, croissants, mini pancakes that he’s cut into the shape of hearts with a cookie cutter that he found at the back of one of the kitchen drawers, a fruit salad, vanilla yoghurt, a random bowl of baked beans and some nutella and syrup to dip things into. “Looks delicious” you grin before scooping some of the chocolate up on a strawberry, getting him to open his mouth before you’re popping it in and he’s teasing that that’s the most romantic thing you’ve ever done for him, which of course earns him a gentle smack on the chest and a threat to flip all of his hard work on the floor, knowing that it’ll make a lovely contribution to the orange splatters that now decorate your lovely white flooring.

“I got you a card as well” he’s telling you with a mouthful of croissant, the flaky bits of pastry flying all over the duvet from where he’s trying to talk. “Just as well I got you one too” you wink before handing him the red envelope with his initial and a little kiss on the front. “Nice to know you’ve made it all cute” you joke as you look down at his to see ‘the missus’ scrawled across the front in a pen that looks like it ran about about five years ago. “Excuse me, I was busy doing all of this” he’s telling you as he points at the ceiling and the tray of half-eaten breakfast, most of which he’s consumed himself despite claiming that it’s for ‘the pretty lady’, replying with ‘I know, I know, I’m just kidding’ as he hums and slides his finger under the flap of the envelope to open it up.

“That’s cute, innit” he’s saying as he nods towards the card that he’s got you. A teddy bear couple on the front, one of them holding a bouquet of flowers and the other one going all shy and blushy in response. “Yeah, I take it you’re this one though” you tease as you point towards the blushing bear, not even bothering to fight back because he can’t argue with that, not after the state he got himself into this morning when you saw what he’d stayed up doing all night.

“Thank you so much” he’s whispering once he’s finished reading your card, leaning across to kiss you whilst trying to disguise the fact that he’s crying at what you’ve written inside. “Thank you so much for mine, who knew you had such a way with words?” you smile as he rolls his eyes at you, propping your card up on his bedside table so that it acts as a little reminder to read it again before he goes to bed. Pulling you into his side and pressing a series of kisses onto your forehead as the two of you lay there in each other’s arms, tracing patterns along each other’s bare skin with your hearts going all fluttery each time the other person looks at you, never wanting this moment to end.

***

“Wow, what’s going on in here, mister?” you’re asking when you come walking into the kitchen to see him leaping around and trying to juggle about six different frying pans. Completely ignoring your question when he sees what you’ve come down to dinner dressed in. The most beautiful red silk dress that hugs your figure perfectly, paired with the pair of Louboutins that he bought you for your birthday a couple of years ago and a little black clutch bag to match - not that you particularly needed it when you were spending the night at home, but he loves how you still go to so much effort to look all pretty for him, even though he’d love you just as much if you turned up to the kitchen in your Minnie Mouse pyjamas that are littered with about twenty different holes.

“I would come and give you a kiss but I’m quite busy if you can’t tell” he’s saying as you giggle at him. “Come and sit here to keep me company though, I poured a glass of your favourite drink so don’t say I don’t look after ya” he winks as you coo and make your way over to the kitchen island, clinging onto the worktop to steady yourself because it’s been ages since you last wore heels and you don’t want a repeat of five minutes ago when you nearly went arse over tit halfway down the stairs.

“Is that my favourite pasta?” you’re asking as he nods his head nervously, now realising why he spent most of today’s movie marathon on fancy restaurant websites trying to find a recipe for something that you couldn’t quite get a glimpse of thanks to the angle of his phone, but it turns out that it was your favourite dish. Immediately feeling guilty for scowling at him and telling him off for being rude when you were meant to be relaxing and watching all of the soppy love films on Netflix, completely oblivious to the fact that he was actually busy trying to memorise about twelve different recipes so that he could pretend that he knew it off by heart, particularly as it’s your favourite.

“I made my own garlic bread too, look” he’s saying proudly as he points towards the oven. “And a salad, and some of that fancy bread that you dip in the oil and vinegar, well actually that’s a lie, I bought the bread but I mixed the oil and vinegar together and cut the bread into little stars” he’s telling you as your heart almost bursts at the seams. Looking over at the plate of little bread stars across the other side of the kitchen and just dying to squish him for being so cute, especially since he’d cut them all freehand without using any sort of template - something that he was incredibly proud of himself for, even if a couple of them had very wonky edges and a few missing points.

“Aaand I made a chocolate cheesecake as well” he says smugly as you raise your eyebrows in slight disbelief. “All whilst I was getting ready?” you’re questioning as he nods his head. “Don't look so shocked! You were getting ready for about three hours so I had plenty of time to do everything, even if I did spend about an hour trying to work out how to use a garlic crusher” he’s smiling as you laugh at him, loving how he was still pretty inept in the kitchen despite managing to conjure up a romantic meal for you.

“Let me take the pretty lady to her table” he’s saying with a posh voice as you slide off the bar stood and link your arm through his, letting him lead you over to the dining table that you didn’t even notice when you came in. “Oh my god” you’re cooing as your eyes scan over the little tea lights that he’s shaped to look like a heart, rose petals scattered across the table and a collection of Polaroids that the two of you have taken across the years dotted around too. Trying to swallow down the lump in your throat as he pulls the chair back and helps you get comfy before disappearing off and coming back to bring you all of the food that he’s prepared.

“This looks amazing” you whisper as you reach across the table to hold his hand, mouthing a little ‘thank you’ at him as he lifts your hand up and presses a kiss onto your skin. “Don’t go all shy and emotional on me now, missy, it’s not our first date” he teases as you giggle at him and wipe away a stray tear. Being cut out of your emotional moment when he forces a little star of bread into your mouth, the oil and vinegar dribbling down your chin as you give him the evils and try to pat it away with one of the paper napkins that’s he’s folded into a square - covered in little Christmas puddings because ‘what’s the point in buying ones for Valentine’s Day when we can use what we’ve already got?’ Tempted to do the same thing back to him but you’re managing to resist the urge to start a food fight on the most romantic day of the year, instead dipping your fork into your bowl of pasta and twiddling several strands of linguine around it before putting it into your mouth. Clinging onto the table when you start to chew, your eyes blowing wide as you stare straight back at him and wag your finger in his direction. Waving your hands above your head and clapping before swallowing and letting out a little cheer. “Is it that good?” he laughs as you start shovelling more of the pasta into your mouth, giving him the all important answer he needs as he breathes a sigh of relief, knowing that all of his not-so-sly google searches and telling offs during your movie day have paid off.

“Thank you so much for all of this” you’re saying as you tuck into your slice of cheesecake, admiring the little hearts that he’d swirled into the top of the chocolate mixture before doing the all important taste test. Nodding your head and smiling at him to reassure him that it tastes incredible before he’s reaching across the table to hold your hand again. “Thank you so much for making me realise what love is” he’s saying as you try your best to fight back the tears. Never really hearing him come out with things like that unless he’s drunk, probably because he gets too shy and embarrassed and worries that you won’t feel the same way, despite spending the past six years of your life with him and reassuring him every single day that he’s the one for you, so hearing him have the confidence to tell you how much you mean to him means the absolute world.

“Thank you for making my life a million times better and holding my hand through all of what life’s thrown at us” he’s telling you as you tilt your head to the side and just admire the man you love with your whole heart going all soppy, clearly having added something to his pasta that evoked this kind of emotion. “And for keeping my feet on the ground and being there when things haven’t gone quite as I’d planned” he’s saying as you sniff away opposite him, your thumb rubbing circles on the back of his hand as he carries on. “There’s genuinely nobody else in the entire world that I love as much as you” he’s adding, his voice breaking half way through, making the rest of the sentence all shaky, as he does his best to try and hold himself together, despite just wanting to burst into tears at how much he means each and every one of those words.

“I love you so much” you blub before getting up and making your way around the table to him, sitting down on his lap and burying your head in the crook of his neck as his arms snake around your waist and pull you close to him. His fingers tracing gentle patterns on the sides of your hips as you play with his hair, occasionally pressing the odd kiss to his skin which makes his grip around your body become even tighter. A comfortable silence washing over the two of you as you sit there in a completely love-filled state, neither person knowing quite what to say, but going by each other’s reactions a few minutes ago, it’s clear that this is what love feels like.

“I got you a present” you’re saying as you pull away from him, breaking the silence and climbing off his lap before disappearing off into the hallway. Picking up the little white gift bag that you’d left at the bottom of the stairs when you came down for dinner, your fingers looping through the silk handles as you make your way back to him. “I thought we said no presents?” he’s questioning as you scoff at him. “Says the man who decided to decorate the bedroom and cook me dinner” you’re replying as he gives you a shy smile at the thought. “It’s just a little something but it shows how much I love you and I know you’ve wanted it for ages” you tell him as he pulls one end of the bow, watching it unravel before he’s dipping his hand into the bag and fumbling around amongst the tissue paper. Pulling out several sheets of white tissue paper littered with tiny scarlet red hearts before he’s eventually reaching the box inside. Looking at you with a confused expression as he lifts the rectangular black box out and gives it a little shake, something rattling inside as he pauses for a second to think about what it could be, ruling out the possibility of it being a bracelet or a fancy watch, not that he’d ever want you spending that much money on him, of course.

“Just open it!” you’re giggling as you push him to open the gift, the anticipation getting to you more than it is him as. “I’m scared” he laughs nervously, waiting a few seconds before he’s beginning to lift the lid off. “Don’t be” you’re whispering as he looks at you one final time before fully taking it off.

His jaw dropping as he admires what’s inside, his gaze flicking between you and the inside of the box as he tries to process what you’ve given him.

“We’re having a baby?” he asks as you nod your head, your reaction taking a while to process in his mind, but after what feels like forever he’s letting out a breathy laugh, one that combines happiness and slight disbelief. And then the tears are coming too, his hand covering his face as he sobs into his palm. Making your way back over to him and wrapping your arms around his neck as you rest your head on top of his, letting him come to terms with the fact that you’ve blessed him with the best gift of all.

“Thank you so much” he’s crying as he takes the pregnancy test back out of the box, admiring the two little lines that are showing on the screen - confirming that there’s another life inside of you, made up of both you and him. “No, thank you so much” you’re sniffling as you cup his face and press a little kiss onto his lips. Staring into his teary eyes before they’re fluttering shut when your foreheads touch and the tips of your noses brush over one another. Neither of you knowing quite what to say as you settle back down on his knee again, just holding him close to you until he pulls away every few seconds to look at the pregnancy test again, feeling as though this is all one big dream and someone’s going to wake him up and take it away from him at any given moment. But it’s not. You’re living the dream, and it’s about to become a reality in just a matter of months, a reality that you’ve been craving for the past six years and one that you wouldn’t want to experience with anyone else, and now, it’s one step closer to becoming yours.

February the 14th. The day your lives changed forever.

——————————————————————————

I hope you enjoyed this little imagine 🥰 please let me know who you imagined it with because I’m nosy and I’d love to know hehe, I hope you’ve all had the best Valentine’s Day (regardless of whether you’re in a relationship or not) and remember that I love you all to bits x

#trent alexander arnold #jadon sancho #ruben loftus cheek #marcus rashford #dele #dominic calvert lewin #james maddison #ben chilwell #rhian brewster #reiss nelson #valentine’s day #england nt #liverpool fc

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the-gay-prometheus · 4 years ago

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AU Segment - What’s In A Name (Parts 1 and 2 Combined!)

Oh hey, hi, hello. I finally finished this bit! I’m not sure how I entirely feel about it, but considering all of these segments are still just ‘test runs’ for this AU, that’s kinda to be expected. No warnings needed for these to my knowledge, just wholesome silly stuff and a bit of heartfelt moments thrown in. Just some notes before I share this full segment: 1. You’ll notice that unlike the last segment I posted, the creature is simply called Creature with a capital c rather than “the creature.” There is a reason for this! The narrator, although omniscient, has a bias toward Victor and his point of view about this character. The name of said character changes along with Victor’s view of him - from being a mess of all kinds of nasty things (’beast,’ ‘monster,’ ‘demon,’ etc.), to simply being ‘the creature, then to being more of a formal name ‘Creature,’ and finally to his actual name. In moments where Victor is particularly upset with this character, the title used by the narrator may change to reflect that. 2. This is veeeery very long considering it’s both parts 1 and 2. Knowing tumblr, formatting may get all screwed up, but I’m hoping for the best! 3. Both parts will also be posted to ao3 in their own works, so if you’d rather have links to them there so you’re not endlessly scrolling through a massive wall of text, feel free to ask! 4. I’m still practicing my ‘not-so-angsty’ writing, so some parts may be a little wonky because the wholesome silly stuff is not quite where my skills lie yet 😅 5. Special shout-out to @fergus-reid! The name ‘Percival’ suggested in part two that Victor rejects because it is a ‘name that he heavily considered’ was 100% influenced by his incredible podcast “The Marksbury Incident” - a beautifully written and acted modern/cross-over type AU where Victor is also a trans man (and canonically considered the name Percival for himself)! It’s a really neat story and I totally recommend checking it out! As always, likes, reblogs, and comments of any kind are appreciated! Without further ado, I present ‘What’s In A Name?’

PART 1: “How about… hm… Gabriel?” Victor and Creature trekked along the mountain trail, Victor taking the lead so Creature wouldn’t go too far ahead. “That’s a good name, don’t you think?” Creature shrugged his shoulders, pausing to inspect the nearly white bark of a silver fir, tracing along the jagged edges with curiosity. “Is that a no?” Victor asked, somewhat out of breath as he turned to check on his creation. “Yes, that is a no,” Creature mumbled as he looked upward toward the top of the tall conifer. “Oh! I know! How about Luca? It means light!” Creature turned toward him with a disappointed frown. “Perfect, because surely I am the light of your life,” he remarked with clear sarcasm. For a moment Victor was almost impressed; after all, this was the first he had heard him make any kind of obviously sarcastic… joke? Was it a joke? “Well, no, that would be Henry,” Victor replied, turning back toward the trail and motioning for Creature to follow. “But you were born of lightning, so it would at least have some sentimental meaning?” The creation shook his head. “I would rather not be consistently reminded of my origins.” The two continued along the trail, Victor staying quiet as he tried to think of another name that might work. As they walked, they came along a portion of the trail with a steep, rocky cliff that harbored the continuation of the trail on top. Victor, being the stubborn person he was, insisted that he could climb up himself, but each time he tried to scrabble up, he would lose his hold or lose his footing and fall back down. Though he continued to insist he could do it, Creature lifted him up and set him on the top of the stone. Victor shot him a nasty look, brushing off his clothing as if where he had touched him was somehow now dirty, but Creature ignored it and hoisted himself up to the top with ease. “Then how about Adam?” Victor suggested, turning and starting his way down the trail once again. Creature stood at the cliff edge, staring at his creator. “After all, you came up with that one yourself.” “I… I do not want a name that I came up with,” Creature began. “I would much rather it come from you.” Victor gave him an odd look. “What does it matter? A name is a name, right? I named myself and you don’t see me complaining about it,” he retorted, crossing his arms. He glanced off to the side, then frowned. “Well… I suppose Henry technically helped- but I’m the one who chose it.” Creature crossed his own arms and gave him the kind of look that said ‘well, there’s the answer to your own question.’ Victor stared at him, then dramatically waved his arms and spun around. “Fine! Fine. Alright. What if I said I was giving that name to you because I thought it fit you and not because you came up with it? I mean, it is rather fitting considering-” “Then you missed my entire point of what I had said when I brought that name up,” Creature cut him off. Victor looked back to him. “Then what were you saying?” “I said I ought to be your Adam but… that it was not who I actually was to you. It was…” He hesitated. “A painful moment for me, Victor. To come to the realization that everything I should have been was everything I never would have had the chance to be.” Victor sighed, hanging his head. “Well, what if it’s who you are to me now?” he asked, his voice sincere. Creature shook his head. “That makes no difference. Once again it would simply be a reminder of such dreadful memories. I would rather live my life without being constantly reminded of my past simply by someone calling me by my name.” Victor didn’t answer, opting instead to take a step and continue onward. Creature hesitated, but followed all the same. “Gilbert?” Victor called out as he walked. Creature couldn’t help but chuckle. “Well that was out of nowhere.” “But is it a no?” “Yes, it is a no.” Victor made a grunt of disappointment, then looked around, pointing to a tall conifer with beautiful vibrant orange needles. “What about Larch? Like the tree?” he asked. His creation paused, looking at the tree and others of its species around them. “It is certainly a beautiful tree,” he remarked simply. “Though I am not sure it is a good name.” “Come on, it’s a great name!” Victor exclaimed, turning back to the trail and clambering his way up a boulder that blocked the path. “I will… give it some thought,” Creature promised with a slight smile, hopping over the boulder as though it were only a mild inconvenience. “That doesn’t sound like a no to me,” Victor proposed, grinning. “It is not a no, but it is also not a yes,” Creature explained, reaching up and plucking a handful of the orange needles from one of the trees and inspecting them closer. “Then it’s basically a no and I should keep going,” Victor suggested. Far ahead, the trees cleared and open sky above distant ridgeline could be seen - signifying they were nearly home - and Victor let out an exasperated sigh. “I told you I’d have a name for you by the time we got home. You’re making this more difficult than it has to be.” “And I told you that these things take far more time than what one walk will procure,” Creature countered. “Not that you listen to me, of course.” He continued onward, passing Victor, who watched as he walked by. “I don’t listen to anyone,” Victor called to him as he watched him walk. “I thought that would’ve been fairly obvious by now.” “Oh, it is certainly obvious, but that does not make it - or you, for that matter - any less irritating, Victor,” his creation answered from ahead. Victor frowned. “Hey- Hey! Wait up!” He scrambled as he broke into a run, tripping over a stone and nearly falling but somehow miraculously not falling flat on his face. “What was that supposed to mean?” Creature kept walking, pausing to lift a bough that crossed in front of the path and ducking beneath it, holding it away from the trail so Victor could pass without walking into it. “I was simply stating a fact,” he mentioned, letting the branch go once Victor was through. “Hmph.” Victor strode past him, ducking his way through the last tangle of branches before emerging to the ledge where their little hut stood. “Could’ve kept it to yourself,” he grumbled as he straightened his vest and brushed off his coat. “I will keep that in mind,” Creature stated, emerging beside him with at least one twig sticking awkwardly out of his long black hair. Victor looked up at him, staring at the twig in his hair with narrowed eyes until Creature got the hint that there was something there, then started making his way back toward their home with his shoulders drooped and his eyes on the ground. Grumbling something about how ungrateful his creation was, he made his way to the door, reached for it, and then- whack! The door flew open, hitting Victor directly in the face and knocking him backward. He clutched at his nose with a yelp of pain. Creature couldn’t help but chuckle - this was at least the third time this had happened in the past week alone. It was Henry who had opened the door, and who had promptly let out a sharp gasp of surprise upon seeing his boyfriend dramatically writhing around on the ground with his hand over his face. “Good lord Victor!” he exclaimed, dropping to the ground to check if he was ok. Victor sucked in a breath and hissed it out through his teeth, slowly removing his hand from his nose and blinking his eyes back open. Upon seeing Henry, directly above him, he managed a half smile. “You’re lucky I love you,” he sneered, pushing himself up onto his hands. Henry grinned, planting a kiss on Victor’s lips, which Victor gladly reciprocated. As he pulled back, Henry stood, offering a hand to help his boyfriend up from the ground. “I know I am,” Henry answered Victor’s original statement with a smirk. “Not that he poses much of a threat regardless,” Creature quipped from behind them. Victor rolled his eyes and Henry snickered. “Well, threat or not,” he began, wrapping his arm around Victor, “How’d it go? Did you two finally figure out a name?” “No, we didn’t. That one is too stubborn,” Victor complained, pointing to his creation. “I simply did not relate to any of the names you suggested, Victor. That is not stubbornness, that is…” He paused, thinking of how to word it. “Well… I suppose it could be stubbornness.” Henry shook his head. “Not stubbornness at all. A name is an important and meaningful thing, so if you have yet to hear one that you feel fits you, then it just doesn’t fit and that’s all there is to it,” he explained with a kind smile. Victor gave him a side-eyed glance, then sighed. “Alright, sure. Not stubborn. Just irritating,” he retorted, giving Creature a sneer. Creature stared at him for a moment, then shrugged. “Well, you did create me, after all.” Henry tried to hold back a laugh, and couldn’t help but let it out as Victor pushed him away with a scoff. “I am not irritating!” he announced, earning even harder laughter from Henry. He spun on his heels to face him, crossing his arms. “It’s not funny! I’m not irritating!” “Pfff- Yes you are!” Henry exclaimed through his laughter. Victor wanted to be angry, but Henry’s laughter was contagious as always and he found himself starting to snicker along. “No I’m not!” he repeated, though much less seriously. “You most certainly are,” Creature mentioned, starting to chuckle a bit himself. “I- I am absolutely not,” Victor reiterated, trying to make himself sound very serious but only making himself - as well as Henry and Creature - laugh even harder. “Yes you are!” Henry teased, reaching out and flicking Victor’s nose. Victor flung his hand up and stumbled back. “Ow! Henry that’s still sore!” he exclaimed reaching out to flick him back. Henry jumped out of the way and took off toward the open land of the ridge just beyond their hut still laughing as he gave his boyfriend a look that seemed to say ‘just try to catch me.’ Victor smirked and ran off after him, shouting “You sly bastard- get back here!” Creature watched them chase one another, his laughter slowly subsiding to a smiling sigh. Name or no name, he felt like he was finally so much closer to the life he wanted - a loving family of sorts, though a strange family it may be. He watched as Henry switched directions and came up from behind Victor, tackling him to the ground. Though he couldn’t make out what they were saying, he could hear as their own laughter turned to quiet words, and then to quiet as Henry silenced Victor with another kiss. A content expression on his face, Creature lay back, sprawled out on the ground, and watched the clouds as they passed through the sky. PART 2: The afternoon was fair-weathered and peaceful, blue sky hardly obscured by a few fluffy clouds with the sun casting its brilliant light evenly over the mountains. Creature had spent just about the entirety of the last few hours still lying on the ground, the first half watching the clouds that passed by while considering each shape they took as they changed with the wind, and the second half so well at peace that he had fallen asleep. That was, of course, until the feeling of something being dropped on his chest caused his eyes to snap open. Above him stood Henry, who was looking down at him with his arms crossed and a smile on his face. Creature managed an awkward smile in return, and looked down at what had been dropped on him. He recognized the small leather bag and gently plucked it off his chest, reaching up to drop it back into Henry’s now waiting outstretched hand. “Fancy a game?” Henry asked with a grin, shaking the bag and causing the contents inside to clink and rattle. Creature chuckled and slowly lifted himself upright. “Of course, though you could have woken me in perhaps a less startling manner,” he replied. “Where’s the fun in that?” Henry joked, tossing the bag back and forth between his hands. “Will Victor be joining us?” Creature inquired as he rose to his feet and brushed the dust and dirt from his cloak and pants. “Begrudgingly, yes,” came a flat voice from behind him. He turned to find Victor standing there, looking almost entirely unamused - almost, though Creature could tell he was actually looking forward to it. Henry was the first to jog over to their typical outdoor playing spot, a fairly flat length of stone close to the edge of the ledge, and emptied the contents of the bag onto the ground. An array of clearly non-professionally made dominos, all somewhat unevenly cut with a yellow-stained tint (the clear sign of being made with real bone), clattered down and Henry quickly flipped any that fell right-side-up over so that only the blank sides were facing. Creature arrived and sat down carefully, knowing the drill by now and beginning to choose his five tiles. Victor flopped himself down beside Henry, faking an annoyed sigh as he started to pick his tiles. Henry caught the fake sigh and snatched one of the tiles Victor was about to pick before he could take it, resulting in the two in the two of them giving each other mock-mad looks before they both devolved into a small fit of giggles. As the two of them continued to pester each other while picking their tiles, Creature picked up his own tiles to see if he had managed to pick up a doubles tile. “All-threes as usual, correct?” he mentioned above their antics. Henry looked up at him with a nod. “Yes, unless you wanted to try something different today?” Creature thought for a moment. “No, I am content with the usual.” “Well that’s perfect,” Victor quipped as he looked at his tiles, his expression brightening. He set one of his tiles down, one with six pips on both ends. “Twelve points for me,” he mused, picking up a small splinter of stone and scratching twelve tally marks down beside him on a bare spot of the stone ground amongst a multitude of other scratched-over tallies from games past. “Perfect for me too,” Henry teased, placing a tile with six pips on one end and none on the other. “That’s twelve points for me also.” Victor shot him a clearly sarcastically scathing glance, which Henry countered with a smirk as he reached for the stone splinter Victor had been keeping tally with to tally his own points. “It seems we are starting this with a tie,” Creature examined, placing a fully blank tile beside the one Henry had placed down before picking up a much larger splinter of stone beside him and carving out twelve tallies for himself. Victor gave him a disappointed glance before checking his own tiles and finding one he could place, though it would earn him no more points. Henry placed his next tile and the turn was passed to Creature, who managed to score another twelve points. “Hey Victor, I think I figured out what name we should give him,” Henry mentioned with sarcasm as Creature scratched down his tallies. Creature glanced upward, listening carefully. Victor didn’t answer, but instead rolled his hand in a motion that meant ‘go on.’ Henry snickered as he placed down a tile of his own. “I think we should call him Victor the Second because at this rate you’re going to lose your winning streak.” “No, I think we should call him Henry,” Victor countered, voice dripping with sarcasm as he played his own next tile and scratched down six points for himself. “I am not taking either of your names,” Creature muttered with a slight smile as he placed his next tile down and etched twelve more points on his tally. “That would be far too strange.” “Fair enough,” Henry replied, checking his tiles and realizing he needed to draw from the free-pile in order to place one down. “How about… Ah! I’ve got it!” he exclaimed. “How about Hector?” Both Victor and Creature gave him an odd look. “Hector?” Victor repeated, raising one eyebrow as he also picked up a few tiles from the free pile in order to find one to place down - which he did, and scratched in three points for himself. “Henry, Victor,” Henry explained, raising one hand with each name. “Hector,” he finished, clapping his hands together. Victor couldn’t help but let out a snort of laughter, and Creature chuckled softly as well. “Amusing and sweet, Henry, but I do not think that is the name for me,” he replied, placing his final tile down. Checking over the playing area again, he grinned. “And I do believe that is a win.” Victor shot his glance down. “What?!” He looked at what had been put down. “How? Are you already out of bones?” Creature nodded. “Indeed.” “Ha!! The unbeatable Victor finally tastes defeat!” Henry exclaimed, ruffling his fingers through Victor’s hair - Victor, who flicked his hand away to take a closer look at the spread as if somehow that would make it change. “No, no - not possible. Absolutely impossible.” He looked up at Creature and squinted. “You cheated somehow.” Creature gave him a confused look. “I… do not believe it is even possible to cheat at this game?” “Don’t mind him, he’s just being a sore loser,” Henry reassured him, bumping Victor in the shoulder with his elbow. Victor gave a huff and crossed his arms. “Rematch?” Creature nodded. “If you are both so inclined.” Victor glanced away, trying to hold back a smile. Truth was, he actually was very much enjoying himself. “... Fine,” he said at a length, beginning to flip and mix the tiles. They each plucked their dominos from the pile. “Anyone have a double six?” Henry asked as he looked at his tiles. Victor and Creature both looked at each other as if asking each other the same question, then both shook their heads. Creature looked back down at his tiles, then placed down a double five. “Good enough.” “How about Daniel?” Victor asked as Henry played a tile. “Do you have a reason for that name?” Creature responded as Victor played his next and scratched a new tally of three. “Not particularly. It’s just a nice name,” Victor replied, gesturing that it was his turn. “I see.” Creature placed a tile, and scratched a six for himself, which prompted a quiet ‘scheisse!’ from Victor. He couldn’t help but smile at the reaction. “I would have to say no.” “Does it have to be a name with meaning?” Victor asked as he watched Henry play his turn. “I would prefer it to, if possible.” Victor thought for a moment as he placed his next tile. “Percival is a good name,” Henry suggested with a smirk toward Victor. Victor gave a thoughtful look, then furrowed his brow and gave Henry a look of flat annoyance. “He can’t just have the name I didn’t take,” he muttered. “You had considered naming yourself Percival?” Creature inquired as he picked up a tile from the draw pile and placed it down, etching a twelve in his tallies. “Considered it, yes,” Victor grumbled in reply. “I… do like the sentiment of taking on your unused name,” Creature mentioned, thinking it through more as he watched Henry play his next turn. “Well- you can’t have it,” Victor responded, picking up two tiles and placing one down. “What about Prometheus? I fancied myself to be like him while I was making you, so there would be some meaning to it.” Creature took a moment to think, then shook his head. “I feel I really do not want something that relates in any way to my creation. Not… that I resent being created, mind you, but I have tried to put the past behind me as much as possible, as you know,” he explained as he set down his next tile. Victor sighed heavily, resting his elbow on his knee and his chin on his hand as Henry played his turn and scratched a twelve down for himself. They continued their turns in relative silence, until finally as the sun was beginning to set in the sky it was Victor who placed his final tile. Though he felt like he should be celebrating that, instead Victor felt… defeated. He got up, muttering, “Good game, both of you,” before sulking off back to the cabin. Henry watched him go with a concerned gaze. “Have I… said something wrong?” Creature asked quietly, suddenly beginning to worry that he had hurt his creator in some way. Henry sighed. “No, you’re fine,” he reassured him as he began collecting the tiles and placing them back into their holding pouch. “You coming inside?” Creature shook his head. “I… think I will stay out here for the time being.” Henry smiled at him and gave him an understanding nod before making his way to the cabin. As he stepped inside, he set the pouch down on the side table by the door and made his way into what they considered the ‘common space,’ where Victor sat by the fireplace which only softly glowed with a freshly started fire. “Are you alright, love?” Henry asked gently, sitting beside him and wrapping an arm around him. Victor heaved a shaky sigh and rested his head on Henry’s shoulder. “I just… I feel like I can’t do right by him,” he mumbled, pressing himself closer to his boyfriend. “Nothing I’ve ever done has been… right.” Henry listened carefully as he spoke, holding him tighter and resting his head against Victor’s. “Well, you’re trying, aren’t you?” he suggested softly. “I think he’s just happy that you’re trying.” “Trying isn’t enough,” Victor stated, sitting upright and staring into the small, flickering flames. “After all I’ve done and all I’ve said, trying isn’t enough.” “Then let’s change our approach,” Henry recommended with a smile, reaching out and gently turning Victor’s face toward him to give him a tender kiss. Victor exhaled softly and leaned into it, then slowly pulled back. “How so?” “We could start by doing what we did when we chose your name.” Victor’s eyes widened. “Oh!” he exclaimed, clapping his hands together. “Henry, you’re a genius!” “I’m flattered, but that honor belongs to you, love,” Henry quipped with a grin. “Come on - let’s start reading.” The two of them scoured the collection of books that Henry had brought up with him, picking out names and sounding them off to each other one by one. They went through book after book until the sun disappeared and the sky went dark, either one of them occasionally throwing a new log into the fire to ensure they had plenty of light and warmth. After a few hours, Victor stared down at a page, and uttered, “I think I’ve got it.” Henry looked up from his own book and set it down, swiftly moving over to him. Victor pointed a word out to him. “That one.” Henry gave him a quizzical look. “Are you sure? That’s hardly a name.” Victor looked up at him. “I know, but think about the meaning! It’s perfect!” Henry thought for a moment, then wrapped his arms around him with a smile. “With a bit of tweaking, I think you might be right,” he murmured, planting a kiss on his cheek. “You really do mean it, don’t you.” Victor glanced back at him. “Hm?” “You’ve really come to care for him, I mean,” Henry explained, releasing his grip. Victor hesitated, but then nodded. “I have - genuinely. I just… hope this will be enough to prove it.” “I’m sure it will be perfect.” Creature was sitting out near the edge of the ledge, resting his weight on his hands as he stared up at the stars as they glittered above. Victor took a deep breath as he stepped outside and breathed out slowly. You can do this. It’ll be fine, he thought to himself as he walked over as quietly as he could. He sat beside his creation, and tilted his head back to look upward as well. Creature turned his head slightly to look at him, then returned to his stargazing. “Agape,” Victor said suddenly. “...What?” Creature asked, once again looking over to him. Victor kept his eyes on the stars, but smiled slightly. “Do you know what it means?” Creature stared at him, thinking, then returned his gaze upward. “It is… Greek.” “That’s right.” He thought some more, racking his brain for memories of the word. “One of the… three Greek forms of love, correct?” Victor nodded. “Indeed.” He glanced away as he continued to think. “...If I recall correctly, it is considered the highest form of love. A deep, profound respect. Some define it as… the mutual love between God and man, and between man and God.” Victor’s smile grew - his creation’s intelligence still continued to amaze and fascinate him. “That is also correct. Though… I think I’d like to propose a more general definition.” Creature looked over at him. “What definition would that be?” Victor took a moment, then closed his eyes. “The mutual love between a creator at his creation, and between a creation and his creator.” Creature’s eyes widened, and for the sake of trying not to immediately shed a tear by thinking about that statement, he stared back up to the heavens. “That is… a definition I could approve of.” “How about a name?” “A… name?” “Is it a name you could approve of?” Victor reiterated, opening his eyes and looking over to see that Creature was now once again staring at him, though this time clearly not trying to hide the tears in his gleaming yellow eyes. His silence disturbed him, and he looked away. “...No, no nevermind - forget it. Forget it.” “Victor I,” Creature began, his voice soft and shaken. “That is so much more of a meaningful name than I could have ever imagined.” Victor glanced back at him. “Are you sure?” Creature nodded, smiling wide as tears streamed down his face. “I have scarcely been more sure.” Victor swallowed back tears of his own and smiled back to him. “Then consider it finalized, Agape.” He paused, then leaned forward and embraced him as tightly as he could. “Agape Frankenstein, my first and only…” he paused, thinking for a moment, then smiled contentedly, “son. My first and only son.” Agape didn’t know how to react at first - he was overwhelmed with so many emotions; relief, hope, joy. The most he could do was wrap his arms around his creator - his father - and finally take in what it really meant to be loved.

#frankenstein #frankenstein au #clervalstein #fanfiction #victor frankenstein #Henry clerval #the creature

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slashmebois · 4 years ago

Text

Distraction

“Heyyy I wanted to ask for a mini fic of vincent getting distracted form his work by a goofy S/O who wants his attention. He's just precious and deserves a precious S/O who's obsessed with him. 🥺🥺🥺 Thank you! 🖤”

This is such a cute idea!! I had such a fun time writing this one. Thank you so much for this request <3 Credit to @thesightstoshowyou for their banjo headcanon for Bo

Vincent was used to people interrupting him. Bo was his main antagonist, tending to require some form of medical attention after each chase. Sometimes Bo would come down to the basement just to nitpick Vincent’s process as he worked with helpful phrases such as “Wouldn’t have done that” and “Is it supposed to look like that”.

Lester wasn’t much better when he was around. Vincent would ask for a moment to wrap up his work, and whilst Lester had the best of intentions- his mouth often got away from him. “Oh man Vince, you’ve gotta see this cool skull I picked up today”, “Vince, you won’t believe what these city slickers said to me”. But Vincent could listen and continue working on his sculptures and paintings regardless. Or he had been able to at least.

Recently he found himself more and more distracted by you. You had rocked up into town a few months ago and wasted no time in making their affections for him clear (once he had saved you from his brothers’ murderous grasps). He was of course smitten with you, the way you talked, the way you looked, the way your smile crept onto your face. By his standards you were a walking piece of art, too beautiful to remain stationery.

So, he had tried to reciprocate your feelings, although he was not bold enough to outright say “hey I’m in love with you, I’d follow you to the ends of the earth. Is that cool with you?” and honestly it would be a mouthful coming from the guy who mostly communicated using ASL and the occasional spoken word. But still, he couldn’t figure out the right way to express himself and every time he started to let himself melt into his work and try to figure it out, you were in the corner of his vision and every logical thought he had died.

But even more than that, he was starting to think you were actively trying to distract him, although he couldn’t quite put a finger on why…

---

You have been trying for days to get Vince to take a break from his work so you can initiate operation date time. But oh man is it hard. Okay sure, he’s starting to take longer to finish his projects, but that is not what you want. You don’t want to slow his process down you just want to spend time with him away from this boiling basement.

The first few days you would just stand at his side and ask about what he was doing and sure he paid attention to you but he kept working. The next few days had been a series of you singing loudly along to his classical opera in shrill tones, before switching the radio over to some popular tunes and repeating. Vincent had eventually got up, and you thought you’d done it, but then he just switched the radio back to classical as you pouted at him. Besides that, you had tried baking for him, reading aloud from a book, playing a very old, out of tune banjo you found (probably Bo’s but you doubted he knew how to play), and doing cartwheels. The last one had spooked Vincent into getting up and catching you, and worriedly dangling you from his arms in mid-air whilst he looked pointedly towards the large boiling pot of wax.

You are just about out of ideas so you go to the only people you can rely on for information on how to distract Vincent- Bo and Lester.

You find Bo in the garage and yell out to him. His hackles rise and he turns round with a gritted smile,

“Please, don’t do that. This was a respectful town before you came along”

You stick your tongue at him and he rolls his eyes, “What do you want? Actually. Let me guess, it has something to do with Vincent hmm?”

You mock gasp, “how did you know, are you a psychic!?!”

He laughs, “Nope, just full o’ shit. C’mon, spit it out already.”

“Well, how would you go about distracting Vincent?”

“I hope you’re not distracting him from his vital work here y/n” you give him puppy dog eyes and he sighs, “alright, alright. I guess he works hard enough. I dunno, play some loud music?”

“Tried that already, what else you got”

“Uhh, have you tried injuring yourself”

“Th…that is the worst idea”

“Alright, okay. No need to get mean. OH!” his loud exclamation makes you jump a little, “how about ruining one of his paintings. That would definitely get his attention”

You fix him a look, “whose side are you even on?”

“My own, do you have to ask? Anyway, that’s all I got- take it or leave it” he waves you off and turns back to…well whatever it is he does in his spare time, don’t know, don’t care.

You groan, you were definitely leaving those ideas alone. You should have known Bo wouldn’t be much help. You start seeking out the other brother in the hopes that they’ll have a better idea.

Lester is at the edge of town on the other side of the flooding, sat on the back of his truck petting Jonesy.

“Hey Les!”

He looks up and smiles, waving to you, “You stay there, I’ll come over to you. Wouldn’t want you getting your pretty clothes all dirty!”

He hops over, Jonesy in arms and sets her down on the other side. Lester smells about as good as usual, but hell you’ve actually got used to it by now, and you know his job is important so who are you to complain.

“Well hello (miss/sir), what can I help you with today”

“Well I was wondering Les, you know any good ways to distract Vincent. I asked Bo, but his ideas were all dumb”

Lester cackles, “well of course they were, Bo’s just a pretty face when it comes down to it”, you laugh along with him, “Hmm, lemme have a think”

Lester looks around, as if searching for inspiration. His eyes light up, “How about showing his some sorta collection? I show him my knives sometimes, wanna see?”

“Not right now Lester, I’m on a mission. But maybe tomorrow? But that’s actually a pretty decent idea. What else you got, hit me?”

Lester looks a little uncertain.

“Don’t actually hit me Les, it’s a saying”

He looks relieved, “riiight, right. I knew that. Okay, idea number two coming up”, his eyes close tightly shut and he makes a strained noise, “ooh ooh ooh!!! Craft something for him!! I helped him craft those knives he has and he looooves those”

“Lester, you are so much better at this than Bo. Thank you, thank you!!” you grab him in a hug in the excitement, promptly remembering the smell but then deciding fuck it- nothing a shower won’t fix.

As you head off, Jonesy follows you and Lester motions at you to take her with you. You head back to the house feeling pretty positive. You have some pretty seashells and rocks in a box from various visits to places in your room. Once you’re home you head up and grab the box before heading back down to Vincent.

“Hey Vince, how’s it going?”

He pauses and looks over to give you a thumbs up. You sit on a stool nearby and a take a deep breath before giving your newest plan a go.

“I was just thinking about some trips I went on where I got these cools shells, look at this one, it’s…” you drivel on and Vincent does falter for a moment but keeps his resolve.

Unbeknownst to you, Vincent has a sinking feeling in his stomach. Oh god. You wanted to leave. Why else would you be talking to him about all these trips. Your words were no longer reaching his ears as he could feel the guilt eating away at him. His stomach churned, how was he supposed to fix this. His hands kept moving on autopilot but he’s not really paying attention. It’s not long before his hand slips whilst crafting a nose. He grunts frustrated with himself.

Vincent’s grunt interrupts you, and you trail off the end of a sentence thinking he’s annoyed with you. You look up at him from your box and realise the nose of his latest sculpture is looking pretty wonky. So much for distracting him. All you’ve done is fuck up his work.

“Sorry” you mumble, but he’s too focused on fixing the mistake to hear you.

You sigh and put down your box of shells, walking over to where Jonesy has placed herself. You grab an easel and some paints and lie down next to her, passing time with a fingerpainting project.

Vincent fixes the nose, breathing in relief when it forms properly under his hands. He’s about to gesture to it to show you that VIOLA! He fixed it, but he realises you’re no longer on the stool, the only sign of you the discarded box of shells and rocks. He dejectedly reaches towards it, looking carefully over them. Maybe he should let you go. You clearly loved exploring and this town wouldn’t allow for much of that. His dark thoughts start to descend on him but a warm giggle interrupts him and he glances over to your new location. He nearly gasps at how full his heart is at the sight before him.

Jonesy, not happy with no one paying attention to her, has walked through your paint palette and onto the easel to lick at your face. You laugh and push at her,

“What are you doing? Silly girl. Guess it’s a collaboration piece now!”

The dog ignores any protests and continues to try to grab your attention. Vincent struck by the view makes his way over and kneels, ruffling Jonesy’s ears and glancing towards you.

You look up at him, a little shocked, before smiling wide.

“About time you took a break Vince”

He cocks his head to the side, but lies on his belly with you, looking you deeply in your eyes.

And then he splats a hand in the paint and onto the easel before you can track what the heck he’s doing.

You laugh in surprise, “Oh, really? You wanna be a part of this collaboration?” You gather paint on the tip of your index finger, “that can be arranged” you flash him a cheeky grin and lunge towards him, trying to land the paint on him.

Vincent dodges out the way last minute and thus starts a game of cat and mouse round the house. And Vincent swears he can’t imagine a time when laughter filled the house this much.

#vincent sinclair #vincent sinclair x reader #sfw #house of wax #bo sinclair #lester sinclair #slasher #slashers

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scoopsahoy · 4 years ago

Note

fic where in season two when billy tries to beat up lucas you protect him and he chokes you against the wall before steve comes back inside and stops him then gets beat up and you treat his injuries?

ぺ word count ⋰ 2.7k

✰ tw ⋰ fighting, injuries, blood, choking

❍ cw ⋰ swearing, b*lly h*rgrove

�� masterlist

⋆★⋆★⋆★⋆★⋆★⋆★⋆★⋆★⋆★⋆★⋆★⋆★

Lucas and Max swept up broken glass as Mike paced, which was beginning to get on all of your nerves.

“Mike, would you just stop already?” he said.

“You weren’t in there, okay, Lucas?” He said, referring to the Hawkins Lab. “That lab is swarming with hundreds of those dogs.”

“Demo-dogs!” Dustin corrected from the kitchen, to which Mike rolled his eyes.

“The chief will take her of her,” Lucas insisted.

“Like she needs protection,” Max mumbled.

Steve walked over, wiping his hands with a kitchen towel. You followed and stood next to him as he started talking. “Listen, dude, a coach calls a play in a game, bottom line, you execute it. All right?”

You raised an eyebrow at his sports analogy.

“Okay, first of all, this isn’t some stupid sports game,” Mike agreed. “And second, we’re not even in the game. We’re on the bench.”

“Ri- So my point is...” You raised both eyebrows as he stuttered his way through his argument. Everyone waited for him to continue. “Right, yeah, we’re on the bench, so, uh, there’s nothing we can do.” He tossed the towel over his shoulder, which made him look like a housewife.

“That’s not entirely true,” Dustin interjected. “I mean, these Demo-dogs, they have a hive mind. When they ran away from the bus, they were called away.”

“If we get their attention...”

“Maybe we can draw them from the lab,” Max suggested.

“And clear a path to the gate.”

“Yeah, and then we all die,” Steve said, throwing his hands into the air as if it should be obvious.

“That’s one point of view,” Dustin said.

“No, that’s not a point of view, man. That’s a fact.”

Mike’s eyes went wide and he walked to the other side of the room. “I got it!” he exclaimed. He pointed to one of the points on the map of Hawkins that Will had drawn. “This is where the chief dug his hole. This is our way into the tunnel. So...” He stood up and walked back into the living room. “Here, right here. This is like a hub. So you’ve got all the tunnels feeding in here. Maybe if we set this on fire...”

“Oh, yeah? That’s a no,” Steve said firmly.

“The mind flayer would call away his army,” you joined.

“Babe?” Steve said, looking at you. You just shrugged in response.

“They’d all come to stop us.”

“Then we circle back to the exit.”

“Guys,” Steve said.

“By the time they’d realize we’re gone-”

“El would be at the gate,” you said.

You heard Steve start clapping to get your attention. “Hey, hey, hey!” You all turned to look at him and he had his hands on his hips. “This is not happening,” he said as he pointed between all of you.

“But-”

“No, no, no, no, no. No ‘but’s. I promised I’d keep you shitheads safe, and that’s exactly what I plan on doing. We’re staying here. On the bench. And we’re waiting for the starting team to do their job. Does everybody understand that?”

“This isn’t a stupid sports game!”

“I said-” He grabbed the towel and held it while he pointed to Mike, “-does everybody understand that? I need a yes.”

They didn’t respond, so you got his attention. “What if this is our only way of saving Will?”

“You’re into this?” he asked with disbelief.

“Yeah, of course. I babysat these kids, they’re practically family.”

“Then you should be less eager to put their lives at risk.”

You rolled your eyes, and that was when you heard an engine revving outside, which approached the house quickly. You all looked at the window, and Max walked over to look outside.

“It’s my brother. He can’t know I’m here. He’ll kill me. He’ll kill us,” she said to Lucas.

That was when a concerned and determined look crossed Steve’s face.

—

You stood with your eye to the peephole, your ear close enough to the door to hear the conversation.

Billy Hargrove stepped out of his car, a cigarette in his mouth.

“Am I dreaming, or is that you, Harrington?” he asked.

“Yeah, it’s me, don’t cream your pants.” You chuckled at the remark.

Billy took his jacket off and closed the car door as Steve approached him.

“What are you doing here, amigo?” he asked Steve.

“I could ask you the same thing... amigo.”

“Looking for my stepsister. A little birdie told me she was here.”

“Huh, that’s weird. I don’t know her.”

“Small? Redhead? Bit of a bitch.”

You rolled your eyes. You’d never liked Billy, especially after all the times he’d hit on you. But knowing the disdain he had for Max only made you hate him more.

“Doesn’t ring a bell. Sorry, buddy.”

Billy sighed. “You know, I don’t know, this... This whole situation, Harrington, I don’t know. It’s givin’ me the heebie-jeebies.”

“Oh, yeah? Why’s that?”

“My thirteen-year-old sister goes missing all day. And then I find her with you in a stranger’s house. And you lie to me about it.”

Steve chuckled. “Man, were you dropped too much as a child, or what? I don’t know what you don’t understand about what I just said. She’s not here.”

Billy pointed at the window. “Then who is that?”

You looked over to see the kids peeking through the window.

“Shit! Did he see us?” Dustin asked.

You ran over, pulling them off the couch. “What the hell, guys! Come on, get back.”

It was only a few seconds later that Billy busted through the door, and you herded the kids behind you. Lucas stepped away, and you could tell he was trying to defend Max.

“Well, well, well,” he said. “Lucas Sinclair. What a surprise.” He looked at Max. “I thought I told you to stay away from him, Max.”

“Billy, go away.”

“You disobeyed me.”

“Billy,” you said, stepping between him and Lucas.

“Y/N.” You swallowed hard. “What are you doing here?”

“You need to leave. Now.”

He clicked his tongue a few times. “Now, why would I do that?” You lightly pushed him away, but he only came back. “Tell you what, you let me teach the kid a lesson, and I’ll get out of your hair. I’ll take Max home and teach her one, too, and we can call it a day.”

Anger washed over you, and you felt yourself punch him in the nose. You didn't even realize you did that until he was stumbling backward. You looked at your knuckles to see a couple of them bloody.

Within a second, Billy’s hand was on your throat, pushing you against the wall and lifting you off your feet. You were choking, gripping his wrist and kicking to get him off of you.

“I usually don’t like to hurt girls, sweetheart, but I think you might be an exception.”

You clawed at his shoulders and face, feeling yourself suffocate. You felt tears dripping down your cheeks and you could tell your face was going purple. Your vision was blurring out.

You dropped to the floor suddenly as you saw Lucas hit Billy over the head with a plate. Dustin ran over to you as you gasped for air.

When you came to, Billy had Lucas shoved against a cabinet. You stood up and joined the kids, who were yelling at him to stop.

You couldn’t hear the conversation until he screamed at Lucas to stay away from Max.

“I said get off me!” Lucas yelled, kneeing Billy in the crotch. He doubled over in pain and you all waited for him to stand up.

“You are so dead, Sinclair!” Steve walked past you and up to Billy. “You’re dead.” He shoved his out of the way, making your breath hitch.

“No. You are.” You raised your eyebrows at the corny line but gasped when he punched him in the face. Dustin chuckled and you slapped him on the shoulder.

Lucas ran back over and the kids all hugged him, making sure he was okay.

Billy laughed loudly, which made you all look at him.

“Looks like you got some fire in you after all, huh? I’ve been waiting to meet this ‘King Steve’ everybody’s been telling me so much about.”

“Steve just leave it,” you said hoarsely. He looked at you and noticed the bruise around your neck.

“Did he-”

“Yeah.”

He looked back at the boy in his face, pushing him by the chest. “Get out,” he said sternly. It took a second, but Billy swung, missing Steve as he ducked. When he popped back up, he decked him in the face, sending him stumbling across the room.

“Yes! Kick his ass, Steve!” Dustin cheered. “Murder the son of a bitch! Now! Now! Kill the son of a bitch!”

Steve continued punching him, and a second later, Billy smashed a plate over his head. You all went silent for a second as he walked up to Steve, grabbing him and getting in his face.

“No one tells me what to do,” he mumbled before headbutting him, sending him to the ground.

It was then that Billy got on top of him, repeatedly punching him in the face. He turned Steve into an unconscious punching bag, laughing as he did so.

You ran over, attempting to pull Billy off of him. Lost in his own world, his fist made contact with your eye, sending you back as you lost your balance. Your head was spinning, your vision wonky.

The kids all dragged you backward and helped you to your feet. They were all screaming at Billy to stop, and Max approached confidently, stabbing a needle into his neck. He instantly stopped, stood up, and pulled the syringe out of his skin.

She backed up as he slowly approached her.

“The hell is this?” he asked. She didn’t answer, she just stared. “You little shit, what did you do?” His words were beginning to slur, and he was starting to stumble. He fell back and slammed his head against the floor.

Everyone stood in silence as he began chuckling madly. Max looked at the baseball bat covered in nails next to her, grabbing it and walking over to him. She held it over her shoulder and looked down at her drugged stepbrother.

“From here on out, you leave me and my friends alone. Do you understand?”

“Screw you,” he said sloppily.

She slammed the bat down an inch away from his crotch, and it stuck in the floor. He looked at it with wide eyes before she pulled the bat out of the wood.

“Say you understand! Say it! Say it!”

“I understand,” he mumbled.

“What?”

Projecting his voice, he repeated, “I understand,” before he passed out.

You ran over to Steve, trying to shake him awake.

“Baby? Come on, open your eyes. Steve? It’s Y/N. Can you hear me?” He didn’t open his eyes, but you checked his pulse and breathing, which were slightly labored but relatively normal.

“He’s out, guys,” you said as you turned around, seeing Max holding Billy’s car keys.

—

Sitting in the backseat of Billy’s car was the last thing you expected to do that night, especially holding an ice pack to Steve’s bloody head and allowing Max to drive.

She was doing okay, considering she had to put a brick on the gas pedal to reach it. You heard Steve moan as he woke up, looking over at Mike.

“Nancy?” he mumbled, which made both of you look at him weirdly.

That was when he touched his face and groaned, Dustin pulling his hand away.

“No, don’t touch it.” Steve looked at the small boy in confusion. “Hey, buddy.” He shushed him a couple of times. “It’s okay. You put up a good fight. He kicked your ass, but you put up a good fight, buddy, okay? You’re okay.”

Steve groaned before looked up at you. “Y/N,” he said with relief.

“Hey, baby. How’s your head?”

He whined in response, looking around the car. Lucas was reading directions from a map, and Steve turned his attention to the driver’s seat, where he was shocked to see Max driving.

“Oh, my God!”

“Steve, relax,” Dustin said. “She’s driven before.”

“Yeah, in a parking lot,” Mike said.

“That counts!”

“Oh, my God,” your boyfriend repeated. “Why aren’t you driving?” he asked you.

“I needed to watch you. Just calm down.”

“They were gonna leave you behind,” Dustin continued. “I promised that you’d be cool, okay?”

Steve, still freaking out, began screaming, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what’s going on? Oh my God. No! Whoa! Stop the car! Slow down!”

“I told you he’d freak out!” Mike yelled.

“Stop the car!”

“Everybody shut up! I’m trying to focus!” Max screamed from the front seat.

“Oh, wait, that’s Mount Sinai! Make a left!”

“What?”

“Make a left!”

She hit a mailbox and swerved left, which caused you all to scream. Steve gripped your leg, holding onto you to steady himself.

—

When you were back in Steve’s car, you wound up being the one to drive. Your fingers were interlocked with his and the radio was turned off because his head was pounding.

You were headed back to your place, and you called your mom from a payphone to check if he had a concussion when you got there. She was a nurse, so she agreed. She told you to make sure he didn’t fall asleep, so you kept talking to him to keep him awake.

When you got home, she figured out that he didn’t have a concussion, so she went back to bed as you cleaned him up.

“Are you okay?” you asked in a raspy voice, taking the brightly colored band-aids off of his face. Billy had most likely done some serious damage to your throat, so talking hurt at the moment.

He shrugged. “This isn’t my first time dealing with this shit.” You nodded slowly as you cleaned the dried blood off of his skin with a warm cloth. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“He choked you. Your voice. Plus, down there with those dogs.”

“I’m okay. Really.”

“Why’d he do that to you?”

“I tried to get him to leave, and when he threatened to hurt Lucas, I punched him in the face. I guess he didn’t like that. He choked me against the wall and lifted me up by my neck.”

He looked at your hand. “Well, would you look at that? My girl’s been in a fight.”

You chuckled. “Not so sure that’s something I want to brag about, especially since I lost.” He smirked. “He got me in the eye, too.”

“What?”

You pushed your hair back and pointed to the bruise on your eye. “When he was hitting you, I tried to get him off, and when he pulled his hand back to swing, he got me right in my face.” You soaked the cloth in rubbing alcohol.

“I’m gonna kill him.”

“I think you tried tonight, and in case you’re unaware, you also lost.” He winced as you pressed the cloth to his face. “Sorry.”

“I couldn’t protect them,” he mumbled.

“What?”

“If Max hadn’t sedated him... he would’ve killed Lucas once he knocked me out.”

You sat next to him and grabbed his hand. “This wasn’t your fault. Seriously. None of us knew he was gonna show up.” He didn’t answer. “When we were underground and that thing grabbed Mike by the ankle, what did you do?”

“I... killed it.”

“You killed it. You hit it with that bat until it let him go. That was you,” you said as you poked him on the shoulder. “No one else.”

“But when we were in the Byers’ house-”

“No. No ‘but’s. Not right now. You did your best, and no one except us got hurt. Right?” He nodded. “Okay. So don’t you dare blame yourself, Steve.”

He looked at you, examining your black eye and bruised neck. “He got you good, too, huh?”

You nodded. “I might not be able to talk tomorrow.”

He smirked. “I think I just wanna go to bed.”

“We should eat first. My stomach’s growling.”

You stood up and kissed the top of his head before walking to the kitchen to get him food.

Watching Steve stick up for the kids made you gain respect for him. He put his life on the line to protect you and four kids, three of them he didn’t know well. Not only did you respect him more, but you were infinitely more attracted to him, even with a bloodied face and busted lip.

You knew you picked the right person as soon as he lied to Billy about where Max was.

#fanfic #fanfiction #fluff #imagine #steve harrington #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington fanfiction #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x reader fanfiction #steve harrington x reader imagine #steve harrington x reader fluff #stranger things #stranger things fanfic #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things imagine #stranger things fluff

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chuuyrr · 5 years ago

Text

❀ headcannons for gon, killua, hisoka, illumi and chrollo with a clumsy s/o that gets flustered easily ❀

Note: thank you for requesting ! sorry it took so long HUHUHU enjoy xx

(writing this kind of tired me out not gonna lie! five characters ! :0 and it was a challenge for me. i’ll add a gif sooner later, my internet is wonky lol, i’m okay no worries and i actually enjoyed writing this ! ^__^)

Gon Freecss

gon is the type of person who likes to hold hands with his sweet s/o.

the two of you would often hold hands, may it be in public or in private.

gon likes to hug you too and he'd often catch you off guard so it's a surprise. expect the unexpected [name]!

this boy is pretty affectionate when it comes to the one he loves, which is you.

so you were pretty much, a blushing mess all the time.

not that you were uncomfortable with the cute little things he does, you just simply get flustered easily.

your heart just can't seem to function properly from his touch. it always makes your heart race or skip a beat.

you just love it, the feeling, the sparks that it gives you!

gon is quite naive when it comes to your reaction so he'd mistake you for being sick because you'd be red.

"[name]-chan! your face is red and you're warm too!" gon claims, cupping your round face in his open palms. "are you ill?"

you feel your heart melt as your face rests in his warm hands, stammering, "U-UM, NO! I'M FINE!"

gon would often help you with your nen because it was a one of a kind.

you were a specialist, formerly a [nen] user.

it was really impressive of you to succeed it in such a young age, your power nurtured easily in such a short span of time.

it mostly gets out of your control because you can be clumsy at times.

one time, you had activated your nen without even notice!

you were rambling about gon about this [favorite dessert] store you saw.

when you flicked your wrist to wave your hand as you talked, your nen suddenly popped up out of nowhere and your natural reaction was to panic.

"A-AH!" you yelped, "I'm so sorry! I was rambling and I-I just—

gon held both of your hands, causing your heart to skip another beat as he leaned to your face.

this made your nen subside and your face blush red.

"calm down [name]-chan." he beamed a reassuring smile at you. "it's okay. i'm here! now continue what you were saying."

even if you find yourself annoying for rambling about the most random things, gon loved it whenever you ramble.

his eyes would seem to sparkle at the words the fell from your mouth as you talk.

"o-okay!" a smile, too, had appeared on your face.

as long as you are with gon, everything would be alright.

even if you can get clumsy and all that, you try your best to help gon in return. gon always has your back in everything.

"gon! let me help you!" you run up to him, nearly tripping yourself in the process.

"oh, thank you [name]-chan! you're the best!" gon winks at you.

ba dump.. there goes your heart once again.

Killua Zoldyck

killua would often tease you for getting flustered very easily.

you two can just be talking about chocolates, the next thing you know you have a dust of pink on your cheeks.

if he’s a cloud, you’re a strawberry.

he finds this behavior of yours really adorable.

“you’re being a strawberry again [name].” he laughs, causing your face to heat up.

“shush!” you stammered, puffing your cheeks.

killua likes to kiss your cheek and nose because of this, it makes your heart practically burst every damn time.

‘mwa’

you really liked his way of affection towards you, you find comfort and a sense of warmth.

asides from being a strawberry, killua also calls you, ‘clumsy strawberry’.

being the clumsy person you are, you’d often lose your balance or footing especially when he starts being affectionate and when teases you.

“come on! hurry up [name] or else you’ll fall behind.” said killua, calling you from a distance. you and killua were taking a hike with his friends, kurapika, leorio and gon.

“alright, alright i’m getting ther— AH!” you shrieked, tripping over a rock in the middle of the path.

“you are such a clumsy strawberry, [name]. but you’re cute.” killua sighs, chuckling as he caught you right on time before you fell frontwards. you were a blushing madman after that.

killua learned to never tease you to the point you’d let your nen loose from being flustered.

you had a pretty strong nen, you were a specialist after all. a former [nen type] user.

one time killua decided to mess with you, calling you cute names and poking your shoulder. it got to the point wherein he attempted to tickle you and when you choked out a laugh from his attempt, you nearly destroyed the room with your nen that had gotten unleashed.

“OOPS.” you gulped, staring at the [color] aura faintly shrouding your palms. you looked around to see the once tidy room, a complete mess with the furnitures shoved back and downwards.

“i’m so sorry, i am never doing that again!” killua apologized after that, eyes wide. “are you okay [name]?!”

“y-yeah.” you managed out, stifling a laugh as you scratched the back of your head.

and that’s why killua started helping you control your nen after seeing how powerful it was.

you were clumsy so there are times wherein you inevitably unleash it involuntarily.

killua made sure to help you every step of the way for you to harness that power with your full-control.

killua can be a tsundere and chocolate loving dork but he’s responsible.

“you’re getting the hang of it, that’s amazing [name]!” he cheered, watching you unleash your power under your control. “guess you’re no longer a clumsy strawberry huh?”

you blushed, “hey!”

“don’t worry, you’re still my strawberry.” killua winked, beaming you a smile and a finger gun.

ba dump.. there goes your heart once again.

Hisoka Morow

hisoka adores his little fruit very much.

you were a one of a kind to be exact, you possessed great power that is even greater than his.

in fact, your strong nen could even become set free from your control because it’s just that strong.

luckily, you are able to control it thanks to his help!

hisoka is a great help whenever you need aid in concentrating and controlling because he makes you calm.

“just focus on me and relax, [name].” hisoka tells you calmly, gently holding your hands, feeling your aura grow and concentrate on your palms as you closed your eyes upon inserting focus.

but your nen isn’t the only thing that he adores.

hisoka adores your bubbly and chatty personality.

he just loves to hear you rambling about your day and the things you saw and did, he loves to listen to your voice, it’s like music to his ears.

hisoka finds it adorable whenever you ramble.

he’d smile and laugh at the hand actions you do as you tell your story.

whenever you talk, he ends up holding your hand. hisoka would run his thumb over your knuckles soothingly as you talk.

that’s when become a tomato.

hisoka likes to do that just to make you blush, he is aware of how easily flustered you can be.

“so adorable..” you hear him murmur as a laugh escape his throat.

with puffed cheeks, you turn away and pout, “shut up, i’m not blushing. let me finish my story!”

hisoka smiles, letting you continue but not until he plants a gentle kiss on your knuckles.

“HISOKA!” you squeal, now you were a tomato completely from your intense blushing.

“fufufufu..”

since you can be clumsy, you’d often crash into things.

in fact, you even end up crashing into hisoka because of your clumsiness at times.

“[name]-chan~~ oh, my— are you alright?” he ends up chuckling at the fact you end up bumping into him as you walk by him holding a book.

“i’m fine.” you held the nape of your neck, “sorry!”

“what a clumsy little fruit.” hisoka comments as he snakes an arm around you, pulling you into a quick kiss that is enough to make you flustered all over again.

ba dump.. there goes your heart once again.

Illumi Zoldyck

illumi being illumi, he can be quite serious. as you can tell by the way he acts most of the time, he is a pretty responsible individual!

he is the eldest brother in the family after all and a well-trained assassin.

illumi is highly aware of how clumsy you can be so he makes sure you’re alright every time!

he makes sure you don’t get injured or hurt by tripping on something or running into a wall by accident.

if you do get hurt, he makes sure you get bandaged right away or treated.

“please be careful next time, [name]. i don’t like it when you get hurt.” illumi tells you as he applies an ice pack to your bruised elbow.

“sorry.” you frown.

“it’s okay, i’m not mad. i just care for you.” he says with a blank, closed eyed smile.

since you have a powerful nen that often breaks loose from your control, illumi would watch over you, making sure you don’t injured by your own power or injure any people.

he wouldn’t resort in using his needles to manipulate you for you to be able to control it.

that’s because he cares for you, he loves you.

illumi doesn’t think its right for him to do such a thing to a sweet and kind person like you.

you were pretty much the only one who manages to hold his humanity together.

you were the only person that he’d be close and affectionate with.

illumi wouldn’t dare to hold someone else’s hand, embrace someone or even kiss them. he’d kill them, it has to be you.

he didn’t actually mind of how flustered you’d get that easily.

he discreetly thinks its cute but no one knows that.

“illumi!” you’d stammer as illumi holds you close to his side as you both casually watch tv together on the couch.

illlumi would ignore you, proceeding to plant a kiss on your head. “shh.” he’d hush you.

ba dump.. there goes your heart once again.

clumsy or not, easily flustered or not. illumi loves you for who you are.

no matter how dangerous or powerful your nen can be, even if that power can kill him. he doesn’t care.

Chrollo Lucilfer

chrollo’s darling is very fond of his affection.

you honestly but discreetly love it whenever he’s close to you as you two read books.

you feel safe with his presence and the way his touch gives you comfort and a sense of security, it just never fails to make you blush deeply.

you easily get flustered!

chrollo would tease you about it as you kisses your forehead lovingly.

“you’re a blushing mess again, dear.” he states, chuckling at the look on your face.

“that’s because you’re close.” you say in reply, arms folded as you smile and giggle.

chrollo is highly aware of how clumsy you can be to the point that your strong and dangerous nen could somehow harm others, or worse, hurt yourself.

you makes sure you’re supervised pretty much all the time to prevent any mishaps.

he has his phantom troupe members to aid you and accompany you for times wherein he has to leave you for a short while.

chrollo also makes sure you are able to put your nen into practice so you’d prevent it from setting loose.

he helps you in any way he can and he’s extremely patient when it comes to you.

“you’re doing fine, dear, keep it up. relax and let it flow through you.” he says as you let your aura surrounded you.

“i got it!”

chrollo is pretty responsible just like illumi.

despite his capabilities, he never dared to steal your nen from you. even if it could be a safe and right decision for a clumsy person like you who bears such power.

chrollo has faith in you and more importantly, he loves you too much to be able to do that. it isn’t right.

chrollo just loves everything about you, from your looks to your charms.

but most of all...

it was your personality!

chrollo loved to hear you talk about the things you were so passionate about. he just adores how happy you are and how your [eye color] eyes sparkle in delight!

you may think it’s annoying but it’s not, it was never a nuisance to him.

“am i speaking way too much?” you asked out of the blue, pausing from continuing your story.

“no, please, continue. i’m listening, dear.” chrollo says, kissing your knuckles as he stares into your eyes. “you are not annoying, never.”

ba dump.. there goes your heart once again.

“chrollo!” you turn beet red.

“what?” he tilts his head, laughing. “but it’s true [name].”

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starryknight09 · 4 years ago

Text

Spiderman has allergies?

Febuwhump Day 24: allergies

Read on AO3.

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“Peter’s here!” Pepper called up to him from downstairs.

Tony finished putting his laundry away. He’d become so domesticated ever since Morgan was born and he complained about it even though he secretly loved it. His family was the most important thing to him now. He smiled at that thought. If the Tony from twenty years ago could see him now.

“Do you want some pasta honey?” Tony heard Pepper ask as he made his way down the stairs. “I just finished and there’s plenty left over.”

“Um maybe just a little? Ned and I had lunch before I left.” Peter answered and there was something about his voice that made Tony frown.

“Hey kid.” He greeted as soon as he came into the kitchen and found a seat next to Peter at the counter.

“Hey Tony.” Peter responded and again there was something off about the way he sounded.

Pepper finished dishing up the pasta for Peter and slid a full plate across the counter to him.

“Thanks.” Peter said, always with the perfect manners. Thank god Morgan was picking up on some of that. The instant the thought passed through his mind, he felt bad. Peter’s aunt had died in a car accident in the intervening five years between the snap and its reversal, and of course Tony had taken him in, but improving Morgan’s manners definitely wasn’t worth the loss of his kid’s mother figure.

“Are you hungry?” Pepper asked him as he watched Peter dig into his pasta. When he looked over at her, she arched an eyebrow at him, so he knew the question had only been a courtesy.

“I’m starving.” He nodded. It wasn’t a lie. He’d only had coffee for breakfast.

“Where’s Morgan?” Peter asked and Tony finally put his finger on what was wrong with his kid’s voice. It sounded nasally.

“She spent the night at friend’s house. Tony’s going to pick her up this afternoon.” Pepper said.

“Wow that’s…” Peter let whatever he was going to say trail off.

“That’s what?” Tony asked.

“Brave? I mean I always thought you were kind of a helicopter dad…”

Tony raised his eyebrows at him.

“…so that must be hard for you?” Peter finished.

“No. It’s fine.” He denied and Pepper snorted as she handed his plate of pasta to him. Peter didn’t need to know the details of the hours long discussion they’d had before agreeing to let Morgan stay overnight at her friend’s house, Pepper being for it and Tony being adamantly against it.

Peter smirked and went back to eating. Tony took a few bites of his food but side eyed the kid, trying to figure out whey something wasn’t right about the way he sounded. Had he broken his nose and it healed wrong? It looked fine.

Peter finished his plate of pasta in record time. “Thanks Pepper.” He said as he got up to rinse his plate and put in the dishwasher.

Tony took another bite of his own food as his eyes narrowed. Peter’s sentence had come out sounding more like ‘Danks Pebber.’

“You’re welcome.” Pepper said automatically but then shot a look over at Tony. She’d obviously caught on to Peter’s weird voice too. He gave her a subtle nod.

“So Pete,” he said as he finished his own meal, “what’s new with you?”

“Nothing much.” Peter shrugged. “Ned got a new pet.”

“Uh huh.” Tony frowned at him. “Why do you sound like your nose is broken?”

Peter rolled his eyes and started walking away toward the couch. “It’s not. I’m fine.” Even though it came out sounding like ‘It’s nob. I’m fibe.’

Tony put his plate in the dishwasher and followed Peter to the couch. “Ok then, if your nose isn’t broken, why do you sound all weird?”

“Allergies.” Peter answered as he flicked through the different channels on the TV.

“You?” Tony asked sarcastically. “Have allergies?”

“Apparently.” Peter shrugged, unaffected.

“Even with your spider powers?”

“Apparently.” Peter repeated.

“Seems a little odd.” Tony opined. “Are you sure you’re not sick?”

Peter shook his head and denied, “I’m not sick.”

“How do you know?”

“I think I would know.” Peter said, arching an eyebrow at him. “Like I’d feel bad and I don’t, so it must be allergies.”

“Uh huh.” Tony nodded. “Sure. You’re not sick. Nothing’s wrong. You just have allergies you’ve never had before.”

“I haven’t been sick since the spider bite either so why would that make any more sense?”

The kid had a point there. After coming back from the snap he’d lived with them for almost a year and he’d never gotten sick, although that could’ve been luck. Now that he’d gone off to college and lived with Ned, Tony worried.

“Ok so you sound like your nose is broken because of allergies…” He still couldn’t bring himself to truly believe it.

“That’s what I said.” Peter huffed.

“You sure you don’t want to get some rest? Or I could get you a juice box?” He offered.

“I’m not sick!” Peter protested.

“All right whatever you say.” Tony let it go but watched Peter like a hawk for the rest of the weekend, but Peter never gave him any indication that something was wrong.

**********

“Tony!” Peter yelled. Tony jerked his head up and smacked it on the bottom of Morgan’s bunk bed that he was in the middle of putting together. He rubbed his scalp and brought his hand away, looking at it. No blood. Well at least he hadn’t cracked his head open.

“Tony?” Peter called out again.

“Up here!” He answered.

“What are you doing?” Peter asked a moment later in the doorway.

“Trying to put this bed together.” Tony complained.

“Looks easy.” Peter laughed.

“It’s not.” Tony said, dragging himself out from under the bottom bunk.

“Need help?” Peter offered.

Tony narrowed his eyes at him. The kid’s question had come out like ‘Neeb helb?’

“Are you still sick?” He asked.

“What?” Peter frowned. “No. I was never sick in the first place. I told you it was allergies last weekend.”

“And what? It’s still allergies?” Tony asked skeptically as he stood and brushed the dust off his clothes.

“Yeah.” Peter answered as if it was obvious.

“How the hell does Spiderman have allergies?”

“No clue.” Peter shrugged. “I used to have asthma and be deathly allergic to peanuts before the spider bite, but ever since I got my powers, I’ve never needed my inhaler and I eat peanut butter all the time without any problem. It’s so good!”

“What?” All of this was news to him.

“Yeah. Didn’t you know that?”

“No! How would I have known that?”

Peter shrugged. “I don’t know. You always say you know everything, so I just assumed.”

“Don’t be a smart ass.” Tony complained as he reached out to press a palm against Peter’s forehead, still not believing all this allergy talk.

Peter immediately jerked away. “I’m not sick!” He insisted, sounding annoyed. Well, he wasn’t warm at least, so whatever it was, it wasn’t serious enough to give him a fever.

“Hmm. So if it’s allergies, why haven’t you taken anything for it?”

“I did! I tried Zyrtec but that was useless with my metabolism and the same thing with Flonase.”

Ah. True. Tony hadn’t considered that.

“And you’re sure they’re not working because you’re actually sick?”

Peter rolled his eyes. “I’m sure dad.” Peter said the last part sarcastically but Tony’s heart still warmed. Peter only ever called him that in jest or when he was being sarcastic, but Tony appreciated it every time all the same.

“Ok son.” Tony ruffled Peter’s hair. “But if this doesn’t get any better, I’m calling Bruce.”

“God you’re so extra.” Peter complained but Tony could see he was smiling.

Tony smiled. “Maybe. Now, do you want to go to the garage and work on those suit upgrades I was talking about?”

“Um duh. Do you even have to ask?”

Tony shook his head, equally annoyed and amused in the way only Peter could make him, but they headed down to the workshop, and the rest of the weekend Tony didn’t notice any red flags besides the congestion causing Peter’s voice to go all wonky, so he didn’t say anything.

**********

“Hey Toby?” Peter’s voice rang throughout the cabin from downstairs two weeks later.

Tony met Pepper’s eyes across the bedroom and they both raised their eyebrows at each other at the obviously persistent voice issue.

“I’m upstairs!” He called out.

“This has gone on long enough.” Pepper whispered to him, aware of Peter’s super hearing. “Figure it out.”

“Already on it boss.” He said and walked out of the room, meeting Peter in the hallway at the top of the stairs.

“What’s up kid?” He asked as he studied him for any sign of illness. Peter’s eyes were bloodshot and his nose was red with a darkened line across the bridge of it, something he’d never seen on him before, but otherwise he looked ok.

“Nothing.” Peter shrugged as if everything was all hunky dory even as he reached up to swipe at his nose.

“Nothing.” Tony repeated skeptically.

“Yeah. Why?” Peter’s brow furrowed.

“Because you look like an extra for a zombie movie kid!”

“I do?” He sniffled.

“Yep. I’m calling Bruce.” He said, already pulling out his phone to text his friend.

“No!” Peter protested, snatching the phone out of his hands.

“Hey.” Tony warned. “Give that back. You remember our deal? I told you two weeks ago that if this didn’t get better we were getting Bruce involved.”

“I never agreed to that.”

“Well too bad because this looks like it’s getting worse and you haven’t said a thing about it.”

“Because I’m fine! It’s just allergies.”

“Give me my phone.” Tony ordered as he held his hand out expectantly.

Peter eyed it for a moment and Tony lifted his eyebrows, daring Peter to test him, before Peter sighed and slapped the phone back in his hand.

“Fine, but if you do call him and make him come all the way up here, you’ll be wasting his time because he’s just going to tell you the exact same thing I’ve been saying.”

“Yeah, we’ll see.” Tony said doubtfully, already typing out a message to his friend. Bruce was nothing if not prompt. He responded less than a minute later.

“He’s on his way over.” Tony held up the phone screen for Peter to see, but his kid just rolled his eyes and pushed past him.

“I’ll be in my room if you need me.”

“Resting? That’s a good idea. You should rest.”

“No. Doing homework. Not resting. Because I’m not sick! It’s allergies!”

Tony hummed in disbelief but let Peter go, wincing as he slammed his door shut behind him.

Pepper peaked her head out of their bedroom. “What did you do?”

“Nothing.” He held his hands up innocently. “Bruce is on his way over.”

Pepper smiled. “Ah. Good.”

He nodded. Now he just had to wait for his friend to tell him he was right, and then they could finally fix his stubborn kid.

**********

He wasn’t right.

“He’s not sick.” Bruce said.

“What?” He asked in shock.

“I told you.” Peter said and way too happy about it.

“Then what is it?” Tony looked down at where his kid sat smugly on the couch.

“It looks like allergies.” Bruce shrugged.

Tony blinked as Peter barked out a laugh. “Ha! That’s what I kept saying and he wouldn’t believe me.”

“Didn’t you used to be allergic to everything under the sun? Before the bite?” Tony asked, none of this making any sense.

“I mean that’s kind of an exaggeration, but yeah, I guess.” Peter shrugged.

Tony shook his head and turned to Bruce. “So if all his previous allergies went away after the bite, then how on earth did he suddenly develop allergies again? And to what? Does this mean his other allergies are back too? Do I need to hide the peanut butter?”

Peter rolled his eyes. “I had peanut butter toast for breakfast this morning so I’m pretty sure that’s still safe.”

“It’s probably environmental.” Bruce explained. “Those allergies are mediated through different pathways.”

“Ok, but that still begs the question, why now? And besides, it’s the middle of winter, what kind of environmental allergies could he be getting into?”

“You’d be surprised.” Bruce said. “There’s still dust mites, mold, pet dander—”

“Wait.” Tony held up a finger and then looked down at his kid accusingly. “Didn’t you say Ned got a new cat a month ago?”

“Yeah…”

“It’s the cat. It’s got to be.” Tony said, finally happy to have an answer. That hadn’t been so hard to solve. Actually it’d been surprisingly easy. He frowned before asking Peter, “How did you not figure this out?”

“I knew ok! But what was I supposed to do? Tell Ned that Fluffy had to go?” Peter threw his hands up in the air.

“Fluffy?” Tony made a face.

“He’s a rescue. I can’t ask Ned to kick him out when he just found his new home. How do you think that would make him feel?” Peter said, sounding way too emotionally invested for this to just be about the cat. “He doesn’t have anywhere else to go.”

Tony cleared his throat. He’d had almost six years with Morgan to get used to showing emotions, and he’d gotten much better, but he still didn’t love doing it in front of an audience.

He knelt down so he was face to face with Peter, clasping his knees. “I get it kid. But you’re clearly suffering. And Fluffy’s a cat, not a human.”

Peter pursed his lips and Tony could tell that his current argument would get him nowhere.

“Ok, how about this, what if we find Fluffy a new home that’s just as nice. Or better?”

“Um, I might have an idea.” Bruce interrupted and Tony and Peter both turned to look at him. “I could probably synthesize something that would work. It just might take a couple days.”

“Ok.” Peter agreed readily.

Tony sighed. He never liked the idea of pumping new drugs into his kid but he trusted Bruce. “Fine. But if it doesn’t work, we’re going to have another discussion.”

“Fine.” Peter said begrudgingly.

Tony stood and clapped Bruce on the back. “Thanks big green. You’re a life saver.”

“Don’t thank me yet. I have to make it first. And we have to see if it works.” Bruce hedged.

“I’m sure it will.” Tony didn’t have any doubt. If Bruce thought he could make something that would work, then he’d end up making something that would work.

“Hey uh Dr. Banner, how strong can you make it?”

Bruce’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Like can you make something that will still work even if Fluffy sleeps on my face?”

Bruce and Tony shared a look.

“He’s your kid.” Bruce raised an eyebrow at him even as he tried not to laugh.

Tony just shook his head and walked away, muttering, “I can’t believe this.”

“What? Where are you going? Tony!” Peter called out after him.

“I’m going to go call Thor and see if he can put in a word with the big guys upstairs about getting my kid some common sense.” He said, only half kidding.

“Hey!” Peter protested.

He smirked when he heard Bruce say, “Well, he’s not wrong.”

#febuwhump2021 #febuwhump #irondad

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misskikuwrites · 4 years ago

Text

Downpour

Bede/Gloria (dressedinpinkshipping)

Hurt/comfort, fluff, light angst

Bede stepped out of the station and surveyed the open, unfamiliar landscape before him. A beach of soft, white sand met crystal clear water of shimmering azure, an endless sea sweeping to the depths of the horizon. Pokemon he had never encountered before lounged on their pink bellies, sleepy eyes drooping shut. He retrieved his Pokedex. Barely a minute off the train, and the Isle of Armour had already proved its worth, and Bede realised that perhaps Ms Opal had been onto something when she suggested that he train here. To reach new heights of pink, or something along those lines.

As pink as Galarian Slowpoke were, Psychic Pokemon weren't cut out for the Fairy Gym, and so Bede decided to let sleeping Slowpokes lie. He sent out his Hatterene, and trained his sights down the beach.

"Well then, my dear Hatterene, shall we find out what all the fuss is about?" he said to her, a resolute smile dawning across his face.

Hatterene chimed in agreement, her dark eyes narrowing as she mimicked her Trainer's grin.

"We'll have to make the most of this opportunity. Ms Opal must have sent us here for a reason, and I won't rest until I find out what exactly the Isle of Armour has to offer."

Bede turned from the blinding white sand and marched along the dirt path, Hatterene drifting by his side.

"The strongest Trainers from around Galar have gathered here to train," he continued, "which means there must be something here that cannot be attained anywhere else."

More Pokemon he didn't recognise darted into the grass. Long floppy ears peeked above the bushes, the chocolate coloured pelt tipped with fluffy clumps of lighter fleece. A brief scan of the Pokemon with his Pokedex revealed it to be a Normal Type, called a Buneary. It tilted its head at him, pink nose twitching as it sniffed the air, and both ears shot upright.

"Hmm, you are rather cute, aren't you? I'm sure Gloria would most certainly fawn over a Pokemon like you."

Bede hid his growing smile behind his hand, a faint laugh escaping him at the image conjured by his mind; Gloria gasping in delight and unable to contain her excitement, her eyes sparkling and twinkling in glee as she practically vibrated with untapped energy, ready to pounce on Buneary at any moment.

A trill of amusement snapped Bede out of his delusion, and he stole the soft smile off his face. Roughly clearing his throat, he took off down the path again.

"Enough distractions," he said, voice coming out tighter and strained. "We're here to train."

He continued down the path, trying to push away the possibility that Gloria was here. Somewhere on the vast Isle of Armour, she could very much be training here as well, and that realisation sent his gaze wandering as if to seek her out, as if an encounter with her could happen at any moment. As he headed past the Dojo, his mind was constantly on alert, distracted and muddled by anyone and anything with a passing resemblance to her.

A flash of dark brown hair in the corner of his eyes made his pulse skip until he looked and saw the face of a stranger instead. Upon seeing that it was someone else, he sighed heavily, frustrated that his attention was so easily stolen. The flutter in his chest, anxious with anticipation, reminded him of how on edge he had been for weeks after finally accepting his feelings towards Gloria. His mind constantly on alert, bracing itself for her to show up at any moment. It was pathetic that after months of dealing with the way he felt towards her, coming to terms with the fact that he was in love with her and figuring out ways to keep himself in check, nothing had changed at all.

Bede couldn't stop himself from jolting as the Dojo doors swung open, heart catching at the slightest chance that it was her, and plummeting when it wasn't. He marched on, away from the building and the Trainers in bright yellow uniforms outside, and decided that he needed - and deserved - to train in peace and quiet.

"Hey, Bede!"

One step short of the wetlands, Bede turned and gave Hop a disinterested stare.

"Fancy seeing you here!" Hop grinned at him, Dubwool at his side. "I had a feeling I'd run into you sooner or later."

"And here I was hoping otherwise," Bede sighed.

It took but a glance for him to determine that Hop was by himself, and that continuing their conversation would be a waste of precious time.

"Look, I didn't come here to mess around. If you'll excuse me, I have training to attend to."

"What, you're not here to see Gloria?"

Having turned on his heels to stalk away, Bede froze with a foot in the air. At the mention of her name, his heart had flopped and heat began to rise across his face. He knew instantly that Hop was taunting him. Dangling information about Gloria like bait on a string, waiting for a bite. Bede refused to react, to give Hop the satisfaction of a response. He marched purposely away.

"Betcha haven't seen what she looks like in the Dojo's uniform," Hop continued, "or that new Pokemon of hers. Glo said she's only introduced him to her closest friends, so I guess if you haven't seen it…"

"I've met Kubfu."

Folding his arms, Bede met Hop's grin with a flat look of his own. Forget propriety, he wasn't about to walk away after that insinuation - at least not before tearing down the smug look on Hop's face. Injured pride swelled in his chest, burning with irritation, and he trooped right back to Hop.

Amusement widened Hop's grin. "Really? Bet you didn't get to touch him though."

"And why would I?"

"Well, Kubfu's super shy. He'd only let you touch him if he trusted you, so if you didn't even manage that much…"

"I had no need to touch Kubfu in order to know whether he trusted me," Bede huffed. "The fact that he no longer cowered behind Gloria said enough."

Besides, his conversation with Gloria had switched quickly from Kubfu to the gift she wanted to give him, the bracelet of woven twigs that hung around his wrist, and he hadn't been able to think about anything else. Even now, he still wore the Galarian cuff she had made for him, amateurish as it was.

"Ah, you've been here before, haven't you?" Hop said. "Must've run into Gloria then; guess that's why you didn't react to my comment about the uniform. You've already seen her in it."

Bede frowned. "No, I haven't. This is the first time I've stepped foot on the Isle of Armour."

He ignored Hop's pointed remark about the Dojo's uniform once again, despite his mind already wandering.

"Then how come you've got a Galarian cuff around your wrist?" Hop pointed at it, an eyebrow raised. "The twigs they're made from are native to the Isle of Armour, you can't get them anywhere else. They're usually made into cuffs to evolve Galarian Slowpoke but… dude, why's it so wonky?"

Hop leant forward to get a better look at the misshapen bracelet, his mouth curling into a crude grimace.

"I'll have you know, this was a handmade gift from Gloria." Bede took a sharp step back, holding the bracelet protectively where it hung beneath his watch. "I would appreciate it if you kept your ill-mannered comments to yourself."

"Wait, Gloria made that for you?" Hop balked. He straightened in surprise, eyes wide. "Gloria did? As in, Champion Gloria? My best friend, the girl you're head-over-heels for, that Gloria?"

Bede's cheeks burned as he glared at Hop. "What other Gloria is there?" he hissed, unamused by having his feelings outed like that.

"Dude, no wonder it looks like that-" Hop cut himself off as Bede's glare darkened, "-uh, I mean, no wonder it looks so… unique. She's never been good at any form of crafts or, heck, anything to do with her hands! It took her years to learn how to tie her shoelaces!"

Heavy thumping in Bede's chest scattered his thoughts, and he looked down at the bracelet around his wrist once again. The bracelet that Gloria, supposedly uncoordinated with her hands, had made for him herself.

"Is there a point to your questions, or am I free to resume my training?" Bede huffed. He absently adjusted the bracelet, his loose golden watch, where they hung. "I have yet to find a place secluded enough so Hatterene and I can work in private."

"What, do I need a reason to mess with a mate?" Hop beamed a cheeky grin. "If you're looking for a place that's quiet and out of the way, then the Forest of Focus might work for you. It's nearby, too - if you head through the Soothing Wetlands, it's on your left."

Bede appraised Hop for a moment, taking in his advice, the comment that they were friends. "I suppose it won't do me any harm to take a look. Thank you."

"No prob!" He sauntered back a step. "But man, she seriously made that for you?"

Hop's insistence over the bracelet made Bede frown. "What about it?"

"Nah, it's nothing!"

The twinkle in Hop's eyes said there was more to it than that, but time was slipping away, and Bede didn't like the look of the grey clouds forming on the horizon. He didn't have the energy, time, nor patience to press Hop any further.

"If that's all, then I'll be on my way."

"Later!" Hop gave him a wave, a flash of a smile, and turned on his heels.

Bede didn't bother to comment that he didn't plan on running into Hop later - or anyone else, for that matter. He was here to train, not socialise, and headed for the Wetlands, for the Forest of Focus, for relative silence.

As it turned out, Hop was right. The Forest of Focus was devoid of people, the path overgrown, and the air was filled with the sounds of undisturbed Pokemon. Rustling of bushes, of branches and shrubs, the chattering of Pokemon in the trees and the trickling of a nearby stream was a melody strung by nature itself. Peaceful and serene, there were no strangers in sight. A place where he could truly focus.

"Alright, Hatterene. Let's get to work-"

A dull thump made him pause, and he glanced down towards the noise by his feet. His heart dropped, air leaving his lungs in a sharp, broken gasp, and he snatched his golden watch from the dirt where it had fallen. His fingers trembled as he fastened it around his wrist. Pressed it right to his skin, held it there as the panicked beating of his heart drowned out everything else. The clasp, loose and worn, clicked into place.

Bede took a breath. Then another, and another, deeper and slower than the ones before. He had to be more careful, couldn't let that happen again. Needle-sharp pain sank into his chest with a pang of disgust, loathing that even now, after all this time, he couldn't bring himself to get rid of that watch. After everything that had happened, he couldn't.

He couldn't.

A heavy weight fell over him. The cold metal against his wrist sat as a reminder of his failings, his weakness, his past. It made him work harder. Train harder, to push himself and Hatterene further in the isolated forest. For hours, they trained in the humid air, until sweat and heat soaked into their bones. They trained until the wind picked up, until the forest came alive with creaking and cracking branches and Pokemon began to scatter from the trees. The sky above turned dark and grey, a hint of the storm to come spitting through the canopy as droplets of rain. Bede wiped the back of his hand across his forehead, slick with sweat, and decided enough was enough. The ache in his lungs had become a burn that rose up his throat. Hatterene sagged, drifting slowly over to him, eager for respite.

"That should be enough for today," he said to her with a nod, a faint, exhausted smile that she shared. "You did well, and deserve a break." He returned her to her Great Ball, noting the change in weather. "And I should be getting back before this storm hits."

With a sigh, he rolled his shoulders, and turned to head back the way he'd come. He touched the Galarian cuff in his wrist, his fingers absently tracing the uneven pattern, before he slid his hand up to his watch.

Everything stopped.

Nothing. He felt nothing. No weight, no cold metal, no watch. It was gone. Bede stared down at the empty space on his wrist, his eyes blowing wide. Unable to breathe, to think. Fingers winding around his wrist, grasping the air, his sleeve, his skin.

It was gone.

Heart in his throat, Bede whirled on his feet and swept his gaze over the ground. The dirt, the thick grass, the leaf litter and detritus, his footprints in the soft mud.

No.

It had to be here, he knew it had to be here. He dropped to his knees, brushing leaves and twigs away with hurried swipes of his hands. Scrambling forward across the dirt on his hands and knees, tossing everything out of his path.

It has to be here!

Wind broke through the trees, whistling and rustling. Deafened by the pounding of his heart between his ears, by the panic seizing around his throat like a vice, and he couldn't feel the rain as it fell over him. He felt nothing; not the cold wind, the biting rain, the rocks beneath his hands and knees, the thorns on branches he swept aside. He scrambled to his feet, wiping the rain off his face, unknowingly leaving a streak of mud in its place.

He staggered back the way he came. Kicked and shoved aside leaves and branches, twigs and logs. His hand fumbled for his wrist. Empty. Gone. It was gone. How could it be gone? How did he not notice?

He couldn't breathe. Couldn't see through the rain, his vision blurring, eyes prickling with heat and panic, and he turned around again. Faster this time. Breaking into a sprint, rushing back to where they'd first began to train hours earlier. The dirt, disturbed by their efforts, was now slick with water. The path turned to mud. He hit the ground on his knees, digging through the muck desperately, rocks and branches scraping his fingers raw, burning his knuckles.

No.

He continued. Through the mud, the downpour, the pain.

No, no, no.

Again and again, searching up and down the path, into the overgrown grass and bushes, tossing stones and logs out his way.

No, no, no, no, no.

Back and forth. On his knees, on his feet. Wiping away raindrops, the water, the tears on his face, down his cheeks, smearing mud in its place. Gasping with heavy sobs. Breaths of white hot panic, blazing in his throat.

It can't be-

Thunder crashed in the distance. A flash of light, a flash of realisation.

No.

It went dark. Everything went dark. The forest, the sky, his vision. He fell to his knees and felt nothing.

Nothing at all.

Gloria rushed into the Dojo, the wind slamming the door shut behind her.

"Whoa!" She breathed a nervous laugh as thunder crashed in the distance. "That's one heck of a storm!"

She stepped into the Dojo as the rain began to fall in earnest, the wind roaring outside. The warmth and shelter of the sturdy building was a welcome relief, and she was ever grateful that she'd made a run for it at the first sign of rain.

"That's not even the worst of it," Hop said. "It's forecast to get worse from here!"

"Oh, gosh. I'm glad I got back in time, then!" Gloria tidied up her uniform, fixed her wind-swept hair back into its neat bun, and settled down beside Hop. "Have they shut down the trains, yet?"

"Yeah, last one left for Wedgehurst half an hour ago. They're not going to be running until the storm's well and truly gone."

That was understandable, and as Gloria glanced around the Dojo, she found it was full of all sorts of different people, not just the students. League staff, Pokemon rangers, odd Trainers who had been caught out by the storm were taking shelter here too. The air thrummed with the noise of dozens of conversations taking place at once, the floor packed with people. Gloria could hardly hear herself think.

"It sounds like we've got the whole island in here," she joked, trying to settle her nerves.

The buzz of noise was reaching an uncomfortable level, swamping her body with a jumble of sounds from all directions. She heard someone laugh behind her, a young girl squeal to her far right. In the kitchen, chairs scraped against the floor.

The storm outside was looking more and more tempting as the seconds ticked by.

"Hmm, not the whole island," Hop commented. "I don't see Bede anywhere."

Gloria perked up. "Bede? Is he here?" She glanced around the room, spying yellow uniforms, League Staff, Trainers she didn't recognise.

"I ran into him this afternoon. He was looking for a quiet place to train, so I mentioned the Forest of Focus to him."

Gloria hummed in thought. Heavy disquiet settled in her gut as the storm raged outside. Thunder shook the building. Lights flickered. Her heart pounded harder in her chest, and she couldn't stop feeling as though something wasn't quite right.

"Do you think he caught the train back?" she asked, pulling out her phone. They still had service, and she fought the urge to ring Bede then and there. Nerves spun in her stomach, and she didn't want to overreact for no reason; there was no need to panic.

"There's no way he'd let himself get caught in this weather, he's too proud to let anyone see him looking like a soggy Wooloo!" Hop laughed, but his reassurance did nothing to calm the anxious thrum in her chest.

"Yeah, you're right."

She tightened her grip on her phone, held it close in her lap. Her eyes swept over the crowd and back again, trying to spy anything recognisable. Platinum blond hair, a magenta jacket, or the colours of the Fairy Gym. A lump sat in her throat that she couldn't swallow down. Something wasn't right.

Where is Bede?

"I'm going to call him," Gloria said.

The pull on her gut, of her instincts, was too great to ignore. Too fierce, too strong, and she unlocked her phone and called him despite the incredulous look on Hop's face.

"Seriously? He's probably in Ballonlea right now, drinking tea or whatever with Ms Opal." He waved off her concerns. "Arceus, I could go for a hot drink right now."

She focused on the ringtone by her ear, her whole body tensing as the seconds ticked by.

"I know, but…" Gloria pursed her lips when she reached Bede's answering bank, his calm voice telling her to leave a message, and she hung up. Not a second passed before she called again.

Hop raised an eyebrow at her. "For all you know, he could be having a shower or something."

Trepidation sloshed in her belly, and she couldn't bring herself to respond to Hop's unhelpful jibe. Her call went unanswered a second time. She stared down at her phone, at Bede's name, at the picture she'd chosen for his contact. It was from their trip through the Wild Area, a cropped portion of a picture she'd taken not-so-sneakily one morning. A peaceful moment in time captured in the early morning, Bede illuminated by soft light as he cooked breakfast, unaware of the phone trained on him. The serene smile on his face stirred another bout of unease inside her.

"Do you really think he'd let himself get caught out in this storm?" Hop scoffed. "This is Bede we're talking about. Didn't you say he was always checking the weather when you two scouted the Wild Area together?"

"Well, yes, but…"

"But what?"

"I don't know!" Gloria huffed. "Something doesn't feel right. He always answers his phone."

"Maybe he's got it on silent?"

"Bede doesn't put his phone on silent!"

She called him again, staring off to the side as her phone rang by her ear so she didn't have to see Hop's bemused expression.

"You call him often, do you?"

Gloria sent Hop a look.

"Hey, you're the one who said he always answers his phone. You must call him pretty often to be so sure of that."

For the third time, her call went unanswered. She went to call again when Hop snatched her phone out of her hands.

"Hey!" Gloria yelped, lunging to try and grab her phone back.

"You're just gonna keep bombarding him with calls!"

"So what?! That's none of your business!"

Hop jumped to his feet, holding her phone high above his head. "You've gotta give him a break! If he's not answering, he's not answering! There's no point in spamming him with calls!"

Gloria got to her feet and stared Hop down. "Give. Me. Back. My. Phone."

"No can do! Not unless you tell me why you're so insistent on calling him like this."

She huffed. "I already told you; something doesn't feel right!"

"You've gotta be more specific than that."

Hop waved her phone above his head, taunting her. She glared at it, at him, and debated tackling him to the ground in order to steal it back. It was tempting.

"I don't know how to explain it, okay?! I just- something doesn't feel right."

Her heart ached.

"I need to know that Bede's okay," Gloria said, and folded her arms across her chest. "I can't help but feel like… something's happened. I know it's probably nothing, and I'm probably wrong, but…"

She couldn't brush it aside. Something hardened inside her, and she turned towards the heavy wooden doors.

"Hold on, you're not seriously thinking of going out there, are you?"

She didn't look back. "You said he was in the Forest of Focus, right?"

"Glo, come on. He's probably fine!"

"I know," she said softly, pressing her lips tightly together, "and I'm probably an idiot. But I need to know. I'd rather be a soggy, wet idiot than do nothing at all."

"This isn't even the peak of the storm!"

"That's why I have to go now. Bede's not answering and you've stolen my phone, so…"

"Wait, wait, here's your phone!" Hop thrust it back to her, and she pocketed it.

"I'm still going."

He sighed. "I know, but now I can call you if he turns up here. Or if he happens to call you back, you'll know."

"Thanks, Hop."

"Yeah, yeah. Just know that if he's cozy and warm in Ballonlea and you get drenched for nothing, I'm going to throttle him next time I see him, okay?"

That made Gloria laugh. "I'll make sure to warn him."

Above all, above the nervous churning of her gut and the anxiety pulsing in her veins, she wished that Hop was right. She took a breath and made for the doors, shoving them open against the roaring wind. Gloria slid between them before they slammed shut with a crash as loud as thunder behind her. She stepped out into a torrent of wind and rain, of blistering, breathless cold. Gusts of wind threatened to knock her off her feet. Blinding rain fell sideways and drenched her as though she'd been hit with a wave from the ocean instead.

Not once did she consider turning back.

Gloria launched down the stairs, slick with water, and broke into a sprint towards the wetlands. A blazing heat burned inside her. It ached in her lungs, up her throat, and drove her onwards. Forward. Fighting through the storm, through the wetlands, the overflowing bog and thick mud, pushing hard enough to stumble and land on her feet before she had the chance to fall.

One thing - and one thing only - kept her going, and she ignored everything else.

Bede.

She wanted to be wrong.

The canopy above muffled the storm as she burst into the Forest of Focus. It became an orchestra of wind ripping through trees, branches rustling and snapping, a million drops of rain pattering on a million leaves.

For once, she wished her instincts were wrong.

It was dark. Bursts of lightning cut through the canopy, followed seconds later by booming thunder. Trees became humanoid shadows in the depths of the forest. Rushing water warned of an overfilled river nearby, a black void opening up into the ground where it ran. Gloria turned from it, forcing down a panicked thought of the consequences if she fell in. She, or someone else before her.

Pain thumped in place of her heart. She no longer felt the cold; the cloak of thick water covering every inch of her body had sapped the heat from her bones and made her numb. She didn't feel the mud flicking up against her legs as she ran through the forest. Her foot twisted. An awkward step on slick grass, and her stomach lurched as she staggered and fell to her knees. She didn't pause for a moment, not even to wince, and leapt to her feet. Onwards again. Following the path from memory, looking left and right and back again, searching the trees, around rocks, over the bridge. Peering into dark bushes, through the shrubs and thicket.

Light flashed. It lasted a split second, enough to illuminate the path ahead of Gloria and the figure slumped in the grass.

Bede.

Something tore inside her chest. She was at his side before she'd realised she'd moved. Before she could take a breath, her lips formed his name. A gasp, a sob, a cry of desperation as she touched his shoulder, upon seeing the hollow expanse behind his eyes. Wide and unseeing. She took his hand, his fingers cold. Too cold. His face, pale and streaked with mud and water, was marked with the trails of tears coursing down his cheeks.

Gloria fell into him. Against him. Her arms wrapped around his back, pulling him into her arms, pulling his head to her chest, as she broke. She shattered and crumbled at the sight of him, and couldn't do anything else but embrace him.

She hated being right.

Bede-

Her heart ached.

He was cold. Soaked to the bone, shivering against her. He shifted slightly, giving the faintest movement in her arms, and she held him tighter.

"I'm here," she said. A broken whisper against the top of his head. His platinum blond curls cold and damp with water, darkened by mud. "It's okay."

Forcing the torrent of emotions down, Gloria pulled away. Enough that she could look into his face, into his eyes, and urge him to move.

"Come on, let's get you out of this storm."

She regretted meeting his eyes when nothing registered on his face when he looked at her. There was nothing. Nothing at all behind his eyes. She glanced away and helped him to his feet, looping an arm around his back when he staggered.

What happened to you?

Her jaw clenched hard with unanswered questions, to stop herself from voicing the agony that lanced through her chest. Questions could wait. The blistering rain and biting wind would only strengthen, and the chill of Bede's skin, his faint, shallow breaths, filled her with a greater sense of urgency. They had to get out of the storm. Without thinking about it, she led Bede down the path, through the forest, and away from the Dojo. Deeper into the island. Away from prying eyes, from noise, from people, to the shelter of a cave nearby.

Out of the wind and rain, in a secluded, quiet nook, Gloria directed Bede to sit. He collapsed to the ground as though his legs had given way. Slumping forward, his damp fringe fell over his eyes. The tips of his hair were speckled with mud.

A tight lump lodged in Gloria's throat. She turned away from him for a moment, shucking off her bag, and dug out a towel. She had to gather enough strength to look back at him. Words she couldn't say built in her chest, in her lungs and throat, and stuck on her tongue. Heat washed over her eyes. Despite finding him, despite leading him to shelter, she felt useless. Unable to do anything with her friend suffering right in front of her.

It hurt.

She couldn't bear to see Bede like that any longer. She stepped over to him and sank to her knees at his side, twisting the towel in her hands, and he didn't react. Didn't glance up at her, didn't move at all. If it wasn't for the slightest rising and falling of his chest, he could have been made of stone.

Gloria blinked back her tears. Slowly, she lifted the corner of the towel to Bede's cheek, wiping away the thin streak his own tears had left through the mud on his face.

He turned his face away.

It broke something inside her. The towel slipped from her hands, and she reached up to cup his cheeks instead. With nothing else she could do, she wrapped her useless arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug once again.

"I'm sorry-" she hiccuped as she spoke. Broke off into a sob. "I'm sorry. I don't- I don't know what happened, but- but I'm here. It's okay."

She squeezed her eyes shut. Her lips trembled as she fought back a sob.

Whatever it was, whatever had happened-

"-I'm sorry." It was all she could say. "You don't have to say anything, or tell me what happened, but… but I'm here. I'm here. Everything's going to be okay."

She couldn't promise that, she shouldn't, but she did. She hugged him close as he sank into her, his head dropping to her shoulder, Bede finally accepting her embrace. He did nothing to return it, remaining still in her hold, but it was enough. Enough for Gloria to know this was what he needed. It was all she could give, all she could do to stop herself from crumbling any further when his shallow, shuddering breaths reached her ears. The trembling of his body gave his tears away.

She said nothing, and held him until silence fell over the cave once more.

Gloria had come out of nowhere. Like a bolt of lightning, she had appeared before Bede in the darkness, as though summoned by the flash of light itself.

Why?

She pulled him into her arms and nothing made sense.

Why are you here?

He followed her directions, her urging, and stood. Walked with her to a cave, out of the freezing wind that threatened to draw all the heat from his body. Her arm around his back was firm. Solid. It was real.

It didn't make sense. Why had she been there, in the forest, in the storm, when the world had turned to chaos around him?

Bede's legs gave way. Strength sapped from his bones, his body heavy and numb, and he collapsed to the ground with no will to fight. All he saw was the empty space on his wrist.

Again, it hurt. It stung. Guilt driving a stake into his heart, throbbing with shame. With regret and disgust.

Why-

Why does it still hurt?

The touch of a towel against his cheek scattered his thoughts. She was here. Still here, still real. Still looking at him with heartbreaking concern that only made him turn away from her with regret.

How could he bear to face her like this?

He didn't have to. Gloria pulled him into her embrace, wrapped her arms around him, and his remaining walls crumbled. Everything inside him snapped all at once and he collapsed against her. His head fell to her shoulder, dampening her already wet shirt with his tears, as his heart gave way to her touch. He felt everything. He felt all his pain and guilt and regret, and gave it all to her. With quiet sobs, he let himself cry in her arms. The words she whispered to him soothed the turmoil raging inside his chest, and he succumbed to her.

He gave in.

"It's gone."

His voice, loud in the silence, cracked. Heat swam behind his eyes, further tears clouding his vision, and he squeezed them shut as he took a shuddery breath.

It's gone.

He didn't want to believe it.

Gloria pulled back slightly, settling her hands on his shoulders, and regarded him for a moment before asking, "what's gone?"

Bede couldn't bring himself to meet her eyes, afraid of what she'd see, knowing that he was unable to hide it from her when she looked at him like that.

She always saw right through him.

Instead, he lifted up his right hand, staring down at it and away from her. Gloria followed his gaze. A moment later, she gently took his wrist, her fingers lingering over the spot where his watch used to sit.

"Oh, Bede…"

The anguish in her voice was too much.

"It's gone," Bede repeated in a fragile whisper.

Her hand shifted to hold his, and he squeezed her hand tight in return. Tears threatened to spill again, his face scrunching up to hold them back, to fight the agony blazing in his chest, and he forced his lips firmly together to prevent them trembling. The hand still on Bede's shoulder slid to his arm, soothingly brushing up and down in an attempt to comfort him. Her gaze remained on his wrist. For that, he was thankful.

"How…?" Gloria tried again. "What happened?"

He took a breath, his lungs heavy and rigid, and it felt like it took all his energy just to inhale. His words came out as a sigh.

"I don't know."

He didn't.

"I… lost it."

Somehow.

It was difficult to speak. Exhausting. His tongue weighed down like a stone in his mouth.

"It fell off and I…" He clenched his jaw, disgust towards himself and towards his pain rising like bile up his throat. "I'm finally free of that wretched thing so why does it hurt so much…? Why can't I-? Why-?"

A sob escaped through his teeth. The chain around his wrist was gone and yet its grip around his soul felt tighter than before. The freedom he'd sought had been ripped away and left a gaping hole in its wake. It hurt. The weight of his regrets, his past, remained.

Why, after all this time, could he not unshackle himself from it? The hold that watch had on him endured, a deep scar seared into his flesh.

"Why can't I release myself from this burden?" It came out as a gasp. Following the burning tears in his eyes, the heaving of his lungs for air. Heat washed down his cheeks as he cried. "Why am I still chained to him-?! I should rid myself of it and be done with it but- but- I can't…!"

His fingers trembled, curled into a fist, as Bede crumbled into Gloria. Shuddering breaths and broken sobs wracked his body. Pain and guilt and everything all at once tore through his heart, and Gloria held on to him through it all. She wrapped her arms around him and shouldered him as he wept.

And he broke down like never before in the comfort of her embrace. The wails that met his ears sounded too close and too far away, foreign and yet familiar, and he knew it was coming from him. He couldn't stop it, like he couldn't stop the pain. He couldn't hold anything back. There was nothing he could do but let it all out; the cries that left his throat raw, the heavy gasps that shook his body, the tears falling from his eyes. Held up by Gloria, he let it happen. Let the floodgates open, his walls collapse, and he held her in return. As tightly as he could, he held her, and it kept him from shattering completely, from letting the darkness take hold.

Bede gave in to her- to her comfort, her concern, her embrace, and they rode out the storm in his heart, sheltered from the turmoil raging outside in the depths of a cave. When his tears had dried, his breathing calmed, when he had no more agony left to voice, he remained in her arms in silence. The shame he felt was not towards how he lingered in her hug, but due to the fact that all it had taken for him to break was a simple, golden watch. A trinket, an object from his past. A chain he couldn't bring himself to remove.

He was shameful. Piteous. Pathetic. Knew he didn't have to say as much for her to know the truth of how deplorable he had become.

It made him laugh. A dry, hollow breath of laughter.

"It's merely a watch," Bede said softly, as quiet as a whisper. Disbelief in his voice. "He didn't deign to gift it to me himself- no, it came wrapped in a box, with assurances from Oleana herself that it was from him. "

Pain flashed behind his eyes.

"For all I know, she could have been behind it, gifted it without his knowledge."

It hurt.

"Why would he have remembered my birthday when he couldn't even recall my name?"

Memories he had buried deep resurfaced. Innumerable, unanswered calls. Awards received without an audience, without recognition. Disinterest in the eyes of the one looked up to the most.

Disappointment.

Movement across his back swept those images away. Gloria, her arms still firmly around him, comfortingly ran her hands across his back. Her touch was tender. Gentle and soothing, and he let his eyes flutter shut from her ministrations. He didn't know how such a simple gesture could be so calming, if she knew how much it would quell the pain in his heart, or if he felt this way because it was her.

Bede sighed. "I should be grateful. Happy, even, to finally be liberated from it-" from him "-yet why? Why does it- why do I feel this way?"

"Maybe... you weren't ready."

He hadn't expected her to answer him, and her voice cut through the silence. It gave him pause.

"I think, and I might be wrong," she continued, "but... maybe it hurts because you didn't have control over it. You didn't actively choose to get rid of it, you had that choice made for you, and… sometimes, that lack of control can hurt the most."

Bede let her words sink in.

"It's okay if you weren't ready. No one gets to decide when you're ready to move on - if you choose to do at all - except you. And Rose, he had such control over your life for so long, a year or two apart from him isn't going to be enough to get over everything he did to you."

Gloria let out a quiet breath, resting her head against the top of his shoulder.

"You've come so far already and, and I know it still hurts. It's still so raw. I'm not able to do much but… but when the storm passes, I'll help you look for it."

Everything stilled inside of him. "You… you will?"

She didn't tell him to leave it. To move on, now that he had a perfect opportunity to rid himself of it for good.

"Why?" He pulled back, pulled out of her arms, and finally met her eyes. He saw then that she had been crying as he had.

She smiled. "Because it means a lot to you. And… and I want you to be able to choose to move on when you're ready." Her expression wobbled as she spoke, as her lips quavered slightly. "How could I not want to help you, Bede? I almost want to drop everything and go out looking for it right now." Admitting that, she laughed. "And- And just because you're attached to that watch doesn't mean you haven't already come so far. You know, it's just a watch. Whether you keep it or not says nothing about you as a person or your past or anything at all. I… I want you to know that."

Bede wanted to embrace her again. His heart ached as he took in everything she said, filling his chest with warmth.

How could he not be so utterly in love with her when she was like this?

Arceus, she… she was everything he needed and more, and he lost himself in her gaze for a moment, unable to pull away, to look away, to see or care about anything else but her. Adoration for her surged in his lungs, rising up his throat with words that formed silently on his tongue, seconds from spilling out.

Everything he wanted to tell her.

Gloria flustered, quickly glancing away. "I- we should, um, try and dry off a bit," she squeaked, jumping to her feet.

The towel that had fallen into her lap dropped to the ground. She went to grab it as he did, their fingers overlapping on the cloth, and she jolted as though the touch of his skin had burned her. Even in the darkness of the cave, Bede could make out the blush on her cheeks. It made his heart skip with a heavy thump.

Gloria snatched the towel, her sudden embarrassment startling him. Nothing he had done, or said, should have elicited such a reaction from her, and his lungs fluttered breathlessly as his mind scrambled to work out why she was acting this way.

"You've, um, got a bit of mud on your cheeks," she said quickly, shoving the towel into his hands.

She wasn't looking at him, and Bede couldn't take his eyes off her. He absently rubbed the towel against his cheek as he studied her, using the cloth to hide the slow trickle of heat that built across his face. Seeing her flustered like this had completely distracted him from his lost watch, a new set of emotions pooled through his veins and washed over the pain. It was as though upon losing it, he had gained even more in return.

The key to his unbroken chains was right in front of him. It had been all along.

Something was wrong with Gloria. Her heart galloped at an impossibly fast pace in her chest, thumping like a drum against her ribcage, and she could feel her cheeks begin to flush. All it had taken to set her off like this was a simple look from Bede. In that moment, his eyes raw and red from crying, mud streaked across his face, his damp hair hanging over his brow, something had ignited inside of her. Despite the pain, the cold, the discomfort, he had smiled at her. His expression had eased, light returning to his violet eyes, and it had done something inexplicable to her.

Her heart raced. Blood surged through her veins, her mind dizzy and incoherent. Now wasn't the time for- for whatever this was, and she chided herself for finding Bede adorable in such a vulnerable moment. Guilt pierced her chest, and she tried to shake the giddy feeling in her lungs away. It wasn't right to fawn over how ridiculously gorgeous he managed to be even when he was drenched and covered in mud, when he had been crying on her shoulder minutes earlier. She needed to screw her head on straight and focus.

Gloria peeked at Bede, remaining stiff at his side, and the strings of her heart tugged at the sight of his platinum blond curls damp and plastered to his brow and cheeks. His hair seemed even longer than usual, the weight of the water pulling out some of the curl. Droplets spilled from the tips of his hair and slowly cascaded down his cheeks.

She snatched the towel off him and threw it over his head. Covering his face, his hair, and muffling his yelp of protest, Gloria forcefully ruffled the towel as her heart punched upwards into her throat.

"Y-You should dry your hair as well!" she squeaked.

"Hey!"

She didn't know what she was doing anymore, rubbing the towel over his head because she couldn't bear to look at him for a moment longer. Bede caught her wrists, tugging her hands away from the cloth, and she stumbled to her knees from the motion. The towel fell from Bede's head, revealing his irritated glare. Having fallen to her knees, she was suddenly close to him again- close enough to make out the heat swimming across his face, the embarrassment in his eyes. Her breath caught. His hands, firmly around her wrists, felt like lighting.

"I'm perfectly capable of drying my own hair," Bede huffed.

Gloria opened and shut her mouth wordlessly. She couldn't speak. Not when he was this close to her, not when he was holding her wrists like that, not when the blush on his cheeks melted his glare into something heated and dark. It sent a shiver down her spine and all she could do was nod fervently until he let her go.

She turned away from him, air filling her lungs with a silent gasp, and she fumbled for her bag.

"S-Sorry," Gloria mumbled. She wasn't thinking straight at all. Her heart thumped in her ears, drowning out anything coherent. "It's- It's really cold in here, huh?"

She rubbed her arms up and down, giving an exaggerated shudder, as the cool air in the cave began to gnaw at her skin. Her damp clothes didn't help.

"Do you have a change of clothes on you?" she asked, glancing back at him.

Bede was drying his hair with the towel, and looked over at her from beneath it.

"I hadn't planned to stay here long enough to warrant a change of clothes," he said. "If it hadn't been for me losing my watch, I would have returned to Ballonlea by now."

"Right. Of course." She snapped her gaze back to her bag. Somehow, he'd managed to send her heart rate skyrocketing again. She heard Bede shiver, and almost shivered in return from that faint sound alone.

"I-I have a blanket!" Gloria yanked a picnic blanket from her bag, bundling it in her arms, and gestured with it to him.

"I'm not sure how much a blanket will help, but I appreciate it. It will be better than nothing, I suppose." He took it from her and began to unfurl it.

"You should at least, um, take off some of your clothes…" she trailed off, her cheeks heating as she spoke. "Y'know, since th-they're wet and it's cold and- and you can use the blanket to, um…"

She wasn't making any sense.

"F-Forget it!" she squeaked, unable to think past the fact that she'd just told Bede to undress when he didn't have a change of clothes to get into, which meant he would be-

"I'm gonna change!" Gloria said loudly. Her voice cracked, and she pulled out her change of clothes. "So- So don't look this way, alright?"

She sent Bede a pointed look over her shoulder, her face ablaze with embarrassed heat, and he blinked at her, his eyes widening.

"You don't have to tell me not to!" he huffed. "Of course I wouldn't…" Bede cleared his throat. "Although, you are right. I should probably remove at least some layers…"

He said that last part quietly, and Gloria snapped her head around so she wasn't looking at him any longer. He was going to take up her suggestion, and that realisation sent a crackle of lightning through her blood. She clutched the dry clothes in her arms to her chest, and tried to shove those thoughts away.

He was her friend, for Arceus' sake! He was getting out of his damp clothing because it was cold and the storm wasn't going to pass any time soon, and the blanket would keep him warm and- and she had to stop thinking about it. Sure, Bede was definitely attractive. He was extraordinarily gorgeous in a way that left her breathless, and she found her gaze lingering on him more often than she'd like to admit, but he was her friend and she shouldn't be gawking over him.

And she definitely shouldn't be flustering over the prospect of him with less clothing on.

Gloria heard something shuffle behind her, the sound of wet clothing being removed, and she jolted. Her mind snapped back to reality. With her heart in her throat, she quickly began to change, and fought the urge to glance over her shoulder to make sure Bede wasn't looking this way.

Of course he wouldn't. There was no need to check, no need to even think about looking behind her, when Bede was most certainly undressing as well. That would be all kinds of wrong.

Gloria took a shaky breath as she pulled on her cozy woolen jumper, and shoved her damp clothes to the side by her bag. Her legs were no more bare now than they'd been in the Dojo's uniform, but she wished she had packed something warmer, or longer, than her pink dress. She undid her hair, shaking out her messy bun to dry it as best she could. As she sighed, silence filled the cave once more.

"Are you, um…" She didn't know what to say, hadn't thought this through. "...decent?"

Arceus. Her cheeks burned with a furious blush, and she squeezed her eyes shut in mortification. She wasn't even facing him, for goodness sake!

Bede cleared his throat. "I am," he said, making Gloria jump.

"Right!"

She whirled on her feet a little too fast, with a bit too much panic, and relief knocked the air from her lungs when she realised Bede had only taken off his outermost layers. His t-shirt and shorts were folded neatly beside him, keeping his long-sleeved top and, presumably, his leggings on. He had the blanket covering the legs and the lower part of his chest, and appeared enviously warm. Gloria's heart stammered in her chest as she sat next to him, with a comfortable distance between them. She faced forward, not letting herself look at him, still feeling awkward- as though he could read the inner turmoil that had been churning in her mind.

It was difficult being friends with someone so undeniably attractive at times.

"Feeling a bit warmer now?" Gloria asked, needing something to fill the silence. She absently rubbed her calves up and down as the cool air seeped into her.

"I am, yes. The blanket certainly helps."

She nodded stiffly. With Bede so close, it felt like her whole body was on alert. Stiff and tense, hyperreactive to the slightest sound, the slightest movement in the corner of her eyes. The situation was so strange, she couldn't bring herself to calm down. Cold wind swept through the cave, the temperature biting, and in a swift movement, the blanket was thrown over her legs.

Bede shifted closer, right up against Gloria's side, wordlessly sharing the blanket she'd given him. Warmth enveloped her. Flooding her veins, her chest, her lungs, and she gaped at him in silence as he looked away.

"That's better, isn't it?" he said quickly.

"You- You don't have to…"

She flustered and stared into her lap. Their shoulders were pressed together, and although they'd hugged before on many occasions, and sat like this before too, it felt different. Worlds apart from their casual hugs, from the time he'd sat beside her like this to comfort her.

"Need I remind you, it's your blanket? It wouldn't be right for me to have it all to myself when you're shivering like that."

Gloria nodded. She'd stopped shivering. "Thanks…"

"Like I said, you're the one sharing it with me," Bede huffed. "If anything, I should be thanking you."

That made her laugh. A short breath of laughter that dissolved the tension in the air. It allowed her to relax, to see how absurd the whole situation was, to realise that she was making a big deal out of nothing. This was Bede. Her friend. There was nothing for her to get worked up about.

With a smile, Gloria leant her head against Bede's shoulder. A comforting gesture that warmed her heart.

"I'm… just glad you're okay," she whispered to him. Her eyes drew closed. She settled against him, relishing in his presence, how calm and peaceful she felt beside him.

She felt safe, and knew everything was going to be alright.

When Gloria leant her head against his shoulder, Bede's mind screeched to a halt. Every fibre in his body tensed all at once. He couldn't breathe for a moment, his brain short circuiting in disbelief, as she snuggled into him. The practicality of sharing a blanket for warmth was suddenly lost, thrown out the window, the cave, into the storm, and he glanced at the girl curled into his side in shock.

"I'm… just glad you're okay," she whispered with the sweetest smile on her face, and her eyelids fluttered shut.

He couldn't say anything in return. His heart wedged in his throat, in his mouth, and no words would form. She looked so serene, so peaceful, and he didn't dare move, not wanting to risk disturbing her.

Somehow, she had become something of a panacea to him. Her mere presence at his side was enough to ease the pain, appearing out of nowhere whenever he needed her the most.

In the midst of the storm, she had found him.

"Why were you there?" he found himself asking.

"Why was I where?"

"In the Forest of Focus, where you found me."

"Oh, that." She laughed sheepishly. "Hop said that's where you were going to train."

"But why were you there in the first place? You should have been taking shelter."

"I actually had been taking shelter," she admitted, "in the Dojo."

"So you just decided to go wandering around the Forest of Focus in the middle of a storm?"

Gloria snorted. "No, I'm not that reckless!"

"Then… why?"

Why had she been there?

"I… was looking for you," she said quietly. Sheepishly.

"And you say you're not reckless…" Bede huffed, despite the firm squeeze of his heart. "What on earth would cause you to look for me in the middle of a storm?"

He hadn't given anyone, let alone her, any indication that something was wrong.

Gloria pursed her lips. The bashful look in her eyes, along with the hint of a blush on her cheeks, sent Bede's heart fluttering.

"Well… it's a bit silly," Gloria began. She chewed on her bottom lip as she mulled over her words. "But I… I had a bad feeling about it. When Hop mentioned that he'd seen you earlier, and you weren't there in the Dojo, I just… something felt wrong."

"That's it? You went looking for me based on a feeling?"

"There's more to it than that!" Gloria pouted. "You didn't answer your phone, either."

He hadn't heard his phone ring over the storm, and doubted that he would have answered in that moment anyway.

"I still don't see how that alone would make you venture out into weather like this."

Her expression fell and, for a moment, Bede wondered if he'd somehow pushed that point too far. As though he'd stepped on her toes, hit a sore spot.

"I guess it was a bit ridiculous," she agreed with a sigh. "But I couldn't just sit and do nothing. Not when everything inside me was screaming that something was wrong. Not when… when I've felt like that before."

She went quiet.

"What do you mean?" Bede asked. There was more to this, more to what she was - and wasn't - saying, and he desperately wanted to know. He needed to know, to understand.

"I haven't told anyone about it before," she said slowly. "It's one of the reasons why I'm always going with my gut, trusting my feelings, that sort of thing. Sometimes, most of the time, I'm wrong, but… once, before this, I was right."

Her eyes closed. She took a breath, a slow, deep breath, before continuing.

"It was the day my father died. The day of his accident. He was… hit by a car on the way home from work."

Bede's heart dropped into his stomach. She'd never spoken about this before.

"He was always really punctual, always made an effort to be home before seven at night. But that day… I remember looking up at the clock right as it hit seven and- and I knew. I knew then that something had happened."

She sighed.

"I mean, I obviously didn't know what had happened but… at that moment, I felt like something was wrong. I knew something was wrong. And- And maybe that was just me being an anxious child or finding something in those memories that wasn't there in the first place-"

Gloria caught herself and paused. Again, she took a deep breath to calm herself.

"I just… whenever I get a feeling like that, I can't stop myself. I have to do something. And today, when Hop mentioned that he'd seen you, and the storm was raging, I-I felt like something wasn't right."

Bede found her hand under the blanket and gave it a squeeze. A firm, comforting squeeze, as his heart ached for her.

He didn't know what to say.

"I didn't want to be right," she continued, "I wanted you to be okay. To be wrong, like I have been hundreds of times before this. But I needed to know for myself. I'd rather have wasted my time and got drenched than do nothing at all, if there's the slightest chance that I was right."

"I'm… sorry." It was the only thing that came to him. "I had no idea."

She gave him a faint, appreciative smile. "Of course you didn't. I haven't told anyone about that."

"Well, yes, but I meant that about… your father. And what happened. I'm sorry."

He fumbled over his words, his mouth dry.

"I didn't mean to make this all about me," she said lightly. "But thanks. It's been almost ten years and yet when I get a feeling like I did that day, it's like I'm going through it all again. At least this time, I could actually help someone. I'm glad."

"So am I," he found himself replying.

She squeezed his hand, and Bede's heart skipped. He didn't know if he should keep holding her hand like this or let it go, and the thought that perhaps she didn't mind sent a wave of heat through his veins. He decided to test the waters, to try something a bit more daring, and against all logical reasoning, he threaded his fingers between hers, interlacing them together. She returned his grip, and the air died in his lungs.

Arceus, it was too much. His heart surged, filling with heat and emotion, and he couldn't believe what was happening. That Gloria had found him in the Forest of Focus to begin with, that she was nestled at his side under a blanket they shared, holding hands with her head rested on his shoulder. To be like this with her was more than he could handle, to have her accept him and all his faults, his failings, to offer to go look for his watch with him after the storm passed.

He wondered how on earth he had managed to find someone like her in the first place.

"Oh, I should probably let Hop know I found you," Gloria said, stifling a yawn. "That way, you don't get 'throttled' the next time you see him."

"Excuse me?"

She snorted, pulling out her phone and typing a quick message with her free hand. "Yeah, Hop said that if I went out into the storm and got drenched for nothing, then he'd throttle you the next time he saw you."

"I'd like to see him try," Bede huffed, amused at the thought of Hop trying to fistfight him.

"Hopefully now you won't have to." Gloria pocketed her phone and relaxed again, settling her head further on his shoulder.

It would be easy for him to rest his cheek against the top of her head, and he fought the temptation to do so- holding her hand, their fingers interlaced, was already overwhelming, his chest thrumming and fluttering with heat, and he didn't want to risk pushing his luck any further. This was more than enough for his heart as it was.

Gloria yawned, lackadaisically covering her mouth with her free hand.

"Sorry," she said, catching the end of her yawn and slurring her words, "I had an early start. Went looking for Max Mushrooms all morning."

Bede swallowed the bubble of amusement that swelled in his chest at her sleepy yawn, and bit back a smile. He didn't know how she managed to be so cute all the damn time, constantly tugging on his heart with the most ordinary behaviour. A simple yawn sent his heart fluttering once again.

"Well, since I doubt the storm is going to pass anytime soon, now might be an opportune time to rest," Bede said, as casually as he could.

"Mm… but shouldn't I-" she yawned "-keep you company?"

Her eyes had already fallen shut.

"You don't have to be awake to keep me company," he said softly. Unable to hold back the tender smile on his face. "You've already done more than enough for me."

Gloria grumbled something in thought, in a weak protest, pouting her lips.

"Go ahead and rest. You deserve as much." He reached over and pulled the blanket higher over her so it rested just beneath her chin. As though he was tucking her into bed, urging her to sleep.

She sighed heavily, and sank into the warmth of the blanket. Her body relaxed. The pout of her lips eased. Her breathing slowed as she fell into the depths of sleep, and Bede finally gave in. He lowered his cheek to the crown on her head and smiled. An unbidden, unabashed smile pulled on his lips. His heart, having melted in her presence, swelled with adoration for her.

"Thank you," he whispered into her hair.

The space on his wrist no longer felt so empty.

To not fall asleep beside Gloria was an onerous task. Her warmth was comforting in a way that caused him to let down his guard, to relax, to forget the world around them. He found himself dosing on and off, woken by a sudden clap of thunder or the cry of Pokemon deeper in the cave, and chided himself each time for it. Sleep was too inviting next to her. Bede huffed. It wasn't like him to ignore the dangers of sleeping around wild Pokemon, completely throwing aside years of protective instincts he'd drilled into himself, just because of her. Had her naivety rubbed off onto him, or was it because somehow, she made him feel safe?

His worries faded when he glanced at her. Sleeping soundly with the faintest smile gracing her lips, the expression on her face calmed him. Talking with her, crying in her arms, being in her embrace, bit by bit she had chipped away at the cage around his heart and released him from that pain. He knew, with her beside him, that he could forsake the chain that had kept him shackled for so long. He could finally leave it behind.

Her acceptance was what he had needed all along. The Galatian Cuff around his wrist, although not a replacement for his watch, filled the space it had left behind. Just like how Gloria, how Ms Opal and the Trainers of his Gym, how all the people he now considered friends, had filled the gap in his heart left by the wounds of his past.

As the tempest inside Bede began to ease, so too did the raging weather outside. The storm passed. Golden light streamed into the cave as the setting sun breached the dark clouds and bathed the Isle of Armour in warmth once again. He didn't know how much time had passed since Gloria had found him, since they had taken up shelter in the cave, and he couldn't bring himself to wake her just yet. She continued to doze happily on his shoulder, evidently more exhausted than she had let on. As always, it seemed as though she had pushed herself as hard and as far as she could manage, even though no one was expecting her to do so.

That much, they had in common.

Bright light flashed over Bede's eyes, and he recoiled, squinting, and glared at the source towards the entrance to the cave.

"Oh, Arceus this is gold!" Laughter spilled from the person aiming the blinding flashlight from their phone at Bede and Gloria. "I have to get a picture of this."

Bede immediately recognised that cocky laugh, his heart catching in his throat as a shutter sounded. Again and again.

"Delete those right this instant!" Bede snapped.

Heat surged across his cheeks, embarrassment filling his lungs, and he stiffened in shock. With dread at having been caught snuggling under a blanket with Gloria.

Hop snorted. "No way! I'm sending these to Gloria." He flashed a grin at Bede. "And Marnie, and Sonia, and her mum-"

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Wouldn't I?" Hop sauntered over, amusement twinkling in his eyes. "Marnie is not gonna believe this unless I have evidence and, hey, I have a competition to win."

Bede bristled with mortification. "What competition?!"

"Nope, can't tell ya. That'd ruin the whole thing!" Hop kept his phone trained on them. His grin widened. "But wow. Wow. This is what you two have been doing the whole time? And here Gloria keeps insisting that you're only friends."

"We- We've done nothing of the sort! Whatever you're insinuating, you must have your head screwed on backwards!"

"Right. Says the guy currently snuggling with Gloria. And aren't those her clothes next to her bag?" Hop let out a low whistle, his eyes wide. "Maybe I should give you two some privacy…"

Heat surged through Bede's entire body. With the blanket covering Gloria up to her chin and the clothes she was wearing earlier bundled up by her bag, he realised what exactly Hop was getting at.

"Sh-She got changed!" Bede barked quickly. "We got drenched in the storm, so she changed! You- You've got this all wrong. We haven't- we didn't- whatever you're suggesting, you couldn't be further from the truth!"

He tugged the blanket down enough so Hop could see with his own eyes that they were both fully clothed. At the sudden lapse in temperature, Gloria grumbled and shifted closer to her only source of warmth, to Bede. Hop watched on, amused.

"Sure, sure. I believe you." Hop's grin said otherwise. "This is definitely something purely platonic that I'm witnessing right now."

"What are you even doing here?" Bede huffed. He pulled the blanket back up to Gloria's chin, scowling as his cheeks blazed with a dark blush he couldn't force down.

"Glo told me where you guys were, and since the storm passed, I decided to come check up on my mates out of the goodness of my heart."

"I don't believe that for a second."

"Ouch, that's harsh."

Hop's cheeky grin remained firmly in place, evidently amused at Bede's growing discomfort.

"How Glo can do something like this and act like she doesn't have feelings for you is beyond me." Hop gestured at them snuggled beneath the blanket. "You should've seen how distraught she was when you wouldn't answer your phone. I doubt she would've acted like that towards anyone else."

Bede's heart flopped. "She was distraught because-"

Gloria's words came back to him, how she'd never opened up about the feeling she'd had the day her father died to anyone before. He realised then why Hop was reading so much more into the situation.

"Because…?" Hop raised an eyebrow, waiting for Bede to finish his sentence.

"It's not what you're thinking," Bede sighed. "Trust me, you couldn't be more wrong. Gloria, she… she can't help but act when she feels as though someone is in need of help. I'm sure you know that well enough."

Hop looked at Gloria and his grin began to fade. Amusement fell from his eyes.

"Yeah, you're right. And Arceus, she'd hate it if she heard what I was insinuating…" He made a sour expression at himself. "I just… want her to be happy, y'know? If she's got feelings for you, I want her to realise that but… ugh!"

Hop ruffled his hair in exasperation, before sighing heavily.

"I guess it's still too early for that, huh?"

"You don't need to tell me that."

Hop quirked a smile. "Good thing she sleeps like a log. If she heard any of this… the Meowth would be out of the bag for sure!"

"Which is why now would be an opportune time for you to can it."

Bede sent a wary glance at Gloria, finding that her peaceful expression hadn't changed one bit. She was still fast asleep. As much as he didn't want to wake her up, now was as good a time as any. He shifted his shoulder gently in an effort to rouse her.

"Gloria? The storm's passed," Bede said to her. "You should get up now."

"Good luck with that." Hop grinned again, phone ready in hand to take more unwanted photos.

Bede decided to ignore that. He'd already fallen for Hop's taunts twice in one day, and wasn't going to give him any more fuel. Gloria's brow scrunched as Bede nudged her with his shoulder again, and she grumbled something incoherent in her throat. Her eyes slowly fluttered open. She blinked a few times in a daze, Bede's heart swelling at the adorable, sleepy haze in her eyes, and she lifted her head off his shoulder.

Their eyes met. A moment passed before recognition filled Gloria's eyes, before she realised how close they were.

"Oh! Sorry!" Gloria squeaked, recoiling off Bede's shoulder.

The blanket fell as she startled, and it pooled over their laps and revealed that they were still holding hands. Their fingers were still entwined. A shutter clicked. Gloria snapped her head towards the sound.

"Hop?!" She snatched her hand from Bede's. Heat rushed up her cheeks, and Bede glanced away as an identical blush burned across his face. "What- What are you doing here?! Did you just take a picture?!"

Her embarrassment infected Bede, and he felt suddenly sheepish, as though they had been caught doing something indecent rather than simply holding hands. As though that was somehow worse than sharing a blanket, than her sleeping on his shoulder. He could feel amusement radiating off Hop and focused on folding up the blanket instead as Gloria flustered.

"Delete it!" she cried, leaping to her feet in indignation.

"Too late, already sent it to Marnie," Hop teased.

Marnie again. Bede bit back a frustrated huff. He couldn't voice anything in protest, silenced under the weight of mortification at being discovered holding Gloria's hand after assuring Hop that nothing was going on between them. He knew what it had looked like, and that made it impossible to deny what had happened, or what Hop thought had happened. The furious blush on Bede's face pooled to the very tips of his ears and flushed down his neck. An entirely unhelpful physiological reaction.

"Why did you send it to Marnie?!" Gloria squawked. She stamped her foot, folding her arms firmly across her chest as she stared Hop down.

"How else is she gonna believe me?" Hop flashed a grin at her. "Who knew you two were at that stage already-"

"Gimme that!"

She launched herself at Hop and swiped his phone before he could blink. Bede watched on, impressed.

"How many did you take…?!" Gloria swiped through the photos on Hop's phone, her eyes widening.

"Don't worry, I already sent them to you."

"I don't want them!"

She thrust his phone back at him with a huff. The embarrassment on her face shattered into hurt, and her expression darkened. She turned from Hop, her eyes meeting Bede's for a split second, before she marched over to her bag.

"Forget it," she said through her teeth, stuffing her wet clothes into her bag.

Bede sent a pointed look at Hop, who grimaced apologetically. They both knew he'd gone too far.

"Glo, look, I'll delete them." He tapped away at his phone. "And I didn't send them to Marnie, or anyone. I promise."

Bede stared at Hop in disbelief. He hadn't sent them to anyone at all?

Gloria sent an unimpressed look over her shoulder at Hop. A hard, callous stare that made Bede glad it wasn't directed at him. The hurt in her eyes was obvious, and it made her whole body tense as though she was trying to protect herself from further harm.

"You know how much I hate the paparazzi, taking pictures of me all the time when I'm just minding my own business, always insinuating stuff about me, and then you go and do the exact same thing…"

She pursed her lips. Bede knew it was to stop them from trembling. She always did that when she was about to cry, and it pierced his heart.

"Glo…"

"I should be safe with my friends. To be able to relax without- without you acting like them."

Gloria turned away from Hop. Her bottom lip trembled for a second before she bit down on it. Bede went to stand, moved to step closer to her in order to offer her some comfort, when she picked up her bag and stood.

"I came here to support Bede," she said, turning sharply to face Hop. "You have no idea what he went through, what happened, at all. So don't act like them, don't twist what you saw for your own amusement when you don't even know what happened."

"I... I'm sorry." Hop slumped. "You're right, and… man, I really acted like an ass. Sorry." He gave her a regretful smile, turning the screen of his phone towards her. "I deleted them all. Guess I should've known better, huh? You and the paparazzi are like water on an oil fire."

Gloria's expression eased slightly, the corner of her lips turning up at Hop's analogy. "Yeah, pretty much."

"Can you forgive an ass like me?" Hop lifted his arms, gesturing for a hug.

She looked at him for a moment before shaking her head with a smile, and accepted his hug.

"As long as you don't do that again," she warned.

Hop laughed. "I think I learnt my lesson."

Bede sighed to himself in relief. He was grateful that he didn't have to intervene in any way. Gloria had a glare that was sharp enough to kill, and the last thing he wanted was to give her a reason to level it at him.

He took note to avoid resembling the paparazzi in any way, shape, or form.

"Oh, the storm's over!" Gloria realised way too late. "We should get going, then."

"I was thinking the same." Bede nodded, gathering this folded up Gym Leader shirt and shorts, and handed the blanket back to Gloria. She met his eyes when she took the blanket off him, holding his gaze for a moment.

"Did you still want to…?" she asked quietly, looking deeply into his eyes as if searching for something.

He didn't know how to reply, suddenly put on the spot by the depth in her eyes, the concern on her face, and the question she didn't finish lingering in the air.

Did he still want to… what?

All he could think about was Hop's insinuation from earlier, and his mouth went dry.

Gloria tilted her head as she waited for his answer, the motion adorable in a way that didn't help his ability to speak at all. She leant closer, and Bede's breath hitched in his throat.

"Your watch," she whispered, "did you still want to look for it?"

Oh.

Bede swallowed, and glanced away from her face, from the warmth of her eyes, in order to form words on his tongue. Did she not realise how close she was standing to him, or did she not care about personal space?

"No," he said.

The finality of his answer eased something in his chest, and he found himself relaxing. Tension he hadn't realised he'd held finally faded.

"No…?" she echoed. Her eyes widened. "Are you sure…?"

Ahead of them, towards the entrance to the cave, Hop stood with his back to them. Out of earshot.

Bede managed a smile, turning to walk towards the cave's entrance. He looked back at her, a steady warmth filling his lungs, and he knew this was what he wanted. He could finally set himself free.

"I'm sure," he answered. "It's time for me to let it go. I suppose all I needed was a push in the right direction for me to realise that."

She returned his smile and fell into step beside him. "If that's what you want… then I'll support you."

With her next to him, Bede found he could stand a little straighter, a little taller. Each step became easier as they made their way towards the Forest of Focus. Whenever he felt a prickle of doubt, all he had to do was glance at her, to remember her support, her encouragement, her acceptance, and he could move forward. He held his head high as they walked through the forest, not once feeling the urge to search for his watch.

He could finally leave it behind-

Something crunched beneath his foot. Automatically, Bede glanced down at whatever he'd trodden on, and spied a glimmer of gold beneath a mound of mud. A golden buckle covered almost completely in mud, yet still recognisable and familiar. His watch.

"Bede?"

From up ahead, Gloria called to him. Her voice stole his gaze away from his watch, and he could suddenly breathe again. Hadn't realised that he'd been holding his breath, that his heart had been pounding in his ears.

"Is everything alright?" she asked, looking as though she was about to head back over to him.

Bede smiled at her, and took a step, and then another and another, until he was at her side once more.

"Everything is more than alright," he said, and lightly touched her hand. He gave it a quick, gentle squeeze, before continuing on after Hop.

Gloria skipped to catch up with him, her cheeks slightly flushed. She caught his hand as they walked, returning the squeeze he had given her, before releasing his hand. When he glanced at her, she glanced back at him, smiles building on their faces.

Everything was more than alright.

It was perfect.

#bede #gloria #dressedinpinkshipping #bederia #btyu #my writing

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