#i mean he's wearing a mask and is trying to cover himself XD | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

lady-divine-writes · 4 years ago

Text

ACITW AU one-shot - “Draining Pipes” (Rated M)

Summary: After Sebastian is accidentally exposed to Covid, Kurt convinces him to quarantine. While the rest of the city is slowly opening up, Kurt is returning to a life that resembles normal. But for Sebastian, home alone without his boyfriend, isolation is changing him. And Kurt has some concerns... (2063 words)

Notes: Yes, this is a pandemic fic, but I promise, it's funny XD

Read on AO3.

"Hi, honey! I'm home!"

"Nope. Try again."

Kurt's head snaps up so quickly he stutters a step, nearly tripping over his feet even though he'd already stopped walking. He glares at Sebastian from across the room as if the man had gotten up from his seat, strolled over, and, without a word, vomited rancid sushi all over his Manolo Blahniks. "What?"

In a tone reminiscent of one his NYADA dance teacher, Cassie July, used that made Kurt prickle from head to toe, Sebastian says, "Try. again."

"Try what again?"

"Walking through the door."

Kurt spins around to examine the doorway, searching for clues about what he could have possibly done incorrectly. "And what, pray tell, is wrong with the way I walk through the door!?"

"Every time you come home, you say, 'Hi, honey! I'm home!'"

"Yeah, and... ?"

"It's boring. Unoriginal. It harkens back to an era of television situation comedy that had no hand in influencing our generation and, frankly, regurgitating it is beneath you and your dramatic talents."

Kurt plants his hands on his hips and gawks. What the hell happened to his boyfriend while he was away? He was only gone four hours! "Have you been rifling through my old schoolbooks again? I told you, there was no Illuminati conspiracy going on at NYADA!"

"Why don't you try something different?" Sebastian counters, neither confirming nor denying Kurt's accusation. "Something a bit more, dare I say, exotic?"

"Exotic?" Kurt scrunches his nose with distaste when he says it. Of all the words in the English language, that's one of his least favorite. "What constitutes exotic in your twisted opinion?"

"I don't know. Think of something. You're the creative, not me."

"What? I... " A dozen arguments about how he's just gotten home, how exhausted he is, how travel between here and the theater was a pain in the ass because some people still don't seem to understand what 'over the mouth AND nose' means so navigating his way through the subway was like playing a game of human Tetris with potentially infected pieces and that he's never been all that good at Tetris anyway! die on his lips.

It would be a waste of breath.

Still, Kurt doesn't know why he indulges him, but he turns on his heel and walks back out the door. After a few seconds of deep breathing in the hall to keep from screaming bloody murder, he storms back in and brightly declares, "Buenos dias, motherfucker! Como what's up?"

Seeing as the two of them speak fluent French, Spanglish is the most exotic thing he could come up with.

Sebastian nods in stoic approval. "Better. How goes life on the apocalyptic landscape?"

"I'm not selling my body for Cocoa Krispies if that's what you're asking," Kurt quips, wondering if this is how Sebastian acts at work and how no one has put the man through a window yet, partner or not.

"So what I'm hearing is you didn't bring home Cocoa Krispies."

"Nope. Sorry."

"Bitch."

"Yeah, well... " Kurt removes his shoes and socks, then sheds his coat, his messenger bag, his slacks, and his dress shirt, carefully piling them on a chair by the front door - their staging area for decontamination. While he undresses, he eyes Sebastian, not paying him an inch of mind, sitting on what has been dubbed the convalescence corner of the sofa, dressed in a soft white tee and flannel lounge pants, his laptop open on legs covered by a quilt his mother made for him when he was ten. Sebastian knows for a fact that Kurt is undressing and yet he's not leering at him, wolf-whistling under his breath or licking his lips like he's watching an Outback Steakhouse commercial. He's simply sitting in his spot, eyes glued to his laptop screen.

And Kurt loathes it.

Sebastian's attentions have been waning more and more lately, and even though it's savagely bruising Kurt's ego, he can't blame him.

Depending on how they choose to look at things, this situation could kind of, slightly, sort of be deemed Kurt's fault.

"Thank you again for doing this," Kurt says, extending an olive branch. He's been doing this so often over the past few months, he's started buying in bulk. "I can't tell you how much you keeping your distance and staying home has put my mind at ease."

Sebastian doesn't look at him when he replies: "No sweat, babe."

"I know it was just one small cough... and the kid was wearing two masks... and a face shield... "

"Hey, like you said, no need taking any chances. Right?"

"Right," Kurt agrees. And he believes it. He believed it then and he believes it now. Had the roles been reversed, Kurt would make the sacrifice, more than willing to lock himself away for the sake of curbing this disease and keeping Sebastian healthy.

But it isn't him.

And he feels like dirt going to work three days a week, returning to something that resembles normal knowing what Sebastian is missing out on.

"It's his mother's fault for not mentioning that her little plague rat has covid before I got stuck on the elevator with them," Sebastian says, possibly trying to make Kurt feel better even though his gaze hasn't shifted.

"But quarantining for six days longer than necessary? That's above and beyond! I mean it. You deserve a medal."

Sebastian tosses him a wink over his shoulder but he doesn't linger, giving half-naked Kurt only a brief once over. "I got you, fam. Besides, time's up tomorrow. Then... " He thousand-yard stares in the direction of the flat screen "... it's rat-hunting season."

"It hasn't been all bad, has it?" Kurt asks guiltily as Sebastian's eyes return to his laptop. He'll admit that maybe he did go a tad overboard when he'd found out Sebastian had been exposed, banishing him to one end of the penthouse and the guest bedroom, keeping him at broom handle length for the past nineteen days.

But they were almost in the clear! And that's the part that pisses Kurt off most.

The disease hasn't been eradicated, but there was a light at the end of the tunnel. The theater started allowing small groups to return for socially distanced practices. That's a huge win for Kurt. Being away from Broadway and rehearsals and opening nights and curtain calls... it was becoming difficult for him to breathe.

Sebastian was on the brink of going back to the office a few days a week, too. It wasn't so much not being at the office that bothered him, but the peripherals - eating lunch at his favorite deli or hitting the gym before dinner.

Sebastian had taken three tests after that fateful elevator incident, all of which came back negative, so he was confident everything would be alright. He was in the midst of planning his first in-person meeting, but Kurt balked, pointing out that there has been so much controversy over the accuracy of those tests. Sebastian offered to take three more if necessary, but regardless of the outcome, Kurt didn't feel it safe. And even though they had access to the vaccine (because money), being exposed, even minorly, pushed Sebastian's timetable for receiving his first dose back two weeks.

Kurt's father and stepmother have both received theirs, and Kurt was so looking forward to taking a trip to Ohio for a first hug in over a year. He's going to be damned if a four-foot-tall Petri dish ruins that for him!

But because of his paranoia, Kurt and Sebastian haven't touched, haven't kissed in two weeks. They tried the whole Skype sex thing from different rooms of the penthouse, aiming to recapture old college day thrills to boot, but it didn't work out the way they'd hoped. And even though they see each other every day, talk to one another, aggravate each other, throw popcorn and other food items at each other, Kurt misses Sebastian like the dickens. He misses his hugs, his warmth, his smell.

And yes, he misses the sex.

"Since I've been back to work, you've had the peace and privacy to watch those wacky pornos that your brother sends you."

"Yup," Sebastian says, typing something into his search bar that Kurt can't quite make out. "The wackiest."

"Didn't he say something about them being illegal in the contiguous 49 states?"

"Forty-eight. Tennessee turned itself around."

"It would be Tennessee."

"Always is."

"You probably haven't given your fleshjack a rest in two weeks," Kurt prods, worried over these short responses.

"Mmph... mmm-hmm... "

Kurt starts circling the sofa when all he gets is a chuckle in response, curious if Sebastian is even listening to him. He comes up behind him, standing on a piece of painter's tape they'd put down to mark six feet so Kurt can peek over his shoulder.

And what he sees on Sebastian's screen makes absolutely no sense.

"What are you watching?"

"Drain clearing videos."

Kurt's eyes go wide. "Drain clearing? Wh-what does that mean?"

"This guy drives all over, and when he finds a street that's flooded, he takes out a rake, drags it through the water, and tries to find the blocked drain."

"Does he work for the city?"

"Nah. He's just some guy."

"And he's made a whole channel about... clearing drains."

"Yes, sir."

"And you're watching it?"

"It came up in my recommendations so I clicked one." Sebastian shakes his head, chuckling when stagnant grey water, punctuated by speckles of rain, turns into a whirlpool, rushing through thick iron bars embedded in the concrete and disappearing from view. "It's so satisfying."

"What on Earth were you watching before this that YouTube recommended it?"

"Car cleaning videos."

Kurt's left eyebrow slowly climbs up his forehead. "A-ha."

"Yup. I never realized how relaxing it is to watch a handsome guy Bissell Kool-Aid stains out of carpet. But now... it's my jam."

Kurt huffs, offended on behalf of himself and his own vigorous cleaning regimen. "It wasn't your jam when I was steam cleaning our throw rugs! And the curtains!"

"Yeah, well, things hit different when you're forced into isolation."

Kurt storms forward a step. But then he remembers. And he stops, foot hovering an inch past the sacred boundary that keeps him from venturing too close to infection. He teeters, determination creasing his brow while anxiety wrestles his shoulders back. All the while, a war wages inside his tired brain:

"Get him! You've been vaccinated!"

"It's only one dose!"

"He's not even sick!"

"You don't know that!"

"Yes, I do!"

"It's not worth the risk!"

"Yes... it... IS!"

"Come on!" Kurt demands, throwing himself bodily at the sofa. He grabs Sebastian's hand, a small voice screaming inside his head as if his tiny naysayer is being burned at the stake. "Come with me... NOW!"

"Where are we going?" Sebastian asks, rushing to move his computer to the side before he gets dragged off the sofa by his surprisingly strong boyfriend.

"This is an intervention."

"But you shouldn't be touching me! Or breathing my air! I have one day left!"

"You're fine! If you haven't gotten sick by now, you probably aren't going to! This is an emergency!"

"What emergency?"

"Quarantine has turned you into someone I don't recognize! Car cleaning videos? Who are you right now?"

"They're educational. It's good to learn a new skill."

Kurt barks a laugh that could shatter crystal. "Right. Like you'd ever. You'd pay highway robbery to have your ten-speed detailed!"

"Nope, because you'd do it for free."

Kurt rolls his eyes, unwilling to entertain his boyfriend's mocking of him to ask whether or not that's code. "If you're going to ogle a man wielding a Bissell, Goddammit, it's going to be me!"

"So... are we going to clean some carpets?"

"We're going to take a shower and then have sex. A lot of sex. You're getting fucked and sucked until you're back to normal."

Sebastian snorts, delighted by his incredibly good fortune. "If you insist. But are you absolutely sure about this?"

Kurt stops short and faces Sebastian. He looks him over, making certain he doesn't seem particularly sick, and shrugs.

"We'll wear masks. Or three. I don't need to kiss you to make you cum." Kurt continues to drag Sebastian towards the bathroom as his grin grows to epic proportions.

"Kinky."

#kurtbastian #acitw #acitw au #sebkurt #sekurt

42 notes · View notes

callboxkat · 4 years ago

Text

And It All Fell Away

Author’s note: If you don’t mind, anon, I’m going to alter your prompt a bit so it’s during a fictional war. I personally can’t really see Janus fighting for the Confederacy (Plus this way I don’t have to do as much research, but shhhh it’s definitely mostly the first reason XD ).

Hey, why not an AtLA AU? Virgil and Patton are Earth Kingdom and Janus is Fire Nation.

Summary: Two years ago, Patton and his best friend, Virgil, were drafted to fight for the Earth Kingdom in the war against the Fire Nation invasion. Patton has never been much of a fighter, but he'll do what he can to save his people. However, when Patton gets hurt and he and Virgil are separated from the rest of their army, Virgil just might have to look to one of their enemy to save Patton's life.

Warnings: This takes place during a war, so expect stuff related to that. Minor character death, fighting, arguing, swords, fire, near death experiences, referenced genocide, killing (in self defense), desertion, memory loss, head injury, mention of throwing up, blood

Word Count: 9000

Original prompt:

Writing Masterpost!

Ao3 Link

@badthingshappenbingo

...

Patton generally tried to avoid fighting. If he were asked, he would probably describe himself as a pacifist.

This was not a trait that lent itself well to his current situation, as an Earth Kingdom soldier on the front lines of the fight against the Fire Nation invasion.

He did his best to only fight when he absolutely had to, and when he did, to only push back the soldiers, and not to kill them. If what he did do led to the soldiers being killed by someone else, well, he tried not to let that keep him up too late at night.

He had killed before, but not because he wanted to. Rather, it was because his options were to take someone out, or to be killed himself. Or if one of his fellow soldiers was about to be killed. Patton might have been a pacifist, but he wasn’t disloyal.

Perhaps a pacifist was not the ideal soldier to have on the front lines, but an earthbender was. And Patton was one of the best earthbenders in his village, and the people in charge of selecting villagers to draft knew it. Patton wasn’t going to brag about his skills, even if the only “reward” he’d gotten for them hadn’t been being sent to participate in a war he wanted no part of. The bar for earthbending skill wasn’t very high, given how small his village was and how few earthbenders were among them. The village was so small, in fact, that there was only one other soldier in his unit from the same one.

(There was only one left anyway. But that was another thing Patton tried not to think about.)

That other soldier from his village was a young man named Virgil. He was a nonbender, but his skill with his pair of dao swords was considerable.

And he was Patton’s best friend in the world.

For the past two years since they had been drafted and sent to the front lines, Virgil and Patton had been side by side, part of the Earth Kingdom army tasked with fighting back the Fire Nation as they razed forests and invaded towns, destroying everything in their wake and taking prisoners by the dozens.

Patton was not looking forward to when one or both of them was inevitable captured, or worse.

Today, another battle was raging, in the mountains of the north-western Earth Kingdom.

It… wasn’t going the best it could have. The fighting had dragged on into the night, but they could still see perfectly, thanks to the flames raging all around. Plumes of fire shot into the sky, sporadically illuminating the battlefield in harsh relief.

Patton could only be glad that the Fire Nation hadn’t been able to bring any of their infamous trebuchets this far inland, through the mountains. Still, Patton thought as he batted out the flames on one of his sleeves, this was far from an easy battle.

Patton raised a wall of stone and pushed it towards the approaching enemy soldiers, shoving them back the way they had come. Licks of retaliatory flame curled over the top of the wall, which began to groan and crack from the heat.

Sweat dripped down Patton’s face. Not for the first time, he wished his uniform were lighter. They were pretty far north, yes; but it was summer; and they were fighting firebenders.

Virgil stood at his side, panting, his swords half raised. He looked towards Patton and gave a terse nod in appreciation for his efforts. The light from the dancing flames only made the coal dust he smeared around his eyes look even more dramatic.

Intimidation won half the battle, Virgil claimed. If the Fire Nation was going to wear skull masks and spikes, he was going to be just as terrifying. He wore pretty much the same green uniform as any other nonbending member of the Earth Kingdom army; that was true; but Patton had seen many Fire Nation soldiers come up short when they got close enough to see his eyes. And that small hesitation was all the opportunity Virgil ever needed.

A loud thud sounded, and cracks and fissures began to form in the wall Patton had created. He clenched his hands into fists, solidifying it again, but another blow came, and fire surged over its top, and Patton had to step back to avoid being burned. The wall finally crumbled as his concentration broke. Cheers sounded.

Patton gritted his teeth, focused on the earth between himself and the rapidly approaching Fire Nation soldiers, and lifted his arms. The earth shifted, slanting under his control.

“Patton!”

Patton jerked, a shudder going through the earth he was currently bending into a slide to send the nearest Fire Nation soldiers sprawling. He turned, and Virgil was lunging, and Patton barely had the time to feel alarmed before he saw the man, saw the large, spiked weapon coming straight for his face.

Patton ducked, meaning to punch the man in the weak point in his armor, to slow him down—but he wasn’t fast enough.

Not nearly fast enough.

…

Virgil let out a guttural shriek and brought his swords slashing down, but he was too late the stop the weapon that struck Patton’s helmet hard enough to leave a crater. His friend pinwheeled back, the earth he had been bending cracking apart as he lost control of it. Patton fell, but the cracks didn’t stop. All of the other nearby soldiers, nonbenders like Virgil, as bad luck would have it, were quick to back up. Virgil only ran closer, desperately trying to get to his friend!

The earth beneath his feet was falling apart, and Virgil knew it was about to give way completely. He leaped over the fallen Fire Nation soldier, landing hard on the shifting rock. His hand closed on Patton’s limp wrist, and he hefted Patton up in his arms just as the whole section of the mountain really began to move.

He knew he wouldn’t get away in time. So he just squeezed his eyes shut and held on to his friend as the rock broke free and crumbled right off the side of the mountain.

For a moment, he was in freefall.

He landed, his feet slamming painfully into the ground despite how he attempted to absorb the impact. Something hit his shoulder as he fell forward, sending a blinding spike of pain through his body. Virgil shrieked again, but the cry was buried in the sound of the rock and debris falling all around them. Virgil rolled on top of Patton, only able to hope that he and his friend wouldn’t be crushed.

And then, suddenly, it was quiet. All he could hear was his own harsh breathing and the distant sounds of battle.

Virgil groaned, shoving a broken tree branch off of himself. He sat up, sending the stones on top of him rolling, and winced at… well, his entire body, as he looked around. They appeared to be at the bottom of a ravine. The trees here were practically unburned—so far, at least—but he could see broken branches in some of the trees where stray rocks or other projectiles must have hit, and the smell of ash and burning was still strong.

The Fire Nation soldier had fallen with them. He lay face down about twenty feet away, sprawled awkwardly on the ground, only partially covered by the plants and stones where he had landed. He wasn’t moving. Not that Virgil had expected him to.

Virgil turned away.

They were safe enough for the moment, he decided. And if a boulder was going to come flying at him, there wouldn’t be much he could do about it, anyway.

He looked down at Patton.

His friend was unconscious—but he was alive, Virgil noted with dizzying relief, as he pressed his fingers to his neck. His helmet was askew, his uniform as torn and dirtied as Virgil’s own. Virgil shoved away more bits of earth and broken branches and gently patted down his friend, searching for any more wounds, but he didn’t find anything. Probably some impressive bruises, like Virgil was sure he would have, and a few shallow cuts from hitting the trees and sharper stones, but no worse.

Virgil carefully removed Patton’s helmet. He winced at the large welt on his temple.

“F*ck, Pat,” he murmured. His fingers hovered over the wound for a second before he withdrew his hand.

He looked around, hoping for any sign of the rest of his army. Patton needed help. Virgil couldn’t bend them back up the mountain, and there was no way he was going to be able to carry his friend all the way there on his own. Especially with his arm in the shape it was in.

He’d have to wait until either Patton woke up, or help arrived. And he’d have to hope that no one else got to them first.

Virgil looked around for his swords. He had dropped them, but he was pretty sure they had fallen with them. Sure enough, he spotted one about ten feet away, half-buried in rubble, and once he gathered that one up, he spotted the other, pinned under a chunk of rock. A few determined shoves with his good shoulder freed the weapon, which turned out to be badly dented.

Better a dented weapon than no weapon, Virgil thought. He picked up the sword.

He dragged over a few bits of undergrowth to better hide himself and his friend, shifted Patton into what he hoped was a more comfortable position, and crouched down there to wait.

…

Janus missed home.

He missed his people. He missed his aunt’s carefully tended garden; he missed crispy fire flakes at cultural festivals; he missed the chameleon-cats who hung out in the alleyways around the market; he missed the beautiful landscape of his homeland, unlike anywhere else on the planet. He missed a time when he still believed that his country was doing the right thing, trying to share their greatness and prosperity with the world. He missed his mother, who he would never see again, and he missed his sisters, who were probably still in school, still learning about how wonderful their country was and how they should be proud of their brother for taking part in the war.

Proud of a brother who had had no choice in the matter.

Punishments for crime were stiff in the Fire Nation, and they were always looking for new soldiers. Sixteen was old enough to enlist, and therefore sixteen was old enough to be drafted.

Seventeen was, Janus had decided, old enough to desert.

He had had enough. Enough of fighting, enough of watching people he hardly even had time to get to know be cut down in front of him, sometimes by the very flames his own people had started. Always by the very war that his own people had started nearly a century before.

He’d had enough of burning the world. Of going to see beautiful and unique places, and either assimilating them into the Fire Nation, or destroying them completely. And those were the battles they won.

When they didn’t win, well. Janus could name many souls whose absence served as a reminder as vivid as the scars on his body.

He’d had enough of creating orphans, of burning the world, of all of it.

He was done.

Once he had made his decision, he gathered what he needed to make his desertion a success. Maps of the Earth Kingdom, collected from the messenger on behalf of the Fire Nation army and simply never passed on (their loss was easily blamed on an unknown interception), extra supplies for his med kit (from soldiers who wouldn’t need them anymore, before they could be properly redistributed), food (under the guise that he was just a hungry growing boy, a reminder that made the cooks just uncomfortable and sympathetic enough to give in, despite rules for strict rationing for low-level soldiers). Water was plentiful in this part of the Earth Kingdom, and he could worry about that potential need later. He didn’t take anything that he couldn’t conceal within his armor.

Then, all he had to do was wait for an opportunity. The next battle, he decided, when his disappearance would be easily mistaken for something more fatal and less treasonous.

He slipped away during the thick of the battle, as everyone else was busy burning and killing and dying. He found a riderless Komodo-rhino in a stroke of unexpected luck—he was ignoring how it likely got that way—and took it with him, making his way down the mountain. His disappearance was lost in the chaos; and soon enough, he found himself in a ravine, away from the battle but not foolish to think he was out of danger yet.

It was night, the soon-to-be burned forest lit by the glow of orange flames that were distant for now, but not nearly distant enough. Harsh shadows stretched across the landscape, providing plenty of hiding places for enemies or for former allies who might recognize his desertion for what it was.

Janus slid off of the Komodo-rhino’s back now that he was on fairly level ground, deciding that the added height from sitting atop it only made him easier to spot. Plus, were he found, he could more easily dodge and attack from the ground, rather than trying to maneuver from atop a gigantic beast.

Janus and the Komodo-rhino walked through the forest, the crashes of rock and roar of flames growing more distant, but not nearly distant enough to allow the tension to leave the firebender’s body. Occasionally, burnt leaves would flutter down to the forest floor, and Janus would silently extinguish them. Harder to ignore were the stones or boulders that tumbled down, clear products of the earthbenders among the enemy’s—former enemy’s—ranks.

He slowed his pace, spotting something in the brush, on the edge of one of these recent unnatural rockfalls. It was a human shape, sprawled awkwardly on the ground. It was a harsh reminder that earth was not the only thing that could end up cast to the bottom of a ravine.

Janus knew a corpse when he saw one, even at this distance. There was nothing he could do for the man. He kept walking.

Seconds later, a very human sound stopped Janus in his tracks. He looked around, hands raised to defend himself. For a fraction of a second he thought maybe, maybe, he’d been mistaken, and the corpse he had found hadn’t been a corpse at all. But the sound had come from the wrong direction. No, this was something else. He couldn’t see anything out of place up ahead, but that didn’t mean much in this shadowy landscape.

Was it possible that he had imagined the sound? He was rather on edge. Perhaps he was simply being paranoid.

For now, he decided to just keep going, and to keep an eye out.

That was exactly when the underbrush exploded, and a shadow swung a pair of dented swords at his face.

…

A Fire Nation soldier stood in the middle of the ravine, in full battle armor, lit by the orange glow of the flames from the battle that raged at the top of the mountain.

Virgil swore quietly when he saw the all-too-familiar shape, gathering Patton closer to himself.

The enemy soldier walked nearer, and out of the shadows came the beast he led by a thick rope. A Komodo-rhino, Virgil recognized, the favored steed of the nation of colonizers and conquerors.

(They also supposedly made a decent sausage, not that that mattered, or that Virgil would ever try it.)

Virgil drew his swords, waiting, quiet, hoping he wouldn’t need them. One of the weapons had been badly dented in their fall, and Virgil could feel a growing wetness on his left arm, even if the pain hadn’t quite set in yet. The soldier kept walking, occasionally glancing up towards the battle. That made sense, Virgil thought. If he was sneaking around to take down someone important on the Earth Kingdom’s side, or to just die in a literal blaze of “glory” and bring honor to his family, he wouldn’t want to be spotted. And, reasonably, he assumed that he would be alone in this ravine.

The soldier slowed his pace. Virgil’s grip tightened on his swords, until he realized that the man had just spotted the body of the soldier who had attacked Patton. The soldier looked at it for a moment, and then resumed his former pace. Virgil didn’t allow himself to relax, though. They weren’t in the clear yet.

The soldier was almost gone, they were almost safe, when Patton groaned. Virgil tried not to be annoyed with him.

The soldier stopped, and his Komodo-rhino grunted, pawing at the earth. He looked around, putting up his hands and shifting into a wider stance. He had a skull-like faceplate, a clear indication that this man wasn’t just a soldier. He was a firebender.

Virgil wasn’t about to wait to be flushed out. He jumped out of his hiding place and lunged, bringing down his swords.

Only to be blocked by one of those metal-clad arms and sent flying back. But the man fell, knocked off balance by the attack. Virgil rolled as he landed and ran back towards him, raising those swords again.

“Stop!” the soldier commanded.

“What, you think that’ll work?” Virgil said, ducking a fire blast—which seemed strangely small, although it was probably just the angle, or an incompetent firebender—and sweeping the soldier’s feet from under him. Virgil cried out at the way the move jarred his injured arm. He turned the sound into a roar of rage.

The soldier went down with a heavy thump, his metal armor crashing with him. But he wasn’t done: he was already getting back to his feet and turning to face Virgil, his skull-like faceplate as empty and expressionless as they all were. His gloves steamed as he settled into a fighting stance. Virgil took a step back.

And lunged again.

Virgil wasn’t a bender like Patton or this enemy soldier, but he was determined. He wouldn’t let himself be killed. Not by one of the people who was helping all the other ash-makers to take over and systematically destroy the entire world, and not while Patton was injured and needed his help.

…

Metal armor was good for more than just being incredibly heavy and overheating in the summer heat, Janus was rudely reminded as he shoved the Earth Kingdom soldier back yet again.

He was trying to hold back, trying not to kill the guy—that was the whole point of this, to finally stop killing—but he was going to defend himself.

…He didn’t need to hold back much, actually. This guy was really good.

…

“Shut up and die already!”

The words forced their way into his murky mind, dragging him up from a hazy darkness. He scrunched up his face, disoriented and confused. Pain throbbed through his skull.

He opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was fire.

Fire, bright orange and yellow and red, flaring in the darkness.

He was too shocked to make a sound, only able to gape, unable to even move away.

Somehow, the fire disappeared as soon as it came, dissipating into sparks.

He shrank back, expecting more flames, but none came. Instead, he heard voices, arguing.

He slowly looked up, struggling in an attempt to sit upright even though his body didn’t seem to want to cooperate; and he saw two figures standing nearby. They were clearly in the middle of a fight. One of them had swords drawn! And the other had a scary skull mask!

He didn’t know who they were, but he knew he didn’t want them to fight. What if they hurt each other? Or worse? No, no. He couldn’t let that happen. He had to stop them.

As he watched, trying to get his body to remember how to get up, the man with the swords lunged, and the other man barely avoided being decapitated. The skull man retaliated with a burst of flame that singed the sword man’s robes, shouting something about enemies. The sword man didn’t seem to care.

He managed to sit up, and everything was spinning, but he couldn’t let these people kill each other. “Please stop,” he said desperately. His voice came out as a hoarse croak.

As quiet as his voice was, the others must have heard him. The man with the swords turned, and his mouth dropped open.

The man’s eyes were like black pits bored into his skull.

He shuddered.

The man with the skull face and the fire looked like he was debating taking a shot at the man with the swords while he was distracted, but he didn’t.

“Patton,” the man with the swords said, abandoning his fight and coming closer. “Patton, are you okay?”

Patton?

Was he Patton?

He thought for a second. His head hurt a lot, and he couldn’t concentrate very well, but that sounded right.

Was this man his friend? Patton tried to smile at him. Would that get him to stop fighting?

Apparently, it would. The man with the swords dropped his weapons, ran over, and fell to his knees at Patton’s side. He reached up, looking at Patton’s eyes and at a spot on his head. The other man hovered nearby.

“Is he okay?” the man with the skull face asked. “That’s a big bump on his head.”

Patton frowned and put a hand up to his head, wanting to know what he was talking about. The man who used to have swords went to stop him, but not before Patton had touched the painful lump on his head. He gasped, and a fresh wave of dizziness washed over him.

…

Janus hung back as the Earth Kingdom soldier went to check on his injured companion.

“Is he okay?” he asked hesitantly, watching the man hover around his friend, apparently not knowing what to do. “That’s a big bump on his head.” And it was bleeding. A little. And while it was hard to tell in this lighting, Janus was pretty sure the soldier’s pupils were two different sizes. That was… not great.

The soldier turned back and glared at him. “He’s fine. No thanks to you ash-makers.”

The injured soldier—Patton, Janus remembered—swayed where he sat. Janus thought of the med kit he had brought, and took a hesitant step closer.

Only to instantly have a sword pointed at his throat. The non-dented sword, he noticed. He slowly put up his hands.

“My mom was a doctor of sorts,” he offered. “She worked on injuries like that. Accidents in the mine back home. I picked up a few things.”

Patton chose that moment to pass out again, falling to hang limply in his friend’s arms. The other soldier gasped, then bit his lip, looking conflicted. Janus could tell the moment he made his decision.

He turned to his should-be enemy and fixed him with a hard look. Janus had to admit it was pretty intimidating, with that raccoon-bear-like makeup he had on. Not a bad intimidation tactic.

“Make one wrong move,” the soldier said, “and I will end you, Smoke Breath.”

The Komodo-rhino grunted.

Janus put up his hands in a surrendering fashion—obviously not a firebending stance. Still, the soldier narrowed his eyes.

Which was a fair response, Janus had to admit. He’d seen his share of false surrenders.

Janus slowly approached, and the soldier shifted Patton to lay on the ground, settling one hand on the handle of a sword.

“I don’t have a lot with me,” Janus admitted. He lowered his hands, ignored the intense scrutiny the move received, and pulled out the med kit he had prepared. He pulled out a roll of bandages and antiseptic. He dabbed the antiseptic on the cut on Patton’s forehead, doing his best to clean it. The entire time he worked, the other soldier’s eyes burned holes through him, deeper than any bender’s fire could.

“My name is Janus,” he offered, not looking up.

“…Virgil,” the soldier said, his tone making it clear that this didn’t make them friends.

…

Patton didn’t stir while the Fire Nation soldier worked.

(Virgil wouldn’t have minded seeing the firebender sent flying by an instinctive rock to the gut, of course. He’d seen more than enough of his comrades cut down by their flames.

Still, they should probably not accidentally kill the closest thing they had to a medic, Virgil figured.)

“We need to get further away from the battle,” Janus said as he wrapped bandages around Patton’s head. “Unless you want to become collateral damage.”

As if to emphasize his point, a boulder crashed down on the opposite hillside, flung who knew how far and reducing the unfortunate tree it landed on to splinters.

“He needs a medic,” Virgil argued, hardly sparing the boulder a glance. He was used to that sort of thing by now. “A proper one.”

“Oh, really? I hadn’t noticed,” Janus said dryly. “How are you planning to get him there? He can’t walk, we’re at the bottom of the mountain, and I’m pretty sure if you were an earthbender, you would have crushed me with a boulder by now. The way I got down here takes us straight to the Fire Nation army, and I’m pretty sure they won’t care how much help you or your friend needed.”

Virgil’s mouth thinned.

“Look. If I was going to kill you, I would have done it by now, wouldn’t I? I’m not here with the army. I left. I’m done killing.”

Virgil narrowed his eyes, searching the soldier. It was hard to look for genuineness in someone whose face was hidden by a freaking skull mask.

“I can take you to a medic,” Janus continued. “We’ll take my Komodo-rhino, and get there in a few hours. It’ll take you days on foot. Days your friend might not have.”

Virgil shifted, still glaring, but Janus had a point. This area was very sparsely populated, especially with the battlefront threatening to encroach further and further inland. It could be quite a while before they found someone who could help Patton.

It was clear that the firebender knew he had convinced him. That didn’t mean Virgil was going to trust the guy, though.

“Come on. I’ll help you carry him.”

Virgil glared. “I’ve got him.”

“Have you seen your arm?” Janus asked, looking pointedly at where red soaked through green. “You’ll probably drop him.”

Virgil gritted his teeth, shifting his sleeve to hide the injury. It hadn’t affected him too much when he’d been fighting Janus, but by now the adrenaline was wearing off, and the pain was setting in. “Fine. But if you try anything, or give me any reason to think you might try something—”

“Let me guess, you’ll kill me?”

“Oh good, you’re not as stupid as you look.”

Not that Virgil could see anything under his armor, since he still wore his faceplate and he even wore gloves on his hands, but that didn’t matter.

Didn’t he get hot? Virgil wondered. Around fire all the time, with heavy metal armor and apparently even gloves? In summer?

Not that he cared, of course. It was probably just more backwards Fire Nation logic.

Each young man took one of Patton’s arms, and they slowly lifted him up to something that resembled standing.

Patton woke up as they moved him, blinking dazed gray eyes. His head lolled as he turned to look at Virgil. Janus twitched. Virgil shifted to help support his neck.

“Group hug?” Patton mumbled. “I love hugs.”

Patton clearly didn’t understand what was going on, because there was no way that he would be so okay with a “group hug” with a firebender.

Virgil tried to look reassuring, but he was pretty sure his smile looked like more of a grimace. He wasn’t sure Patton noticed, either way. His gaze was already drifting away, up towards the burnt leaves fluttering through the air. He watched them with a sort of innocent fascination, like a child watching butterflies.

Virgil and Janus slowly made their way to the stolen Komodo-rhino. Patton tried to help walk, stumbling along between the two opposing soldiers.

Janus hopped up first, making doing so in full armor look way too easily. He and Virgil propped Patton up in the middle of the saddle, between them.

“Well?” Virgil said when they were done, still not quite convinced that this wasn’t a trick. “Let’s go.”

“We have to have a destination first,” the firebender pointed out, pulling out some maps from somewhere within his armor and squinting at them in the dimness. “We’ll find an Earth Kingdom town.”

“Obviously. Your stupid colonies would arrest us. Or you know, just kill us, if they didn’t feel like the hassle.”

“I was thinking more that I didn’t want to be executed for desertion and treason; but sure, that too.”

Virgil scoffed.

“Whazzgoin’ on?” Patton asked, shifting in Virgil’s arms.

“We’re going somewhere safe,” Virgil said.

(“Found it,” said Janus. He put away the map, rolled his shoulders, and flicked his reins. The Komodo-rhino began to move.)

Patton shifted like he was going to try to get away, but failing miserably. “We not safe?” he asked, sounding alarmed.

“No, no,” Virgil quickly corrected before Patton could hurt himself, or accidentally earthbend them all into a crater. “We’re safe. We’re just going somewhere even safer.”

“Can’t you hold him still?” Janus said. “If he keeps squirming he’s going to fall off the Komodo-rhino, and that’s the last thing we need.”

“Remind me why we’re still with you again?” Virgil said, glaring at the back of his helmet.

“Good monster,” Patton told the Komodo-rhino. He’d stopped struggling, thankfully.

“It’s my Komodo-rhino. If you want to walk to the nearest non-barbecued town, be my guest.”

“Didn’t you steal this thing?”

Janus declined to comment on that. They continued on for a while, gradually leaving the battle behind.

They made it out of the ravine, thanks to some luckily less steep topography at the very end of the Earth Kingdom side (Virgil was very glad they hadn’t had to backtrack, and Janus had somehow seemed even less eager about the idea).

The sky began to lighten as they plodded along, and after a while, Patton, who had been half-dozing where he lay propped against Janus’s back, turned to look at Virgil. He squinted, looking confused.

Virgil looked back at him, concerned. “Pat?”

Patton blinked, then patted the Komodo-rhino’s back. He looked back at Virgil, staring at him for a long moment.

…

“Are you a spirit?” Patton asked. He wasn’t quite sure where he was, or what was going on. Maybe this spirit had something to do with that.

“What?” asked the spirit. It frowned at him, only making the dark pits of its eyes look even scarier.

Patton swallowed. “Oh please, spirit, let me go,” he asked. He struggled to get off of the monster’s back, only to realize that it was moving. Arms encircled him, keeping him still. He struggled harder. He had to get away, didn’t he? He was so confused, and his head hurt, and he was scared.

“Hold him still,” another voice said.

“Bite me,” said the first spirit.

Patton turned around, confused at the second voice. He blinked hard at the resulting dizziness, and it took him a second to realize that the big metal thing he had been leaning against was alive. It turned to look at him, and his eyes widened, because its face… its face was a horrible metal skull, white and streaked with ash and mud but still stark against the pitch black and blood red of the rest of its body. This spirit was even scarier than the first. Patton squeaked, and he stopped struggling. Because he did not want to make these clearly evil spirits angry.

The scary skull spirit sighed and turned back around. Patton was just glad that he couldn’t see that horrible skull face anymore.

They started walking through the trees, the only sounds the low groaning of the Komodo-rhino, the breaking of twigs, and the occasional, strangely reassuring murmurs of the spirit behind him. It probably wanted to keep him calm, so they could more easily do whatever they wanted to do to him.

Patton really didn’t feel well. The motion of the trees as they moved forward, bouncing along on the back of the armored gray monster, was nauseating, and the light filtering through the trees and glinting off of the metal skull spirit was only making his head hurt worse. He closed his eyes and leaned forward onto the spirit in front of him. The cool metal was welcome against his throbbing skull. He could worry about what these spirits wanted with him later.

…

“I can’t believe he threw up on me.”

Virgil leaned back against the Komodo-rhino, holding his injured arm with the other, and watched as the firebender removed his soiled metal chest plate and tossed it away. “You need to ditch your armor, anyway, don’t you? Kinda obviously Fire Nation.”

Janus turned, and Virgil was sure he was being sneered at, even if the guy was still wearing his helmet. “We’re twenty miles away!”

“Boo-hoo.”

There was a grumble from the saddle, and Virgil turned to Patton, who lay against the Komodo-rhino’s back, his face pale and pinched.

“It’s okay,” Virgil murmured.

Patton didn’t respond. Virgil sighed through his nose.

They needed to hurry.

Janus continued stripping off his armor and hiding it in a bush. He kept on the helmet, for some reason, as well as the gloves and gauntlets, and his boots. Otherwise, he wore only the simple, reddish gray clothing that the ash-makers all wore underneath their armor.

“Let’s go,” he said.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Virgil said pointedly, tapping his head. He pulled himself up into the saddle and brought Patton up to lean back against his chest.

Janus stared at him for a moment, sighed, and then reluctantly removed his helmet.

Virgil stared.

“Shut up,” said the firebender, getting into the saddle. He flicked the reins, and they started off again.

…

He was in a bed, and it was dark, and there was something warm and soft and slightly itchy laid over him. He heard voices, although they were indistinct, like they were coming from another room.

He turned his head, and oh, that was a mistake.

“Are you awake?” a new voice said. Closer. Higher in pitch than the other two. With a subtle accent that he couldn’t place.

“Hmm,” was all he managed. He was pretty sure that if he tried to speak more, he’d throw up, or crack apart like dried mud, or maybe just dissolve into the earth. At that moment, that last idea didn’t seem so bad, but that didn’t mean he would risk it.

“Can you tell me your name?”

His name.

Did he have a name?

Yes, of course he had a name, he thought. Now if only he could remember what that was.

The answer slowly bubbled up in his mind.

“Pah….” He winced at the scratchiness in his throat, and the way the single syllable made his painful head spin.

“Patton,” the nice voice finished for him, when it was clear he wasn’t going to. “Your friends told me.”

That confused him—confused Patton. If she already knew, why was she asking him?

“Do you remember how you got here?”

He knew this one. Those two scary spirits had brought him, keeping him trapped on the back of a monster. The spirit with the red-black-white skull face and the other with dark pits for eyes.

He shuddered.

“Are you cold?” A hand touched his shoulder. “You don’t feel cold. I hope you’re not running a fever. That’s the last thing you need.”

“Hm?” Why was that? Was something wrong with him? He tried to remember, but remembering hurt, and he didn’t seem to be very good at it.

“You’ll be okay,” the voice assured. She hesitated, then put a hand on his jaw and gently opened his mouth. A few drops of a bitter-tasting substance were placed on his tongue. “Here. You’re going to sleep for a little while,” she said kindly. “You’ll feel better when you wake up.”

Over the next several seconds, Patton’s already considerable sleepiness became overwhelming. He didn’t try to fight it. Just before he drifted off, though, he felt something cool and wet against his forehead, and as his eyelids just barely flickered, he thought he saw the woman’s hands glow blue.

…

When Patton woke, he felt much better. And much worse, for he remembered what had happened, just how he had gotten where he was, and just who had brought him there.

There had been no evil spirits. Just his best friend in the world, and a firebender.

It appeared that he was alone in the room now—lying on a cot, covered in a thin wool blanket, in a small room that was bare save for an Earth Kingdom tapestry and a table covered in medical supplies. A stool sat empty beside the bed.

Patton sat up, wincing, and pushed off the blanket with frustratingly clumsy fingers. He swung his legs over the side of the cot, taking a few deep breaths. His head still hurt, but at least he wasn’t so dizzy, and he could think again.

He had to find Virgil before it was too late. They had to get back to the army before they were presumed dead, or worse, deserters and traitors. If they hadn’t been already.

He had to find Virgil before the firebender decided to stop playing nice.

He pushed himself to his feet. Once he was sure he wouldn’t fall, he burst through the curtained door and into the next room. There was a gasp.

“Patton!”

Patton skidded to a halt. He was in what appeared to be the main room of a house. Virgil was there, the makeup around his eyes gone, wearing plain green robes rather than his uniform, his left arm in a sling. His eyes were wide, like he could hardly believe what he was seeing. One of his dual swords, badly damaged, lay on the table in front of him. It looked like he’d been trying to fix it before Patton appeared. He started to get up, staring at Patton.

Beside Virgil was a young man—or perhaps a teenager?—that Patton didn’t recognize. He wore similar green robes to Virgil, but his skin was paler, and he had a burn over part of one side of his face, including one of his eyes.

His other eye, the undamaged one, was gold.

The firebender.

Virgil was just hanging out with a firebender, with no armor on or weapons to protect himself, apparently at ease with that fact.

This didn’t make any sense at all. How hard had Patton hit his head, exactly? He felt dizzy, and he wasn’t sure it was just from the head wound.

“You… what are you…?” Patton stared between them, taking a step back and reaching for the wall for something to lean on. “I….”

Virgil hurried over, taking Patton by the arm. “Come sit down, okay? You’re alright. Everything’s fine.”

Patton allowed himself to be guided into one of the chairs. He kept staring at the firebender, who looked uncomfortable under his gaze.

“This is Janus,” Virgil explained, gesturing at the firebender as he sat back down.

“…Hi,” Patton said.

“Do you remember what happened?” Virgil asked, pushing a bowl of rice and a cup of water over to him. “Your head was messed up pretty bad.”

Patton reached up to feel the clean bandages wrapped carefully around his skull. “I… I remember the battle,” he said uncertainly. “I… I think we fell, and….” He glanced at Janus.

“You got hurt,” Virgil said. “One of the soldiers got through and came at you. Probably because you’re a bender.”

Patton winced.

“You were bending when it happened, and I guess you lost control after you got hit…. We ended up in a ravine. Janus found us there.”

“Right.” Patton looked down at the food in front of him. He picked up the cup of water, thankfully didn’t drop it, and took a sip. He didn’t feel up to eating just yet.

“You couldn’t walk, and he had a Komodo-rhino—he is Fire Nation, but he deserted. He found us while he was running away.”

Patton glanced at Janus again, then back to Virgil. None of this made sense. How was Virgil suddenly friends with a firebender, deserter or not?

“How long have we…?”

“The battle was three days ago,” Virgil said. “I don’t know who won. Or if there really was a winner.”

“We have to go back,” Patton said.

“You have to get better,” Virgil countered. “Soon Jee—that’s the healer who’s been taking care of you—she said you need to rest for a few more days.”

“I can rest on the way, I can rest when we get there—Virgil, we can’t desert.”

Virgil looked down at his sword. Janus looked away. “Why not?” he asked quietly. “You hate fighting anyway, and everyone saw us fall off that mountain. I’m sure they’ve already assumed we’re dead.”

“Virgil….”

“We don’t have anything to go back to, anyway,” Virgil said more vehemently. “You know that.”

Patton looked away.

“Patton, I almost lost you—I don’t mean to scare you, but it was really close. Way too close. You and I both know that if we go back, it’s only a matter of time before we die for real. Right now, we have a chance to start over. You and me. And Janus,” he reluctantly added. “Maybe.”

The firebender looked surprised at being included, even as a second thought.

Patton wrung his hands together, his gaze lingering on the bruises along one of his wrists. “Virgil?” he asked, “Why are you friends with a firebender?”

“I never said we were friends.”

Patton waited.

Virgil leaned back, looked towards the door, and sighed, apparently accepting he wasn’t escaping this conversation. “He saved you,” he said. “Janus saved your life. Soon Jee said… when we got here, she said you didn’t have a lot of time. That if we’d gotten here even an hour later, you might not have….” His face twisted. “Janus brought us here on his Komodo-rhino, even though we’re Earth Kingdom, and we’re supposed to be killing each other. It would have taken us at least twice as long to get here on foot, and that’s if you could walk. Maybe he just wanted to know he wasn’t going to be killed as soon as he showed up in this town, I don’t really know—”

Janus looked offended at the suggestion. “Hey.”

“—but he still did it. And you’re alive.”

“You could have brought me back to the army,” Patton pointed out quietly.

“Not in time,” Virgil said. “I can’t earthbend us up a mountain. And everyone was still fighting—the medics wouldn’t have even had a chance to look at you. Not until it was too late.”

Patton took another sip of water, mostly just for something to do with himself.

(Had he really been so close to death only a few days ago ? He wasn’t sure he could believe that.)

Still…

“Okay,” Patton said finally. “Well… thank you, Janus.”

Janus inclined his head. “I decided that I was done killing,” he said. “I’ve only been in the army about six months, but it’s… Well, I’m sure you know.”

Patton didn’t feel the need to confirm that. Everyone at the table knew what the Fire Nation had done. What the war was like for everyone involved.

“How old are you, Janus?” he asked instead.

Janus hesitated. “Seventeen.”

“You enlisted at seventeen?” Patton was surprised. Although, admittedly, not that surprised. It was the Fire Nation, after all. They were always seeking honor; and apparently, invading other nations was very honorable.

“Sixteen, actually. And I didn’t enlist. I was drafted, as punishment. I… might have stolen some money from a noble.”

Patton frowned.

“For medicine,” Janus justified. “My mom… she was really sick.”

He looked to the side, gritting his teeth, and Patton caught a better look at the burnt side of his face. His damaged eye was dull, but it was unmistakably green.

A long moment passed.

“I didn’t know firebenders could have green eyes,” Patton said.

Janus’s gaze darted towards him. “It’s rare,” he admitted.

“Is that why your face got burned? Because you have a green eye?”

Janus was clearly uncomfortable with this line of questioning. “…Among other things.”

“Sorry,” Patton said, feeling a bit bad for the guy. Soldier or not, firebender or not, he was still a kid who had been shoved into a war he didn’t ask for. And if he had wanted to hurt Patton or Virgil, he had already had plenty of opportunity.

“It’s fine.”

Patton looked him over briefly, then turned to Virgil. He frowned at the sling. “Is your arm okay?”

“I hurt it in the fall,” Virgil said. “It’ll be fine in a couple weeks, Soon Jee said.”

Patton’s heart sank. “I hurt you?”

“A rock hurt me. You didn’t do anything.”

Maybe a rock had technically been what hurt him, but Patton was the one who had been bending it, who had lost control, no matter the reason for it.

Virgil cracked a smile. “Besides, since I’m such a powerful evil spirit, this mere flesh wound is nothing.”

“What?” Patton was baffled.

“You kept calling us spirits the other day,” Janus explained, the corner of his mouth twitching. “You were pretty out of it.”

Patton blinked, then sank down in his chair, feeling his face begin to burn. “Oh.”

He was saved by approaching footsteps, and he looked up to see a woman standing in the doorway, carrying a basket of fruit. She smiled, seeing Patton.

“I’m glad to see you up and around,” she said.

“This is Soon Jee,” Virgil supplied. “The healer. She’s letting us stay until you’re better.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you properly,” Soon Jee said. “How are you feeling?”

“Much better,” Patton said. He bowed, not getting up from the table. He didn’t want to find out if he’d fall over if he tried to bow while standing. “Thank you for helping me.”

“It’s no trouble, dear.” She set down her basket. “Why don’t you come back with me, and we can look you over?”

Patton glanced at his friend, who gave him an encouraging nod. “Okay.”

Soon Jee smiled reassuringly, helped him up, and led him back to the room where he had woken up. Patton sat down on the cot, and Soon Jee took the stool.

“How’s your head feel?” she asked.

“It hurts,” Patton admitted. “But… not like I got hit in the head with a club, anymore.”

“Well, you were wearing a helmet, thankfully,” Soon Jee said. She leaned forward, and started unraveling his bandages. “That helped protect you from the worst of it.”

“Yeah, but….” Patton grimaced. “I was still pretty messed up.” He sat there for a second, swinging his legs awkwardly. “I’m not complaining, but how’d I get better so fast?”

Soon Jee smiled. “I’m good at my job.”

Patton looked at her hands. A memory tickled his mind.

“I saw you, before,” he realized aloud. “Your hands glowed.”

“…I’m afraid you must be mistaken,” she said, wrapping fresh bandages around Patton’s head. “Maybe you were hallucinating. You hit your head quite hard.”

“You’re not just a healer,” Patton said quietly, more sure now. “You’re a waterbender.” He’d heard of that before, of waterbenders who could use their abilities to heal. But he’d never met one.

She looked quickly at the doorway, then back at him. Her eyes were a pale gray-blue, he noticed. “Don’t tell anyone. Please.”

“Why? Don’t people know? Why would you want to keep that a secret?” If Patton had talents like that, he’d be proud, not trying to hide them.

“Because I know what kind of people are in this world. And I know what company you keep. Deserter or not, that boy with you is still Fire Nation. Half, at least.”

Patton frowned, not understanding. “But….”

Soon Jee set her supplies back on the table, looking away for a moment. She seemed to come to a decision, and looked back to Patton. “My real name is Kanda,” she began, “not Soon Jee. And I’m not just a waterbender. I’m a Southern waterbender. One of the last, if not the last.”

She told him about the raids. About how again, and again, and again, the Fire Navy ships had come and taken more and more of their benders away and had sent more and more of their once great cities crumbling into the indifferent ocean.

She told him how she had left, both to save herself and to save her tribe from losing yet another to a fate that was almost surely worse than death.

“So…” she finished. “Do you understand? Will you keep this between us?”

“I understand,” Patton assured her, his heart aching. “I won’t tell anyone.”

Soon Jee—Kanda—gave him a sad smile, and sat back. “Thank you.”

Patton looked down for a moment, then said, “Don’t you miss home?”

“Of course I do. But…” she sighed. “Sometimes the best thing you can do, for yourself, and for the people you love, is to leave. I’d give almost anything to go back; but I know that if the Fire Nation found out about me, my people would suffer. I miss home, but I don’t regret my decision. And I’m not ashamed. Even if it were just to save myself, I wouldn’t be ashamed of that.”

Patton nodded. “I understand,” he said softly. He was silent for a moment, then asked, “How did you end up this far north? I know you had to leave, but there’s plenty of places to go further south.”

“I had to get as far away as I could,” she said. “If the Fire Nation heard about me… they would have come, and they would have punished the tribe for keeping me a secret. At least this way, if I’m found, I can claim I’m from the Northern Tribe.”

The Northern Tribe had never been successfully invaded, Patton knew. Kanda doubtlessly knew the same.

“Are you safe here?” he asked. “Maybe you really could go join the Northern Tribe.”

“I could,” Kanda admitted. “But… I’ve heard that things aren’t so easy, for women in that tribe. I’m better off here, where I can help people who need me.” She gestured towards the doorway. “You can go back to your friends now. I do want you to stay here for a couple more days, so I can keep an eye on you. You’ll probably need another healing session.”

“Thank you,” Patton said. He got up, glanced back at her, and went through the doorway.

Virgil perked up immediately when he saw him, getting up from the table and coming over for a hug.

Over Virgil’s shoulder, Patton looked towards Janus, who gave him a hesitant nod of welcome. He looked very out of place.

But he was trying; and, firebender or not, he had brought Patton to the healer who had saved his life.

Patton gave him a small smile.

Virgil pulled back. “Is everything okay? You guys took a while.”

“It’s okay. We were just talking. She wants me to stay a couple more days, just in case.”

Virgil nodded, looking relieved. “Okay. That’s fine. As long as you’re okay.”

Patton nodded, looking between the two of them. “I think we need to figure some things out, anyway.”

Virgil and Janus glanced at each other, and back at him.

“We do,” Virgil agreed.

Patton took a deep breath, and let it out. He sat down at the table, wincing slightly.

“So…” he said. “Let’s just say… we don’t go back. Theoretically.”

Virgil glanced over at the healer, who had come in behind Patton.

“She won’t say anything,” Patton assured him. He turned to look at her. “Right, Soon Jee?”

She smiled, probably relieved that he hadn’t called her Kanda. “I won’t. I’m only here to help people, not to harm them.”

Patton turned back to the two soldiers. “So… let’s just say we don’t go back. What’s our plan?”

“I know what my plan is,” Janus said. “Don’t get caught.”

“Okay. So do we need new names? What’s our story?”

“I’m Earth Kingdom,” Janus said.

“Are people going to buy that?” Virgil asked, glancing at him. “You’re a firebender.”

“I just won’t bend around people. It’s fine. Besides, it’s not really a lie. Just not the whole truth, either. I can go by Lee or something. There’s a million Lees. It’s like the Kuzon of the Earth Kingdom, from what I’ve seen.” He looked pensive. “Maybe we can change it up, make it Dee. I’ve always liked that name.”

Virgil shrugged. “Sure, whatever.”

“We could say we’re refugees,” Patton offered. That way, it would make sense that they didn’t have documentation to back up their story.

“Also not really a lie,” Janus—Dee?—mused.

“This would all be hard to sell if we’re on a Komodo-rhino,” Virgil pointed out.

“Then I’ll get rid of it. It’s in good shape. I’m sure I could get a couple of ostrich-horses for it.”

Virgil tapped his fingers against the blade of his sword. “So, are we actually doing this? Deserting?”

“It’s a little late for me to turn back,” Janus shrugged. “Little late for all of us.”

“But you?” Virgil asked, turning to Patton. “I know you were against this.”

Patton took a deep breath and let it out. “I don’t like fighting,” he said.

And that was that. It was decided.

They weren’t going back.

64 notes · View notes

hitsuackerman · 4 years ago

Text

Unpredictable (Overhaul x Reader) pt.3

a/n: I just saw a post with Overhaul without his jacket... BRUH. the infinite possibilities of--- yeah I’ll save that for the next parts XD enjoy the 3rd part :)

warnings: this cannot be read solo, cursing(?), subtle flirting

Links: part 1, part 2, part 4

Masterlist to my other fics: here :)

Overhaul’s waiting list: @jjk-biased @infinite-universe-love

“Okay.” Tsukauchi said as he took the seat across from you. His outstretched hand returning the envelope he had cross-checked. “There really will be a gala at the said area at the said date.”

“Who are the possible plus ones I can bring?” You asked. Your eyes glued to your desktop. As of the moment, you were digging up some articles about one of the minor cases you were working on. Of course, you could skim through articles and talk to your workmate. It was as easy as breathing by now.

“There’s only 3 possible candidates.” He began to enumerate. “Me. Shinezu. Namase.”

“Shinezu?” You stopped reading and stared at him. “You’re kidding me right?”

“Perhaps~” He joked. “I mean it would be nice to bring him along and expose him to the outside world. The kid needs a social life. All locked up in his office. Only going out when absolutely necessary. The exposure would do him good.”

Your focus glided to Shinezu’s office. It wasn’t for you to judge but it was clear as day he was happy as a loner and would dread any sort of unwanted communication. The fact that he was even part of this small select group of people was a miracle itself. Though, you had to admire his intellect. Nothing went past him.

“I was actually planning on taking the man himself.” You broke the news. Somehow that sentence caused your heart to pick up its speed by a little. The sound of Tsukauchi’s chair rolling towards you caused a bit of discomfort. “Think about it. He has more ties than I will ever have and his quirk would surely intimidate the boss. It’s a gamble on my part as to how he would carry himself but he’s level-headed. So far.”

“You sure about that?” His voice was much nearer now.

“Nope.” There was no use in lying to this person. “I’m just pulling threads here. But, his title might draw me closer to the main goal here. Besides, I’d like to see him without that horrendous jacket.”

“You’re not being affected by his charm now, are you?” Tsukauchi pried as he slowly went back to his work space. “We all know just how manipulative he can get.”

Gathering a few folders and envelopes, you placed them onto your bag. Fixing your hair, you stood up and went towards his area. Leaning onto the partition, you fixed the strap of your bag and crossed your arms.

“I don’t like being interrogated, Nao.” You said. “But if it gives peace to your running mind, here is my answer. I’m being as cautious as I can be. There’s nothing more to it.”

You waited for a response but by the looks of it he was either using his quirk on you or he was satisfied with your answer. The latter, hopefully. Excusing yourself, you exited the precinct and looked for the nearest coffee shop. If there was one thing the office needed, it was better coffee.

Your nearest bet was a 5 minute walk from where you stood. Looking at your watch, you had a couple of minutes to spare before interviewing a few civilians. Beginning your short walk, your mind drifted back to the plus one. Tsukauchi didn’t give you the go signal for it. Was this now all on you or would you have to consult him one more time?

Your hand was now fiddling with your phone in your pocket. Trying to single out the possibilities were rather tricky. The neon sign for the shop was now above you. You had been so lost in thought that you failed to realize you had arrived at your destination. Leaning on the door, you dragged yourself in and waited in line.

With the events going on, this called for a sweet drink. Something with chocolate in it. A sugar rush was something you needed.

You were currently the 3rd person in line. Pulling your phone out, you checked for any notifications. There was one. Clicking it open, it stated that the meeting you scheduled to have for next week had been pushed to today. Picturing your schedule, you had some free time later in the afternoon. Nodding, you sent out a reply and moved a step forward.

The day had just begun and things were starting to become busy. Thank gods the coffee shop smelled amazing. The exposed beans generously spread out its aroma around the cafe. Soft jazz music played in the background, enough to blend in with the buzzing chit chats of customers. A hint of mayoram and geranium gifted your sense of smell.

‘Wait..’ Your eyes began to scan the area. There was only one person whose wallet could afford such a scent.

“For an officer,” Overhaul said from behind you. “You’re quite slow.”

Pivoting, you were face to face with him. A new and very identical jacket replacing the old one. However, there was something off about his look today. His golden orbs simply stared back at you. Taking in your puzzled features. Then it hit you. A gasp escaped your mouth.

“Did the bird fly away or is this a new look?” He was without the bird beak. Instead, a simple black mask covered the lower half of his face. What was he hiding underneath that mask? Did he have a scar on his lip? A burn? If his eyes were breathtaking, what could possibly even out such a marvel? Subtly, you shook your head. What in the world were you thinking?

“I choose whether or not to wear the mask.” He replied. His latex wrapped hands motioning you to move forward. “This is one of the cleanest cafes that live up to my standards. It may not look like it but the smell of coffee beans are rather attractive.”

“It’s been a while, (Y/N)!” The employee greeted you. She giggled at how she broke your train of thought. It was something she barely got to see after all. “Will you have the usual?”

“Uh, N-no. For today, I’d like a choco chip supreme with less ice.” Your cheeks began to burn up as you had stuttered. Reaching for your wallet, you felt a foot gently kicking you. Looking up at the source, you stepped aside and waited for his move.

“2 Americano’s.” Overhaul ordered. In the corner of his eyes, he saw how your cheeks were beginning to turn a faint shade of red. As expected, this was interesting for him. “I’ll pay for her order as well.”

“You don’t have to.” You put up your palms and were only met with silence as he handed the payment.

“Put it under her name.” He instructed the employee to which she agreed. When both of you were given the line to wait for your orders, Overhaul signed for you to follow him to a vacant table near the window. Pulling the seat, he waited for you to sit down. To which you did.

“What do you want, Overhaul?”

“Can I not spend time with the person I’m assisting?” His hands remained on his lap. Sure, the table was clean but he wasn’t taking chances. Glancing at the window, his stare glued to the black car parked across the street. He could imagine Chrono inside slowly losing his patience. “I merely wanted an update for your plus one.”

“I’m still thinking about it.”

“Bring the first person that pops in your mind.” He tilted his head once more. “Isn’t that how you people think?”

“So you’re not a person?”

“I’m clean compared to you.”

“I’ll have you know I’m a clean person.” You pouted and pointed your index at him. The way his eyes widened with fear at the possible contamination was rather amusing. “You just wouldn’t know because you're afraid of dust. I bet your immune system is low.”

“Hmph. On the contrary, my health is pristine and well taken care of. I simply choose not to touch filthy people like you. I do make exceptions every now and then.”

“They must be blessed.” You rolled your eyes and the sound of your name broke through the jazz and chatter. “Well, make yourself useful and get our orders.”

“Of course.”

That had to make you wonder. He did not flinch, show any signs of annoyance, or even scoff at your command. Instead, Overhaul silently lifted his chair and made his way towards the counter. Seeing him bow as he received the beverages was weird. For someone who murders people, he sure is polite when it comes to mannerisms. Perhaps, those traits of his were already present. Even before becoming a villain.

When he sat back down, he took a tissue and wrapped it around your cold drink. Placing it in front of you along with the straw.

“Be my plus one.” You blurted out. Your view focused on him.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” He stood up and lowered his head. “I shall pick you up at 6. Is that fine?”

“Yeah.”

“If nothing else, I shall leave you be. Chronostasis must be fuming by now.” Before turning to leave, he had the audacity to add. “If you’ll excuse me.”

Following his body, you stared as he crossed the street and entered the same car he had been eyeing at.

Inside the car. Overhaul closed his eyes and listened to the small complaints his companion had. The visit to the shop was never intended but when he saw your figure walking down the street and entering the quaint shop, the decision to stop the car only caused Chrono to wonder.

Handing him the bird mask, he watched as his boss wore the contraption.

“Send the RSVP later.” He instructed. His voice muffled once again. “Use the alias we usually hand out for events like this. And call in the tailor. I’ll be needing a new suit.”

“That woman has taken your interests.” He commented.

“No.”

“Then why bother following her?”

“I did not follow her, Kurono.” He corrected his assistant. “It was merely chance running into her at this time of day. Besides, it’s amusing how she does not seem to hold such fear when I am around.”

Curling the sleeves of his jacket, he observed his skin. Not a sign of breakouts. In his subtle attempts to place himself close to you, he had come to the conclusion that you were relatively pure. Save for your quirk of course.

Speaking of quirk, there were still no updates regarding that information. Imagining the sum of money the Abegawa Tenchu Kai had to pay to keep that hidden was something he had to praise. The same could be said for his real name. Did you even know what his name was? Or were you left with redacted articles regarding that?

Closing his eyes once more, his thoughts went to the headquarters where his experiments were now running a bit late. Still, a few minutes delay was something he could live by.

Meanwhile, you were now preparing what explanation to give Tsukauchi. You had already given him a reasonable explanation as to why you would want to go with Overhaul. It also wouldn’t be the first time you would inform him of such unconventional choices you made. Ruffling your hair, you clicked your tongue and took a deep sip. “Uhm, (Y/N)?”

From the window, your view shifted to the employee. In her hand was a tray with a blueberry cheesecake. A shy smile resting on her feminine features. Scratching her nape, she let out an awkward giggle.

“The man told me to give you this after he left.” She said as she placed the dessert on the shiny brown surface.

“Oh, uh, thank you.” You stared at the cheesecake and immediately took your phone. Looking for the unknown number, you were only hoping that this was his personal number and not one that would alert the whole Shie Hassaikai. Sending the message with a rapidly beating heart, you cursed yourself for feeling this way.

To calm you down, you scrolled a little further and finally dialed your partner.

“Nao. I’m taking Bird boy with me.”

A long sigh was heard on the other side of the call. If you could bet money, you were sure he was massaging the bridge of his nose and leaning onto his chair.

“As much as I do not trust him, that would have to be the best decision for now,”

That went… smoother than you had initially thought.

“What’d you just gather?” Curiosity lacing your voice.

“A lot of big names are invited but we noticed that a handful of them are villains. Notably Akuji, Nokusu, and if our records are right, Tamisura.”

“Shit.”

----

are yall enjoying the story so far? :’) comment or message me if you want to be a part of Overhaul’s waiting list or any questions about the story :)

#overhaul x reader #chisaki kai x reader #overhaul #chisaki kai #bnha overhaul #mha overhaul #bnha chisaki kai #mha chisaki kai #he is garbage but here i am simping him so much

91 notes · View notes

saiilorrose · 4 years ago

Text

Roleswap AU!

—🌹—

So this time I’ll be describing the hashira in this AU. Things to note:

-Akaza/Hakuji is married to Koyuki in this AU

-Douma’s Enternal Paridise replaces the butterfly mansion

-Kokushibo was friends with Uta (will describe her next chapter ;>!)

-If I have (?) next to their role, it means I might change it

Will do design sketches later!

Ok time for descriptions!

—🌹—

Kokushibo: The Moon Hashira. As I said in the last description post, his real name is Michikatsu Tsugikuni and has a reason why he uses Kokushibo. So I picture it as him and his younger brother, Yoriichi, both passing the final selection and eventually becoming demon slayers. He met Uta in his childhood and she lived with Yoriichi. One day, they came across a powerful demon at the house and Yoriichi told him to run and he’ll take care of it. Koku actually ran and never saw him again. He felt ashamed of himself since he admired his younger brother so much that he changed his name so it wouldn’t be a burden to him anymore. I think that’s how he would have met Urokodaki when he was trying to find help and became friends with him. He created his own breathing technique along with his brother.

Douma: The Ice Pillar. He is pretty much kinda like Shinobu in this AU. He still uses his fans and they’re sharp enough to kill demons. Douma runs the Enternal Paradise still, which replaces the Butterfly Mansion in this AU. He plays off on having emotions, where in reality, he can’t really feel them and just tries to play them off. Nezuko spots this and explains why he’s lying about his emotions is because he was pushed to become a cult leader by his parents, since he had rainbow eyes, which they believed were special. Some time after he became a Hashira, he found Gyuutaro and Ume/Daki wandering together. Douma takes them in and offers them to become demon slayers and hopes they can become hashira. He tries being friends with Akaza, but he hates Douma.

Akaza/Hakuji: The Muscle Hashira(?). As I said earlier, he’s married to Koyuki! He became a demon slayer to protect the people he cared about, after he lost his father. He went on the streets and Keizo took him into his dojo, where Akaza(Hakuji at the time) met Koyuki. In the dojo next door, the person sent Koyuki out, which gave her an asthma attack. Hakuji came running towards her aid and brought her inside, saving her life. Eventually, they got engaged and married. Hakuji changed his name to Akaza and started his new life as a demon slayer and a husband. He promised to protect anyone and put others before himself. Nezuko admired his ability to protect others and asked a lot of questions in the train. Akaza despises Douma because of his personality and how he is always bothering woman (because of the cult thing). I think he uses clubs to beat up demons so they can’t regenerate fast enough.

Hantengu: The Emotion Pillar(?): So I struggled with him ;-;. I think his emotions are like his personalities and he’s switching between them left and right. He really only spends time with Gyokko, who always treats him like a friend. I think he lived a harsh life with people constantly taunting him of his personalities, which made him very worried all the time. Muzan came in and saved Hantengu and asked him if he was willing to become a demon slayer, which he accepted. I think his weapon would be a spear that’s able to distract demons and uses a dagger as a last line of defense (?). He his the oldest out of all the hashira. (Like I said, I had a hard time with him).

Nakime: The Music Hashira. She is pretty distant from the other hashira. Rarely interacting with the others and keeping to herself. I think I’ll have it where she’s probably only close with Ume since they’re the only girls. She still has her biwa and plays it during the hashira meetings whenever Muzan isn’t here yet XD. So for Nakime’s backstory, she had an incident with her eyes and his made her blind, so she hides her eyes with her hair. I think someone or one of her family members were jealous and scarred her eyes and made her blind. Muzan came in and took her in. Nakime plays her biwa against demons to make them confused and when her chance is right, she cuts their head off with a katana she has (she uses her senses to find her way around)(?).

Gyokko: The Fish Hashira. I also struggled with him ;—; (not as much as Hantengu tho). So he wears a mask that have mouths in front of them that covers his eyes. He does because he says it’s a work of art✨. He calls himself an artist and loves it when people give him inspiration. Maybe in Gyokko’s past, he was rejected for his art, and people called his work “ugly.” He ran away and took all of his art and had nowhere to go to, until Muzan showed up and helped him. He admired the Kamado siblings and their bond together that it gave him some inspiration to do art on them. He creates pots and paints on them. Gyokko is pretty close with Hantengu, as he admires Gyokko’s art and that it makes him calm.

Daki/Ume: The Ribbon Hashira. HONESTLY ONE OF MY FAVORITES SORRY! So Daki is Gyuutaro’s younger sister and she’s the youngest out of all the Hashira. In this AU, she’s 13 since in the wiki, it says she was canonically 13 when she became a demon, but in the Kimetsu Academy thing, it states she’s 16 (I NEED A CONFORMATION AGE-). Daki and Gyutaro were born in the lowest caste of the Red Light District. She took the them Ume to Daki because of her birth mother dying and she had the same name. She shared a close bond with her brother Gyutaro, who promised to watch over her. One day, Daki fought back and stabbed one of her customers in the eye and was getting ready to be thrown into a ditch to die. Luckily, Gyutaro came back in time and saved his sister by stabbing the man trying to drag her into the ditch. The two then began wandering all over, until they met Douma and he took both the siblings in. Daki looked up to Douma as a father-figure.

Gyutaro: The Blood Hashira. He’s Daki’s older brother. Gyutaro describes her as his “pride and joy” because Daki was the only one that he really cared about. He was called “ugly” around the district by people because of his birthmark and they way he looked. Eventually became a collector for Daki once she was in training to become an Orian. After he finished collecting, he witnessed Daki being dragged against her will to a ditch, where she would be burned. Gyutaro quickly rushed over to Daki and kocnked out the person dragged her. They both ran away together and Gyutaro cared Daki on his back all the time. Like I said with Daki, they met Douma and took them in to become demon slayers. He always thanked Douma for all he did, even if Douma didn’t know how to process it. Admires the Kamado sibling’s bond and was a little jealous at first because they lived a life that he wanted for him and his younger sister.

Kaigaku: The Thunder Hashira(?). So Kaigaku has Marechi in this AU because he tried to prove to everyone that Tanjiro couldn’t be trusted. He get irritated easily and is a bit of a hot-head. One of the newer Hashira. Kaigaku knew Zenitsu (who’s a demon in this AU) and pretty much trastee and bullied him like in the manga and anime. He became regretful of his past actions towards Zenitsu and hoped that he could meet him again and apologize for all the things he said. Zenitsu however, got turned into a demon by Shinobu and took the place of Upper Moon 6 during the infinity fortress arc. I want to try and make it where he meets Gyomei too but we’ll see.

—🌹—

Anyways, that’s all for now. Next descriptions are the Upper/Lower Moons and Kagaya

33 notes · View notes

theyanderespecialist · 4 years ago

Text

Freaky (One Shot) Yandere Micheal Myers X OC (Halloween)

[Hello My Sexy Readers, I am here with a Request for OC X Michael requested off of Wattpad the Oc was for the approved one of Marie and here she is Please enjoy: Requested By Allyson46073 enjoy everyone!]

(Marie's pov)

I walked up to the house as my friend offered to take over watching the kids so I could investigate what made them so nervous. I looked back at the house before walking in, I felt cold when I entered. Obviously the costume she made me wear didn't help as I felt people staring, but this was more than that, I walked in as the door suddenly closed as I jumped back, feeling like... someone was watching me ..though I tried to shake it off. For some reason the house ..almost seemed familiar in a way, but not enough to take the fear I felt.

As I walked up the stairs, I swore I saw something white move into a bedroom as I looked confused, my heel almost getting stuck in the floor. Damn this stupid playboy outfit..I managed to get it unstuck, pushing the door opened only to see.. nothing. I sigh, see I was just being silly. There is nothing here and It is all in my head

I shake my head as I couldn't help bit laugh a little. I must have looked so stupid. That is when I am suddenly slammed into the wall and feel someone much larger than me on me and holding me firmly as he forced me to look up at him. I was to terrified to scream. I stared up at him, my body shaking as I didn't want to die like this.. I didn't want to be killed. He looked at me for a moment before he lifted his mask. Under the mask I saw familiar eyes these eyes looked so familiar for me.

"Marie." He says before kissing me with such savage passion.

I was taken aback, God the amount of force he was using, it felt like my lips would bruise.

(I've had that happen from to intense of a make out session For two weeks my lips were blue)

(Yup that is what they mean by bruising kisses)

I whimper and then he picked me up and carried me to a bedroom dropping me on a bed after he ripped the sheet that covered the dust off. I did not like where I think this was going as I looked up at him, my eyes shifting to the door. Maybe I could.. I could get past him..He started to take off his boots first and I took the chance while he was doing tht to run only to bed grabbed by him and I scream for help.

However my mouth was covered by him as I began to cry and struggle as he looked at me putting a finger in front of his mouth as he pulled off his shirt as I cried harder only..for him to lay beside me, his hand on my face. He did not make any move to hurt me he just stroked my cheek staring into my eyes. I did not know why but I oddly started to feel safe. He then pulled out a old picture and showed it to me. I recognize me in it but the boy I look and she it was him I flipped it over and it read.

(Marie And Michael 4 ever)

I looked up at him...but now fear hit me again. Michel Myers the serial killer

"Mine." Is all he says as he ties my arms up with shirt and slipped the jump suit off. Now only my clothes shielded me from skin to skin contact I Blush as his cock is huge

I was scared, not only was he a killer who murdered his family.. but now he's going to..he's way to big for me.

(You know. .I can see me as Jason taking the machette, staving it into the ground and..using it as like a dildo)

(XD yup just like who needs a stick on when you have a stab on)

(XD)

He slowly spreads my legs he seemed to be eye balling my body then he pinched my ass. "Hurt less here." He says pinching the clothes lightly and then tears off my clothes

((Bitch don't lie you just want to do anal. Be honest)

(XD)

And by tear off I mean he literally tipped the fishnets to create a hole and ripped the crotch area to give himself access as he put my legs on his shoulders and knelt down. He first licked my vagina to get me aroused he seemed very interest into getting me wet and was even rubbing my spine. I moaned softly as I couldn't help how good it made me feel. I was so in need of feeling pleasure and ride his face. I could feel his tongue pushing into my hole before licking and sucking my clit I was panting and arching into him hard and he held down my hips.

I realized that he would not let me do anything he didn't want me to do. I looked at him and blush as he then starts to tongue my ass. I let out a squeak as I tighten my legs around him. He smirked looking at me and sucking fucking my ass. I let out a loud moan as I arched into him. He then rolled my clit and I started to cum hard as he then pulled away and lined p his cock which he lubbed up.

My eyes widen as clarity cane back and I realized what he was trying to do. I struggled and tried to close my legs but he held them open with ease and then I feel him push inside me and start to stretch me. I let out a loud cry, it wasn't painful but it was uncomfortable. He got ll the way in me and held still looking at me before kissing me and pulling out. I groaned as I grabbed onto him as I could feel every movement. He looked at me and starts thrusting in and out gripping my hips and kissing me.

I held him as I couldn't help but kiss back, though he was still rough with me.

(Michael's pov)

I loved that she is finally kissing me back, I know it has been long since I been with her. I will be sure to explain later. Right now I need her I need to show her we were made for each other. It felt so good having her clinging to me. I moaned and gripped her hips so hard I knew she would have bruises I also kiss her smearing her lipstick and she cries sweat leaving her mascara to smear. I loved it, the feeling I got form it the control.

I flipped her on her stomach as she cried out having to grab the headboard for stability.

(I mean I guess it's good she's a masochistic slut ;3)

(;3)

I started to thrust harder and faster while I spank her ass. She let put a strangled moan as the bed creaked beneath us as I pulled her hair forcing her to look at me. She needed to look at the man who was making her feel.good, at the man she proms ed herself too. She stares at me and with one hand pulled me into a deep kiss. I kissed back throwing off the rest of the clothes as I pushed my tongue into her mouth. She moans and thrusts her tongue against mine and we play fought for dominance.

Of course she lost easily, but I think she wanted to as I smirk She wanted to lose, like she wanted me to find her, that's why she wore what she did.

(Something tells me.. he's not going to stop when he cums I can see him being full on sex weirdo, like once he gets tired and wants a break he's not gonna let her, lime I'm talking of there a hair brush, candlestick, whatever..it's going inside of her xD)

(XD YASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS)

I was lose and once she came around my cock I cum hard with her and she is filled to the brim with my cum. She cried out in pleasure and I was not done with her not by a long shot.

[Finally did this request we hope you all enjoyed and stay sexy~ There may be a part 2)

#yandere #yandere michael myers #Yandere Horror Movies #yandere slasher #yandere oneshot #one shot #Horror Movies #horror #Slashers #Michael Myers #michael myers x oc #oc #OC Marie

21 notes · View notes

ginger-nightmist · 4 years ago

Text

Day 15: Ache

I wasn’t (that) mean or horny, I would like a cookie for self-restraint, please. XD

Technically Ishgard sandwich but WoL references are very ‘blink and you’ll miss them’, the meat is this is very much elf husbands. Somewhere, vaguely, within Shadowbringers, with an exact time not much matter.

Pain is a constant in the Lord Speaker's life. Old scars and new, the twinge in his gut now when the weather is bad. (In Ishgard, the weather is always bad.) The wearied burn in his back after a long day spent with too much of it leaning over his desk. As a child, his mother would tell him, "Pain lets us know we are alive, and we can only attempt to bear through it with Halone's grace." (A bit of folk wisdom common among Coerthans, noble and not.)

He learned far too young that it did not merely mean the pains of the body. Those are not so difficult to endure unruffled; while his role now puts him on the field of battle but rarely, long years of training and knighthood have ensure that he will never pass a span of hours without some twinge or scar to remind him of the warrantless war that had for so long seemed unending. The harder part is to wear his charming mask, to smile, bargain, give speeches, calm tempers, endure all the daily emotional wear and tear of leading a city, while in every second, the cavernous emptiness in his chest aches with longing for those he loves who have wandered from the range of his arms.

The strange solitude of his home, with none in it for now but himself, his cat, and his servants grinds the ache a little deeper each day, each night when he finally retreats to fall into bed when too tired to move, striding past shuttered doors to empty rooms, scattered with the detritus of those who should reside within them. His own bed is vast and cold, relieved only by the slight weight of Snowflake, curled up atop his feet. (And if his mother would be horrified at the fur, he can care no longer; she is some years gone now, and he wearied of trying to impose rules upon a cat.)

For once, he has made an early night of it, which means that it is only near onto midnight when he methodically peels himself free of raiments meant for public consumption and retreats to the comfort of soft, worn flannel pants, and as he does more often than he should admit, a soft, old shirt from the stash of Estinien's things always tucked into his drawers, straining slightly against the greater width of his torso. Curling beneath the covers he drifts to sleep counting karakuls, a line of them embroidered around the cuff of each sleeve, tracing one at a time with fingertips and imagining the hand that set the thread into place until sleep makes him soft and still.

He has not slept long when a rush of cold air gusts to ruffle the bedsheets, sending needles of chill down his spine. Rather than a curse and a rush for the window that came undone, he rolls, finds as if by prayer, a tall form relatching the window already. How Estinien achieves his late night visits to his home he is not sure; the Manufactory swears he has not acquired a proper vehicle from them, and in their youth, while he could bear the use of an aetherythe, he invariably complained for hours afterwards about how it made his skin itch. At first, he had been too grateful to question it; now, it has become a sort of strange lucky charm. If he does not question how Estinien comes and goes so peculiarly, he will return.

Foolish superstition, but even the most practical man can be a fool in the face of love. The aching void eases as the dragoon's angular body leans down over the bed, a low laugh like a private caress even before lips graze along his own, the merest hint of all the things he craves. "Well, you have not worked yourself to death yet, if you can still wake at the window opening." Grumbling sleepily, Aymeric props himself up on one arm, watches as Estinien shells his armor, shucks layers beneath and with unerring memory, drags a pair of pants from the drawer of his things. (He would sleep nude if given his druthers, but Aymeric favors clothing and like in many small things, he found that without ever saying a word about his reasons or causes, Estinien simply quietly adjusted his own habits to suit his partner.)

The bed is far cozier, far more welcoming with a second body sinking down to lie beside his own, with Estinien's fingers tangling in his hair as he finally takes a proper kiss of greeting. The touch lingers, lips slid against lips in slow motion, soft and weary and tender in a way that needs nothing said to make it any clearer. When it breaks, Aymeric gently traces the dark hollows around Estinien's eyes with one thumb, a quiet sadness at their presence he cannot mask. The dragoon huffs out a breath, looks away, then returns midnight gaze to morning-bright blue. "Stop worrying yourself. I will get better sleep here with you than I would anywhere else."

The lord speaker smiles wistfully but accepts the truth in the words; rarely is there enough time or energy for lovemaking (swiving, Estinien would say, and deny the hint of red that calling it love brings to his ears) on these nights, but in many ways, a few hours of actually restorative sleep, tangled limb to limb until they seem one singular creature, argent and snow, gold and night, braided and intertwined in a hundred small points of simple connection and touch, is a far greater gift and intimacy. Estinien croons a low note as he presses his nose down into Aymeric's hair, not singing, not a lullaby, but soothing all the same.

A stronger man, perhaps, could resist the urge to slide back into dreams that may not be so very different from reality. Tonight, at least, Aymeric does not try to be that strong.

When dawn breaks, Estinien has already fled the roost and Aymeric would wonder if he was there at all, were it not for two things; silver hairs, tangled in his fingers, and lying on the pillow, a squat jar of angled glass and a folded scrap of paper. Opened, the words within are clear; his dragoon learned too late to fully acquire his foster father's exquisite hand but years of being nagged for every report and message home have ensured that if nothing else, his writing is legible and precise.

"I noticed you were stiff last time I was here. I don't know what's in the stuff and it's pungent, but it's damn good on sore muscles. I guess the Garleans know a bit more than just magitek.

I think of and miss you always."

The last line is pressed hard into the page, as if he had to forcibly summon up the courage to write it. Expression softening, despite the disappointment and hollowness of waking alone, Aymeric carefully refolds the note, tucking it into a small cedar box atop of his dresser, full of other such momentos acquired over the years. Few that speak so boldly, though. No doubt, in time, the empty jar of salve will join it, as they both know that the fact it was a gift from Estinien guarantees that he will actually feel obligated to use it.

The ache is still there, vibrating in the hollows of his chest, but at least for the moment, it is softened and gentled. He can endure, graceful, a little longer.

#FFxivWrite2020 #FFxivWrite #ffxiv writing #aymeric x estinien

12 notes · View notes

papers4me · 4 years ago

Text

Fruits Basket SE02 (ep,7), Part 1

Tohru & the cracked mask:

Tohru wears masks in front of both the characters within the show & the viewers. we rarely sense sth is wrong with her. In the new years ep, we never knew until Hana told us & Kyo in the last ep. Thanks to hiro, tohru is still dwelling in her mom issues. she’s now super sensitive that she hurt others which scares her. This fear takes her off guard & shes drop her mask momentarily being at loss on how to cover up her feelings, awkwardly using words & actions to cover up her slip up. Lucky for her, they all brush it off as tohru being tohru. Aside from hiro’s guilty conscious &. Mr. Detective Cat, (specializing in Rice-ball cases).

-Kyo approaches Tohru casually, sits comfortably & brings the topic frankly. There’s no planning or deliberate tactics. It comes naturally to him. Direct question “did hiro say sth weird to you?”. He didn’t hide that he was concerned & expressed his feelings honestly, “ This is what makes me worry” “didn’t I say it throws me off”. It’s okay to complain, remember? “I though I already told you” is the biggest indication of how open, genuine & normal kyo is with tohru. For kyo talking abt his parents is talking abt the source of his trauma & he thought he told her already!! That’s how much he trusted her! “ my mother kill..was killed in an accident” kyo was ready to say it as it is & I’m glad he didn’t. This is tohru in her most vulnerable moment yet, telling her his mom committed suicide would’ve troubled her deeply. She’ll feel so sorry for both of them & We know how much kyo hates pity. Although tohru hasn’t complained to kyo directly, he connected the dots. She’s sensitive abt her mom’s stories. He even guessed the topic: untold mom-memory that involves watermelon splitting. Tell the story tohru~ kyo will listen. don’t ever hold sth back by force. open up, girl! It’ll take you time, I know..but plz open up little by little. Kyo staring fondly at tohru, noticing her every detail is very romantic, him finishing her sentence for her is very liberating for tohru. yes, ur mom’s story is fun, Don’t be oversensitive & hide it. “ it IS fun”. The body language with her hand resting on his knee is very a intimate gesture for tohru!! the girl who still bows to Yuki & shigure despite living with them & talks very formally with close friends.

The angelic mother vs the troubled teen girl:

The way tohru was drawn while covering the sleeping kids reminds me of how kyoko was drawn in tohru’s memories & how most mothers are drawn in anime. So tender, with a doting smile, flowing hair, affectionate stare & kind face. Like an angel hovering around helpless children. Interestingly, that image was seen from Yuki’s perspective alone. Both haru & kyo were there but only yuki pictured this. This reminded me of another scene where tohru was drawn motherly & angelic, In Kisa ep in SE01. kisa slept in her lap & all yuki wanted was to rest in her shoulders. This is heavily contrasted with how kyo saw tohru with the kids. His thought was “The kids are so carefree” normal comment you’d expect from a tired adult abt children. What kyo saw was a troubled teen who was awkwardly hiding her pain & tragically missing her late mother. She is someone who needs to a push to vent, someone who is NOT okay. This brings other scenes as well. From kyo’s perspective tohru is someone who he can gently hit on the head for being spacey, or tease for nose dripping while crying, or blush at excessively for trying on a swimsuit. To sum up, Yuki sees her as an angelic mother & kyo sees her as real person. I must say I’m completely amazed at how the visuals as used to convey the difference between the two boys in regard to tohru. That’s how visual tools & story telling should be combined & used!

Yuki opened the lid:

Hiding the content of Akito’s encounter with Yuki is done to mirror Yuki’s uncertain & unresolved feelings. However, while yuki didn’t tell us what happened, he told us his feelings afterwards. Yuki opened the lid. He faced Akito & he wasn’t as shaken as before. I love that opening the lid doesn’t automatically mean that you are healed. It means that you are now facing your trauma & trying to figure out how to deal with it without relying much on faulty coping mechanisms. You are still using these faulty ways at the moment but you are actively searching for healthier ways.

-Yuki knows he isn’t as useless as Akito tried to instill in him.. He saved someone & by saving her, he himself was far more saved in every sense of the word. If Yuki didn’t save young tohru, someone else would have whether the police or her mom. This incident didn’t change tohru’s life much. But if yuki didn’t save young tohru, he wouldn’t have been able to believe in himself. He can never repay her back for that moment & for the warmth & joy that she shared with him. Being forever indebted is bittersweet. This is what the whole falling stars scene felt to me..so bittersweet. For sometime, I was a bit confused on why I felt as sad as Yuki & as confused as tohru. But now I think I get it. The gratefulness that he feels is coupled with the feeling of incompleteness. To him, tohru is like the sky, so majestic, enveloping all creatures below her with rain & warmth. But also far away. Skies are kinda similar to mothers, always there for you, but you can’t look at them forever. Yuki can’t tell tohru abt the hat yet, because he wants to be able to say it happily & strongly, rather than sadly & weakly. He wants to stand on his feet to say it NOT bend & rest on her shoulders as he’s doing now & as he did in Kisa’s ep in SE01. “ you are so dear to me/I don’t know what I would do without you” are both expressions that imply Yuki’s appreciation of her yet his sadness in being dependable on her warmth & his sorrow that he’ll never give her back as much as she unknowingly did. He needs to be his own person first. He can do it now step by step as he’s learning to deal with Akito differently.

Side notes:

This post is abt the rat, the cat & the rice-ball. (The dog in part 2)

I’m so happy to see my girl sharing the spotlight this season! & by the spotlight I mean the darkness. Crack that fake mask little by little.

Tohru is falsely presented as the perfect angel who helps others while under her mask, she’s the opposite!! she’s a REAL person! someone who’s so lost & sad & lonely! I love how she’s written!! can’t wait for her content!! please let it be next ep!! plz!!

I was right! Yuki get to open his lid first.

Kisa’s fear of Akito harming tohru is sad.

Akito hating sunshine-momiji goes well with her dark theme.

both hiro & kyo have no patience for nonsense XD.

I can’t be the only one who noticed that since tohru with sleeping kids was drawn deliberately to resemble a mother, the way the show drew kyo approaching & sitting resembled a father! like a mom & dad having a rest after a long hard day with their kids outside. It gives off strong little family feels. They both looked like young adults more than teenagers, especially when tohru was telling kyo to not wake up the kids.

#Fruits Basket #Anime Only #lonely paper #part 1 #SE02

18 notes · View notes

chocochar · 5 years ago

Note

Hi I would like to request a scenario with the female reader having a fire eater quirk where she can eat flames and spit it back out 10 times hotter. The only trick is she can't produce her own flames. I would picture this reader as a delinquent who spray paints but isn't an actual villain till dabi notices her. End it as you like. Cheers ❤❤❤

(AN: I think people are catching on that I like writing for Dabi.... lol Anywaaays so this took a different direction than intended. It also was waaay longer than expected too XD but yeah, I hope it’s okay! Reader is 18, a senior in school)

(F/n) pants as she rounds another corner, running as fast as she can. She holds a spray can in one hand and a black mask hides her nose and mouth, her (hair color) hidden by a beanie and the teen dressed in a black hoodie and jeans to help her hide if she finds an alley she can slip into.

"Get back here, you punk!!" She hears the policemen behind her shout and she picks up the pace, her legs growing tired and lungs screaming for air but the student keeps running. No one tries to stop her, although they probably figure the cops will catch up eventually and they don't need to get involved.

Fortunately (F/n) has come to know these streets like the back of her hand, so slipping down an alleyway she yells back,"Come on, move a little faster!" She can hear there footsteps growing more and more faint as she turns corner after corner starting to slow down herself. Finally she slips between two dumpsters, kneels, and makes herself as small as possible with her hood hiding her face. They're coming, but clearly they don't have a clue where she went when they turn down this alley, panting and ready to give up.

"Damn, where did that kid go?"

"I swear I saw them come down here," one replies, the two looking around and getting ready to pass the dumpsters. "Damn kids, spray painting a business." They stop in front of her a couple feet from her, and she stiffens wondering if they found her.

'Cops can be blind, but if they see me I'm gonna have a real rough time getting away this time...' She can only see their shoes under the hood but they haven't turned to face her yet so maybe not. She can hear a third set of footsteps coming from the other side of the alley ahead of them, the shoes tapping on the pavement with a slow pace.

"Hey, you, you seen a kid running through her, dressed all in black, wearing a mask?" The first cop asks the third person to show up; slowly and carefully (F/n) starts raising her head to get a better look at them since they appear distracted. She freezes seeing the immediate fear on the men's faces when the unknown person gets closer.

"W-Wait a sec, you're-"

She jolts back in shock when suddenly bright, blue flames begin engulfing the two men and more than half the alley.

'Wh-What the hell-?!' The teen presses as far back against the wall as possible feeling the heat licking at her face from the intense blaze and watches as one cop manages to use his quirk to deflect them long enough for him to run, his partner already a charred crisp on the concrete. The flames disperse and once the cop is gone and the third set of footsteps start up again, coming this way. (F/n)'s heart is pounding and she feels fear building the closer this murderer gets; they probably don't even realize she's there, and wracking her brain for information judging by the flames color, intensity, and their targets the person must be-

"Pigs, always gotta make a fuss when they see us," a deep, rough voice speaks up breaking her train of thought and she looks up wide eyed when the unknown man steps into view; Dabi, from the League of Villains! She is silent, starting to shake when he stops and turns his head looking down at her. His intense stare and the way his blue eyes seem to almost glow in the shadowed alley, and the expression she can't read. For this moment she forgets how his quirk won't harm her and only stays still, hoping he'll just keep walking and ignore her. She may be considered a delinquent but a villain is still a villain, even if his quirk can't harm her he's still bigger than her and can overpower her if things got physical.

Fortunately he only says,"Guess I found you, not like they're looking for you now, though." before he looks ahead and keeps walking, passing the corpse without a glance and stuffing his hands into his pants pockets. She cautiously peeks out and watches him leave, her shaking ceasing but the girl not moving until she can't hear the click of his boots anymore.

When he's gone she stands and gives a look at the body, swallowing. She didn't know this would happen, but it still doesn't help the sick feeling settled in her gut as she rushes out of the alley just as sirens are heard.

[X][X][X]

A week has passed since what happened and (F/n) can't seem to get it out of her head.

The fire, the death, the intense gaze, they won't leave her mind and even when trying to focus in school (which she doesn't focus much normally) she keeps looking back on that day. She did feel bad for the cop, even at certain points blaming herself despite knowing his death had nothing to do with her. But the main thing on her mind is Dabi.

What if he comes to find her and kills her too to get rid of a witness or something?

He's apart of such a dangerous villain group, why would he let some trouble making kid off the hook? (F/n) has had run ins with the cops before, and while the other cop managed to survive he's been in the hospital in severe, life threatening conditions so they haven't been able to get anything out of him. Her quirk is known by the police, they wouldn't believe her, and worse may try to pin it on her. Maybe he assumed that. Or she just wasn't worth the effort.

This mixed with her dad's drinking getting worse she's left with little to nowhere to turn, and almost considers running away or moving in with her grandparents.

Either way she's been watching her back more than usual, avoiding alleys for now just in case. Who knows what he'll do if they come across each other again.

[X][X][X]

"(F/n), why the hell did you choose there to tag?!"

It's been 3 weeks since the incident, and (F/n) and her friend Hide are out tagging again. The two decided to spray paint the side of a very popular hero store, and now are once again running from a few police who were out on patrol.

"You do know we could run into heroes right? Did you think about that?!"

"We've almost lost them, Hide, here you take that way I'll go this way," she points, the two reaching an intersection. (F/n) goes right and Hide takes off left, the (brunette, red head, etc) running as fast as she can and luckily finding an alley entryway ahead right when she rounds the corner. 'I should be able to lose them in there!' She thinks, turning in and looking for a hiding place or ladder she can use to hide up on the buildings.

But it seems she's made a grave mistake when her eyes meet very familiar cerulean. He's using his flames again, this time on some local gangsters judging by their clothes. Two piles of ash sit side by side on the concrete while the rest manage to run while he's distracted by her showing up. Dabi is staring at her, only this time his face shows more expression. He looks pissed, his brows furrowed and flames flickering over his right cheek and from his right elbow down to his fingertips. She's not shaking this time, but she still is frozen under his intense gaze as he faces her, his hand now covered in the blue fire.

"You really don't have any other strategy, do you? Stupid kid," his voice is gruff and lacking emotion like before but there's a hint of something dangerous mixed in and lifting his hand he smirks. "And here I thought letting you go last time wasn't a bad idea, but sounds like you brought more cops this time too. Guess I'll have to take care of you this time before we run into each other again."

(F/n) doesn't have much time to react when fire bursts from his palm aimed for the teen but luckily she breaks out of her frozen trance and pulls her mask down revealing her lips and face. Just as the fire reaches her she starts sucking it into her mouth, every inch being pulled into her mouth and filling her up. Dabi stops and actually looks taken back, his smirk gone and eyes suspicious. "You eat-?"

Before he can finish she puffs her cheeks and his eyes widen, the man jumping out of the way behind a dumpster just in the nick of time as this time fire blasts past where he's hiding. She blows the fire out of her mouth like a dragon as it makes an 'o' shape, it not being as widespread as his own but he can feel how much hotter it is, having to cover himself behind his coat just to make sure his skin doesn't get worse or burn off completely. When it disappears he peers out, still processing this girl's quirk. It's.... Powerful and deadly, and works really well with his own.

The sound of her running causes him to jump to his feet and rush out of the alley, watching the teen run off.

He can hear the sirens in the distance as well as seeing people running, meaning it's about time to go, but he gives a second glance where (F/n) had ran off before disappearing back into the alley.

[X][X][X]

"You encountered that Dabi guy?!!" Hide exclaims, the two at (F/n)'s apartment eating snacks and playing a multiplayer game together. He noticed how out of it she seemed when they met up, and now that she admitted what happened she's honestly wondering if he believes her or not.

"Yeah, this isn't the first time either," she says, having trouble concentrating on the game. Her dad will be home soon, she wants to leave before that but he'll just get made again. "I managed to use my quirk, though, caught him off guard."

"But like, isn't he a scary dude? He and the League? Aren't you scared?" Hide inquires, the boy watching her now and gauging her reactions.

She nods, then shrugs, setting the controller down. Without the hoodie the light bruising that's all but gone along with more recent marks on her wrists and arms is out in the open, the girl not hiding them when in front of Hide given he knows the culprit behind them.

"Yeah, but I doubt I'm worth that much trouble, they're probably too busy plotting more dastardly deeds," she laughs although it's light and almost forced. Hide sighs, patting her back, but hearing a car door slam she stiffens and he groans.

"Want me to stay? Or do you think he'll be okay today?"

She hates involving her friends in her personal things, especially when her dad is involved, so she shakes her head, forcing a smile and saying,"It should be fine, you should go home."

The night air is crisp and cold biting at (F/n)'s bare skin as she rushes through the dark streets. She didn't even bother with a jacket, a new bruise on her forearm and the girl biting back the tears threatening to fall.

'I hate him, so much, I just... I wish he'd just disappear! Why can't he see how he treats everyone?! Why mom left us?! Why-'

"Y'know, without that mask and get up you're actually pretty cute."

She stops abruptly and freezes up when that familiar voice hits her ears again. Slowly she turns around and watches as Dabi steps out from the shadows, hands in his pockets and his expression aloof as always. His eyes are scanning the girl until they land on her arms, the lighting from the stores making it easier to see the bruises. She's sure it was just a trick of her eyes but it almost looked like his own turned soft, or something like it, but she's sure her mind is just messing with her.

"Looking to kill me again?" She asks, facing him and while she's trying to stay strong he can already see how she's crumbling inside. "I didn't bring cops this time, but that doesn't matter, huh? You just want to take me out cause I'm a nuisance right?" Her tone has bite to it, while still being shaky with a tremble. But something tells him it isn't because she's scared of him.

Holding out her arms she exclaims,"Then do it, do it already! I won't stop you this time!" She waits for him to burn her to a crisp just like the others but is confused when he just rubs his neck and replies,"Keep it down already, do you want to wake up the whole neighborhood? I didn't expect you to be so noisy."

"You... Aren't you going to kill me? Isn't that why you're here?"

He shrugs, saying,"Keep being loud and I might, it'd be a shame to burn that pretty little face." But his words don't hold that same threatening tone like they did earlier that day, more like it's just an open threat. Her cheeks turn pink but she ignores it.

"Then I'm leaving-" She turns ready to keep going.

"Wait, dollface, I wanted to talk," he moves quickly stepping in front of her. They're only a foot away from each other now allowing her to smell the smoky scent on him and get a better look at his features, namely his scars, staples, and piercings. She takes a small step back in surprise and meets his hypnotizing orbs, also realizing he's.... Handsome, something she really couldn't admire before or ever think she'd have that sort of thought. Despite the scars and staples she feels her cheeks flushing, hell those add to his look; she almost wants to reach up and feel them, see if they really are real or not.

She shakes her head and misses what he says while scolding herself in her head,'He's a villain, and he tried to kill me, stop being weird!!' "Wh-What? What did you say?"

He narrows his eyes, not enjoying the way she's staring at him and even zoning out. To him she's most likely looking at his scars, whether that's a bad or a good thing he doesn't really care. But he lets it slide this time and repeats himself.

"I said, dollface, I'm here to talk to you about something important. To be honest the League would've probably kidnapped you either way, but judging by those something tells me that won't be necessary," he gestures to her arms, and even surprises her when he takes hold of the one with the newest bruise and starts looking them over more closely. "Been a while since I've seen something like this..." he mumbles to himself, not stopping her when she yanks her arm back and tries to hide them, brows furrowed.

"What did you need to talk to me about, and how important is it?" She asks without hesitation, her own wounds clearly being a touchy subject too. He puts his hands back in his pants pockets and stares at her, the teen shifting uncomfortably under the gaze of the beautiful cerulean.

"The League is looking to recruit you," these words completely catch her off guard and her eyes grow wide while her mouth gapes. "Well, it's more like I was for once impressed by someone not looking to be a hero so I decided to tell our leader about you. After he bitched about adding another to our pile of misfits he agreed it'd be beneficial to add you on." He waits for her response, watching her face for any change in reaction. Her mouth closes slowly and she looks down, her mind buzzing and the girl almost wondering if she heard him wrong. She had to right? Slowly the reality sinks in as to why he came looking for her, the fact he admitted he was impressed with her quirk was quite the surprise too. He definitely doesn't seem the type to hand out compliments often.

Looking back up she rubs her arm, biting her plump lip. Which he can't help but watch a little; she's cuter than he was expecting, and he oddly has this weird feeling stir in his chest when he looks at those marks all over her. They resonate with him, his own memories flooding through his mind, and while she'd be very beneficial to the League he now has other reasons for wanting to recruit her. He wants to learn more about her, get to know her, and show her how corrupt their society is. He also has this underlying feeling of protecting her, something he wouldn't do for anyone else but somehow this girl is different.

"And why should I go with you?"

"Because, sweetheart, we've been in the same boat as you. Mistreated, used, turned away when we needed help. This is a society full of falsehoods, corrupt bastards sitting on top, they care about you about as much as they did about the rest of us. And we want you to see that too," he states, before taking a step back and pulling his hand out of his pocket, holding it out for her to take. "I want you to see that. Come with me, and you won't have to worry about those ever again."

A smile comes to his lips, waiting for her answer.

(AN: Okay so like, this was way longer than intended, like 3000 words and counting, also I left it open ended for either a possible sequel or for the reader to decide. Also he’s totally not Touya in this lmao (〃￣ω￣〃)ゞ I hope it's okay, story also took a different direction too, hope Dabi wasn't OOC and hope you enjoyed lol)

#mha dabi #dabi x reader #dabi is a todoroki #mha x reader #bnha x reader #bnha fanfiction #angsty man #i love angsty dabi fics sorry lol

82 notes · View notes

gb-fics · 4 years ago

Text

Camping

Fanfiction:

Kiryuuin Shou x Kyan Yutaka (Golden Bomber)

Note: Happy birthday, Kirisho! This is not really a romantic fanfic, but rather one about friendship ^-^ It’s set during Shou’s on-going 24-hour livestream camping on his birthday - more precisely while he is in his tent to sleep, so I thought I’d post it before he gets up :D I know it’s not accurate (larger tent for example, because his is TINY XD), but I did my best to adjust it to the real setting (^-^)

Frustrated Shou put aside the leftovers of his meal and forced himself to flash a quick smile at the camera. Of course, there were plenty of leftovers. Shou had cooked too much for a single person. He had felt like he ought to treat himself on his birthday, but it hadn’t changed the fact that one person alone could only eat so much. There was something sad about that. Shou wished he hadn’t opened the second bottle of alcohol. It turned him sulky.

He closed his MacBook and waved at the cameras.

“Good night, everyone”, he said. “Let’s meet again tomorrow morning. Bye-bye. Good night.”

He wondered, if the fans were able to tell he was feeling down. He tried to cover it up with another smile.

Bustling to clean up outside of the pavilion had forced him to run through the rain. The downpour of the afternoon had turned into a slight drizzle, hardly audible on the roof, but still enough to make his black jeans cling to his legs damp and uncomfortable. Somehow, he hadn’t expected it would get this cold at night. Shou wished he could ignite the bonfire again to warm himself.

He put up the sign that told everyone to tune in on the livestream at 8am again. He felt bad for making the fans wait so long, but he needed the rest. And the fans were probably tired as well. He had kept them up long enough already, without having anything interesting to offer in the first place. Just a lonely, old man drinking by himself. Not very entertaining. Shou hoped the fans hadn’t been bored or disappointed while watching him. Maybe they had expected more action today. Hopefully they had had a good laugh at Shou setting up the tent by himself at least. It had been quite a hassle.

It was a big tent, large enough for a group of five and not easy to set up by yourself. Originally, he had hoped he wouldn’t be alone tonight. He had thought it would be fun for the band and the fans, if they all went camping together.

But his suggestion had been thrown out by the others immediately. Too bothersome, too rainy, it was Shou’s birthday anyway, they fans wanted the focus to be on him.

Shou had not dared to point out that mostly because it was his birthday, he didn’t want to be alone.

The fans were watching him of course and he was grateful for that. He always planned those events on his birthday to feel less lonely, knowing that so many people were watching him. But it wasn’t quite the same. He craved company right now. He craved being special to someone, not just as an idol, but as a person. He would have loved to know that the others cared enough to put up with the camping for him.

But they were co-workers first of all and Shou shouldn’t forget about that. Just because Yutaka, Jun and Kenji were the most important people in his life, didn’t mean it was the same for them. It was Shou, who lived for the work most of all and he couldn’t blame the others for having a life of their own. They had people in their life, whom they loved, while all that Shou had, was the music and his bandmates. It wasn’t their fault he felt lonely and not their duty to fix it, either.

The rain was getting stronger now. Shou felt several drops hitting the top of his head as he walked over to the tent. But it would be more comfortable inside for sure.

The camera was still running, the light still illuminating the empty camping chair and the message to the viewers. With the light turned on outside, it would be bright inside the tent as well. Shou realized he had forgotten his sleep mask.

Unzipping the front of the tent, Shou hesitated for a moment. The night was cold and rainy. He wasn’t sure he had brought enough blankets, either. Maybe he should just drive home. They had agreed on this earlier, in case the weather turned so bad, it became impossible to spend the night outside.

But it would be such a disappointment for the fans. He had promised them he would go camping. Anyone could sleep at home. It would be boring. He felt like he would betray them, if he did.

And maybe, there was a little spite mixed in with his motives as well. If Yutaka and Jun and Kenji were here tonight, and they had agreed to give up together, it would have been fine. He would have to think of his bandmates first. But they had abandoned Shou tonight – on his birthday. A part of himself wanted to suffer, just so he was allowed to be mad at them.

He bent over and crawled into the tent. As soon as he entered, he noticed the drip. The last time they had used this tent, the holes had been there already, but somehow it had become worse over the past few months just lying around.

Shou felt for his bedroll. The outside was wet.

Quietly he cursed under his breath.

He had tried to put additional cloth onto the tent from the outside, but it had kept sliding off. Shou had forgotten to bring anything to make it stay on.

He had thought of calling the staff to get something from the city, but it would have taken quite a while and the rain had already started to lessen. It hadn’t really seemed like that much of an issue. All the holes were pretty small by themselves. It was enough to turn the tent moist and uncomfortably cold, though.

Shou changed into his pyjamas. At least the pants were dry.

He had to take off his jacket and realized it was even colder than he had assumed. He thought of wearing the jacket over his pyjama while he slept. But the jacket was wet and he would have to crawl into his bedroll with it, turning everything else wet as well.

Maybe it would be the right decision to give up and head back to the city. But Shou had never been good at giving up. He was too proud. He had been too proud to beg the others to join him, too. Maybe, if he had asked more directly, they would have changed their mind. But that awful, stubborn part of Shou had decided it would be better to feel wronged than to show vulnerability.

He made sure the tent was properly zipped, then he crawled into the bedroll. The inside had luckily stayed dry, but water kept dripping in right next to Shou’s head. He hoped the floor wouldn’t be soaking by tomorrow morning. He was running the risk of catching a cold. His hair was slightly wet, too. He shouldn’t act this unreasonable at his age. He should take care of himself. A cold was always a threat for his voice, too. At the age of 36 years, he really ought to know well enough to not let his pride get the better of him. But then, he had always thought at the age of 36 years, he’d have settled down already. He had thought on his birthday he would be with someone, who loved him. He hadn’t thought he would spend his birthday all alone in a tent. The fans were watching him, sure, but the people he personally felt close to weren’t.

Even his bandmates had made a pretty big point out of not watching him tonight. 24 hours would be too long, they had said. They knew what he was like, they didn’t need a livestream to watch him, when they saw so much of him all the time. And somehow, they had a point. But Shou still wished they cared enough to watch him.

He closed his eyes. He felt too cold to fall asleep, but he had set the alarm for tomorrow quite early. He didn’t want to be caught sleeping in when so many people were watching him.

So many people, who weren’t even close to him. He knew that he shouldn’t be bothered by it, but if the fans could watch him, why not the people he considered his friends?

Especially Yutaka had been quite aggressive about not wanting to watch him. Shou told himself, that he wasn’t hurt about that. If Yutaka didn’t want to spend his time watching Shou camping, Shou couldn’t blame him. He had thought things were developing differently between them, but obviously, he had been mistaken. Not even wanting to watch his livestream on Shou’s birthday – least of all spending it together – clearly showed that their meetings lately meant nothing to Yutaka. They had just hung out, because they had nothing better to do – no concerts, no live appearances – and they had needed the company. It hadn’t been dates. And the fact that Shou had stayed over at Yutaka’s place several times and that his couch was so uncomfortable, that they had ended up sharing the bed, meant nothing either. They were just friends and not even very good ones as it seemed.

Shou tossed to the side. A drop of water landed on his cheek. He gritted his teeth. Judged by the clattering on the roof, the rain was increasing. Shou hoped it wouldn’t turn into a serious downpour.

He should just go home. Whom was he trying to prove something to, anyway? The fans? Himself? Yutaka, who wasn’t even here tonight?

A sudden noise from outside stirred Shou.

He heard a car approaching at rapid speed, brakes screeching, and then a door slamming shut. It sounded as if the driver was leading a personal vendetta against their car.

Shou shot up into a sitting position.

Who was that? Had something happened? Was there an emergency? Only the staff was supposed to know where to find Shou. Was he in trouble? Was everyone alright? The only reason someone might interrupt his birthday event, was indeed a case of emergency.

Shou heard footsteps approaching the tent rapidly now. A dark silhouette was showing against the light from outside.

Maybe a crazy fan had found out about his location somehow? Was Shou in danger? Would someone come in? Was someone going to attack him? Or make the situation very uncomfortable?

The entrance of the tent was zipped open with a violent jerk and Shou flinched back. He felt for the flashlight he kept by his side. He switched it on and pointed the light beam right at the entrance – the very same moment someone stuck in their head.

“Oi, what the fuck?! Are you trying to blind me?!”, Yutaka shouted and raised his hand to shield his eyes against the light.

Shou lowered the flashlight immediately.

“Sorry”, he mumbled sheepishly, too surprised to not feel guilty. For a moment, he forgot it was Yutaka, who had ambushed him.

Then Yutaka slipped into the tent and shook his head, getting the wet hair out of his eyes, like a dog trying to dry itself. He had obviously run through the rain.

He looked around the tent and flicked his tongue as if he wasn’t pleased with what he saw.

Shou stared at him. He was wearing nothing but over-sized shirt and sweatpants. He looked like he had forgotten to get dressed before jumping into the car.

“What are you doing here?”, Shou finally managed to get out.

“Oh, please”, Yutaka said and held something up.

Only now did Shou realize that Yutaka was carrying a huge roll of duct tape with him.

“I know this tent is a leaky motherfucker”, he declared.

Without much ado he took the flashlight from Shou’s hand, who was still too shocked to hold on to it. Yutaka pointed the light beam at the roof overhead. Then he ripped off pieces of duct tape with his teeth and plastered them across the holes. It looked awful and provisional, but Shou had to admit, that it was undeniably effective.

“Where did you get the duct tape from?”, Shou asked, just watching Yutaka for a moment. He was so caught up in his work, he was hardly paying attention to Shou.

“Home”, he said and tore another piece of duct tape off with his teeth. It made him look wild, aggressive and oddly sexy. “I started driving when the rain got heavier in Tokyo. I couldn’t believe it, when I saw you took this tent. It leaked the last time we used it already. You should have been prepared.”

“So, you were watching the stream”, Shou concluded hesitantly.

Yutaka lowered his arms, but didn’t turn to look at Shou. Instead he inspected his work, making sure he hadn’t missed any leaking spots.

“I was tuning in shortly”, Yutaka said after a long pause. He spoke kind of huffily.

“Thank you”, Shou admitted softly.

Now Yutaka did turn to look at him. His dark eyes were surprisingly tender.

“Well, someone has to take care of you. And you are doing an awful job at it yourself. You shouldn’t be sleeping out here in this weather. You’ll catch a cold.”

Shou pulled up his shoulders defensively.

“So, you want me to go home? Then why fix the tent?”

Yutaka shrugged and grinned. The light of the flashlight was casting weird shadows on his face. It made the bags under his eyes look very dark.

“I want you to go home”, he confirmed. “But I know you are way too stubborn to listen to me. Not wanting to disappoint the fans and all that. As if they give a fuck where you sleep, seriously. They just want to watch you.”

Shou opened his mouth to protest, but Yutaka just held up a hand to stop him.

“Yes, yes, I know”, he said. “And that’s why I fixed the tent. I don’t even want to try arguing with you. Now, you got a dry piece of clothing in here?”

Shou furrowed his brow, but turned to look through his clothes.

Yutaka was speaking more firmly than was usual for him. Somehow, Shou found that weirdly attractive. Yutaka seemed to have come here with a purpose. Maybe Shou was just happy, that he had showed up at all. Maybe the sleepovers recently had meant something to Yutaka as well.

Shou grabbed the shirt he had worn earlier today and held it out to Yutaka.

Yutaka took it and then leaned over without further explanation. Shou’s first impulse was to pull back, but Yutaka just put the shirt over Shou’s head and started to towel off his hair without warning.

“Look at you”, Yutaka scolded him gently. “Going to sleep with wet hair like that. You want to lose your voice, so we’ll all be left without a job?”

Shou snorted, but let Yutaka dry off his hair, although he wasn’t doing so very gently. The rough touch felt nice anyway. Shou felt cared for. He hadn’t expected anyone to show up here tonight.

Once he was done, Yutaka tended to his own hair, using the shirt to towel it off as well. Then he looked around the tent once more.

“Looks like I fixed it, didn’t I?”, he asked and his voice sounded strangely proud and insecure at the same time, as if he wasn’t sure if Shou would really be impressed by his accomplishment.

Shou looked around as well. No rain seemed to seep in anymore. The tent was dry now and almost cosy, although it could have been a lot warmer.

“You are going to stay?”, Shou assured, suddenly scared, that Yutaka might just leave now.

“Sure”, Yutaka said. “I didn’t come out here all the way to let you out of sight again. I need to make sure you survive this night and don’t die of pneumonia or something.”

Shou looked around the tent once more, although he knew that Yutaka had brought only the duct tape. He wasn’t even dressed properly.

“You didn’t bring a bedroll”, he observed.

Yutaka shrugged again.

“We can share”, he pointed out. “You don’t mind sleeping close, do you? We’ve been sharing the bed recently and I thought …”

“There are cameras outside”, Shou cut him short and nodded to the entrance of the tent. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea.”

Yutaka smirked.

“They can’t look inside, can they?”, he said. “Come on, it will keep you warm.”

He pointed towards the bedroll.

Shou bit his lower lip and hesitated for a moment. But then he was so happy that Yutaka had showed up and he loved sleeping close to him. And it was cold and no one would ever find out and what did it even matter and he really loved sleeping close to him.

With awkward motions Shou crawled back into the bedroll, leaving the zipper open, so Yutaka could slip in next to him. Their bodies were pressed together closely all of a sudden and Yutaka felt incredibly warm.

He tried to pull the zipper back up, but it got suck halfway. The bedroll was too small for both of them. But Shou didn’t think it felt too bad anyway.

He buried his face against Yutaka’s neck, his arm around Yutaka’s waist. They had fallen asleep like that often lately. Shou felt safe with his limps wrapped around Yutaka like that. There was nothing sexual about it – at least there wasn’t tonight. Shou had felt so cold and lonely before and Yutaka was warm and the sound of the rain played on the roof of the tent. It just felt cosy and intimate. Maybe there would be more in the future, but tonight, this shared bedroll was all that Shou had needed.

Ironically, Shou had always thought he would feel safer falling asleep in someone’s arms; that he would like to be held. But when he was with Yutaka, he just wanted to hold on to him desperately. Knowing that Yutaka wouldn’t leave was all that Shou needed to feel safe.

Yutaka switched off the flashlight. It remained bright, though. Shou missed his sleep mask again.

He could feel Yutaka’s chest heaving with each breath. His body was weirdly tense, as if he was trying to suppress a shiver.

“You are cold”, Shou observed.

His shoulders were growing cold, too. He wished they had at least one additional blanket.

“It’s fine”, Yutaka said.

Shou smirked, because Yutaka had called him stubborn before. Yutaka was quite stubborn himself.

“You should have brought blankets”, he teased him. “Bringing only duct tape. You should have known that was a bad idea.”

“And you didn’t bring blankets and even forgot the duct tape”, Yutaka reminded him. “I think I’m winning here.”

Shou chuckled and pressed his eyes shut again.

He was cold, yes, but with Yutaka this close to him, he already felt a lot better.

The fact that the others had not even wanted to watch his livestream had made him feel unloved. He wanted his bandmates to care about him as much as Shou cared for them. But at least Yutaka seemed to care.

Somehow, Shou was glad that it was just the two of them right now. They wouldn’t cuddle this openly with Jun and Kenji around.

He also felt a tiny little bit sad, though.

Yutaka was the only one who had shown up for him, because of their involvement with each other lately. He was here, because he had romantic interest in Shou. And that was great. Shou wanted Yutaka to have romantic interest in him. But that also meant, that if he blew this and if it didn’t work out between them, he’d be alone again.

On a weird level, Shou wished Yutaka would be here as his friend and not as his date. 36 years and he wanted to know that someone cared for him unconditionally. It seemed about time.

Next to him Yutaka made a funny little noise.

“You want to go back to the city?”, Shou asked.

Yutaka grunted.

“I won’t be the one to make you give up”, he said. “I couldn’t forgive myself that.”

Shou moved his thumb, gently stroking Yutaka’s chest where his hand was resting.

“If it gets too bad, we could try to call the staff to bring out more blankets.”

“It will be fine”, Yutaka soothed him. “Let’s just try to fall asleep.”

For a moment, they lay in silence. In the distance Shou could hear a faint noise; almost like a car engine. He wasn’t sure, though, until he heard a car pull up outside. It seemed to park in the area free of trees behind Shou’s shooting place, right where Yutaka’s car was already parking.

“Are you expecting any more men to tenderly hold you through the night?”, Yutaka asked mockingly.

Shou boxed against his ribcage lightly, which wasn’t easy, because in the bedroll together, they hardly had space to move.

A door fell shut. Shou held his breath, waiting for what would happen next. Maybe it was someone from the staff this time?

“Let me out”, he asked hoarsely, suddenly worried, that someone might open the tent and find him and Yutaka curled up together.

Surprisingly, Yutaka did not argue, although he usually loved to argue with Shou. He unzipped the bedroll and rolled over, so Shou could sit up and crawl towards the entrance on his knees.

He unzipped the tent carefully, squinting his eyes as he peeked outside. He could vaguely make out a person opening the trunk of their car. As they straightened up again and walked towards the tent, they were carrying so many blankets in their arms, that it was impossible to even see their face. All that Shou could spot above the blankets was a shock of washed-out purple hair.

“What’s going on out there?”, Yutaka asked from behind.

Shou smiled widely and opened the door of the tent more widely.

“We’ve just got ourselves some blankets”, he announced, although Yutaka could obviously see that. They were handed inside first and Shou passed them on to Yutaka, who immediately started to unfold them.

Only then did Jun pop in his head and crawled into the tent awkwardly, nearly tripping over while taking off his shoes.

“Jun, what are you doing here?!”, Yutaka called out. “Can you even survive a night without your silk towels and vegan soaps, or will that make you cry?”

Jun snorted and rolled his eyes visibly. He was dressed way warmer than Yutaka. He had even thought of putting on a proper sweater.

“Well, what does it look like?”, Jun said dryly and grabbed one of the thinner blankets, wrapping it around Shou’s shoulders without paying attention to his protest. “I saw on the stream, that this idiot here only brought a bedroll and no blankets. I knew he was going to freeze.”

Jun shook his head and made himself comfortable next to them. All of them were sitting cross-legged now, wrapped up in blankets. The rain outside had stopped for a while, but it still felt cosier inside.

“So, you were watching, too”, Shou said and couldn’t hide his smile.

“Sure”, Jun said and huffed quietly. “We know what happens when we let you out of sight.”

He turned to Yutaka.

“And what are you doing here?”

Yutaka shot him a dark glance.

“Don’t act so surprised. You stole my idea, when you saw me on the stream.”

“When did you get here?”, Jun asked.

Yutaka shrugged.

“Fifteen minutes ago? Half an hour? I don’t know.”

“Well”, Jun said. “The drive up here takes about an hour, genius. How was I supposed to know? I left home, before you got here.”

Yutaka pointed to the roof of the tent.

“I fixed the holes. You know the tent was leaking.”

Jun looked up and inspected the duct tape construction critically. Then he looked at Shou sternly.

“You knew the tent was leaking. And you knew it would be cold. You are hopeless. You’d be lost without us.”

Shou tried to feel offended, but still he couldn’t stop smiling. Jun had no idea how true that was. Shou would be lost without his bandmates. Without them, he’d never have succeeded at anything. They were the reason he was able to live off the music and the shows that he loved. Everything, he had reached in the 36 years of his life so far, he had reached thanks to them.

“Too bad Kenji isn’t here”, he said quietly to change the topic.

“We could text him”, Jun suggested.

Shou shook his head.

“I’m sure he is asleep already. It’s late.”

Yutaka cleared his throat and rubbed his palms together as if he was trying to warm up his hands.

“Still cold?”, Shou asked and wrapped the blanket Jun had given him around himself more tightly.

It was nice with which naturalness they had both shown up here to take care of him. Yutaka fixing the tent while scolding him. Jun wrapping him in a blanket while scolding him. And neither of them trying to make him go home. Neither of them was trying to make him give up. They just went along with his stupid ideas and did their best to support him. It had always been like this. It was how their band worked. Shou wished he could tell Yutaka and Jun, how much he loved them.

“I’m fine”, Yutaka said. “I could just use some …”

He was interrupted by the noise of another car pulling up outside.

“Well, fuck me, I don’t believe this”, Shou said and stared at the entrance of the tent incredulously.

Jun started laughing.

“Well, I’m curious, what he brought”, Yutaka said.

Shou shook his head and eyed Jun and Yutaka suspiciously.

“This was planned, right?”, he assured. “You planned this.”

“If we did, we’d share a car, idiot”, Yutaka said. “Think about it.”

Shou turned back to look at the entrance of the tent.

For a while, everything stayed silent, then someone rattled on the tent from the outside.

“Shou, Shou, you in there?”, Kenji’s voice called out.

“Where else am I supposed to be?”, Shou called back and shook his head in amusement.

Jun crawled over and opened the tent.

“Eeh?!”, Kenji called out when he saw him. “Jun? What are you doing here?”

He bent down and crawled inside, starting to cackle as soon as he spotted Yutaka as well.

“Oh, I’m last, really? And there I thought showing up here would be a great surprise!”

“You should have driven faster”, Yutaka said and pointed to the large backpack Kenji swung from his shoulders. “Now, what did you bring? I fixed the tent, Jun provided blankets. A snack would be nice now.”

Shou laughed and nudged Yutaka’s shoulder.

“It’s night, how can you be hungry?”

Kenji opened his backpack and got out a convoluted bedroll. Then he presented two Thermos bottles and a set of plastic cups.

“I brought hot tea”, he said and unscrewed the first bottle. “It’s important to stay warm and hydrated to not catch a cold. I was sure you wouldn’t think of that.”

He poured a first cup and handed it to Shou.

Shou closed his hands around it firmly. The warmth of the tea was seeping through the plastic and heated up his palms. He felt very warm on the inside, too.

He looked at Yutaka and at Jun and at Kenji, who were all filling tea cups for themselves now. And he knew that he hadn’t wasted his years, focusing on the band activities. Sometimes, he wondered if over all that work, he had missed the right timing to find someone to love him and someone to found a family with.

But he hadn’t missed his chance for finding love by giving everything to the band. His family was right here with him.

“Thanks for coming out all the way here, guys”, he said and raised his tea cup.

“Of course”, Kenji said and smiled. Even in the shitty beam of the flashlight, he looked handsome and his eyes were kind and his smile genuine.

“We wouldn’t let you celebrate on your own, would we?”, Yutaka added and grinned at him with his charming, aggressive smile, that made Shou’s heart pick up pace. He looked forward to their next sleepover already.

Jun raised his tea cup as well, the colour of his hair nearly washed out and faded completely. He looked affectionate.

“Happy birthday, Shou”, he said and they clinked their cups together.

And sitting in a dry tent, wrapped up in blankets and drinking hot tea with his bandmates, Shou felt like it might be his happiest birthday yet.

#Kiryuuin Shou #Golden Bomber #Kyan Yutaka #kirikyan #utahiroba jun #Darvish Kenji #fanfiction #fanfic

5 notes · View notes