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slashersteve · 2 years ago

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Dream Girl

pairing: Walter “Keys” Mckey/Female Reader

summary: Keys helps you pass a seemingly impossible boss battle in a video game you’ve been playing.

warnings/extra tags: cursing, a kiss kiss, probably ooc keys? I tried 😔, poor hacking things i got very vague but for this imagine just trust me bro, beta read, edited by me so if i missed anything pls ignore :')

note: Consider this my debut to writing Keys and who knows…maybe I’ll write more of him 👀 also yall this has been in my drafts for decades and today i was like?? it's bri's birthday, so i should post this right??? happy birthday @userdjo !! Thank you for reading and enjoy ♥️

✦ ✦ ✦

“I'm not doing it.”

"Why not?”

“Uh, because it's too risky?”

“Seriously? Too risky? Do you hear yourself right now?”

Keys was standing across from you, leaning on the kitchen counter holding a cup of coffee that he had only taken a single sip of seeing as the moment you heard the coffee maker come to life you stalked out of your own office to try to convince him to do what you wanted him to do all morning.

“Keys!” You were exasperated when he didn’t reply to your rhetorical question.

He just wanted to spend a bit of time during his break to look at something that wasn’t a screen of codes he could read like the morning paper. He wanted to talk to you in this kitchen like you always did throughout the day and unfortunately your conversations had to be this.

“We could get into a lot of trouble, I could get into a lot of trouble,” Keys told you firmly, to which you scoffed and crossed your arms, “I’m serious.”

“Only if you get caught, which I know you won’t,” you replied, before huffing and adding, “Where did this goody two shoes attitude come from? You literally took down an entire gaming company by causing trouble with Millie.”

Keys sighed, turning away from you as he set his mug down and brought one hand to his face to remove his glasses just so he could properly pinch his nose. That was different, and you knew it, but still wanted to try and guilt him into helping you.

“And you can’t do it yourself?” He asked, fully knowing that you couldn’t because you wouldn’t be asking him otherwise. If you could you wouldn’t be bugging him so much, pushing him to do what you wanted.

“I’d get caught, we both know it. Nobody can do it but you- Millie probably, but she’s not here,” you explained, “Come on, please? If you do it I’ll do every coffee run for the rest of the month.”

You were trying to bargain now, which amused Keys as he wiped the lens of his glasses before sliding them back over his eyes.

“Yeah me hacking into a game of another company is definitely worth you doing coffee runs,” he said sarcastically, resting his eyes back on you. You shrugged weakly and shot him a sort of sheepish smile, not caring that he was obviously irritated with you.

“I think it is- unless anything else is up for grabs? Anything you know…you would like?”

You wiggled your eyebrows at him, and he felt his chest tighten slightly, unsure exactly what you were getting at and suddenly being afraid that you did know. The sight of his expression had you smirking before you said, “She is my best friend- like yours- but girls mostly listen to each other…I could potentially lead her in your direction. You know…get that date you’ve always wanted lover boy.”

Keys blinked, understanding after a moment or two that you were talking about Millie and the hopeless crush he had on her, something he had confessed to you a while ago. Just that, nothing else…thank god.

“Don’t-“ Keys laughed awkwardly, “Don’t. I actually don’t like her like that anymore.”

You gave him a look, and he felt his cheeks heat up, embarrassed by the mention of his old crush on her. Not because he was embarrassed of being in love with Millie once, but because he had thought you had known something else now, that had nothing to do with Millie but with the woman standing in this kitchen with him.

“Oh…when did that happen?” You questioned him, not believing a single word that just came out of his mouth. Truth be told, long before he confided in you his crush, you had been aware of it. How could you not be? It was the way he looked at her, brown eyes longing and yearning. He had it bad for her, for years, so it was hard to believe he’d moved on, that he’d fallen out of love.

“A while ago, actually, just sort of happened one day,” he replied awkwardly, eyes flashing to his watch. He had a few minutes left before he had to go back in there and start coding again. You both worked from home, made up your own hours and he liked to keep a more timely schedule than you did.

“Huh,” you said, still curious as to how that happened at all, but knowing he was going to be escaping back to his office/room was enough to make you set it aside and continue your prior conversation bargain.

“Anything else then? I’m really desperate here Keys, I wouldn’t be asking you to do this if I wasn’t, you know this,” you continued, watching as he picked up his basically untouched coffee and pushed himself off the counter, ready to return to his coding.

“The coffee runs do sound nice, but like I said, not worth it,” he told you again, this time a bit more firmly and now it was you getting frustrated with him as you followed closely after him through the living room.

“Oh come on! I can do it for longer? The rest of the year- Keys!” You grabbed his arm, the one that wasn’t holding a coffee thankfully as it definitely might’ve spilled, “I’m begging you, do you want me to get down on my knees and beg to show you how serious I am?”

He cheeks suddenly became flushed as you started to descent to your knees and he had to catch you to keep you from doing that. The last thing he needed was to know how you looked when you’re on your knees in front of him. The last thing.

“No! You don’t have to-“ he said a bit too frantically. You stared at him, confused by his sudden behavior (even noticing his suddenly very pink cheeks and wide eyes underneath his glasses). Keys blinked rapidly for a moment, before he turned his head and cursed, “Alright alright, it may take a day or so- we need to make sure our schedules are clear- which means you gotta do work.”

He gave you a pointed look, knowing your tendency to move away from your work computer to what you called your fun gaming one whenever you felt like it.

“Oh yeah of course!” you replied like you did work all the time, “If that’s what it takes then hell yeah, I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”

You didn’t say it like a joke, which made him swallow thickly at your words and push down some thoughts he’d been having about you lately. Some romantic, some not so romantic and more in the carnal sense. Both equally terrified him and made him feel a sense of guilt.

It didn’t help that your favorite lounge at home outfit was a sports bra and biker shorts you usually paired with a zip-up hoodie that you never zipped up. It was mostly that pretty silver chain necklace you wore all the time and how it would fall underneath the fabric of your bra, making his eyes and thoughts wander to forbidden places.

Something he was doing right fucking now. It was almost like getting caught in a spell of some sort, which embarrassed him greatly.

You were too distracted by the fact that he technically agreed to helping you out to notice his eyes resting on your chest area, “I can’t believe you’re going to do this for me- okay- okay you get back to work and we’ll meet up tonight?”

You were giddy, almost bouncing in your spot and Keys suddenly snapped out of his trance caused by you, and he quickly forced his eyes to meet yours, realizing you’d just been speaking and that he wasn’t listening.

“Uh- yeah- yeah totally,” he told you in an attempt to not sound like a creep. You didn’t notice though, you didn’t notice a lot of things actually, and you merely flashed him an excited grin before you turned and jogged back into your own room, for the first time being excited to do some work and actually complete it.

Keys just stood there long after you had slammed your door shut, long after you probably sat at your computer and started replying to messages or reworking some mods like you were supposed to.

He felt like an idiot. A fool. Yet another hopeless fool who developed feelings for somebody he was close to, somebody in the same friend group.

He hadn’t intended for it to happen. It had always been Millie, not that anything was wrong with you of course, he just had some odd attachment to her because for a long time he considered her to be his dream girl, but after a long hard look at himself and their friendship he knew that’s all she would ever be.

And he was okay with that…eventually. Eventually his heart stopped fluttering in his chest when their eyes would meet, eventually his mind was no longer foggy and warm when they spoke. Eventually, he felt nothing but a platonic love that would always be there to stay.

With you, he wasn’t anticipating feelings like that to come up. It honestly came out of no where one day. Millie and Mouser had left, and you decided to stick around a little longer.

Keys wasn’t used to being alone with you, as at the time you were closer to Millie only and you two were like a package deal. So when you said you’d stay, Keys suggested you two play a game of your choice as an ice breaker. You chose this shooter game, 1v1, or on a team together online. That would be his choice and he decided to go with 1v1, not wanting to deal with teammates he didn’t know as he wasn’t up for a headache or trash talking from strangers or kids who aren’t being monitored by their parents and cursing like sailors.

He didn’t catch the wicked look in your eyes when he chose that one.

Keys learned very quickly how much you liked shooter games, even ones at the arcades. Your aim was impeccable and your sportsmanship was completely out of the window. You quipped back and forth like old friends, teasing him when he’d lose, cursing him when you lost, which wasn’t as often as Keys would’ve liked.

It was fun, very fun, and you ended up spending the entire night with him, playing your favorite games, and his favorite ones. Then, you just talked and got to know each other better.

Keys had liked you before that, and it was after that he started to like you more. And when you and him moved into together- things changed. They changed a lot.

He really liked you, but like with Millie, he was probably forever going to keep it to himself because how could you ever like him in return? He was your friend, and you knew he had been hopelessly in love with your best friend- he couldn’t see that working out. Not one bit, even if it broke his heart knowing that it wouldn’t.

Like Millie was, you were just another dream girl, and like her again, he eventually learn to be okay with that. It’s what was keeping him going, honestly, but he knew it would take longer as you were around him constantly. Eventually, he told himself as he took a sip of his now cold coffee, eventually.

✦ ✦ ✦

Keys had gone to bed the minute he finished up.

He washed his face, taken off his shirt and put on his pajama pants, took off his glasses, and laid spread on his bed under the covers on his stomach. One side of his face was nuzzled into his pillow, heavy eyes shutting on their own accord, mind ready to be overcome by well deserved sleep.

Just as he felt sleep wash over him, something had weighed down the mattress from his left side. Well, not something, more like somebody had.

He opened one eye to see you on his bed, and he quickly sat up, moving away from you as he asked what the heck you were doing in his bed like this. You were taken back by his reaction, but then raised a brow before saying, “We agreed to meet up tonight, remember?”

Keys just stared at you, blinking wildly as he tried to remember if that was true. You shifted in your spot, spreading your thighs a little more so you could actually sit on his bed. He let his eyes move down for only a split second, though his vision was blurry, before forcing them back up at you.

“I seriously don’t remember, just-“

“God relax,” you suddenly said, a smile starting to grow on your lips, “You’re so nervous by a girl being in your bed.”

You were teasing him again, and he coughed into his hand before he shook his head and said in an attempt to change the subject, “I told you it might take all day, we can’t start tonight we’ll be up for hours.”

You frowned now, “Then why’d you agree tonight? You said ‘yeah totally’ I remember.” You pointed at him, and Keys suddenly recalled that he did say that to you- he had just been distracted that he didn’t know what he was agreeing to.

He cursed under his breath, knowing that you weren’t going to go away at all, but thinking he should keep his word as well, especially when you titled your head and gave him what could only be described as puppy dog eyes. You even fluttered your lashes and stuck out your bottom lip.

“Fine, get everything set up-“

“Already done,” you replied, already moving to stand, and you gestured him to follow you as you took long strides out the door. Keys could only grab his glasses, forgoing a shirt, so he could keep up with you.

Everything was set up, the game, the laptop with the games codes there- he was sure you made sure IP addresses couldn’t be tracked as the last thing your guys new gaming company needed was a scandal that involved one of the key founding members hacking into a game made by a separate company. Why on earth did you want to do this? It was insanely risky.

You moved to sit on a stool you had brought in from the kitchen, leaving your vibrant teal gaming chair to Keys. He sat in it, eyes glossing over the game and he asked you for clarification what it was you wanted him to do exactly.

“I’m having trouble with the items- okay so every time you buy one the price goes up and it goes insanely high- insanely that it makes it impossible to buy more,” you explained, “So I need you to either keep the prices from going up, or to give me infinite items or coins. That one sounds great.”

Keys ran his hand through his hair and laughed at your request, and said teasingly, “You know you can just earn all those coins by being a better player.”

He felt your hand lightly smack his shoulder, “I’ve been on this for weeks, Keys, and I’m desperate. This boss is kicking my ass and I’d like an infinite amount of healing potions.”

Rather than going to the coding, he actually moved to the game instead, starting it up and waving you off when you asked him what he was doing.

“I just want to see which boss is kicking your ass so much that you want to cheat,” he told you, and you started to protest, knowing that this was one the games he actually introduced you to and would definitely tease you when he found out which one it was.

Keys promptly ignored you as he loaded up to your last mission, and as his eyes danced around the screen, taking in the familiar surroundings and music even, he started to laugh and shake his head- doing exactly what you were afraid of.

“Alright yeah laugh it up-“

“No, no I actually don’t blame you,” he said with another shake of his head before he pushed his hair out his face, “I think I stopped playing for a while because of this fight. Have you gotten asked to play easy mode yet?”

He was looking at you now, and you moaned in distress before nodding. Keys laughed, remembering how this particular boss battle had humbled him and other players who thought they were god at video games greatly. He leaned back in his chair, clasping his hands together and resting them over his chest.

“It’s a bad idea,” he told you again, this time more firmly, “Also I’m sorry- I’m not going to let you cheat. We’re beating this guy here and now.”

He was turning away from you to look back at the screen, and you groaned.

“Keys there’s no way- no fucking way we’re going to beat him- you said even you had trouble,” you tried, “Just let me go the cheating route.”

You grabbed the laptop, but Keys had taken it from you swiftly, shutting it and setting aside as you grumbled at him.

“No you’re going to beat this guy fair and square, we just need to replay missions, get every objective checked off…” he trailed off as he started moving the character away from the boss battle zone. You just sat beside him, dreading the idea of having to go back to do all that.

“Keys…” you moaned in complete despair, “That’ll take too long.”

“It won’t, I’ll help you,” he replied back, and dropped your head on his shoulder while he grinned, amused by your reluctance to replay any of this.

“Fine, fine, we’ll take turns,” you said, lifting your head up so you can look at the screen. Keys agreed to these terms.

A few hours had passed, you and Keys switching off who plays and who watches- and Keys was a much better player than you were at this particular game, getting through past battles you also had trouble with and barely passed with ease, slicing through the bosses like butter, and going on his merry way. You were almost embarrassed honestly whenever it was your turn, but he sat beside you on that stool, and just helped you.

Normally, whenever you played together or watched the other play a single player game (a sort of ritual you two had every other night when you were both available) you’d go hard on each other for every little mistake.

“Uh triangle is the top button Keys? Need to study the controls a little longer there big guy?”

“Haha- if you’re just going to be so critical the door's over there…”

All would end with a laugh and you leaning back on his bed as you continued to watch him, teasing him within the next few minutes.

Right now though, he’d still occasionally tease here and there, but it wasn’t condescending or serious enough to irritate you. You actually liked it, liked him sitting next to you, leaned in slightly so he was closer to you and the screen, telling you directly in your ear what to do, when to trigger your characters power, what weapons you should go with- you liked him being so close, and especially liked it when you did good and he praises you.

It really urged you to play well, wanting to hear those words again.

Then, you got to the boss you’ve been having so much trouble with you wanted to cheat your way into beating him. By now it was past midnight, closer to 1 in the morning, and you have both been at it for at least another hour or so- switching spots again and again as you did your best to fuck the boss up. He was the only one who got closest and you at least got farther than you normally would…more than half of his life had been down before you were taken out.

“Yup- I’m dead,” Keys said with a sigh. He leaned back, pressing the back of his head on the gaming chair and you grumbled, knowing you were next to try.

“Don’t even move,” you said in a gruff voice as you moved from the stool and sat onto his lap. Keys eyes widened when he felt you there, hands moving to grasp your hips almost instinctively but quickly dropping them as if it was a crime to hold you.

“What are you-“

“I’m going to die real quick, so you moving would be a waste,” you said, shifting slightly before you restarted the mission. Keys just say there staring at the back of your head, trying to fight the heat that was overcoming him.

You weren’t putting your weight fully down on him, your own feet touching the floor and holding yourself upright as you clicked away at the keyboard, too concentrated on the game to notice Keys having a slight panic attack underneath you or how tense suddenly became.

Curse words were slipping through your lips toward the game, and you shifted in your spot again, making him hold onto you once more, deciding to look over your shoulder now and focus on the game and not how you felt on his lap.

You were doing pretty well, actually, dodging with precision, getting well aimed hits on the boss. Your characters power bar was growing drastically, and when the bar was full you managed to trigger it at the perfect time.

“You know, for somebody’s who not even trying you’re doing pretty damn good,” Keys mumbled, leaning forward so his head was over your shoulder. Focusing on the game had been successful in distracting him from your current position.

You merely hummed in response, acknowledging his compliment, and the villain’s health bar was so low- it was in the red and Keys said, “Holy shit! You almost got him!”

He held his breath, and also you, as he watched you dodge some his quickest attacks that you struggled with before triggering your character's power again and putting the boss to sleep with one final blow and a final scream.

You just stared at the screen, in pure disbelief, and perhaps a dash of denial that you’d finally beaten this fucker who had been haunting you for weeks now, taunting you every time you looked at your computer screen. You did it, you beat him - or did you?

"Did...did I actually beat him? Or did I fall asleep watching you play and this is a fever dream? Please tell me this is fucking real-"

“It's real! You kicked his ass!” Keys was practically hugging you from behind and you threw your hands up and shouted with excitement, the smile on your lips wide as you really took in that you finally beat him.

"See! You didn't need to cheat," Keys told you from behind, making you laugh and move to stand, making Keys let you go as you did. He stood up too, and you were turned around to hug him tightly, which seemed to have taken him off guard.

Keys settled into your tight embrace, returning it by wrapping his arms tightly around you before you tilted your head up at him with a wide grin on your lips.

He looked down at you, “He wasn’t worth hacking into a game, right?”

"I mean if we cheated it wouldn't be almost...2 in the morning right now," you joked, making him laugh, his lips pulling into a sweet smile as his brown eyes held your gaze, "But...no you're right...totally not worth that."

He nodded, happy that you agreed with him.

"Thank you, Keys, I mean it...just thank you, I know it's just a video game but you know...this stuff is basically our life, so just...thanks," you told him truthfully.

Keys sucked in a tight breath before he nodded, "You're welcome, anything for you honestly...except you know...hacking into a beatable game."

He made you laugh, again, and because he was pretty sleepy right now with the adrenaline rushing off, he couldn't really hide the way he was looking at your lips.

There was little light in the room, with only your bedside lamp and the light emitting from your computer screen behind you. It reflected back at you slightly, courtesy of those cute glasses Keys wore, but you could see his eyes weren't on yours.

You honestly don't know what compelled you, the adrenaline that still coursed through your veins from the win, or maybe the fact that you were still holding each other like a separated couple reunited- you couldn't really pinpoint it, but you were starting to lean forward as if you were going to kiss him...well...you were going to kiss him.

Until he was leaning away, causing you snap out of it. Your eyes widened as they snapped upward to rest back on his. He looked so very confused and your felt your cheeks heat up immediately with embarrassment, feeling like an idiot that you just about almost stole a kiss from him without asking.

“What...what was that?” Keys asked you, attempting to keep his voice as steady as possible as he felt his heart start to race and his stomach between to twist and turn with nerves.

You were pulling away then, saying in an exasperated tone, “Nothing- sorry- I think I just got too caught up in the moment.”

You were trying to laugh it off, make it seem like it wasn’t a big deal what you were about to do and you stumbled backwards, wanting to shut the game off for the night and lay under your covers in your own embarrassment.

Keys just watched you, piecing together exactly what you were close to doing- how close you had leaned in, how your eyes had looked- were those what they call kiss me eyes?

His heart nearly swelled in his chest and he grasped your arm gently, making you turn to meet him with a curious expression and he asked, “Were you about to…kiss me?”

Your expression turned horrified.

“What? No,” you said, panic rising in your voice before you cleared your throat and continued to say, “I wasn’t- no- did it…did it look like it? Because I wasn’t...”

He blinked a few times, knowing that you were lying. He knows what he saw, and he knows you and your tells, the way you refused to keep eye contact, and would press your lips together as if conflicted. You were lying, and you were embarrassed. He didn’t like that you were.

"Well! Anyway! Thanks for helping me, I really appreciate it and uh- we should totally do this again. Well we probably will but-"

“No wait I wasn't finished," Keys said, making you pause and look up again to meet his gaze. He looked serious now, less shocked and more...determined. You didn't know what to say or do, just standing there and waiting for him to finish.

"Just..if you were trying to kiss me…I’d be totally okay with it,” he said, his voice a little softer. Your eyes widened softly at this statement.

"Really?" you asked, and he swiped his tongue across his bottom lip before he nodded.

Things had suddenly grew tenser, the room quieter and darker, more intimate. You hadn't ever expected to be in a situation like this with Keys, sure you sometimes thought about Keys romantically, but you quickly stopped those because you had always known Keys was in love with Millie.

He was cute, he always had been, you had thought so since you first met him. He was funny...smart, the best video game partner, and roommate, coworker...friend, it always struck you as odd that Millie never saw him the same way he saw her.

And here he was, looking at you how he looked at her, except it felt like something even more and he was basically asking you to kiss him. And you wanted to, you wanted to so bad suddenly, but conflict raised in you because of the fact you thought it was always Millie he loved, wondering in these split seconds if he was suddenly into you because he couldn't have her.

He must've seen this, your hesitation, and he swallowed thickly before starting to speak, "I've actually...liked you for a long time now, you asked me when I lost feelings for Millie and...I think- now I know...it was when I met you because...yeah...it's you."

He trailed off awkwardly, and you watched as his cheeks dusted pink and his eyes shifted away from you. You couldn't really believe what he had just said, but when he finally got the courage back to look at you...you knew he was telling you the truth.

And you were leaning in, tilting your head upwards so that you could press your lips gently against his. You practically felt his breath get taken away as your lips touched his, just before he returned your gentle, almost shy kiss.

You both leaned away at the same time, your heart pounding in your chest and your eyes fluttering open as your eyes met. A small smile had returned to his lips, and suddenly you felt his hand in your hair as he grew more confident and you both leaned in to kiss a second time, this time the kiss was longer, your lips melding together tenderly as you titled your head to deepen it.

Then, things went further...because of you mostly. Your hands planted against his bare chest as you made him walk backwards, your lips never leaving each others and he was on your bed with you settling into his lap, straddling him.

Keys looked up at you through his lashes, his hands placed onto your waist, in almost the same way they were placed moments before when you on his lap playing and defeating the boss. His body felt so warm against yours, and you were sure your body was just as warm against his.

You moved your own hands to his hair, and said, "Do you want to keep playing, Keys? Or do you wanna keep doing this?"

He seemed taken back by your suggestion, but laughed breathlessly as he said, "Yeah...yeah let's keep doing this."

#ngl this was inspired by the feeling i got when i couldn't beat the first boss in devil may cry #didn't have a cute boy to beat it for me #just my sister LMAO #keys x reader #walter keys mckey x reader #keys imagine #walter keys mckey imagine #walter keys mckey #free guy #free guy imagine #joe keery

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kazumist · 1 year ago

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“go to sleep.”

“i will in a bit.”

kuroo lets out another sigh; that was also your response to him two hours earlier. he knows how important academics are for you, and he supports you for it. but does he support you sacrificing your sleep and meals to achieve your dreams? absolutely not!

“you also said that earlier.”

“you did? i don’t remember.” you reply, not even bothering to look at him as you continued on working. he leans against the door frame with his arms crossed, just watching you and listening to the sounds of you typing away on your keyboard.

after a good few minutes of thinking about what he should do, kuroo decides to pick you up from your seat and carry you to bed. “hey! i wasn’t done yet—”

“you need to sleep.” he says, putting you down to tuck you in bed.

“i’m perfectly fine, tetsu.”

“no, you’re not. when was the last time you properly slept? your ten minute naps don’t count, by the way.” he asks.

“uhm…”

okay, he got you there. the last time you properly slept was probably thursday, and it’s literally sunday now. “see?” kuroo always knew you like the back of his hand, so it’s really no surprise that he knew all of this.

“fine, you win, but let me just finish what i was working on—”

“no.”

“please?”

“no.”

“tetsu, plea—”

“did you know that sleep deficiency is actually linked to many chronic health problems, including heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, obesity, and depression? it’s also linked to a higher chance of injury in adults, teens, and children. so please go to sleep.”

what the fuck? is he seriously going to be nerdy with you now, of all times?

“tetsu, literally what the hell are you on about now?”

“i’m not yet done. anyway, as i was saying, if you skip a night's sleep, your mental function and mood will significantly decline the next day. and apparently, according to the CDC, being awake for 18 hours causes a similar mental impairment as having a blood alcohol content of 0.05 percent, and being awake for 24 hours is equivalent to 0.10 percent. so technically, skipping sleep is the equivalent to being drunk.” he continues.

if this is your boyfriend’s way of making you sleep, then it’s working. because as much as you love to listen kuroo ramble and act all nerdy, you would really love it more if he were to shut up right now instead.

“okay, okay, fine! i’ll sleep. so please shut up about the effects of the lack of sleep.” you said with a defeated sigh. “that’s more like it.” he replies with a grin, leaning himself closer to give you a quick kiss.

what would you do without him?

a/n: thank u alu (@moonltwltz) for the random google result bc if it weren't for your msg i probably never would've thought of this 😭 @i23kazu here you go! you wanted to be tagged so c:

#( rambles )#haikyuu x reader #hq x reader #kuroo tetsuro x reader #kuroo x reader #kuroo tetsurou #kuroo fluff #haikyuu drabbles #haikyuu imagines #hq fluff #this is so random HELP ME but i thought it was a funny idea ok

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kyojurismo · 2 years ago

Note

How would the hashiras, more specifically Renogku and Tengen (in a more romantic way at least), if the reader has insomnia? Like reader is the newest hashira, the master holding a meeting to celebrate when reader walks up clearly hasn't slept in a while. Sanemi or Obanai makes a sarcastic comment asking if they slept recently only to be shocked when reader replies 'I think this is day 3, I'll crash sooner or later' shrugging but noticing the shocked and worried expressions of all the other hashiras 'I have insomnia this is normal, hell last time I didn't sleep for 5 days this is nothing'

# kyojuro rengoku & tengen uzui

tags : gn!hashira reader, fluff, romantic feelings from kyojuro & tengen’s sides, obanai being obanai, not proofread.

a/n : hello anon! it’s a bit messy lol, i tried to focus on all of them in the beginning, then i divided it in two to follow kyo and tengen reacting singularly (idk if makes sense tbh). i hope it satisfies your request, i’m a bit unsure about it lol.

what were they celebrating again? oh right, right…

oyakata-sama congratulated you because thanks to your hard work another lower moon was gone. you were pretty satisfied, also because you were the newest hashira and you wanted to demonstrate your capabilities.

the moment you entered into the room everyone looked at you, your status saying it all.

“tsk, apparently someone’s been avoiding sleeping,” shinazugawa commented in a sarcastic tone. “mhm, you’re actually right! it’s probably been three days now,” you chuckled before walking to the center and sitting down with the others. “i’m sure i’ll crash sooner or later.”

ubuyashiki wasn’t expected that day, it was just a reunion organised by kanroji and himejima to ease the tension among them all. more and more demons were showing up and they took this opportunity to celebrate.

you noticed that kocho, kanroji, himejima, rengoku and uzui had a concerned expression plastered on their faces. on the other hand, tomioka, shinazugawa and iguro were just a bit shocked at your confirmation.

“guys, uh… i’m okay, don’t worry. i have insomnia,” you explained, a carefree attitude. “last time i remembered, i couldn’t sleep for five days… this is nothing if you think about it.”

KYOJURO

“are you sure you’re alright?” kyojuro moved closer to you as the others started conversing with each others, even if reluctantly. it took you a little while to notice kyojuro was talking to you. it was the lack of sleep. “rengoku-san! of course i am, didn’t you hear?” you looked at him with a smile on your tired face.

“i’m sure there are a lot of methods to help you sleep, we can try something together,” he offered to help you. how kind of kyojuro, ready to help the others as always.

but the truth was that he cared deeply about you and hated seeing you like this. he knew that if you were tired you couldn’t do your job properly, and it was dangerous.

“oh… i don’t really know,” you shrugged, chuckling. “i usually wait for sleep to come and get me, you know?” you didn’t wanted him to worry too much about it.

“for death, at this point,” everyone turned to look at iguro and mitsuri scolded him, saying that it was very rude to say. kyojuro turned to you, noticing that you were once again distracted by something.

“you should lay down, don’t you think?” kyojuro asked you, tilting his head to the side. “here?! no way!” you shook your head, fixing your sitting position. “i can accompany you to your estate then?” he offered, his flaming eyes watching you expectantly.

“rengoku-san… don’t worry too much,” you were interrupted by a yawn, your cheeks heating up a bit since he was watching you closely. “it’s not a problem! i do it with pleasure,” he showed you his signature smile, capable of warming up your chest. “well, if you insist,” you chuckled, noticing that kyojuro wasn’t going to give up any time soon.

TENGEN

“l/n! insomnia, huh?” uzui sat right beside you, surprising you. did tengen always looked so big? “uzui-san! yeah, that shit sucks,” you nodded, your eyes clearly showing how tired you were.

“i’m sure there something you can drink to help catching sleep… i’ve heard a couple of slayers talking about it,” he shrugged casually, as if it was none of his concern. it was, actually. tengen wished he noticed sooner that you found difficult sleeping in the past days. “i’m not… really into that kind of stuff, i think? i tried it years ago but it didn’t work, so,” you chuckled and rubbed your cheek, making tengen smile.

“well, why don’t you try and lay down here,” he gently pulled you towards his body and let you rest your head on his big thighs. you were truly surprised by his actions. tengen always treated like something closer than a friend, but doing something like this in front of the other hashira? never.

“b-but…” tengen shushed you, letting you relax as he caressed your back. “just close your eyes and trust me,” he nodded while his warm hands caressed your back, noticing your tensed muscles. it was in fact relaxing, and surprisingly having his hands massaging your back pushed you closer to the so desired sleep.

reblogs & comments are super appreciated! thank you for taking your time reading it, i hope you enjoyed it. have a good day / night <3

#📂 — writing !!#kyojuro rengoku x reader #tengen uzui x reader #kny kyojuro #kny tengen #kyojuro rengoku one shot #kyojuro rengoku imagine #kyojuro rengoku fanfic #tengen uzui one shot #tengen uzui imagine #tengen uzui fanfic #kimetsu no yaiba #kimetsu no yaiba fanfic #demon slayer #demon slayer fanfic

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vodika-vibes · 1 year ago

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continuing the love for the skiratas….Kom‘rk? Maybe he and the reader are on a mission together and due to circumstances (a storm or heavy snow) they have to wait it out for a few days and while they are waiting they realize they have a crush on each other and find an….alternative way to pass time if you know what I mean 👀

Stormy Days

Summary: After a sudden storm causes you and Kom'rk to get trapped in a cabin, you find an interesting way to pass the time.

Pairing: Kom'rk Skirata x Reader

Word Count: 886

Warnings: None

Tagging: @trixie2023 @n0vqni

A/N: I probably could have kept going with the smut, but I wasn't feeling it today, so I stopped here. If you want Kom'rk smut, you can send another ask and I'll do it properly.

“Well, this is cheerful,” You say brightly as you wring out the sleeve of your robe, “Was this storm supposed to happen?” You ask, flickering your gaze over to Kom’rk, who’s steadfastly avoiding looking at you.

“This planet is known for massive storms,” He admits, his gaze darting over to you, and then away again, “Though the next storm wasn’t meant to start for another few days.”

“Well, weather does as weather does, I suppose.” You peel off the outermost layer of your robes and wring it out, “At least we found a dry play to hang out until the storm blows over.” You cast your gaze around the clean cabin.

“It was probably built for people like us.” Kom’rk says thoughtfully, “People who got caught in a sudden storm.”

“So long as the fresher works and the bed doesn’t have bugs, I think we’ll be okay. I’ve slept in worse places…as have you.” You grin at him, and he flashes you a small smile.

“You aren’t wrong about that,” He agrees good-naturedly, “Though I’m sure you’ve been to more planets than me, little miss jedi.” Kom’rk teases.

“My master once forced me to sleep in a tree. It was awful,” You hang your robe near the door and pull your boots and then your socks off, laying them out to dry. And then you move around the small cabin, “It looks like the fresher is fully stocked.”

“Only one bed though.” Kom’rk points out, nodding towards the bed in the corner of the room, “You can have that, I’ll sleep on the couch-”

“Don’t be silly, the bed is big enough to share.” You reply as you twist your soaked hair off the back of your neck with a grimace, “I promise I don’t bite.”

He exhales sharply, as if he’s biting back a comment, and then he flashes a crooked grin, “Alright. If that’s what you want.”

You shoot him an odd look, “It just makes sense. Besides, if either of us is going to sleep on the couch, it should be me, since I’m shorter than you.”

“We already said that we’re going to share the bed,” Kom’rk replies, “So don’t worry about it. Anyway, you can go and shower if you like. I’ll see if I can get a fire started.”

You grin at him, “Thanks, I’ll do that.”

You shower quickly, and change into what dry clothes you have, a tank top and some shorts that you normally sleep in. Not ideal, but it’s all you have.

You card your fingers through your hair, and step out of the fresher into the main room, a happy sigh leaving you as you notice the fire crackling in the fireplace.

“Fresher’s yours if you want it.” You say cheerfully.

Kom’rk turns to look at you, and very nearly drops his comm, “Kriff,” He mutters under his breath as he catches it and shoves it away, “Sorry. I was giving an update.”

“It’s fine. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you fumble with anything before.”

“Yeah, well…” his gaze flickers over you, “I’ve never seen you wear so little before.”

You frown at him, “Is that a problem?” You ask.

“Only for my sanity,”

You blink at him, startled. “I beg your pardon?”

“I…no…don’t worry about it. You said the shower is open, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Great, I’ll do that then.” He smiles at you, “The bed is clean, if you want to get yourself settled, the couch isn’t terribly comfortable, really.”

“Alright, thanks.” As Kom’rk moves into the fresher, you climb into the bed, and curl up on a pillow.

He takes a startlingly quick shower, and then sits on the edge of the bed, “You know, you don’t have to share a bed with me. I don’t mind sleeping on the couch.”

You roll your eyes, and sit up. You wrap your arms around him and pull him back onto the bed, and then snuggle against his side, “Huh…you’re warm.”

Kom’rk twists slightly so that he’s laying on the bed properly, and he laughs softly, “So are you.” Slowly, hesitantly almost, one of his hands slides up your side, and settles on the side of your neck. His rough fingers trace a shape against the base of your throat, and he just stares at you.

“Kom-,” you inch closer to him, and you’re not able to finish his name as his lips are pressed against yours and his tongue is sliding against your lips.

“Kriff,” He murmurs once he breaks the kiss, his lips hovering just over yours, “Wanted to do that for ages.”

“Why didn’t you?” you ask softly.

“Didn’t want to ruin our friendship,” He replies, he rolls so that you’re pinned under him, “Still don’t want to ruin our friendship, but, fuck cyare, I only have so much self control.”

You laugh softly, “What if I want you to lose control?”

Kom’rk groans and drops his head to your shoulder to release a shuddering breath, “Fuck, cyare.”

You smile at him innocently and thread your fingers through his hair, “I’m not made of glass,” You whisper to him, “You won’t break me.”

“Oh, cyare.” Kom’rk pulls back and crashes his lips against yours, “I’m going to ruin you.” He breathes out.

You grin at him, “Promise?”

“Cyar’ika, I guarantee it.”

#star wars #tcw #kom'rk skirata x reader #kom'rk x reader #star wars fanfiction #x reader fanfiction #answered asks

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kanerallels · 1 year ago

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For @monthly-challenge day 14: "I love you", I'm finally updating the Steve Miller Au!! But this one can be read as a standalone as well

Full fic under the cut, but you can also read it on AO3 here!!

Taglist: @day-to-day-thots @auroramagpie @laughingphoenixleader @accidental-spice @heckin-music-dork @opalknight @seleneisrising @cassie-fanfics (DM me if you want to me added or removed to the tag list!)

More and more in life, Kanan found his days full. Namely, full of missions and reports and maintenance and training and working. There were so many things to do, people to help, and between training Ezra, working with Hera and the rest of the crew, and still managing his network of spies, Kanan was busier than he would have liked.

Obviously he delegated, and he wasn’t busy constantly. But no matter how hard he worked, it seemed so rare that he had any real free time. Or in reality, he supposed, it was rare he had any real free time when Hera did, too.

That was why Kanan treasured the times they did have even more.

It was late, and the two of them were sitting up in the Ghost’s kitchen. Hera had just gotten back from a recon mission with her new squadron, and Kanan had stayed up to greet her.

“You look tired,” he told her as she dropped onto a supply crate with a sigh. Glancing up, Hera snorted.

“That’s charming,” she said dryly.

“It in no way detracts from your beauty,” Kanan assured her, and she laughed.

“You’re so full of it sometimes.”

Shooting her a wink, Kanan said, “You like me that way, and you know it. Can I make you something to eat? There are some leftovers I can heat up.”

“Yes, please,” she said. “Although I can take care of it—”

As she started to rise, Kanan gently pushed her back into a sitting position. “Uh-uh. We learned our lesson on that one when you nearly set the kitchen on fire last week. Besides, I don’t mind. You sit and tell me about your mission.”

Giving him a grateful smile, Hera leaned back with a sigh. “It was a pretty routine op. I’m still getting used to working with a larger team like this, but after working with you and the others for so long, it’s not too hard. And they seem to accept me as their leader.”

“Of course they do,” Kanan said, opening the Tupperware container he’d pulled out of the fridge. “Why wouldn’t they? You are the incredible Captain Hera Syndulla— and they’ve seen you risk your life time after time for this rebellion.”

“Hmm. You know, I’m still trying to decide if I should thank you for this recommendation.”

Switching on the stove, Kanan started scooping out the contents of the container— a meat and vegetable stir fry he’d made for dinner a few hours earlier. “It wasn’t me who got you the job, you know. I made the suggestion, but Sato’s the one who chose you. Past that, it’s entirely your own fault.”

Hera scoffed. “You’re the one who put it in motion. You realize this means I’ll be even busier now?”

Grimacing, Kanan said, “I didn’t really connect those dots until after I told Sato. But, unfortunately, I stand by it. You’re the best person for the job. We don’t have another pilot like you.”

“Thanks, love.”

“You’re welcome, Captain Hera.”

The two of them stayed in the kitchen together as Kanan heated up the leftovers and Hera talked about her new squadron, telling him about the ones that caused trouble and the others that were excited to have her. “I’ll have to introduce them to you and the others properly,” she said. “I think you’ll get along with them.”

“Anyone who likes you, I usually like,” Kanan said, grabbing a bowl from the cupboard.

He dished up the stirfry and passed the bowl to Hera, who accepted it with a laugh. “I think if we test that, it’ll be disproved pretty quickly,” she said.

“Probably,” Kanan said, pulling open a drawer. “Where in the name of the Force are all of our forks? I thought I told Ezra to put them away in here.”

“Jyn rearranged the drawers the other day,” Hera said. “She said the way we had things organized was driving her insane and she couldn’t live like this any longer. I assume she didn’t inherit this from you?”

Checking a few more drawers, Kanan said, “Not likely. Aha!” Grabbing a fork, he passed it to Hera. “Mission accomplished. Meet you in the lounge? I want to find something to snack on.”

“See you there,” Hera agreed, sticking the fork into her bowl before heading into the lounge. Kanan remained behind only for a minute. Digging through the cupboards, he located a half-empty bag of chips and headed out to join her.

They sat on the couch, side-by-side. Hera devouring her dinner, Kanan at her side, they settled into a comfortable silence for a little while. Kanan didn’t mind it, much though he loved Hera’s voice. Any time he was with her was time well spent.

Finally, Hera pushed aside her empty bowl and sat back with a sigh, letting her head drop against Kanan’s shoulder. He offered her the bag of chips, and she took a few. “Force, I’m glad to be home,” she mumbled.

“Must have been a long trip,” Kanan commented as she munched on her snack. “You tired?”

“A little,” Hera said. “But I can’t sleep just yet— I was wanting to run some maintenance checks on my A-wing before our next mission.”

“Ah, yes,” Kanan said, feeling a small grin cross his face. “Your A-wing. Did I see Sabine did a, uh, a little work on it? I like it.”

Hera elbowed him in the ribs. “Don’t you start.”

“What? I said that I like it!”

“We’re not discussing this.” Glancing down at her, Kanan saw Hera flushing slightly. “Besides,” she said, “it was Sabine’s idea.”

Chuckling, Kanan said, “I had a feeling. Doesn’t really seem like your thing.”

“No,” Hera said decisively. “But it’s Sabine’s art, so I’m not going to get rid of it.”

“Mm-hmm. Is that the only reaso— ow!” Kanan let out a yelp as Hera walloped him in the arm. “Okay, okay, dropping it.”

Resettling against him, Hera muttered, “You’d better.” Despite her words, a hint of humor colored her tone, and Kanan couldn’t hold back his grin.

He slipped an arm around her, pulling her a little closer. “You know, the A-wing can probably wait until tomorrow. You need some rest.”

Hera let out a sigh. “Don’t tempt me, dear. I should be setting a good example for the others.”

“Including a terrible sleep schedule?” Kanan said, and Hera snorted.

“It’s not that bad of a sleep schedule.”

“Uh-huh. Well, I respect your commitment.”

As she sat up slowly, Hera raised an eyebrow at him. “You’d better not be teasing me again.”

“I’m not, I promise,” Kanan promised her. “You stick with your principles, you always have. And you follow through. It’s one of the many things I love about you.”

He only realized what he’d said when Hera went rigid next to him, shock flashing across her face. Pulling away from him a little, she stared at him. And then it hit Kanan.

He had just told Hera that he loved her for the first time.

“Ah,” he said, wincing. “That— I’m sorry. I mean, no, I’m not, but I didn’t mean to push you, and if you’re not ready for it— I just—”

Holding up a hand, Hera said, “Kanan. Stop.”

He stopped.

Hera took a deep breath, her skin darkening with a blush. “Force. This is— I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Kanan said quietly. “You don’t need to feel like you should—”

Shaking her head, Hera said, “No, not for that. I— okay, I need you to listen and not interrupt so I can explain this. It’s a little… complicated.”

Complicated was, generally speaking, not good. But Kanan just nodded. “Okay. I’ll listen.”

Gratitude crossing her face, Hera said, “Thank you.” Rubbing her forehead, she was quiet for a minute, her expression thoughtful. Finally, she said, “I don’t know how much you know about Twi’lek culture— I’m assuming not much.”

“You would be right,” Kanan said slowly. Okay, there’s definitely something I’m missing here.

Nodding, Hera said, “I thought so. Part of it— something I was taught growing up— is that saying… what you said… well, it’s more serious than it is for other cultures. Most Twi’leks at home wouldn’t tell someone that until… until they were married.”

“Oh,” Kanan said, his eyes widening.

“Yes,” Hera said. “It’s treated as something very personal, even for family members. It’s not just words, it’s the beginning of a promise. A promise for a future. And you don’t just say it, especially not out in the open—”

“Like I just did,” Kanan finished. Wincing, he said, “I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”

Shaking her head, Hera said, “It’s fine. I should have explained it to you earlier. It’s—” she let out a half-laugh, her smile more like a grimace. “There’s a lot of my home that I’ve left behind. But this is one of the things I’ve held onto, at least unconsciously. It’s what I always believed.”

Slowly, Kanan said, “Okay— that makes sense. First of all, I will absolutely respect this. If you don’t want me to say anything like that, I won’t. And Force knows you don’t have to say anything.”

But Hera was already shaking her head. “No. No, you’re— you’re fine, actually. We do technically say it, we just don’t… say it. Verbally, that is. There are a lot of parts of the Ryl language that aren’t communicated out loud, but with the lekku. Hence why there aren’t many non Twi’leks who can speak it well.”

“Makes sense,” Kanan said with a nod. “So you’re saying—”

“I’m saying that… I’m fine with it if you say it. And…” Kanan saw her blush again as she seemed to gather herself. “I feel the same way. I’m just not going to say it out loud, and I’m sorry—”

Catching hold of her hand, Kanan said, “Don’t apologize. This one’s on me— and I understand.” His mind flashed to the way she’d hugged him when they’d rescued him from the Empire. To the way her eyes glowed when she smiled at him, when she kissed him. To the fact that she’d come home, exhausted, and chosen to spend her time with him. To the way she called him “love”.

She was saying that she loved him, too, even if it wasn’t out loud.

“I won’t say it too often,” he promised her. “But I am going to say it, because Force only knows I was bad enough at disguising my feelings before. And it’s only going to get worse from here.”

Hera let out a slightly breathless laugh. “I’m okay with that.”

“Good.” Bending down, Kanan kissed her gently, holding her close for a long moment. When he finally pulled away, a slight movement caught his eye. Her lekku were twisting together behind her, in a spiral shape. He’d seen them do that before, but only now had he realized what it might mean.

“That’s what that means, doesn’t it?” he asked softly, brushing a thumb along her temple near the base of her lekku.

Her blush was answer enough, as was the small, secretive smile she gave him. Kanan made a mental note to properly learn more Ryl, and leaned in to kiss the woman he loved again.

#star wars rebels #swr #kanan jarrus #hera syndulla #kanera #the steve miller au #februfluff2024 #happy valentine's day!!#writing stories is a kind of magic too

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dragons-clause · 10 months ago

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The Dragon's Clause

Sabo x Fem Reader CW: Forced marriage, intrigue, character death, fantasy violence, blood, magic, language, smut, 18+ mdni

Tag List: @mfreedomstuff @manachiichan

Chapter 10: Delicious

You hadn’t seen much of the Duke after your initial meeting over tea, until the two of you had dinner together. He’d been busy with work he’d been unable to do during the campaign along the border, and according to Koala it would take him a couple days to get caught up, even with help from Hack.

Early next morning you were at the training grounds, warming up when Sabo came out to join you. The estate guards were lined up around the training grounds, at ease and talking amongst themselves while they waited. Word had gone through the entire estate like wildfire, and you were certain there were quite a few servants watching as closely as they dared.

Over dinner you’d both talked about certain limitations to the spar, and agreed on wooden swords, and no magic. It wasn’t that you couldn’t use it, it was that you’d never been allowed the chance to meld your magic and your sword play together. The kind of magic needed for it was advanced, and that level of magic left evidence that you couldn’t risk. You didn’t believe your Uncle was himself checking to see what magic residue was in your room, nor was he requesting someone else check.

But the risk was beyond what you were willing to take, and practicing your forms alone was enough to appease your own desires.

That conversation at dinner is probably how the entire estate knew by morning. Not that you could blame anyone, if you were a maid in a household and heard the Lord and his new fiance talking about crossing swords, you wouldn’t be able to keep your mouth shut either.

Sabo yawns mightily as he stands across from you, and gives you a smile as Hack and Koala sit down nearby. “Koala thinks you might break my nose, since I didn’t get much sleep last night, but I promise if you do I’ll accept it as my own fault.” His smile is bright, despite the weariness in his eyes.

He appeared to be in the same clothes he had on yesterday, having shed the dress coat, in nothing but loose long-sleeved shirt and a vest. The pants and the boots were the same, but there was no ruffled tie around his neck, and no pocket watch chain at his belt. He might have prioritized his work, but he wasn’t being dismissive of the spar by any stretch.

“That’s reassuring to hear, your grace.” You say, stepping into your opening stance.

The sword style your father favored, the one that he taught all the northern border knights, was more fluid than other styles of the continent. It was developed for the beasts of the wild, but it was just as effective against human opponents. The differences in shifting from one form to another could be disorienting, and when paired with magic created a larger effect than should be possible.

To you, that was what made it beautiful, and while there was no magic dancing around your blade you’d always been able to envision it. You were looking forward to requesting the right to begin training it properly from Sabo. Win or lose, your current impression of him is that he wouldn’t deny you.

The stances for the forms were also a little wider than was common, and the actions were less like stone and more like water. The sharp clipped movements of most knights were efficient and effective, but the fluid transition of your style wasted less energy, maintaining movement and momentum from one step to the next. It was harder to learn, and harder to master, so it wasn’t ideal for large groups to learn.

“Are you requesting I go easy on you?” You question as he moves into position himself.

A smile slips across his lips. “Not at all, my lady.”

You dash toward him, watching as his eyes widened a little, his wooden sword coming up to meet yours almost a split second too late. The parry was at an awkward angle for him, but he was heavier than you and shifting his weight was enough to give him a chance to push your sword away and give himself a little space. The flurry you unleashed after that was knocked aside a little more easily than the first strike and you smiled.

“You’re much faster than I expected, Lady Lulusia.” He admits.

“You’re a little slower than I expected, my lord.” You reply with a devious grin.

Sabo’s smile twitches a bit. “It wouldn’t do to disappoint you,” he says, a soft growl prowling at the corners of his tone as he seems to wake up before your eyes. His completely defensive actions shift and he begins to test for openings in your moves to push you back.

“I wouldn’t be disappointed,” you clarify, focusing more of your movements on trying to keep him off-balance at least a little. The wooden swords are well-crafted, but you didn’t want to test if the Duke’s strength was enough to break one when you needed it to block a strike. “Though I could offer to instruct you-.”

You clip the tip of his sword, knocking it away by snapping the upward arc of your follow through to break his momentum, and then using the tip of your sword to keep his pushed wide as you stepped in close. Almost nose to nose you watch as blues eyes, wide with shock, look away from his sword into your smiling eyes. Instead of landing a blow you stepped away as quickly as you’d stepped in, putting space between the two of you as he brought his sword back in. “-alongside your guards?”

Sabo steps back from you, putting a more comfortable space between the two of you. His eyes flick from the tip of his sword to you, keeping you in sight while trying to discern how you knocked his weapon so wide.

“How’d you do that?” He questions, body tense and more on guard than he was a moment ago.

“Leverage.” You answer casually, stepping lightly and shifting your lead foot before stepping in again. You double stepped again just before crossing swords, putting your dominate foot ahead again to cross the blow from Sabo.

You shifted lower and slid your blade against his, repeating the move from earlier, but instead of knocking his sword wide, he twisted it and broke the connection between the two. You moved through the release, not letting it put you off-balance, and brought your arm up into his elbow as you moved under his shoulder.

Ducked down as you were you let yourself tumble forward, somersaulting against the ground before coming back up to your feet. It gave you enough space to avoid being struck in the back as you cleared the reach of his weapon before turning back to face him.

“So this is how that style works.” He muses, pivoting to face you again. “The precision of the strikes must make it difficult to master.”

You nod. “Most of the people my father taught knew at least one other style. He always said any sword was good enough if it could fell a beast and protect a knight.”

“Why such a difficult style then?”

“Two reasons, but -.” You dash in again and aren’t surprised to see Sabo’s handling your strikes much better now that he’s seen them. “I can’t demonstrate the main reason.”

Sabo manages to adjust to the angle of your strikes, and the swords lock for a second before he moves to shove you back. Once you feel him lean in you drop your stance again, using your lower center of gravity to bring him forward. His foot shifts ahead of him and you feel the wood of his sword press against your back as yours presses into his chest.

“I’ll have to practice more.” You say, trying to ignore just how close the young Duke is right now. The two of you part slowly, the shape of his amused smile lingering in the back of your head.

“The primary reason is that causes a kind of magical feedback, right?” Sabo questions and you nod. “Secondary to that it seems like a style that is meant to give better odds to a singular fighter versus multiple enemies. I imagine when coupled with magic it’s quite terrifying.”

“I’m surprised, usually people think the secondary part is giving an advantage to a smaller fighter. Since most beasts in the wilds are larger than a single human.” You say stepping back a couple paces.

“Height between humans wouldn’t vary enough.” Sabo shrugs. “The stance already starts a little wider than most, and drops lower with ease, so it’s a core part of the style to be sure your center of gravity is lower than your opponents, but the fluid style also allows you to steal your opponent’s momentum. The end result in both cases, is someone who is skilled at staying within the striking range of their opponent regardless of size.

“If you can’t outrun what you’re fighting, being able to fight right against a singular opponent forces the others to stay back and wait. Even beasts won’t lash out against their own.” He agrees. “It loses some value in a one on one fight, but it’s so unconventional compared to most other styles that it makes up for that loss easily.”

You just smile through his evaluation.

“Ahhh, you had me when you come in after knocking my sword aside.” He sighs, admitting defeat from the earlier maneuver where you pointedly avoided striking him. “How embarrassing.”

“Best two of three, your grace?” You offer and Sabo laughs.

“It would be my pleasure,” he says, dashing toward you this time without giving you a chance to begin things.

The Duke’s style was more dependent on his magic, but his skill wasn’t lacking by any means. A quick study and a man tested in far more combat than you were, his blows came in efficient and heavy. You could feel the strikes rattle all the way up your arm even as you turned them aside.

Whether he was finally awake and warmed up, or if he’d stopped holding back out of concern, didn’t matter to you. Getting to see more of his skill was as interesting to you as his getting to see your style was interesting to him. You understood now that the estate guards weren’t necessarily lacking. They were border guards in training whose skills hadn’t developed enough for a campaign. Their style was identical to Sabo’s, but far less practiced and controlled.

There was less being said this round, but more being learned as the two of you took in all the small details of one another. The line of sweat that made his hair stick to his face, the sharp line of his jaw, the tension of his swing that started practically in his neck, and slid down his arm. The repetition of skill that was drilled into each taut muscle.

A dedication you both knew well. A clear understanding shared between you both, even if the style of your skills were different, the hours and years of effort were similar. Sabo’s own experience out pacing yours simply by virtue of his position. In this particular instance, however, his skill and power were a hindrance, as he was constantly on alert not to hurt you even in the midst of the spar.

It was a testament to his skill that he’d been able to walk such a fine line this entire time, especially on so little sleep. You wanted to prolong this, to entertain all three rounds. It was fun, and challenging besides, but a third round would only keep him from work that had piled up, and that would keep him from sleeping, and you could the lack of sleep at the edges of his eyes.

And at the edges of his swings.

You stepped into the swing, blocking it and taking the full brunt of the blow. Sabo stumbled, he’d expected you to slide under the swing again and had adjusted accordingly. Instead you’d leaned into things and forced him a half step off balance, giving you enough room to smack your sword into his side, with enough force to make him grunt.

“You’re a bit more ruthless than expected.” He admits with a smile.

“Your considerations were appreciated.” You reply with a smile. “But I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to use them to my advantage.”

“Alas, it seems my break from work has ended then.” He looks completely crushed, with a sigh almost as dramatic as his forlorn expression.

“I promise I won’t start any rumors about having bested you in a sword fight.” You say with a smile, tapping your wooden sword under his chin once to get his attention.

“Oh but I will.” Koala says, as her and Hack come over to the two of you. “No matter how many times I see you fight, it’s always so beautiful.”

“There’s not much beauty in losing,” Sabo huffs, nearly pouting.

“I wasn’t talking about your sword style, your grace.” Koala corrects, smiling tersely. The Duke sighs, hanging his head even lower in defeat. “Honestly you look like a troll with a club comparatively.”

“I mean it was developed with pipes, so that’s hardly surprising.” Hack interjects. Your eyes widen a bit at the implication, but you decide not to ask any questions.

Despite the teasing there’s no tension in the air and Sabo’s smiling kindly when he straightens up and gives you a small bow.

“Defeat is never sweet,” He says, looking at you and ignoring Koala. “But it was still my pleasure, Lady Lulusia, thank you for indulging me.”

“Thank you for your kindness as well, your grace.” You say in return, curtsying.

“Eh?” He tilts his head, feigning confusion, but you can see pink dusting his cheeks. He’s been caught and he’s realized the fact a second too late.

“Magic or no, you’re certainly strong enough to shatter a wooden sword.” You say evenly, shaking the tingle that was still in your fingers from blocking his blow so directly. Koala’s eyes go wide as she looks from you to Sabo. “I appreciate your restraint.”

“I may have held back my strength for the sake of the swords, my lady, but don’t doubt the skill you possess.” He insists. “I really meant to claim that second round as my win.”

“Hmm… but not the first one?” You muse.

“Ah, haha, I… am disinclined to answer that.” He says, his flustered expression taking on a more serious tone. “Excuse me, but I do have a lot of work to get done, will you be okay having breakfast by yourself?”

“Of course, your grace.” You reply with a smile. You’d been eating your meals by yourself for a while, and it would be more efficient for him to eat while he worked.

“Your understanding is appreciated.” He bows a little more deeply, before leaving with Hack close behind.

Koala looks over at you and smiles. There’s a question on that smile she’s only holding back due to etiquette, but you don’t need her to ask it.

“It was nice to be challenged, thank you.” You answer, handing over the practice swords to a guard before heading to your room with Koala beside you.

“Of course. We can spar tomorrow morning if you’d like.”

“Oh? I didn’t realize you were a swordsman, Koala.”

“More of a marksman, but I have skill enough.” She clarifies with a smile.

“It would be my pleasure then.”

“Reach out to the Kingdoms,” Sabo instructs, sitting down at his desk, inwardly sighing at the stacks of paperwork still left to review and file.

“Your grace?” Hack is rarely confused by Sabo’s requests, but he’s not sure he’s following this time.

“Yes, my father will not be happy when word of the engagement party reaches him. We need to inform the other kingdoms and invite them first.” He clarifies. “I’ll let the others know.”

“The Lady is staying then?”

“Unless she requests otherwise, Hack, yes.”

“Seems the spar was not a waste of time, my apologies.”

“It was not. For better or worse though, it means there’s much more work to do. Even if it was by father’s decree, the idea that I would be wed before Sterry is going to cause a stir, but now might be the right time to use that to our advantage.”

“Truly?”

“Mm, depending on a few other factors, yes. Germa has stabilized, and Dawn will see it’s crowned prince made King soon. Alabasta and the Queendom will support, I’m sure. My only concern is Ilisia.”

“They have Wano to consider, they won’t be able to make any hasty moves.”

“… True.” Sabo bites his lip and then shakes his head. “The statesman is still in position?”

“Yes, Inazuma is still working well with them too.”

“Good, and Karasu,” Sabo starts and after a second the man in question forms seemingly from the shadows. “Keep an eye on her for her safety.”

“Nothing more?” Karasu raises a brow.

“Nothing more.” He asserts, not looking up from his paperwork. “You’re going to be busy with Ilisia, use the energy you would have otherwise spent and just… find me some reassurance.”

“I will do my best, your grace.” He says, disappearing from sight again.

“A timeline, your grace.”

“Thre-.” Sabo pauses, setting the quill back in the ink jar and thinking. “Three months, Hack, but please speak to the Lady Lulusia. The time line considers many factors, but I would prefer her input be taken into consideration as well.”

“I shall speak with her after breakfast. Which, for you, I’ll go and fetch now.”

“Yes, thank you.” Sabo leans back in his chair after Hack leaves and closes his eyes for a moment.

The way you moved, the control of the sword. The style was certainly authentic, and your skill was no mere pretense. Three months for the engagement party, and six months for the wedding, barring any other variables. Nine months was a long time, and with your skill, it should be more than sufficient to allow you to merge magic with your sword.

Would it be enough time? And would you agree to things when the time came?

Your smile flashes across his vision, the words buzzing in his ears.

“You’re a little slower than I expected, my lord.”

He smiled. So long as your skill passed the threshold he had no doubt you would agree.

#The Dragon's Clause #sabo the revolutionary #revolutionary sabo #sabo one piece #sabo #x reader #reader insert #Fantasy AU #Royal AU #mdni

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alexthefly · 1 year ago

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Snakes on a Thunderbird

For @godsliltippy for TAG MiniBang 2023 (@tagminibang)

Inspired by this adorable piece of Fishtank art here. (@tippystreasurebox)

Trigger warning for snakes. Also brief mention of animal neglect, plus some minor whump and peril.

As Virgil went through his post-flight checks, Gordon twisted and revelled in the several satisfying pops his back made.

“Oh god, that is so much better! Want me to crack yours for ya, Virg?”

There was a grumble of disapproval from his right.

“I’ll pass thanks. Hearing yours was an experience in itself. In fact…”

His brother reached over and snagged the small metal box Gordon had been carrying on his lap.

“...perhaps I’d better take that before you do yourself any more damage.”

Gordon rolled his eyes and snatched the box back with perhaps just a little too much snap.

“Right Virgil(!) ‘Cos hauling passengers and crates off of a sinking ship was fine, but this last hundred yards to the rescue centre is where things gets really tricky(!)”

The rescue hadn’t really been all that bad physically. The crates in question had been lighter than expected, though that was because apparently properly feeding the various animals inside had clearly not been much of a priority for the smugglers on board; about as high as safety and ship maintenance had been. And although Gordon’s back was definitely starting to twinge a bit now, he’d have been a lot happier to be a lot achier if it meant those poor creatures had been treated right.

Well, whatever. He’d stayed professional. …Mostly. That Johnny hadn’t mentioned his little brother's prolonged blue streak ricocheting over the comms was likely a sign that he’d felt the same way.

The fact the GDF were already briefed and waiting with an arrest warrant the second they’d touched down was probably another one.

A yellow light broke through his thoughts and dragged him back to the present. He batted the medi-scan away with a grunt.

“Would you quit it, Virg? I’m fine.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

Gordon opened his mouth, ready to deliver a witty yet devastating retort, but then thought wiser of it. Better to just let the big guy get it all out of his system. He'd only worry otherwise, and a worried Virgil was a pain in the backside, especially with the flight home and debrief to get through. He closed his mouth and submitted to the inevitable with a huff.

Virgil for his part stayed quiet too as he completed the scan; once it was done, he continued to look Gordon over with the practised eye of both a medic and a big brother.

“Well, Doctor Virgil? Are you done? Can we go now?”

Another moment of scrutiny. Then:

“You know today was a good day, right?”

Dammit. The big green angst-detector strikes again.

Gordon really didn’t want to talk about it now.

“Whatever you say, bro.”

“I mean it,” Virgil insisted. “You’ve said it yourself - this shelter is the best. They've got the facilities and the expertise; they’ll take good care of all these guys, big and small. And the GDF will make sure the people that did this get what's coming to them."

“Uh-huh.”

"Gordy, the good guys won. Take the win.”

Honestly it didn’t feel like a win. Not even a tiny one. The memory of all those sad little eyes was too raw. It was going to take a lot for it to fade into the background, and he just didn't have the energy right now. All he wanted was to get everything unloaded, go home, swim ‘til he couldn't think anymore and then crawl into bed and sleep for 12 hours.

"Virg, could we please do the pep talk another time? The shelter staff are waiting for us."

A little frown appeared on his brother's brow, but he sighed and nodded.

"Are they all okay in there?” Virgil asked instead, nodding at the box balancing on Gordon’s dashboard.

It was an obvious change of subject, but a welcome one. Gordon gave the portable incubator a protective little pat.

“Should be. I candled them earlier and they look good. Not pipped yet, but I think it should be soon.”

He blinked as a sudden thought occurred.

“Actually," he said as he opened the incubator lid and retrieved the covered tray inside, "I’m just gonna check they’ve not been turned mid-flight. I’ve been holding them steady the whole way over, but you never know.”

“I thought you were supposed to turn eggs?” said Virgil with a hint of confusion. He leaned across to watch what Gordon was doing. "Grandpa said it stopped the embryo getting stuck."

“That’s for birds. Snakes are different. All the little veins and stuff are fragile; you flip the egg, the umbilical cord tears away and they die.”

Gordon gingerly lifted the lid and peered inside.

"Of course, these guys are almost ready to hatch so I don’t know how much of that appli-”

But the rest of his thought died on his tongue as he lifted the lid and took a look inside.

A beat.

“What?”

“Erm, not sure. Hang on a sec…” Gordon gently slid the eggs to one side of the tray and running his gloved hands very carefully in the sandy substrate below.

"Where are you?" he muttered softly.

"Where's what?" Virgil quickly jumped to his feet, unease radiating from every pore.

"One of the eggs must have hatched in transit," explained Gordon, still rifling through the soft gravel, looking for any flash of movement. "Once the shell breaks they usually take a few hours to come out, but I guess with all the jiggling…"

"Okay, so presumably there should be a snake in there then. Where’s the snake, Gordon?!"

Gordon kept digging, slightly more urgently.

"Some snakes bury themselves down into the substrate after hatching - it’s a kinda protection thing. They wait there for their first shed, then they come out looking for food."

Virgil reached out gingerly over Gordon's shoulder and picked up the soft and clearly empty egg shell, complete with a neat split down the middle. He held it softly in his hands, turning it over and over as if he might find the wayward snake still clinging to it somewhere.

"Exactly what sort of snakes are these, Gordy?" he asked slowly, deliberately.

"Umm…”

“Gordon!”

“I don’t know! I’m not a snake expert, and you can only tell so much from just the eggshell anyway.”

He set the tray onto the dashboard and started checking inside the incubator itself, just in case. He could feel heat starting to rise across his cheeks.

“Gords, could it be… poisonous?”

Gordon swallowed back the sour taste in his mouth.

“I don’t know.”

There was a moment of horrible silence as those words sunk in. Of course, the chances of the snake being venomous were slim - only about 10-15% of known species were after all - and in any event their uniforms were designed to withstand pretty much anything, but there was still that tiny sliver of doubt in his mind. Was Brains far-sighted enough to have considered snake fangs as a variable during the testing phase?

Virgil took a step back, eyes darting everywhere, and tapped his wrist controller.

“I’m not picking anything up. John? Any chance you could run a sweep of the cockpit for… uh… unusual heat signatures?”

“Unusual?”

John’s projected image leapt out of the dashboard holo’ right in front of Gordon’s face, causing him to almost fall off his chair.

“What sort of unusual?”

Virgil cleared his throat in a far-too-obviously guilty way.

“We’ve kind of… misplaced something.”

“O-kaaay… What sort of something?”

Gordon opened his mouth to say… Actually he wasn’t sure what he was going to say, but in any case Virgil got there first.

“Can you just do it please, John?” he asked, brow furrowed. "Now?"

The look John shot them both could have stripped paint, but he turned away and started swiping.

“No unusual readings found,” he said after a few seconds. "Perhaps if I knew what I was looking for…”

Gordon caught Virgil’s eye. Despite his obvious concern about the situation, the big chonk was clearly still trying to cover for him.

He really was the softest marshmallow.

But as touched as he was, right now the most important thing wasn't avoiding blame; it was finding the snake before anyone got hurt, including the creature itself. There would be time to wriggle out of Scott and John’s inevitable lecture later.

“The signal’s likely very subtle,” he said, drawing John's attention. “He’s cold-blooded, so his core temperature’s gonna be mirroring the immediate environment. Look at components a little below body temperature and check for tiny, unexplained fluctuations.”

“Cold-bl… You lost a reptile?!”

“A snake,” clarified Virgil.

There was a moment while John processed this new information, then he closed his eyes and pinched the top of his nose.

“Of course it's a snake(!)” He sighed. “EOS? Did you catch all that?”

EOS’s voice rang through clear over the comms. “Yes, John. Checking now…”

“In the meantime,” said John, “I suggest you put your helmets back on, just to be safe. The less exposed skin you two have the better.”

The brothers nodded.

Gordon set the incubator down and grabbed his helmet from the dash in front of him, just as EOS brought up a schematic of the cockpit onto the screen in front of him.

“There’s a slight irregularity in temperature around the co-pilot’s control panel, but it’s too indistinct to pin down to a specific component.”

Gordon’s eyes darted all over the dashboard in front of him.

Where?

Scrabbling to push his chair back and get his helmet on, he vaguely heard Virgil say something about lifting the main cover off the console before he was suddenly distracted by a sharp, stabbing pain in his right cheek, just above the jaw.

“Yeow!”

Virgil was by his side immediately, mediscanner in hand. “What?! What is it?”

Gordon remained in his chair, sitting stock still.

"Don’ scan.”

"What?"

"Don' scan. Th' noise'll scare 'im."

Virgil's eyes went wide.

"Where is it?" he whispered, looking him up and down.

“I’z on m’ face."

“What?!?”

“On. M’. Face. W’z inside th’ helmet.”

Virgil and John exchanged a panicked look.

…Yep.

By rights, Gordon should have been scared. After all, there was a chance he could die here; the little danger-noodle might be pumping deadly venom into him by the second. But surprisingly he wasn’t overly worried about that possibility just now. In fact he felt strangely calm and clear-headed. What was done was done after all, and the priority now was to a) not do anything to make the snake strike again (him or Virgil); and b) get it secured.

“Ah’m gonna slowly r’move th’ helmet," he mumbled, trying not to move his mouth too much. "When y’ see ‘im, grab ‘im c’refully b’hind th’ head an’ unhook ‘im.”

Keeping his head stock still, he looked sidelong at his big brother to check he’d understood. Poor Virg looked pale, but he nodded and shifted into position in front of him, mouth set in a grim line. Behind him, John's face was a picture of worry.

“R'dy?” Gordon asked.

Virgil nodded, hands poised.

He gave a little blink in lieu of a smile. “Okay."

Deep breath.

"One. Two. ‘Hree.”

And slowly he took off his helmet.

Virgil reached forwards and closed his hand next to his face. Gordon's skin pulled painfully for a moment, then released, leaving a sharp echo across his cheek.

He exhaled in a big whoosh that seemed to come from his very soul, and raised his eyes to finally look on the thing that had bitten him.

“Scanning for a species match now,” said John urgently as Virgil stepped back, holding the offending creature out at arm’s length. “Cross-matching size, markings and-”

“It’s a Children’s Python!”

“A what?” Virgil asked roughly.

John took a massive breath in. “Oh thank god! Are you sure?”

“Certain,” replied Gordon, finding his feet and bouncing over to look a bit closer, all concern for his safety gone. “We had one as a class pet in 5th grade. Native to Northern Australia. Fantastic pets.”

“I can confirm the identification, John” said EOS. “The species is non-venomous.”

All the remaining colour drained from Virgil's face. He lowered himself down shakily into his chair, arm still outstretched. “Well in that case would someone please come and take this thing out of my hand before I have a heart attack?”

“Oops! Yep, give me one second…”

Gordon grabbed the tray of eggs and fished out a roll of electrical tape from one of his console drawers.

“This should keep the lid secure until we can get him into the shelter, at least.”

Gordon reached out and gently took hold of the little snake, who had stopped thrashing around and instead seemed content to curl its body gently around his hand. He took a second to admire its beautiful mottled markings in light and dark brown, and the gentle undulation of muscles pulsing as it moved.

"Hey, little guy."

The tiny snake flicked its tongue at him, tasting the air.

Slowly, gently, Gordon encouraged the snake back in the tray, extracted his hand, and then put the lid on and taped it down.

As soon as the tray was closed, John seemed to deflate like he was the one who’d been punctured.

“Please, for the love of god, don’t ever scare me like that again, okay guys? My cortisol levels can't take it."

"Take it easy John," soothed Virgil as he stumbled over to examine Gordon's cheek. "You sit back and have a float and we'll finish up here."

He took Gordon by the chin and turned his face to the side.

"...C'mon Blofeld, let's get you cleaned up."

…

Fifteen minutes later and sporting a natty Baby Shark band-aid on his cheek, Gordon skipped across the animal shelter car park towards the front desk. Alongside him, Virgil carried the now-definitely-sealed incubator. (Gordon had argued it was his privilege as 'the walking wounded’ not to have to carry stuff. Virgil had just rolled his eyes and agreed, muttering something about checking for himself to ensure no more 'jailbreaks'.)

Behind them, a dozen or so vets and other volunteers were unloading the various other crates of animals from Two's hold, checking them over and directing them to their respective enclosures.

Gordon grinned.

"Feeling better now?" asked Virgil, quirking a smile in reply.

He was, in more ways than one. Somehow, staring into the face of that tiny serpent had made him feel a lot more positive about everything. Nature really was amazing. If a baby creature, just out of its egg, could survive and protect itself in a hostile environment like that little one had today, then with a little bit of care he was sure the other animals they'd rescued would as well.

Life was good. He had his health, he had his family, and they’d done good today.

Suddenly overcome with happiness, he couldn’t help doing a little jumping air punch, earning a low chuckle from his left.

"You were right, Virg. Today really was a win.”

Virgil raised an eyebrow at him. "Not sure I'd quite describe it that way, but if you say so. You did still set a snake loose in my ‘bird, though.”

“Hey, don't blame me! I'm as much a victim as you are. Little Hissy Houdini's a force all of his own.”

A pause. “You named him?”

“Yep! Kinda fitting, don’t you think?”

Virgil’s eyes narrowed.

"You’re not keeping him.”

Gordon gasped dramatically.

“Virgil Tracy, I am shocked! I would never-”

“Sully the Gully, Puppy Longstocking, Razorbill Bob, the Swift Family Robinson…”

“...again. Never again.”

“Well that’s just as well then, because I don’t think Scott would appreciate finding this little escapologist in his sock drawer, do you?"

As Gordon contemplated all of the delicious trickster-y possibilities that that image brought up, he stretched and gave his back another series of cracks.

Virgil regarded him coolly. "You sound like a goddamn popcorn maker," he grumbled. "Speaking of, I wonder if the others'd be up for a movie night tonight? I feel like we've earned a bit of down time."

"Sounds good to me," said Gordon, flinging an arm around the big man's shoulders. "And I have the perfect one in mind… You like Samuel L Jackson films, right?"

#tw: snakes #tagminibang2023 #thunderbirds are go #gordon tracy #virgil tracy #tagminibang

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lordkingsmith · 9 months ago

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Heads up seven up tag

I was tagged by three people over the course of several months so I figured I’d do three different posts. Anyway. This one for @ajgrey9647’s tag lol. I got farther in the just dance power rangers crossover, so, have fun~

Minh shrugged. “Green, maybe? Or black. Purple, orange…”

“He’d be an orange.” The yellow said, pointing above them and raising an eyebrow. “Sara might be a green, and Wanderlust is most certainly some sort of gold or purple. But, again, we only have four morphers.”

It was Billy’s turn to shrug. They were lucky that hadn’t ever been challenged. Secret morphers, ancient faulty morphers, people and fossils turning into morphers, he’d seen and heard it all. This team not getting an unforeseen extra teammate or four due to something unforeseen and insane was, honestly, impressive in terms of their sheer dumb luck.

“I feel I should perhaps make dinner.” Billy decided finally. “Minh would you mind helping?”

The moment they were safely away from the four he sliced hands through the air to try to illustrate everything he needed to say.

“How” was all that came out, however.

“I was playing the Lady Gaga telephone map and it turned into a prison break for different characters.” Minh rubbed her arms. “I kinda wanted to have what happened to Sara happen to me but not like this.”

Well, he wasn’t sure he could fault that. He patted her head. He could somewhat relate. “I’ll have to tell you how I ended up leaving to live on Aquitar in the first place.” He said with a soft sigh. A soft, fond sigh for her. She was the reason he’d put off leaving to go back at this point. Once she was old enough to properly be without a guardian, he told himself he’d go back. Knowing full well he probably wouldn’t.

Dinner was a simple affair. Frozen lasagne, frozen Italian bread knots, a salad and water. The four took their plates, said thanks, and slipped back to their vigil over the television while Billy took a plate up to the guest bedroom.

Billy noting when he got there he would have to buy more first aid supplies as bandaids and bandages had been completely used, next to gauze and surgical thread for stitches. Made him feel more out of his depth, how used to and experienced with patching himself up Jack Rose seemed to be.

When he touched the sleeping Jack’s shoulder, he reacted not unlike a startled bird.

And it’s an open tag for whoever would enjoy, but if @augment-techs and @skyland2703 wants to do another, feel free to keep this in a back pocket for a rainy day 💕

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cnohpytxyz · 2 years ago

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HHL 1

prologue

synopsis: our guy Terry discusses some of the HHL's logistics with the MC while they both deny the pure domesticity of their relationship (they're just friends guys). mostly exposition.

word count: 7535

genre: werewolves, my own take on A/B/O, female OCs, domestic bullshit

warnings: some talk of b*tchering cows, blood mentions, brief panic attack, violent werewolf attacks, implied s*x trafficking, brief recollection of a leg getting c*t off, medical injection, mentions of alc*hol, cursing (through out)

notes: this is edited! no beta, but hopefully I've looked at it enough that there aren't any glaring issues. i didn't originally think there were any warnings to mention, but holy cow was I mistaken. and it only goes down from here! the end of this book (i've split it into three) is hella rough too. maybe i should add the "dead dove" tag.

~/*\~

“You in there, C?” The words were accompanied by the door flinging open, a lithe frame slipping past to settle on the occupant’s bed.

“Do you just come in even if I’m not here?” C shot him a side glance before going back to pulling on the leather wrist guard she had thrown together years ago.

“Right… because we're not sleeping in the same bed most nights.” The intruder gave her a dead look, daring her to challenge his words.

“That doesn’t mean this is your room, Terry.” C looked away as she sat next to him, the—arguably valid—statement sounding flimsy even before the words left her mouth.

Terry gave her another look, “Your case is weak, and you know it.” She shrugged, unwilling to give in, and went back to struggling with her improvised wrist guard. The younger of the two watched with a blanked-out stare, until a particularly annoyed grunt brought his attention back. “Need help?”

“Please,” she huffed, holding out her wrist.

Practiced fingers threaded an old shoelace through holes in the worn leather. “Remind me why you still use this thing?”

Amusement danced in her eyes as she watched his intent expression, “I’m too lazy to make another one?” He laughed, smile brightening the room further than the mid-day sun was capable of.

“You’re a lot of things, C, but lazy?” He finished the last knot of her wrist guard with a shake of his head and looked up at her. Smiling, she raised her hands in surrender. He rolled his eyes, “Where were you headed?”

C stood up, rolling her wrist. “The shooting range,” she grabbed her quiver and slung it over her shoulder, “then I need to check with Beah on our power status.” Her movements paused as she narrowed her eyes in contemplation, “I think I’m due for a Pros shot too.”

“Can’t be skipping that.” Terry said, getting off the bed to open the door. “I’ll come with you. I have to talk with Beah about getting some new shooting gloves.”

“I can get you some leather.” She said, moving past him and into the empty hallway, not forgetting to retrieve her bow from its mount on the back of her door. Walking backwards to face him, she continued, “I’m probably going on a power run in the next few days anyway.”

“You think there’s enough wild boars for that?” He pulled the door shut behind them, locking it before chasing after his friend.

C raised a brow and turned as he caught up, “It’s one boar.”

“Didn’t Beah say they should be left alone for a while?”

“I’m pretty sure that was a message for you guys,” she gave him a pointed look, “but I’ll check when we see her later.”

He nodded, attention going back to his thoughts as they made their way down the stairs and into the crisp winter air.

The shooting range was kept far from the living quarters as a safety precaution—not many people knew how to shoot properly before they got to the HHL and that led to many a stray arrow. At the beginning they had tried to keep everything in a central location, but with more and more people joining, things quickly got dangerous. About a year into Terry’s stay, C and Beah had made the executive decision to move some of the more treacherous sports to one of the corn fields just off of the community area.

The arrangement caused some dissent to rise amongst the less physically inclined residents, but to the leaders of the HHL an hour jog seemed like a fair trade off to bandaging wounds caused within compound walls. In all honesty Terry didn’t think it took that long, but nine times out of ten, he began the journey from C’s, admittedly closer, home.

They had been living together for nearly two years, much to the woman’s distaste. Originally moving in because of a space shortage, Terry ended up staying even after the new human residences went up. He did have his own room on the safer side of the compound (used on occasion), but C had a whole house to herself—a gift from Beah for putting up with the HHL’s more deranged residents—and, deranged as they were, no one dared to mess with him after C put down a few of his more proactive antagonists last year. Of course, there was always a newbie out for his blood—and his dick—but the more experienced populace kept them in check.

Spending copious amounts of time in the west quarters meant that he had definitely heard the whispers. The one calling him her human pet was probably the most amusing, though that was more because it pissed C off, and he lived to piss her off. Possibly since nine times out of ten she was the one getting under his skin, he took any opportunity he could to see her frustrated. Annoying as he could be, he was careful not to overstep and could take as much as he dealt. Though that was entirely because she made sure his quality of life was a cut above most. Life during the apocalypse was always strained, but she kept him both well-armed and well fed, though he had a sneaking suspicion she did it to annoy Beah, the true voice of the HHL .

The two women ruled over their sliver of the new world with an iron fist, keeping their respective species away from each other’s throats. Terry wouldn’t go so far as to call them friends—seeing as they mostly talked business when they did see each other—but the innate understanding threading between them went beyond his comprehension.

Looks wise they were almost exact opposites. Beah was dark skinned, petite, and had a belying innocence to her features while C was ghostly pale, nearly as tall as him, and had a sharpness to her gaze that scared him more than once when he first moved to the HHL.

Despite this, Terry would choose C over Beah any day. C was far more laid back—though that might have had something to do with her thoughts on her leadership skills, or lack thereof—and it made her much easier to talk to. To him, looking past her itchy trigger finger was a simple matter, especially since she never killed outside the rules, she and Beah had initially laid down.

Beah, on the other hand, was… intense . Because of her small stature and dark skin tone, she faced far more challenges keeping the humans in line than the official second in command. This led to her being an uptight pain in his ass, but he begrudgingly admitted, it made her a far more capable leader than anyone else there. Not like he wanted to lead in the first place.

“Ah,” C’s exclamation brought Terry out of his reverie, making him realize they were steps away from the archery gate, “now that I think of it, we’ll have to cull the cows soon.” She swung open the entrance and motioned for him to walk through, “The newbies are going to need sheaths soon and our leather demands can’t keep up with the blacksmith’s output. I’ll get you some leather for gloves when that happens.” The gate latched behind them with a clang.

“Can we cull that many?” Quickly making their way to their usual spot, Terry picked up a bow laying in the grass, muttering something about lazy bastards under his breath.

C cocked an eyebrow, “It's not like a pair of gloves takes up that much cow.” She stepped past him to grab a loaded quiver from its proper position on the rack and handed it to him without thought.

He shot her an unamused look as he grabbed it, “I'm talking about supplying the newbies with sheathes.”

“Ah, well we won’t be culling enough to supply everyone with a sheath, but there's about 200 bulls now. We can afford to butcher a few of them.” Pulling an arrow from her quiver, the tall archer took her place in front of a target.

“200 doesn't seem like that much.” Terry loaded and shot his own bow, arrow piercing the center of the target with a dull thud.

C shrugged and released, her own arrow narrowly missing the squirrel sitting on the branch above one, fairly close, target, “It's not, but we only need a few good sires to pair with the cows.”

“How many do we have in total?” He aimed at the alarmed animal, shooting it clear through the eye.

She paused to think, “650? The cows add up to about 300 and the calves, about 150.” He lowered his bow, so she could grab the squirrel without the threat of having to dodge an arrow. “It’s not like we don’t have the space for more, but it’s easier when we can rotate the cows through their farms.” She handed him his arrow and proceeded to tie the dead animal to a rope hanging off her belt.

“How are their farms doing?” He took aim again this time pointing at a target a bit further than where the squirrel had been.

“Fairly well. It was a pretty wet year, so we’re expecting a baby boom when they start breeding this spring.” She notched another arrow watching him hit the next target dead center.

“What about the fruit and vegetable farms?” C released her arrow, hitting just below Terry’s.

She pursed her lips, “I'm not sure, but probably the same. Beah did say we have one last batch of apples coming in.” The brunette brushed frizzy strands from her forehead, “Benefits of the new greenhouse.”

Terry’s eyes lit up in excitement, turning to face her fully, “Oh right! I forgot about that. Do you think that means we'll finally grow our own peaches?”

“In like another 5 years maybe.” She shot him a look and targeted another unsuspecting squirrel.

His eyes followed her arrow—once again missing the squirming target, “That's frightening to think about.”

“It seems like it's been forever, doesn't it?”

He took aim and another small life before replying. “Longer for me than for you.”

She made her way to pick up the arrow and squirrel, surveying the damage even though she knew it was another bullseye, “Don't pretend like you aren't living well.”

“I'd live better with two legs.”

C’s eyes drifted to the running blade where his right shin should have been, a mixture of concern and regret sliding over her features. “Yeah. You would.”

A flash of sympathy passed through Terry’s eyes. As easily as she could take a life, C had equal respect for it and letting him live below full capacity occasionally haunted her. He held his hands up in mocking, “But I'm totally fine with being a cripple.”

She rolled her eyes and went back to notching an arrow, “To think I almost felt bad for you.”

“You're saying you don't feel bad for the poor boy whose leg you stole?” He clutched at his chest.

“Stole is a strong word,” Her target, an ignorant bird, fell out of the tree with her arrow stuck in its throat, “but if you want, I could make you my Beta right here right now.” It was his turn to roll his eyes as he went to grab the bird.

“Aren't I already your Beta?” Terry tossed her the arrow and sneered at her poor aim while tying the bird to his waist.

She gave him a tired look, “That's not how it works.”

He notched his own arrow, aiming at a bird even further. “And I'm thankful for that every day.” The bright smile accompanying his words caused her to scoff.

“Ha! If you're gonna be such an ass, you can go pick out some cows to kill.”

He smirked and released the arrow, “I thought I wasn't your Beta.”

Her scoff further brightened his smile and then she had to answer, “You're my minion.” His smile slipped off his face immediately.

“Go get my dinner.” She laughed despite his demand, happy to have gotten the upper hand and walked to get the bird.

Terry sighed as he watched her squat down to dust the snow off his prey. She was never going to give it up, but he kind of understood why. More and more humans were changing by the day, and she needed a hand to take care of it all. Most of the time he was able to fill that role, but being weaker than them and missing a leg on top of it didn’t give him many points in their books. Being human during the apocalypse was certainly not easy, but he continued to refuse her bite for reasons she probably understood better than him.

C interrupted his thoughts by handing him the arrow. “Clean shot again. I don’t know how you do that.”

He shrugged and moved back to the previous topic, “Only pick them out? You’re not going to let me kill them?”

The woman furrowed her brows in confusion, searching for the earlier conversation in her mind, “The cows? Of course not. There's too many new Lupi to let a human do it.”

He groaned, “I hate it when newbies kill the cows. So much goes to waste.”

"Then you're in luck!" She shot him finger guns, dropping the dead bird so it dangled from her hip with the two squirrels, "The Lunar New Year is coming up in a week. I'll be doing the killing personally and distributing blood then." C shrugged, "Though if you were my Beta, you could do it yourself."

He sent her a flat look and pointedly ignored her last statement, "I'm on wall duty that night. Save me some please."

She laughed at his obstinance, "Sure. Only a cup though. There's 17 new Lupi I gotta feed plus some of the older ones and any that join in the meantime. That's about…" wiggling her fingers she looked up in thought, "13 bulls? Just in case?"

Terry nodded, putting the bow away, "Sounds right. Can you help me with my hand-to-hand combat?"

Nodding, C placed her bow on the ground next to his. "I don't know why you won't just let me bite you. You'd be a fantastic Beta."

He scoffed internally, fully aware that she knew exactly why he didn't want to be turned, "You only want me to be your Beta because you don't want to be Alpha." He turned a finger on her as she moved into an offensive stance. "And if you bite me, what would be the point of cutting off my leg? It's not like it's going to grow back."

She pursed her lips and sighed, reluctantly admitting that he was indeed right, "Yeah, but at least you'd get a bit more respect from the Lupi ."

"They respect me plenty." She sent a high kick to his face.

"When I'm around." A dodge and a punch to her gut.

"That's all I need." She grabbed his arm, pulled him close and smacked him in the chest with her other hand. The quick succession of moves sent him stumbling back.

C ran her tongue over her teeth in contemplation, eyes brightening at what seemed like a good argument, "If you become my Beta, there's no more wall duty."

He wheezed at her proposal, chest still burning from her hit, "And oh, how tempting that is, but I'll still pass."

"You're so stubborn." She huffed at him.

The amusement didn't leave his face as he responded, "Well, that makes two of us." He settled back into a defensive stance.

A mischievous smile spread across her features, "You sure you’re ready?" Before he could respond, she launched a fist at his face—easily dodgeable, but the motion was meant more for her to vent than anything else.

“How’s your bond been doing lately?” Terry decided to keep the conversation moving, this time smoothly evading her punches, partially to aggravate her further, but he’d never admit that out loud.

Not completely unaware of the younger male’s tactics, C sent him a glare as well as a kick. “He’s…” chewing her tongue, she reached for that part of her that had been around for nearly a decade, “still alive and hasn’t been bitten yet. It feels like…” she furrowed her brows, “he’s moving again.”

Now that caused him to pause, “Again? Wasn’t he moving last week? Was it just a pitstop?”

“I don’t know, Taehyun.” She launched a cheap kick at his gut, succeeding this time.

He coughed, the impact nearly sending him to his knees, and graciously ignored the emphasis on the government name, “Damn.” It took the man a moment before he could respond, “You don’t gotta get pissy about it.”

“If I was actually pissy you'd be—” The rest of her words were cut off when she gasped, crumpling in on herself as if she had been the one who got kicked.

Terry dropped to his knees, pulling her into his arms as he turned her to sit on the frosted ground between his knees. “What happened? Is it him?” His words sounded panicked, and C could feel his arms trembling. Whatever anger she previously held was wiped away in an instant. Between short gasping breaths, her hands moved to his arms, thumbs rubbing in a comforting gesture.

Once she caught her breath, she lightly tapped him on the arm, “Do you have any of my meds?”

“Yes!” He frantically shifted through his pockets, pulling the transparent orange bottle from one on his thigh, “Here.” He twisted the cap off and tipped a pill into his hand.

C grabbed it and tossed it to the back of her tongue, grimacing as it stuck to her throat on the way down. Dry swallowing pills was never fun, but she had gotten somewhat used to it. A trembling hand threaded through her hair, and she took a deep, shaking breath, forcing herself to fully relax into his embrace.

They let a tense silence drift between them before Terry tried to lick his lips, tongue suddenly sticking to the roof of his mouth, “Taking those every time isn't a good idea.” The words came out in a nervous whisper.

She sighed in defeat, “It’s not like I have much more anyway. Frankly I'm surprised they've lasted this long.” Her tongue ran across her bottom lip, “Going off them is gonna suck.”

“Going cold turkey is going to ruin you. You might want to ease off them while you still have some.”

Another sigh, “I don't know if I could handle that.”

His eyes widened, “It's that intense?”

She groaned and yanked on her hair, “It's gotten worse lately. I’m not sure I want to know what they’re doing to him, T.”

Terry cursed under his breath, “If even you can't handle it, I can't imagine how he's able to.”

“What can I say?” C shrugged, “He’s definitely a fighter.” She couldn’t keep the hint of pride out of her voice, but her good mood left as soon as it came. “I don't know what to do, T. Every instinct is screaming at me to go get him, but I can't just up and leave.”

He felt himself relaxing, relieved that she appeared fine, “Seems intense.”

Sensing the tension leave his body, C pulled on his hair bringing his chin to rest on her shoulder. “Just raw instinct to protect and kill and…” a pause—as if debating whether she should say it or not—then, “and fuck.” He let out a short laugh, amused by her sudden desire for decency. She pointedly ignored it. “If I saw him, I don't know what I'd do. Would I jump him? Rip his abuser’s throat out?” Another pause and a cock of her head, “Both?”

Her hand continued to massage his scalp while they sat in a much more comfortable silence, broken by: “What if he's a terrible human being? What if he demands you kill everyone in the compound?”

C choked on her laughter, “That's… rather dark. Is that what your mind's like?”

“Just…” He buried his face into her neck, “answer the question, please?”

She swirled a strand of his hair between her fingers, as if debating whether or not she should really answer the question. Then she sighed, “Well, you better figure out how to take me down while you still can.”

Ignoring the problem with her words, he pulled back, “You'd do that for a guy you've never met before?”

She shrugged, “I'd do that for a guy whose highs and lows I've felt since I was 14.”

“What if he doesn’t want you?”

Another disbelieving laugh, “In that case, my mind would probably break. I'd have to sever the bond before that happened or I'd go full on werewolf.”

Terry hummed in thought, “Is that why you'd do anything for him? To make sure he doesn’t leave you?”

C pursed her lips, considering her reasoning, “Partially, I guess.” She concluded with a shrug. “Most of it is just because I want to feel him happy.”

Another hum, “So, if killing everyone makes him happy…” he trailed off not wanting to say it himself.

“Then I'd kill everyone.” Her reply was instantaneous. He sat back on his ass with a huff, hands bracing himself, and legs flinging out around her. “Sorry,” she shifted off him, giving him space to take off the running blade, “is your leg ok?”

He rubbed the stump just below his knee and nodded in affirmation. “Just phantom pain.”

“Your ankle again?” Another nod. She sighed and grabbed his blade, moving under his right arm to lift him into a standing position. Though he could certainly manage on his own, she rarely let him, and he had moved past arguing over it a long time ago. At least he was able to talk her out of princess carrying him every time his blade came off—that was a conversation his embarrassment had done well to suppress.

They hobbled over to the giant tree stump where she sat him down and kneeled in front of him. Practiced hands pulled the layers of fabric from around his stump and massaged the skin at the bottom.

Terry sighed at the feeling, staring into the trees above them as she continued her ministrations. “Would you kill me?” He tried to keep the words to himself—truly—but curiosity was eating him alive and before he knew it they left his lips.

C’s fingers stilled, an amused smile tilting her eyes into crescents. There was no way in hell she’d let someone else kill him—let alone doing it herself—but telling him that would give him even more reasons to be a snide bastard, and she didn’t think he deserved the satisfaction. “I'd give you time to run.”

Still watching the branches sway above their heads, he narrowed his eyes in thought, “How much time?”

She tried to keep the laughter out of her voice, “A minute?”

He sighed, oblivious to her pleasure, and began to bargain, “Make it two.”

“One and a half.” C grabbed his stump socks from where they laid inside out on the ground, “But I’ll close my eyes first.”

Terry fixed her with a blank look, before sighing again, “I’ll take it.”

She laughed, sliding the fabric back over his leg. “For what it's worth, I don't expect him to be like that.”

“How comforting.” He deadpanned as the woman grabbed his running blade to slot his stub back into.

The prosthetic suctioned to him with a whoosh of air and C rolled the rest of its sleeve up his leg and under his shorts. “Considering I have a first-row seat to his mind; you should find that very comforting.”

“You have a remarkable amount of faith in humanity.” He tested the blade to check its fit, more out of habit than need.

“Nope,” she stood up and offered a hand to the younger man, “just faith in him.”

He grabbed it with a roll of his eyes, “Faith in a guy you’ve never met before.”

She let out a defeated snort, heaving him to his feet, “Has anyone ever told you you’re remarkably negative?”

“Has anyone ever told you you’re remarkably positive?” He countered.

Shrugging, she went back to where they had left their bows, “Even on Pros, the Were could take over my mind if I let it.” She bent to dust them off and place them back on the stand. “Staying positive is just a countermeasure. Having a pack helps too though.” She added with a nod.

“Speaking of which,” He tugged at the prey around his waist to make sure they were still attached, “should I go get Kai?”

C shook her head, “No, it's ok. I'll go to him. He and Beah should be in the old greenhouse.”

“Speaking of which, we should go see them while there’s still daylight.” She took a glance at the setting sun and hummed in agreement. Instead of heading for the exit, she beelined to the shed standing on the other side of the field. “Where are you going?”

“To get the golf cart.” She shot him a smile over her shoulder, “I’m feeling lazy today.”

Terry laughed but didn’t protest. Judging by the height of the sun there would be about an hour left of daylight, and he sure as hell didn't want to spend it sprinting five miles up the compound. He reasoned that it wasn't because he hated cardio, but because adjusting his running blade for actual running was a pain in the ass.

Definitely not because he hated cardio.

He didn’t bother following C, knowing she would bring the cart to him without complaint. And bring it she did. The rickety old plow attached to its front knocking against the ground every few seconds. Terry could already feel irritation tickling the back of his brain, but he did his best to ignore the sensation—missing a ride was not worth an hour or two of cardio.

He hopped into the vehicle, grabbing the vertical bar in front of him for some semblance of stability, while C directed the cart to rattle off at a pace slightly faster than a jog. Seeing as it would take a while, he let his thoughts drift off.

The beginning of the apocalypse had been brutal. When the USA called a hard shut on its borders, he, his group mates, and a bunch of other Korean artists were essentially stranded. What was supposed to be a thrilling, but exhausting, time at KCON LA quickly turned into something that still gave him nightmares.

They had holed up in their hotel room for the first few weeks, watching the news in horror as they witnessed the world burn—both literally and figuratively.

Riots spread faster than the California wildfires, but food within the hotel building was growing scarcer. Determined to keep the boys from starving, their staff ventured out in pairs. More often than not, only one returned until eventually no one did.

It was a mere six weeks into the end of the world when their manager decided to go out for food. Terry remembered pleading with him, begging him to not go, but everyone was hungry. Kai 's stomach had rumbled at the most inopportune time and that made up the older man's mind. Tensions were high and Terry snapped. He screamed at their youngest—not his best look—asking him why he couldn't have just held it in. Looking back, it wasn't fair to the boy. Everyone was hungry and someone's stomach was bound to grumble eventually, driving their manager to search for food outside the building.

At the time, though, Terry felt it was justified. The eldest members did not. Soobin took him to the side while Yeonjun wrapped his arms around a crying Kai. To his credit, Soobin didn't snap at the younger boy, merely explaining to him why his anger was uncalled for. Reluctantly he apologized, seeing the logic and feeling it were two different things.

Their guardian had nearly made it back. Hearing his voice accompanying the knock on their door caused them to burst into tears and they rushed to pull it open—only to find a Lupus tearing his neck open.

Soobin was the first to move. He shoved his band mates back, snatched the bag of food from their manager's slipping grip, and slammed the door shut with a determination even he didn't think he had. Of course, the other four yelled at him, but he tuned them out. His priority had always been them.

His head had whipped around the room looking for something to block the door with. He swiftly spotted an old chair and sprinted to get it under the doorknob. Just in time too, if the slamming against the door was any indication.

It was then that everything felt real.

Terry could barely remember the sequence of events that followed, vaguely recalling Soobin's command to eat before they snuck out the window and onto the fire escape. They moved slowly, safety being their number one priority, but there was no way they could all stay safe.

It happened in the middle of a street.

Yeonjun had seen a convenience store that seemed to be relatively intact, but there was no way to get to it without venturing out into the open road. Unanimously the group decided it would be safer to sprint. And sprint they did.

What they couldn't have foreseen was the hoard of werewolves appearing out of nowhere, charging them from both sides of the street. It was then that one of them swiped Kai's arm.

No matter how hard he tried, Terry would never forget the heart wrenching scream their youngest let out as the Were's bite tore into his shoulder. Soobin stumbled and that time it was Yeonjun who had to lead them.

The eldest members of TXT managed to get to the convenience store without harm, but the damage had already been done. Soobin was a mess, Yeonjun barely holding it together enough to comfort him. Terry flopped to the ground with a haunted expression, leaving Beomgyu to scramble for something that would keep the door shut, though it wouldn't do much good–the walls of their new safe house were almost entirely glass.

Then suddenly the beasts' attention shifted. With only Beomgyu paying attention, a force swept across the street, shooting arrows at any Were in their path. Terry wouldn't find out until years later that it was the HHL. A very small HHL, still in its infancy, but reeking of an all-too-familiar power.

It turned out that they had been combing through the country for individuals ranking at the top of their respective fields. Their goal this time was a particular physiatrist that was rumored to be hiding somewhere in the area.

Terry still couldn't remember exactly what happened, but when he came to, there was no sign of Weres… or of Kai. The remaining boys began to freak out, wanting to at least bury their friend. Beomgyu had taken a moment to breathe, eyes still fixated on the far end of the road.

She took him.

They froze.

It could have been seconds or minutes, but then the yelling began. So many questions swirled about their heads, but it was all he could say, repeating the words over and over as if to comfort himself.

Eventually they gave up, resigning themselves to the fate of never knowing if their youngest was dead or alive. As things turned out, Kai likely had the kindest outcome of them all (something Terry would be forever grateful for, if not a bit jealous), but in that moment they felt as if their world was collapsing. The real world, however, didn’t stop turning just because theirs had ended.

They weren’t safe in the store for long, merely an hour passing before a gang rode up. Scrambling for the exit, the boys barely made it out without being seen. They heard glass crashing behind them, a sound that still sent adrenaline flooding through Terry’s veins.

Most of the following events were a complete blank, but sometime later, he found himself curled up with Beomgyu in a nondescript alleyway of the city—Yeonjun and Soobin nowhere to be found. That’s when they were caught.

A group of men bigger than them came around the corner faster than the boys could react. Even before they could cry, gun barrels were pressed painfully to their skulls, forcing their faces into the ground. The gang shouted at them demanding a response, but they were too shaken to translate and too smothered to respond even if they could. Terry could hear Beomgyu’s sobs, his own tears threatening to spill over. A hand replaced the gun, yanking his face up to meet his assailant’s. From the corner of his eye, he could see his older friend in the same position.

They’re pretty.

Despite his spinning mind, the unspoken threat in the man’s words made his blood run cold. With a screech he yanked his head out of the aggressor’s hand, landing hard on his rear, and scrambled to run away. His attempt was cut short, however, and he was dragged across the alley floor by his ankle. Limbs thrashing, he felt his fingers brush up against something sharp. Grabbing it, he barely paused before he slashed the glass shard across his face.

The gang’s shouting got louder at his action, and they dropped him. He didn’t have time to process their words. Moving on pure instinct, the brunette launched himself at Beomgyu, first slashing at the hands that held his friend, then going for the elder boy’s face. He was too late.

One of the men behind Beomgyu grabbed his collar before the makeshift blade could touch him and a kick landed on Terry’s gut, sending him to the ground.

It was then that he blacked out. Sometime later he found himself in a hospital bed, bandaged and Beomgyu-less, but alive. A nurse pulled back his curtain a moment after and informed him that he had been saved by the Alliance.

The Alliance would become both his haven and his ruin. The organization was more like a gang in how they operated—or at least how Terry assumed a gang operated. For a while, they saw him as a valuable asset. He picked up new skills faster than anyone else could and soon turned into their star sniper. Two years into the apocalypse, they assigned him a job in Vancouver—a job that could have him living in luxury if executed correctly.

His target? Terry glanced to his left, taking in C’s sharp features being illuminated by the setting sun. “What?”

He shook his head, looking forward again, “Nothing.”

The Alliance had gotten wind that the second in command of the HHL would be traveling to Vancouver to recruit another elite—and they wanted that elite. A man specializing in cold weapons was highly sought after and, with their dwindling supply of gunpowder, firearms were getting more and more risky to maintain.

So, they sent him.

Three weeks later his team was halfway to their lookout when they got swarmed. He shouldn’t have been so surprised when they ran—the Alliance always had that every man for himself mentality—but even so he couldn’t contain his shock.

He remembered closing his eyes, feeling the werewolf claws sink into his arms, the teeth in his ankle, and then… nothing. A whoosh of wind blew past his ear and his eyes flew open to see a tall woman sliding towards him on her knees, serrated machete poised to kill. In a display of strength, he hadn’t thought physically possible, the blade sliced straight through his upper calf, slicing the limb clear off. Without waiting for a response, another person hurried onto the scene.

At that point his mind was a blur, both from pain and from a lack of sleep, but he could have sworn the man said something about a “blood-crazy bitch” before he drifted off into oblivion.

Terry chuckled under his breath and C looked at him, “What are you laughing at?”

He smiled, “Blood-crazy bitch.”

Her eyes turned back to the road in front of them, a smirk on her face. “Awe, you were thinking of me?”

“When am I not?”

She gave him a dead look, but the golf cart pulled up to the old greenhouse before she said anything.

“Alpha!” The door slammed open as Kai sped towards C, throwing himself into her arms. No matter how many times it happened, Terry could never get over how easy it seemed for her to catch the taller man’s full body weight. Though most of it was certainly supernatural, he’d witnessed on multiple occasions how hard she worked for her strength. Not that she’d ever acknowledge it, but he knew.

“Hi Kai!” She greeted him with a butterfly kiss, the younger Lupus melting from the display of affection. Terry groaned and walked through the greenhouse entrance, ignoring a muted comment about his hypocrisy. They followed behind him after a moment.

“Do you know where Beah is?” He wasn’t impatient, but he didn’t want to waste any more time than he had to, seeing as the humans' festival was nearing full swing.

Kai hummed, “She’s over by the cauliflower.” The older man nodded, beginning the walk to the top left corner of the building.

C hung back to walk hand in hand with Kai. Though he had always been a touchy person, the change seemed to have upped its intensity. When Terry asked the Alpha, she chalked it up to the boy’s Omega status. More questioning ensued and at the end he came away with two points. One; being Omega meant that they didn't have a soul bond. Two; knotting wasn’t something Alphas did.

That last point he really could have gone without knowing, but when C was in a sharing mood there wasn’t much stopping her. In all honesty, he knew more about Lupi than most Lupi did, but with his position as acting Beta, it wasn’t too much of a surprise.

“Have you given any thought to binding into the pack?” C asked Kai, pulling Terry from his thoughts.

“I have. I don’t know if I want to though.” Terry thought it was stupid to avoid a pack bind as an Omega. Though most Lupi would figure out their class on their 20th birthday, Alphas and Omegas knew from the start what they were. Denying a pack bond as an Omega would leave Kai on Prosorinos for the rest of his life and relying on a drug whose direct translation literally meant ‘temporary’ didn’t seem like the brightest idea.

“Well you could always find someone specific to bind to instead.” C tilted her head in thought but was interrupted by Beah calling her name.

Hurrying over the larger female saw her much smaller companion struggling under a bag of soil. She grabbed it with one hand, relieving Beah of its weight. “Thanks. Could you put it on that table over there?” C hummed in affirmation and placed it gently on the workbench her companion pointed to. Beah dusted her palms off and climbed onto the makeshift step stool made out of a wooden plank suspended between two upturned, five-gallon buckets. Now just barely looking down on C’s intimidating height, she addressed the younger woman, “Was there something you needed help with?”

“Two things, actually. Do you know how the power facility is doing? And I’m in need of a Pros shot now if you need me to go check on the facility tomorrow.”

Beah clapped and hopped back off her makeshift bench, walking over to a half height fridge and pulling something out of it. She returned with a needle in hand and motioned for C to roll up her sleeves. A command C quickly complied with, exposing the veins in her right forearm to the experienced nurse. Terry watched as the liquid gradually disappeared into his friend’s body, her eyes lighting up with a blue overtone before going back to their typical hazel-green color when the tube had emptied. No matter how many times he saw that, he could never get over the creepy factor.

The petite black woman pulled the needle out and pressed a cotton ball (that seemed to spawn from nowhere) to the puncture wound. An unnecessary gesture since Lupi always healed quickly, but one that was appreciated, nonetheless. Sure enough, when C removed the fluff seconds later, there was no more evidence of her injection. “I definitely need you on that power run. We’ve been getting some weird readings, and though it might just be the wild boars chewing through wires, I want you to check it out for yourself.” Her movements stilled for a moment. “Take a few electricians with you as well. If it is the boars, we’ll need to repair what we can.”

C nodded in agreement, but Terry could see the disbelief flit over her features. Beah hadn’t been out of the compound in years (neither had he, but C spoke often enough about her ventures) and clearly didn’t know how the facility was set up. A topic for another time though. “Speaking of the boars, Terry needs some leather for gloves, and I have a few Lupi that are missing the taste of pigs blood. Mind if I kill one?”

Beah waved a delicate, dirt-covered hand and turned back to the workbench. “Do what you want.” Terry refused to look at the obviously antagonizing stare C shot him. He should have known. If C stayed out of human business, she was free to do as she pleased. Once again he was thankful she was on his side. “Did you need anything, Terry?” The human jolted as Beah directed her attention onto him, a gentleness in her voice not present when speaking to the Alpha.

“Uh, no. Just the leather thing.” He cursed his nerves and hoped the words came out more confident than they sounded in his head. Judging by the poorly concealed smirk on C’s face, however, they did not. If Beah noticed, she gracefully declined to comment, sparing his feelings at least a tad.

Despite her silent teasing, C wrapped an arm over his shoulders and gave them an out, “Alright! We’re gonna go now. I’ll head off at dawn with a small team. Bai Bai, Kai!” She turned him around and called to Beah as they headed out, “Be back by noon!” Beah grunted in acknowledgement and waved them off. “You're hopeless.” This particular comment was mercifully whispered into his ear. Even so it sent a flush running down his neck. He shoved her off before sprinting to the golf cart, something he definitely should not have done without adjusting the height of his running blade first. C politely disregarded his near wipe out and followed at a slower pace to give him some space.

The ride to the community center was silent except for the increasingly rowdy crowd of humans swarming to the community center, prepared for a night of drinks and unwinding without worrying about Lupi.

Twice a year most of the Lupinas would go into heat at roughly the same time. This year the first heat wave was just before the Lunar celebration was set to take place. During the time when most Lupi were confined to the West Quarters, the humans had their own celebrations–mostly just dancing and copious amounts of booze—that helped them ignore the bigger problems of the apocalypse.

Starting tonight, Terry wouldn’t be allowed into the West Quarters. It was a rule C imposed on him after the first time he’d almost been jumped by a mob of horny Lupinas. Not that he would mind the sex part, but the biting part was a strict no for him. He wasn’t even sure if he’d ever want to be turned. Bond or not, he wouldn’t feel a thing as a human, so if she ever came along, he’d have to fall in love with her first.

Amid his thoughts, the cart pulled up to where most of the HHL’s humans had congregated. “Your stop, T.” He hopped off, blade taking the impact, and turned to disappear into the crowd. "Wait!" Her shout had him turning back only to get a wad of fur to his face. "Don't forget your dinner and don’t get too trashed and- and make sure you get to bed, ok?” He sent her a noncommittal wave.

He was going to get wasted. There’d be no C telling him what to do. No Beah and her—totally not—intimidating presence. He was going to enjoy this. Never mind the inevitable call to C in the afternoon when he awoke and the scolding that would follow. For right now, there were no authorities to shove a stick up his ass, and he was going to relish it.

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sparkysparklightning · 3 years ago

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Okay listen

Yes this is the “longass post” I mentioned in my previous Tratie HoO post hgjkfsh I decided to publish it and see what y’alls think!

Anyway, I saw this post, like...a week ago?? And all of a sudden, everything related to the HoO series that I’ve held back just came charging full-force. So I’m here to grace y’alls with my ideas and thoughts about HoO.

Honestly, if I talked abt everything that went off-kilter in that series, we’d be here all day, so I’ll just stick to the mere basic point that was also the basis of my HoO conceptual rewrite idea, and that point is...

Percabeth shouldn’t have been a part of the Seven.

Yeah yeah, half of you guys must be throwing stones at me, the other half is probably nodding in agreement. But seriously, Percabeth already had their time to shine--they had an entire five hecking books, they ( and their characterizations ) definitely do not need another five more, yeesh! I love Percy and all, but pls, five more books in which his and Annabeth’s and their relationship’s character were diminished? Yeah, no thanks.

I love Percabeth, but in HoO, they became so...bland??? Idk how to properly explain it, but I didn’t like what happened to their character arcs at all lmaoo

But then, I got an idea: what if, instead of Percabeth, it was TRATIE who was a part of the Seven, instead?

Now this idea was inspired both from the post mentioned above plus another post that talked abt Tratie as a part of the Seven in a bit more detail, which I cannot find no matter how many times I scoured the rr-crit tag ( smh, if anyone else knows of this post, pls lmk and link it, I’m sorry 😭 )

And yeah, I know a lot of ppl have been hopping on the ‘Nico & Reyna as part of the Seven’ train when it comes to making HoO rewrites, but see, hear me out, just think about the potential of Travis Stoll and Katie Gardner--two children of minor gods--getting their spotlight in a series of their own ( plus more indirect spotlight on the minor gods in question ) plus a slowburn ( kinda ) relationship?? Heck, I already have some ideas for this, that I’ll jot down below the cut along with some conceptual ideas about the rewrite. If any of y’alls end up reading this whole post, can you...just, idk, lmk whether it’s a solid plan and if I should actually take it forward and plan on writing it? Bc I’m being rlly indecisive rn ahaha 😅

So. Tratie instead of Percabeth. Let’s take a closer look at the potential:

Honestly, I hate to admit it, but Percabeth didn’t do much to the plot as a whole, so it wouldn’t make much of a difference if they’re taken out. Though there are some things they did to move the plot forward, although little, and that’s what I’ll touch on before I discuss Tratie in general:

( oh yeah, disclaimer: I read the HoO series about five years ago?? I’m trying ( key word: trying lmao ) to reread the series currently, but it’s just not sticking lmfao. Probably the main reason why I wanna rewrite it so badly, other than the two posts that boosted my inspo )

--> THE ATHENA PARTHENOS: Annabeth went on a solo quest in MoA to track down the Athena Parthenos bc it was crucial to sealing the rift between Greek and Roman. BUT, any other demigod could go on that same quest instead of her. Like Piper, whose mother had told her that she was essential to sealing the rift but never ended up doing anything for it bc RR just...flopped idk; or someone like Leo who has similar abilities as Annabeth and would be able to outsmart Arachne in a similar fashion as well; or even Reyna could come earlier than she did in the series and work with the Seven or some of them to track down the statue? Idk, there are lots of options, tbh, there’s honestly not that much relevance to Annabeth being the daughter of Athena so she has to track down the Athena Parthenos. I mean, sure there was the Arachne ordeal, but other than that, nothing major rlly happens

Percy, himself, didn’t rlly...do much for the entire series, other than fight. I mean, there were some minor aspects of HoO where his powers or relations to other characters vibed well, so we’ll check those out:

--> KANSAS: In MoA, Jason and Percy fought each other bc they were forced to. That could easily happen even without Percy. Instead, of Percy, it could be Hazel and Jason fighting each other due to their connections as the Big Three children being taken advantage of. It could be sort of like a mirage of Thalia and Percy’s fight back in TTC. Plus, again, it gives way for more bonding and discussion after between two other characters that never got much interaction time together in canon

--> KYM AND POLYBOTES: okay this is the scene that takes place in BoO where Percy and Jason face off against Kym and Polybotes. But, Percy...does literally nothing here other than get poisoned lmao. It was Jason who did the heavy-lifting bc Percy got a t a d bit arrogant, thinking he was invincible underwater. So honestly, you could take out Percy and replace him with another member of the Seven (who would seem reasonable, in the context, so no Piper or Annabeth or Leo, etc bc none of them can survive even a minute under the water and doesn’t have a way like Jason to breathe). Tbvh, I can see Frank and Jason go together to face Kym and Polybotes. Frank can shapeshift into a sea-creature while Jason can use his ventus vacuum thingie, so it all works out, and nothing too drastic is changed!

There’s probably a couple more of little scenes where Percabeth was mostly significant in some way to the series, but let’s be very honest...there weren’t a lot of them. So long story short: if you want to, you can easily take out Percy and Annabeth from the series and replace them with another pair and it wouldn’t be the end of the world, lmao.

Now onto Tratie ideas in relation to if they were a part of the Seven instead. Here are some bullet-points of some ideas that I thought of:

It could be a lovely parallel, where when Jason woke up, all he could remember was Thalia, so when Travis wakes up, all he remembers is Connor, his younger brother. I think it would be nice bc it shows that not everything has to be romantically coded like how Percy only remembered Annabeth in canon. It would emphasize Travis and Connor’s sibling bond more so, and I can just imagine Connor giving Travis reuniting noogies and trying not to burst into tears in MoA, and Travis whispers something like “you’re here” and the floodgates open, and it’s just crying and hugging and the like 😭😭

Katie is a daughter of Demeter, so she would have a somewhat connection with the Earth aka Gaea, hence there is now a plausible reason why Gaea would want to spill her blood to rise. Also, when the time comes to defeat her, instead of charm-speaking her to sleep or whatnot, Katie could be a significant crux to the primordial’s defeat bc her powers tie in with the land/earth, so she could use her powers to forcibly push Gaea back into the earth.

Instead of them going to Tartarus, they end up going to Cupid (so some other pair will fall into Tartarus instead), and instead of a stupid forced outing, Cupid takes one look at them, senses their underlying emotional tension and goes “oh boy, yeah, you two have a lot to talk about” and actually (tries to) help guide the two into confessing the feelings they’d hidden, instead of being a little shit like in canon. Plus I just adore the idea of Travis calling Katie “flower” after they get together, and Katie calling him “key” not just bc he steals stuff but also bc he’s like the key to her heart and all that sappy bs, I literally love them sm 🥺 literally such wonderful nickname opportunities that have a deeper meaning

Travis and Jason might have a subtle rivalry, but unlike Percy and Jason’s weird ‘I’m stronger than you’ thing, it could be bc Jason felt a bit jealous of how everyone was looking for Travis, including his sister, while no one pulled much of an effort to look for him? It’d give an opportunity for them to talk things out and end up growing closer after talking

Juno/Hera saw Travis’s need, his desire, to redeem the Hermes name and as a result, used that fire to kickstart her plan by plopping him in Camp Jupiter while Jason got switched to CHB. Hence there is now a reasonable concept as to why the switch happened, because honestly, the whole Percy-Jason switch didn’t make all that sense bc Jason, yes I can sort of understand why he got switched, but Percy?? There was literally no solid reason that was explained as to why he was chosen to be switched lmao. But with Travis, Juno/Hera takes pity on him and uses this as an opportunity for him to bring glory to the Hermes name after the Titan War

I have a ton more ideas for the rewrite as a whole tbvh. Stuff relating to ways Gaea could actually be defeated, more on Octavian’s backstory and why he hates the Greeks so much, and other tiny scenes between the demigods that could bring about more characterization and details to their arcs.

The only problem is...with the way this is going in my head, I think things might end up diverging more or less from canon as the series progresses? Like there will obv be the canon scenes, but there might also be non-canon scenes that might change the series plot a little bit?? And idk how many of y’alls will appreciate that lmao ghjksfgh but I have started writing it. It’s a super long process lmfao, so idk when I’ll publish it (probably on Ao3, if I do), but I just wanted to let y’alls know bc a lot of you guys liked my first post abt this and I saw your lovely tags and it made me super happy and honestly, those tags are the reason why I even started writing this in the first place! So thank you guys so so much for the positive feedback!

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yanderecandystore · 3 years ago

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Could you please do a fanfic for a male version of Yandere! Lady Dimitrescu (from Resident Evil Village game) with the reader.

I really like the Resident Evil franchise but I'm too lazy to know what the hell is happening in the older games XD I'm so sorry about that-

I loved watching playthroughs of Resident Evil Village (can't buy the game ;-;), but I felt like it was a bit empty, idk- I felt like the lords weren't really explored enough.

Also the Duke is the best husbando in the whole game- Fight me! >:3

TW/Tags: GN = Gender Neutral, I normally forget to properly name it when it's gender neutral, most of the time I just say "reader" // maybe ooc // lazy genderbent, I'm terrible with names // size difference // servant reader // mentions of gore/cuts/bruises/blood and deaths (and torture- I'm so sorry-) // reader gets hurt // mentions of vomiting

It's Dinner Already [Yandere!M!Dimitrescu x GN!Reader - Short Fanfiction]

It's dinner time already, unfortunately for you, of course.

It feels almost like a routine at this point- Which in a way, it is! You always take care of your tasks during the day, while dreading the inevitable time for dinner to arrive again.

Everyday, at this exact same hour, you and the other servants would prepare a meal for Lord Dimitrescu and his lovely… Sons…

As someone who has started "working" for their family only a month ago, you can positively say: Starving in the cold woods next to your village would have probably been a more merciful death than the ones you have witnessed at this place. You weren't as accustomed to such brutal executions at your village, actually you hardly even witnessed so much death, at least not so up close.

When you came here, you didn't expect to be instantly comforted and treated with respect- You were a commoner looking for an possibility to thrive in a noble's house, you were basically an easy target for any entitled selfish lord to easily belittle you and make you work for them until your hands would turn to dust. Yet nothing could have prepared you for such an odd situation.

Vampires. Monsters. Fiends if you were bold enough to insult them. You weren't exactly welcomed as much as you were snatched in and now forever trapped inside this castle. You can still hear their laughter… Their insane expressions of pure glee, the way they have bursted into maliciously laughing at your pain as you screamed for help trying to open up their door again and be free from that nightmare.

The chase didn't last even a second, they stabbed your legs with their scythes and brought you deeper inside this hellhole, as you cried your eyeballs out. The sons had brought you back inside so their father could take a look at the "intruder".

An absolute titan amongst the mortals. His height was only a sick reminder of how much power he had over the castle, over his sons, and now- Over you.

He may not have been as massive as he was threatening as you remind him to be, but at the time you were just in awe of his height considering you have never seen someone as tall and as mighty.

Then again- You have never seen vampires as well. Were they the same vampires as the books you've read as a kid? You weren't so sure of it…

You were hoping that if you begged for life and for forgiveness for having disturbed their peace, that they could spare you and let you go back to your village. Sadly enough, you commented on how you were only trying to look for a job as a servant.

You probably shouldn't have given them ideas, but it's too late to think about your mistakes now, however.

The sons begged to see your blood spilled, yet Lord Dimitrescu was merciful enough to grant you your "wish", as he said.

It has been a month ever since you were trapped inside and forced to work as a miserable little servant, and even if you didn't suffer the worst forms of punishments that they had in-store for you, you couldn't help but fantasize about just running away and never turning back.

You're so tired of this castle, of the smell of carnage, of the undeserved and over the top punishments, and especially of the people who would subjugate you to such things.

But at last, it's dinner time already, and you can't keep them waiting.

You feel your hands shaking as you walk out of the kitchen and into the dining room where the masters of the castle were so graciously waiting for you. You know what they're waiting for- But you can't let them distract you, for those that commit accidents are faced with fates worse than death.

Although you would rather do this process quickly, you can't afford mistakes to happen, so you take your time to set not only their meal in front of each one but to also pour "wine" into their glasses. You do all of this without looking directly into their eyes, only bowing down to each one and saying "excuse me"s in what they would call a "decent tone", as the smell of their disgusting beverage starts to irritate your nostrils. If you didn't know the main ingredient to Sanguis Virgins is, you probably wouldn't have this immense disgust over it, but right now just the thought of it makes you want to gag.

Only villains could so easily drink blood, and still make a living out of it.

Your internal thoughts of pure hatred against this whole situation almost completely blinded you to the fact that they were eerily, very quiet.

….

On most nights they would be talking with each other while occasionally making comments about you or your presence. Obviously they were all pretty nasty comments that they somehow expected you to back it up in some way or another, it's when they try to insert you into their conversation that makes you hate this occasion so badly, but it normally ends as quickly as it begins.

But as you are pouring wine to Lord's Dimitrescu, you notice that they haven't said a single thing while you were there. You stop what you're doing as you realize that they were silently observing you this whole time, and as you look into their expressions you come to think that maybe you have messed up-

Somehow, in some way or form, you may have messed up- And the fact this mistake could cost your head only agitates your already very worried mind.

….

A small moment of silence continues before the middle son, Cassandro, starts to chuckle in an almost innocent way- As if he was a kid who just said a bad word for the first time- And as he bursts into sudden laughter, Daniel leans towards Bello and loudly whispers:

"- I told you, they do this every time." To which Bello only replied with:

"- It's almost like hypnosis in a way."

The three sons were mesmerized by your ability to trap yourself in your own mind. They're probably aware that you do this as a defensive mechanism but they still find it comical in a weird way. You feel yourself get more tense as you look up at Lord Dimitrescu and see him staring back at you, with an unreadable expression across his face.

Before you could come up with an excuse to whatever you may have caused to disturb their dinner, the Lord himself spoke.

"- How inappropriate. As my sons, you three should know better than to laugh at our servant's airheaded mind-"

And as he said that, their smiles begin to disappear and be replaced with frowns and a bit of shame as they become stiff at their father's words.

"- And how inappropriate of you, too. To be so distracted in the presence of your masters, that's quite rude don't you think?"

But as he continued their bodies begin to relax once again as they realize he wasn't focusing on them- He was focusing on you.

Words have completely disappeared from your vocabulary as you start to think that maybe you won't be able to see another day after their meal is over. You try to mumble some possible responses before getting interrupted by him once again.

"- It's very rude, so very rude in fact that I think we deserve some answers. What were you so distracted about? What were you thinking that could have possibly taken over your small little head?"

Right now, he was sounding a bit condescending, thankfully not as angry as he would have been with the other servants right about now. Every little mistake was used as excuses for punishments- And if you were walking on thin ice before, right now you are one-step closer to breaking this entire lake and getting yourself killed by the freezing temperatures of the water below you.

Thanks to your luck (or maybe lack thereof, depending on how you see this) Daniel came to "your rescue" by coming up with an excuse for you.

"- Maybe they were hungry." He said without any indications of it being a joke or a lie- As the youngest yet craziest of the bunch, he always had that weird "naive yet dangerous" energy coming from him. He was naive enough to make that statement when it's very clear that you actually despise being near them, but he still was a son of Dimitrescu.

You know better than to underestimate any of these people.

The Lord didn't seem completely convinced as he side eyed Daniel who was blissfully eating his meal without acknowledging his dad's glance or his brother's looks of disapproval.

Without a warning you were pulled closer by your wrist and forced into sitting next to the Lord, who made a sign for another servant to bring you your food. This… Doesn't feel right at all, you're waiting for the worst to come yet you don't feel like you can ever prepare yourself enough for what they have in store.

"- M-My Lord- This isn't needed, I'm fine. I'll just continue my duties, if you can excuse me-" You plead, while trying to get up from your chair.

"- Oh but what host would I be if I didn't take better care of my guests? Poor thing, you must be starving if you can barely serve us wine-" And as his tone gets progressively more sarcastic and a bit louder, you can hear his sons snickering from the other side of the table, but you can't see them since you can't take your eyes away from him.

You're worried that if you look away for just one second, that you may not be able to see ever again.

"- It's so sad when one of our guests feels hungry- What's worse is when we are also very, very hungry."

"- Thirsty, even!"

"- Oh, I can feel my throat drying just at the thought of such misery!- Our dinner seems to be ruined."

You hear their whispers, you hear how they are clearly joking about this- How overly dramatic they're being over something so miniscule as you just- Ignoring them.

Let me remind you this is all because you refuse to look them in the eyes, that you refuse to give them any satisfaction for the heinous things they have done! You've seen so many people get hurt inside this castle only for their sick and twisted thirst and entertainment.

"- Indeed, my boys. My appetite is ruined, though dinner is not over yet-" Lord Dimitrescu spoke as he looked at his sons clearly enjoying your inevitable pain, but before he could continue he turns himself to you again, putting a hand on your arm and saying:

"- Wouldn't you agree?" Loud enough so that his sons could hear it, but soft enough to send the tiniest shivers down your spine.

"- …!"

"- No, no- Please, not again!-" He wouldn't dare do this, would he??

But before you could react he had already done it, you barely noticed how fast he had grabbed that knife to slice your wrist- His hand firmly gripping your arm as he made a deep enough cut so that your blood could be easier to access.

It somehow hurts just as badly as the first time his sons have stabbed your ankles and dragged you across the floor- At least you're not bumping into things like before, and even if it's a deep cut it's not as big as it could be if he used his claws to actually do this.

Oh, oh those claws- You almost thought he would use them on you… Those were something else. You can't remember exactly what happened, and why it happened, but you remember seeing him use those on another servant who may have crossed the line at some point.

Well "crossed the line"- More like "casually inconvenienced him". Lord Alcino may act like an incredibly high noble but he acts so childishly and in such an egotistical manner that you are surprised he can even have a castle like this in the first place! You don't remember what the servant has done to be so cruelly dismantled, but you don't doubt that it was for a stupid reason!

You miss that servant actually- Probably the only person who you actually talked with, and the first one to actually taught you how to do your job… You two could have been friends if he didn't intervene.

You briefly remember those moments before getting to experience the most weird sensation of all- Having your bloody cut be licked and sucked on. It hurts and it stings in a way that not only makes you want to cry but to also gag at the thought of you feeding this monster.

You refuse to look at him even in this scenario, you refuse to see him feeding off your blood… Sometimes you wish you were just as poisonous as some species of frogs, poisonous enough to make his mouth burn so he can experience a fraction of the pain he causes to others.

You tried fleeting away, you tried getting up and moving away but his grip on your arm only helped you in getting closer to him- You have your eyes closed as your only option is to cry and muffle your agony.

But as always, he is not satisfied with you just ignoring him. This was supposed to be a lesson, yet you're clearly avoiding your teacher as best as you can- But not today, little flower, you're not getting out of this so easily.

This is the first time he ever got to really taste your blood, as normally you would be behind the other servants while trying to learn how to please him, the only moments where he gets to see you is when it's dinner time, but oh- You're just so cruel!

Escaping inside your own little head while he has to content himself with just your image. Your presence is very much appreciated around this hour, little one-

He has noticed this before, of course, but it was only when he noticed his son's curiosity over the way you behave around them that made him organize this little trap. He didn't have everything planned actually, his plan only involved getting to this moment no matter what- And oh boy, has luck been on his side!

Your blood tastes better than expected of a commoner, your delicate and fearful whines of pain are just as delightful but what really gets him is this tough persona you try to convince everyone you have- You despise him, and it's clear to see why- But he knows his charms will probably work on you one way or the other.

He gripped your face trying to make sure you'll get to him in the eyes as he has a taste of you. Absolutely delicious, especially after you so gracefully "ruined" their dinner.

His sons were just watching as they continued to drink from their crimson glasses. They were just enjoying the show, as everything seems to easily amuse them- Their father was just showcasing how they were so much better than the common folk, and they have no other option but to take notes and to remember what they have to do if they ever feel ignored by the servants in the castle: Show who are the true masters of this place.

None of them were really interested in drinking from you, considering how all three seemed to recognize how their father has taken a liking towards you. No one would dare mess with their father's prey.

If you had enough strength in you, you would start vomiting as soon as this has started, but the more he takes from you the more you feel like you can barely stay conscious.

He wasn't supposed to take so much, at least not so soon- He wanted to just take a sip but he can't deny the fact he would rather drown himself in your blood than to let go.

He sighs, as he notices that you're slowly getting less and less aggressive, getting more and more tired as he drains you from this cut.

You're not unconscious yet, just barely stable enough to understand what's going on.

"- Sigh… Now that was a decent enough meal." He can't praise you for being tasty, can't have you being cocky around him.

"- Here, since I'm done here I'll take you to the servant's living quarters- And because I'm so kind I'll make sure that wound is safely secured and cleaned, so here- Come along now."

And as he stood up he offered you his hand so you could get up yourself, but you don't have enough energy to walk yourself to your room, thankfully you're already ready to go to bed and wish to never wake up again.

And as the nightmare never ends, he decides that if you are going to be difficult then you leave him no choice but to carry you there. How much has he taken from you?? Jesus, he should learn some self-control before doing this again- The absolute brute that he is.

Your vision may be a little screwed over because of the lack of red cells running through your body at the moment- But you have a weird feeling that you two aren't heading towards the servant's living quarters, as you feel like you two are quite literally going in the opposite direction.

Oh but it's fine- Right?

It'll be fine. Surely. After all, he already took what he wanted from you, and he doesn't seem to need more so- You probably won't have to worry about anything right now, dinner time is already over, you can finally relax now….

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

So I'm sick again- Sorry y'all, I just have a horrible immune system and I really don't understand what is wrong with me-

I'm sorry if you didn't like this boo :(

#sheep's stuff #yandere #yandere x reader #yandere vampire x reader #yandere lady dimitrescu #yandere lord dimitrescu #yandere lord dimitrescu x reader #gn!reader #yandere fanfic #yandere fanfiction #yandere short fanfiction #special delivery request #special delivery short fanfiction #m!lady dimitrescu #male lady dimitrescu

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fandomlit · 4 years ago

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neutral, chap. 2 (dream smp x reader)

series summary (in game!au) when an exiled tommy finally rebels against a manipulative dream, he finds safety in neutral territory, a place owned and guarded by you. staying in your safe haven opens up the younger one’s eyes to your way of life, while also revealing your deeper past before neutral; a past that involved a war for your love.

chapter summary tommy learns a little bit more about your relationship with dream before spending his day with ghostbur, exploring neutral territory and learning of the war that sparked its creation.

warning mentions of war, violence, and injuries

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gif cred belongs to @chillcrafting

“you have a package, y/n!” ghostbur called out just as you placed tommy’s breakfast in front of him. the ghoul’s words went completely ignored by tommy, whose gaze was solely focused on the beautiful stack of pancakes placed in front of him.

y/n smiled to herself. “you can bring it in, bur. i know who it’s from.” she shuffled syrup and butter over to tommy just as ghostbur came in with the fateful package.

tommy was already half way through scarfing down the stack of pancakes when y/n managed to open the package, ghostbur gazing over her shoulder. she took out a note set atop of the contents.

she read aloud, “y/n, i’m sorry i haven’t properly stopped by in a while. my work requires much of my undivided attention right now, which i’m sure you understand. please work your magic for me with the clothes included, and i will be sure to drop by for them and a meal soon. there are a few extra gifts included for you. i hope tommy isn’t burdening you. signed dream.”

“i’m not a burden!” tommy spoke offendedly through a mouthful of pancakes.

“you’re right, tommy,” y/n hummed, handing him a napkin to wipe some syrup off of his chin. “you’re perfect company.” tommy smiled to himself as he finished off his stack of pancakes. y/n sighed to herself, “clay really knows how to ruin a good piece of clothing..”

“so you and dream are close, y/n?” tommy grumbled, picking up his glass of milk.

she shrugged. “as close as you can be with someone you barely see.” she placed his battered clothes to the side, sighing again when she saw the rest of the contents of the box. tommy didn’t realize this, continuing with his questions.

“i remember that he respected your territory when he stepped into it,” he recalled. “he was going to kill me, but then he realized he was in neutral.”

y/n nodded. “when i made claimed this territory as neutral, i made a deal with everyone: i would mend and tailor anything you needed as long as you respected my territory as neutral.” she held up a box of diamonds and a smaller box of netherite to tommy’s view, making his mouth drop open with surprise. y/n held out another napkin to him for the milk that had sputtered out of his open mouth while ghostbur laughed into his hand. “clay is the only one who still tries to pay me.”

“with netherite?!” tommy exclaimed, letting out a surprised laugh.

y/n shrugged, seemingly not phased by the generous gift. “the nether..” she shook her head, placing the valuable materials onto the table, “is not a place i like to go. and most of this will probably be going toward dream’s armor, anyway.” she sighed, placing the gifts back into the box and laying the tattered shirts on top of them. “trust me, he’s still too kind for his own good with these sorts of materials.”

“how much netherite does that man have?” ghostbur scoffed, looking at how much was contained in the box.

“probably quadruple that amount,” y/n chuckled. “he has far too much free time.”

“and he doesn’t even spend it with you,” ghostbur sighed, shaking his head with a goofy smile.

“i know!” y/n spoke sarcastically before laughing out. she closed the box and set it under the table. “i’ll deal with that later. do you want any more pancakes, tommy?”

“no, i’m stuffed,” the teen yawned. “but thank you.”

she nodded. “well, then how about ghostbur shows you around the territory today?”

the boys perked up immediately. “really?”

“yeah,” she laughed, taking tommy’s empty plate. “you two can take the day to explore and have fun. go be a kid, kid.”

tommy excitedly looked up to his ghost friend. “fancy a game of ultimate tag?”

“you’re gonna get crushed,” ghostbur laughed before they both ran out of the house, laughing. y/n smiled.

“oh! i should make them lunch..”

...

“how big is this place?” tommy laughed after a few rounds of tag. they had found their way to a pond in a forested area, tommy deciding his knee needed a break after all of their running.

“it’s bigger than you think,” ghostbur assured, making sure to keep an appropriate distance from the water as they sat along the small shore. “y/n claimed the territory before l’manberg, so there really wasn’t any need for a turf war of any sorts for what she settled.”

“how long has she lived here?” tommy questioned.

ghostbur shrugged. “almost two years, i think. she’s made quite the life for herself since.” more to himself, he muttered, “god, has it really been that long since it happened?”

“since what happened?” tommy asked, leaning closer to his friend with sparkling, curious eyes.

ghostbur sighed, “i’ll admit, i don’t remember too much.. but i know there was a fight. one of the first wars of our time, and it was all over y/n.”

“they were fighting for her?” tommy spoke with confusion. “she’s not an object.”

“very good, tommy,” ghostbur prided, patting his friend on the shoulder. “you’re right, she’s not. that’s why y/n left her original home and sought to create neutral territory; to end the fighting and create a place where peace could reign. in exchange, she’d offer her goods and services.”

“so they were fighting over her for her skills,” tommy understood. ghostbur made a face. “..or not?”

“both sides obviously wanted her skills, but i think y/n tends to neglect the fact that they were all madly in love with her,” ghostbur sighed, shaking his head.

tommy raised his eyebrows. “a crime of passion, eh?” he joked, making them both laugh out before he asked, “who was it?”

“let me think,” ghostbur sighed, tapping his chin. “i know one was dream, but the other.. i think it was-”

“boys! lunch is ready when you are!”

tommy turned back to ghostbur. “well? who?”

ghostbur shook his head. “sorry, tommy, i don’t remember that far. that’s as much as i can tell you.”

tommy couldn’t help but fel disappointed, but he knew he couldn’t blame his friend. “that’s alright, ghostbur. let’s go get lunch before y/n comes looking for us.”

...

after lunch and an insistent rematch of tag, ghostbur and tommy made their way to the organized garden area.

“y/n grows anything you can imagine,” ghostbur bragged as tommy marveled as the fluorescent, beautifully natural area. “she’s been to nearly every biome to complete her garden.”

“you can grow cocoa?!” tommy exclaimed when he finally spotted y/n, who was swinging an axe at a low jungle tree.

“y/n found a way,” ghostbur shrugged, guiding tommy over to her. “hey, y/n!”

“hi, boys,” she smiled, plucking off the plant she had loosened from the tree. “was lunch good? im sorry i didn’t stay and chat.”

“it was delicious,” ghostbur complimented, tommy nodding in agreement as his mind drifted back to the mouth watering coleslaw and toasted sandwiches she had prepared.

“that’s good!” she smiled, placing the cocoa plant on the ground. “you boys may want to step back.” they did as told as y/n swung her axe over her head, splitting the cocoa clean in half and revealing the delicious beans inside of it. “voila!”

ghostbur clapped politely. “thank you,” y/n laughed, dropping her axe and picking up the split plant. “would you boys like a sample?”

“sure,” tommy shrugged, stepping forward with ghostbur. he picked out a few beans before popping them into his mouth. breaking through the semi-tough shell, the delicious, dark taste flooded his taste buds and made him nearly moan, as y/n’s food often did. he and ghostbur shared a look of satisfaction before he voiced, “oh, y/n.. they’re perfect.”

“that’s good,” she laughed before nudging her bucket closer to her and scooping the seeds out into it. “how has your day around the territory been?”

“entertaining,” tommy spoke before asking, “how did you get into gardening, y/n?”

y/n gave ghostbur a knowing smile before she answered the younger boy’s question, “i was tired of eating only meat and bread. gardening was a way to expand my diet to more than just carbs and proteins. also, it’s very calming.” they followed when she hiked up her bucket and moved to the next jungle tree.

“is it?” tommy questioned.

she affirmed with a nod. “it’s nice to be able to spend a day tending to things you made. the fruits of your own harvest are the sweetest, they say.” they watched as she knocked down another cocoa plant.

“they are,” tommy nodded solemnly, his mind drifting to a sadder, more familiar place. “that’s why i miss l’manberg.”

y/n was barely surprised by the boy’s open confession. she tossed her axe down again, going to place a hand on tommy’s shoulder. “i know you do, tommy, and i know it’s rough right now. but what we’re playing here is a waiting game; we’re waiting for a safe opportunity to get you home, and in the meantime, i’ll take care of you, kid.”

tommy offered you another nod and a smile. “we?”

y/n gave him a kind grin. “im going to help you as best as i can from where i am. and i know that’s not much from me, but i know that everyone deserves a home that they love. and you can’t get there alone, kid.”

“you’re right about that,” tommy sighed before looking into her kind eyes. “thank you, y/n. your help means a lot.”

she squeezed his shoulder. “of course, tommy. you and ghostbur go explore some more; try to keep your mind on the things you can control.” she picked her axe back up.

tommy looked to the pitying ghoul beside him before looking back to y/n, a new thought fresh in his mind. “can you teach me how to cook?”

y/n grinned as she lifted her axe over her head again. “of course i can, tommy.”

tommy smiled as she cracked open the plant. he looked back to ghostbur. “wanna go for a swim?” the ghost shot him a fearful look. “im kidding! im kidding, let’s go use some pigs for target practice.” they both began to walk off, chatting and giggling before tommy turned and called, “y/n!” she looked up attentively. “what’s for dinner?”

she smiled. “i was thinking ribs!”

tommy’s mouth watered at the thought. “oh my god, i can’t wait to learn how to cook..”

tag list!! @vanhakirja @victory-is-here @inkyynki @airiour @sylum @kiritokunuwu @221bee-slytherin @bllatrixcarpnter @soullesstaco @stxrryb1tch comment below or message me if you would like to be added <3

#youtubers x reader #youtubers fanfic #mcyt x reader #mcyt fanfic #dream smp x reader #dream smp fanfic #tommyinnit x reader #tommyinnit fanfic #dream x reader #dream fanfic #ghostbur x reader #ghostbur fanfic

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blueskrugs · 4 years ago

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Jump Then Fall | Jack Hughes

I am eternally soft for this kid, okay. this is not the original birthweek fic I had planned for him, but it is a bonus Swift Fic because I couldn't help myself. enjoy while I work on getting my shit together for the summer!

tagging: @marcoscandellas @stlbluesbrat21 @dembenchboys @poltoncarayko @robthomissed @letmeplaytheblues @troubatrain @ayohockeycheck @blackwidowrising @aria253264 @antoineroussel @starswin @glassdanse @ch-ristiane @majdoline @nazdaddy @hockey-more-like

length: 2k words

High school relationships never worked out. That’s what they always told you, at least, when you and Jack were young and in love. And they were right, sort of. You’d broken up not long after you’d both graduated, with Jack off to be drafted and you off to college. Except you’d stayed close, texting and talking on the phone often once Jack had headed off to New Jersey. He was one of your best friends, and you were thankful he was still in your life, but you weren’t sure you’d ever stop loving him, not really.

I like the way you sound in the morning We're on the phone and without a warning I realize your laugh is the best sound I have ever heard

Saturday mornings always meant long phone calls with Jack. You’d both wake up early and make coffee before spending most of the morning on the phone, talking about everything and nothing. Sometimes you wished more than anything that you could see his face, but you weren’t sure what would come spilling out of your mouth when you saw him.

One cold morning in December, you were pretty sure Jack had still been asleep when you called. His voice was slow and rough when he spoke, but you could still hear the smile in his voice.

When you heard him yawn, big enough his jaw cracked, you laughed. “Am I keeping you awake?” you asked.

Jack rushed to answer, “No, never.”

“Jack,” you warned.

Jack laughed. “We got in late last night, I’m just a little tired, I’m fine,” he told you.

“I can let you go back to sleep,” you said.

You heard Jack sit up on the other end of the line. “No way, absolutely not,” he said.

“We’re not even talking about anything important.” You’d mostly been stressing about the end of the semester.

“So? I like talking to you,” Jack argued.

You sighed. “You’re an idiot,” but it came out more fond than annoyed.

Somehow, that phone call lasted almost two more hours. Later, you wouldn’t remember what dumb thing you’d quipped that had made Jack burst out laughing, but you’d always remember the sound of that laugh. You’d wished you’d been able to record it, to have it to listen to on rough days, on days you missed Jack a little extra.

I hear the words but all I can think is We should be together

Jack was telling some story about his teammates. You were only half-listening, paying more attention to his face as he talked. It was late, and Quinn and Jack were home for Christmas. You and the three Hughes boys had taken over the basement for the night. Quinn and Luke were sprawled out on the couch opposite you, and you were buried under several blankets with your feet in Jack’s lap. He was using one hand to help illustrate his story, but the other was resting on your ankle, warm despite the chill outside, his thumb absently rubbing against your bare skin.

Quinn threw a balled up napkin at you, jolting you back to reality. “What’re you thinking about over there?” he asked.

“What?” You threw the napkin back at Quinn.

Luke chimed in, “Yeah, Jack’s not that funny, there’s no way you’re smiling at him.”

“Hey!” Jack protested. You dug your heel into his thigh, and he turned to grin at you.

You hadn’t even realized you were smiling. You always seemed to be smiling when you were around Jack, you couldn’t help it.

“Just missed you guys,” you said, grinning back at Jack.

Jack squeezed your ankle and went back to telling his story. You still weren’t listening.

Well, I like the way your hair falls in your face You got the keys to me I love each freckle on your face, oh

When Jack first started growing his hair out, you hated it.

“No, why,” you said the first time you saw him that summer. Luke laughed from somewhere behind you.

Jack ran a hand through his hair and smirked at you. “What do you mean?” he asked. “You love my hair.”

You tilted your head, pretending to consider. “I’ve changed my mind,” you said.

Jack squawked, outraged and offended. He slung an arm around your shoulder and pulled you in close as you giggled and tried to get away. “You’ll pay for that,” he told you. You dug your elbow into his ribs until he let go of you.

Later that night found the two of you left alone near the bonfire as the sun went down.

“Hey,” Jack said. You locked your phone and tilted your head back to look up at him upside down. “Do you really not like the hair?” he asked.

You snorted. “Would you cut it if I said I didn’t?” Jack shrugged, not quite meeting your eyes. You sat up and twisted to look at Jack properly. “You wouldn’t, oh my God.” It was hard to tell, but he might’ve been blushing in the fading light,

“Just tell me the truth,” he said.

You looked at Jack, really looked at him. He was tan, a new burst of freckles dusted across his nose. He’d shoved a hat on since you’d first seen him earlier in the day, but you could still see how his hair was just beginning to curl at the ends past the nape of his neck. Jack stared back at you, blue eyes dark.

“I guess I could get used to it,” you said.

Honestly, you were so gone for him, you were pretty sure you’d end up still liking him no matter what he looked like.

When people say things that bring you to your knees I'll catch you

Sometimes you didn’t know how Jack put up with it all. From losing streaks to being called a draft bust to people questioning whether he was capable of being a leader, there wasn’t a day that went by that he didn’t have to deal with some bullshit. You knew it wasn’t easy, but he rarely let it get to him. Rarely, but not never.

It didn’t surprise you when your phone rang after a rough game. You answered the FaceTime call without thinking about it, smiling softly when Jack’s face filled your screen. He looked tired, dark bags under his eyes and his hair hanging limply in his face.

“Hi, bud,” you said.

Jack closed his eyes and sighed, long and loud, scrubbing his free hand across his face. You’d been able to watch the game, had watched the blowout happen in real time, just another loss in this skid, in a season that had started out promising for once.

“I’m tired,” Jack whined.

“You look like shit,” you told him. Jack stuck his tongue out at you. “Do I need to get Ty to delete Twitter off your phone again?” you asked. Jack rolled his eyes, but you weren’t joking.

“No, I just-” Jack rubbed his eyes again. “Did you see what my plus-minus was tonight?”

It was your turn to roll your eyes. “Oh my God, no, we’re not doing this,” you said. Sometimes Jack wanted to forget everything about a shitty game, but other nights he got frustrated and wanted to pick apart every mistake he’d made on the ice. You dragged your laptop closer to you. “C’mon, open your Netflix, we’re watching a movie.”

There was some scuffling on the other end, with Jack accidentally pointing his phone at the ceiling. “Fine, but I get to pick,” he said.

You argued half-heartedly with him for a while, but he won in the end, and you settled on some movie you’d both seen a dozen times. It was quiet while you watched, a comfortable silence, heavy with familiarity.

“Hey,” Jack said lowly as the end credits rolled later. You’d been half-sure Jack had fallen asleep on you. “Thanks.”

You smiled tiredly at him. It was late, and dark in his room, and you could barely make out his blurry form on your phone. “Anytime, Jacky,” you said, but you meant, “I love you.”

You can jump then fall, jump then fall Jump then fall into me, into me, yeah

Your doorbell rang one morning in early May. When you pulled open the front door, there was Jack, hands shoved deep in his hoodie pocket, standing on your parent’s front porch.

“I thought you weren’t coming home for a few weeks still,” you said, leaning against the door frame. The Devils season was over, but Jack had told you he was planning on sticking around for a while or traveling some before coming home for the summer.

Jack took one of his hands out of his pocket and ran it nervously through his hair. “I’ve been thinking,” he said, instead of responding to your non-question.

You raised an eyebrow at him. You’d known Jack for years, and you could probably count on one hand the number of times you’d seen him be nervous. “Well, don’t hurt yourself with that, bud,” you told him.

He made a face at you, but it also got him to smile. “Will you just let me-” he started, but he didn’t finish his sentence.

“Hey, c’mon, let’s go inside,” you said, stepping back to let Jack follow you into the house.

In the living room, the TV show you had been watching was still paused, but you both ignored it. You sat back on the couch, but Jack stayed standing, awkwardly shifting his weight from foot to foot.

“You’re freaking me out a little, Jacky,” you said.

Jack sighed and sat on the floor in front of you, leaning back on his hands with his legs stretched out in front of him. “I miss you,” he said.

“Jack, we talk every day,” you told him. “I’m right here,” you added softly.

Jack huffed and ran his hands through his hair again. He laid back for a moment, staring silently up at the ceiling fan as it slowly turned above you.

“Have you ever thought about getting back together?” he asked when he sat back up.

You thought about it a lot, actually, but you just said, “Yeah.”

“Do you think we could do it?” Jack asked next.

You hesitated on that one. You’d thought that, maybe, you could’ve made it back when you were in high school, but things were so different now. You’d listened to the opinions of others so much back then, had broken up in part because you thought that it was inevitable anyway. Could you make it through all that again? You still had a few years until you graduated, and New Jersey wasn’t exactly close.

Then again, you two were as close as ever. Jack had only missed a handful of your Saturday morning phone calls, and it was always just because of hockey. He was still sitting on the floor in front of you, looking nervous as he chewed on his bottom lip.

“I don’t know,” you said honestly.

Jack’s face fell a little. “Do you think we could try?”

“Yeah, I think so,” you said, just as honestly. You’d never been good at saying no to Jack, anyway.

Jack beamed, and you knew exactly why you still loved him after all this time. Jack leaned forward and tugged at your foot. “Hey, come down here,” he whined. “Wanna kiss you.”

“Or you could come up here?” Jack tugged harder. “Oh my God, you’re so fucking needy,” you laughed, but you slid off the couch and let Jack pull you into his lap.

His hands went to your waist, sliding under your T-shirt, and he smiled smugly up at you. “Hi.”

You pressed a kiss to his nose. “Hi,” you said back.

“Uh-uh, you can do better than that.” A kiss to his cheek. Jack rolled his eyes and put one of his hands on your cheek to drag you in for a real kiss. “That’s better,” he whispered, but you were already leaning in for another kiss.

#cait writes things #jack hughes #jack hughes fic #jack hughes imagine #nhl fic #nhl imagine

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illyaana · 4 years ago

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credits to the artists who made the fanarts I used!

Dorm Life - Shoto Todoroki

Thanks to @missuga for this collab! Sorry I gave to you late TwT Do check out their collab over here!

Tags: Shoto Todoroki x Reader, Binaural, Fluff, Cursing, Minor Angst, Kissing (escandalo)

Synopsis: A compilation of drabbles of your life during the pandemic, quarantined in the UA dorms.

Word Count: 2734

⋯⋯ ⫍ SFW Masterlist ◍ Navigation ⫎ ⋯⋯

Like my writing? Do you want a drabble specifically made for you about your love life with a character of your choosing? Check out my 50 followers event over here!

CLASSES

The Sun let its light brush against your skin, giving you a warm hug in the morning. You awoke to the pale blue skies that were painted so elegantly it made you stare. The cumulus clouds softly danced on its stage, etching a smile on your face. You looked around the room, checking for the clock to see what time it was currently.

10:00 a.m. - You were supposed to wake up at 8:00.

Worry rushed through you. The fear of you being late for class thrummed as you tried to get out of your bed.

Hint: tried.

You turned to your side and looked at the male beside you. His hands had found their way around your waist, pulling you in. His head was pressed against your shoulder. His twin-colored hair was disheveled thanks to him turning himself all through the night, His long eyelashes framed his closed lids, his lips slightly parted. Small snores came out in intervals as he snuggled into you, his vice grip around your body tightening even more.

You could help but trace his lips with your finger - it was so soft, you had to.

You pressed a kiss to his forehead, then laid your forehead against his.

“Get up, Sho - class starts in 10 minutes,” you said, rubbing his shoulder.

“I don’t want to, this is too comfortable,” he mumbled, rubbing his head on your shoulder.

“What are you, a cat?” You joked, placing your hands on his cheek, “Let me at least get my laptop on - I can tell Aizawa we’re sharing my laptop and we can just join the class here.”

“Getting the laptop means that you move - and you are not moving,” he said, tightening his grip on you.

“You know we’re going to be in trouble if we don’t join the class, right? Oh yeah, it starts in 5 minutes,” you said, slightly annoyed at him.

Shoto sighs in defeat, “Fine - but, hurry up,”

You pry his arms off of you and rush to your table to get the laptop on. Thankfully, you managed to join the class 3 minutes before it began.

“Aren’t you coming back in here?” Todoroki whined, patting the space beside him.

“Are you finally awake?” You question him.

“Kind of?”

“ ‘Kind of?’ “

“Yes, I am awake - I no longer need to sleep,” he groans.

You take your laptop and place it in the space between the two of you as you sit back on the bed. You pressed another kiss on his forehead, making him smile.

“Good morning, snowflake,” he says as he returns your kiss with one on your forehead.

“Good morning, Sho.”

“Now that you both have shown a great deal of affection, Y/N and Shoto,” Eraserhead says from your Zoom call, “Can my class finally begin?”

⁜

LUNCH BREAK

“I got the money from Aizawa for our meals! Can you all go through the menu and tell me what you want on the class group chat?” Momo shouted from the living room.

“Imagine eating great food for free?” Uraraka smiled, enjoying how our meals were paid for by the school itself, “The pandemic is amazing yet so annoying at the same time.”

You chuckle at the brown-haired girl, seeing her awe-filled expression.

“What are you getting?” You ask her.

“Hmm… maybe Udon? It’s been a long time since I ate it, and since it’s not coming from my pocket…” she eyed the menu, “I’m getting the most expensive one.”

“You know he gave a set amount for the whole class right?” You look at her mischievous expression.

“I’m pretty sure we can stay within the budget. Our class generally doesn’t spend much money on food, right?”

You looked across the room to see Kaminari and Kirishima going through the menu.

“You think those two will be reasonable with their spending? Knowing them, they’re most probably buying the whole menu plus snacks,” you say, looking at their joy-filled grins.

You saw Shoto walk beside Iida, heading towards the two males. Intrigued, you and Uraraka walked towards the group of four.

“Hey,” you say as you hug Shoto from the back, “Everything okay?”

“These two,” Iida said, anger laced in his words, “Ordered everything on the menu.”

You held back your laughter, unlike Uraraka.

“Your skills in predicting the future astound me, Y/N L/N,” she says, covering her mouth.

“Hush,” you say, smiling.

“The two of you…” Iida began, looking at the two wrongdoers, “I don’t know how your closer friends handle you two.”

You look at the scene unfolding in front of you, smiling.

Iida was full-on lecturing the two males, his hands moving in all ten directions. Kaminari and Kirishima just stood there, dumbfounded. You could see the two of them slowly spacing out from the ‘conversation’, but Iida kept going on.

“Hey,” Shoto whispered, “Wanna have a mini-date tonight? I’ll order a few things and get them sent here, and we can watch a movie together?”

“Don’t use the money Aizawa gave though - we don’t need a third victim of Iida’s lectures,” you whisper, earning a smile from the stoic male.

⁜

MINI-DATES

You opened the door to Shoto’s room, comfortably dressed in your Axolotl onesie. In your hands, you brought a hard drive filled with movies that you felt that you both would enjoy. Seeing that Shoto wasn’t in the room, you laid on his bed, waiting for the arrival of the owner of the room. Your eyes went straight to his mirror. He had slid multiple polaroid pictures of you and your friends in the corners of the mirror. Each one of the photos had a small remark, reminding you of all the memories you’ve made throughout your years in UA.

Your hands grazed on the photo he kept on the bedside table.

It was a picture of him and his mother smiling.

Your chest panged when you saw it. He had told you the story behind his scar and his life within the Todoroki household. His hatred for his father grew every day, yet he could never hate his mother - the very person who gave him the scar on his face.

“I love that picture, but not as much as I love this one,” Shoto said, pointing at a photo in the top-left corner of his mirror.

It was a picture of both of you visiting his mother with Fuyumi and Natsuo.

“I’ll admit Natsuo was not the most welcoming to the idea of me dating you, but he slowly loved you as a sibling. I did talk about you to Fuyumi a bunch of times, but she had her suspicions - that all changed when she met you, though. Mom…”

He hesitated, “...she didn’t like the idea of me dating anyone. Yet, you managed to make her like you so much, now she only asks about you whenever I call her,” he chuckled.

“My family loves you - except Endeavor, of course,” he groaned.

“He’ll come around, eventually. You, however,” you walk up to him and cup his face, “Need to talk to him properly - no filter, just say everything.”

You lie back down on the bed, patting the space beside you, “Hurry up - the snacks you bought are calling me.”

After multiple small banters, you both finally decided on Shrek and began to watch the movie.

After a while, you found yourself lying on Shoto’s chest, playing with his fingers as you focused on the movie. Shoto, however, stared at your cute expressions, taking mental notes of all the small things you did when a scene disgusted you, made you laugh or made you feel sad.

“Y/N,” he whispered in your ear once the movie ended, “Thanks for loving me.”

You turned to face the fire user, cupping his face in your hands. His fingers found their way in your hair, enjoying the feeling of your soft locks against his calloused skin. Your thumb began to move in circular motions, eager to feel his soft skin against yours. You stared into his dual-coloured eyes, enjoying the brown and icy blue flecks within each eye. He relaxed against your touch, warmth radiating from him to you.

“I love you so much, Sho - and I will no matter what happens later on.”

You shared a kiss under the glow of the pale moonlight, but all you cared about was how perfect the man you were kissing was.

⁜

TRAINING

“Hey Sho,” you say, nudging the male beside you, “You wanna train after this?”

“I can’t,” he said, looking down, “I asked Midoriya to help me with some things. The only time he’s free is after this, so…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll ask Uraraka!” you say, kissing him on the cheek, “Good luck with whatever you’re doing with Mido.”

Soon, both you and Uraraka headed to Ground Beta to train your hand-to-hand combat.

“Luckily all of us are vaccinated, or the training grounds wouldn’t be open,” you say, thinking.

“Okay, okay - you wanted to work on hand-to-hand combat, right?” You nodded.

Both you and Uraraka got into your positions, mentally preparing yourselves. You were ready to move towards her until you heard sounds coming from the entrance.

“Well, well, well - isn’t that two students from Class 3-A?” Monoma snickered.

You groaned before turning to face him.

“Hello, Monoma? Where’s Kendo?” you ask, hoping that the ginger would come and stop him.

“Kendo’s eating right now - don’t want to disturb her. I don’t mind messing with the two of you, though.”

“What’s the difference, Monoma?” Uraraka added, “We usually keep quiet, but Y/N and I would like to train, so it would be greatly appreciated if you either kept quiet or left.”

“Why would you want to train with them, though?” He said, looking at Uraraka, “They’re the weakest bitch in your whole class, aren’t they?”

“The fuck, Monoma?!” you shouted, “That’s going a bit too far, don’t you think?”

“What? I’m just stating facts; you entered the class later than everyone else, you’re quirkless since you depend on your weapons, you need to train with others so that you can win 10% of the time - don’t the facts say it all?”

“Monoma, you might want to - ”

“Stop? Why should I?” he laughed, “It’s about time someone told you the truth; you’re useless, unneeded, a waste of space, and never going to be a hero - not even a sidekick.”

“So, the student who single-handedly served you your own ass in a fight doesn’t deserve to stay, but your weak fucking self can stay?” Shoto chuckled darkly, his hand slowly freezing Monoma’s shoulder, “That’s a lot of self-confidence for someone who hasn’t fought well for 3 years straight.”

“Next time you talk shit about Y/N, don’t expect to leave without losing any limbs,” he shouted, scaring Monoma.

“Shoto,” you begin, “Let me fight my own battles.”

He stares at you and sighs. His vice grip on Monoma loosens as you walk towards him.

You run your sword against his hands, small cuts forming.

“Talk shit about me again and you won’t be standing. Get the fuck out, dumbass.”

Monoma runs out of Ground Beta, making you chuckle.

“Damn, Y/N,” Uraraka says from afar.

“That’s my lover,” Shoto says, smiling.

⁜

NIGHTMARES

You woke up to the sounds of Shoto whimpering in his sleep.

His clothes were soaked by his sweat, trails of tears strung down his face.

He was shaking - shivering.

Small screams of Natsuo, Fuyumi and Rei’s names escaped his lips along with soft sobs.

“Shoto!” You shouted, shaking him, “Wake up, it’s only a dream - they’re okay, they’re alive.”

You heard your name.

You heard his voice become louder, screaming your name in pain.

“I’m here, I’m fine,” you whisper in his ear.

“I’m right here, Shoto - I haven’t left you. I am here, hugging you. Wake up, okay?’

You heard his whimpers stop as he wrapped his arms around you. He nuzzled his face into your chest as you patted his head.

“Y/N…” you heard him mumble, “Y/N… you’re fine, right?”

“I’m fine, Sho. I’m here hugging you, aren’t I?”

He nodded, pressing his head against your chest.

“You want to talk about it?”

“No…” he trailed off.

“Okay, don’t worry,” you say, kissing him on his head.

“You want me to get you something? Milk, water…?” you ask him, slowly prying yourself off of him.

“Don’t go anywhere.”

“Ok then, koala - I’m not going anywhere,” you say, chuckling.

You hummed a song as you rubbed Shoto’s back, giving him warmth. You wiped the trail of tears and pressed kisses on his cheek.

If he needs you to be his haven, you’ll be an oasis from all the bad.

⁜

CLASS FUN

“Ok, so - everyone is here, right?” Mina said as she stood in the middle of the living room.

You looked at everyone in the living room. Everyone was excited - after all, it’s been a long time since you all did something together as a class.

“I think everyone’s here, Mina,” Shouji said, passing you your drink.

Shoto placed his head on your shoulder, groaning.

“What’s wrong with you?” you ask, worried.

“I wanted to just sleep in today…” he said, sulking.

“Come on, it’s been a long time since we did something as a class - who knows? This might be our last little thing as a class,” you retort.

He hummed in agreement, “Fine.”

“Great! Let’s bring back an old classic, shall we? The game that made all the couples in this classroom, the game that made the impossible possible,” she looked at Bakugou and Izuku, “Spin the Bottle Truth or Dare!”

“This fucking game?” Bakugo cussed.

“Relax, Kacchan~,” Kaminari said, teasing the other blonde.

“Shut up, dunce face,” Bakugo said with anger.

“Keep quiet, you two. Mina’s getting angry,” Kirishima said, eyeing the pink-haired female.

“So what if-”

“Kacchan, shush,” Izuku said, glaring at his partner.

“Thank you, my green-haired savior,” Mina said, smiling at Izuku.

“Let me re-explain how the game works; Person A will spin the bottle in the middle of the circle until it stops on Person B. Person A will play truth or dare with Person B. Clear?” Mina said, smiling.

The game soon spiraled out of control, just like everyone expected.

Kaminari danced in a maid dress, Shinsou was forced to call Aizawa and Present Mic ‘dads’ in a call on speaker, Kirishima was forced to scream “I’m hard!” out loud, and Mina sang Baby Shark to her lover - something we never thought Kirishima would enjoy.

In the last round, the bottle landed on Shoto.

The person who spun the bottle was Sero.

You knew he had something planned - you could see it in his eyes.

“Shoto Todoroki, truth or dare?” He said, smirking.

You looked at him, begging him to not choose dare.

“Truth, I guess?” he said, looking at you.

Phew.

“What do you and Y/N do when you’re alone?”

Shit.

“Take dare, take the dare, take the dare…” you mumbled under your breath, hoping he’d listen.

“Can I take the dare?” Shoto said, questioning your actions.

Phew.

“Make out with Y/N right here.”

Shit.

“Give them some privacy, Sero!” Uraraka shouted on your behalf.

“He already evaded the truth question, I’m not modifying the dare,” Sero said, huffing.

“Y/N,” Shoto said, looking at you, “Is it okay?”

You sigh in frustration, “I put us in this situation, Sho. Let’s just get it over with.”

Shoto smiled, looking at your pissed expression.

“Look at me,” he whispered in your ear, raising small goosebumps on your skin.

His hands slowly went to your cheeks, eyeing the flecks in your eyes - how they sparkled just for him and him alone. His thumb reached your lips and parted it - enjoying how you were putty in his hands. His hand slowly went from your cheek to your chin, raising it to make your forehead meet his.

“Geez, Y/N,” he said, lust filling his eyes, “You’re so perfect.”

He softly pressed his lips against yours. He sucked on your lips, enjoying the strawberry lip balm you put just before you entered the living room. Your hands gripped on his dual-colored hair, fingers entangled.

The soft kiss soon turned desperate, needy.

In, out, in, out - the synchronization of your lips.

The need for breath soon came and your lips parted from his.

“Well, that was something,” you said, laughing.

⁜

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