#i'm not in a hurry to move out of this stage in my life but i don't really want to steep myself in it either. you know?

[msschemmenti]

valentines date auction

a/n: please do not fight me... i meant to finish and post this before valentine's days. i also started this like 9 months ago. i'm working through my drafts, bear with me please.

prompt: ava convinces the staff to throw a valentine's day fling to raise money for the school.

“So this year to bring in some extra money, I’ve come up with a brilliant idea. I think you’re all going to love it because it involves all of my favorite things.” Ava announced at the mic with a smile causing the teachers to roll their eyes. 

“Get on with it.” Melissa called from her seat in the gym. Barbara leaned over to swat her thigh as a warning but Melissa wasn’t too worried about her when she felt the younger woman on her other side shaking with giggles at her comment. Y/n Y/Ln, Abbott Elementary’s new PE teacher. She’d been working there since the start of the school year and she was approaching her first year with Abbott. She’d somehow wormed her way into the core group of teachers at Abbott and she unknowingly wormed her way into the forefront of Melissa Schemmenti’s mind. 

“We’re doing a Valentine’s Day Date Auction!” Ava grinned as she clicked to another slide on her powerpoint. “I’ll be auctioning off dates with our most attractive staff! And before you ask if this is legal, I don’t care. It’s for the children. So who wants in?” The room filled with concerned silence as no one made a move to sign up. “Oh don’t act like you people are getting dates on your own. This could be great for you,” At the continued silence Ava sighed, “Fine, the dates will be to wherever you like with a credit to handle the cost. It’s a free outing, people.” 

There’s a bit more bite and people’s hands started to raise in agreement. Melissa and Barb both shook their heads as Ava wrote people’s names down. “I can’t believe anyone is agreeing to this.” Melissa groaned.

“Who’re you telling, girlfriend? My Gerald would never participate in an auction like this and that’s the only man I’ll ever go on a date with.” 

“It must be so nice to not have to go through the whole courting stage anymore. It’s so exhausting trying to find a date nowadays.” Y/n grumbled crossing her legs as she leaned over to speak to Barb. 

“Oh don’t tell me you struggle to find a date?” Melissa eyed suspiciously. 

“Oh yeah. It’s hard out here. It’s so hard in fact that I will be the grand finale of this auction.” Y/n grimaced as both of the older women eyed her in shock.

“You’re up for sale?” Melissa asked incredulously. 

“Not for sale, more like for rent.” Y/n corrected causing both women to roll their eyes. “Oh come on, it’s for a good cause and I get a free meal out of it. There aren’t really any cons. I could meet my wife.” 

Barb seemed to be sold a bit on the idea, but the redhead was still on the fence. She and the PE teacher had been doing a bit of a flirtatious tango all year and she could never really tell if she was serious or not. Melissa had gotten to a point in her life where she really didn’t question who she was attracted to anymore, but she hadn’t figured out how to tell who was seriously attracted to her yet. Casual flirting aside, Melissa really didn’t know what Y/n’s type was. And she definitely didn’t have the guts to find out if she was her type. But that didn’t mean she wanted to see her auctioned off to some young philly broad.

“Plus it was either me or Gregory. He looked like he was going to have a heartattack when Ava asked which of us was going to seal the deal. I do what I can to keep you core teachers alive.” Y/n smirked with a final shrug. That caused both older women to chuckle, one easier than the other, but Y/n didn’t seemed to notice the confliction on Melissa’s face. 

Once Ava was satisfied with the number of teachers on her Valentine’s Day Auction roster, she closed the meeting out and release the teachers to their evenings. She hurried down the steps of the steps of the stage to catch Y/n as she stood up from her seat next to Melissa. 

“Y/n, how do you feel about dressing up as a construction worker?” Ava asked excitedly as she pulled up a picture on her phone. 

“Absolutely not. You’ll be lucky if I show up in something other than a track suit.” Y/n said pushing the woman’s phone away from her face. 

“What about-” Ava started. 

“No.” Y/n cut her off with her best smile. She reached up and patted Ava’s shoulder with a shake of her head. “Keep asking and I won’t show up at all.” That last threat seemed shut Ava up with a grumble. She sulked off with her roster and headed for her office as everyone readied themselves to go home for the night. Y/n looked at the two veteran teachers with smiles, “Alright ladies, I’ll see you both tomorrow. Have a great evening.” 

“You too Y/n.” Barbara smiled as she head for the door, Melissa trailing behind a bit as she caught the PE teachers eyes. 

“See ya kid.” Melissa called, causing the younger teacher to shoot a wink over her shoulder as she moved to help Mr. Johnson clear the chairs from the gym. Melissa’s cheeks heated as she rounded the corner out of them gym and fell in step with Barb. They briefly parted to lock up their classrooms and when they hit the couple of steps outside of the school Melissa was shocked for the second time within the last hour. 

“So are you gonna bid on Y/n or tell her how you feel before the auction?” Barb asked with a knowing smirk.

“What?” Melissa asked incredulously trying to hide the heat rising to her cheeks. 

“Oh don’t play dumb with me. You’ve been all but drooling over her for the better part of the school year. I don’t think I can watch it for much longer. This is your chance to make a move. She said it herself, she’s single and very much looking. So much so that she’s agreed to auction off and evening with herself. What can you need?” 

“Maybe any sort of indication that she feels the same way? I mean yeah we casually flirt, but how am I suppose to pursue anything if the whole thing was just a joke to her?” Melissa scowled.

“I highly doubt that’s the case. Do you know how many times Ava has attempted to do that whole flirting thing with her? Or the amount of parents, suddenly concerned with the PE curriculum. She hasn’t shown anyone as much attention as she consistently shows you.” Barb listed as Gerald pulled into the lot next Melissa’s car. Barbara smiled and waved at her husband before turning to look at her friend, “You’ve got to make a move girlfriend, before one of these parents snatch your chance at the auction.”

Melissa grumbles but heads to her home to think over what her friend said. She hated how right Barb sounded.

-

The Valentine’s Auction came much sooner than anyone was ready for. The morning of the event seemed to have the entire teachers lounge buzzing with excitement and trepidation. Janine, ever the chatty Kathy had taken to questioning everyone on what they planned to wear tonight. As soon as Y/n entered the room, Janine was up and buzzing. 

“Oh Y/n! What are you wearing tonight?” The shorter woman bounced on her heels next to the PE teacher as she doctored up a mug of tea. 

“Why? What have you heard?” Y/n asked suspiciously, hoping Ava hasn’t somehow told everyone about her costume ideas.

“Well I just want to make sure I’m not the only one wearing festive things. And I wanna make sure we’re not wearing the same thing of course. Wouldn’t want the fashion police to have a ‘who wore better’ moment.” Janine rambled and Y/n nodded following as much as she could. 

“Oh. I don’t know yet. I’ve got a couple pink tracksuits that might really draw people in.” Y/n chuckled taking her seat next to Melissa with a grin. “What do you think, is Nike sexy enough to secure a date with a Philly eleven like yourself?” 

Melissa rolled her eyes at Barbs foot kicking her under the table, “I’m sure you could pull a Philly eleven wearing far less than a pink Nike tracksuit.”

Y/n smiled and winked at the older teacher before turning her attention back to Janine, “Listen Janine. I highly doubt we’ll be wearing the same thing but don’t worry, I’ll have something within the valentines color scheme on.” The second grade teacher nodded, heading back to her seat. 

“So you’re both coming tonight right?” Y/n asked hopefully. 

“Yep, Gerald and I will be there. I wouldn’t want to miss seeing you meet your date.” Barb smiled with raised eyebrows. 

“How about you Red? Gonna be there to bail me out if some crazy bids on me?” Y/n asked.

“Anything for you, hun.” Melissa smiled, knowing those words held a lot more weight than she was letting on. 

“Good. I’ll see you both later than.” Y/n smiled squeezing Melissa’s shoulder affectionately before heading to the gym. 

-

“Welcome to the Avalentine’s Day Auction! We’re so glad you could all join us for our fundraising event this school year. As you know, Abbott is always looking for ways to better our school for your students and with that in mind, I hope you brought your checkbooks and rich friends because we’ve got some sexy staff members ready to go home with you all for a good cause.” Ava smiled looking out over the crowd. 

As Ava stood on the stage, Melissa sat in a table toward the back of the room with Barb, Gerald, and Gregory. Jacob and Janine were off scoping the potential bidders out. She herself was scoping the room out as well, but she was mostly looking for Y/n. She hadn’t seen her since that morning and part of her was much more desperate to see her than she usually allowed herself. It didn’t help that she had brought her checkbook and knew a part of her was willing to drain her savings to keep Y/n from going out with one of these young broads. As if she realized she looked ridiculous scanning the room, Melissa turned back to her table companions. Janine and Jacob came back shortly after Melissa pulled herself from her own search. Janine panting out of breath and Jacob grinning mischievously ready to spill the details of their crowd search. 

“There are quite a few people here. And we heard a lot of interest.”

“Interest in the two of you?” Melissa found herself asking. She didn’t mean to sound so shocked but it just came out that way. Both of the younger teachers shrank a bit but recovered when the redhead looked apologetic.

“Not exactly. Most of the women here are torn between being disappointed Gregory isn’t up there and excited that Y/n is. Speaking of, has anyone see her? I wanna see what outfit she went with.” Jacob said rising from his seat to scan the room. Oblivious to the panic he’d cause within Melissa. 

“Oh there she is, damn! She cleans up nice.” Janine called as she drew the groups attention to the doors to the gym. And Melissa damn near forgot how to breathe. Y/n paused in the doorway scanning the room, for their group presumably, but she was dressed in something none of them had ever seen her in. Gone were her trainers, baggy sweats, and matching hoodie sets. She was clad in fitted high waisted trousers and a matching vest top that showed just enough skin to have Melissa’s mind running. Her hair was held back by a red head band that matched her red ankle boots and leather jacket. Melissa was at a true loss for words. Y/n spotted the group and started making her way over with a smile. 

Before she could get too close Melissa felt Barb’s hand cup her chin and push up, “Close your mouth, you’ll catch flies.” She teased lightly causing Gerald to chuckle. 

Tonight was going to be a long long night. And she knew in her heart she might leave broker than she already was. 

-

“Alright ladies, this last one is for you!” Ava grinned as she motioned for Y/n to come up to the stage. 

The PE teacher grimaced and looked at the people at her table nervously, “Wish me luck.” She called before leaving to be paraded around the stage. She made it to the stairs and as she came into the view for the room, the cheers followed. Her cheeks heated in embarrassment but she trudged on reminding herself of the cause and the prospect of a decent meal on Ava’s dime. 

“Last but certainly not least. The finest thing to happen to Abbott Elementary since I became principal. Our PE teacher, Y/n Y/Ln! Strut your stuff boo!” Ava introduced causing the room to erupt further. And Melissa’s scowl to set. 

“She’s very fit as you can see. Super funny and super hot. She could probably bench you. Let’s start the bidding at $50?” Ava started. That didn’t last long though. Hands and paddles shot up eagerly at the price. So far, no one had gone for over $150, but Ava had a feeling Y/n was going to be the exception. 

“Can I get a $100 then? $150? $200?” Ava called and some hands dropped but there were still quite a few waving in the air. Ava motioned for Y/n to do a spin on the stage and she obliged if only to make the whole thing go a bit faster. 

“Alright how about $300?” That seemed to do it and there was one hand left up. Y/n recognized her, Lauren Williams. She’d been one of the first people to schedule a meeting with Y/n when she started claiming her son had some health issues that may impact his participation in the gym class. After the first meeting, it was very clear her son had no problems and it was really just a ploy to get the gym teacher alone. She’d been dodging her since she started and she really wasn’t looking forward to how this was going. 

“300 going once, going twice…” Ava called waving the bedazzled gavel she’d gotten herself. Until a familiar hand shot up at the back table. “I see 350? Alright Schemmenti, I see you.” Ava grinned. “Do I hear 400?” Lauren’s hand was back up, quickly. “450? Anyone?” 

All eyes shifted to Melissa to see her contemplation before she waved her hand again and Ava squealed in delight. Everyone of the teachers at the table looked at her incredulously but her eyes were darting between Lauren’s head and the stage.

“450 going once, going twice, and…” Before Ava could even finish, Lauren shot to her feet and called out. 

“500!” Everyone in the room looked at the woman in shock. 

“What?” Y/n asked in shock. Eyes goes to Ava in alarm. $500 for a date with her was absolutely insane. Anyone willing to pay that had to b crazy.

“Sold!” Ava grinned. And the room erupted in applause.

-

Melissa was sulking in her seat when Y/n finally returned to table. She couldn’t believe she’d been outbid like that. Part of her was happy considering she wasn’t really prepared for the financial consequences of this little auction, but that didn’t make her forget the date Y/n would be going on with Lauren. Everyone else was scattered around the gym. Dancing with their dates, eating the refreshments, or playing the various valentine’s day them games that they had set up. The redhead didn’t look up when the younger teacher joined her but she knew exactly who had joined her even without looking.

“Damn red, if you wanted to go out with me that bad you could’ve just asked me. I wouldn’t have charged $500 for one night. I might’ve made you cook for me, but five big ones is asking a bit much especially when I actually like you.” Y/n said taking a sip of the punch they were serving. Melissa gazed at the younger woman a little dumbfounded but she didn’t seem to notice as she continued to talk. “Lauren and I are gonna go mini golfing Saturday morning, yuck I know. But I was thinking you and I could do dinner Saturday, if you’re not busy. That way I can get that out of the way. Do you she’ll try to kill me? I’m a little scared and I know I said there were no cons but that was before she basically jumped on the table to ensure she could spend $500 on an hour of my time…” Y/n continued to ramble. 

Melissa had no choice but to laugh as she listened. “Is this you asking me out?” The older woman finally interrupted, trying to play it cool. 

“I didn’t think I needed to ask you formally, since you almost spent $1,000 to keep me from going out with someone else.” Y/n grinned as she finally faced Melissa. 

“Oh you’re exaggerating now.” Melissa scoffed as her cheeks heated a bit. 

“Well duh, who else can say they had a Philly eleven start a bidding war over them. I’m going to milk this as much as I can. I’ll wear it as a badge of honor. Melissa Schemmenti almost emptied her bank account for me.”

“Oh shut it will you.” Melissa groaned and shoved the younger teacher playfully. “The answer is yes. Even if you don’t think you need to ask me formally. I’d love to do dinner Saturday night. And any other night you’d like.” 

“Good. Cause I can be very hungry. And all I’ve heard is that you’re like the best cook in Philly.” Y/n grinned scooting her folding chair over closer to Melissa’s. 

“Oh you’re in for a treat. And a Schemmenti meal is worth well over five hundred bucks.” Melissa teased. 

“Yeah, well so are you Red.” Y/n smiled softly leaning over to kiss Melissa’s blushing cheek sweetly. 

Outbid but extremely happy.

[mysteryshoptls]

SSR Ace Trappola - Playful Dress Voice Lines

When Summoned: Bright and neon lights galore! Maybe being a superstar is my true calling?

Summon Line: It's awesome we get to go to an amusement park, and it's not even a holiday break. This is no time to be sittin' at a desk doing homework.

Groooovy!!: If I gotta be a part of a show, I'm gonna make sure to stand out. C'mon, hurry it up, you get up on the stage, too.

Home: Just gotta make this the time of my life!

Swap Looks: Man, what's going on?

Home Idle 1: Fellow-san is real friendly and easy to talk with. Totally thought he was a bit sus in the beginning, though.

Home Idle 2: Pretty sure snapping pics should be secondary to enjoying the park... But the pic that Cater-senpai took of me looks totally rad!

Home Idle 3: Found the arcade! Since we're all here, lets play a game together. Nooow, what should the penalty game for the losers be?

Home Idle - Login: Alllright, what should we start with? It's been a while since I've been to an amusement park, so I'm super excited.

Home Idle - Groovy: Oh hey, it's almost our turn. That line was crazy long, but I guess it moved pretty fast while we we were chatting away, huh?

Home Tap 1: What, didja find something cool? A street performance, huh... I mean, cool, but ridin' all the roller coasters should be our main priority!

Home Tap 2: There's salted, chocolate-covered, and cheese-flavored... They've got way too many kinds of popcorn here! But meh, as long as we got Grim, I'm sure that'll be no problem.

Home Tap 3: I'm getting sweaty from all this walkin' around. I'm definitely doing the water ride next! Gonna get soaked in water to cool off.

Home Tap 4: The embroidery on my outfit and the cape is super detailed. It's pretty cool, but... I'm a little worried I'm gonna snag it on something～

Home Tap 5: What, tired already? Oh hey, they're handing out drinks over there, so why don't you go get one? And then bring me one, too!

Home Tap - Groovy: Pfft, your hair is all over the place from all the wind. Sooo laaame… Eh, mine, too!?

Duo: [ACE]: I'm gonna trounce 'em all, Vil-senpai. [VIL]: Oh my, show me what you can do, Ace.

Requested by @thelonepearl.

[earthchica]

ungodly hour / four

joel miller x black! reader

summary: you and joel are getting ready to become parents as you experience all the stages of pregnancy leading up to the birth.

warning: fluff, soft! joel, baby kicking, emotions, challenging pregnancy, childbirth, age gap, language, nicknames.

__

You were now five months pregnant, and you hated every moment of it. Despite the constant back pain, the sleepless nights, and the overwhelming emotions.

Joel was right there, always ready to take care of you. He attends every check-up with you, holding your hand and asking thoughtful questions.

His unwavering support makes this challenging journey more bearable, reminding you that you are not alone.

When you felt like giving up, Joel's patience and love shone through, giving you the strength to keep going.

Each day, he finds new ways to show you how much he cares, whether rubbing your feet, running a warm bath, or simply listening when you need to vent.

These small acts of kindness mean the world to you, making the tough moments easier to endure.

You understand that the journey ahead is still long and filled with uncertainties, yet both of you can navigate through it together.

You smiled happily, going to enter your bedroom, you paused upon hearing Joel's voice.

"Do you need anything?" he inquired, instinctively getting up from his chair.

"No, I'm fine, Joel," you replied, stepping into your bedroom to grab your book.

However, in a moment of distraction, it slipped from your grasp and fell as your hands instinctively moved to your belly.

"Darling?" Joel called out, hurrying into your bedroom.

"_____, are you okay? What happened?" Concern filled his voice as he looked down at the book on the floor.

"Joel, come here," You said, motioning for him to come closer. He appeared confused, "Huh?…"

"Come feel the baby." Taking a deep breath, he nodded, approaching you and you took his big, strong hands and rested them on your belly.

"Holy shit, the baby is kicking!" Joel gasped, his face lighting up with excitement.

You nodded in agreement.

"Oh, my goodness!" You exclaimed, covering your mouth in surprise with such enthusiasm that it felt like a tiny drummer was practicing inside your belly.

You couldn't help but laugh, the unexpected joy bubbling up from within you.

Joel gazed at you with affection.

"May I?" he asked, to which you nodded. He knelt on the floor and rested his head on your belly.

Tears of joy welled up in his eyes as he marveled at the tiny life growing inside you.

It was a moment of profound connection with the bundle of joy you both were about to welcome into the world.

"Hey, little one, I'm your Daddy," he said, marveling at the tiny life growing inside, a mix of awe and overwhelming love filling his heart.

Joel gently placed his hand back on your belly, hoping to feel another kick.

As he looked into your eyes, he knew you were both embarking on a beautiful journey together.

"I love you both so much!" Joel declared, planting a kiss on your baby bump before rising to his feet.

You were taken aback by his words as you gazed into his eyes, you saw a mix of happiness, sadness, and excitement.

It was clear that he was feeling overwhelmed. He took a deep breath to calm himself, you gently placed your hand on his cheek.

“It’s okay, Joel. You deserve this, the baby already has a fondness for you,” You whispered, offering a warm smile.

He looked at you with a familiar gaze, one you thought you would never see again.

Your heart raced as he leaned in closer, you didn’t even pull away. His lips connected with yours.

You immediately melted into the kiss until he reluctantly pulled away, his expression filled with guilt.

"Shit, I’m..sorry—" he started, but you interrupted him by kissing him again.

What was I doing? You thought to yourself.

You missed the softness and sweetness of his lips. You placed your right hand on his shoulder, hoping he wouldn’t stop, but he pulled back.

“Darling,” Joel couldn’t finish his sentence and simply walked away.

You stood there, confused, watching him go. With a sigh, you looked around, feeling foolish for kissing him back.

After spending the whole night with Joel avoiding you, bedtime arrived, but sleep eluded you.

Your thoughts were consumed by the kisses you both had shared.

Why did he run away like that? Why did you enjoy the kiss? What caused that spark?

"Who am I kidding? It was just the heat of the moment." You murmured to yourself, yet there was something undeniably special about that kiss.

The spark you felt was intense, and sweet, and left you weak in the knees.

What were you even saying? You need to take a moment.

You spent another five minutes staring at the ceiling before finally pulling back your covers and sitting up in bed.

You stepped out of your bedroom, making your way down the hall to Joel's room.

You stood outside his door with hesitation, contemplating whether or not to knock.

Something was holding you back. Yet, your inner voice urged you to just knock on the door.

Taking a deep breath, you finally did.

"Come in," Joel called out.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, a hint of nervousness in his tone.

"Um, I-I can’t sleep," You replied shyly.

Joel propped himself up slightly and pulled the covers on the left side of the bed. "Come on,"

You walked over and climbed in beside him. He tucked you in with the soft blankets, making you feel cozy.

Joel turned off the lamp to help you sleep better, and you could sense that he was trying to give you as much space as possible, as he kept shifting away.

You realized this felt strange after everything that had just happened, but you didn't want it to be awkward.

So, you took his right arm and draped it over your belly. He didn’t pull away, so it seemed okay with Joel.

You looked down as he gently caressed your belly, feeling butterflies flutter in your stomach. "Joel?"

"Yeah," he replied softly.

"Why did you kiss me and run away?" A moment of silence hung between the both of you.

You turned to face him, wanting to see his expression. Both of your eyes locked, and you cupped his cheek.

"Why did you kiss me right after I kissed you?" he asked, his gaze shifting from your lips to your eyes.

"Because….." You struggled to find the right words.

"I miss it, I miss your lips, I miss everything about you," You confessed, taking a deep breath.

"Well, I kissed you because you looked so beautiful. I wish I could take back all the mistakes I've made, but I know I can’t. The only thing I can do is learn from them and never repeat them. darling, I know it will take time, but I want this…I want you and our little family. I love you so much, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make it work. All I ask is a second chance,"

Joel said earnestly, sincerity shining in his eyes. You took a few moments to reflect.

"I know you will be a wonderful dad, Joel, and I see you proving that to me every day. If we decide to 'make it work,' we’ll have to take it slow. Okay?" You asked, awaiting his response.

"Of course, I understand. That’s all I needed," he said, a big smile spreading across his face. You smiled back, turning away as he placed his hand on your belly again.

"Goodnight, Joel!" You whispered sofly as he snuggled up beside you.

"Goodnight, darling!" he replied, and we both drifted off to sleep.

_________

It feels like everything is gradually returning to how it used to be. You and Joel were still taking it slow but it has been a truly wonderful experience.

You both have been concentrating on strengthening your relationship and getting ready for parenthood.

As you approach the end of your third trimester, it hasn't been too overwhelming.

Although you’ve been mostly at home due to the end of this pregnancy.

You cherished the moments when Joel and Ellie returned and shared stories about their day.

We were unwinding in the living room after having dinner, deeply engaged in conversation.

Joel was cracking dad jokes, and Ellie couldn’t contain her laughter and playful teasing.

It was truly hard to resist smiling. These two, along with the little one growing inside of you, were your family.

You wouldn't trade them for anything in this world. You were about to join the conversation when an unusual sensation swept over you.

You let out a loud groan and glanced down at your damp pants. Joel and Ellie turned to me, concern etched on their faces.

“Darling, are you alright?” he inquired.

"I think my water just broke," You stammered, your voice trembling with a mix of excitement and nervousness.

Joel was by your side in an instant, his hand on your shoulder. "Let's get you to the clinic," he said firmly but gently.

"Holy shit, you two are about to have a baby," she says, her eyes sparkling with a blend of nervousness and excitement.

With Joel's arm wrapped around you, the journey to the clinic seemed to stretch on forever.

Ellie was reading some puns for you as you attempted to concentrate on her and your breathing.

Each inhale and exhale brings you one step closer to meeting your precious little one

Once you both arrived at the clinic, Charles swiftly led you to the birthing room.

The space was small yet tidy, featuring a few medical cabinets and a twin-sized surgical bed positioned in the center.

On the bed lay a hospital gown, a stark reminder of the whirlwind of emotions churning within you.

Joel assisted you in putting on the gown, and then Jackie, the nurse, busily moved into the room to check your contractions and dilation.

Joel held your hand firmly, his presence providing a steady anchor amidst the turmoil.

Hours blended together in a haze of contractions and support, until finally.

Charles declared, "It's time to push."

Summoning every bit of strength and resolve, you concentrated on bringing your baby into the world.

“Oh,” you gasped, the pain was overwhelming, yet the thought of cradling your child for the first time fueled your determination.

“You can do this, baby,” Joel encouraged, kissing your forehead while gripping your hand tightly.

Then, the room filled with the most beautiful sound you had ever heard.

The cry of your and Joel's newborn.

“You have a healthy baby girl,” Charles said, as tears streamed down your cheeks while he gently placed the tiny, squirming bundle into your arms.

"Oh…my god…hi baby girl," you whispered, your heart brimming with love and wonder.

You glanced at Joel, who wore a mixture of emotions on his face.

“She resembles you perfectly… so beautiful,” he said, kissing your forehead softly and then your daughter's.

“Would you like to hold her?” You asked, noticing his slight apprehension, and gently cupped his cheek to reassure him.

“Yeah!” He nodded, his hands trembling slightly as he reached out to cradle the tiny bundle in his arms.

The moment their eyes met, a serene smile spread across his face, and the tears that had been threatening to spill finally cascaded down his cheeks.

“She’s perfect,” he whispered, his voice choked with emotion. “I can’t believe she’s ours.”

You watched them, your heart swelling with love and pride. It was a moment you had dreamed of and now, seeing him so tender and vulnerable, you felt a deeper connection than ever before.

“She’s our little angel,” you replied softly. The room was filled with a profound sense of peace and joy as if time itself had paused to honor this precious family moment.

As you marveled at your daughter's tiny features, you noticed how she seemed to already recognize his voice.

Her tiny fingers curled around his thumb. It was as if she knew she was safe, loved, and cherished beyond measure.

Jackie returned to assist in cleaning me up and taking my vital signs, while Charles did the same for your little one.

Eventually, after a few days, they ensured that both of you were ready to go home.

The nursery was filled with a cozy warmth, and the soft murmur of our conversation created a peaceful atmosphere.

We tossed around names like Chloe, Sade, and Grace, each one bringing a new wave of excitement and anticipation.

Joel gently stroked her tiny back, his eyes twinkling with love and pride.

The baby cooed softly, her small fingers curling around his thumb.

"How about Amelia?" You suggested, watching Joel's face light up with a smile while looking down at the baby.

"Amelia," he repeated, testing the name on his lips. "I like it. It sounds beautiful, just like her."

You both nodded in agreement, feeling a sense of completeness wash over us.

Our little Amelia yawned, her tiny fists curling close to her face as if she approved of the name herself.

At that moment, everything felt perfect, and you knew that no matter what challenges lay ahead, you would face them together.

tags

@orcasoul

@joeldjarin

[verstappensrealwife]

Last Request - Fernando Alonso x Reader

Part 2/2 part 1 here. Angst. Fluff. Smut approx. 1900 words.

Warnings: Sex, P in V, oral (Fem receiving), swearing/cursing, drinking, being drunk

fernando alonso masterlist - here. f1 masterlist - here.

You hadn't seen him since that night. Of course, you missed him, but you couldn't have him anymore. It had been almost 3 months and still he wouldn't get out of your head. You couldn't stop thinking about him. About the way he loved you, the way he held you, the way he listened to every word you spoke.

Your friends however, agreed you needed to move on- or at least get a rebound. You really weren't sure about leaving your bed, nor up for the idea of a cheap hook-up to distract you from the once love of your life, but you agreed to go out with them since you did need to get out your apartment for a little while.

You went to a club in the nearest city- well a few clubs- and after a few drinks you were officially feeling like yourself for the first time in months. You took shot after shot, drank a dozen glasses of aperol spritz, and by the end of the night ended up singing Dolly Parton to a whole club of people for karaoke.

Once you stumbled off the stage, giggling to yourself about the applause you were getting, you realised your friends had disappeared. Huffing, you walked outside the club and you pulled your phone out, hitting your friends caller ID and immediately hitting call.

After two rings she picked up. "F-Fiona? Hey Fi, where are you. I think I'm a bit lost," You hiccupped down the phone.

"Y/N?" A man said.

"Who- Who are you!" You shouted at the phone confrontationally. "Where is Fiona Harris, Mister."

"It's Fernando," He said. On the other side of the phone, he was lay in bed, at 1am. He- in all honesty- was hoping you'd called him purposely, to get back together, or to meet up for... things... He felt slight disappointment when he realised he wasn't who the call was meant for, but he didn't hang up, he wanted to hear your voice again. "Where are you?" He said, already getting out of bed and pulling the first clothes he could find, on.

"Where's Fernando- w-wait..." You laughed at yourself getting the names wrong, "Where is Fiona?"

"Where is Y/N?" He asked, already out the door.

"I am at the club!" You announced happily, "The one with the pretty flamingo on the sign."

Fernando knew, by such a small clue, "Don't move okay, my lo– Erm, I mean Y/N,"

"Okay mister man." You slurred, "Can you stay on the phone please mister man..." You asked, but then interrupted him and started talking about how much you really hated the club scene. He already knew every single thing you spoke about during the quick 10 minute drive.

When he got to the club, you were leaning against the brick walls of the club, still talking into the phone as it the receiving end of your call wasn't 10 feet infront of you. "O-Oh hey Fernando," You hiccupped, "What you doing here- hey!"

He picked you up and literally carried you to his car- to any passers by they would be inclined to think he was kidnapping you. Once you were settled in his passenger seat and fought your drunk hands from trying to grab at his face while he was trying to put a seatbelt on you, he drove you both to his home. "When did you get this car..." You asked, as you inebriatedly messed with the radio, dash board, and glove compartment.

"A few days after you broke up with me..."

"Oh- I don't like that answer... Make a new one please."

He chuckled, "A new one?" You nodded quickly and snapped your fingers for him to hurry up with his new answer. "Oh- Okay... I got it last week after a party."

You smiled and nodded. "Is it home time now?" you frowned confused.

When you got to his house, you already knew the procedure he'd make you do. He did it anytime you were drunk.

First, drink water, water and more water. Check.

Then brush teeth. Check.

Then, attempt, to wash your makeup off. Half check.

And finally, kiss him goodnight...

You stepped out the bathroom into the bedroom. He was stood stiffly with a pair of your old pyjamas in his hands and another bottle of water.

"You- You are so good." You slurred, "C-can you help me." You said as you struggled to unzip the back of your dress.

He nodded, putting the items on the bed and turning you around. His hands lingered a little long on your shoulders after pushing your hair from your back. He, slowly, dragged the silver zipper down to the bottom of your back. He shamelessly stared for a moment before turning around. "What you doing?" You asked, "Why you not looking... You've seen before?"

"I- I know I have I just don't want to intrude."

"You can intrude..."

"Not when you're drunk," He replied. You simply nodded- not that he could see- and began to dress into more appropriate clothes to sleep in.

After a few minutes, when you got into bed, he was about to leave when you stopped him quickly, "Don't leave baby..." You babbled, tiredly. Baby... "I trust you- sleep here."

"I- I don't think–"

"I think yes. Come please." You demanded.

He gave in. Lying stiff next to you. You wriggled towards him, giggling to yourself as you, in your eyes, sneakily got over to him and grabbed him. He melted at the touch of your hands on his stomach and your head on his chest. You both fell asleep quickly, it was the first full nights rest Fernando had gotten in a while. When you woke up, you had rolled over to the other side of the bed. Nothing out of the ordinary since you moved alot in your sleep.

He heard you groan under your breath as you were waking up, then a gasp. You sat up quickly and looked at Fernando next to you. "Oh my god." You mumbled. "Oh, my god, oh, my god." You repeated it a few times before Fernando shut you up.

"I didn't sleep with you, stop shouting it is early." He said, in that deep morning voice you always loved.

"Oh."

"You called me drunk about how you lost Fiona and whoever else,"

"That's absolutely humiliating." You mumbled, "S-so nothing happened? Nothing at all?"

He shook his head, "Only you tried to get naked for me so," He laughed, when you groaned in embarrassment. "Don't worry, I looked away..." He said, "You want me to make you breakfast?" He asked, before you could reply he interrupted himself, "N- no, never mind I'll get you an uber- stupid thing to ask..." He mumbled, taking his phone from the side table.

You quickly snatched his phone. He looked at you stunned. "You know how i like my pancakes," You smiled. He looked at you, almost with hope in his eyes. When you smiled at him he felt his heart burst open. He shot up out of bed.

"These will be the best pancakes you've ever tasted," He promised. You chuckled and watched as he ran out the room, then minutes later hearing a clatter in the kitchen. You rolled your eyes and ventured the house to find him.

There was a bowl on the floor, three forks and a spoon, as well as a cook book.

You stared at his back muscles, you won't lie. You didn't forget he slept shirtless. "How's the cooking going 'Nando?" You laughed, his heart skipped a beat. He spun around quickly with a nervous look on his face. He slowly shuffled to the side to reveal a mess of what looked more like cookie dough than pancake mix. "Need help?" You laughed at him, there was flour on his forehead and half an egg yolk on the counter. He nodded silently. You're smile was still on your face as your laugh died down. You stepped infront of him, first throwing whatever he had made away, then picking up the items from the floor and finally standing infront of him. "You have a little..." You pointed at his forehead, he tried to wipe it off and missed. Completely. You smiled and pressed your finger to his head, carefully wiping it off his skin. He stared at your face, eyes, nose, the few freckles on your cheeks and finally your lips. He couldn't help but imagine himself against them again.

"Kiss the cook, huh?" You chuckled.

"Huh?" He was pulled out of his trance. You pointed to his apron, "O-Oh yeah, Lance got it me... the same day we uh... yeah."

You nodded silently, you were between the counter and his body, you hadn't even realised until he got closer and you were against the cold slab of marble. His chest was rising and falling quickly, his eyes staring all over your face, lingering on your lips.

You pressed your hands on his chest, he took a step back, maybe it was too far.

That was what he thought until your hands gripped the fabric of the apron and pulled him back into you.

"Is this wrong?" You questioned him.

"How can this be wrong?" He replied.

"Kiss the cook?" You asked quietly. He was quick to pick you up and put you on the counter, pressing his lips onto yours, he stood between your legs and held you by the waist, while you hands held the back of his head. "God, I missed you," you sighed.

"Not as much as me, my love." he replied, his lips then immediately back on yours. The kiss was needy, wanting and longing for you for months.

You pulled the apron off his body, putting your hands on his bare chest, wrapping your legs around his waist before he pulled you off the counter and to the bedroom. You shrieked a giggle as he carried you through the house, his lips never leaving your neck, his lips tracing the skin, savouring the taste.

He let go of you as you got to the bed, "This is okay?" He checked, to which you nodded thoroughly.

He pulled your pyjamas off your body like it was an inconvenience to him. He crawled down the bed and pushed your legs apart, licking his lips before putting his head between your thighs, your hands instinctively grabbing at his hair, your heels digging into his back as his hands firmly held the flesh of your thighs.

After pulling 2 orgasms out of you he was lining his cock up with your entrance. You nodded as he looked at you once again for a go ahead. He pushed in slowly, dropping his head to your shoulder and groaning curses. He sped up after a moment, and you quickly became a wreck beneath him.

A whining, moaning, shaking, wreck.

"F-Fernando..." You whimper, "I- I'm going to..."

You don't even get the words out before you scream and spasm, everything tingling and throbbing as you tighten around him, bucking and thrashing, pleasure and heat flooding your entire body. He's quick to follow you, bottoming out inside of you before pulling out of you and rolling next to you. "Jesus." You say, before laughing a little. "That was probably the best sex I've ever had."

He nods in agreement, he's staring at you like you're God yourself. "S-So does this mean like-"

"If you'd like to, then yeah it does."

You barely finish what you're saying when he jumps back onto you and smothers you with kisses making you laugh hysterically. "I love you so so much, my love, I'm not letting you go again," He announces, before getting up, pulling a robe over himself and then going to the window of the bedroom before shouting out of it, "She's all mine!"

El fin.

hope this was enjoyable. first fic I've wrote for Tumblr. anywho.

<3

[itsscromp]

Had fnaf idea in my head ever since seeing the movie. Was trying to find people who were doing fnaf movies ideas and remembered I'd seen your ask box! Love your works btw

So I had this idea of night guard! Reader whose terrified of the animatronics and try not to get too close to them. But needs the money. And one night someone tries to break into the pizzeria and the animatronics protect them from being hurt/mugged

If your asks aren't open then feel free to ignore this, ♥️

FNAF animatronics x reader

Oohhhh yes yes yes, I love this idea very much anon. I swear this movie has reawakened my childhood. Word count:943

You were incredibly strapped for cash, The last job barely kept you afloat, you weren't able to pay your rent or afford your groceries. you were running out of options really fast. Heading to your career's councillor Steve Raglan. He said that there may be a job for you.

A security guard at the old pizzeria, but the place was abandoned. why would you be offered a job like that ??. He stated that the owner was just not ready to let it go yet. Not to mention, they had those creepy ass animatronics... There was just something about them that sent shudders up your spine. Maybe it was how life-sized they looked or the way they moved... its just... *shudders*

But right now you didn't have any choice, so you took the job. Your first shift was the next night, 12 a.m. on the dot. You entered the pizzeria and looked around, it was very retro. Save for the dust everywhere. You then noticed the stages on the far end. Was it where... they were housed.

"Keep walking keep walking...." You said to yourself, But for one reason or another, your feet kept walking to the stage. Your hand reached the curtain as you pulled it back, turning on your flashlight and got scared when the first face you saw was bonnie the bunny.

"Nope, not having it"

You rushed to the office immediately, not wanting to look at them one bit.

Once in your office you switched on the power, the pizzeria now buzzing with life as if it was never changed one bit. Switching on the camera's the first thing you saw was the animatronics again, this time two more you didn't see. Chica the chicken and Freddy Fazbear.

You also noticed another stage nearby, but the curtains were closed with the sign 'Out of order' on the front. Whatever that was behind their, you didn't want to find out.

Over a couple of nights, when you entered for work. You rushed straight to your office, not wanting to even look at them. God why did you have to be scared of animatronics ??.

Spying the camera's again, you just saw the same stuff as last time, but what the camera's didn't pick up was the back.

"Come on hurry up !!" A person in a hood said.

"I'm trying man !!" Another said as they tried to pick at the lock of the roller door before managing to unlock it.

"Alright, you know what to do"

The two entered the pizzeria with the malicious intent of robbing the place. the cameras picked them up near the supply closet. You quickly got up and investigated.

"Who's there ?? Come on out right now" You shouted.

"Shit, run !!!" They immediately bolted, you began to rush for them.

"HEY !!!!"

You ran after them leading back to the main area of the pizzeria, where you were met with a chair to the face, knocking you over to the floor as you were instantly jumped on, one with their foot on your arm holding it as well.

"Piss off and leave us be, or you'll get what's coming, kid !!!" He warned as the other began to search you for your wallet, phone and car keys.

"Get off !!!' You tried to squirm out but this only increased the pressure on your arm, threatening to break. "Gaah !!"

"Got their keys, come on !!" the thief said as he got up and turned to the entrance, only to be met by a large figure... It's eyes glowing red. It was Freddy Fazbear.

"What the he..." Before he could even say a full sentence, Freddy quickly turned the tables. Grabbing his arm and breaking it, Making him fall over. screaming in pain.

"Th/n !!" His accomplice shouted as he tried to help him only to be met with a sharp pain in his ankle. What looked like a cupcake which was a part of Chica's set was biting him, Even it and Chica's eyes were glowing red. You scrambled to the corner watching the madness ensue in such confusion. How were the animatronics moving on their damn own !!!, Someone had to be controlling them. But how could they if you were the only damn one here !!

Two more animatronics emerged, Bonnie and one that came from the Out of order stage, It looked like it spent a lot of time inside there from how damaged its body was. The fox animatronic then slashed one thief across the back with its hook, drawing blood. Letting out a blood curling scream as they immediately retreated.

You were scared. Fully and petrifying scared, Seeing what they were capable of, You hid your face from them. Completely frozen in fear. But what you didn't expect was Freddy's hand gently as a feather placed on your shoulder, almost in a way comforting you.

You started to hesitantly look up at them all, Their eyes all no longer red. Back to their natural colours. They all gave you a comforting look.

"Your... You're not going to hurt me ??" You asked them all cautiously.

Bonnie closed his eyes and shook his shoulders as if he was giggling, In a way saying "No we won't hurt you".

Freddy helped you up and gently brought you in for a hug. You couldn't help but smile at them, Wrapping your arms around his body.

"Thank you guys"

The others gave you a cute look Like they just met a new best friend for their little group. And that is what it exactly was. Maybe they weren't so bad after all...

Part 2 ??

Taglist: @callofdudes @fun-k-board @gooptoshi

[kometqh]

𝐄𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐝 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐎𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐗 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐭.𝟐 (fem reader) 𝟗.𝟕𝐤 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤. 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟏. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐞. 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜��𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐢𝐭, 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐛𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐨 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞-𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐲, 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐇𝐞'𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲, 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐚 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭����.

As the words leap off the tip of my tongue, I freeze. Time stills, and all that I can hear and feel is the hurried beat of my heart. The tips of my fingers begin to prick, just like on that day.

I'm taken back to an icy, cold, windy day. Some of the water at the harbour had frozen over, large shards of ice hitting against the wooden structure. We were carrying large nets filled with all kinds of creatures; fish, crab, lobster, abalone, the whole lot. The children would often come to help out, as the work was long, tiring and difficult, stretching out until it became pitch black outside.

Me and Annie had been helping my mother out with carrying the nets, as she had been pregnant back then, her stomach too large to let her do anything but sit and debone the fish, or pack it away into freezing boxes that were to be transported straight to the Capitol.

On that day, the excess water that had been brought by the creatures had dripped heavily onto the wooden flooring, freezing over. Everyone was aware of it, some going out of their way to warn the others. I listened, focusing on the floor beneath my feet. It creaked heavily, and Annie had to catch me by my arm a couple of times. 

I remember it like it was just yesterday; the water was scalding cold.

It pricked at my skin with invisible nails, burning every inch of it through my coat. The water had instantly gotten through my throat, and then it began to freeze my lungs over. My hands felt like burning icicles, but I did my best to swim my way up, panicking for air. Gurgled screams escaped my throat.

I didn't swim for long enough, as my limbs began to become numb. I had ceased all of my movement, convinced that I was gonna to die. Feeling too worn out to continue swimming, even though just a mere moment ago I was ferociously fighting for my life. 

The cold was engulfing me like a spikey blanket, wrapping around every crevice of my body as my lungs sputtered out water, though more replaced it in mere seconds. My entire body kept twitching, but the icy water kept burning me. 

My body began to slowly sink, exhaustion taking over as I inched further down, surrounded by darkness.

Then, in the far distance, I saw it. The splash.

I saw it from the corner of my eye, a figure swimming towards me. At first it was just a blur of bronze, but then it became slightly clearer. Arms extended, it reached out to grab a hold of my hand and pulled, and I floated up after it towards the surface, arms latched loosely around his neck. My eyes slowly closed, too exhausted to stay awake.

I don't remember anything after that. All I know is that it hurt, and I almost died. I struggled to walk for a while, the stinging pain reappearing from time to time.

That's how I felt in this moment; legs frozen, heart pounding violently, lungs burning. I guess it took me too long to keep moving, as I quickly felt a pair of hands harshly grab my arms from each side, ushering me up and onto the stage.

"Wonderful!" Sylvia Borgnino exclaims, reaching her pointy gloved fingers towards me. "What is your name darling?" She asks in a heavy accent, her breath lightly fanning over my face as she leans in close. I clear my throat, looking between her own honey-brown eyes and the audience. "Y-Y/n..." I stutter, feeling my hands tremble.

"Y/n?" Sylvia asks, her eyebrows raised questioningly, nudging me on.

"Y/n Montford." I finish quietly, my throat has dried up, my voice coming out croaky and timid. I look around, noticing the shocked faces of the people around me. Some of our school friends have taken Annie to the side, consoling her with hugs as they all solemnly stared at me.

Suddenly I feel a light squeeze on my forearm, and look up to see Sylvia looking at me gleefully. "Our most recent tribute in District 4! Let's give her a round of applause, everyone!" She excitedly speaks into the microphone, clapping her gloved hands. Some people in the audience join, not out of excitement or joy, but rather out of respect. Or so I assume. I wouldn't know.

Clearing her throat, Sylvia begins, "Thank you! Now, onto the male tributes." She says gleefully, stepping over to the other glass bowl, repeating the same actions before dipping her hand in, fishing around for that one piece of paper. Once she found it, she walked back over to the podium, leaning over slightly. "And the male tribute from District 4 is... Beau Murland! A round of applause for him, everyone!" She shouts excitedly, clapping her hands once again.

Some people form an empty circle around a young boy, he must be no older than 14. He was stuck in place, his wide, innocent eyes staring ahead at the stage. Someone in the crowd poked him, fishing him out of whatever trance he put himself into. With small, timid steps, he made his way over to the stage, hugging himself.

Now that he was closer, I could see his features clearer. He had big, bright blue eyes that stared into your soul, soft wavy caramel hair, and sun-kissed skin. He just barely reached the height of my shoulder. He looked skinny and frail, like he barely ate. Sylvia quickly begins asking for any tributes, but no one speaks up. The mayor quickly takes over, beginning to speak out a memorised essay on the Treaty of Treason, as he does every year. It goes by quickly, and before I know it, me and the boy are being asked to shake hands, before the national anthem begins to play. From there, we're escorted by peacekeepers into the Justice Building, led to separate rooms before the doors are closed on me.

I sighed loudly, the initial shock having washed away like a morning breeze. I turned away from the door, and was welcomed by a grand, red room. The windowsills seemed to be lined with gold, glazing lazily in the sunlight that streamed through. There were curtains that extended all the way to the ceiling, probably made of some expensive material. In the middle of the room there was a couch and two armchairs, a coffee table separating all three. Further down, against a wall, a big chimney rested, but there was no fire crackling.

I seat myself down in the middle of the couch, gasping quietly at the sheer softness of it. To be honest, I have never felt such luxury. What was it? Velvet or something?

With a loud creak, the big wooden doors slid open, and I was greeted with the sight of my teary-eyed mother and trembling little sister. As the peacekeeper closed the door behind them, I stood up, not daring to move in fear of my legs trembling. Hali ran up to me, and her slender arms encircled my waist. Her tears stained my dress, but I didn't mind. 

My mother stayed a bit back, a pained expression present on her face. Her hand was covering her mouth, though I could tell there was a scowl on her face, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

"Why-" She paused, taking a deep shaky breath. "Why did you volunteer?" She asked quietly, yet still loudly enough for me to hear. I shook my head, closing my eyes as I felt tears well up. 

"I- I don't know. I had to." I respond, and my chest begins heaving up and down, and I begin to hiccup. "Annie has- she's helped us so much... I owe it to her." I say quietly, my hand caressing Hali's head. A loud sob escaped her lips. 

An exhausted sigh leaves my mothers' lips, and she sniffles.

"You don't owe her anything! It's normal for everyone to help each other out, that's how we live!" My mother shouts, hiding her face in her hand. "Y-you're just throwing your life away... If you hadn't volunteered, you'd be free." She says quietly, more to herself than to me. Her legs slowly begin moving, and she's quickly pulling me into a bone-crushing hug. 

The three of us stand there for a bit, just embracing and crying. Hali's sobs began to quieten down, but she's started biting down on her nails. "Hali, stop it. You'll hurt yourself." I mutter quietly, taking her hand into my own, squeezing it reassuringly.

She shakes her head, and more tears spill out. I pull away from my mom, and lead them to sit on the couch on either side of me. 

"Take care of yourselves, okay?" I asked, looking between the two as I caressed Hali's head. My mother nodded, her hand coming up to hold my cheek. "We'll be okay. And so will you. You have Finnick, he w-won his games right?" My mother asked, stumbling over her own words. I nodded my head, before leaning into her hold.

"I'll be okay..." I whispered brokenly. We sat there in silence for the remaining few minutes, exchanging hugs. As the peacekeepers escorted them out, I shouted 'I love you's' to them. My mother opened her lips to respond, more tears escaping her eyes but the door was slammed in my face before I could hear what she said. A strangled sob left my lips, and in a combination of frustration and stress, I kicked the door, slamming my fist against it with a strained scream.

After a minute or so, it opened again. 

I saw her fiery red hair first, bouncing up and down as she ran over to me, tears streaming down her face yet again.

"Y/n! Why?! Why did you volunteer for me?!" She shouted at me, shaking my shoulders. Her nails dug into my skin, and her eyes looked desperately into mine. 

"You didn't have to and you know it! What if something happens to you?! What if you get seriously injured or- or killed?!" Annie continued, leaning her head on my chest. Her voice was strained and hoarse. I held her in my arms, gently stroking soothing circles into her back, as I always would. After a while, she looked up at me, her eyes teary and her face flushed.

"I'll look after your mom and sister, I promise." She said quietly, resting her chin on my shoulder. "When you're in there-" She paused, taking a shaky breath. "You won't need to worry about them, okay?" She asked, her hand caressing the back of my head, the other caging me against her body.

I nodded my head, looking up to the ceiling as tears began to prick at my waterline, "I'd appreciate that, thanks." I say, my voice tender, barely above a whisper. 

I squeezed her tighter, and we sat there silently comforting each other until the peacekeepers returned, escorting Annie out of the room, just like they did with my mother and sister. For a minute or two, the room is completely silent. My breaths are shallow, and I've successfully stopped the tears from falling.

I won't cry. I can't cry.

I sit there for a while, and soon the doors open once again. For a moment I believe that the peacekeepers will take me to the car, but I'm faced with a much more disappointing sight.

"What are you doing here?!" I screech, my lips forming into a disgusted scowl. The sight of him made me sick. He was a tall, skinny man. His skin was saggy, hanging onto his body, and he was permanently stuck looking tired and sickly.

He took his hat off, twisting it between his hands. He sighed heavily, smacking his lips. For a moment, he said nothing. But then he began. 

"I- I came to wish you luck. Sweetheart, I know I hurt you, but you must know I still care about you." He said quietly, keeping his distance. "I know you don't want to see me, but I had to give you this." He said, stepping closer as he extended his hand to me, something green and golden glinting in his palm. I know what it is- 

"It was your grandmothers... I kept it after she passed away," He pauses, stopping in his tracks. His gaze shifts from anywhere, to my eyes, and I can see the pain in them. "She wanted you to have this, so take it, it'll keep you safe." He insisted, and had come close enough to place the bracelet into my hand. My heart swelled, and I became overcome with pain. 

After my grandmother passed, my scumbag of a father had packed his bags and left for another woman, leaving no trace of himself or my beloved grandma in the house. 

"I hate you..." I said quietly, my heart hurting too much to even be angry. I spun the bracelet in my palm, though slowly and gently, I was suddenly afraid that it would break if I held it too hard.

"I know, I know you do. But I needed to give you this. No matter how much you hate me, I still love you." My father says quietly, looking into my eyes hopefully. 

I shake my head, looking away. "Get out."

A gasp escaped his lips, and I raise my voice. "Get out!"

I can hear his footsteps moving away, but I'm not looking. Instead, I stare out the grand window, my arms crossed over my chest as my thumb massages over the bracelet. I can hear the door opening and closing, before I'm completely swallowed by a deafening silence. 

I swallow thickly, and a lone, strangled sob escapes my throat. I refuse to cry though, as he doesn't deserve my tears, or sympathy or gratefulness. I continue to stare out of the window, at the beautiful garden behind the Justice Building, until the peacekeepers come to retrieve me. I put the bracelet on though, afraid that I'll lose it otherwise.

The peacekeepers reappear after a short time, and escort me out to the car. When I arrive, the other boy is already sat there, twiddling with his thumbs, head hanging low. Next to him is sat Sylvia, the announcer and District escort, looking at a notebook as she busies herself with ticking something off. I seat myself next to her, and the door is promptly shut on me.

No words are exchanged, and the car ride is short and swift. 

The cameras are relentless and blinding. The crowds of cameras are thick, and refuse to make way for us. I look at the train ahead, patiently waiting for us to board it. And then I catch a glimpse of myself on a large TV screen. 

I look confused, shell-shocked. My eyebrows are scrunched together, the corners of my lips tugging downwards. The boy next to me, Beau, looks absolutely terrified. It is clear that he has been crying, his cheeks are freshly stained red, his hair unruly and tremors gloss over him from time to time.

The cameras continue to bombard us with clicking sounds and flashing lights, taking pictures of every angle until we reach the doors of the train. Sylvia instructs me and Beau to smile and wave, and even insists on me blowing kisses into the lenses. 

Eventually we're let onto the train, the doors behind us zipping shut. I have to take a moment to adjust to the barely-lit train cart, as I can still see the colourful lights flashing in my vision. I'm quickly pushed into another cart by Sylvia, who doesn't give us a moment to recollect our thoughts. 

Finnick and Mags are already there, sat waiting at a dining table. Sylvia ushers us forward, her heels no longer making that daunting clicky-clacking sound as she walks over a soft carpet. Finnick turns in his seat, his gaze instantly catching mine, observing.

I don't lift a finger, don't utter any words. Instead, I shift my gaze to look over the interior of the cart. There are large, crystal-clear windows, thick mahogany curtains embracing the edges, and golden ropes keeping the curtains bound to the sides. The carpet itself is also red, with golden lining travelling parallel on both sides as it extends into another cart. Most of the furniture is silver; chairs, table, sofas, cupboards. The wallpaper is a faint blue, with diamond shaped-patterns stretching out across the expanse of the cart.

A voice rips through the air, struggling. I look to the source of it, and notice Mags trying to speak. She gestures for us to sit down, and we reluctantly do so. Beau takes the empty seat next to Mags, whereas I have to sit next to Finnick. 

"So," Mags starts, taking in a breath, "How are y-you two feeling?" Her voice is quiet, croaky, and her accent is much more noticeable than mine or Finnick's.

I look to Beau, who stares at his hands. I look back to Mags, and manage a faint smile. 

"Not so good, but does anyone feel good after realising they're taking a train to their death?" I ask quietly, my smile faltering as I look away, rubbing my arm. She heaves a heavy sigh, moving around a bit. 

She coughs quietly, and it's evident that she is struggling to speak. 

"Me and Finnick are going to do our best, okay you two?" She asks again, her hand shakily moving to hold Beau's in a tight grip as we both see that the boy has started to tremble.

Beau takes in a deep, shaky breath, and shakes his head. "I don't want to die, I can't die. What will happen to my sister?" He asks, his free hand coming up to wipe away his tears. Mags has a big frown on her face as she moves her chair closer to Beau, holding him in her embrace. "You'll be okay, child. When Finnick was your age, he won the games. You can do the same." She reassures, clearing her throat as she shakes her head.

I look towards Finnick, and notice that his eyes are slightly puffy. His gaze is fixed on Mags, and he doesn't acknowledge me or Sylvia.

He's silent throughout the rest of the interaction, but his hand eventually inches downward, his fingers tracing the silver framing of my chair, dancing over it. I look down at it as Mags, Sylvia and Beau talk to each other, digging into their food that the kitchen staff had brought for us. All of a sudden, his fingers wrap over the framing, and pull on my chair until it's close enough for our arms to touch. Though it doesn't ease the constant ache in the pit of my stomach, it feels nice to have his skin brush mine, even if it's not romantic whatsoever. It's still enough to make my heart rate spike, and my breathing to become shallower. 

I turn to face him, looking at his eyes, but he's not looking at me.   

If he were to turn his head to look at me...We'd kiss.

I force myself to look away and towards Mags as I feel the heat suddenly rush up to my cheeks.

Turning to the trio, I tune in on their conversation. Mags was speaking quietly, just barely above a whisper. She was asking Beau about any special talents that he may have, and at that, Beau straightened up, dropping his cutlery, his face flushing instantly.

"I... I can sing." He responded, his voice as light as a feather, and a small, barely noticeable smile tugged at his lips. At that, Sylvia's eyebrows rose, and she looked up from her food, intrigued. "Well then, can you sing for us?" She asks, placing her cutlery down, placing her elbows on the table as she locks her hands together. So now she's paying attention.

"W-well, I don't know that many songs!" Beau exclaimed, an unsure laugh leaving his lips as he scratched the back of his head. "My mom taught me a few bits and bobs, b-but that's it really!" He continued, looking between Mags and Sylvia, before he turned to me, diverting their attention.

"Do you have any special skill? Uh-" He asked, pausing a little as he looked away, scratching at his chin. "Y/n, was it?" He looked to me, his eyes glinting with uncertainty. I nodded my head, biting down on some duck meat. I take a moment to chew, before replying with, "Yeah, uh, I'm not sure if it counts as a 'special' skill but..." I paused for a second, thinking of my answer. "I'm quite good at playing the guitar." I continue, looking down at my plate. 

I had gotten myself a rather large portion of a duck, some mashed potatoes and greens. I opted for a simple combination, as the chefs had brought more food than any of us could eat. It was so much better than any meal I have ever tasted, the duck was juicy and tender, melting away in my mouth. The potatoes were smooth and soft, with a hint of salt in them. 

Though I can confidently say it doesn't beat my mothers fish stew. Nothing beats home cooking.

 I feel Finnick shifting next to me, and from the corner of my eye I can see that he's looking at me. For a moment, I doubt that he'll say anything.

"I believe I've made up a plan." He says curtly, reaching for my hand. He takes hold of it, pressing the plush skin of my fingertips, scarred by numerous hours of practice, feeling how it springs back. Everyone's attention has turned to him, and nobody speaks. 

"For now, I believe that the best way to gain sponsors is for the two of you to stick together," He pauses, looking between me and Beau. 

"Beau. You're small, you're adorable. During your interview, Caesar will lead the conversation. It would be a good idea to offer to sing for the audience, if you're nervous." Finnick pauses, waiting for some sort of response from Beau. 

The boy nods, his big eyes gazing up at Finnick from underneath thick eyelashes.

Finnick then turns to me, his hand having shifted from my fingertips to the bracelet I was given just a few hours prior. He spun it slowly around my wrist, his eyes fixed on the object.

"As for you, Y/n, I think Caesar will be willing enough to make some... Accommodations." He states, his thumb glazing over the bracelet, tracing its' golden lining. 

"I'll speak to him beforehand, and ask him to prepare a guitar for you, so that you can play a song. It'll create a kind of 'connection' between you and Beau, the audience will love it." He finishes, looking up into my eyes. 

"How are we going to do that?" I ask, swallowing the shame I feel as he rests my hand on his thigh. "It's quite simple, really." He quickly replies. "With your guitar, you and Beau can work on a song together. I'm sure the editors will make a montage of sorts, pairing Beau's singing with your guitar. It'll make the audiences go wild." He finishes, and for the rest of the evening doesn't say add on much else, leaving the planning to Mags and Sylvia, with Beau and I occasionally butting in.

After all of us finish eating, and the conversation dries up, Mags quickly ushers me and Beau to our chambers, mumbling about how we're going to have a busy day tomorrow.

The silver doors once again zip shut behind me, but this time I'm left all on my own. All on my own to process the days' events, emotions and weariness. In my room, there is a simple bathroom, it is adorned with a pretty white porcelain sink, a cubed shower, and a large mirror.

There is a whole collection of soaps and shampoos to choose from, and I decide on a honey-scented soap, and a chocolate-scented shampoo. Chocolate is some sort of dark brown, squared treat that nobody in District 4 has even dreamed of. 

The walls are tiles in the colour of a deep red, and the ceiling light casts a golden glow on the interior, creating a false sense of comfort.

I stare at myself in the mirror as I strip, observing my skin, the different marks, moles and bruises that decorate it. I look at my face, noticing the deep shadows, or rather eyebags, that hang on the crease under my eyes, painting the area a darker tone of my skin. My hair, once a beautiful picture-perfect net impersonation, is now a tangled mess, and I hiss in my pain as I tug at the knots in it. This will be a long night, I think to myself.

A shiver runs down my spine as I step into the shower. The small cube-shaped space consists of clear doors, a porcelain seat of sorts and a tiled floor with a drain situated just below the showerhead. The water is at first scalding hot, burning my skin before I'm able to adjust the heat. After that, it's all bliss and comfort as I dip my head under the water, the droplets feeling like a warm summer sprinkle. I've never had a shower; those are only accessible to the wealthiest.

Usually, at least in my area of District 4, we have showers just outside of our houses, sheltered away from curious, and perverted, onlookers by four wooden walls and a roof. There is a pipe that connects to another pipe that connects to some treated water, and although it's freezing cold, it is much better having that than sea water. After spending hours on a boat fishing, or working at the harbour, many people grow to hate the salty wrinkles that take hours to completely disappear, only to reappear the next working day.

But this water is so much different. Warm and gentle, it detangles my hair, and cascades down my back, easing my sore muscles. I've never felt such luxury. Does everyone in the Capitol have access to this?

I lather my hair with the sweet shampoo, and have to fight off the urge to taste it. My fingers move across my scalp, rubbing the liquid into the roots. It takes a while to wash out, but I eventually get out of the shower, brushing through my hair with my fingers.

After I leave the bathroom, having washed myself and brushed my teeth, I feel as though I just left heaven. My muscles feel relaxed, my head is in a state of bliss.

As I sink into the bed, I am welcomed by the soft material of the sheets. The sheets wrap around me, my body melting into the soft mattress, swallowed by warmth and fuzziness. For a moment, I am stuck in that blissful state, but then my mind wanders.

Do Capitol citizens have access to this? Do any Districts have access to this kind of luxury? Is it 24/7, or do only the wealthiest have access? It doesn't seem fair. 

But I shake those thoughts away. After all, I will most likely be dead soon. It won't matter anymore, whether I suffer or not. Another tribute will probably kill me quickly and swiftly, ending my short-spanned life. 

The least I can do for myself now is enjoy the luxury that is being thrown so viciously at me. For the first time in my life, I've been able to go to bed with a full belly. For the first time in my life, I feel relaxed after washing myself. For the first time in my life, I can go to sleep without any pain, or hunger, or anything. Just bliss. Just comfort. Just luxury.

But that doesn't last long either. Oh, I forgot. Materialistic luxury is fleeting, sleep is the true luxury. But even now, as I'm trapped in this rich-laid room, I cannot afford the luxury of sleep. I twist and turn in the bed for what feels like hours, unable to sleep. 

My stomach twists into knots, and I soon have to take the duvet off of me, as I'm drenched in sweat. The stillness of the room allows my thoughts to wander. 

I'm scared. I'm absolutely fucking terrified. I just willingly threw myself into the hands of death. What was I thinking? That I can win the Games? That I can kill someone, let alone a child? Children?

I take in a deep breath, feeling as the air enters my lungs, and a shiver runs down my spine. The heat I was feeling just moments ago has dissipated, and I'm left a trembling, cold mess. 

I wrap the duvet over myself again, trying to contain the tremors. I'm shivering uncontrollably, my legs and arms twitching as I pull the duvet impossibly closer.

I start thinking of Hali and my mom. Of Annie, her tear-stricken face, the mess her flaming hair had become in her panic. I think of Finnick. Was he disappointed by the fact I had volunteered? Was he angered by it?

I couldn't tell. But it didn't matter in the end; I couldn't let Annie go into that arena. She was too kind, too gentle, too fragile. If there is a world full of those who deserve to be put into an arena, fighting to the death like wild animals, Annie isn't a part of that world. She took care of me after my deep-dive into the icy waters, helped my mother nurse me back to health, she took care of me when we were kids, provided me company and listened to all my secrets and grievances, helped me deal with my fathers sudden abandonment. And now has even promised to look after my loved ones as I willingly shove myself into a gruesome bloodbath.

I could never repay her. I could never repay her for all the things she's done for me and my family.

With a loud sigh, I sit up, clutching the bedsheets tightly in my fists. With the back of my hand I wipe away a few stray tears.

A cup of water sounds nice. 

I put on a bathrobe that has been hung in a fancy wardrobe, still shivering, I put on my fluffy slippers, and press a button. The doors in front of me zip open, shaking lightly as the train passes over something rough.

The corridors are dark, as only a single light shines. I trudge through the cart, sliding another door open. It's even darker in here, this cart being much longer than the one that carried Beau and I, and I think Mags and Finnick and Sylvia have their rooms in here. I quietly walk through, looking at the doors. Maybe Finnick is behind one of them, and if he is, then it's just my luck.

His silence at the dinner table was unnerving. I need to know what he was thinking.

There's two doors on my left, and one to the right. Any normal person would assume the left is for the ladies, right? With that, I gently knock on the door to my right, and I hear someone shuffling about, before the doors slide open and I'm standing face to chest with a shirtless Finnick Odair.

At my height, the tip of my head reaches just the top of Finnick's shoulders. Goddamn, was he always so freakishly tall? I slowly look up to him, my neck bending slightly. He's already staring at me, though there is haziness in those beautiful green eyes of his. 

He doesn't utter a word, and instead reaches for my hand - his skin is scalding hot against my icy hands - and he swiftly pulls me into his room, the doors sliding shut. I bump into his chest head-first.

"Are you okay, Y/n?" He asks, his voice as warm and sweet as honey. I almost melt on the spot, though the shivers continue travelling down my whole body. It takes me a whole minute to compose myself. He definitely knows I like him. My lips open and close, no words leaving, and I'm stuck. What did I come to him for again? With a sigh, Finnick gently takes a hold of my hand and leads me to his bed. As he sits me down on it, I notice that it is far bigger than mine. That's unfair. Though he is the 'Capitol darling'.

"C'mon darling, I'm waiting." He says softly, again. He stands in front of me, and I finally realise that I'm gaping at him like a fish. 

I take a sudden, sharp breath and shake my head. "Uh... I- I needed to talk to you..." I whispered, blinking slowly like a child. A soft smile tugs at his lips, and I instantly know that whatever mood he was in earlier, it's definitely gone now.

"So? To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" He asks, sitting down next to me. He sits criss-crossed, his knee digging into my side. He pulls me closer, rubbing my arm with his hand, muttering something about how cold I was. 

He sure was muscular. What did he do all day? Exercise? I doubt it.

I think for a moment, trying to finalise my words, but with a shake of my head, I decide to shoot straight. "Why were you so quiet at the dinner? I thought you'd be helping out more," I say softly, unsure of whether to continue or not. I look up into his eyes, and see a glint of softness shining in them, "I mean, I know what you're like... But- But it made me nervous..." I finish, looking away and instead choosing to focus on how the skin has begun to peel from my cuticles.

Finnick sighs quietly, his free hand reaching to hold my own.

"I wasn't angry with you, nor disappointed if that's what you're thinking." He states softly, and I swear my heart will collapse if he continues to be so sweet and soft. "It's just that-" He pauses, casting his gaze elsewhere, "I just couldn't imagine what you felt, when you volunteered." He says, gently stroking my hand with his thumb. "You're so good to Annie, you'd do anything for her. And I think it was really selfless." He finished. The words bounced around my head, the meaning completely avoiding any sort of understanding.

Another tremor goes through me, and I tuck my legs against my chest, teeth chattering.

My eyebrows scrunch up in confusion. 

"What do you mean? Annie's the amazing one, not me." I scoff. I shake my head, looking up at him. Just how delusional is he? Me? Selfless? Somehow I can't see how the two mix well together.

Finnick's grip on my hand tightens, and he heaves a sigh. "See, you don't actually realise just how kind you are. I mean- Y-You literally provide for Annie and her father. You helped me out so much, you listened to me when I needed an ear." He says, his tone shifting to a more annoyed one.

I look at him in disbelief.

"You're kidding, right? I mean-" I pause, releasing a shaky breath. "Y-you're the one that saved me. Annie's the one that took care of me. You think I wouldn't do everything in my power to repay you?" I asked, tugging my hand away. "You're being ridiculous, Finnick." I quickly add on, but Finnick completely ignores me, instead opting to change the conversation. 

I don't know if I'm genuinely upset by his words, or if it's the adrenaline that's rushing through me. I rub at my arms, frantically attempting to warm up.

Finnick doesn't reply for a moment, and as I stare at him, I notice how prettily his hair falls over his forehead, a few strands extending over his lash line. 

He sighs quietly, and turns to me again.

"We're not going to argue about this. I see no point in it, and you're clearly too anxious." He says, pulling me closer to his chest. I don't resist or pull away, instead I lean into his warmth. 

"I-I couldn't- I couldn't sleep." Softly I admit.

"I thought so... It would be weird if you were completely fine." He responded, his voice was like honey, dripping sweetly into my ears, warming my heart.

"I know it's weird of me to ask, but... Can I stay with you? Just for tonight, I promise." I ask, my gaze fixed on a hair strand that stuck out in front of my face. I don't hear a response, but Finnick doesn't waste a second to lift me up, moving the duvet before placing my body down on the bed, joining after.

"C'mon then, we don't have all night." He gestures to me, a cheeky smile on his face. That's the Finnick I know. I nod silently, and clamber further up the bed. Finnick pats the empty spot beside him, and as I join, he drapes the velvety duvet over the two of us, before his toned, muscular arm slides beneath my neck. He brings me in closer, and my face rests against his hot chest, the warmth radiating off him as if he was the sun. My own, personal sun.

"We're gonna be cuddling?" I ask, giggling slightly. The shivers have eased, though my hand is still quite shaky. Unsure of where to go, I rest my hand on his toned stomach, fingers itching to glide over his skin, to feel every crevice and stretch of skin that he can offer. I've never been this close to him... Am I going feral? What the hell?

Finnick chuckles in reply, and I feel him shifting slightly again. I look up to him, and notice that he's already staring at me, a toothy grin stretching through his lips. "If you have a problem with it, then I can sleep on the floor. That'd be more favourable, wouldn't it?" His voice is low and gravelly, but also husky and comforting, his hand softly stroking circles into the skin on my arm. I shake my head with a smile and thank him.

We sit like this for a while, just feeling each others warmth. It's much better than sleeping alone, that's for sure. Finnick's natural scent has long since invaded my lungs, but I feel myself becoming drowsy, enamoured by his every characteristic. The hand that was stroking my arm eventually stopped, but he never ceased to hold me tight to him, his nose stroking against my hair as he breathed softly.

No words were exchanged, and we laid there for hours. I would often drip in and out of consciousness, startling the two of us awake with a loud gasp. He would comfort me, realising that I was constantly having nightmares, and he would lull me back into sleep with his honeyed voice, whispering sweet nothings into my ears.

Eventually, Finnick moved positions, turning his body sideways, pulling me even closer into his chest - if that was physically possible. Now, with my face flushed against his chest, I could fully relax. It may have been a bit much, but I lazily draped my leg over his own, not thinking in my drowsiness. Though it seemed to help, as my breathing steadied and I almost lulled myself back into a dreamless sleep. Better than nightmares, at least.

Finnick's soft voice gently awoke me, but it sounded as though he'd also been dosed with the natural sleep syrup.

"It's just like back then, isn't it?" He asks sleepily, his voice raspy. His body had slid further down the bed until my nose rested against his neck, inhaling his sickly-sweet scent. I nod my head lazily, grunting out a throaty 'mmm' in response. I earned myself a chuckle, and a quick 'I'll let you sleep now', before I completely drifted out of consciousness.

I don't wake up again on that night, but slowly rouse myself awake as I feel the sunrays poking at my closed eyes. 

I can't move, as Finnick's arms grip my body, keeping me close to his own. For a while, I lay there, content with just laying with my eyes closed with Finnick holding me.

But the growing anxiety in my stomach gnaws at my nerves, and I can feel my pulse in my ear.

Though I try to fight it, I eventually raise my head, peeking over Finnick's broad shoulder. Still sleepy, I act before I can think. Placing my hand on his waist, I lean in close enough so that my nose nuzzles against his bicep, inhaling Finnick's sickly-sweet scent. It comforts me enough to settle my nerves. 

It's a surprise that I'm not sick of it already.

My eyes slowly flutter open, and I have to blink a couple of times to adjust to the light. The train is still moving, though now we're passing by a grand lake, surrounded by some mountains. Wherever we are at, it sure is beautiful. I look down to Finnick, and a startled sound escapes me as his eyes are already boring into mine, though tiredly. No matter the time of day or night, Finnick Odair will always find it in himself to dish out sarcasm. "Having fun, sweetheart?" He asks, though by the look in his eyes, I can see that he needs no answer.

I shake my head, feeling my cheeks flush out of embarrassment. Did he really just lay there? Whilst I literally nuzzled my nose against him? Am I crazy?! Or... Is he?

I can't form a single reply, and my mind goes blank. May the arena take me already.

"What? Cat got your tongue?" He nudges further, that toothy grin making a reappearance as the sun lazily glosses over his skin. I shake my head 'no', though still can't form a single sentence. I swallow heavily, and take a deep breath.

"Isn't it- Isn't it time?" I ask, feeling my brain short-circuiting.

"Time for what?" Asks Finnick, shuffling lightly. His voice is gravelly and husky from sleep. My fingers gently grip at his flesh, unknowingly. "That tickles y'know." He says, chuckling under his breath.

"What?" I ask, confused.

He doesn't say anything, but instead his gaze points towards my hand, his eyebrows rising slightly. My nails are lightly digging into his skin. I blink once, then I blink once again. As if he just burned me, I retract my hand instantly, hiding it behind my back. I take a deep breath, focusing on letting it out slowly. With an accusatory tone, I ask, "How long have you been awake?"

Finnick laughs, crinkles of skin appearing at the outer corners of his eyes, paired with the dimples that form whenever there is even the tiniest hint of a smile. "Long enough for me to feel you sniffing my arm." He admits, still amused. My face grows red, and I could swear steam was coming out of my ears. A shiver runs through me.

Before I can ask any further questions, or even think of a reply, someone's knocking on the door. Then, a panicked Sylvia Borgnino is speaking.

"Finnick? Finnick are you awake?! You better be!" She shouts, and Finnick swiftly gets out of the bed to open the door. His back is muscular and toned... Wow.

The doors slide open, and he asks, "Sylvia? Did you need anything?" Leaning lazily with his body against the doorframe.

"Yes! I did. I went to wake Y/n but she's not answering the door! Come and-" She pauses, as her eyes catch onto someone in Finnick's bed. "Is that-" She pauses, her fingers reaching up to massage her temple, taking a deep breath. "Is that Y/n?" Finnick slowly turns his head, locking eyes with me, he winks, before he nods, and turns back to Sylvia.

"Yeah, it is." He confirms, his head resting on the doorframe. "Did you need anything from us? 'Cause if not... Then I'll get back to what we were doing." He says, his voice raspy from sleeping, yet still soft and melodic. I can almost hear him smirking.

I can hear a gasp, followed by a, "Where are your manners, Finnick?!" Her tone is accusatory as I see Sylvia eyeing Finnick up and down, a clear scowl on her face. She huffs out a breath, and tiptoes to see over his shoulder.

"Hi...Sylvia?" I ask carefully, my voice light and high-pitched as I'm uncertain of what her reaction will be. Her eyebrows are scrunched up in disapproval, and she doesn't respond to me. Instead, she turns to Finnick, glaring at him with a glint of danger in her eyes. "You two better be ready in 20 minutes! If either of you are late I-" She exclaims, but pauses as she deliberates on what to say. "I'll make sure you two regret it!" And with that she leaves, her footsteps thumping down along the corridor.

"She seemed... Pretty angry." I say quietly, meddling with my bracelet, unsure of Finnick's own mood. Though he is quick to reply, an amused smile tugging at his lips. "She certainly is, she won't let us forget this for a while I don't think." He finishes, scrunching his nose at me, a smile now prominent. The crinkles beneath his eyes deepen with the scrunch, and his dimples make an appearance. I laugh quietly, covering my smile with my palm.

"No, no don't cover yourself honey. You don't need to hide your smile from me." He says, his voice hushed yet soft, as he crawls on the bed towards me. He maintains steady eye contact, and neither of us are willing to look away. If I were to look away now, I'd feel as though I've lost a battle.

I feel myself slipping away, drowning in his sea-green eyes, unable to escape. His gaze is hooded, his long eyelashes lazily fanning over his eyes. I blink rapidly, feeling my breathing becoming heavy. His voice, as sweet as Sleep Syrup, whisks me away back into the present. "Well then, shall we get ready?" He asks, now having laid his chin on my outstretched legs, his hands sturdily holding onto my calves.

I gulp, and nod my head, though neither of us move.

Finnick continues to lay still, his eyes boring into mine. I gently nudge him with my foot, which seems to get a reaction. He slowly rises back onto all fours, and proceeds to get off of me. He walks up to my side of the bed, hand outstretched. He wiggles his fingers, and that toothy grin returns.

"C'mon, I'll take you back to your room. Once you're done, I'll meet you in the dining room." He states, and I lend him my hand. He swiftly pulls me up and we proceed to my room. The walk isn't long, but I'm unwilling to let him go, fear flushing over my body like a wave.

"Finnick..."

"You okay honey?" He asks, not sparing a moment to think to respond to me, it felt very much instinctual. I hesitate, and decide not to pursue the topic. "Nevermind, it's okay. I-I'll see you in a bit." I smile unsurely, waving him away, although he remains still, his eyebrows scrunched up in concern.

"If you wanna talk, if there's something on your mind, you can tell me, Y/n." He says, his voice having taken on a serious undertone. I nod my head with a small smile and thank him, before I step into my room and the door slides shut, separating us.

I take a quick shower, the warm artificial rain slightly easing my nerves, I brush my teeth and change my clothes before I take one last look in the mirror. My hair looks fine, my teeth are clean, but I can still feel the rattling of my heart, the shakiness ghosting my legs, and the pricking of nails at my hands.

I shake my head, taking a deep breath. This is not the time, I think to myself, and exit my room.

The train is eerily quiet as it travels. It is much different on the inside than it is to the outside. Whenever I got to see a train, I was overcome with fear and anxiety, as it would travel awfully fast and make tons of noise. It would make me terrified and anxious, and although I'm on the inside of the train, those same feelings are now making an appearance.

I continue on, my feet shuffling towards the next cart, though I feel them becoming numb.

There is loud chatter coming from the room, and as I come closer, I can hear Beau telling a story, and soon I can see Finnick and Mags listening intently, giving their breadcrumb opinions on the matter at hand. As I enter the room, Beau exclaims a loud, "Y/n!", and everyone turns their heads. Mags greets me with a strained voice and a gentle smile as she smothers a piece of toast with a clumpy liquid, Sylvia and Finnick turn to me with smiles. 

"We've been waiting for you, Y/n. Come, sit with us." Finnick says as I make my way towards him, and I notice his smile from earlier is now gone. 

"We've been discussing the games, and everyone agrees on what course of action we'll take." Bringing up a steamy cup to her lips, Sylvia says before sipping on some black liquid. 

"If you want me to play the guitar then I'm gonna need to know what song I'll be playing to." I state quietly, lathering some toast in jam. 

My stomach twists and turns as I'm reminded of what's to come. 

The Games. The bloodbath. The paparazzi and the flashy cameras. I'm gonna be put up on display like a wild animal. I'm going to be placed in that arena, forced to fight to the death against twenty-three other tributes. I feel my stomach drop, and one of my legs begins to bounce up and down rapidly under the table. 

I might as well step off the metal plate before the gong sounds and blast myself to pieces. I remember watching a tribute in the Games a few years back. She was fiddling with something in her hands, trembling so much that she dropped it. It was far too late for her to catch it, because as soon as it hit the ground, she was blasted into pieces. 

I pitied her, though now I considered sharing the same fate. How ironic. 

Either way I'm trapped. I'm trapped in this train, I'll be trapped in the Capitol, and I will be trapped in the arena. 

The only means of escape is death. 

Finnick continues to discuss the plan with the others, and I'm able to get the gist of it. It's enough for me to realise he wants me to help Beau in the arena, which I don't have an issue with in and of itself.

The issue will be when we have to split up, or if we both end up getting through to the final showdown. What will we do? Fight each other? 

I lean back into my chair, abandoning the jam toast on a porcelain plate, barely having taken a bite out of it. I can't eat anymore, I don't want to. I swallow thickly, but notice how dry my throat has become. 

I take in a deep, shaky breath, and think of reaching for some water. 

Water. Water sounds nice. Reaching for it shouldn't be too difficult to do... Right? The bouncing of my leg has increased in speed. I feel goosebumps travelling down my arms.

I can't.

The cart feels so much colder now, so less spacious, and my hands and arms feel numb. I tune out the conversation in front of me, instead focusing on a faraway, high-pitched noise. Was that the train screeching against the tracks? Isn't it supposed to be silent? 

It starts off slowly; the trembling. A couple shivers here and there, but it soon turns into full-blown chills. They really must've crammed the air conditioning up. I look to everyone, from Beau to Mags, Sylvia to Finnick. But they all seem fine? Maybe- Maybe it's just me. My hands feel clammy, sweaty. I try wiping them on the long sleeves of my shirt, but the clamminess doesn't go away.

I need to get out of here. 

The walls feel too close, and my head feels heavy. I close my eyes, lifting a shaky hand to massage at my temple. My breaths are shaky. My leg doesn't stop bouncing. The shivers continue. 

Get up, get up, get up, get up!

My legs don't listen, and I bite down harshly on my bottom lip. Tears start pricking at my eyes, and I have to blink rapidly to get rid of them.

I hear a voice. 

It feels so close yet so far. 

The tears are now fully welled-up in my eyes, on the verge of falling. I bite down harshly on my bottom lip, feeling the skin crackle under my teeth. 

The iron taste of blood sits on my tongue.

I look around, anywhere. But I catch the gazes of everyone around me. They have stopped talking between themselves.

They've stopped talking? 

Why aren't they talking?

I look down at my lap, heaving in a shaky breath. It sounds as if I'm wheezing. 

"Y/n?" It feels distant, and I'm not sure who the voice belongs to. A warm hand nudges me, and I look up, seeing Finnick's sea-green eyes boring into mine.

There is a clear concern glinting across them, and his mouth is slightly parted. 

I can't breathe. I can't get enough air into my lungs. Why can't I breathe? 

Calm down, Y/n. Calm down.

But I don't calm down. Instead, I begin gasping for air, my chest shakily heaving up and down, the tears escaping like water from a broken dam. My cheeks flush, and I try to supress my sobs. I bring a shaky hand up to my mouth, shaking my head in the process.

I feel arms wrapping around me, and soon I'm scooped up into the air, my head resting against a sturdy chest. It's Finnick. 

In any other situation, I'd try to sniff his scent, or focus on the heat radiating from his body. But now, all I can do as I try to breathe, is cover my mouth. The sobs grow louder, and more tears slide down my cheeks. 

"Fuck... Fuck, fuck fuck!" I wail out, my knuckles aggressively wiping at my eyes. I'm not supposed to be crying. I'm supposed to be strong, I'm supposed to be tough.

My body bounces up and down as Finnick runs through the carts, eventually leading me into a room.

Finnick soon lays me down into some silky sheets, although I can't tell who's room I find myself in. 

My chest is aggressively heaving up and down, but I can't catch my breath. 

My chest feels tight.

I supress another loud sob. 

The room suddenly becomes dark, and I find some comfort in that.

"I w-wasn't-... I-I wasn't supposed to cry!" My voice is sickeningly high-pitched and drawn out, and I cry out, covering my face with one hand as I turn on my side, gripping the sheets tightly in my other one.

I can feel Finnick's hand softly caressing my hair, but I continue to cry.

His arms wrap up around me, and I can hear him telling me 'It's okay's'.

I manage to supress my sobs and wails, though my lips are tugged downwards in a scowl, my eyebrows furrowed and I'm pretty sure I look pathetic. Not strong, or tough. Just pathetic. And Finnick is witnessing all this.

"Get out..." I say quietly, a small sob leaving my throat. 

"What?" Finnick leans in closer, unable to hear me coherently.

"Get out!" I exclaim. "P-please get out!" I shout, though it's not as loud as I convince myself it is. "I don't want you to see me like this..." I insist, my voice hoarse and small. 

More sobs break out through me, and I feel more tears welling up in my eyes.

"Please... Just leave me alone-" I continue, wrapping my arms around myself. 

Finnick shakes his head, repeatedly saying soft 'no's'. I ignore him, my hands pushing away at his chest. 

Without a second thought, he scoops me up into his lap, forcing my face into his chest. My sobbing only becomes stronger, but it soon eases into soft hiccups as Finnick begins humming a lullaby, stroking my hair with one hand, cradling me with the other. 

I focus on the sound of his voice. 

His voice is so lovely... So soft.

I close my eyes again, grimacing as I let the tears flow.

It takes a while of Finnick humming and caressing me, but my breathing eventually steadies, with occasional, throaty sobs making me hiccup. I continue wiping aggressively at my eyes, but the longer that Finnick hums, the more I let them cascade freely, until eventually they stop and I feel the wetness of my eyelashes against my cheeks. 

We sit like this for a who knows how long, long after my crying has ceased. A scowl remains on my face, but I continue listening. It has been a long time since someone has comforted me like this... 

The last person I remember doing this... Is my grandma. 

She was a wonderful woman, though strict at times and painfully honest, she never failed to show me just how much she loved me. Guiding me through meltdowns as a child, in just the same exact way as Finnick is now.

"I'm tired..." I softly mutter to Finnick, hiding my face further in his chest. My voice is raw from crying, and my eyes slightly burn from all the salty tears and rough knuckles. Finnick's shirt is damp with them, but I don't think he minds it too much.

"D'you wanna sleep? I can stay with you if you'd like..." He whispers softly, his large hand coming down to caress the side of my face, his thumb lovingly stroking the apple of my cheek. I nod my head gently, and feel the tears trying to return, but I blink them away. "Okay, we'll take a nap, and then we can talk about what happened, okay honey?" He continues, his voice sounding as sweet as honey tastes. I sniffle quietly, and nod my head again, doubting that my voice is steady enough to talk more. 

Finnick lays us down on the bed, and drapes the duvet over me, his chest presses against my back. I close my eyes, and feel the drowsiness slowly lure me into a dreamless sleep.

@bambikitten @noisyalmonddreamer @avoxrising @honethatty12 @circe143 @dnpo1son @innercreationflower @lagrimasdepandora @iwantmyredvelvetcupcake @lil-tracys @i-bitch-you-bitch @pinkigirl @yourdailymemedelivery @nexxus13 @ropickle @spilled-coffee-cup @zucchinimalfoy @l5byrinth @superbfishhumanoidweasel @whens-naptime @nordicvxid @luvrboiwonu @lili19080 @nojustn00 @antoheartit

[elspethdekarios]

This is my first time doing this so I hope it's right, for the intimacy prompt, some good ole fashion fluff

59.41.21.9.25 if those are too many whichever ones you'd like ❤️

Thank you for the ask! I'm sorry it took me so long to answer. I decided to make this 10x more difficult than it needed to be and combine all of these into one short little fic. I hope you like it! <3

Intimacy prompts:

9. Watching movies/tv shows (I wanted to keep this in the Realms so I took some liberty with this)

21. Listening to someone’s heartbeat

25. Falling asleep in their arms

41. Washing each other’s hair

59. Height difference

The Lightsinger Theatre was bustling with life, a shining beacon of bright gold in a dark winter evening. Young workers in threadbare coats shoveled heaps of snow from the main street to make way for the nobility and otherwise wealthy attendees arriving by horse and buggy. Elspeth and Gale walked hand in hand from the nearby restaurant where they had shared a bottle of bold, red wine and indulged in the finest cheeses and cuts of meat this side of the Chionthar. 

“It isn’t even our anniversary,” El had laughed as she saw the rich feast laid out on the table.

“I have something in mind for that,” Gale smirked, taking another sip of wine. “Don’t you worry.”

“I’m sure it’ll be marvelously simple,” she teased. “A bouquet of roses and some chocolates. A kiss on the cheek. An otherwise normal day.”

“You know me. I’m very practical and not at all ostentatious.”

No, this date wasn’t to mark a special occasion. Gale had bought tickets to a traveling production of The Gilded Unicorn, a renowned grand play of Amn that he had always been eager to see. The two of them spent the past month taking turns reading the play in written form aloud to each other, and finally got to the end just the previous night. All day they discussed how fantastical scenes would be translated to the stage, with Gale particularly curious about whether or not the production would include magic: You know, they could use a minor illusion spell for the stars. Or, better yet, a powerful illusion spell for the Unicorn! I once saw a production where….

Golden lights glowed from the Lightsinger’s entrance, guests mingling as they clutched their cloaks and hurried inside. It was a grand building, with marble columns and a large arched doorway gilded with golden filigree. As they entered, they joined the queue moving slowly up the atrium’s ornate staircase. Gale kept a protective hand on the small of El’s back, and urged her to the step in front of him when the line moved.

She looked at him over the shoulder of her embroidered coat, smiling. “Look who’s taller now.” But when the crowd shifted, Gale joined her on the step, the top of her head level with his nose as usual. 

“Still me,” he said, and planted a kiss on her forehead. 

“Are you, now?” she asked, stepping up again when the line moved.

“Hmm,” Gale mumbled into her shoulder, which was eye level with him now. “I’ll let you win this one. I like a dominant woman.”

“Gale!” 

The play was magnificent, and the seats Gale secured with his position at Blackstaff (and a hero of Baldur’s Gate, no less) were some of the best in the house. They watched with their hands clasped together, Elspeth holding his right hand in her lap with both of her own. He held her cold fingers and radiated a faint warmth from his palm, something he’d grown accustomed to doing since the year or so she’d been in Waterdeep with him. The Baldur’s Gate winters she was used to were much less harsh. They held onto each other even as they left the theatre and walked home, recounting their favorite parts of the play.

“That night sky was so beautifully painted, they didn’t even need magic,” Gale said as they neared the Dock Ward. The well-to-do patrons who lined the streets around the theatre had given way to worn-out sailors and merchants smoking their pipes outside of whatever inn housed them for the night. “I’m sure magic would have improved it, of course, but it was lovely on its own, don’t you think?”

When they reached the tower on the corner of the street,, they fell mindlessly into their nighttime routine, trekking up three flights of stairs to the bedroom as if the night were any other—but the conversation was still lively, their giggles frequent, and their bellies fuller than usual. 

“I suppose we don’t need to take a bath tonight,” Gale stifled a yawn as he untied the laces on the corduroy vest layered over a long-sleeved shirt. 

Elspeth waltzed in front of him, half undressed, wearing only a thin chemise over her leggings. “But think of how warm and cozy it would be,” she said, grazing his hands with her own, gently lifting his arms towards her. Snow was beginning to fall outside the window, and she craved nothing more than a hot bath in her love’s arms to ward off the chill.

Gale slipped his hands around her waist and pulled her into a hug. “If you insist,” he grinned, resting his chin on the top of her silky blonde hair.

The washroom took only a few moments to steam up the room and fog the mirror. They settled into each other in the water, familiar and warm and safe. It was one of their favorite things to do together—lying in the bath and staring out the window Gale had enchanted so they could see out but others couldn’t see in. Tonight, the view of the waterfront street below was peaceful, with only a few passersby huddling up in their coats and hurrying home, or to an inn, or to nowhere at all. It was a game they played with each other—who is that person and where are they headed? There were the familiar faces of course: the elderly grandmother nextdoor who brought flowers home with her at least once a tenday, the children who gathered along the docks playing make-believe pirates, the grumpy middle-aged man and his equally grumpy wife on their way to the market with toddler in tow. Tonight, though, the few citizens who passed were strangers.

“I reckon he’s on his way to the Empty Keg,” Gale said, pointing at a stout man staggering his way down the street, a pipe in his hand.

“He should probably be heading home, by the looks of it,” El laughed as she dipped her head into the water. Gale worked the soap into her hair, his strong fingers massaging into her scalp. He took his time, his movements deliberate. She swore her hair was always cleaner after Gale washed it. 

 They switched positions in the tub, Gale nestled now between her legs as she returned the favor. She took extra care to scratch his scalp with her nails, savoring the way he sighed and melted into her. 

“Why do I ever wash my own hair?” he mused, putty in her hands.

“I was just asking myself the same question.”

Lying in the dark, freshly clean and hair still wet, they settled into each other's arms, the bed exceptionally comfortable as it can only be after an eventful day. El brushed her feet against the soft sheets absentmindedly—a habit she’d had since childhood to help soothe her to sleep. When they first began sharing a bed (or bedroll, rather), she tried to stop, worried the movement would bother Gale like it did her previous lover. But as she became more comfortable, as they bonded so closely that she no longer felt the need to hide any part of herself, she realized how ridiculous it was to keep something so simple and mundane from him. Especially when she struggled to fall asleep, plagued by the occasional insomnia that came with her half-elf heritage.

There is something that helps me fall asleep, she told Gale one restless night in bed at the Elfsong. Repetitive movements.

Like you do with your feet?

I… how do you know about that?

You do it right before you fall asleep and right before you wake up, he said so nonchalantly that she was taken aback for a moment.

And it doesn’t bother you?

Why in the world would it bother me?

Now, more than a year later, she rested her head on her husband’s chest, feet fidgeting under the covers as the beat of his heart thrummed in her ear. Her husband, alive and healed and happy. She smiled to herself, his arm warm around her shoulder, his pulse rhythmically lulling her to sleep. 

[belit0]

Hii!! First of all, how are you? And how do you feel? I first wanted to thank you for doing such a beautiful blog. You truly have a talent to write and you write so well. I am always looking forward for any new posts of yours, i just love your blog so so much!!!!<333 I’m sorry i am so obsessed with your blog and how you write the Uchiha man so fine ans well. Can you maybe write about how Madara gets into an argument with his wife and it comes to the point where he hits her, (slapping or punching her because of his anger) he hits her so hard it causes a bruise on her skin. And how he will try to make it up for her and how he will react to it? Love you and your blog! 🩷

Helloooooo!! I just bought my first iPad ever, so I'm really happy about it!!! In my country, it is very difficult to get cases and accessories, so currently fighting for them🤣🙌🏻. I really appreciate your words and your presence, it genuinely makes me very happy to know people enjoy what I do and like my content.

Nothing to apologize for, I love that you obsess, and having someone to share my own Uchiha fixation with!!

With this request, I am revealing one of my biggest HCS about the Uchiha brothers: a violent authority figure, and all the traumas that come with it.

He is not proud, not at all. When his hand connects with her face it feels exactly like the first time his mother hit him.

(Y/N) falls to the ground from the force of the impact, and looks at him in disbelief. Her eyes are so wide they seem about to explode, and she holds the area where Madara struck her as a silent tear slides over her fingers. The woman seems unable to move, paralyzed, and the Uchiha feels life stop for a second.

Never in his life did he think of becoming what he hated so much, of adopting the same actions from the figure who took it upon herself to make his life a living hell as a child. Madara grew up traumatized by his mother's hands, the violence she imparted both verbally and physically, and tried to channel it all on him to protect his siblings.

When she finally passed away, he was left with lifelong scars, both bodily and psychologically, which he decided would help him to never become the horrible human being she was. For many years, he conducted his anger through war, the battlefield, and the death he carried on his hands every day.

With the new stage of peace, that ordeal was over, and so was his source of personal liberation. Sure, training with the Senju or his brother always brought significant physical relaxation, but no longer being able to attack with the intent to kill made the practice sessions seem like a joke.

Frustrated by his inability to release without killing, Madara lost that one important outlet for his anger, for venting his rage, and began to progressively accumulate it. Between dealing with a new village, his younger brother and the entire clan still reluctant to accept peace with the enemy, and leading an entire family, it didn't take long for him to explode in the worst possible way, and evoke all his childhood memories at once.

His body moved on its own, without him even analyzing what he was about to do, and (Y/N) had no time to react. 

They were arguing over genuine stupidity, the Uchiha not having washed the dishes he used for breakfast that morning because he had to rush off to a meeting, and his wife having to take care of it for him. (Y/N) had made it clear from the beginning of their relationship that she would not submit to being a housewife, to living for and by her husband, and that she would maintain her independence despite having Madara by her side.

How little tolerance she had for the one time he left something behind, only because he was in a hurry, got on his nerves, and he exploded thanks to all the accumulated problems he was carrying on his back. His open hand connected with (Y/N)'s cheek before he could figure out exactly what he was doing, and sent her straight to the ground with the force of the collision.

As he stared at his wife on the floor, he could only see himself as a child, tiny in the face of his batterer, small with no options and no way out. Circumstances managed to bring out the worst in him, what he thought he had overcome, and he had no tools to face such a scenario. He never believed he had any aspect of his mother in him, he promised himself never to be like her, and he had failed.

He felt dirty.

The Uchiha is speechless when seeing how his wife gets up and runs away, terrified by the cruel action of her man, and takes refuge in her brother-in-law's house. Madara can only listen, from the same place where he stood frozen after hitting her, as (Y/N) lunges against Izuna's front door, demanding between screams and tears to let her in.

Seconds later, and with a sepulchral silence in the air, the Uchiha senses how his younger brother walks into his home, a small and incredulous voice asking "What the fuck did you do, Madara?"

It has been years since he last cried, back when he thought he was about to lose the only immediate family he had left, that time when he held his Otouto close in his arms and prayed to the heavens and all their gods to let him live on.

Today, Madara surrenders to the ground again, falling to his knees and indulging in his anguish, reliving traumatic events in his mind like a movie he cannot pause. He has no words to explain, nor does he know what to say, and all he can do is allow the uncontrollable flow of his tears.

Izuna, perplexed, falls to the ground beside him, hugging him and knowing no questions need to be asked.

He himself was a victim of his mother, and his older brother protected him at every turn, taking all the beatings and holding back tears to look brave in front of his siblings. The younger Uchiha knows what this is all about, and he knows better than to say anything.

Engrossed in his journey into the past, he knows there is no way to help him at this point, and Izuna retreats without further ado.

Madara, on the other hand, lasts in the same position all night, completely blocked by his emotions and unable to regain control over his body. He has been subjected to all kinds of tortures, faced the greatest warriors, and dealt with unimaginable powers on the battlefield, but nothing compares to this.

The next day, he can do nothing but disappear from the face of the earth, isolate himself in the old Uchiha compound, lose track of time in his family's abandoned territory, and continue to punish himself for what he did. He returns home, to the house where he grew up amidst punishment and abuse, and walks through each room, mentally seeing the image of his mother above him, harshly beating him.

He will stay there as long as he thinks necessary, without eating, without drinking water, tormenting himself until he thinks he has purged all his ills.

[myfandomlikesandstories]

Successful! Llewyn Davis AU headcanons

Llewyn Davis x gn! reader

Genre: fluff, slight angst

Summary: what if Llewyn became a famous musician?

Warnings: mention of murder

Word count: 1088

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

It was just another slightly drunken, shitty night at the gaslight for Llewyn. Nearly empty bucket, scattered clapping that died out after a second. Except it wasn't. He didn't know it was the night that would change his life.

You were sitting in the audience. You weren't a regular at the gaslight, not at all, but tonight you were just craving a strong drink and company. The other bars in the neighborhood were too loud and bright for you that night, so you settled on the dim, depressing, "folk song playing" place.

You clapped politely for everyone, not listening, as you nursed your bitter drink and bitter mood. Until something caught your attention. A handsome (albeit a bit shabby) man with the voice of an angel, who you likened in your mind to a wet cat.

You didn't listen to the words he said. Not that you didn't try, but his voice awoke something within you. As a songwriter on a slump, you jumped the chance and started scribbling on a napkin from the table. Just whatever came to mind. Nothing would come of it anyway, but it's good for your writer's block.

When he left the stage, you downed the rest of your drink and hurried towards him. You slowed before he saw you, trying to maintain your cool.

"Davis, right?" You asked.

"Yeah," he answered and you extended your arm to him while introducing yourself. He shook it tentatively.

"Can I buy you a drink?"

Llewyn thought about it. He automated to say no, but reconsidered. He had nothing better to do, could definitely use that drink, and you looked pretty damn good. So he accepted.

After some conversation (he didn't remember anyone being that nice to him for a long time), you asked him what were his plans for the night. He told you that he was staying with a couple of friends, those Jim and Jean couple, and they happened to pass by.

Jim was nudged by Jean towards Llewyn and awkwardly told him that actually, he couldn't stay on their couch tonight. Jean made some plans. You could see Llewyn's face fall, and when Jim left he just stared downwards quietly, in embarrassment.

"Correction: I'm not staying with them tonight." He mumbled.

You took a deep breath. "You could stay with me, if you'd like. My boyfriend-" you cleared your throat, "Ex boyfriend, just moved out and took all his shit from the study with him. So I got an empty guest room." (Why were you doing this? He's a stranger for fuck's sake!)

He looked at you, surprised. A quick mental calculation showed he had no one else to turn to that night. What's the worst that could happen? You'd kill him? He'd been thinking of joining Mike anyway. So he accepted.

Suffice to say, you didn't murder him. A while has passed, and Llewyn has become your roommate, practically. Yeah, he couldn't help much with the rent, but he did make that up by cleaning a lot, which sometimes is even better.

(Also, it was the 60s, rent wasn't that fucking high. It was about less than half of what it is today.) ANYWAY

One day, while dusting around, Llewyn found a notebook of yours. He didn't mean to peek, it just fell open or something. It was your poetry and songwriting notebook. By the time you came back home he had composed 3 of the songs there and was flooding you with questions about the chorus of a fourth.

You never thought to show it to him, you were just writing to your drawer! They weren't even good, or complete! You wanted to snatch it away from his hands and tell him to forget about it, but you've never seen him so happy. So alive.

He begged you to let him take your songs to his agent. How could you say no to him? Especially to those puppy eyes.

His agent was glad to hear Llewyn has partnered up again. He heard him out, and set him up with some producer. Finally, Llewyn Davis seemed like a good enough investment. And that's how it started.

From then on, Llewyn's career blossomed. He recorded an album (didn't sell away the rights this time) and the money started flowing. He preformed in front of larger and larger audiences, and you were always at his side.

He often felt like he didn't deserve any of that. He was told, so many times, that he was absolute crap and he started to believe it. But you were there to remind him. He deserved the world. Little did you know the only thing he truly wanted to deserve was you.

You inspired each other, creating more music and flowing with good energy. It took him a while, but when he finally found the courage, finally deemed himself worthy, he took a risk.

He asked you out.

When you started laughing at him, Llewyn's heart dropped. He's fucked his life over, again, in the worst way possible. You're going to leave and everything will go down the drain.

"Of course!!!" You said. "I'd love to go out with you, I thought you'd never ask! But oh my god your face..." you giggled. He sighed in relief, clutching his chest. You came closed and hugged him. He held you very tightly, smiling at your laughter.

That night you shared your first (and long awaited) kiss. A few months later you put out an album very different than both your writing so far. It was passionate, sensual, romantic and warm. One of the songs from it became the hit of the decade, and was played at countless weddings. You thought it was a beautiful way to immortalise your love.

And your love was immortalised alright! With two rings, nonetheless. Your wedding was covered by every newspaper in the country. Llewyn didn't like the attention all that much, though.

His solution? Another, more quiet and private wedding. This one ended up being your real anniversary.

Ever since Llewyn started earning a reasonable income, he insisted on paying for everything. Doesn't matter that you both earned a significant amount from the music, and that you joined bank accounts. He wanted to thank you for all that time you took care of him. So no, lunch is on him. Finally being able to provide for you made him really happy and proud (not that you needed any help).

You were one of the only "celebrity couples" who were genuinely happy together. You truly, deeply, loved each other, and when things would become too much you would take a vacation. Just the two of you. As it always was.

Llewyn made it in life, that was all agreed upon. Yeah, he became a famous musician, but the only thing he cared about - was you.

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

No pressure tags:

@eyelessfaces @alwritey-aphrodite @my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction @romanarose @spider-starry

I hope you like it, everybody❤️

[boizandgurlzinthehouse]

𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐏𝐑𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑 ; 𝐧𝐢𝐤𝐤𝐢 𝐬𝐢𝐱𝐱 𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟏. 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟐.  𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟑. 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟒.

word count: 2.371k (i'm sorry 😭😭😭) trigger warning: swearing, kissing

the fact of preparing their first actual concert caused her goosebumps every time she thought about it. getting platformed high heels, faux fur coats and faux leather jackets, body painting and hairspray, it was fucking exciting for her. she and the boys made pictures, then cutting themselves out, y/n was the one who went to the press, where she could get thousands of posters. mick was the one who got the place, and they played the songs on every day of the week. sticking out posters with jessica's and the other girls' help, y/n ran around whole los angeles.

and now, here they were, minutes from stepping out to perform for the first time. drawing with her eyeliner, y/n looked at the others: tommy spinned his drumstick between his fingers, nikki was puffing his hair up on her side, mick played his guitar and vince stretched out the pants his girlfriend bought him.

"man, my girlfriend spent like, 8000 bucks on these leather pants. you like 'em?" he asked tommy.

"they're cool, bro."

"you say everything's cool, drummer." mick muttered, getting a nod from y/n. she turned away from the mirror, standing up in her platform high heels that give at least 6 inches to her height. all the boys begin to snicker, nikki whistled as she adjusted her black bodycon dress. y/n had red and black makeup, dusting her cheeks in highlighter.

"what the fuck are those, y/n?" vince asked, getting her attention. she turned in her shoes, striking a pose.

"these are my favorite shoes. i stole it from a shop, so i hope the owner or the cashier is not gonna be here tonight." she answered, testing that the heels weren't unstable.

"you look so mad girl, like a rocker barbie! could you do my eyes for the next time?"

"of course, toms."

"so you think there's gonna be anybody out there tonight?"

vince's question was the one that y/n was interested about too. she feared a little that it's gonna be a big disgrace, but they had only minutes, and she had a lot worse situations in her life.

"we put up enough fliers, i hope so."

"it's gonna be fine, guys." y/n added. "first concerts are always the most difficult ones, but we had rehearsals many, many times. whatever happens, we're here for each other, right?"

"that's right, princess." nikki answered her as he stood up, making y/n snicker. he wore red high heels, fucking red high heeled boots! "what's up?"

"you all were wondering about what i wear, but you wear fucking red high heeled boots too! what the fuck?"

"it's called style."

"no, it's called women footwear."

stepping out, her heartbeat began to increase as fast as a ferrari. there weren't many people, but maybe it was better. if the 'concert' is shit, then there's not any people to brag about it. okay, y/n, you just quit your job, you moved out and moved in with a junkie runaway, and you banded up with four guys for this shit. you aren't a slutty pole dancer from right now on, you're a fucking rock star.

"you all right?" mic asked her as she exhaled an inhaled, making her nod.

"yeah, yeah."

nikki taped the song list on of the speakers, scattered applause could be heard. vince tapped y/n's shoulder, as she walked in and took out the microphone from its stand.

"hello everybody! we're mötley crüe." she said, the lights coming onto her. tommy tried to drum some solo, but with too big drive, he accidentally knocked over one of the drums.

"fuck!" he muttered, hurrying to pick it up. some of the audience laughed at this, making y/n's blood pressure driving up. keep calm, keep calm, keep calm.

"come on!" nikki whispered to tommy turning around, getting a glance from y/n. this is his first actual concert, bloopers like this are fine. or so she thought. everybody was on the edge.

"you suck!"

"get off the stage!"

y/n spinned the microphone, pointing to the dudes who yelled these words.

"hey you two, fuck y'all! let's rock this hole!"

starting to play live wire, y/n almost forgot the bad comments, but she was wrong in her assumption that those assholes gonna stop.

"who's the chick singer? and the other chick?"

"she's the band-whore or can i fuck her too after the concert? because if yes, then i'll stay!"

wait wait wait, what the fuck did he just say? y/n stopped in her movements, looking at vince.

"fuck you, asshole." the blonde said, getting the buff guy with a beard spit on his jeans. those famous, white leather jeans.

y/n smirked as she saw vince getting off the stage. hell could break loose, because she's not gonna let some fuckers humiliate her neither.

as vince fell back, she got into the eyesight of the buff guy, but she saw from the corner of her eye that nikki was on the way, swinging his guitar. mick still played the song, and somehow this was just fucking funny. grabbing the microphone, she used the cable to swing into the other guy's face, the whole room filled with a sharp piping. before she could enjoy her first knock-out, someone grabbed her hair to hit her face, exactly her nose. it was just the edge of it, but still, it hurt like a bomb exploded on her face.

"how the fuck dare you hit her?" she heard nikki, getting into the fight, diverting a guy from her, so now, it was a one versus one. swiping off the blood, she got up, eluding a hit from the guy who hit her, she kicked with her fucking perfect shoes right into the middle of his crotch, getting him falling back, grabbing his dick with two hands. one guy hissed from the audience.

"how the fuck dare you to touch my hair?" as the guy stood up, she was ready to kick again, but one security guy hold her arms back, another trying to keep back the guy. as he tried to break out, y/n kicked him in the face from drive, a little blood falling on the floor. this got a bigger 'ow' from the audience.

"it's enough, chill out, lady!" the security guy told her, letting her go as he and the other tossed the guys out, she picked up the microphone that she used as a weapon. tommy just stopped beating the last guy, she stumbled back to vince and nikki. y/n didn't even noticed that everybody got silent while they were probably just doing things on their own way.

this was over. this was fucking cool, but seriously, who'd want to go to a band's concert that beats their audience, even if they're fucking assholes?

"FUCK YEAH, MÖTLEY CRÜE!" a guy yelled, breaking the silence, clapping as loud as he could. others began to clap too, and soon, the whole room echoed from the applause. she felt nikki's tap on her shoulder, singing her to get up to the stage again. with the microphone in her hand, she was happy that it still worked.

"you alright, y/n?" vince asked, making her turn to him, hugging her.

"oh, yeah, i'm fucking fine, and you?"

"everything's alright. your nose is bloody."

"again?" she asked disappointedly, trying to wipe the blood off with little to no success.

as they stood back, tommy began to play the drums, y/n looked at nikki. reaching out, he swiped off the blood from her nose, touching her lips while looking into her eyes. she wanted smudge the black paint on his face with her lips ad her fingers, it was fucking hot, and she felt her knees going weak a little bit. she only smiled, every sound was muffled by the guitar that mick played.

the concert was successful in the end, some people got in the bar through the concert. y/n made little gigs, she let vince spin her, shaking her body and throwing her hair like she was a vogue model, in her ridiculously high platformed heels, twisting the cable of the microphone around her arm.

after their third concert, y/n was blowing a cigarette as she talked with the people who went to mötley crüe's concert, and soon, she felt an arm around her shoulders.

"what's up, princess?" nikki asked from her, and in exchange, she let her took a drag from her cigarette as she took it to his mouth.

"nikki? oh my god, your riff was so cool! i loved it so fucking much!" the guy said, making y/n and nikki smile. "can i ask you something, guys?"

y/n furrowed her eyebrows, then shrugged her shoulders.

"you already did it, mate." she said, getting a slight laugh from the others who were listening to them.

"are you two a couple?"

"excuse me?" she asked, looking at nikki, who seemed at least as surprised as she, if not more.

"sorry, excuse me! just, like, you two just give off the energy."

at this, y/n choked on the smoke she just inhaled, coughing a little while nikki laughed.

"you hear that, princess? we seem like a couple." nikki said loudly, licking her hair, her temple wetted from his tongue.

"fuck you, sixx. you know, the problem is, that there's too much testosterone on the stage with those four boys."

"yeah, we can feel that! but you're like a rock angel, y/n, i don't have seen many good frontwomen, but you're cool. you fill up the stage with vince, and it's not like you're there because you're just a wannabe-rockstar chick, you act casually."

"thank you." y/n muttered, leaning into nikki. "but no, we're not a couple. that'd fuck up the band, i think."

going home, nikki nudged y/n's shoulder, y/n tossed on him in exchange. they were drunk, y/n could barely walk on her big heels, grabbing into his arms before this little gig.

"oh, really?" he said, spinning and pinning her to the phone booth. trying to move, she whined from the nikki's arm that didn't let her go, trying to sneak out from it, he shook his head, tutting. "what now, princess?" he asked.

"let me go." she whined, giggling, trying to toouch the ground with her legs. nikki was taller than her, and in her drunk state, she couldn't deny that it was really hot.

"for a kiss." looking at him, y/n smiled and looked away.

"nope."

"come on, just a little kiss."

the girl shrugged her shoulders the best she could, whispering in his ear. "i don't want to be your one-timer, nikki. i'm not in your band just to fuck with you, and if we want to do this, we have to do it proper."

"proper? what do you know about proper dating?" he pulled up his eyebrows.

"i just know that they didn't say that i'm your whore, they said that we look like a couple. don't make your fans disappointed, nikki."

"my fans? our fans. fuck them, i don't want to make you disappointed. i'm not good in relationships, i mostly had flings, so you can take my relationship-virginity."

"really? you want it? a relationships has boundaries and duties, are you ready for that?" she asked. she haven't felt ready either, but she loved to watch the wonder on nikki's face.

"i'm not sure... but you know what i'm sure about?" he spat the words, brushing their noses together, making her smirk and giggle again, she tried to bite him but he leaned away.

"what?"

"i'm sure that i want to give you everything."

y/n stopped in her motion, and for a moment, she got sober. did he really want to be in a relationship with her? come on, their band and their career basically just started, what if they break up in two weeks? if they really gonna make it, facing each other through long years is not gonna be easy.

"fuck, nikki." she muttered, tilting her forehead to his.

"fuck you, y/n, for not believing in me. what if i want to travel the world with you? to play in big stadiums, getting stupidly rich and high and have good sex? and of course, caring about each other, and all those lovey-dovey shit you girls like?" he said, brushing his lips against her forehead, then her cheeks, her nose, edging her. y/n's lips began to burn from lacking his lips on hers.

"i like that lovey-dovey shit." y/n answered, stroking his face.

"then i'll give it to you." he towered over her. "just say that you want it, that you want to be my girlfriend." nikki's whisper wandered around her mind. just say that you want it. i'll give it to you.

fuck, why not? y/n stroked nikki's face, smiling, and she felt that in seconds, a bomb's gonna explode.

"i want it, nikki."

nikki smiled, leaning closer to touch his lips with hers. grabbing the back of his neck, curling his black locks around her fingers, y/n bit into his lips.

"fuck, it's so crazy how you got me feel for you in fucking weeks." he muttered, trying to get her legs around her waist, but y/n tapped on his chest.

"stop, niks, i don't want to be on some handycam recorded sex-tapes that leaks out after we get famous." she muttered, making him laugh.

"me neither. only i get to see what's underneath these pretty clothes." he slapped her ass as they began to walk home. "can we continue this at home?"

y/n clicked with her tongue, holding onto his arm.

"i don't know... i need to shower first, the concert got me sweaty. and bloody, fuck."

"you were so fucking hot as you were fighting those guys."

"were i good?" she asked, leaning her head onto his arm.

"you were amazing, baby. you kicked out at least two of that asshole's teeth." nikki replied, making her giggle. "did you learn this at the orphanage?"

"i learned it in life. but orphanage was hard as hell, too."

"but now you are in perfect hands. well, not perfect, but pretty good hands."

"your hands?" y/n looked up, smiling as she brushed her nose against his jawline.

"my hands." nikki nodded, kissing her.

a/n: i know it's short, but i got a lot of work )): hope u don't mind. see u in the next chapter!!

taglist: @xamapolax

[yenich]

while I'm makinh something for you for October, here's some info on my au :)

this time we'll talk a little bit about Fishlegs...

as was said before, Fishlegs moved to Berk when he was 15 or so (everyone else has lived there since birth)

The Ingerman family moved because of a simple reason: father's job (who is into the same science field as Valka, by the way (which one, I will keep silent for now))

Fishlegs' mom is a pediatric doctor

So, the old life is behind, there is a lot of new and unknown ahead

Neighbors, school, classmates... sounds stressful)

However, Ingerman was lucky, as Astrid hurried to the rescue of the "newcomer"

The girl hurried to get acquainted with Fishlegs and helped him at the initial stage of "adaptation" in a new place)

...

When I watched the 3rd part, I noticed a lot of characteristics of a good chief from Astrid

I even had thoughts that in the end she would hold the post of the chief either by herself or with Hiccup (she deals with people, Hiccup with dragons)

But it didn't work out)

However, I liked this idea, so i transferred it to my au

Astrid is always ready to help the residents of Berk and is in a very good account with her neighbors)

thanks for reading :)

[hotxcheeto]

Hi! Hope your day is great!

Could you please write a reader(either having a crush or best friends with Vi) that is a rebellious rockstar (are there electric guitars in Arcane I don't remember) that is trying to expose Silco and get back Jinx by informing and rallying the people with her music. When Vi gets out of prison and looks for her sister she comes across the reader's live concert and spots some of Silco's goons attempting to cause an "accident" and tries to intervene.

Thanks for the fics I love every one of them!

━ 𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒

𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜(𝙨) - Vi x G/N!Reader

𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 - Cursing

𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 ? - Yeah/Nope

𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧'𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙚 - honestly i'm not sure how much longer i will keep writing for arcane, i'm just not as passionate in the fandom as i used to be nor do i really find passion in writing for it anymore and i think that it's really showing in my writing and i don't want that to be the case nor do i want to disappoint people who love these fics. i will be finishing the rest of the requests i have for it, but from then, i am questioning continuing with it. thank you so much for requesting and i love that you love my fics!!

The music was at an ungodly volume that made Vi's head spin, walking through the crowds of people. The floods that Jinx neglected to warn her of when she'd told her where you were.

People were singing and screaming out the lyrics to the song that flooded through the speakers, the sounds of the instruments couldn't even attempt to drown out the person singing. They were much too strong.

Her mind was dazed at the thought of seeing you again. Wondering what you looked like now, if you'd stayed single or moved on with your life. If you missed her or not. Maybe you'd forgotten all about her.

No, that was stupid, she thought. You wouldn't forget her.

But what if you had? What if you locked eyes with the stranger that Vi had become and didn't recognize her at all? She was nobody to you anymore.

Vi nearly fought a few people trying to get through, fighting her thoughts at the same time before coming across a man that nearly made her trip. His face. She'd seen that face before. From where though was the question until her eyes shifted and another one that made the picture more clear, he'd caught her attention, waiting just near the stage.

He was the only one not singing, dancing or even smiling. Staring dead at the performers with his hand in his jacket.

Yeah, that face, she knew that face.

He'd been in the cell right next to hers.

She'd never forget, not when she'd smashed it in over a month ago.

He kissed Silco's ass, hardcore, and she doubted that he'd even been conscious enough to know who was beating his ass for talking shit. The scrawny little man had no idea who Silco truly was, or at least Vi had claimed so. The man disagreed.

Vi walked over to the guy, not even paying attention to the singing anymore, instead focused on him with tunnel vision so strong she was sure she'd never been more focused in her life.

He noticed it as well, finally tearing his eyes away from the singer and all the action to look over at the tall, muscular girl coming right at him. And something about that, Vi guessed, was intimidating.

But his eyes, his eyes told her that he knew exactly who she was.

His hand fell out of his jacket and he hurried right past her, even bumping her shoulder on the way. She just stared, stared at his back disappearing into the crowd of sweaty bodies that had now gone still.

That's when the realization that the music had stopped, there were cheers, but that was all. No strumming or drum hitting. Nothing.

She wondered if she imagined it.

"Vi?" She turned, eyebrows furrowed, seeing you standing there in a dramatic outfit with a powered down microphone in your hand.

"What the fuck?" Was the last thing that came out of your mouth before she hugged you. Your hands not moving from their place until your mind had caught up with the rest of you, your arms hugging her back.

"What're you doing here? How- you- you're alive? I mean, I heard rumors but... holy fuck."

"I swear I can explain it all." She said out of breath, despite not moving. Tears welled in her eyes and a choked tone that began to become more gravelly the more she leaned into your touch.

She could tell you were crying too. You were just better at keeping in.

"Was it you singing?" Vi pulled back, wiping her face as nonchalant as possible. "Yeah... it's more of a front than anything. Keeps a lot of heat off me but also... it makes it easier to do what's needed when people really like you."

Her eyebrows furrowed but you didn't elaborate, though from what Echo had told her about you and him trying to find a way to be rid of a certain old fuck, she guessed you'd need as much support as possible.

The guy might've been ancient looking, but he was no fool.

"So... singing?" You nodded at her question, gesturing to your friends. "These are my bandmates," they waved while continuing to pack equipment, in her haze, Vi barely even had noticed them take the same stage exit as you.

"..they were Echo's friends first." You joked, wiping away your own relief and sadness from your cheeks. "But they liked me."

"Who wouldn't?" She said before she could stop herself, looking you up and down once more trying to take in the fact you weren't the same kid she'd left behind. Or a kid at all.

"Hm, glad to see you're still a flirt." She watched you smile, the same smile you'd give her years go. "Some things never change."

There was an awkward, emotional silence between you both for a moment. Neither sure what to say.

"So..." You began. "Wanna get out of here?"

She nodded.

"That'd be nice."

[starfall-spirit]

Summary: Liam and Deigh survived, but only just. So close to meeting Malek, trepidatious feelings begin to bloom from all sides of the trio.

AN: SFW, a little angsty, and a quick write with no editing. Enjoy.

Read on Ao3

Violet

Someone had driven nails into her skull while she was sleeping. That, or she just had the worst fucking headache of her life. Fighting past that pain, she began assessing the deep ache in her muscles, every one from head to toe. All pain aside, it was the bone-deep exhaustion that kept her from trying to open her eyes and process her surroundings. Unfortunitely, all that did was clear sleep's fog from her mind, making room for her recent memories to surface.

Venin.

Wyvern.

Liam.

"Liam."

"Alive. Just barely." A warm hand wrapped around hers. Xaden. "He's in the next room. He made it, Vi."

At that she forced her eyes open, taking in the set of his mouth, his furrowed brow, and the soul-deep worry in his eyes. Eyes that had yielded so little in the time they'd known each other. She and Liam had started to change that, cracking his mask. "Liam's okay." She let out a heavy sob. "Deigh made it. Thank Dunne."

"It'll be a slow flight to Basgiath, but Malek hasn't claimed them yet."

The mention of flying had her reaching down her own bonds, searching for those two threads in her mental archives. "We are fine. There is no need for concern."

Still, Violet frowned. "Andarna?"

"She sleeps. And will continue to do so, entering her Dreamless Sleep. She has reached adolescence," he almost grumbled. "You should be in no hurry for her to wake, Silver One. Focus on your partners. And eat something, or I'll tell Sgaeyl's human to make you."

She huffed, but didn't protest, knowing her stomach was on the verge of announcing it's empty state regardless. Besides, she had other bones to pick at the moment. "How long has this been going on?"

Xaden swallowed. Long before they met, then. Still, his secrecy stung. "I told you I had secrets. If I had said something..." Not knowing what Dain had read beyond Athebyne, the logical side of her understood. Emotions shouldn't have a place in this discussion—No. They had moved past the no emotions and feelings stage out on the parapet. She had every right to be hurt by this. "It's clear the second and third years know what you're doing. Liam?"

She saw it. The flicker of hesitation. The urge to cover his brother's mistakes. "Not everything."

Violet swallowed. "I'm going to see him."

"Violet."

"Believe me, Xaden, this conversation is far from over. But I need space. And I need to see he's still breathing."

Forcing her legs under her, she trudged out to the hall, pushing open the cracked door beside hers—Xaden's she supposed. Bodhi's head jerked up from the book resting in his lap. "Well, welcome back." His lips tugged into something that could almost be called a smirk. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you look like death warmed over, mended or not."

"Gee, you must get all the ladies with lines like that. I just need a shower, but..." He nodded, face solemn once more. "Has he woken up yet?"

"Twice, though not for long. The toll on his dragon was heavy. In turn, Liam needs rest too. He'll come out of this just fine, Violet."

"Will he? Will any of us? Soleil won't just be a random name on the death role when we get back to the college, Bodhi." He flinched at that. "I'm sorry. That was cruel."

"It was honest. I'll leave you be."

The door snicked shut behind him, leaving Violet with only her own wild thoughts and Liam's breathing. Stepping forward, she let herself take in the color in his face. The exposed skin of his arms and face bare of any wounds. The rise and fall of his broad chest. Steady. Level. He was alive. "Thank Dunne," she repeated.

And with her relief another memory wriggled forward.

It's been. My honor. I love you, Violet. Another sob clogged her parched throat as she slumped into the chair beside the bed, still warm from Bodhi's natural body heat. People say crazy things on death's door. Had he even meant it? More than that, did she want him to? They're relationship had hardly begun, and now knowing he had hid things from her too. How was she meant to love two men she couldn't trust?

The fact remained, she did. Hurt as she was, part of her wanted—longed for a future with Xaden and Liam in it. If they lived, that is. She couldn't be sure she'd see her next birthday with Venin to worry about. Hell, she wasn't sure she'd see Xaden and Garrick graduate before they were killed without question by their own leadership. "Fuck," she hissed.

"Welcome to my world," Xaden said from behind her. The thud of his boots was near silent as he came to stand in front of her, offering a sturdy tray that held a bowl of stew, hot bread, and a glass of water. "You're no good to him wasting away."

"I told you I wanted space," she growled. "Here you are ten minutes later."

"I'll give you all the time you need. After that bowl of stew is in you." Huffing, she gulped down half of the cool water before taking the spoon and scooping up a slice of carrot and broth. "He said something to you before he passed out."

She took another bite, sighing as her headache already began to dull. Despite how open their relationship was among one another, saying those words to Xaden seemed a daunting task. He hadn't shown the slightest tension since their first night as a triad. Yet she hesitated. "He said he was honored to be my friend and shadow. And that he loved me."

"Meant. Every. Word." She jumped, stew sloshing onto the tray before she set it aside to scramble out of the chair and onto the bed. "Xaden can take me to the mat in a day or two if he's got a problem with it." If he had another quip for their wingleader, Violet quickly silenced it, throwing her leg over his waist to straddle him, claiming his mouth in a desperate kiss. She started to pull away when he flinched at her movement, but the pain had either faded, or Liam had deemed it worth suffering if it kept her mouth on his. "Vi," he breathed, flexing his hands around her waist.

"I am so fucking pissed at you both. But that can wait." Taking a deep, shuttering breath, she pressed her forehead to his. "I love you, Liam. As first my friend, now my partner. I love you."

He stroked his thumb along her bottom lip, a slow smile claiming his mouth. "Good."

Looking back to Xaden, she found only contentment in his eyes. They had many broken pieces to pick up, but they also had something precious. Something worth fighting for.

[madiomens]

Just Pretend [n.s.]

Chapter Nine

It's as if the more sex Noah and I have the more possessive he gets.

Almost the entire show the next night I could feel his stare on the side of my face as I worked. Anytime a crowd surfer got close to hitting me when going over the barricade his voice would waver as he sang until he knew I was ok.

Not that I'm complaining or anything. It's hot.

After the show we had to break down the equipment and load it before going back to the Airbnb to pack our stuff and head to the airport so we could make it to The UK. The packing the Airbnb part took a little longer than planned when Noah fucked the life out of me on the bathroom counter while the guys packed the house.

Once again, not that I'm complaining or anything.

It was just an hour long flight, for which we slept all of, and we landed in London at 6 AM after sitting in the airport for three hours. We had another Airbnb for the four days we would be here and had early check in so we went straight to the house to unload everything and knock out for some hours. 

Around 1 PM we all emerged from our rooms still groggy with stomachs growling to try and search for some food. The Airbnb provided some snacks and groceries so Noah and I whipped up more "family noodles" as they called it. We sat around the large couch silently munching on the food and trying to wake up more so we could go by the venue to begin setting up for the shows there.

Our bedrooms weren't connected with bathrooms unlike the other Airbnb so I made my way to the bathroom in the hall to take a quick body shower from sleeping and traveling. I went to close the door when Noah's tattooed hand stopped it so he could slide in with me. My eyes widened as he shut the door behind him and I grabbed his arm.

"Noah, this is not our bathroom anymore. They'll see us leave together." I whispered.

He shrugged. "We will just tell them I had to pee or something."

"When there's three other bathrooms?" I said deadpan.

He nodded. "Or," he started, slowly placing his hands on my waist. "we could tell them we were having hot passionate sex in the shower."

I snorted a laugh and wrapped my arms around his waist. "Not happening. We have thirty minutes before we have to leave and I need an actual shower." I said through quiet laughter as he attacked my neck.

He groaned against my shoulder and picked his head up to drop it backwards against the door, causing me to chuckle at him. "Hey." I said, raising my hand to put on his cheek and causing him to look down at me. "Come here, you needy man." I said, pulling his face down to mine.

He placed his hands on my cheeks as our lips met, slowly moving against each other's. I pulled away and met his eyes with my own, bringing a hand up to rub his cheek. "You are something else." I said with a breathy laugh.

"I think you like me, though." He said with his own breathy laugh.

I shrugged. "You're alright." He dramatically gasped as I pulled away to start the shower, causing me to laugh as I started taking my clothes off. "If you can behave I'll let you shower with me."

I couldn't even finish my sentence before he was stripping his clothes off as well before hurrying to me and picking me up once I was naked, causing me to smack my hand over my mouth to quieten the laugh that escaped me. 

The shower consisted of me swatting his hand away from my ass and boobs, bribing him with being able to wash my body if it meant we were on time to the venue. We rushed to dry off and get dressed before preparing to head out with the rest of the guys. This show doesn't have VIP but the guys do perform tonight so we had to rush to set up. I grabbed my makeup and my concert clothes, stuffing them in a bag and deciding to let my hair dry into its natural waves before we were heading out of the house and into the van.

We pulled up to the venue and greeted some of the fans before we rushed inside to set up the stage and do a soundcheck. Matt and everyone else had already begun setting up so we jumped in to help finish everything. While the boys did a soundcheck I sat criss cross on one of the boxes and started doing my makeup, swaying back and forth to the songs they were singing. I finished up my makeup and headed backstage to change as they wrapped up their singing, joining me backstage so they could also change. I quickly pulled on my clothes and put my hair into two buns on top of my head.

"How cute are you." Folio said as I walked out of the bathroom.

I laughed and did a dramatic spin. "Why, thank you kind sir."

Noah walked around the corner wrapping his hands and lifted his head to look at me, pausing his actions."Hi, Maddie."

The corner of my mouth twitched. "Hi, Noah."

"You look good." He said, eyes roaming over my body even though my oversized flannel covered most of it. I tend to wear flowy items on my top to cover my stomach.

I chewed on my lip to hide a smirk. "Thank you. Need some help with that?" I questioned, gesturing to his hand wraps.

He smirked. "You know how to wrap hands?"

I cocked a brow at him and walked up to continue wrapping the hand he was working on. "Can't be much different than wrapping a sprain."

I noticed him watching me intently from my peripheral vision and I cleared my throat to get my focus back, forcing myself not to look up at him. I secured the wrap and put my hand out for his other hand, making the mistake of meeting his eyes with my own. I swallowed as a jolt shot through me at the intensity of his gaze. My fingers grazed the back of his hand as I began to wrap it, not breaking our eye contact. I worked off muscle memory of the many wraps I'd done while working in the ER as his gaze darkened more the longer we held eye contact. A camera flash broke my eye contact and I blinked harshly, not realizing how dry my eyes had gotten. 

I looked over at Bryan who was grinning at his camera. "You two are about to break the internet with this picture. Even more so than the ones I posted of Maddie."

He brought the camera over as I quickly finished Noah's last wrap, giving his hand a slight squeeze before dropping it. Bryan turned the screen around to show us the picture he took. Noah and I were intently staring at each other as I cradled his hand in mine, the tension surrounding us jumping through the screen.

"Hot." Folio said as he poked his head between us to look at the picture. "Maddie, your eye contact is enough to make a person sweat."

I laughed and bumped his shoulder with mine before turning around to grab my perfume out of my bag and spray a couple spritz's, taking the time to take a slow deep breath to calm down my heartbeat. I fastened my bag and walked over to the guys to wish them luck for the show. They all gave me hugs, Folio picking me up off the ground and causing me to laugh. He set me down and pat my head before I turned to Noah, wrapping my arms around his waist for a hug. He wrapped his arms around me tightly, resting his chin on the top of my head as his scent engulfed me. I took a deep breath through my nose, taking in as much of his cologne as I could and holding him tightly a big longer than I did the other guys before forcing myself to pull away. He looked as if he didn't want the hug to end either when I looked up at him. 

I reached up and pinched his chin with a grin. "Good luck out there."

He grinned down at me. "You too. Be safe. Watch out for crowd surfers and drunk idiots."

"You kidding me? That's a normal shift in the ER." I said with a chuckle.

He laughed and squeezed my shoulder before I turned away and make my way in front of the barricade. I smiled at the security guards standing around before checking on everyone at the barricade as the room filled up. A few girls asked to take pictures with me and I happily obliged, still not used to people asking me for pictures. It's funny to me. The tour nurse getting thrown into pictures just because I know the band.

The opening acts performed without a hitch and before I knew it, the crowd was deafeningly loud as the boys began walking onto stage. They made it to the brief intermission and I made my way across the barricade, handing out waters and cool packs to whoever needed them. The boys began filing back onto stage as I handed out another water, grinning and clapping with everyone. 

A girl was fanning herself with her poster a couple people down from me so I made my way over to her to see if she needed a water or cool pack. "Hi! Care for some water?" I questioned, holding the bottle up.

She looked me up and down with disgust. "Get out of my way, you fat pig. I can't see."

I cocked a brow at her as people surrounding us began to exclaim in protest at her words.

"Hey!" Noah's voice shouted over the mic, causing me to jump and turn to face him. "If you think you can treat Maddie like that and get to stay at our show then you are mistaken. Who the fuck do you think you are?" He said angrily into the mic. The girl's face drained of color as she stared up at him, stuttering over her words. "Get her the fuck out of here." He said to security, crouching down so he could stare the girl down until she was escorted out. The crowd cheered around us as she was removed, the people at the barricade apologizing for something that wasn't their fault.

I laughed and nodded at them, the rude girls words not fazing me one bit. Noah jumped down off the boxes in front of the stage to stand in front of me. "You okay?" He said, rage on his face. 

I nodded and pat his chest. "Nothing I haven't been called before." I said with a grin. He shook his head and clenched his jaw, anger still seeping out of his pores. "Hey," I said, getting him to look in my eyes. "I'm fine. Promise. Now get back to your show." I said, reaching around and smacking his ass, causing everyone around us to laugh.

He nodded and hopped back up on stage, grabbing his mic stand to place it in front of him. "If anyone has anything else to say to Maddie that isn't respectful, feel free to go through me. I don't put up with that shit." He said, the crowd cheering at his words.

I chuckled and shook my head at him before making my way back to the box I normally sit on. The rest of the show went off without a hitch and I took a couple more pictures with people before walking backstage to meet the guys. I was instantly tackled with a sweaty group hug, causing my nose to scrunch up at the smell of them.

"You guys smell like shit." I said through laughter as they rubbed their sweaty bodies dramatically on me.

"You should've socked that girl in the face." Folio said, causing Nicholas and Jolly to agree as they pulled away from the hug.

I laughed. "If I punched every catty girl in the face anytime they were rude to me then I would never stop punching people. It's hard to hurt my feelings."

The guys kept shoveling out the possible scenarios of me kicking that girls ass as I roamed my eyes around the room, looking for Noah. I noticed the bathroom light was on and the door was cracked so I made my way over to it, softly knocking. I pushed it open to see Noah bracing himself on the sink, hanging his head and staring at his hands. I turned around to make sure the guys were still preoccupied before slipping in behind him and firmly shutting the door. He lifted his head up to look at me through the mirror before his eyes widened and he quickly turned around, placing his hands on my cheeks.

"I am so sorry about earlier. I promise not all of our fans are like that. You should've punched the twit in her face." He rushed out, eyes roaming over my face.

I laughed and placed my hands on his. "I promise I'm fine. That's the first rude fan of many nice ones I've met. And definitely not the worst thing I've been called in my life."

He sighed deeply, closing his eyes and calming his anger down. I placed my hands on his cheeks and watched his face as it softened under my touch, a soft smile appearing on my own face. I'd never had a man stick up for me as much as he did tonight.

His eyes slowly opened to meet mine, my smile widened. "You like me." I teased.

His face instantly turned red as he turned around so his back was to me. "Shut up."

I laughed and pat his back before grabbing his hand to turn him back around. I reached up to pull his face down to mine, placing my lips on his in a soft kiss before pulling away and smiling at him.

"It's okay, I might like you too."

[5mind]

[ cw for body horror, corpses, faked suicide ]

It was not unheard of for a newcomer, especially those who showed much promise, to get their corpse done. Sometimes, a simple dissapearance wasn't enough. For some, 'proof' of their death was necessary to sell the act.

But really, Antares suspected that more than anything it was just an extension of the rite of passage that was casting aside one's old life. He never had his corpse done though. He used to be a promising agent but not that promising. Plus, he didn't need to. By the time he decided to fully commit to being Antares, he had already tied up any loose ends.

In his opinion, it was enough to be considered legally dead.

All that aside, there's a reason he's at the mortician's right now. And that reason was in the bright blue ice box he was carrying.

He stopped at a nondescript door with labelled 'Prep Room'. Beneath the sign stating its designation was another one that read 'Unauthorized access not allowed'. Quite frankly, he doubted even someone with authorized access would willingly go in there. Aside from one person, that is. And that person was not him.

Antares knocked on the door. No respone. He knocked again.

"Come in." The voice was barely audible from outside. "It's not locked."

Antares sighed deeply and stepped into a room uniformly flooded with ankle-deep water. Humidity hung thick in the stagnant air. In the middle of the room, stood an autopsy table. And by that table, stood Chimaere.

'Mortician' was a loose term to describe what Chimaere did. He certainly was preparing corpses, alright. Specifically, he altered corpses no one would miss (be it parts of them or whole bodies) into looking like whoever his current client was. Often in varying stages of decomposition and/or physical damage.

Antares glanced at the body on the table. He recognised that face - he'd walked right past it just 15 minutes ago. He's pretty sure Chimaere had collaborated for this.

The next thing he noticed was that the corpse was entirely intact.

"Requested cause of death?" He couldn't help but ask as he set down the ice box he had been carrying on a relatively dry counter. Whatever it was he had been tasked with delivering was not needed for the procedure.

It was payment.

"Asphyxiation. Suicide." The mortician finally turned to look at Antares. Or was he looking at the ice box? Hard to tell through the moisture that had settled on his glasses (how was he even seeing through that?!). He smiled. Antares didn't feel like smiling back but by god did he try.

Unlike the bodies he often had to put together, the handiwork of Chimaere's body was less than perfect. In fact, it was distractingly clear that he was almost entirely composed of different bits and pieces fused into each other. And yes that included the cloak of flesh that hung off his shoulders like a quilt blanket. Assimilation was what they called Chimaere's ability. And the mortician was obsessed with it.

Antares supposed whatever was in the icebox would eventually be a part of the mortician. Thank god he didn't open to take a peek. He had no interest in the details.

Okay, he did. He just didn't want to look into it.

"Uh...right. I'll just leave this here then. The rest of the payment will be sent to your account once you're done." Without the helmet on, it was clear that Antares was trying to look at anywhere except the man he was talking to.

Chimaere nodded.

"So...uh...I'll leave you to your work?"

Chimaere opened his mouth as if to speak but did not so Antares turned to leave.

"Can you stay?"

"What?" Antares turned back.

"The body..is going to be difficult to move on my own." A transparent lie. Antares had seen the other man haul bodies like they were nothing.

"Uh huh...I'm kinda in a hurry though." Yeah, in a hurry to get out of here before the smell of chemicals and milddew sticks to his clothes for good. "Sorry. Maybe next time."

Maybe if they were somewhere else. Maybe. Just not in here. He could feel water seep into a hole in his boot that he never realised was there. Gross.

[sunshine-overload]

[BSTS] Zakuro S5Ch6 Reward 5* Card Story

chapter 1 -starless office-

aogiri: Maybe I should gather this part together more...

-zakuro enters room-

-cg

zakuro: My apologies for interrupting your work. I have a message from Mokuren to pass on to you.

aogiri: Could it be it's time for us to switch out in rehearsals?

zakuro: Indeed, Indeed. Flawless assumption. In regards to you and your costumes alike our leader truly is exposing their demon-like tendencies.

aogiri: Frightening, isn't it?

zakuro: My my, you appear so unbothered. Are you this composed whilst face to face with a demon general? From my standpoint this is no laughing matter however. If you don't hurry along you may end up receiving one mighty kick.

aogiri: I understand, I'd just like to sew here for a little bit longer.

zakuro: I see, I see. Such a kind and humble working manner. To the point I feel even I could let out a sigh of admiration. It's no wonder you bring Mokuren's domineering nature forth.

aogiri: What do you mean...?

zakuro: Seeing you now, if this is your true self then it makes the form you take when you stand upon the stage seem fake. You’ve even ended up in a versus with me, it's as if you've been swept into a whirlwind the moment you arrived here.

aogiri: I'd be lying if I said I wasn't shocked at these developments. Has Starless always been this kind of place?

zakuro: Indeed, Indeed.

aogiri: Although it was in accordance with our leader's wishes, for me who had just joined as an understudy to participate in a versus... I must admit it was quite discourteous of me.

zakuro: Oh no, don’t worry about it, I have no intentions to object what has already been decided. All I must do is sing in the same tune, rhythm and melody as per usual—

-zakuro looks serious-

zakuro: ...Hm.

aogiri: Is something the matter?

zakuro: ...How mysterious, I do not know the source of this feeling. 'Something' is trying to surface itself in my heart however it's as if a dam is blocking it...

-zakuro leaves-

aogiri: ...Perhaps he wasn't feeling well. Well then, I should get going too.

—end

-

chapter 2 -break room-

kasumi: I've gotten used to this new costume~

aogiri: When you're actually on stage performing is it comfortable?

mokuren: I don't have any complaints.

qu: I think they're perfect.

aogiri: I'm relieved to hear that. The company that Starless commissions to make their outfits is of excellent quality. They brought my vision to life fully. They provided advice about the costume’s specifications based on my drawings... I've learnt a whole lot. Thanks to their help I think I have managed to produce something that I am satisfied with. If any issues in your ability to move in them arise, please let me know right away. I'll fix them up.

qu: Sure thing.

hari: By the way, it may be strange to ask this now but, how many of Starless' shows have you seen, Aogiri?

aogiri: Ah, regrettably I hadn’t seen any before I arrived here.

kasumi: Huh? Are you kidding? You seem to know so much about Starless I thought for sure you'd seen a whole bunch.

hari: I had thought the same. You understood the brief for the test immediately so I figured that must be the case...

aogiri: It must be thanks to the fact I was given old materials to study. I looked at the costumes of course, as well as all of the available videos of past performances.

kasumi: I see~

aogiri: I have no plans to design such important costumes without any previous knowledge or context.

qu: Still, having to review materials, design and also train in such a short time frame must've been really tough.

aogiri: Well... If I were to make an honest confession, it was a ton of fun. To the point I forgot it was even a job.

kasumi: Resilient, isn't he~

hari: Yes, I think he's very strong mentally.

qu: Are you sure you two should be saying that?

mokuren: Pour that concentration of yours into the stage next. I will not forgive any slacking.

aogiri: Yes, of course.

—end

-

chapter 3 -rehearsal room-

zakuro: —♪ (singing drowning butterfly)

-mokuren enters room-

mokuren: ...What's on your mind?

zakuro: My my, asking me that the moment I looked your way. As you can see I am putting my heart into singing.

mokuren: Your singing is different this time compared to before.

zakuro: What a strange thing to say. To sing each song the same way without the slightest difference. An eternal copy made possible by being an empty shell. I am fully aware that is what you wish of me.

mokuren: This nonsense again? When you said that same thing last time you put the blame on me. However I won't be fooled this time.

zakuro: Oh...?

mokuren: You can sense it too, can’t you?

zakuro: So... Are you trying to tell me that my singing is unsatisfactory?

mokuren: Wrong. What's changed this time is you yourself. I'm telling you to realise that and accept it.

zakuro: Your words keep growing more and more mysterious. Provide the songs as necessary, no more, no less. I wouldn't think someone like you who wishes for that would allow me to change.

mokuren: I'm not saying you shouldn't change. Rather, because of this I've been able to put more passion into my dance each time we've performed.

zakuro: Hm... I'm at a loss for words.

-time pass, street, evening-

zakuro: Oh my, could it be a little bird that I see over there?

-he walks up to saki-

saki: Hello, Zakuro-san. Good work today.

zakuro: Running into you here must be the work of fate. If I may, there is something I'd like to ask you. How does my singing voice sound to your ears?

saki: You mean in todays show? You sounded wonderful.

zakuro: I see, I see. And would you say it was different to how I've been singing up until now?

saki: Hm...?

zakuro: If my singing has changed compared to how it was before then... I wanted to know how I looked in your eyes.

saki: Even if it was slightly different like you're saying, I still thought that it was wonderful.

zakuro: (gasp) ...My oh my. It feels as if a dim flame has taken alight within my chest. You truly are my little bird of destiny. Allow me to make you a promise right here. I promise that with this voice of mine I shall claim victory for you.

—end

-

chapter 4 -outside the front of starless, night-

zakuro: My oh my, little bird of destiny. What a lovely place to run into you.

saki: Hello, Zakuro-san.

zakuro: It appears you're about to make your way home, however if you have the time, would you like to take a stroll with me? I will not delay you for long of course.

saki: Sure.

-time pass-

-picture of the night sky-

zakuro: Oh my, the sky tonight is even clearer than yesterday. You can even see the most distant of stars softly twinkling.

saki: It's so pretty isn't it.

saki: (Zakuro-san seems to be in a good mood today. It’s probably because he's happy he won the versus, right?)

-park, night-

zakuro: Oh my, it feels as though your innocent eyes are looking right through me. Is something on your mind?

saki: No, it's just... Congratulations again, Zakuro-san.

zakuro: Hm...? Ohh, I see, I see. You must be saying that because of the result of the versus, yes?

saki: (Huh...?)

zakuro: Thank you for your kind words. There is no greater honour than receiving congratulations from you. This victory was thanks to your support, allow me to express my gratitude to you once more.

saki: Oh no, I didn't do much... But, if I was helpful then I'm glad.

zakuro: In saying that, I am very sorry for having caused you any unnecessary worry during this versus.

saki: It's ok...

zakuro: Please be at ease. Because from here on out I shall not cause your heart anymore worry. I will carry out what it is that I must do.

saki: Um... Well, I'll keep supporting you then.

zakuro: Indeed, indeed. I shall make a vow to you too. That I will get them back no matter what. Both mine and your true starlight, that is.

—end