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nehswritesstuffs · 2 years ago

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fly little seagull, the world awaits - Part 5 of 5

Okay, NOW I promise we’re done, lol. I have actually two different endings for this, but the first I wrote less than a day before I read ch 1079, which then screwed it up, so you have this one now instead ahahaha I’ll also let y’all figure out for yourself what got written before and after I read 1081 last week (more before than what you might think), so... enjoy!

Chapter 1 on [tumblr] - [FFN] - [AO3]

Chapter 2 on [tumblr] - [FFN] - [AO3]

Chapter 3 on [tumblr] - [FFN] - [AO3]

Chapter 4 on [tumblr] - [FFN] - [AO3]

Onigashima shall rise and fall. A boy shall become a man. Friends shall part ways. A certain legacy shall come full-circle despite the need to be broken. [14,616 words; AU where history repeats itself in the worst way]

It had not been long and Nauja was beginning to deeply regret her decision to sneak onto Onigashima. Tengu-ya had been extremely angry when they had left and she was beginning to understand why. She didn’t have a Devil Fruit ability like Tama or Momonosuke—only her knife—and things were already pretty hairy. There was not a familiar face around as she and Tama wandered around the chaos; most of the people running by them were Beast Pirates and other lackeys of Kaidou and Orochi.

“Okay, let’s split up,” Tama decided. They were both riding on Komachiyo, having snuck off Speed’s ship when no one was looking. “We can cover more ground that way.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“We’re here as samurai—we need to find our units,” the junior kunoichi reasoned. “Your father and his men should be around somewhere, while I have to find the Straw Hats and distribute these dango.”

“Makes sense, I guess,” Nauja nodded. She and Tama high-fived before she slid off Komachiyo’s back. “Let’s do this!”

“Right!” Tama rode off speedily, while Nauja crept about in the shadows, trying to not be seen by the large amount of adults that were wandering about. Some of them were engaged in fighting, while others were simply going to and from different stations. She eventually found a large alcove where she could catch her breath without anyone around, glad for the breather. Her dirk was already getting heavy against her wrists and she wasn’t anywhere near a member of the crew.

“…a child…?” a voice marveled. Nauja jumped nearly out of her skin and turned around, raising her knife in defense. There, she saw a strange blond man standing there, his expression unreadable, but there was no mistaking him for any of the other bounty posters she had been quizzed on. “What is a child doing here…?”

“What do you want with me, Basil Hawkins?!” she snapped. Instead of answering her directly, he brought out his tarot cards, the bits of paper hanging in the air.

“A Paradise accent tempered by a conspicuous Northern lilt,” he said, swishing the cards around. “Approximately seven or eight years old, accurate identification of other pirates, bladed weapon, very short hair, yellow and black hearts on her lavender yukata, a Sora backpack and matching charm on her weapon’s sheath… probability of being a certain Supernova surgeon’s natural child or ward… ninety-seven-point-two-six percent.” Nauja shivered and a chilling smile crept onto his face. “I was correct.”

“Get lost, you creep.”

“On the contrary: I think I found my way to get back on Kaidou’s good side,” Hawkins observed. “With this offering, I might survive that much longer.” He held out his hand. “Come, child, I shall bring you to safety. All this fighting must be scary…”

“No,” she snapped. Her dirk wavered in her hands. “You said Kaidou—I can’t trust you.”

“He’s not necessarily interested in you, child, but your father,” he said. “You’re worth more to him alive, trust me on that at the very least.”

“I won’t go with you!”

“Do not make me use force—I do still have some respect for your father, after all.”

“Then don’t you dare touch her!”

Out of seemingly nowhere, a large rock seemed to teleport itself to slam into Hawkins, which he had to create a straw shield to defend against. When he brushed aside the rubble, he saw Law had slid onto the scene, looking rather worse for wear as he knelt down and brought his daughter into a hug before he began physically checking her for injuries.

“What in the hell are you doing here?!” Law scolded, panting hard from his effort to get to her side. His heart felt as though it was going to explode out of his chest. “I told you to wait with the other kids!”

“Vaor, I did wait with Tama-ya… kind of…” the girl grimaced. “She’s here too…”

“You girls are in so much trouble!” Law groaned. “After all that, you deliberately disobeyed me and now you’re in the one place I wanted you far away from?! How did you even get past Tengu-ya?!”

Nauja bit the insides of her lips and tried to look away guiltily—busted.

“Quite possibly, my fortunes have changed.” Hawkins stared at the cards in front of him before clearing them from the air. “A forty-percent increase… it’s worth it.”

Glaring at his fellow Supernova, Law held Nauja close to his side as he extended his free arm, attempting to activate a Room to get them out of there. It wasn’t working, with each attempt flickering out in his panic.

“Kaidou is going to love this,” Hawkins stated. He drew his sword, readying to strike. “Trafalgar and his brat, handed to him on a—”

Just then, a massive roar cut him off, so loud that it shook everything around them. Hawkins turned to look and instead got a face full of allosaurus tail, which cleared him through the far wall. The dinosaur slowly stomped into full view, growling lowly at the broken wall before shifting down into X Drake’s Human form.

“Are you two alright?” he asked. He saw Nauja��s eyes were wide in amazement; few kids were immune to the charm of a literal dinosaur saving them.

“It was under control,” Law hissed.

“Mmhmm, sure.” Drake watched as the other man put the child down and leaned against the wall in an effort to catch his breath properly. “Hey… can I, uh, give her something?”

“What could you possibly have to give?” Law asked. Drake bent down and picked up a pen Hawkins must have dropped when he was hit and procured a piece of paper from his inner jacket pocket. Law raised an eyebrow, knowing full-well what sort of paper it was.

“Something I never really should have had on me to begin with.” He knelt down and used the floor as a writing surface before beckoning Nauja over. “What is your name, darling?”

“Trafalgar Nauja,” the girl beamed. “Who are you?”

“Nice to meet you, Nauja. My name is X Drake, and as you can tell, your father and I know each other… in a way.”

“You sound a little like him. Are you also from the North Blue?”

“I am,” the man admitted. “I even have a father like you have Trafalgar here. Got him in a similar way, if what I hear is correct.”

“Your dad’s navigator found you and he just kind of took over?”

“More like my father’s friend found me, but close enough.” He sat directly on the floor in an attempt to hunch over more and be at her eye-level better—curse his height. “I even have a brother, although I never met him. He left our father’s life as I entered it. Although I’ll never know his laugh or hear his voice or learn what he thinks of me, I’ve been living in his shadow this entire time… seeing and experiencing the consequences of his actions. He’s like a ghost, in a way, and there’s something telling me that he would want you to have this.”

Drake held out the paper and handed it to Nauja. She looked at Law before accepting it, only doing so once he nodded. Looking down at the note, she scrunched her nose in thought.

“‘Please take care of her. Dorry.’ That’s weird. Why do you want me to have this?”

“…because one day, you might run out of options,” Drake said. “Your father is strong and capable, but even he has limits. If you ever find yourself with nowhere to hide, and he can’t help you, let this paper guide you to my father. Call him Grandpapa and give him a hug and show him this paper.” He then paused for a moment. “Do you know what a Vivre Card is?”

“Oh, yeah! We have some of those! That’s what this is?” She held open her palm and laid the paper in it—sure enough, it began to shuffle across her fingers.

“Yes. Remember: only use it as a last resort. There is only so much my father can do for you, but it’s safer than wandering around on your own. He will make sure nothing bad happens while you’re in his care… he will think of what my brother would have done—what my brother did for a scared little boy before he died—and will hide you from the bad people in the world until you are ready to face them yourself.”

“Then I’ll keep it safe,” the girl nodded. She carefully secured the note in her yukata sleeve. “Thank you, Dinosaur-ya, for this special gift.”

“…and how do I know I can trust your father?” Law asked. Drake shrugged and stood.

“You don’t,” he replied honestly. “Is this a risk? It’s a major one, but you are the only one who can truly talk to him about my brother, and that is at least worth something.”

In an instant, everything felt to Law as though it shifted violently and clicked into place as he stared at the other Supernova… this now-former Tobiroppo… there was more to him than he could have ever imagined. He wasn’t just any deserted Marine… he was Sengoku’s project after Cora-san died… Law was sure of it. His eyes went to the Vivre Card in Nauja’s hand—to trust her with it was to trust him with it, Drake clearly under the assumption that he wasn’t going to use it to attack the former Fleet Admiral. The other man’s actions were all beginning to make a lot more sense, even if all it did was make him more conflicted…

“Does he know about her…?”

“Possibly…? He doesn’t hear a lot of chatter these days, but at the same time, many of Kaidou’s officers know she exists. The intel might stay on Wano, it might extend off the island—that I can’t say. What I can say, however, is that it wasn’t me if it gets leaked.”

Just then, a massive burst of Haki came from the ruined wall, causing Drake to shove Nauja towards Law. “Hawkins is coming to; I suggest you book it.”

The little family did, not even turning around to watch Drake morph into an allosaurus and roar so loud he shook the building.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Law slashed the last of the guards down and finished descending the staircase into the lowermost basement. Nauja tap-tap-tapped her way down the rest of the stairs, avoiding her father’s unfortunate victims. The room they entered held a large blue stone, covered completely with strange symbols that made the little girl’s eyes go wide.

“This is a Poneglyph?” she marveled. Law nodded, placing his hand on the smooth, cool stone.

“It is—people have died for so much as being able to read what’s on it.”

“You can read that…?!”

“I can’t, but Nico-ya can. Her home island died because some of them could read Poneglyphs. She was the only survivor.”

“…like you…?”

“Indeed.” He let his fingertips catch in the grooves, feeling the enormous weight of the writing’s unknown message. “I wonder how many people died for this over the centuries.”

“Couldn’t they just listen…?” Nauja asked. She looked up at Law and tilted her head. “It’s whispering… you don’t even need to read it.”

“You can… hear it…?” He looked at her and raised his eyebrow. “How do you mean?”

“I… don’t… know…?” The little girl looked at the Poneglyph and tilted her head. “It’s just kinda… I dunno… humming, I guess…? In a way? I understand it.”

“…and what is it saying?”

“It’s talking about a legendary warrior and how he killed a dragon with a perfect sword, becoming a hero to all of Wano and the world,” she replied, wrinkling her nose in thought. “Do you think I can hear it because it’s part of the age-related hearing range?”

“No… I think you can hear it because of something special.” He placed his hand on her head and stroked her hair.

“Symetesia…?”

“No, not synesthesia,” he paused, “more like the Voice of All Things. I’ve heard of it being something before, but wasn’t certain about the existence of such a talent due to the rarity and lack of clinical observation.”

“Really…? It’s rare…? Then why can Momo-ya hear it too…?”

Law stared at his daughter. “What do you mean?”

“Momo-ya could hear a voice at Zou. I couldn’t make it out, so I ignored it, but he could hear it clearly. That was the excuse he used to hide in his room all the time.”

“Was it now…?” He needed something to tell her, and quickly. “If it is the Voice of All Things, then that is a rare trait, possibly an offshoot of Observation Haki if my theory is correct.” He considered something briefly, then knelt down to be at her eye level. “Does this whisper anything about the Will of D.?”

Nauja paused, closing her eyes. “No. Why? What’s that?”

“Cora-jiisan once told me that the People of the D. are the enemies of the gods… meaning the Celestial Dragons. Something the crew doesn’t know—not even Bepo-ya—is that I am one of them.”

“You… you are…?”

“Trafalgar D. Water Law was the entire name your opa and oma gave me, the name your jiisan told me to keep hidden,” he explained. He placed his hand on the cool stone of the Poneglyph again, Nauja copying him. “Nico-ya says I must search for the Poneglyphs in order to discover the truth. What you told me confirms I need the red ones.”

A low rumbling shook the floor, making the plaster above them creak.

“A sub-basement is probably not the best place to be right now, in retrospect,” Law noted. He grabbed Nauja again and opened a Room, bringing them to a higher floor again and the heat of the battle. “Those assholes better not do anything drastic without me.”

“Uh… that looks kinda drastic,” Nauja squeaked. She was pointing to some nearby rubble, which contained an arm draped in a familiar kimono sleeve.

“Shit,” Law spat. He put Nauja down and spotted the familiar allosaurus on the other side of the hall. “There’s Drake-ya. Stay with him. I’ve got some samurai to bring down here.”

“Vaor…?” He looked at her and saw that her eyes were glassy with tears. “I’m sorry for sneaking over here anyhow despite agreeing not to. Please come back.”

“I’ll do my best, famke,” he echoed. He pressed a kiss to her hair before swapping her with a rock next to Drake and himself with a splinter of wood from an even higher building level.

Honoring an alliance sure was shit.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Drake wasn’t certain as to why he had Trafalgar’s child by his side again so soon, but he definitely imagined it had something to do with the fact her father was on the roof of the building fighting with Kaidou and Big Mom. He allowed her to sit on his oversized allosaurus foot, the girl clinging to his leg as he stomped around in an attempt at intimidating people. Anyone who dared to snatch or otherwise harm her got either tail or teeth making the definitive decision for them: no.

Not on his watch.

Drake fought and intimidated the Beast Pirates while he watched over not only Nauja, but the little reindeer-doctor as he synthesized a cure for the chilly disease that was ripping through Beast Pirates and Alliance members alike, not caring about things such as sides and loyalties. He only began to relax as the Straw Hats’ doctor blasted a cure into the air. It even had a certain smell to it—sweet with a hint of spice—that brought him back to the infirmary of Tsuru’s ship, where he had been laid up for so, so long after she had found him. The girl slid off his foot and he shifted back into his Human form, looking over the scene as frozen limbs melted and the healing flames from Whitebeard’s former doctor, of all people, seas be damned, flickered out.

“NAUJA!” The girl jumped as she heard her name called, seeing Shachi run up to her and Drake, accompanied by two of Kid Pirates. He flicked her on the forehead, which caused her to squeak. “What are you doing here?! Does the captain know?!”

“He knows,” she admitted sourly. “I’m just here with Dinosaur-ya because Vaor’s up there.” She pointed at the giant hole in the ceiling. A roar just above the basement of Human hearing came from the hole, which made them all shudder.

“Impressive,” one of the Kid Pirates nodded.

“I think we can take it from here, beefcakes,” the other Kid Pirate said, giving Drake a wink. Shachi facepalmed, her crewmate ignored her, and Drake simply stared.

“We’re kind of in the middle of a life-or-death war here…” he mentioned.

“Little flirt don’t hurt,” she shrugged. She then looked at Nauja, who seemed some level of disturbed. “C’mon kiddo; let’s get you to the main of the group before shit gets too hairy around here.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Nauja replied. The adults all exchanged a quick look—yeah, kid must have been in a ton of trouble already. They left Drake’s side to head on back to the little group of Penguin, Bepo, and some stray Kid Pirates, who were fighting Beasts Pirates to the best of their abilities.

“Oh, fuck,” Penguin cussed soon as he saw Nauja. “Cap’s gonna blow a gasket…”

“Already blown!” Nauja insisted. “I think I’m grounded until I’m older than Bone-ya.”

“Sounds about right,” another Kid Pirate nodded. He then noticed a large horned person running their way. “Ah, fuck, another strong-looking one…” Except, Shinobu was there too…? The fuck…? “Hey, what’s going on?!”

“Are you the one referred to as Trafalgar Nauja?” the tall person with Shinobu asked, voice booming. The pirates all tensed, only not attacking because they knew the kunoichi was trustworthy.

“Uhh… yeah…?”

“Oh, good!” squeaked a voice from nearby. It sounded familiar…

“Momo-ya…?”

Sure enough, Momonosuke fell out of the tall person’s pant leg and ran up to Nauja, wrapping her in a hug. “I heard that you and the junior kunoichi had joined the battle! It’s so auspicious that you’re still alive!”

“It’s… auspicious… that… you are… too…?” she replied. She tried looking to the adults for answers—none had any.

“I have decided,” Momonosuke declared. He held Nauja at an arm’s length and put on his most serious face. “Verily! If we survive this and I become shogun, in recognition of your bravery and service to Wano, I shall name you as my intended!”

If the area around them all could have become quiet, it would have.

“What the fuck,” the horned person groaned, snatching Momonosuke up by the collar. “You dragged us all the way over here to propose to your girlfriend?!”

“I’m not his girlfriend!” Nauja snapped, the boy’s words now clicking into place in her brain. “Ask Tama or Toko to marry you, pervy brat!”

“O-Tama is a vassal and it would therefore be inappropriate, as would O-Toko for being my sister’s ward,” Momonosuke stated plainly. “You are the natural choice.”

“Ooooh, Kid’s gonna want t’ hear about this,” a Kid Pirate marveled. A couple of her crewmates nodded sagely in agreement—any ammunition for their captain against the others’.

“This is stupid; Oden out,” the horned person scoffed, stuffing Momonosuke under an arm. By the time Nauja had recovered from the shock of the encounter, the other three members of the Heart Pirates were staring at her with amused expressions that made a chill go down her spine.

“Don’t tell Vaor!” she insisted. “Momo-ya’s just being dumb!”

“Love makes people do dumb things,” Penguin chuckled. Still paying attention to their surroundings, he took his polearm and used it to knock some arrows out of the air. “Look alive! We’re still targets, people!”

Nauja drew her dirk and tried to stay close to the other pirates, attempting to not get too close to any enemies. She really regretted coming along with Tama—so much was happening, everything, all at once, everywhere, and to make matters worse, she was missing the festival! For what?! Her dad being cross with her and Momo being weird? Yeah… this wasn’t one of her most brilliant ideas.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Having popped back down below the battle to regroup, Law and Kid found themselves unfortunately within one another’s company. They were going to have to figure out a way to separate Kaidou and Linlin; the only way those two could have been even more dangerous if they had been actual siblings instead of, well, whatever the fuck they truly were.

“Feck… sounds like the ol’ bird’s down below too,” Kid noted as they ran through the corridors. “Did our dirty work for us.”

“Wouldn’t know what that’s like,” Law grunted. He tried not to think about what had happened before he ran into the Southern redhead again, having been snatched out of the air by a Northern blond, who he repaid in kind by having him watch over the severely injured Wanolese Easterner. Fuck, there was a lot going on. “We need to figure out where our crews are; they’re our support system.”

“No shite, Shirley,” Kid scoffed. He raised his eyebrow, however, at the nearly distracted look on the other man’s face. “Thinking ‘bout some other orders Straw Hat gave yeh?”

“Fuck off,” Law growled. They turned a corner and saw the group that their respective crews had merged into, with Killer already there and helping protect them. “It’s about time… Penguin! Report!”

“No one else has been able to get on Onigashima,” Penguin replied as he parried a blow from a Beast Pirate. He pushed his opponent back and a Kid Pirate took over, slashing their adversary across the stomach. “Sounds like Tama’s here too, working her dango-magic.”

“I figured as much. Based on that, I figure you have her little co-conspirator?”

“I have stabbed a lot of people,” Nauja stated, popping out from behind Penguin. She was splattered in blood, but it was clear it was not her own. “This is way worse than when we show up in a Marine port…”

“Yeh brought yer bairn t’ the battle?!” Kid said, completely flabbergasted. “What the actual fuck, Trafalgar?!”

“Not on purpose, let me assure you,” he replied, marveling at the fact he didn’t have a headache already.

“Och, aye, like I’d believe yeh at this point, yeh bloody fucking twat,” Kid snapped. He then turned to Nauja and gave her a toothy grin. “Ever get tired of the pompous ol’ windbag an’ yeh can come visit wi’ yer Uncle Kid. We know how t’ treat a wee bairnie right.” The little girl giggled, making her father roll his eyes.

“He’s not your uncle; don’t listen to him,” Law deadpanned. “He’s just an idiot whose metal plate in his skull’s gone magnetic.”

“At least I don’t do any of that daft posing shite,” Kid shot back. “Yeh looked like yer at a modeling gig, not fighting for our fucking lives!” He struck a couple poses to prove his point. “At least the Straw Hat knob’s putting in visible effort!”

“Sorry my Devil Fruit requires concentration and finesse!”

“Fucking finesse yersel outwith m’sight, yeh moody-arsed beanpole! Big Mam’s mine, yeh ken?!”

“Are we speaking the same language?!”

“Awww, playin’ the daft laddie, aren’t we? Well, while yer nerd-brain’s so busy tryin’ t’wrap its processes around m’accent, I’m gon’ take t’ bint’s head mysel.”

“As though I’d let you take all the credit after all that shit I had to pull to keep you together!”

“Aye; I bet yeh’d like it all, eh? Took yer turn already, Trafalgar! Now it’s time for the lads’ lads t’shine!”

Just then, a giant spider made of straw crashed onto the scene, with Basil Hawkins sticking out of its back. It roared—somehow—and made it clear it was out for blood.

“A’ll gie him laldie,” Killer said, his voice almost mirthful. “Fucker’s mine.”

“Then let’s split up!” Kid shouted at the rest of his crew. “Pick off some officers!”

“Bepo!” Law saw his navigator’s ears perk up and the Mink took the three steps to join him. “Take Nauja and run. I don’t care where. Just get her someplace quiet.”

“Understood,” Bepo nodded. Before Nauja even had time to protest, he picked her up and ran, dodging Beast Pirates and arrows as he did his best to do what was asked of him.

“Come on, Kid,” Law scowled. “We’ve got an Emperor to distract.”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Blood pounded in Law’s skull as he watched Charlotte Linlin grow both in girth and in power. He knew there were some who called his Devil Fruit abilities horrifying—and rightly so—but what was happening before his eyes was down-right chilling. She was tampering with people’s life forces; she was killing them without so much as a drop of consent. It wasn’t just the doctor in him, but his very humanity was sickened.

“All I do is for my family,” she chortled as she continued to bulk up. “My children are heirs to a legacy of greatness. As their mother, it’s my duty to clear a path for them. I’m sure you will understand as I grind your bones into dust.”

“Classy,” Law replied, rolling his eyes.

“Yer eldest is fifty, yeh dusty ol’ bint,” Kid scoffed. “That’s more than time t’ stop relying on mam to fix yer problems.”

“Say a pair of brats who don’t know a mother’s touch,” Linlin smirked. “I still have some daughters I could marry you to if you decide to do the smart thing and submit. I’ll teach you a little something about filial piety.”

“Fuck that,” Kid spat. “That shite got m’crew and me nowhere! All we got, we took oursel!”

“…and you, Trafalgar?” Her voice rumbled with power, echoed with the cries of all the souls she ripped from their hosts. “Do you wish to become Mama’s new favorite?”

“My parents never played favorites—that’s part of what made them good at parenting,” Law fired back. Kid let out a snort—fuck this was the good shit. “Besides, I wouldn’t use my daughter’s wedding as a bargaining chip. She’s too headstrong for such a thing, even if I was that shitty of a parent.”

“Roast t’ hag!” Kid cheered amongst the gasps and marveling. “Gie ‘er good!”

“What would you know about being a parent?” Linlin sneered at Law. “My intel does say you have a bratty little tag-along these days. That’s not a daughter; that’s a charity-case. What sort of pirates resort to charity, I wonder?”

“If being a father is charity, then I wonder what your children think of their fathers? What your sons think of their children.” Law drew his sword and widened his stance slightly. “I know more about being a father, being a parent, than you can ever fathom.”

“You really think she’s yours, you delusional boy?”

“More mine than whatever caused your multiple uterine prolapses are to you.”

Kid was fucking cackling.

“Have it your way,” Linlin hissed. “Napoleon! Prometheus! Hera! Let’s finish these upstarts.”

Law brought up a Room and Kid cracked his knuckles and neck. Now they were talking.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

It took a while for Bepo to finally find a corridor that was relatively quiet before he felt safe enough to put Nauja down. Surprised that there was even a place still calm within Onigashima, he searched for a storage room before ushering in his littlest crewmate and closing the door behind them.

“You alright?” he asked. She nodded. “Good, now let’s figure out what we’re going to do from here.” He peeked out into the corridor to double-check and breathed a sigh of relief—no one.

“What’s gonna happen if Vaor can’t stop them?” Nauja wondered. She looked around the room in a panic, seeing that it was empty aside from some low tables, boxes, and stacks of Wanolese seating cushions.

“This place crashes into the Flower Capitol and we would have to get back to the Tang fast as we can,” Bepo replied. He looked back at Nauja and saw that she was shaking as she tried to not cry, likely overloaded by everything and regretting having come along. She was so different from the first time he saw her—a pair of curious eyes poking out from behind smears of dirt and matted hair—and it only showed him how far she’d come with them… with Law. “Listen: nothing bad’s going to happen, okay? We’ve got this.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” chuckled a low voice. The Mink scooped the child up into his arms and held her close. “Cute… as though either of you are anything other than a liability…”

“I don’t know who you are, but you’re not getting to us that easily,” Bepo announced. He put his back to the wall and tried to sniff out the other person in the room and couldn’t; the smells from elsewhere in the complex were still too strong.

“I’m surprised you don’t recognize me… little brother…”

A figure stepped out from behind some cushion stacks and both Bepo and Nauja gasped. There, standing before them as though everything was completely normal, was Zepo.

“You’re dead!” Nauja declared, pointing at the other Mink.

“How would you know?” Mystery Zepo chuckled. “What would a Lesser Mink cub know about me?”

“Enough to know you’re not real!” She looked at Bepo, who seemed completely at a loss for what to do. “Come on! We need to get out of here!”

“I… I…” Bepo breathed, his brain sputtering out. “Was Fred wrong…?”

“He can be,” Mystery Zepo replied. A large explosion rumbled from elsewhere in the castle.

“No, he’s the one lying! That’s proof!” Nauja wiggled from Bepo’s grasp and tried to shake him out of it. “Bepo-ya…!”

“…but… how can he be here…?”

“Shoot…” The small child looked around and tried to figure out what she could do to snap Bepo out of whatever it was that was keeping him from knowing that this wasn’t real. Was it a Devil Fruit? A robot? A really good imposter? She needed to figure it out, and quick.

“You’re going to let me take care of the cub,” Mystery Zepo said. He began to step forward towards the pirates, sending a chill down Nauja’s spine.

“Bepo-ya! It’s a trap!”

“Of all the people in this place, don’t you want to trust your brother?”

“Don’t listen to him!” Nauja could see that there were tears forming in the Mink’s eyes as he trembled against the wall. “I don’t know who he is, but he’s trying to trick us!”

“Why would I trick my brother?” Mystery Zepo asked.

“Your brothers are Vaor and Penguin-ya and Shachi-ya!”

It was no use—Bepo was absolutely frozen in indecision. Nauja knew she had to do something, or else they were going to fall victim to… whatever it was that mimicking the long-dead Mink.

“Bepo-ya! Look at the moon!” she shouted, running to the shut balcony door. She struggled to pull the frame open. “Look at the moon and let’s get out of here!”

Just as she was able to force the frame open, the Mystery Zepo was there next to her, having appeared in nearly an instant. He took a knife from his belt and glared at Nauja, sunglasses glinting in the moonlight.

“This is not your place,” he hissed. “Don’t you da—”

Mystery Zepo was cut off, a giant paw reaching around his skull and crushing it. Electric sparks frizzed from his body as the illusion tech broke, revealing a faceless robot in its place. Bepo, in full Sulong, casually tossed the contraption to the side and straight through the wall.

“Nothing hurts the captain’s daughter,” Bepo growled, voice low and gravelly. Nauja carefully went over to the now-ruined wall and looked at the robot, taking careful note of the markings along the side.

“PUNK…?” she wondered aloud, tilting her head. “Why’s it got the word PUNK painted on it?”

“I don’t want to hang around long enough to find out,” Bepo replied as another explosion made the building quake. He muttered a low apology as he swept her up into one paw and burst through the outer wall of the storage room, bringing them into the open air. Despite there being no change to the color, his fur was now longer and fiery, and his face more fierce.

He roared at the moon in mid-air, cursing and thanking it in one long, rumbling note that crackled in Electro.

If he ever found the people who tried to trick him with his brother’s face, he was going to rip them apart.

“Hang on, Nauja!” he boomed. She held on tight as he brought them to the ground around the palace, the clouds closing up once again once his paws were on the dirt and he shrank back to his normal size. He shuddered and coughed up some blood—one of the benefits of an underwater ship was being able to avoid Sulong and the effects therein.

“VAOR!” Nauja screeched as she saw the flames that were engulfing the castle. Bepo grabbed her and secured her against his chest—she wasn’t going anywhere.

“We have to stay out here!” he insisted. “I can’t let you burn!”

“…but Vaor…!”

“…wants you to live!” Bepo exclaimed. “Everything he does, everything the crew does, is so that you can live!”

Nauja went limp at that, knowing that he was both right and correct. Guilt settled on her, knowing that her actions, her presence was what drove Law and the crew to do a lot of what they did, and it hurt more than she could comprehend. Bepo let go and placed her on the ground, a paw resting supportively on her shoulder.

“All we want is a future you can look forward to,” he said.

“…but… why…?” Her voice cracked as tears began to choke her. “I’m just some kid you found…”

“You’re Law’s kid, the crew’s kid…” He licked her temple gently. “We love you.”

“…but… why…?” she repeated. “What did I do to deserve it…?”

Bepo stared at Nauja, completely flabbergasted. “Nauja… you didn’t need to do anything.”

“…but I’m nothing but trouble!” she cried. “If it wasn’t for me coming along, you’d…!”

“Don’t think that way!” Bepo held Nauja’s face in his paws and made her look directly at him. “There’s no reason for us to love! We just do! Why else would we let you stay? Why else would we take care of you? Why else would the Captain adopt you as his own daughter?” He saw the tears and snot running down her face and tried to wipe it off with his sleeve. “We knew what bringing a kid into the crew meant… we wanted to love you. There doesn’t have to be a reason other than that.”

“…even though I do stupid stuff…?”

“Kids do stupid stuff all the time—it’s how they learn.” He saw she was biting her lower lip in an effort to stop crying, it not really working. “The rest of the crew does stupid stuff all the time too, and they’re adults, so I don’t know why a few mistakes is such a big deal.” He licked her forehead again. “Sorry, but you’re stuck with us.”

Nauja nodded weakly and hugged Bepo, letting the Mink comfort her as they remained hidden in their spot outside the castle. The muffled sounds of war punctuated their embrace; both were drawing strength from the other, the aftereffects of the raid and their conversation completely wiping them.

Just then, a curious smell reached Bepo’s nose, then a noise that was definitely not fire.

“Is… is that seawater…?” he marveled. He and Nauja looked at the castle and saw that there was water and smoke coming out of the building—something was extinguishing the flames.

“Vaor!” Nauja gasped. She broke from Bepo and began to run towards the castle. She made her way past water-logged Beast Pirates and samurai, Bepo tailing close behind, as she searched for Law. By the time she found him, he was laying down in a pile of debris, eyes closed as he breathed heavily.

“Dinna worry; he ain’t dead,” Kid groaned as he caught sight of the child. He was laying in his own pile of debris, though had his eyes open. “The ol’ bat kicked our arses, but we got her in the end.” He gestured towards a nearby hole in the floor, presumably where Big Mom went.

“Vaor…?” Nauja knelt down beside him and put her hands on his chest, shaking him. “Are you alright…?”

“Ja, famke,” he groaned. Law struggled to lift his hand, reaching out towards Nauja. He was able to find her face, stroking her cheek with his thumb as he opened his eyes. “I’ll be alright. That was just…”

“…a lot…?”

“Yeah… it was a lot.” He offered her a wan smile, which she took as permission to hug him, clinging desperately as he rested his hand against her back. “Ball’s in your court, Strawhat-ya.”

Almost as if Luffy heard him, a gleeful shishishi reverberated throughout the castle.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

After having the sheer audacity to to return to the fray on the back of a dragon, Luffy turned into Nika to no-sell Kaidou.

Fucking hell… Monkey D. Luffy became Nika, the legendary sun god and liberator of peoples from times ancient and immemorial, while Law had a time with the hag that just wouldn’t die? And the “help” he had gotten from Kid? Had to almost carry the moron while he was staggering about and yet Strawhat-ya turned into a literal god.

Now wasn’t that some straight-up peak protagonist-level shit right there?

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The aftermath of the raid on Onigashima was, fortunately, plenty less complicated than was feared. With Kaidou and Big Mom done for (Law did not want to say they were dead, as he knew he needed a corpse to do that), the Beast and Big Mom Pirates scattered like ants after a good threatening from Yamato. Orochi actually was dead, confirmed by Hiyori and Denjiro, who were there as he spoke his final words before being consumed by flames. The royal siblings were reunited and Oden’s long-lost heir proclaimed himself shogun.

Wano was free.

Oh, the celebrations that were had! Those who had been in the Flower Capitol wept in joy and relief, knowing that they had nearly become victim to a misplaced Onigashima. Parties broke out throughout the lands, bolstered by food sent from the unpolluted farms. Talk of the old ways now flowed freely, bringing with it reminisces of a society—while not perfect—was still defined by full bellies and factory work not being a death sentence. Many of the Alliance members were met with cheers and grateful platitudes, much to their derision. Pirates were not heroes, after all, and honestly had been in it for their own reasons. Whether itching for a fight or wanting information, they were not the ones that Wano should have been heaping their praises on.

Despite this, while members of the victorious forces recovered, there was a heightened sense of wonder and gratitude in the air. Adults took their first clean drink of water since childhood alongside their own children, festival stalls did not close up, and people smiled in the streets at whomever crossed their paths. It was even evident that the inhabitants of Ebisu were genuinely happy, as there was something about their demeanor that was simply right. All were thankful, even as they cleaned up the messes that had been left behind in the fighting.

Meanwhile, invitation had been extended to all the members of the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance to stay within the royal palace while things were settling down. Although Law would have rather started living in the dockyards in Tokage, he subjected himself to the Flower Capitol for a while longer as he put aside Nauja’s impending punishment and allowed her to remain with her new friends. He had taken to wandering around the palace while they were at play, doing exactly the sort of thing he knew his daughter couldn’t whilst aboard a submarine full of adults.

“Vaor! Vaor! Vaor! Look at this!” Having been examining a frieze in a quiet corridor, Law glanced over to see Nauja with Tama and Toko, the three girls striking a set of poses out of Sora, Warrior of the Sea, with the pink-haired girl in the middle with her arms up and arched, while the older two stood on either side of her, hiding their faces in the crooks of one arm while their other pointed up and towards each other at an angle, nearly touching in a point.

“Teaching them about Sora, I see?” he chuckled. “How does he compare to Wanolese stories?”

“O-Ja tells us tales of this warrior, and he seems mighty!” Tama gasped dreamily. “I wonder if he ever gets sent to the New World…?”

“Well, I like Poison Pink!” Toko giggled. “She’s really cool! And her hair’s like mine! I can wear her costume!”

“Maybe when you’re a bit older,” Law replied. Shit… he hoped the kids saw the earlier versions of the Germa 66 costumes and not the ones that looked more like the real deal. There was no way he was getting blamed for a Wanolese child wanting a neckline that passed her navel. A distraction, a distraction… “Say, how about the four of us head down to the festival before it gets too crowded?”

All three girls’ eyes became large and round—perfect.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Okay, so maybe being a chaperone to three energetic children wasn’t the smartest move after all. The trio were excitable and bouncy and not only chattered like chipmunks on uppers, but moved as such too. Between that and the fact that he was out in public, it made Law tired just existing, which wasn’t a very good look if he was perfectly honest. An even worse look would have been opening a Room just to keep tabs on them—he only had two eyes and there was three of them.

Then again… this must have been how his parents felt when they were taking him and his sister to festivals, wasn’t it?

Still attempting an aloof aura, Law smiled inwardly as he watched the girls rush from stall to stall; Nauja had friends and that was irreplaceable. They bounced and giggled and acted like normal children, making him wonder if any of them had ever been this way before… if that luxury had been afforded them. At least he knew more days like this were ahead of them… ahead of him…

“Oh, what’s that…?” Nauja asked, pointing at a stall. People were standing in front of it and lighting incense, a sight that made her tilt her head in curiosity.

“That’s some leftover incense from the Fire Festival,” Toko said. “Haven’t you ever seen any?”

“They don’t have it where we’re from,” Nauja replied. “What does it do?”

“You light it as an offering to people who’ve died,” Tama explained. “I light some for my mom and dad every once in a while. Some people say you can talk with their spirits that way.”

“Like… tell them you’re doing alright…?”

“Yeah! Do you want to light some for your mom?”

Panic seized Nauja as she came at a crossroads. What was she going to tell her friends…?

“Ahahaha! O-Tama, some people don’t have moms!” Toko laughed. “I don’t! I only had a dad too!”

“…but you have Hiyori-sama!”

“She’s more like my sister!” Toko then turned to Nauja and grinned, tilting her head to the side. “Do you have anyone you’d like to light incense for?”

“Well… um…” Nauja glanced back at Law, who nodded in permission. “My grandparents… and my aunt. I never met them, but I want to say hello… let them know my dad’s taking good care of me.”

“Then that’s perfect!” Tama gasped excitedly. She and Toko pulled their friend to the stall, their chaperone hanging back. “Three sticks, please!”

“All three of you girls are going to light one?” the stallkeeper asked, trying not to chuckle.

“O-Ja never has and we need to show her how!” Toko said cheerily.

The stallkeeper nodded at that and set out three sets of incense. Each girl got a wooden skewer, which they lit with the flame of a lantern. Nauja watched as her friends transferred the flame to the ends of the incense, which she copied, and snuffed the remaining flame on the skewer in some provided sand. She placed her hands together and closed her eyes in imitation and tried to think.

‘Uh… hi Oma, Opa, Tante Lami, Cora-jiisan… I don’t really know if this is going to work, but I wanted to introduce myself. I’m Nauja and I’m your granddaughter… or niece, in Tante Lami’s case. Law-san is my dad now, and although I’m not related to any of you by blood, I’ve heard stories about you that makes it feel like that doesn’t matter. Vaor and the crew love me and protect me and take care of me, and that’s more than I’ve ever had before. Thank you for making him so kind. Even when he’s sad, he is kind, and I know you all did that.’

She peeked at the incense sticks—only halfway.

‘Well, I know about you, so I guess you should know about me! I’m almost eight years old, I love reading Sora, Warrior of the Sea, and drawing! I want to become a doctor, like Opa and Oma were and like Vaor is now! I love drawing things like how they are in the textbooks! Clione-ya calls it “hyper-realism”. Oh, yeah, and we live on a pirate ship! It can go under the water! Vaor’s crew is made up of some of the kindest pirates out there. I know, I know, there shouldn’t be such a thing as kind pirates, but there are. All they want is to be free. There are other crews like that we’ve been meeting, and I really like it a lot!We’re good friends with so many other kind pirates and that makes our crew seem not so weird!’

Another peek—nearly done.

‘Okay, the incense is almost done! I know we’ve never met, but I love you! Thank you! Bye for now!’

Opening her eyes and letting her hands fall to their sides, Nauja watched the incense as it fizzled out. It was kind of stinky, but it was a good sort of stinky, she guessed.

“Did you girls have a good chat?” the stallkeeper asked as Toko and Tama also opened their eyes. “I’m sure whomever you were talking to loved the attention.”

“I’m sure they did as well,” Law said. It was barely there, but Nauja could hear his voice crack slightly. “Now let’s hurry back—you don’t want to miss the fireworks, do you?”

The three girls gasped—no they did not!

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

With stray mochi wrappers and broken konpeito littering the balcony, Nauja watched as the fireworks reached their grand crescendo. Tonight she and her friends were watching with Zoro-ya, Hiyori-ya, and Sanji-ya, with each child snuggled into an adult. Toko-ya was already snoring against Hiyori-ya and Tama-ya was beginning to falter in her perch on Zoro-ya’s lap; only Nauja was really awake of the three.

“I believe it’s high time we put these little ones to bed,” Hiyori-ya said sweetly as the last bit of glitter faded into the sky and smoke. Zoro-ya grunted something and stood, hauling Tama-ya up with one meaty arm and accepting Toko-ya with the other. “Did you wish to join them, Lady Trafalgar?”

“No, I should clean up here,” Nauja said, leaning out of Sanji-ya’s grasp and grabbing at some of the wrappers. “I promised I’d sleep with the Hearts tonight anyhow.”

“Suit yourself,” Zoro-ya shrugged. Hiyori-ya followed him inside, with Sanji-ya’s eyes trailing behind them in a way that Nauja couldn’t tell who he was looking at. He then turned his attention back to Nauja, taking care to stub out his cigarette before moving to help her.

“You’re such a hard-working kid,” he noted. “Does Trafalgar work you that hard with chores?”

“Technically, I’m still in trouble,” she reminded him. He nodded, knowing that she was talking about sneaking onto Onigashima. “Most of my actual punishment is gonna come after we leave Wano—I won’t get any sweets or be allowed to do anything but study or train for a while after this.” She saw that he had a curled eyebrow raised in question. “It’s… more than fair.”

“You’re a pretty neat kid, Nauja-chan,” Sanji-ya chuckled. “I mean, you were brave enough to go to begin with.”

“It’s not bravery if you go in not thinking about how bad it could be,” Nauja muttered. “All I wanted was to be with Vaor.”

“Still… not everyone can figure out who I am without me giving more facts,” he replied. “You had me sweating on Zou when you mentioned my eyebrow. No one had made the connection until then.”

“Then everyone’s stupid,” she scoffed. Sanji-ya snorted at that, which in turn made Nauja grin. They finished putting all the wrappers in a bag and left the spoiled konpeito shards for birds before heading inside. Zoro-ya and Hiyori-ya met them in the corridor, the other two adults now free of Tama-ya and Toko-ya.

“You coming?” Zoro-ya asked. Sanji-ya swallowed hard and glanced at Nauja: the final obstacle.

“I can find my dad on my own,” Nauja said frankly before walking away. She heard a door to one of the rooms slide open and shut as she made her way down the corridor, not wanting to alert her adults to the fact she knew what possibly might be going on.

The palace was quiet as Nauja padded her way through the corridors and staircases looking for her dad, the only other ones active being the staff. He was not in the large bedroom where most of the rest of the Hearts were already asleep on the giant mega-futon they made by pushing a bunch of singles together. Nor, she noticed, was he in any of the banquet halls and receiving rooms, where he had been apt to sulking in the past few days. The only ones she could find were the members of the Hearts who were off cavorting with pretty maids or the handsome footman, making her wrinkle her nose in irritation… some use they were being…

Wait! There he was! Nauja found a staircase that led down into a room that had dozens upon dozens of wooden dolls. A blue Poneglyph sat in it, whispering to her tales of Wano’s past. Ignoring it for the time being, she went down what looked like another staircase set into the floor, continuing to descend deeper and further into the rock below.

“Who is this joining us?” As Nauja’s eyes adjusted to the light, she saw that Tengu-ya was standing there without his mask, leading her Vaor and Nico-ya down below the surface. “Ah, another intrepid explorer for our group.”

“If the fireworks are over, you should be headed to bed,” Vaor said sternly. Nauja shook her head instead and grabbed hold of his coat.

“I wanted to stay with you,” she reasoned. Nico-ya giggled quietly, while Tengu-ya simply gestured to an opening in the wall where a dim light shone.

“I think there is something here that you all might wish to see,” he said. Nico-ya and Nauja proceeded to crawl in through the hole, while Vaor placed himself at the end with his Devil Fruit ability.

There, beyond a pane of clear glass, was an underwater Wano shimmering in the moonlight.

“That is Old Wano,” Tengu-ya explained. “Our nation used to be much bigger, but when the country was sealed off it was done so literally, and the rainwater had nowhere to go. The buildings you see are probably around eight hundred years old. It is good that the sky is so clear tonight, or else it would be impossible to see except for in the daytime.”

“Wow…” Nauja marveled. “Does that mean there’s even older stuff further down?”

“There is,” Tengu-ya said. The girl slid out from the opening and rushed down the staircase, the clack-clack-clack of her geta echoing against the stone-hewn walls. Once at the bottom, she gasped in wonder at what she saw in the pale moonlight filtered in past waves and glass.

There, telling her its secrets, was a red Lode Poneglyph.

“Vaor!” she squeaked. “Oh, seas, Vaor!” Nauja ran up to the fence that surrounded the stone and jumped up and down excitedly. When Tengu-ya brought Vaor and Nico-ya to the chamber, both were nearly at a loss for words.

“It’s really here,” Nico-ya marveled. She tilted her head in confusion as she watched Nauja stare at the Poneglyph in wonder. “What do you know about these, Nauja-chan?”

“It’s singing!” the girl replied cheerily. All three adults blanched. “The blue stone that was on Onigashima and the one upstairs were just whispering, but this one is singing! I can hear it clearly!”

“How can you do this?!” Nico-ya gasped. She grabbed Nauja by the shoulders and looked into her eyes, scared beyond her mind. “If this is a game, Nauja-chan, you need to tell me, now.”

“She’s been showing signs for a while,” Vaor replied, his tone calm and serious. “It’s the Voice of All Things—I think she can hear it. She did on Onigashima.”

“That legend…?” Tengu-ya questioned. He then scoffed. “Then again, look at all here that otherwise lives in folklore and whispers…”

“Why is that such a bad thing?” Nauja asked. “It’s just something I can do… it doesn’t hurt anything, right?”

“It might not to you or to the rest of us, but this means that you understand this,” Nico-ya said. She pointed at the Poneglyph, which seemed to buzz in joy. “Never tell anyone outside this room you can hear those. Do you understand?”

Nauja nodded.

“It’s like my full name: we have to hide it from the world,” Vaor added. “Never be ashamed of it, but you have to know that if a bad person discovers you can hear what these things have to say, then our travels might become more dangerous than they need to be.”

“A secret name?” Tengu-ya mused.

“You may know, as payment for this,” Vaor said, gesturing at the Poneglyph. “My name in-full is Trafalgar D. Water Law. My parents died before they could pass on the knowledge of its meaning upon my coming-of-age.”

“So you wish to search for the meaning behind the Will of D., hmm…?” Tengu-ya asked. Vaor nodded. “Then you must take care… as though this old man needs to tell you that. There is nothing of the Will in what has been passed down in the shogunate, but I believe it is something you might be able to find an answer for at the End.” He then stared at the younger man, intensely curious. “Where are you from? I was one of the few with access to newspapers, even after my escape, so I might know of it.”

Vaor hesitated. “Flevance, in the North.”

“Ah—then how fortunate that the son that survived bears such a name, and that he might be one of the heroes that graced this country.”

“We’re no heroes, and we are far from saints,” Vaor stated. “We are pirates—our goals merely aligned.”

“Hmm… strooth… however, it does not change what you have done, nor will it change the meaning behind your name.” Tengu-ya went to Nico-ya and Nauja, putting a hand atop the little girl’s head. “Now, my child, can you tell me what it is this lovely stone sings of?”

She recited it perfectly.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

It was the late following day and Law was returning to the Flower Capitol after having visited the dock at Tokage Port where the Polar Tang was now sitting. Ikkaku and some of the more mechanically-inclined members of the Hearts, along with Robo-ya and Nose-ya, were working on making some additional upgrades to the ship, some that put him at-ease and others that were… questionable at-best. He made it back to the palace before it was time for dinner, the festivities still going strong. How long did a festival need to be, anyhow? A quick check on Nauja—she was reading some Sora books to Tama and Toko, who presumably could not read common script, given their expressions—and he decided it was time for a bit of wandering before dinner.

…or else he would have, had Shachi and Penguin not cornered him.

“So…ooo… Cap…tain…” Penguin said, drawing out the words. “We hear the Head Brat in Charge is looking for ya; has all day.”

“I am not beholden to Momo-ya now that he’s shogun,” Law frowned.

“It’s about Nauja,” Shachi said. Law blinked at that.

“Is she still beating him up?”

Shachi grimaced slightly, making a tsk noise as his lips parted. “No… more like… I think you need to get changed into something more appropriate.”

“What about my clothes is inappropriate?” Law threatened. He was wearing a button-down shirt, jeans, and boots, with his usual hat and his feather-trimmed coat draped over his shoulders. Just because he wasn’t still in Wanolese garb didn’t make him look inappropriate…

“Nothing normally,” Penguin said, “but come on, let’s go; Bep’s getting Momo for us.”

“I don’t like this,” Law stated as his two officers dragged him through the corridor, one on each arm. They got him to the room the lot of them had been sharing before most of the crew left for Tokage and wrestled him back into his yukata… the one he could have sworn he left on the Tang. “You two better explain yourselves, and quickly.”

“It’s probably better we don’t,” Shachi claimed. He and Penguin then pulled him along again, bringing their captain to a small meeting room where Bepo was waiting nervously out in the corridor.

“Oooh, ready…?!”

“Bepo…” Law warned. The polar bear mumbled an apology and quickly slid open the door, allowing Penguin and Shachi to literally shove him in. By the time he regained his footing, the door was traitorously shut behind him.

“Lord Trafalgar, there you are.” Law’s attention snapped towards the voice and saw that it was Momonosuke; he was still not used to the deeper timbre of his older self. “Please, have a seat.”

Law raised his eyebrow; they were the only two in the room, the young shogun already sitting seiza on a cushion while an empty one sat across from him. He complied, sitting in the Wanolese fashion in hopes that this wouldn’t take long, placing Kikoku down at his side.

“Mind telling me what this is about?” Law asked, getting directly to the point. Momonosuke swallowed hard.

“It… it’s about your daughter… the Lady Trafalgar…”

“You know you don’t have to refer to us by titles we don’t have,” Law stated, pinching the bridge of his nose. Wano was so nauseatingly extra he could barely stand it. “What did Nauja do?”

“Uh… nothing… I…”

“She and I, as well as my officers, are staying here at your request, in order to not break up the friendship she has with Tama-ya and Toko-ya while we can,” he explained. “If she has done something that needs addressing, then I shall address it as her father.”

“You see, that’s it! She hasn’t done anything!” Momonosuke gasped. Law narrowed his eyes. “It’s just that, since I’ve become shogun, I’ve been made to think of the future!”

“We’re setting sail soon; I don’t expect to return any time in said near future,” Law said. “I know Tama-ya and Toko-ya are fond of Nauja, but they’ll have to make do with letters.”

“Then… will you come back? In, say, fifteen years?”

“Why fifteen?”

“We shall be the year we both become twenty-three years of age; verily, I seek your permission to wed Lady Trafalgar upon such an auspicious reunion.” Momonosuke bowed deeply, his hair hiding his face as his nose nearly touched the tatami mat. “She is a hero to the nation, and no doubt shall become a fine woman. It would be an honor to have her as a bride.”

Of all the fucking…

“You know you’re older than me now, right?” Law mentioned, voice sharply deadpan. “You know… the man who is her father…?”

“I am eight years of age!”

“You are twenty-eight goddamned years old,” Law said firmly. “In fifteen years you will not be twenty-three, but forty-three. Furthermore, I am not the person whose permission you would need in order to marry her.”

“…then whose would it be…?”

“Nauja’s!” As a pirate and a medical professional, he had heard plenty of absurd things in his life, but this conversation was quickly ratcheting itself towards the top of the list. “She’s not some thing to treat as a token! It’s not my job to barter her away!”

“…but, I…!”

“…and what the actual fuck makes you think that, even if you were still an eight-year-old brat today, that she would want to get married to you in fifteen years?!”

“Her fortitude and dedication to this country’s freedom makes her an excellent candidate to be a shogun’s wife!” Momonosuke cried. Fuck… Law really still was bullying a kid, wasn’t he? “Her character is precisely the sort of thing that this country needs at my side, that I want to see in my own children some day!”

“This conversation is over,” Law decided. He picked up Kikoku and stood, trying to flex impending numbness from his calf muscles. “If I ever hear that you’ve come within fifty feet of my daughter without my presence, you shall learn precisely why they refer to me as the Surgeon of Death on my bounty posters. Do I make myself clear?”

“Uhh…”

“Then let me make it clearer: I don’t care that you leapt through time and this,” he gestured at all of Momonosuke, “is because of a Devil Fruit. I don’t care that when I met you a few months ago, you were still a literal child. I don’t even care that you are Shogun of Wano and Strawhat-ya’s new idkbff. Come near my daughter again and I will make you wish I killed you.”

“…o…okay…”

Law slammed open the door, finding that all three of his officers were there, as well as Hiyori, the princess looking rather irritated while the pirates all jumped at the sight of their captain.

“I told him it was a horrid idea,” Hiyori said, composure calm as only a vindicated younger sibling could pull off. Bepo, Penguin, and Shachi, however, were frightened into silence.

“How long have you known about this?” Law glared.

“Ju-just when we were s-sent to g-g-get you…” Penguin lied. Law turned his amber eyes towards the weakest link: Bepo.

“Onigashima!” The bear cracked instantly. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! We should have told you sooner, but it was low priority since we kind of had other things on our mind!”

“It was the middle of the battle!” Shachi added. “He was still a kid then! We thought it was cute!”

“Didn’t you ever propose to a girl when you were a kid?” Penguin asked, trying to brush it off. “I mean… that’s just what boys do when they find a girl that doesn’t put up with their shit…”

Completely done, Law turned on his heel and went back to change his clothes. Once he was in actual pants again, he found where Nauja was, with her and her friends trying to act out a scene from Sora.

“Alright girls,” he said, clapping his hands together. “Sleepover at the Tang. Grab your stuff. Come on, this means all of you.”

“Oh, do you think Jean Bart will bake us cookies?!” Nauja gasped.

“Wait…” Toko stared at her friend, smile still wide, but the tiniest hint of confusion in her voice. “What is this ‘sleepover’ your father speaks of, O-Ja?”

“It’s when friends all stay the night over at someone’s house!” Nauja explained. “Well, if submarine ships count as houses!”

“So… this has been a sleepover this whole time…?” Tama asked, looking around the room. That’s right—none of them really lived there.

“Yup, and now I’m returning the favor; chop chop,” Law said. The girls cheered and began to gather the stuff they would need to head back to the Polar Tang. Once he was able to corral them out into the corridor, they ran into Hiyori again, the woman giving him a knowing smirk.

“Hiyori-sama, we’re going to have a sleepover with O-Ja!” Toko grinned. “Isn’t that neat?!”

“It is,” she agreed. She then turned her attention to Law—they really had seen a lot for their age, hadn’t they? “I shall set my brother straight. He has a lot to learn.”

“A lot to learn about what, Hiyori-ya?” Nauja asked.

“Never you mind,” Law said. He took the bag that had Tama and Toko’s things and waved the girls off. “Make sure everything’s in your backpack before we go—I don’t know when we’re coming back.”

“Okay!” The three girls rushed down the corridor towards the Hearts’ room, leaving the two adults.

“Don’t fret, Lord Trafalgar,” Hiyori assured. “By the time you return to these shores, my lord brother will have long-forgotten all about his childhood crush. She’ll be safe.”

“I hope so,” he frowned, staring down the corridor. She giggled at that, catching his attention. “What…?”

“Sir Denjiro looks at me that way when I’m being particularly troublesome,” she admitted. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “You’ll never stop worrying, you know.”

“I know.”

“One day, she will thank you, and it shall be about everything you’ve never told her about… this included.”

He nodded and inhaled deeply, trying to keep it together. “I know.”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

It was well after nightfall and the dockyard was still bustling with activity. Several bonfires were lit to help with light, though they also served as gathering places for the varying pirates and shipwrights that were not currently working. One pirate in particular was utilizing the atmosphere to take to storytelling, with three pajama-clad children sitting rapt in front of him.

“Aye, so there we was, staring down this absolute unit of a granny; bigger than the whale that guards the entrance t’ the Grand Line!” Kid watched as the girls giggled at him, all three amused by his tale. “She tried t’ gie us t’ join her, but that would’ve involved marrying some kid of hers and that bloody fucking bunch of reprobates? Aye, right, I dinna ken a worse fate than being tied to one o’ them.”

“Don’t swear like that around them,” Law scowled in disapproval from his reading spot on the other side of the fire. Kid scowled right back and gave a venomless two-fingered salute.

“Yer lads cuss.”

“My lads can speak without anyone feeling like they need a dictionary.”

“Where the fun in that?” Kid then noticed Toko let out a yawn, the pink-haired girl being the first to flag. “Oi, Trafalgar, I think the bairnies here need a wee kip.”

“Is that right now?” Law asked. “Time for bed already?” Nauja, Tama, and Toko all shook their heads in a panic.

“NO!” they all chimed in.

“I thought Eustass-ya couldn’t tell you what to do!” Nauja added.

“He can’t tell me what to do, but he is part of the Inter-Seas Association of Semi-Capable Adults and therefore knows when certain children might need their sleep.” He snapped his book shut and placed it in his inner coat pocket before standing. “Now then, say goodnight to Eustass-ya.”

Pouting, the three young friends tackled Kid in a hug, not entirely wanting to leave just yet. He was able to wrap his right arm around them with a chuckle. “I can finish in the morning if yer that interested.”

“We are!” Tama replied. “Even though O-Ja and I were there, we did not see all the events unfold!”

“Yeah, and I was not there at all,” Toko said. She closed her eyes and hummed. “You’re warm.”

“You’ll be warm inside too,” Law said. He plucked Toko from Kid’s grasp and motioned for the other two girls to follow. After exchanging a knowing glance with Kid, Law led Nauja and Tama over to the side of the Polar Tang, opening a Room so he could place them by the top deck’s entrance. They went below, with Nauja leading the way to her bedroom. It had been finished earlier that afternoon, with more shelves, chests to place her things in, and a bunk bed that was sitting over a desk. The older two girls marveled at the changes, while the third was already too asleep to notice.

“Oh, wow!” Nauja gasped. “This is all mine?!”

“That it is,” Law replied. He placed Toko underneath the blankets while Nauja and Tama investigated the rest of the room. “Robo-ya and Nose-ya worked rather hard on it with Ikkaku-ya.”

“I’ll have to thank them in the morning!” Nauja beamed. She hugged Law tightly before climbing up the ladder leading to her bed. “This is so cool! I thought this place was neat before, but now… it’s the best!”

“Did you sleep here before?” Tama asked, following her friend.

“Yeah, but before that I had to sleep with Vaor, because this room was actually storage,” Nauja said. The girls allowed Law to tuck them in as they settled in on either side of Toko, the three fitting snugly. “Ikka-ya put this together for me when it was decided I needed my own room.”

“That’s neat…”

“Good night, girls,” Law said. “If you need me, I’m at the end of the corridor, to the right.”

“Good night,” Nauja and Tama echoed back at him. Law then turned out the lights and switched on the nightlight—the star-filled, mid-ocean sky illuminated the ceiling, garnering a couple little gasps before he closed the door.

Nodding, Law went over to the kitchen and made himself some coffee first before heading into his cabin. There, he sat up with his mug of liquid life and a medical tome he had acquired from the Flower Capitol, reading it to see what sorts of things Wanolese medicine did the same and different compared to others. It was a surprisingly engaging read, making it so that he almost flew through the first half of the book on only the one mug of coffee. As he put the mug down after draining it, the photos secured to the wall caught his eye. He had recently added some more of Nauja, snail-captured images of her having fun with him and the crew surrounding the ones he had of his parents, sister, and Cora-san.

“You’d be proud,” he whispered in the silence. “I’m gonna figure out this mystery myself, so I can give my daughter our true identity. I’ll teach her everything, and then she’ll do us proud.”

The photos simply smiled back.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

When it was finally time for the Polar Tang to depart, it was difficult separating Nauja from Tama and Toko. The three girls sobbed at the prospect of not being together again for a long time, with some of the Wanolese well-wishers that had gathered needing to hold the girls back. Even Momonosuke was there, wailing about not wanting Strawhat-ya to leave, though in reality, it was the same deal.

They would come back again, one day. It was a promise between friends.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

They were nearly at the next island when they ran into trouble again.

“Captain, uh, we’ve got a problem,” Hakugan stated, peering through the periscope. He, Law, and Bepo were in the navigation room, with the captain sitting in his chair.

“What is it?”

“It looks like there’s people already on the island…”

“…so…? There are people on most islands.”

“It doesn’t look like it holds a permanent settlement, but there is a small harbor. Some affiliates of Blackbeard are currently docked there.”

“Fuck…” Law’s upper lip curled into a sneer as he contemplated the new information. He didn’t want to risk pissing off anyone who answered directly to one of the Emperors, not if they didn’t have backup. Wano was one thing and this was another. “How close by can you get to the island in order to reset the magnetic field?”

“…for this place? It’s gonna have to be close.” Bepo was checking the Log Pose and comparing it to the map he had unfurled on the dash. “According to the information we got from Zou, this place has a tight reset zone.”

“Alright—down periscope and dive—I want us off their radar soon as possible,” Law stated.

“Aye, aye,” Hakugan nodded. He turned off the periscope and concentrated on a series of dials and switches, which he used to begin prepping the Polar Tang to dive. “Huh…”

“…what…?” Law raised an eyebrow. “Something wrong?”

“No… just… I feel kind of funny…” He then grunted suddenly, holding his stomach. “What the…?”

“I feel weird too,” Bepo agreed. “Do you think it might have been those pies Penguin made…?”

“The pies were cooked,” Law sighed, “you’re just being sill—urgh!” A sharp yet pulsing pain hit him in the abdomen as well, causing him to fall out of his chair and collapse on the floor. Something odd coursed through his body, making it feel as though it was changing, much to his chagrin, and they hadn’t even started to dive yet.

“Captain!?” The voice sounded like Bepo, and yet wasn’t. It was too high in pitch. “Captain!? What’s happening?!”

“I don’t know, I…!”

Law paused at the sound of his own voice, something intrinsically off about it. He struggled to his feet and looked over at Bepo, only to see that his navigator was donning a hairstyle close to Fred’s and was gaining a pear-shaped figure. Looking at Hakugan, he saw his helmsman was now sporting a cup size probably larger than Ikkaku’s. He felt his chin and discovered his goatee was no longer there, which caused him to look in the glass of the porthole at his reflection.

After all the years of his father staring back at him in the mirror, it was now his mother’s turn.

“FUCK!” he cursed. “Hakugan, dive, NOW!”

“Captain, what’s going on?!” the helmsman asked, attempting to maneuver to ship fast as he could.

“I don’t know! We’ll figure it out later!” Law turned towards the doorway and saw Shachi standing there with four mugs of coffee in his hands, now staring wide-eyed at the scene.

“What the fu…?”

Suddenly, a rumble shook the Polar Tang, spilling coffee and sending those in the control room into furniture and walls. Shachi in particular landed in Law’s new cleavage, which the captain did not appreciate. By the time he shoved off his crewmate, he was looking at Shachi alright, but a Shachi with the sort of hourglass shapeliness he’d normally be chasing instead of sporting.

“WE’VE BEEN HIT!” Ikkaku’s voice blared over the intercom snail. Sirens started to go off and a deep panic seated itself in Law’s chest.

Nauja.

“TACTICAL MANEUVERS!” Law ordered into the receiver on the dash. “BATTLE STATIONS!”

Once the command was given, Law rushed out of the navigation room and went to the engine room, seeing that Ikkaku was already barking orders, and then the mess hall, where most of the crew still were. A leak had sprung near a join—it was worse than he thought.

“CAPTAIN?!” gasped several crew members. Someone in the back was already infected, with Jean Bart changing into a bearded woman before his eyes.

“Vaor?!” Law’s head snapped towards the sound of Nauja’s voice, seeing that she was running towards him. “What’s going on?!”

“Sorry, but I’m gonna look like Oma and Tante Lami for a bit,” he said quietly. The terror in her face made him sick to his stomach, yet he kept it together as he looked at the rest of the crew and their quickly-transitive state. “What’s the status of that leak?”

“It’s hard to hold! We’re going to take on water sooner than later!”

“Shit!” Law grabbed the intercom snail and hissed into it. “We’ll need to surface!”

“…but Captain…!”

Another blast shook the ship, where transforming people got flung into walls and Nauja clung to Law’s leg.

“Captain… it’s Blackbeard himself! We have a visual!”

No…!

“If we keep going down, the water pressure will crush us!”

“Let’s surface!” Law ordered into the Den Den. “Prepare for battle, and be quick about it!”

“Vaor, what’s happening?!”

“I don’t know, famke,” he frowned. The girl watched as Law finally realized what was going on and used his Haki to bust through the forced gender flip, going back to his normal self. Once he did, the others in the room began to change back as well.

“How the fuck…?” Law whispered. He looked at his hand, then at his crew, as they went through changes at different rates. A sense of dread filled him like nothing he had ever felt before.

They had made it into the ship without so much as boarding.

Blackbeard’s crew had made it on the ship without boarding, and was about to make them surface.

“Shit—Nauja, backpack, now!”

Squeaking in reply, the girl scampered off, dodging crewmates as they ran around the ship, popping back to normal and panicking about the condition of the Polar Tang. She made it to her room and found her Sora backpack, putting in it all the things that she knew she needed: Professor Nanuk, books, photos of the crew and her family, the envelope with money and some Vivre Cards, her dirk, a jacket…

“Nauja, move!” She jumped and looked over at the door; Law was standing there, his arm outstretched and his face stern. He grabbed her soon as her backpack was secured and carried her through the ship.

“Vaor…?! What’s going on…?!”

“I need you to listen to me, Nauja,” he murmured in her ear, voice softer than she expected. “The crew loves you. Can you remember that?”

“…but Vaor…!” She looked around and saw that suddenly they were in the loading bay. “What’s going on?!” He set her down on the floor and knelt before her, ignoring the blaring klaxons and flashing warning lights all around them.

“Repeat what I said,” he demanded, voice shaky. She nodded weakly.

“The crew loves me.”

“I love you.”

“You love me.” She clung to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Vaor… Vader… Dad… please…”

“It’s going to be too dangerous from here on out,” he said. He gently placed her on a chair in a sort of… thing…? She wasn’t sure what, but he strapped her into a harness and kissed her hair and forehead. “Be good, alright? You’re going to grow up to be an amazing person, Trafalgar D. Water Nauja. It’s a shame I won’t get to see it.”

“Vaor…?!”

“I love you, Nauja, with all my Heart.”

Nauja’s eyes went wide as Law hit a button on the wall and the seat turned into a capsule. She screamed for her father as she struggled against the harness, although he couldn’t hear it thanks to the workmanship of the pod. It sank onto a track and another wall slid down between them, a glass panel allowing them to keep eye contact as the capsule settled into place and tears streamed down their faces.

Fly little seagull, he said silently. The world awaits.

The escape pod jettisoned itself, whisking Nauja far away from the current battle. The torpedo chamber filled with water as the contents were all forced out until only air bubbles and the sea remained.

Law set his face and exhaled heavily—it was time to take care of Blackbeard and, if he was lucky, at least his crew would survive this.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Nauja stared at the folded Vivre Card in her hand, then up at the building in front of her. Everything her father ever told her came rushing back all at once, as she knew she shouldn’t be there. It was the Marine Headquarters, which was precisely not the place for a pirate to be, even a little one. She was glad she put her boilersuit in her backpack a while ago to blend in with just her t-shirt and shorts—this was going to be leagues more difficult than infiltrating the okiya.

Knowing she wasn’t going to get anywhere with hiding in the wharf, Nauja stepped out into the sunlight and began to walk up to the Marine Headquarters with her head held high. Recruits and minor officers all stared at her, wondering whose kid she was, all the way until an elderly lady with kind eyes stopped her.

“Where are you going, my dear?” she asked. “I think you’re a bit young to be signing up.”

“I’m here to see my grandfather,” Nauja said. She held up the folded Vivre Card and it shuffled on her palm. “My uncle gave this to me because I don’t remember what my grandfather looks like.”

“What is your grandfather’s name? That might help.”

“Uhh… Grandpapa…?”

The woman chuckled; oh, the innocence of children. She then noticed that there was writing on the inside of the Vivre Card. “What’s that?”

“A… erm… a note.”

“For whom?”

“It’s for Grandpapa from Uncle Dorry.”

The elderly lady inhaled sharply, her eyes going wide for just a moment. Nauja began to panic, only for the woman to reach out and grab her arm.

“I know your grandfather; let me take you to him.”

“You… you do…?”

“Yes. I knew your Uncle Dorry before your grandfather knew him.”

A light went on in Nauja’s head—this was the friend that Dinosaur-ya had mentioned. She nodded and let the woman take her hand, bringing her through the maze-like corridors of the Marine Headquarters. She eventually found an office, where there was an elderly man sitting at a desk doing paperwork.

“Tsuru, what’s this?” he wondered, sitting fully upright. He watched as the little girl detached herself from his old comrade’s side and approached him, holding up a Vivre Card. It spun in her hand when she was directly next to him—it was his.

“I think you should read that, Sengoku,” Tsuru suggested. He picked up the Vivre Card and unfolded it, seeing the familiar, distinctive script inside.

‘Please take care of her. Dorry.’

“Where did you get this, child?” Sengoku asked gently. Nauja shuffled in place nervously.

“Your son gave it to me,” she said. “He knows my dad, and we met not too long ago, and he gave me that saying that if I were ever in any trouble Dad couldn’t handle, that I should find you.”

“Did he, now?”

“Yeah; he said something about his brother, and how although they never met, his brother would want me to have this.” The adults both looked at one another, which allowed the girl’s eyes to wander towards the photo frames on the desk. “That’s him! That’s Uncle Dorry!”

“Yes, it is him, isn’t it?” Sengoku nodded. He pulled the photo frame closer, allowing Nauja to see both the portraits clearer. She gasped when she saw the other one in the frame, before it having been shielded by glare from the lights. “What’s the matter?”

“That’s Cora-jiisan!” she realized. Nauja went into her backpack and pulled out an envelope, from which she presented a copy of a photo she last saw on her father’s wall. “He was Dad’s dad! Like how Dad is my dad! Dad needed Cora-jiisan and he took care of him, like how I needed Dad and he took care of me!”

“Is that so…?” Sengoku marveled, looking at the photo. It was something he had never seen before, with his son taking the photo of himself and a sour-looking teen with white patches on his face and in his hair. He wasn’t sure there was a time he had seen that sort of smile on him as an adult, and it made him nearly want to cry.

“Yes! This is Dad and me!” Nauja said. She held out another photo, this one of her and a very familiar-looking pirate. It was the teen from the first photo, no longer sick and now the adult taking the picture. Sengoku stared at the photos side by side, then stared at Tsuru, terrified of what was happening.

“I did not know,” he apologized to the child. “Since I’ve retired from my normal duties, I don’t hear a lot of chatter about who is in what crew these days. That this man has a child is news to me.”

“Dad didn’t really think he was my dad until very recently, but now that his adoptive uncle’s in prison, we’re safe to be a family! Well… kind of…”

“What do you mean by that?” Tsuru asked.

“Well, there’s this big, mean, ugly guy who made his crewmate turn all the guys on the ship into women! After he fixed it, Dad had me get my backpack together and he put me in an escape pod. I… I’ve been going by this ever since.” She tapped the now-still Vivre Card on the desktop. “Now I’m here! Why do you have a picture of Cora-jiisan?”

“He was my son, before your Uncle Dorry came into my life,” Sengoku said. “I found your Cora-jiisan, he found your father, and your father found you. We are family.”

“Then maybe,” Tsuru said, “this is a chance to make things right.”

“Indeed.”

Sengoku stared at the little girl for a moment, wondering what he did to deserve such a sweet and innocent thing as this. He had done so much wrong by his son—by the boy he had taken in without thought of reproach from the Celestial Dragons—and the kid he’d decided to take in. That Flevench boy should have grown up to become a Marine… should have been allowed to do great things, and yet he had squandered it. He, Sengoku, had squandered the future of a young man he’d never met—Trafalgar never truly had any autonomy when it came to this—and now the man’s daughter was here… in his office… in need of a place to be safe and free.

“What is your name? I can’t introduce my adorable little great-granddaughter if I don’t know what her name is.”

“Trafalgar D. Water Nauja,” the girl said firmly, head held high. “My dreams are to become a medical illustrator and get justice for Vaor and the crew and the ship that was our home. Dinosaur-ya—erm—Uncle Dorry said that you can keep me safe while I grow up. Is that true?”

“It is,” Sengoku nodded, “and it shall be. No one, pirate or Marine, will know what hit them.” He brought her into a hug and the girl broke down into sobs. Tears flowed from them both as the finality washed over them, unaware of the note that had been slipped into her backpack, tucked between the pages of a book about a city long-razed, written on the back of a photo taken while neither subject had been paying attention as they read together in the sun.

You shall fly, my little Nauja, and the world shall know your name.

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violet-knox · 4 years ago

Note

1 I would love to request a story for you if it´s still fine to do it, my request is a smut story with a quiet virgin female reader who is popular with opposite gender mostly because of her attractive physical appareance and for that when she confess that she have a romantic interested in him. He thinks is a lie or a joke to hurt him somehow but when she insist that her feelings are honest and she is willing to do anything.

Beauty’s Curse

Pairing: Young!Snape x Half-Veela!Reader

Summary: As Valentine’s day quickly approaches, you find yourself surrounded by more and more people asking to be yours, but you have your eye on someone else.

Warnings: (SPOILERS) Spiked drink, manipulation

Word Count: 6679

A/N: To be honest, I was a bit hesitant with this request because I knew it would be a rather big challenge. I didn’t want to write anything superficial or cliche, but I thought this would be a great opportunity to break the stereotype of “that pretty mean girl” and show that no one should be judged on their looks, even those who are considered attractive.

I took inspiration from a situation I found myself in more or less recently, so please do read the warnings before reading this even though they are crossed out unless you really don’t want spoilers.

Nearly six years had passed and the comments from your peers had never once eased. Valentine’s day had become your least favourite holiday from the never-ending line of people asking you to be their Valentine, each year worse than the last as your popularity increased. You knew it wasn’t their fault, not entirely. You were half Veela after all, something you never dare tell a soul. Rumours went around in your fourth year when you hit puberty, an invisible glow seeming to surround you as you walked down the hall, heads turning as they ogled you in amazement. ‘It was a gift’ your mother would always tell you, but you could never see it that way, especially after you’d agreed to go out with that boy a few years above you last year, finding out his charm only extended so far until his true colours showed. Since then, you’d done everything you could to contain your influence over those who yearned for you, knowing you’d never know true love if the man you ended up with only did so from his inability to resist you.

You wanted to know what love really felt like, real love not the admiration the Slytherin boys chatting you up now were showing. It irked you how they’d suddenly surrounded you like this, three of them, all taller than you, all of whom were doing their best to impress you. One spoke of his father’s status at the Ministry of Magic, offering to take you anywhere you liked on Valentine’s day. Another tried to persuade you with the offer of visiting his mother’s shop in Westminster; the most luxurious dress shop in all of London he claimed, anything you wanted his mother could have you fitted for. The last boy had the nerve to try and hand over a necklace with the most amount of diamonds you’d ever seen, saying he’d offer you anything you liked if you agreed to be his Valentine. You had to hold yourself back from rolling your eyes, the necklace barely managing to snap your attention back to them as your eyes instead wandered to the end of the hall where you saw another Slytherin sitting on the ledge of a window with his nose in a book.

You could still remember back when that was you sitting alone somewhere in the castle in your first year, everyone passing you by like you didn’t exist, your own nose shoved in the tenth book you’d been reading that week. Of course, that part never changed, you were a proud bookworm, one who’d much rather spend the evening diving into the pages of a good book than surrounded by people gawking at you. The only difference now was it was much harder to find a place where you’d be uninterrupted, but you always found a way, a small corner in this giant castle to call your own and escape the real world if not for a short moment.

“Sorry, but I can’t be any of your Valentines.” You spewed a quick apology to the Slytherin’s and pushed passed them, only to watch the boy you’d been intrigued by slam his book shut and dramatically swift away down the stairs.

He’d seen enough, the necklace turning his stomach into knots as he thought about the stupid bet they made before walking over to you, how they each thought they could buy you over with some luxury he could never afford to have. They didn’t even acknowledge his presence as they spoke, didn’t even bother to notice he’d hung back, that he stood by to watch them get rejected by the person who’d been known to reject everyone since first year. You seemed so kind and of course, it probably helped that you were a Hufflepuff, helped your ruse of being everyone’s friend, but he saw through you. He was the only one that did just as he was the only one to see through Potter. Everyone who was popular with the entire school had a dark side, he knew it, even if he hadn’t seen yours.

“Severus!” He turned around in surprise as he heard his name called out, unable to recognize the voice. His expression immediately turned sour when he realized it was you who’d run after him, calling his name to get his attention. He turned around and began walking away, one hand holding his books tightly as the other formed a tight fist. “Severus, wait!”

You were almost surprised to see someone so bluntly ignore you, shun you like you were nothing and you knew it was an act of dislike towards you, the way he looked at you making it very clear he did not want to speak with you. Yet you couldn’t help but yearn over him all the more. The only person in the entire school that seemed to see you as just another student, the only person who didn’t look at you like you’d blessed the very ground you walked on and he wouldn’t even give you a moment to speak.

“Severus,” you tried again, finally catching up to him as you placed your hand over his shoulder, Severus nearly twisting your wrist as he spun around, acting like your hand had burned the spot where you’d touched him. “I was just wondering, if you’d perhaps like to go out sometime?”

“What?” Severus rose his brow, wondering if he’d heard you correctly. It almost sounded as if you were asking him out, you, the person everyone in his life compared to perfection, the beauty of an angel, kindness comparable to no one else’s. You who’d chatted with the entire school, made friends with everyone, enemies with no one, would choose him?

“It-it doesn’t have to be a date if you don’t want it to be. But I just thought, well I thought it would be nice to have a chat with you some time,” you said, feeling the heat rise to your face as you tried to ease the tension. Severus' expression only darkened with annoyance as his suspicion of you grew.

“Did Avery put you up to this? Nott? Or Potter?” he blurted out. He couldn’t believe you thought he’d fall for such an obvious ruse. That he’d be desperate enough to accept your deceptive invitation, and when he found out who it was that plotted this interaction, he was going to make sure they never tried something like this again.

“N-no! Why would you say that?” You looked at him with shock, your heart sinking as you felt yourself nearly knock yourself over as you hit that defensive wall he had built around himself. You knew he wasn’t exactly liked by the other students, that he had a much tougher time than he deserved, but you’d never imagined him reacting like this when you finally built up the courage to ask him out.

“I’m not falling for this,” Severus shook his head as he dismissed your advancements. He turned around and resumed walking down the stairs, leaving you to your own failure though he wasn’t surprised to see you running after him.

“Severus wait!”

“Tell whoever sent you to piss off!” He brushed you off without stopping. Reaching the ground floor, he continued to walk towards the Entrance Hall without so much as glancing your way.

“Severus no one sent me, I swear,” you tried to make him see reason, to show him you were being genuine, but as he spun back around, his hair turning dramatically with him as his strands quickly settled back into place, framing the annoyed look on his face, you could tell he wasn’t willing to let his guard down for even a moment and consider your intentions to be pure.

“Really? Then why?” His words came out more as demands rather than a question, but you wouldn’t let it scare you away. You didn’t want to give up the one chance you had at a genuine relationship with someone who saw you as more than just a pretty face.

“Why what?”

“Why in Merlin’s name would you ask me out when you already have the entire school ready to put their heads on the chopping block just for a moment with you?” His tone made you wonder if he was asking the question out of curiosity for your answer or if he’d already made up his mind, that no matter what you said he wouldn’t believe you anyways. You had half a mind to walk away, telling yourself you deserved better, but this was what you wanted wasn’t it? Not to be run after, try to be bought over in some way? You wanted someone to go out with you and love you for who you were, to resist the natural attraction of your Veela DNA.

“Because you’re brilliant and love to read. Because you aren’t like everyone else. Because you make me feel normal.” You poured your heart out to Severus only to have him scoff in your face, rolling his eyes, clearly finding your words less than truthful. You’d never admit it of course, but you did, in a way, lie. You’d admired him for so long now. All you saw was his good sides, but you couldn’t bring yourself to admit such a thing. “Please, Severus, give me a chance.”

Severus stared at you a moment, surprising himself as he actually debated your plea. He wanted nothing more than to believe you, to believe someone would be interested in him in the way you claimed. But it was you. How could he believe the most wanted person in the entire school would choose the most hated? He wanted to get the truth out of you, to embarrass you when you admitted to your real intentions and perhaps that’s exactly what he should do. Perhaps he could get you to blurt out the name of the imbecile that would soon regret trying to mess with him like this.

“Fine. There’s a Hogsmeade trip this weekend. I suppose I can spare a few hours with you.” He agreed to your invitation as he made plans of his own, immediately setting off to the dungeons when you smiled and nodded. You looked almost relieved that he’d finally accepted, almost like you had some other agenda and of course, he’d find out one way or the other. He was tired of the harassment, the humiliation from everyone in this school, tainting it with their insolence and stupidity. This was his home, the one place in the entire world where he could belong, and he wouldn’t let anyone push him around any longer.

This was the last straw. He was going to make an example out of you and whoever it was pulling your strings. He’d make the entire school regret making him out as a punishing bag, a joke for everyone to laugh at. What more could he lose? His best friend had already abandoned him, his Slytherin peers eager to do the same, only ever defending him out of obligation for their own house. He had no one, nothing to care for except his own reputation. He’d come to Hogwarts wanting to make something of himself, to build himself a future better suited for a Prince than a Snape and that’s what he was going to do one way or the other.

He made his way to his dorm first, retrieving the stash of potion ingredients he hid under his bed and cross referenced what he needed from the notes he’d taken in the back of his Advanced Potion Making textbook. He had nearly everything he needed, but he knew he could get the rest from the potion’s cupboard before Potion’s class today. It would take some time to brew and he’d probably have to stay up tonight, but he knew he could finish it just in time for his ‘date’ with you.

You’d spent all week excited for the weekend. Every day you woke up with a smile until finally the day of the Hogsmeade trip arrived. You were the first to wake, preparing for the day as your nerves grew, your friends questioning why you seemed so happy all of a sudden, but you brushed them all off. You didn’t want anything to ruin this day, knowing they’d laugh if you told them you were going out with Severus. You just wanted to enjoy your date, to be left alone and show Severus there was someone in this school who would love nothing more than to spend every second of the day with him.

Naturally you’d show up early and of course you were prepared. You sat at a nearby bench with your nose in a book as you usually were when you were alone and despite the crowd that grew with every second that past, Severus had no trouble finding you, rather surprised you weren’t surrounded by people all laughing, waiting to see what would come of your plan to humiliate him today. You were reading Magical Theory, one of the most boring books he’d found in all of Hogwarts’ library, yet there you were, enticed by every word, flipping the pages like you couldn’t go another second without reading.

“H-hello,” he said, startling you as you shot your attention up from your book to him. He felt his heart racing, his nerves escalating like this was a real date. But it wasn’t, it couldn’t be. He was here for one reason and one reason only; the truth. He shouldn’t be feeling guilty for something he had yet to do, but he did. A sliver of him didn’t want to hurt you, instead hoping that this was real, that you were here because you were genuinely interested in him, but he knew better. How could someone as popular, as liked and as beautiful as you be interested in him?

“Severus, I’m glad you showed.” You gave him the widest smile he’d ever seen anyone give him as you closed your book and stood up.

“I said I would didn’t I?” Severus rose a brow at you, taken back by the enthusiasm in your tone.

“Yes, but you seemed reluctant the other day.” Truth be told, you half expected to spend the day alone in absolute despair trying to distract yourself in that book as you pretended like you weren’t hurt from being stood up. But he came and he seemed much less defensive than before.

“Shall we?” He gestured to the group of students making their way down to Hogsmeade. You nodded your head and happily joined him as you walked side by side amongst the crowd. Severus was already suspicious of you and your intentions knowing if he was alone, he would have been called ‘Snivellus’ at least once by now. He felt shielded around you, like no one could touch him and for a moment, he was relieved to feel normal for once.

“I loved your presentation in Defense last week,” you commented, hoping some light conversation would help ease the mood before you found a place to settle for the day. Severus glared at you in surprise, wondering if you were trying to butter him up or if you had actually paid attention during class unlike the rest of his useless classmates.

“Really? What did you like about it?” Severus questioned your honesty, wondering if he could catch you in a lie before your ‘date’ even started.

“I love how in-depth your research was on cursed objects and your theory of their origin was intriguing,” you said with a smile, holding back your enthusiasm in fear of scaring him away. But you couldn’t help it, you admired Severus and how brilliant he was. You felt the heat rise to your face as you thought about the first time you saw him with his nose in a book, the first time you’d ever found yourself pulled away from your own book. “I noticed you like to hang around the Defense section of the library, is it your favourite subject?”

“You’ve been spying on me?” Your question had the opposite effect that you wanted as you saw his wall rebuild itself around him thicker than before. But you’d never give up knocking and asking him to let you in, to give you a chance and show him he could trust you.

“N-no, I like to hide in the library at times and I just noticed you were a regular as well,” you said, but you could tell Severus wasn’t convinced. He could almost see the crack in your claims, trying to cover them with some made up weak lie.

“Why have I never seen you in the library?” The interrogation continued, Severus seeing his victory in his line of sight. He had you cornered and was ready to end the day now when you admitted your true intentions. A smirk began to grow on his face as he thought of the victory at the end of his fingertips. He could almost see the horrific look on the face of whoever is to blame for this day.

“Pince lets me sit on the second floor overlooking the library, it’s only meant for staff, but she noticed my inability to have a moment to myself and rescued me one day from another mob of people looking to make conversation with me.”

“That’s kind of her,” he said, gritting his teeth as you slipped away from him, freeing yourself from his near grasp. His lips stretched into a frown as his revenge faded away. The longer he spoke with you the more his hope that this was real grew. You surprised him with your lack of self-absorbent qualities and your interest in what the Hogwarts library had to offer. He never imagined having so much in common with someone with your popularity, always assuming you’d be a lot more like Potter than himself.

He looked over at you as you nodded, your smile enriching the twinkle in your eye as you gleamed at him with joy. You were so happy to speak with him, to have a casual and light conversation, to share things with him you’d never shared with anyone before. It felt good to open up a bit, to show that other side of you that stayed hidden away when you spoke to your friends or classmates. It was almost freeing, and you only hoped with time, Severus could feel the same with you.

“So, where should we go?” You asked, unsure of what his favourite places at Hogsmeade was. He didn’t seem the type to enjoy a trip to Honeydukes and you knew he didn’t have enough money for the bookstore.

“We could grab a table at The Three Broomsticks?” Severus suggested as he gestured towards the pub. You nodded your head and made your way over, opening the door and began to make your way to the first empty table you saw. You smiled when Severus pulled on your arm and pointed to the booth in the back instead. He was always such a loner, though you couldn’t help but wonder if he preferred the seclusion now because he didn’t want to be seen with you. You wouldn’t blame him for being skeptical and you were thankful he was giving you a chance, but trust was so important in a relationship and you didn’t want to start it off with an inability to trust one another.

“Go ahead, I’ll grab us some drinks.” You nodded and made your way to the booth, making yourself comfortable as Severus walked over to the bar. As you slide to the middle of the booth, you began to appreciate Severus' choice in seating, realizing how well hidden you were from everyone, not wanting your day interrupted by someone who thought Severus had kidnapped you and forced you into a date because they thought someone like you shouldn’t be out with someone like him.

Severus didn’t take long to bring you your drinks, setting them down before shuffling into the booth beside you, grabbing his drink and taking a few gulps. His nerves had finally settled in and he almost wished he’d ordered something stronger for himself. The moment of truth had nearly come and at any moment now he’d get what he came here for, but he was afraid. He feared what the truth may bring him, that if by some small chance you were being honest before, he was about to ruin a love that could have been.

“Thank you,” you said as you reached for your own drink and took a sip. “Not just for the drink, but for giving me a chance as well.”

Severus gulped down the guilt that grew in his chest. There was no going back now. He had to find out the truth, even if you seemed genuine with your feelings towards him. “I was curious to know why you’d want to go out with me.”

He dipped his toes in the water as you both continued to enjoy your drinks and as he hoped, you began to open up to him, though perhaps not in the way he would have thought. “I’ve admired you for quite some time and have been trying to build up the courage to talk to you for a while.”

You put your drink down in shock by your sudden outburst of words. You hadn’t meant to say all that, even if it was on the tip of your tongue. Furrowing your brows, you pressed your lips together, unsure of how you’d lost control so suddenly. You felt like someone was pulling your strings, like they had slapped you on the back so hard, the words just flew out of your mouth. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say all that.”

Severus narrowed his eyes at you, doubting his own abilities and wondered how this could possibly be. He was so sure this was a trick, that you were being deceitful, put up by someone else to embarrass him, but your truth was far from what he was expecting. You were real, you were interested in him, and he’d made a terrible mistake. “S-so no one put you up to asking me out?”

“No of course not. You’re the only person I’ve ever met I felt like I could truly fall in lo-” You clapped your hands over your mouth before you could say anymore. Your eyes widened as you bit down on your tongue, muffling the words you could not believe were about to be heard by him. You looked at him in fear, feeling completely helpless. Your freewill had been stripped away from you and you found yourself unable to control what came out of your mouth. “W-what’s going on?!”

“I-I’m so sorry (Y/N). This was not how I imagined things would go,” he said, his sympathetic tone making it harder for you to stay calm as your heart pounded angrily against your chest. Every fiber in your body told you something was wrong, that you should run, but you couldn’t, you didn’t want to. You’d waited so long to be here, to be in this moment alone with Severus, you didn’t want it ruined.

“What are you talking about?” You let yourself speak just enough to ask for clarification, to give Severus the chance to explain himself, to give you the explanation you needed to stay here with him.

“I-I slipped Veritaserum into your drink. I thought I could get you to admit this was a trick. I didn’t expect this. I’m so sorry.” You looked at him with absolute horror, your heart breaking into a million pieces as his betrayal sunk in. He’d manipulated you, used you like a puppet when you’d done nothing but open yourself up to him. You’d trusted him like you’d done with no one before, and he tossed that away like it meant nothing. Your eyes swelled with tears, unable to look at him any longer. Your legs immediately swept you from your seat as you glued your mouth shut, trying to escape the prison Severus had trapped you in

“(Y/N) wait!” Severus cried after you in desperation, unable to believe how he’d messed up something he could only dream of having. You were an angel that anyone would have felt lucky to be with and he was the demon you’d chose instead. The demon who’d scared you away from love, from happiness, from a good and honest relationship. He tried to grab your wrist, but his hand failed to hold onto you as your skin, your oh so perfect skin grazed his fingertips. You ran out the door with tears dripping down your face and a hand over your mouth, leaving him deserted. His eyes followed you until you were no longer within his line of sight, running to get as far away from the monster who’d broken your trust, your faith in him.

Slumping back in his seat, he stared blankly at his hands, the hands that had spent all week brewing a potion that was meant to bring him peace, a sense of power and control over his own life, yet it brought him nothing but an empty heart and crushed aspirations. Your words rang in his ears, the kind tone you took with him, the loving look you gave him all sinking in much differently now that he knew for certain they were real. He looked up at the drink that had ruined his second chance, the chance at a happy life, a life where he no longer had to be alone and swung his arm at it in anger.

The pub fell silent as glass shattered, the drink spilling all over the floor as Severus pushed himself up and began storming out the door, ignoring the calls of the angry bartender who stood over the mess he’d made. Severus ran in the same direction he’d seen you head, but found no sight of you. He had no idea what he’d say or why he so suddenly ran after you without thinking. He just knew he had to find you. He couldn’t give up on the miracle he’d been asking for all his life, someone who truly cared for him, who liked him for who he was and could look past his flaws.

He looked around and found himself in a lost haze, unsure of what to do next. You were gone, vanished like a figment of his imagination and he was left here to wonder how he’d managed to get so lucky to have the one person the entire school was after fall for him. He looked back at the road back to Hogwarts before he found his legs suddenly jolting him forward as if his body knew exactly where to go. He couldn’t understand what was happening, how he felt like he had no control over himself. His mind was cycling as it tried to comprehend what was happening, how he could be driven on nothing but emotions, his feelings for you pushing him to run as fast as he could back to the castle and up those flights of stairs.

By the time he got to his destination, his hair was sticking to the sides of his face, his lungs gasping for air as he felt his entire body heat up. His heart pounded angrily against his chest, shouting at him to keep going, that he wasn’t done until he’d found you, but he’d never run so much in his life, never felt so unable to breath, even after the massive panic attrack he had the night after the Whomping Willow incident.

Looking around the library, he found his way to the door he knew only staff were allowed to open. His hand bolted for the doorknob, tugging on it to find it locked. Pulling out his wand, he tried to unlock it with no luck. His fists pounded on the door in frustration, he needed to get in there, he knew you were in there, he could feel it. You’d trusted him enough to tell him about this place and as much as he was aware you didn’t want to see him, he needed to see you. “(Y/N)! (Y/N)! Please open the door! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean for this to happen. I didn’t think- I didn’t know!”

Severus hung his head low as he pressed himself to the door. This was as close to you as he knew he’d ever get again. He’d ruined any chance of a relationship with you and you were right to hide away from him. He was destructive, ruining anything he touched, anyone who spoke with him or dare come near him and perhaps that was why Potter felt the need to hex and curse him every time they saw one another. He couldn’t let it go on, he had to try and mend things, if not to at least make up for what he’d done.

“Please, at least let me undo what I’ve done. I can cure you and if you don’t want to hear what I have to say then I’ll leave. But please let me fix this.” Severus shut his eyes, tears threatening to fall as his forehead met the door. He stood there in silence, wondering if he’d hurt you so bad you’d abandoned the one place you felt safe in this school, if he’d done to you what Potter had to him. He’d become what he hated and was about ready to retreat to his dorm when he heard the doorknob turning, the door slowly opening as he took a step back, his eyes wide as he wiped away the tears that rolled down his cheeks.

Your eyes met his and you felt your disappointment melt into anger. Your jaw hardened as you locked your teeth together, doing everything you could to keep from speaking another word to Severus. You watched him snap out of your gaze and begin to fumble with his robes, pulling out a small stone and presenting it to you. You stared down at it confused, wondering what kind of apology this was meant to be.

“It’s a bezoar. I know it’s not the most comfortable solution, but it’s all I have,” Severus offered it to you, hoping you’d take it, that he could try and regain your trust once again. He held out hope as he watched your posture relax the slightest bit, your hand hesitantly reaching for the stone. He wouldn’t dare speak a word or move a muscle until you indicated what it was you wished of him next. From this moment forward, he would do nothing you didn’t ask for, say nothing you didn’t demand.

Tossing the stone into your mouth, you swallowed hard and groaned at the feeling of its rough texture travelling down your throat. You heaved for air, but for the first time since you ran out of The Three Broomsticks, you found yourself able to relax your jaw, your fear of spilling your guts disappearing. Straightening your back, you looked at Severus who seemed unable to move or breath, waiting for your command to do so as his wide eyes stared desperately into yours. You’d never felt so conflicted, your feelings for him clouding your instinct to slap him for what he’d done to you. You never felt so humiliated, so used in your life. Severus had gone from the person who’d treated you like a normal human being to the one person in your life who’d hurt you worse than you ever thought you could be hurt. But you still couldn’t find it in you to shove him away and lock him out of your life. So instead, you closed the door behind you and stood your ground with your arms crossed, waiting for Severus to explain himself.

“I-I’m so sorry.” He nearly choked on his words as they came out when he saw the look on your face, the frown you wore. No word would ever be large enough to truly depict how he felt right now and as much as he wanted to say more, all he could do was apologize.

“You already said that,” you mumbled in a whisper, speaking against your own trauma from the truth serum that Severus had given you. He looked so sincere, so desperate for your forgiveness. You’d never seen him like this before, clawing at someone else for something only they could give. He’d always been such a strong person even if others would disagree. He wasn’t presumptuous as he was proud of himself and his achievements, but the person who stood before you now had no pride left to show. He had nothing but regret and torment in his eyes.

“And I can never say it enough. I should never have put that potion in your drink and I wish I could take it back. I didn’t think you were being genuine. I was so sure you were lying to me.” He spoke honestly, hoping you’d have faith he was being truthful with every word he spoke, that you could at least put the trust in him he failed to put in you.

“Why?” You couldn’t let go of the sheer stupidity of what he’d done. His reasoning didn’t make the slightest bit of sense to you, and if you could understand why he did it, maybe you could begin to forgive him.

“Why? Because you’re you and I’m me and why would I ever believe you of all people would be interested in me?” Severus went on as if the question was an absurd one to ask, the answer so obvious, even a house elf could see it. He wondered how you couldn’t see his hesitation, why you’d ever think he’d simply accept the fact you were interested in him.

“Because I said that I did!” you said bluntly, rather offended he questioned your intentions at all. Never had anyone second guessed you to this extreme before and you didn’t appreciate it in the slightest.

“I know, I just-”

“Didn’t trust my word?” You looked completely heart broken, more so then when you realized he’d slipped truth serum into your drink. He could see trust was something you cherished between those you let close to you and he’d completely ruined his chance at gaining it from you.

“No, I didn’t. I couldn’t. Not after the way the school decided to brand me all those years ago.” Severus had no hope of convincing you what he did was justifiable because even he knew it wasn’t. All he could hope for was for you to understand his hesitation, to understand why he had to do something when you approached him to see if you were genuine in your intentions.

“I’ve never treated you that way,” you retorted.

“I know. I’m sorry and I’ll understand if you’ll never want to speak with me again.” He put the ball in your court, completely at your mercy. Whatever it was you decided to do, he would respect it, but every inch of him begged you to give him another chance, to let him have a proper opportunity to have someone in his life that would care for him, to have a happy ending. But as Severus stared into your blank eyes, he could tell he hadn’t swayed you in any way. It was his fault and as he had nothing more to say, all he could do was turn around to walk away from everything that could have been.

“That’s it?” Severus stopped as you called after him, turning around in surprise as he stared at you blankly.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you’re just going to walk away? You’re not going to try and fight? For-for this?” You gestured between yourselves with a sliver of hope in your eyes. You knew you shouldn’t have expected much from him, but a part of you hoped he’d be a little more resilient to giving up on you, especially after all that time you’d spent admiring him from afar.

“I-I didn’t think there was anything to fight for,” he said truthfully, looking at you with wide eyes as he walked back to you. He stared at you intently, trying to read you, to figure you out with all these mysteries surrounding you. How could someone so beautiful fall for him, want to be with him enough you’d be willing to give him a chance at redemption when his own best friend wouldn’t give him such a thing?

You took a step forward, wanting so badly to have all those talks with him you’d dreamed of having, to enjoy spending time with him if not to simply read together and find comfort in each other's company. You wanted to go back and give him a chance to redo the evening, to have it end much differently than yours and if it were anyone else, you would never have given him the chance to explain himself. But it wasn’t someone else, it was him. It was the one person in this whole world who you thought could break your curse, who seemed immune to it.

“Severus, why don’t you treat me like everyone else in this school?”

Severus stood in silence a moment as he thought back to how easily everyone worshipped the ground you walked on, how you always seemed to have a trail of people behind you, admiring you for no reason other than your looks. His thoughts wandered to Lily and how Potter seemed just as enchanted with her as the rest of the school did to you, how he’d only become intrigued with Lily after finding out she was a kind witch who lived in Cokeworth.

“I just-I suppose I just never thought of you in that way because I didn’t know you, and I never thought you’d be interested in knowing me.” Severus tried to be as honest as he could, watching you with hope. He held onto the fact you hadn’t run away, that you’d given him the chance to speak, to hear him and understand him. You were so kind, nothing like he would have ever imagined and he knew if he was ever so lucky as to get a second chance with you, he would never take it for granted again.

“Well, I am,” you said with a smile. You’d always been rather talented at reading people after the absurdity you’d seen from others, and Severus had truly wanted to make amends. You prayed your faith in him wasn’t misplaced, that he meant every word he said and that he saw what you saw. “If you are.”

“I am.” The words flew out of his mouth faster than he could process. He jumped at the chance you offered, beyond excited for the happy life he saw ahead of him. “Would you perhaps like to try again?”

You nodded your head eagerly, excited for your do-over date. You almost wanted to forget what had happened today, to approach things with him from a fresh perspective. “Valentine’s day is coming up. Would you care to share a cup of tea with me at Madam Puddifoot’s tea shop?”

“Really?” Severus couldn’t believe how kind hearted you were, how willing you were to see the good in others and how tremendously lucky he was to have found you, or more accurately, have you find him.

“So long as I’m buying this time,” you nodded with a laugh, eliciting a smile from Severus as you began making your way out of the library. You smiled as you finally got to see the real him, the person you grew infatuated with, the boy who you saw hope for love with. For the first time in your life, you felt content, excited for the spark you felt growing inside your heart. You could experience love for the first time in your life, real, pure love and you couldn’t wait to see what more it had in store for you.

#Severus Snape #Severus x reader #Severus Snape x reader #Snape x reader #young Severus Snape #young Snape x reader #my fanfic #my writing #pro Snape #snapedom

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babybluebex · 4 years ago

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keep her safe [todd hewitt x reader]

➽ pairing: todd hewitt x fem!reader (y/n) ➽ summary: PART 1! you meet todd hewitt, a strange man who has his thoughts on constant display, and he helps you escape a sticky situation. ➽ word count: 2.5k ➽ warnings: SPOILERS FOR CHAOS WALKING. mentions of violence ➽ a/n: i saw chaos walking 24 hours ago and i already have a whole series planned woohoo. also, i’m posting this on mobile, so sorry it’s so weird. ugh. enjoy!! masterlist & taglist in my bio

“Girl! Girl, girl…”

Each word came with a green-purple mist that circled around the boy’s head. But your face contorted with confusion; his mouth wasn’t moving.

“How are you doing that?” you asked, mirroring his defensive stance. The boy’s little wire-haired dog was yapping at you, and you thought for just a moment that he was a little cutie. The dog, that was. The boy was… Odd. He was tanned, big brown eyes with shorn brown hair, wearing rugged clothes, brandishing a knife at you. He seemed a lot less advanced than what you knew, and your heart went out for the people that lived on the planet. You were only there as a part of an outreach program from Earth. You and five others were sent to meet the people living there, see what their civilization was like, and report it back to Earth. Upon entering the planet’s atmosphere, though, your ship burnt up and crashed, leaving you with bruises and cuts on your body that not even your medpack could heal. You needed real medical attention, but you had no way of contacting the mothership. Your best hope was the boy that stood before you, holding you at the point of his knife.

“Doing what?” the boy said, but, once again, his mouth stayed pressed into a firm line. Then, the mist returned. “Girl, girl, high voice, pretty hair, no Noise, need to tell Prentiss, save her from the Spackle, shit, fuck, I am Todd Hewitt, I am Todd Hewitt, I am Todd Hewitt…”

“Todd Hewitt,” you said, your voice wavering. “That’s your name?”

“Shit!” Todd said— or rather, the mist said. You still couldn’t understand how the mist was making words. “Yeah,” Todd said, his mouth moving normally. His voice was low and gruff.

“Girl, girl, girl—“

“What the hell is that?” you asked. Your grip tightened around your blaster, trained on Todd Hewitt, but you were beginning to get the feeling that he was as confused as you were. The way the mist around him kept mentioning that you were a girl almost made it seem like… No. “Have you ever seen a girl before?”

“Yes!” Todd huffed back at you, but the mist betrayed him.

“No, all dead, pretty girl, Manchee shut the hell up, I am Todd Hewitt, I am Todd Hewitt.”

You lowered your blaster. He didn’t want to hurt you. He was as frightened as you were. He had never seen a girl before, so you were a weird offshoot of what he knew. Uncanny valley, almost. Nearly familiar, but not quite.

“What is that?” you asked, softer and slower. You holstered your blaster, and Todd put away his knife. “All around you. I’ve never seen it before.”

“It’s called the Noise,” Todd told you. While he had sheathed his weapon, his face was still stony and focused on you. “It’s our thoughts.”

You tilted your head in confusion. “Those are… Your thoughts?” you repeated. “You can’t control it? It just happens?”

“All the men on our planet have a Noise,” Todd said. “Women didn’t.”

“What happened to the women?” you asked.

Todd flexed his jaw for a moment, then said, “I need to take you to Prentiss.”

In the Noise around Todd, an image of an older man wearing furs with scars on his face appeared, and you surmised that this was Prentiss. “Why?” you asked. “Who is he?”

“Our mayor,” Todd said.

“Mayor, Prentiss, proud of me, ‘good use of your Noise, son’, Prentiss, she needs to see Prentiss, girl, girl, girl.”

“You’ve really never seen a girl before?” you asked. “Where are the women here?”

“They died,” Todd said flatly. “The Spackle killed them.”

“The Spackle?” you repeated.

“The creatures that live here,” Todd said. “They’re dangerous.”

You had a different name for the natives of the planet, but you decided to stay with the terms that Todd told you, for his ease. “Am I the first girl you’ve seen?” you asked, even though you knew the answer.

Todd nodded quietly, but his Noise said everything you needed to know. The image of a woman appeared, dark hair and a soft face, holding a baby that was laughing. The woman was singing something in a light voice that the Noise garbled into incoherence, and then the mist vanished. “Was that your mother?” you asked.

“Stop distracting me!” Todd barked suddenly. “Why are you here?”

“I came with an outreach program from Earth!” you exclaimed. Your hand went to your belt instinctively, but you remembered the progress that you had made with Todd. His weapon was still away, his little dog’s yapping resorted to whines, and, based on his toned body, you didn’t want to get into a physical altercation with him. He would win, no doubt, even though you had had combat training. “We came to see the first settlers’ progress, but our ship malfunctioned during entry… I’m the only one that survived.”

“Prentiss will know what to do, Prentiss is good, ‘Good use of your Noise, son’, Prentiss likes me, take her to Prentiss.”

“M’taking you to the mayor,” Todd said, reaching for you, but you stepped backwards.

“Where is Farnbranch?” you asked.

“Where?” Todd asked.

“Farnbranch,” you repeated, louder and clearer. “It’s where we were supposed to touch down. How far away is it?”

“Prentisstown is the only place here,” Todd grunted.

“On the whole planet?” you scoffed. “You’re the only ones? Really?”

“S’what I’ve been told,” Todd said. You could sense that he was growing agitated, and you sighed.

“Who told you that?” you asked.

“I am Todd Hewitt, I am Todd Hewitt, I am Todd Hewitt…”

Your face screwed up in understanding. If the Noise were his thoughts, he was repeating his name to obscure what he was really thinking. He was simple like you had first thought. In fact, he was actually quite smart. “What’re you not telling me, Todd Hewitt?” you asked.

Todd fixed his jaw. “You shouldn’t have come here.”

The man you had seen in Todd’s voice did in fact turn out to be Prentiss. He was old but strong as an elm, flat, grey hair hidden under a brimmed hat. As Todd took you into the center of town, a crowd of men began to gather, and you were overwhelmed by their voices. They were talking, and the Noise was spouting every thought. You tried to ignore the Noise that focused on your body or more salacious thoughts that came with a 20 year absence of women, but that Noise was the loudest of them all. It was so loud.

Prentiss took you into a cabin and sat you next to a metal contraption that you recognized as an old model of the same heating system you had had on the mothership. Your hands felt like ice, and you stretched them out to try to get any feeling back. Prentiss took a chair and scraped it against the wooden floor until it was next to you, and he sat down. He reminded you of your grandfather and the old cowboy shows he would watch, and you found yourself leaning towards him. He had no Noise.

“Todd told me that you came from Earth,” Prentiss began. In the back of the room, a younger man sat eating an apple. He had the same strong jaw and hard eyes as Prentiss, and his Noise was a continual loop of “Girl? Didn’t think girls existed, she’s pretty. Pa will sort this out.” “Is that true?”

You nodded. “There were supposed to be six of us,” you started. “But… Our ship crashed just outside of town.”

Prentiss leaned back in his chair, the old wood creaking under his weight. “You were supposed to land in Farnbranch, weren’t ya?” he asked.

“Yes,” you said, but your stomach roiled with unease. How did he know? “How far away is it? I asked Todd Hewitt but he said that he didn’t know another town existed.”

The other man in the room looked up from his lap at this, his eyes wide. “Pa,” he said. “I thought--”

“Davy,” Prentiss grunted, and the man stopped talking. “Control your Noise, son. Leave us be.”

“But Pa--”

“He can stay,” you said softly.

“Davy, I said go,” Prentiss said firmly. “And make sure you control your Noise. Don’t let anyone out there know she’s supposed to go to Farnbranch.”

Davy cast you a glance that made your heart pitter-patter in fear, and then he was gone. “Listen here, girly--”

“My name is Y/N.”

“That don’t matter here,” Prentiss snapped. “That Hewitt boy told you ‘bout why there’s no women here, and there’s a good reason for that. You notice how you don’t have Noise?”

Thank God, you thought. You nodded, though, tangling your fingers together.

“The Noise only affects the menfolk here,” Prentiss said. “Women don’t have it. They never did. But the Spackle didn’t like that. They didn’t like how they couldn’t tell the womenfolk’s intentions, and they killed them all. Every last girl.”

“The Spackle can speak our language?” you asked in astonishment. From all of your studies, you thought that the native creatures were fairly simple, not fully capable of spoken language. This insight was incredible and one that you were sure to report back to the mothership.

“No.”

“Then how did they feel threatened by the women?” you asked. “In fact, they would be more threatened by hearing a language that wasn’t their own, appearing from nowhere. That doesn’t make--”

In an instant, Prentiss had drawn a knife. While he didn’t point it at you, he held it firm in his fist. The veins that jumped on his wrist told you all you needed to know about him. It scared you silent. The air changed instantly inside the cabin. Prentiss didn’t want to help you, you could tell. “The world don’t make sense, girly,” Prentiss said. “All we can do is accept it and move on. Now, I’m not gonna let you go to Farnbranch.”

“Why not?” you asked.

“It’s not safe for you there,” Prentiss said.

“I get the feeling it’s not safe for me here either,” you said quickly. You said up a bit straighter, and you said, “I want to speak to Todd.”

“I’m not gonna let you do that,” Prentiss said. “See, the Hewitt boy’s special, and I can’t have you two goin’ and making an alliance.”

“I am not going to speak to you unless Todd is here,” you said firmly. Then, through gritted teeth, you said, “Bring. Todd. Here.”

Prentiss sighed, twirling the blade absently in his hands, and he stood up. Relief pricked at your skin for just a moment, but then Prentiss took a handful of your hair. You cried out in pain as he hauled you from your chair and threw you to the floor, and you screamed as Prentiss pressed the heel of his boot to your throat. “Ya gonna talk now?” Prentiss asked.

You drew in a breath and you screamed again. You hoped that Todd was in that crowd around the cabin and that he would help you. Truly, there was no reason to believe that he would help you; you didn’t know if he even liked you. Sure, he thought you were pretty, but that didn’t automatically mean that he cared for you.

“Todd!”

Prentiss pressed his heel deeper into your throat, cutting off your scream with a gurgle. It was hard to breathe, nearly impossible. “You killed them,” you managed at a whisper. “Th-The Spackle weren’t threatened. You were.”

“Aw, damn, she’s smart too,” Prentiss laughed. “That’s a shame. You could’ve made a really pretty wife for one of us.”

The door banged open, and there was Todd. He had a wild look in his eyes, and he lunged at Prentiss. Todd grabbed Prentiss’s wrists and wrestled him off of you, and you scrambled to your feet as you palmed your blaster. “Todd!” you cried, and his wild brown eyes focused on you for a moment before he saw your crisp white blaster. He saw your plan as clearly as if you had put it in the Noise, and he hauled Prentiss around so that his back was to you. “Drop it!” Todd yelled, his voice dropping deep in his throat.

“How d’ya know she’s in the right?” Prentiss yelled. “Just ‘cause she’s a pretty face? Womenfolk will deceive you, Todd! They’ll use you right up and leave you confused! How d’ya know she ain’t controlling you through the Noise right now?”

“‘Cause she doesn’t have Noise, you dumb fuck!” Todd yelled.

With that, you fired your blaster. A white-hot bot of energy buried itself into the mayor’s back, and he crumpled like wet paper. Todd hurtled himself away from Prentiss and grabbed your arm, and the green-purple mist of his Noise surrounded you like a thick cloud. “Gotta save her, gotta save her, pretty girl, Prentiss tried to hurt her, ‘Womenfolk will deceive you’, Goddamn it, shut the fuck up, I am Todd Hewitt, I am Todd Hewitt--”

“Get me to Farnbranch,” you rasped. “Please.”

#tom holland #tom holland fic #todd hewitt #todd hewitt fic #tom holland angst #todd hewitt angst #todd hewitt x reader #tom holland x reader #angst #chaos walking #chaos walking fanfiction

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cow-smells · 4 years ago

Text

You’re Mine [Eli Hawk Moskowitz x Reader]

Requests: 1. there’s a new girl on miyagi-do, she’s classmates with sam, hawk, miguel, tory, robby, demetri, etc... for some reason, she and hawk didn’t like each other (he can be on cobra kai or eagle fangs, that’s your choice), and one day they make a bet, which this girl wins. hawk has to be her slave for a whole week. BONUS IDEA: a stolen kiss during a fight. maybe admitting feelings for each other? i’d love that! ( @berriewrites ) 2. love the hawk smut but i’d also love some fluffy hawk about him secretly liking the reader who’s in miyagido but he tries to act all tough and hide it (anon) 3. AHHH CAN WE GET SOME HAWK FLUFF!? I love the idea where you swear that you don’t like him and you guys make eye contact from a distance when he’s standing with his friend group and you’re standing with yours and you get flustered and he can tell and he smirks and just ahh (anon)

A/N: this took so longggg this came out longer than expected (and honestly i could go on, but i wanted to get this out already) + real life has come hitting all at once and its been overwhelming lol. thanks for being patient and sticking around <3 i enjoyed writing some fluff (amidst a flurry of smut reuests loool :)

Words: 2981

Warnings: none

Read this on AO3

Summary: You don't like Hawk. He's a bad person, that much you know for sure. You're ready to make his life miserable when he loses a bet with you, but then you actually have to spend time with him...

You didn't like this.

Forgiveness seemed to be a virtue that evaded you. Eagle-fang and Miagi-Do were uniting and everyone seemed to be all for the union – except for you.

Some things were simply unforgivable. For you, Hawk breaking Demetri's arm was one of them.

You and Demetri became nearly inseparable friends when you both joined Miagi-Do. He had told you all about his former friend Eli and how he'd abandoned him in the favor of bullying him in any way he could come up with; that bullying taking a turn to the extreme when Hawk took to breaking bones.

Demetri had since forgiven him, but you hadn't.

Demetri had a softer heart than he let on, and he missed Eli terribly, so when the latter suggested they work together he gladly accepted.

But you were more objective about the situation, as you weren't a part of it, and forgiving such cruelty was beyond you.

The one good thing about the dojos coming together was the intense dedication that grew on everyone. Now that you had a common enemy, many participants would hang around in Miyagi-Do's dojo long after training sessions, training until you could hardly move your limbs.

The sun had ago long fallen when you and the remaining students took places around a mat, ready for the sparring session to begin.

With Daniel and Sensei Lawrence gone, you had taken to writing down names and pulling them out of a bowl to decide on sparring partners.

All the negative emotions you felt channeled in to great excitement when Miguel called your name – followed by Hawk's.

You could have sworn you saw a look of something you couldn't read – concern, perhaps, or fear? Before he seemed to share your excitement as he stepped on to the mat with a grin that was almost predatory.

Two could play at that game.

“You're as good as dead,” you said, your voice dripping venom. Hawk's smirk just grew.

“Is that so, princess? I'd like to see you score as much as a point.”

A light bulb lit in your mind.

“Yeah?” you taunted. “What if I get three?”

Hawk laughed. “You got a lot of confidence, don't you? I'll tell you what. If you can score three points on me and win, I'll...” He bit his lip as he thought. “I'll let you boss me around for a week. Whatever you want.”

The blood rushed through your veins, ready more than ever to fight. You were grateful for the lack of your sensei, knowing this nonsense wouldn't stand if he were here.

“Deal.”

“Are you guys done?” Miguel huffed, standing between you two, ready to referee. “Good. Bow.”

You bowed without intent and got straight to attacking. Hawk didn't expect it; he came from the dojo that prides itself on strike first and yours cared mainly about defense. You earned your first point within seconds.

That only served to throw Hawk off his game further. He dived in right away for the attack and was caught unprepared when you fell, sweeping his leg.

You earned your second point.

By that point, Hawk might as well have been fuming out the ears. His brows furrowed in anger as he looked at you like you were the most vile thing he had ever seen; that satisfied something within you.

The flurry of hits and misses was so rapid you were caught unprepared when you managed to land a punch on Hawk, Miguel's voice rising as he named you victor.

Hawk huffed, clearly exerted. You smiled. “You're mine.”

You were fully intending to use this bet to its full potential.

The next day was Saturday, and Hawk, true to his word, showed up at your doorstep at 9 p.m sharp, just as you had ordered.

You paid him no kindness when you opened the door, not exchanging a word with him before demanding: “Helmet?”

Hawk handed you a helmet, not looking particularly pleased about the situation but not being able to stop himself from taking in an eyeful of you anyway.

You needed a ride to tonight's party – that's where Hawk came in, beginning his work for you as a personal valet. Accordingly for the event, you were dressed meticulously, showing off your best features – and if you were to judge by Hawks reaction, you were on your way to turn heads.

You climbed on the motorcycle after him, circling your arms around him loosely; but when he kicked off and started the ride, you couldn't help but tighten your hold.

The party was overcrowded with people from the moment you got there; Yasmine's parties tended to get a bit... excessive.

You ditched Hawk the moment you got sight of your friends, ditching the helmet on his bike to run over to Sam, Moon and Yasmine.

Yasmine didn't hide the dirty look she sent at Hawk. “Ew. Who's the freak?”

You grinned proudly. “My valet. Ignore him. Actually...”

You looked over to the drinks table; someone had tapped a keg and it was being swarmed with people.

“Hey, Hawk!”

Hawk turned to you, the slightest furrow in his brow as he had already joined his own friends. You pointed at the drinks table. “Vodka soda!” you ordered.

He rolled his eyes, but did it anyway. Your friends watched wide-eyed as he obeyed you wordlessly, bringing over the drink. “Anything else, princess?”

“Yes,” you gave him a judging once-over. “Don't drink tonight. I want to get home in one piece.”

He bit his cheeks and glared at you before growling “Fine” and returning to his friends.

At some point you didn't even want a drink any more, it was just fun ordering Hawk to go fetch you another one; and so, you found yourself unintentionally drunk, laughing mindlessly at anything said and swaying on your feet.

You didn't even know how late it had gotten when Hawk came in the living room looking for you, ready to go home as most the others already had.

You had earlier made him promise to take you home as well, and – something you were quickly learning was, Hawk was definitely a man of his word. He spotted you half-sprawled on the couch, laughing with Yasmine at something you didn't fully register. Your cup was askew in your hand, contents about to spill over when Hawk grabbed it out of your hand, placing it on a table nearby.

“Come on, Y/n. It's time to go.”

“Not yet!” you grinned gleefully, taking hold of his wrist and shaking it dumbly as you spoke. “Later! We're having fun!”

Hawk placed his free hand on yours that held him. “It's four AM, Y/n, time to call it a night.”

You didn't reply, instead resorting to pouting like a child.

His eyes softened (the puppy eyes never failed to work) – but his jaw clenched. “If you don't come now I'm leaving you here.”

“Fine!” you hurriedly rose to your feet, using Hawk for balance. “Bye,” you pouted at Yasmine childishly as Hawk pulled you away from her and out of the house.

The sudden quiet of the outside was nearly overwhelming, Hawk's voice sounding too loud for you. “How am I supposed to get you home when you're this drunk?”

“I'm not drunk,” you answered instinctively, knowing that you very well were.

“If you can make it to the bike in a straight line, I'll believe you.” You look at his bike, ten feet ahead. You decide to keep holding on to him. “That's what I thought. Listen. You gotta stay awake, okay? I can't have you falling off in the middle of the road, or making me sway, because then we're both dead. Got it?”

“Dead. Got it.”

Hawk didn't look convinced, but placed a helmet on you and buckled it anyway.

It was about ten minutes in to the ride when Hawk pulled over. He turned to you, his voice as serious as he could make it; you simply smiled, somewhat dazed. “This isn't going to work.”

“Hm?”

“Y/n!” Hawk called, trying to wake you up a little. “Don't fall asleep!”

“Yes, sensei.” you slurred. Had you been any more awake, you might have noticed the way Hawk's eyes widened at that.

Hawk had to refocus himself to go on. “I'm serious. Look... My house is closer than yours. You can sleep it off at mine, and I'll take you wherever tomorrow. Okay?”

“Okay,” you shrugged, your mind not caring about much other than regaining the warmth of Hawk's body pressed against yours.

Minutes later you pulled up at an unfamiliar house. Hawk unbuckled your helmet and set it aside, helping you off the bike and guiding you inside, motioning Shhh as he led you through the corridor of his darkened house until you reached his room.

The most natural thing for you to do the moment you saw a bed was to collapse on it. In the seconds Hawk turned his back on you to find you Pj's to wear, you had fallen asleep.

Looking at you on his bed, Hawk exhaled heavily. He was very aware of your hatred of him; what he couldn't understand was, if everyone else forgave him, why not you?

It certainly didn't help that you looked the way you do, that you were talented, and that everyone loved you.

So Hawk undid your shoes and pulled them off, laying a blanket on you before leaving you to sleep.

You woke up groggy, somewhat hungover and in a strangers room; an interesting start to the day.

You didn't really want to leave the comfort of your lonesome in the room but it was clear you would have to face the music at some point, so you womaned up and left the room.

Following the smell of food cooking, you walk down a hallway to find a red-haired man in the kitchen, his tattooed back to you, muscles flexing as he flipped a pancake.

With his hair down, it took you a moment to register who you're seeing; who's bed you spent the night in.

Hawk.

Your first instinct was to groan, to cower in to yourself in regret; but then you remember how tenderly he treated you the night prior, making sure you got safely to a bed, letting you have his bed.

You swallowed your pride and stepped in to the kitchen. “Morning.”

Hawk's shoulders jumped in fright as you startled him; you couldn't help but giggle. He quickly rightened himself, straightening his back and flexing his abs as he turned to you.

He was good looking and he knew it. You hated him.

However, you felt your power returning to you as he couldn't help but look you up and down, your disheveled clothes revealing a bit more than they had the night before. Hawk inhaled sharply, reminding himself of who he was, how he was supposed to act: unfazed.

“Bout time you got up.”

You frowned, looking at the kitchen clock. “What do you mean about time? It isn't even noon yet.”

“Yeah, well,” Hawk flipped a pancake on to a nearby plate. “You wanted me to take you to the mall today, right? I have practice later, so it's gotta be now.” The Eagle-fangs were holding weekend practices of their own, something you weren't a fan of.

“Jeez, fine,” you sneered, allowing yourself to sit at the kitchen table. Amidst the chaos that was waking up in Hawks bed, you had totally forgot you previously asked him to take you out today. Yasmine's parents were making her take tutoring lessons, Moon was doing some spiritual healing thing and Sam was with Miguel, so you were left all alone – but you certainly didn't intend on spending Sunday at home, doing nothing.

Hawk finally shut off the burner and joined you at the table with a stack of pancakes and two plates in tow. “Eat away your hangover. I'm not gonna hold your hair up if you hurl.”

Breakfast with Hawk ended up being a surprisingly civil affair; so was shopping. There was something exciting about dragging him along after you, shop after shop, having him carry your bags and modeling clothes for him. And honestly, you were loving the effect you had on him. You knew he was trying to hide it, but you could see the way he grew antsy when you tried on bikinis. You loved teasing him, knowing he couldn't have you.

What also didn't hurt was the way you two turned heads walking down streets together. You were undeniably gorgeous, and he... While at first you thought it was the bright red mohawk that grabbed peoples eyes, after a close inspection you couldn't deny he had fair features, too. You had to look away whenever he tensed his jaw, accentuating his jawline, or if God forbid he smiled, you had to deny the way his smile made your stomach knot up.

As though to top off the experience of him, by the time you finished shopping, Hawk would have been late if he was to take you home, so you suggested he take you to practice with him and just take you home once he was finished. And oh my... You did not need to see him fighting. Having a whole hour to see his biceps flexing as the threw punches was doing you no favors; when you were both practicing you were too busy with yourself to notice him, but right then you had a whole hour to do nothing but stare.

At the end of the practice you rose when Hawk approached you, ready to go. When his sensei understood you were waiting there for him, he asked Hawk, “Yours?”

Hawk didn't answer; he merely smirked that Hawk smirk of his. His sensei nodded proudly. “Nice.” Creep.

You had a couple more days to squeeze the most you could out of your bet, and by all means were you planning on using them.

Hawk was taking you to school and home every day on the back of his bike – to Miyagi-do, too. It became a regular thing to see you two together, and if anyone was expecting you, they expected Hawk, too.

Just as the previous mornings, you and Hawk walked in to school together. Seeing your friends, you bid him goodbye and went to join them, your eyes lingering on him a bit too long as he said hello to Miguel.

Yasmine's jaw dropped as she looked at you, her expression scandalized. “What?” you asked.

“You're totally in to the freak!”

“What? No,” you denied – but even as the words left your mouth, you could hear your lack of conviction. “No.”

You looked back to where Hawk and Miguel stood; this time, he caught your eye. Then, with total audacity, he winked at you.

You felt heat rush through your body.

The smirk that grew on him suggested he knew exactly what he was doing to you.

You hated it.

Deciding to put an end to this madness, you wordlessly leave your friends and march up to Hawk, a new rage running though you.

He stopped talking with Miguel when you reached him; Miguel visibly tensed at what he felt was a dangerous situation for him to be in.

“Sidebar,” you ordered. Hawk smirked.

“After you, princess.”

You hoped no one would notice when you lured him in to an empty classroom, but in all honesty, it was you and Hawk. There were always eyes on you two.

You turned to him once you were engulfed in the silence of the room. “Listen. I don't know what you're playing at, but cut it out. I own you, got it? Don't go winking at me in the hallway like I'm your girlfriend or something.”

You expected to see him cower, blush, show any sign of intimidation – but there was no such emotion. The smirk he wore only grew in confidence. “You sure about that?” he asked cheekily. “Because it seems to me like you'll find any excuse to be around me.”

You couldn't believe the audacity of this boy. You were stunted for words; he went on. “Be honest with yourself. Once the week is up, you'll still find reasons to talk to me.”

You bit your cheeks; you hated how he was right, how he read you so easily. “And look, I'm done playing this game too.”

Your stomach dropped. Was he about to reject you, without you even confessing? “I'm not playing with you,” you tried to say intimidatingly, but your voice came out too small for comfort.

“Me neither. So...” Hawk looked down at you; you could have drowned in his ocean eyes. You averted your gaze to the side, crossing your arms.

“Fine. We can call it off early.”

Hawk chuckled. You wanted to punch him. “You still don't get it, do you?”

You returned your eyes to Hawk, ready to chew him out when he placed his hands on your cheeks, pulling you to him for a kiss.

You could feel yourself melting in to the kiss, feeling a rush of adrenaline run through you as you finally got to experience what you didn't want to admit to yourself that you craved so deeply.

When he finally pulled away, he kept his hands on you, your noses nearly touching. “I've wanted to do that for a long time,” Hawk admitted.

You half-smiled. “It's only been a week.”

Hawk had burst in laughter, his thumbs caressing your cheeks. “You still don't get it.” Before you could protest his words, his lips met your once more.

Maybe you could find it in you to forgive him, after all.

#cobra kai imagine #cobra kai #eli moskowitz imagine #eli hawk moskowitz #eli moskowitz x reader #eli moskowitz/reader #cobra kai fanfic #cobra kai hawk

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halstudandruz · 3 years ago

Text

Research Purposes ~ Part 4

*Not my gif*

Pairing: Jay Halstead x Reader/Adam Ruzek x Reader

Requested: Yes

Prompt: You make your final decision

Part 1 (NSFW) // Part 2 // Part 3

Warnings: Swearing

A/N: Technically this is the final part I’ll be doing a “final” final part that’s likely gonna be purely smut so unless you’re over 18 please accept this as the final part haha. I’ll be doing a revised SFW part one as well so those under 18 can read that. Thanks for all your support on this series! I’ve never been a good series writer but you all made me feel like I was for a little 😂

“We need to talk.” The words rushed out as soon as the door swung open.

“Yeah. I agree.” The man standing opposite of you nodded. Stepping aside to motion you in.

“Is she here?” You asked nervously looking around his shoulder, only entering when he shook his head no. The room was full of tension, your palms sweaty, and you could feel your breathing becoming shallower as you made your way towards the sofa.

“Deeper breaths.” He reminded you seemingly out of habit. He knew you too well. He always had. “Want something to drink?” He offered calmly walking towards his alcohol corner. You shook your head pain shooting through your lip as you unknowingly started to chew on it. “What’s up?” He finally asked, sitting down with a glass of his usual scotch.

“Seriously? What’s up? That’s what you have to say to me right now?” You spit back annoyance clear in your voice.

“What do you want me to say?” He shrugged, taking another drink.

“You’re such a dick.” You huffed moving to stand up when his hand clasped around your wrist, sighing heavily.

“I’m sorry.” He sat his drink down on the coffee table, “sit back down..please?” He added when you stayed rooted in your spot. Rolling your eyes you sat back down beside him. “I don’t know how to do this.” He admitted after a beat of silence.

“Do what?” You pushed.

“Be..vulnerable with you again.” He explained, looking a little broken from where he was sitting, “it’s not that I thought you wouldn’t ever be with someone else, it's just.. I didn’t think it’d ever be Jay. When you broke up

with me it took time to adjust, and as selfish as it is and as terrible as it sounds you were always just there ya know? If you weren’t with anyone then that meant you could still change your mind. You could still want to marry-“ He tried to reason his jumbled thoughts, but you interrupted him.

“Adam, I didn’t break up with you because I didn’t want to marry you. I broke up with you because you didn’t want to marry me.” You reiterated the same point you had made the day you handed him back your ring and then tension in Adam’s body reappeared sitting up straighter.

“Don’t even start that shit with me, [Y/N]. Just because your buddy Roman got into your head doesn’t mean he was right, or that I didn’t love you! Because I did. I still do. You were it for me. I was doing what I thought you wanted to do. I wasn’t pushing you because you hate to be pushed. If you came to me and said you wanted to elope I would’ve been all for it. So, don’t come here and try to put it all on me.” Adam’s voice began to rise quickly, turning into defense mode.

“You’re right,” you nodded after a moment of silence, “it wasn’t all on you. I was scared of what would happen to my career if we got married. That I was never going to make it into intelligence. I was scared that I was just another woman you put a ring on. I was scared because I fell in love with you too easily, too hard, and maybe there was a chance you didn’t actually feel the same about me but you were too far in it.” You admitted.

“Why didn’t you talk to me about it?” He asked.

“What were you going to do? Kevin had already passed me up solely because we were fucking. I can only assume it would’ve become a bigger HR deal if we got married.” You answered.

“So clearly you were more invested in your career than our relationship.” He scoffed.

“Don’t do that. That’s not fair. You don’t get it. Were you getting chastised for sleeping with me? No, because you’re a man. You were picked out of the academy. You didn’t have to deal with the constant hopes of moving up, and it getting crushed because of our relationship. I have worked my ass off since the day I got placed in this district and to have Voight look me in the eye and explicitly tell me the reason I wasn’t chosen was because I was in a relationship with you. That all of my hard work legitimately didn’t matter because we were sleeping together.” Your voice started to rise, emotion started to seep deeper in your voice as you teleported yourself back to that day in Voight’s office. Adam was silent, taking in your words before nodding and taking a deep breath.

“I get it and I’m sorry that I didn’t fight harder for you” He squeezed your hand, a spark of guilt surfacing in his eyes, before snapping back to jealousy. “I have never felt the way I did when I saw you kissing him.” Adam croaked, an obvious strained presence falling over him as he recalled the moment.

“How do you think I felt when I ran into Hailey?” You gestured towards his room.

“[Y/N], look I know you didn’t come here to look for your “missing” earrings.” He gave you an incredulous look and he put air quotes as he spoke the word missing.

“Then you must also know letting me go into your bedroom was only going to make it worse.” You pointed out.

“What was I supposed to do? Tell you no you couldn’t come in? Kick her out? There were no good options at that moment.” He threw his hands into the air.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” You finally asked.

“For the same reason you didn’t tell me. You know I never would’ve wanted you to find out that way. You wouldn’t even talk to me at the wedding.” His voice getting softer, a genuine look in his pupils.

“I couldn’t Adam. It was hard to be around you in normal circumstances that day, but after finding out about that? It was unbearable. I was crushed.” You swallowed down a lump forming in your throat. You were not going to cry. You were going to get through this. Because there was something better on the other side.

“[Y/N], I was a disaster that night too. Whether you want to believe it or not. It took everything in me not to go near you at the rehearsal. I was 2 seconds away from grabbing my keys and coming to your apartment when Hailey showed up. I mean thank god she did because if she hadn’t that would’ve been it. As horrible as it is to say I wasn’t thinking about her, she wasn’t on my mind at all that night. I was too caught up in what could’ve been. If she wasn’t here when you showed up that night would’ve ended very very differently.” He admitted, and you knew exactly what he meant. There was a moment of silence as you both looked at each other. Knowing each other’s thoughts. Knowing that everything happens for a reason, and there was a reason Hailey came over that night even if she didn’t know it.

“In 20 years when my teenage daughter asks me if I’ve had any regrets in life. You’re gonna be the first thing I think of. It’s always going to be you, and I’m always going to wonder what would’ve happened. Where we would be, or maybe we’ll be together and all of this was just some bump in the road. I don’t know, but you know as well as I do that right now it’s not going to happen. We owe it to ourselves to see where all of this other stuff could lead.” You took ahold of his hand squeezing it.

“I am always going to love you, you know that right?” Adam whispered, a gentle hand laying on your cheek allowing him to pull you in so he could lay a soft kiss to your forehead sniffling silently.

“Yeah me too..” You nodded, swiping away the tears that started to fall before he could lean back and look at you. Falling back into the couch his arm encircled your shoulder pulling you into his chest a familiar scent overwhelming you. You both sat in silence taking in and accepting everything the both of you had said. When Adam’s voice broke your train of thought,

“Hey,” He whispered, causing you to tilt your head up to meet his eyes, “is he bigger than me?”

“What is with you two?!” You gave him a look, slapping his chest as laughter filled his apartment.

This should be the easy part, but for some reason your heart is beating just as wildly as it was an hour prior standing at Adam’s door. Closing your eyes, your knuckles rapped against the door, and as soon as you opened them Jay stood in front of you.

“Hey, I thought you were staying home tonight?” He cocked his head at you.

“Yeah well I was but…I uhm-“ You stumbled, sighing you gave up on trying to talk, rummaging through your purse before handing over the paper you produced. Jay raised an eyebrow taking the paper to read over it.

“You got a parking space?” He said calming after skimming the paper.

“I got a parking space.” You confirmed, nervously. The hesitation was killing you, but your body warmed when Jay met your eyes with a wide smile on his face.

“So..what does this mean exactly?” He questioned.

“That..I..love you?” You choked out but it ended as more of a question, humor taking over the man’s features.

“Are you sure? Cause that wasn’t very convincing.” He teased moving to wrap his arms around your waist.

“Jay..I don’t know how the hell we ended up here, but I do. I love you.” You admitted, much more confidently this time and as soon as the words left your mouth, his was on yours. Paper flying to the floor as his hands cupped your face.

“I love you too.” He grinned through a ragged breath.

All Tag List:

@corebore123 @scarletsoldierrr @hehurst23 @beautiful-bunny89 @ingie @halsteadsway @malrunaway @grettiwrites @inlovewith3 @wanniiieeee @que-serasara

Jay Taglist:

@jayxhalsteadx @life-treatments @weepingfestivalmentality @toomuchtv95 @queen-of-arda @sofferderynnp @mrspeacem1nusone @chicago-pd-13

Research Purposes Taglist:

@5hundreddaysofsummer @miranda0102 @5sos-imagine @wicked-laugh @pookie-cleary @dreamingmanip @annalism

#jay halstead x reader #jay halstead imagine #jay halstead #chicago pd x reader #chicago pd imagine #Chicago pd #one chicago #adam ruzekxreader #adam ruzek x reader #adam ruzek imagine #adam ruzek

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minshookie · 3 years ago

Text

All Play, No Work. Pt two

Pairing | CEO!Yoongi x reader

Genre |angst, dark themed, yandere, gore.

Summary | “ Eunji just couldn’t play nice, firing her just wouldn’t be enough.”

!Warnings! 18+, yandere Yoongi, character death, descriptive scenes, murder scene, infidelity.

| this is not in anyway shape or form a true depiction or representation of BTS, this is a work of fiction and is not to be taken seriously. For entertainment purposes only.|

(this is my work, please don’t repost or steal)

Requested [request closed] words 3k

A/N : link to part 1 I hope this is enjoyable!! Unedited but I will edit soon.

“Yoongi, don’t talk so drastically...it was just a joke.” He heaved deeply, gripping the door handle severely. “It can’t be a joke every time y/n she’s done worse before, her and her husband.” Sighing, unsure if it was safe to touch him you put your hand on the handle next to his. “Min, they hate me because you love me, if you want it resolved maybe we should lay low...take something like a break?” Of course you didn’t mean it, but the complications at work were becoming a bit detrimental.

His head turned at lighting speed, with a look of disgust almost. “Break? You can’t be serious don’t ever say something like that again, and I’ll do what I please, we should we hide ourselves she’ll start waking around with her head high like she won.” He let go of the handle leaning against the door looking deeply into you. “I’ll fire her.” You rolled your eyes “Yoongi please she needs to work.” “Stop being so damn sweet, this is the same person that soiled your clothes, cracks jokes about you...she bullies you she should’ve been out of here.” He put his hand in his pocket, checking his watch on his other wrist. “We’re almost done for the day anyway... you go to my place without me I’ll meet you there.” Taking his watch clad hand in yours, you could tell he was still furious.

“Alright if you insist, but what’ll you be doing yoongs?” You attempted to turn the atmosphere playful. “Baby, you insist on disobeying my requests.” Chuckles dryly. “I’ll be talking to Kim, and Lucy.” “Lucy, why?” “I’m giving her Kim’s position, a promotion.” He leans swiftly pecking your cheek before opening the door for you both to exit, not giving you a chance at questioning him further. He follows closely behind all eyes on you, a grimace on Eunji’s features. It’s like you had a fat red target right in the middle of your face. “Actually, why don’t you just head out now.” Yoongi mumbled before leaving your side, quickly heading to his office his fist curled in a rough grip.

You hung your head low like a shy school girl, going to collect your bag and belongings from your cubicle. Only to find Jimin completing the papers you’d left. “Heading home miss Raman booty?” He mumbled without turning, a pen between his teeth, his fingers typing with stealth. “I hate you Jimin.” Laughing he let the pen fall, leaning in the chair finally facing you. “You ok?” You nodded giving a warm smile. “Good, here’s your thousand dollar sack.” He handed you your purse, he’s full of jokes today, you responded with a low chuckle. “Wait before you go, whats the 411 on the bosses mood?” “Mm angry, go in quickly and quietly and leave the same way.” He nodded going back to the computer, “Ah, so not the day for pay increase forms? Gotcha.” You laughed before walking away, ready to be rid of the grimy feeling you were getting from work today.

Avoiding eye contact, you focus on the rythmatic clicking of your pumps until you entered the silver elevator. Leaning against the glass window you watched as you descended through the building. Finally meeting the last floor quickly freeing yourself sighing one more trek to take, that being into the parking garage. Silent and eerie, it oddly relaxed you you found your car quickly. It’s always there right next to Yoongi’s ever since the first day you started.

The thought warmed you, feelings of your boyfriends love floating around you. Hopping in your car you threw the gifted purse in the back seat, just before you could start up your phone rang, Yoongi of course. “Hey Yoongi” ”Ah, you sound happier already.” Reclining your seat you sighed. “I was thinking of you.” He hummed in approval. “Cute, hm I do the same to calm myself...thinking of you of course.” Giggling you responded “reason for calling?” “I wanted to say I love you, and I want you to go straight home.” He orders blandly. “Tsk I wanted to shop a bit.” You joke putting your seat back into position. “Y/n straight home, no questions.” “Yeah I heard you Daddy.” You joked starting your vehicle. “Good, I’ll see you soon, love you...say it back.” “I love you Yoongi, of course.” He sighed softly, checking your surroundings you pulled back waiting for him to hang up. “Alright bye...Jimin get out.” The phone call ended.

Relaxed you drove through your city, it’s a bit later in the day the faces of people passing linger in your mind. A soft tune plays from the radio, resting at a light your eyes wandered to the beagle place Yoongi always insists on getting breakfast from. His friends little hole in the wall. Letting your mind wander, he really is a romantic. Finishing the length of the trip you finally reach your destination, a discreet apartment on the edge of town with a not so discreet price. Reaching for your purse you got out of the car, frankly mentally and physically exhausted. “Mrs min! Welcome back!” You’re warmly greeted at the door, “no still y/l/n,good afternoon.” Warmly you smile thanking him for opening the door, yet another elevator to take you where you needed to be.

On the home stretch, trudging towards the door unlocking it you fumbled inside sighing taking in his scent that floated about. With your eyes closed you dropped your bag shuffling to the couch. Kicking off the shoes you let gravity take over thumping onto the firm furniture. The light jingling, made a smile spread on your lips. “Is that my best boy!?” You opened your eyes, greeted with Min Holly his coffee colored paws giving you pets on your head. “My Beautiful little one.” Kissing him on the temple, and gifting him to a few pets and scratches he was satisfied with your greeting he let you be at rest.

Pulling from the couch, you fulfilled the routine of grabbing a snack and skipping upstairs to shower. Stripping you ventured Yoongi’s bedroom in the nude, in search for the clothes you’d left there. Giving up you opted for a pair of briefs and a t-shirt.

Finishing the shower, you cuddled into bed wallowing on the plush mattress in search of a comforting position, engulfing your senses in Yoongi’s scent. Turing on the tv you rolled over, the bed felt cold without your cuddle baby. “Hmm Holly! C’mere little boy!” Joyously he ran in jumping next to you cuddling into your warm side. “We’ll nap and wait for Daddy huh?”

NOW READING FROM: Yoongi’s point of view.

“Are you sure Min, I mean I’m flattered but I just started about a month ago-” I held up my hand to stop her nervous speech. “I’m positive, I’ve observed your work ethic I’m sure you could keep up Lucy, the pay is great the work is easy....more time to speak to Jungkook hm?” Her cheeks blushed light rose at the mention of his name. “But what about uhm..Eunji?” She spoke of her coworker in hushed tones,like she was some sort of demon.

“Kim Eunji has been polluting our work area, making others feel uncomfortable...and uncomfortable means less work getting done, I’ll see about her don’t worry.” Toying with her manicured fingers, such a shy girl, “so what’s your answer?” She sighed brushing a stray hair behind her ear, “Mr Min, when do I start?” She held a coy smile, slowly looking up to make eye contact. “Ah! Smart girl!” I distributed my hand for her to shake in agreement. “You’ll start Monday, we’ll have it all sorted by then.” Nodding she let go of my hand, “thank you Mr Min.” “Of course Lucy I know I won’t regret it, enjoy your night sorry for keeping you late.” Now almost all of her face had a glow of blush, “oh it’s fine Mr Min I don’t mind I didn’t have anything to do tonight anyways, how a-” “ask Eunji to come in for me please, Good night Lucy thank you.”

Shutting up he gave a quick smile and nod before leaving quicker than she came. Eunji pranced in almost eagerly a subtle smirk playing on her cherry lips. “It’s late Yoongi I have to get home.” “Home to what...a cold shower and empty bed? Come sit.” I smirked as she complied, “what do you want Min...if you’re looking for apologies you wont-” “I just wanted to talk to you.” She shut her painted lips, nodding giving me room to speak.

“You’ve been acting out Kim, and I think I know why.” She folded her arms defensively humming a response. “Oh yeah?” Her cocky tone only deepened my concealed rage. “You’re missing someone, your husband maybe?” She rolled her eyes, poking her tongue along her cheek. “What about it?” She began to toy with the small figurines that decorated my desk. “Well, he misses you too...I’ve made the decision to let you go if you’d like.”

“It isn’t time for him to come back, he’s been on the trip for months.” She mumbles smiling down at a framed picture of Holly. Scoffing I took the image back, “Joon, he likes it there he’s been having issues contacting you so he’s said....but he’s made the choice to transfer and stay at the location.” She looked intensely Into my eyes, confused yet gullible.

“He’s gotten a good place, he wants to move you there...he misses you more than you know, and the way you’ve been acting out of line I think you feel the same.” She huffs, nodding slowly. “Alright, you’ll treat my flight the same you did his?” Greedy little bitch...“yes, paid and full, you’ll be able to contact him at the airport hm?” Finally a soft smile spreads her lips, she huffs a low chuckle. “Really?” “Would you like to see the messages and paperwork?”

In hopes she’d say no I still pulled open the side drawer, a single word held her fate as I gripped the heavy weapon. It would be messy and against the plan if she’d decided to take this route. “No..no, why would you lie about sending me on all expenses paid long term vacation.” I smirked nodding while closing the drawer. “So you’ve agreed to joining him?” Sighing she tamed wisps of her dark hair, raking the back into her loose ponytail.

I pushed the legal paper forward a ballpoint rests atop of it. “When do I leave, do I get a chance to say goodbye?” She mumbles leaving her signature along the dotted spaces. Goodbye? Who would want to farewell a she-demon like you. “I’m afraid not, your flight is scheduled for tomorrow 7AM...you should get home actually.” I checked my timepiece briefly.

She stood silently, “ah ah wait, Eunji...it’s late you’re tired allow me to drive you home.” She furrows her brows, giving a suspicious look. “I’ll miss you Kim, you were one of the first people here you and Namjoon.” She lowered herself in the seat her expression now compassionate.

I didn’t lie, Eunji was exhausted...the bags under her eyes almost frightening. She was once the best dressed, best looking, and best worker here. Jealousy had eaten her, and the absence of her Lover only made her worse. “Ah Min, you won’t miss me...you’re sending me away to protect your little hook up, she moan like I used to?” My cheeks began to redden, “no, her’s are better.” Guilt set in sourly. I lied right to y/n’s face to save my ass.

Kim Eunji had made me a liar, a cheater and a bad businessman...all the more reason for her fate. “Hm, if you say so.....how about we go to your place.” Her smirk detailed more than she’d let on. “One last time.” She’s always been scandalous, she could never learn a lesson, she’d never get enough. She saw an opportunity to finally sink her teeth into what she envied, and sinking her teeth is what she planned on doing.

“Tempting, can’t wait for mr kim huh?” I attempted to participate in her now lustful staring. “Hmm, you won’t make me will you?” I set free a chuckle, letting my fingertips glide my lip. “Your place, we can make it an all night thing...you can bring me to get my car in the morning.” She collected her expensive shoulder bag. “No, y/n is at my place, probably out cold by now....I’ll bring you somewhere with a romantic view, you’ll get back to your car tonight.” She frowned at the mention of her name, pulling her wisps of hair back.

“Fine, but don’t say her name anymore tonight.” Nodding I stood offering a hand to help her up and she refused with a bratty giggle, leaving the office. She removed her heels walking barefoot to the elevator, I paced hot on her trail, finally catching her as she stood idle in the spacious elevator.

The elevator couldn’t reach the final floor fast enough for me, she’d gotten comfortable the guilt of cheating on her husband nonexistent. Sighing in frustration eyeing my watch. She toyed with my fingers leaning against me, “why’d you replace me huh?” She pouted interlocking our fingers, her fridged rings kissed my skin harshly. “Excuse me?” She sighed, “we were messing around and you...found y/n.” I chuckled as the doors pulled open. “You were engaged...nothing more would’ve developed anyway.”

Eunji and I had held countless endeavors right under Namjoon’s nose, flirtatious, casual, sexual. But he was everything but oblivious, he was just lenient until he found out the depth of our friendship. So he decided to test the waters with y/n, it was extremely unacceptable. Eunji was engaged after all, I do have some self respect. I never replaced her, I just found someone I actually loved, someone who needed me and only me.

She only laughed at my reasoning, following me giddily to my car, I opened the passenger and let her inside. I already had her fate planned. She’d been the thorn in y/n’s side ever since she’d started, she’d come running to me in tears over the things Eunji would say...the things she’d do. They treated her like a rag doll the new girl fresh to adulthood, she knew nothing better than to follow and comply.

Eunji was given warning after warning, I hate firing people but for her I’d make an exception. But y/n she’s so sweet...it’ll kill her to know Eunji was walking around jobless because of her sensitivity. So what am I to do? I’ll just make her leave silently...on her own. I’ll make her disappear.

“Where are we going?” She pushed my knee aggressively, I’d zoned out completely roaming my thoughts a dangerous thing to do behind the wheel. Absentmindedly I’d driven past our false “date”, ultimately finding ourselves in the dark. “There is this bridge, it’s romantic y/n loves it.” I fibbed, how much of an idiot could I be...this mishaps could fuck everything I’d planned. I pulled onto said bridge, vacant, thankfully just how I needed it. I turned the car off, in pitch black I could feel her looking at me.

“Huh, what a view.” She quips, “well don’t be ungrateful.” The moment before the fall is always awkward, “hm...recline the seat.” She ordered, I personally didn’t enjoy her tone. I let my seat slowly fall back and she leaned over the center console. Blindly fiddling my pant buckle. Oh shit. Oh no. Waves of guilt washed over me at the simple thought of what she was attempting.

This had to be it, she’d made it to my briefs with ease, trailing her manicured fingers along my member. This had to happen now or the outcome I’d been planning would definitely go to shit. I put an end to her exploration, gripping the back of her neck with great force she mewled like a harmed animal. “F-fuck Min, feeling rough?”

No way would this be easy or clean in the car. “Shut up.” I gritted, now griping her hair making her whine and cry out. “P-please wait.” “What the fuck did I say?” Opening my door I pulled her from the car on my side. This needed to be quick and clean, this bridge was all too public and constantly frequented for me to be leaving a messy scene on.

What smart girl, she tried to escape only to be pained by my iron grip on her mane. “Why so scared...you wanted me right?” “M-m-Min! Please I’m sorry, tell her I’m sorry...sorry-so sorry.” I kicked the pit of her knee causing her to collapse on the cold gravel. “One sorry Bitch you are, I couldn’t even pay you to keep your mouth shut.”

“Think of all you did to that innocent woman...ruined her clothes, sent her on wild goose chases in a county she’s never been in, made her fall down the stairs, turned half the office against her...so evil you even made your sleazy husband her personal predator.” She sobbed pathetically, “w-what....he did-wait?” Of course she was unaware as any idiot would be.

I knelt mumbling in her ear. “He touched my fucking girlfriend for months on end...She was so ashamed do you know how much it took for her to come and tell me?” She gagged on her sobs, choking herself on her cries. “I’m sorry, I’ll quit I’ll leave-no need to do this I’ll be gone by tomorrow.”

She whispers letting her body go limp. She thinks it’s so easy. “You sure will.” I grumbled reaching to pull my tie from my back pocket. “You can’t do shit to me- Joon- Joon will be lo-” “Joon his fucking dead. This right here.” I kicked her down pressing my foot into her soft back, to keep her still. She struggled to breath with my weight on her back, I crouch looping the long tie around her neck she ceased from fighting back as I wrapped it around my hands as well. Pulling with my angered strength, “this is the fucking business trip...enjoy the flight whore.”

She stoped struggling all together, pulling the fabric as tight as I could, I made sure the deed was done. She quit breathing, the ceased the struggle. Violently making sure she was gone, before I stored her in the trunk. My hands shook, the rush made my figure quake, I did my best to climb into the drivers seat.

Starting the car, it’s best in mind to flee as fast as I arrived. He’ll be pissed to high heaven, but at this moment theirs only one person to call. I scanned the road feeling beyond the edge, unsure of my final destination. Finally he felt the need to answer “Min, Min Yoongi-ah it is too late to be calling me this way!” He croaked through the phone .

“Jimin, hm a bonus?” “Excuse me?” He shuffled, I couldn’t continue to circle around here “Jimin...I need your help.” I groaned, I’d have to find somewhere to go before someone saw me driving suspiciously. “I’ve made another mistake....a messy one.” He gasped before mumbling complaints. “Why,Who and how much?” He grumbled, “meet me and I’ll let you know that.” “You know where to find me.” When all else fails, Jimin is the one to call. Partner in crime, cheater of justice and death.

NOW READING FROM : readers point of view.

Fear rolled over you as you came to the realization that is was almost 5 AM and Yoongi wasn’t in bed. Holly still occupied his spot, sprawled out in pure comfort. Enjoying the luxury of sleeping in the big bed.

Rubbing sleep from your eyes you shuffled your feet along the chilly floor, slipping in Yoongi’s slippers to adventure to the bathroom. You’d have to be back at work in some hours, Yoongi as well. It’s never like him to be late. After reliving yourself, washing up you’d realized the dryness of your mouth.

Aiding the feeling you took the trip downstairs, Holly’s paws hot on ur heels. “You thirsty too?” Rhetorically you questioned setting his dish for him, and grabbing a water for yourself, drinking it almost instantly. “You’ll get sick that way kitten.”

You choked in response, spitting the water onto the marbled counter. “What the fuck Yoongi, where’ve you been?” You spoke into the darkness, you didn’t hear him come in, maybe he was already home. “After I cleared some things up at work, Jimin and I had to...do some heavy work.” His voice held a quiver, unsure if it was of sadness or fear, maybe even anger.

“Ah well....come out of the dark, come over here.” You closed the the water, Holly had already met him in the living room. He neared, his features being shown from the glow of the kitchen lights. “Here, c’mon.” You sat on the island, back to him.

Something was off...he was hiding something, he was moving strangely with his words and actions. He came, leaving Holly on the floor he centers between your legs. Leaning on his palms on either side of you, “my shirt, my slippers, dressing up as me today?” You gave a soft smirk, “when’d you change?”

“At Jimin’s the work was messy.” “Ah...what’s that on your lip?” Taking your nail, you scrapped the flake of red from his top lip. “Been kissing other ladies...ladies in cheap red lipstick?” You giggled. His face ran pale at your joke, “n-no probably from Parks food, we were hungry.” You gazed in his eyes, “what’d you eat?” “Why?” Sighing you blew it off, “no reason, just curious...how’d it go with Eunji.”

He sighed leaned forward on the counter to stretch his back. It’s then when you caught a glimpse of something odd. “There was a struggle, but it’s all over now.” You held his shoulders, stopping him from moving back up, “Yoongi, you have this stuff all in your hair, where were you?” You brushed the stubborn dried substance with your fingers. “All on your neck.” You groomed him awaiting his answer. “Painting at Jimin’s.” Overpowering you he stood to his height.

You didn’t believe him, how could you? What paint job takes that long? How could it get on his hair? Down his neck? On his lips...nose as well? “I’m going to bed, kiss.” He pecked my cheek moving from my legs, Holly followed his escape. “Oh, and Jimin’s buddy gonna look at my car for a while I had to clean it out...left your lipstick.” He threw the tube for you to catch, it fell in your clutches.

“Yoongi, stop...where’d you get this?” “In the car, it’s yours baby.” He stood stiff on the stairs not turning around. “No, it’s not I can’t wear this...it fucks up my lips, I’m allergic.”

“It was Kim’s huh? You were out doing what you said you didn’t.” He turned glaring sinisterly. “I was out doing what I should’ve a while ago.”

You scoffed, he’s unbelievable, how could he. You’d began to plan your breakdown, how you’d destroy his home in a fit of rage. He’d cheated, lied, and didn’t care. “Kim Eunji and Kim Namjoon are dead.” He shared coldly, “any more questions miss curiosity?”

“No? Good now come up and clean me.”

In utter shock, you shook on top of the kitchen island. He’d made his way to the shower quickly, you heard the faint sprinkling. Sliding from your seat, in fear you followed his orders “now my love...don’t be afraid of me I do all things for you out of love.”

Minshookie 2021 | Not my image

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awfulwhumpsideblog · 3 years ago

Note

if ur comfortable with it,,, how about a continuation of no-nonsense whumpee where whumper noncons them?

Part 1

oh boy. here we go. noncon under the cut, fellas.

"Why would I piss you off, Master?” Whumpee said. Despite being chained to the ground with dirt smudged on their face from being kicked, they somehow managed to be the one in control.

Whumper's left hand twitched at their side, itching to slap them. They knew immediately that Whumpee would be a tough nut to crack. Mentally, Whumper cycled through various methods of torture, wondering just what would do the trick to get Whumpee begging for it to stop, their monotone voice erupting with desperation and emotion...

When the idea came to them, Whumper grinned widely, breathing out a laugh through their teeth. They almost began to shake with excitement and probably looked a little unhinged to Whumpee, who raised an eyebrow at them.

Whumper lunged forward and dove towards Whumpee, grabbed them by the hair, and pushed them down on their back onto the floor with a painful thud before straddling them and pinning the wrists to the side of their head, causing the chains to rattle. Admittedly, there wasn't much of a point to restraining their hands like this, but it did feel nice.

Whumpee was surprised but it didn't take too long to adjust to the new position and they simply looked up at Whumper with furrowed brows and a slightly open mouth, waiting for Whumper to explain themselves.

"Really now?" Whumper breathed out, already short on air from pure excitement, "No matter what I want you to do... you'll simply lay there and take it?"

Even in the dimly lit cell, with only a torch on the opposite side on the wall to illuminate Whumpee's features, Whumper could see a faint blush appear on their cheeks as their eyes widened ever so slightly. It started to click with them what Whumper wanted.

"Yes..." Whumpee said, their voice wavering for the first time before hastily adding, "Yes, Master."

Whumper laughed again, low and quiet. It seems that they nearly forgot to call them that. Their composure was already starting to crumble.

"Now... what do you think I'll do next?" Whumper asked.

The question surprised Whumpee and they had to avert their gaze to stare at a crack in the wall, "Are you going to... violate me?"

Whumper smiled even wider. It was clear that they were about to say the "R word" but couldn't bring themselves to. Adorable.

"Of course I am. What are you going to do about it, hmm? Are you finally going to resist?"

Whumpee swallowed thickly. "...I can only ask that you reconsider. For what you've already done, you could get away with time in the dungeon and some manual labor. But this? My Father wouldn't even allow a quick execution. You would be tortured to death over the course of months. Maybe even years. And my people would want to take turns making you suffer."

"Really?" Whumper laughed, "Hah, you're going to make this public knowledge and have everyone know I fucked you? They'd never look at their good little heir the same way again and you know it."

Whumpee narrowed their eyes, looking back at Whumper, and for the first time they had to take a moment to think of a response. Whumper took joy in this small victory.

They spoke eventually, "...You have a point. Fine, then. I'll only need to tell my Father. He'll provide a cover story for the real reason you're being tortured in our dungeon. Simple."

"Oh? You're going to tell your father about how you, his pride and joy, let yourself be kidnapped and violated? Won't he think you're disgusting?"

"He's not that kind of man." Whumpee insisted. "He knows that none of this was my fault. And I know that, too. He would never think less of me for getting hurt."

"Not your fault, hmm? I wonder about that... You were on a walk alone in the woods when my men ambushed you and managed to capture you. If only you weren't stupid enough to go alone... if you were just a little stronger..." Whumper said, releasing a wrist to stroke their hair, "Maybe you wouldn't be here right now."

On instinct, Whumpee jerked their head away from Whumper's hand. "That's nonsense. I've gone for walks there regularly since my childhood and nothing like this has ever happened. How could I have possibly seen this coming? And really, you think that if only I had enough training, I could overpower several men? I'm a noble. My focus is on politics and study. Even if I bothered with learning a bit more self-defense I wouldn't have stood a chance..." They trailed off, catching their breath before continuing. "Your manipulation isn't going to work. I will never blame myself for what you did to me."

Whumper listened to them with a hum. So talkative, now... were they trying to convince Whumper, or themselves?

"Such strong words... let's see how well they hold up, hm?" Whumper said, and then maneuvered themselves to shove their knee in between Whumpee's legs, pressing against their crotch.

Whumpee screwed their eyes shut and grit their teeth as their breath hitched, their face quickly flushing a deep shade of red. Whumper leaned down and was sure to study every inch of their face and take note of every little way they reacted. Whumper had their doubts at first, but... this seemed like it was going to be great fun after all.

#noncon /#whump #whump drabble #nsft

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chudleycanonficfest · 3 years ago

Text

Washing Machine Heart

Day 22, Story #2 is by @rosequartzstarswrites

Title: Washing Machine Heart Author/Artist: rosequartzstars - @rosequartzstarswrites (Because of Tumblr settings, this is posting from my main blog, but it’s me!) Pairing: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley (and background Ron Weasley/Hermione Granger) Prompt: 5+1 Rating: T (only for some strong language and non-explicit insinuations) Trigger Warning(s) (if any): none apply!

“I can’t believe I’m going through with this,” huffed Hermione, struggling to keep up the brisk pace Ron was marking on the sidewalk.

“You never believed you’d have to, did you?” Ron said gleefully, seemingly unaware of just how hard his long-legged strides were to keep up with.

“You never told me you were that good at chess!”

“No, more like you never thought anyone could be better than you at anything!”

Despite only having been friends, close friends, with them for a semester, Harry had already become accustomed to the constant bickering between Ron and Hermione, to the point even of endearment. Coming from the Dursleys’, arguments and rebukes were something he was used to, but the undertone of friendship with which Ron and Hermione faced off was a welcome change (and a very entertaining one). Still, he tended to side quietly with Ron, and this particular time was no exception: part of him was delighted at the prospect of seeing Hermione get a tattoo.

This had all started from a ridiculous bet, born of boredom in the lounge of their dorm building. Ron had eyed the communal chessboard, battered and chipped from years of usage, and challenged Hermione to a match.

Hermione had scoffed: “Only if you want to lose, Ron.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Ron had said, exchanging a look with Harry as a sly smile crept onto his lips.

“I’m completely certain.”

“Certain enough to bet?” Ron had prodded her.

The competitiveness that, before becoming friends, was all Harry had known of Hermione had flared up in her eyes. “I’m listening.”

“When you lose—”

“If I lose, and I won't—”

“When you lose,” Ron had reiterated, “you have to get a tattoo of my choosing.”

Hermione had smirked. “Game on.”

In Hermione’s defense, Harry thought, she hadn’t ever considered she might lose. There really was no way of expecting how good Ron had turned out to be at chess, especially since —Harry thought— Hermione had based her certainty on how abysmal his grades were, against her own straight A’s, in their proofs-based mathematics class, which relied entirely on strength of reasoning. But, as it turned out, Ron was actually a master logician, if only somewhat lazy at his math classes, and this he had proved by absolutely obliterating Hermione with the fastest checkmate Harry had ever borne witness to.

And that is how they had come to find themselves out on the streets of their little college town that night, wrapped in their scarves and their winter coats to battle the first of the December chill, walking to a tattoo parlor Ron knew in the area so Hermione could be forever reminded of her loss by a tattoo Ron would choose. And if Harry knew Ron well, and knew how much he relished teasing Hermione, the reminder would be a strong one.

“I didn’t even want a tattoo,” Hermione was mumbling, more to herself than at either of them. “I never wanted one— did you know that you might not be eligible to donate blood if you have a tattoo? I mean, not that it’s impossible, but it’s a factor against you, like your weight and your age. And my family has a history of needing transfusions— oh, God, what if my grandfather needs a donation, like, tomorrow? The three-month period of eligibility won’t have elapsed, and my father can’t donate, and– and–” She froze in the middle of the sidewalk. “Oh, God, have I killed my grandfather?”

“Relax, Hermione,” Ron said, throwing a fraternal arm around her shoulders and squeezing her half in an attempt to get her walking again. “You’re halfway across the country from home. You wouldn’t be able to fly out on such short notice anyway.”

Harry had to stifle a laugh at how Hermione gaped at Ron then, a billion other dire possibilities to worry about racing through her head now. Ron, however, was less successful at keeping down a chuckle. “I’m kidding, Hermione. Besides, a tattoo will make you look badass.”

“I don’t want to look badass!” Hermione squeaked shrilly. “I’ve never been remotely interested in looking badass!”

“Well, interested or not,” Ron said as they came up to a dark brick building with a neon sign reading LOVEGOOD’S flickering above the door, “it seems like you don’t have much of a choice, because we’re here.”

Hermione let out a noise that sounded somewhere between a gasp and a whine as she looked up at the storefront that, to her, was synonymous not only with her doom but apparently that of her grandfather.

“Ron, please?” she said meekly.

Ron, however, looked gleeful and would not be deterred. “A bet’s a bet,” he declared, grabbing her wrist and beginning to march her up the three or so stairs that led up to the door of the tattoo parlor from the sidewalk. Harry lingered behind for an instant, watching the backs of his two friends as they waddled up the stairs, smiling as he listened to Ron debate whether he would make Hermione get a skull or a sailor’s “Mom” arrow-pierced heart, and Hermione pleading shrilly with him not to do either of those things. Watching them, Harry’s smile widened. He was lucky to have them as friends, that much he knew, despite the short time he’d spent knowing them. Why he hadn’t found them his freshman year was beyond him— but now, now that he had these wacky outings and constant bickering to enjoy, he felt overwhelmingly lucky that they had found him.

“Harry, are you coming in or what?” Ron beckoned him. He had stopped on the topmost step and was still gripping Hermione, whose face was a mask of pure, crystallized terror.

“Absolutely,” Harry said, hurrying up the steps with a little hop. “This I’ve got to see.”

Ron pushed open the door to the parlor with a little too much gusto, and Hermione cringed at the metallic sound of the chimes above the door as they tinkled with the announcement of their entrance. The front of the shop, sealing off the rest with a counter that had seen better days, was empty, the backroom separated by a beaded curtain.

“Hellooo?” Ron called into the backroom, marching right up to the counter. “Is anybody here? We bring a very eager customer!”

Hermione began to protest, but just as she did, an employee came out of the backroom to stand behind the counter. Catching a glimpse of her, Harry felt as if the wind had been knocked out of his chest: she was stunning. She was tall and slender, her toned arms visible through the ripped-off sleeves of her vintage Hole tee, with a curtain of straight orange hair pulled back into a long high ponytail. Her bright brown eyes glimmered atop a button-like nose that matched her small, round mouth perfectly, the pale fine face finished by a spattering of freckles. Even before she had spoken a single word, Harry felt the confidence coming off of her in waves, simply by how she propped her elbows up on the counter and eyed their party somewhat playfully. He was frozen to his place with the sight of her, hoping his jaw hadn’t dropped as low as it had felt in the wake of his awe.

Upon seeing her, however, Ron had had exactly the opposite reaction. “Ginny?” he said incredulously.

“What are you doing here?” the woman —Ginny— said without any greeting, returning Ron’s frown.

“I thought you weren’t working today!”

“I’m covering a shift for Demelza, she had a gyn appointment today.”

“Well, if I knew that, I wouldn’t have come in,” grumbled Ron. The tips of his ears were beginning to pink, a sign Harry had learned to recognize as a hint of extreme emotion in his friend.

“Well, you’re here now, so… what can I do for you?” Ginny said. “I mean, you can’t possibly be the one getting inked, Ron. You’re too much of a wimp.”

“Shut up, or I’m telling mom you got your helix pierced. That’ll make for a fun Christmas greeting when we’re back home, I’ll wager.”

Then the similarity became apparent to Harry: the freckles, the aggressive red of their hair, the same glint in their eyes… Ginny was Ron’s sister. Somehow, he didn’t know whether that was something he should feel good or bad about.

“Tattletale,” Ginny said, swatting at him. “And it’s called an industrial piercing. Not that you’d know.” Only then did she seem to remark on the rest of the party.

“Harry Potter,” she said, and Harry gulped as she crossed her muscular arms over her chest and leaned back, surveying him. “Come to get a sixth tattoo?”

“A sixth— how do you know?” Harry said, befuddled. Out of all the opening lines he would’ve expected her to use, this had not been one of them.

“You can credit the rumor mill at school,” Ginny shrugged, still eyeing him with interest. “You’re a topic of interest. Or at least among the soccer teams.”

“Oh, am I?”

“Romilda swore you had a griffin tattooed on your chest, but I told her I’d heard it was a dragon. Much more macho, I thought.”

“Thanks,” Harry said dully. What else was he supposed to say?

“Don’t mention it,” Ginny gave him a conspiratorial wink. “And if I were you, I’d find out who on the boys’ team has been giving you the eye in the shower enough to count your tats. I bet it’s Ron.”

“It’s not!” Ron said angrily, the red from his ears bleeding out onto his cheeks.

“I bet it is,” Ginny mouthed to Harry, giving him another wink. “But it’s not you?”

“Pardon?” said Harry, for whom the ‘it-is-it’s-not’ exchange had grown somewhat confusing.

“For the tattoo?” Ginny said, and Harry felt like an idiot. “It’s not you who’s getting it?”

“No, ah, actually— it’s Hermione,” Harry was knocked back into his senses as he gestured toward Hermione, who had stood, utterly baffled, throughout that whole exchange.

“Hermione Granger?” Ginny said, and Harry was almost glad when she turned her gaze away from him and toward Hermione. “As in, Scamander Fellow Hermione Granger?”

“The one and only,” Ron declared proudly, happy to be back off a topic that bothered him (teasing Ron) and back on a topic that delighted him (teasing Hermione).

“I wouldn’t have chalked you up to the tattoo type,” Ginny said.

“Oh, she’s not,” Ron said, his face lighting up as if Christmas had come early.

Ginny’s eyes darted between the dismal face of Hermione and the cheerful face of Ron, her eyebrows rising as she took it in. “Okay, I’m not going to ask about whatever this is. What am I doing on you?”

“I’m designing it,” Ron said brightly. And if Harry had thought that Hermione’s face couldn’t get more desolated, he’d been wrong.

“Christ, Hermione, what has he got on you?” Ginny said, already opening a drawer on the counter to pull out a sketchpad and a pen.

“I’m such an idiot,” Hermione grumbled.

Ron pored over the sketchpad, shielding the paper from Hermione’s eyes as he sketched. When he was done, he handed it to Ginny with a quick flick of the wrist that, much to Hermione’s dismay, ensured she couldn’t even catch a glimpse of what was on it. Ginny looked over whatever it was Ron had drawn and then looked up at her brother with a frown.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“Okay, then,” Ginny shrugged. She lifted the counter to open a gap through which Hermione could walk. “Follow me.”

Looking like a lamb led to the slaughter, Hermione looked up to heaven as if making one last, futile plea before scrunching up her nose and following Ginny through the beaded curtain to the backroom. Because yes, she hated the idea of getting a tattoo, but she hated the idea of letting Ron hold one over her even more.

Ron watched her leave delightedly, relishing in the jangle the beaded curtain made as it swallowed Ginny and Hermione into the backroom. “This is going to be good,” he said, rubbing his palms together. “Oh, this is going to be so good.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you had a sister?” Harry blurted out all of a sudden. He startled himself as much as Ron when he said it, though he was glad he’d been able to pare down the question from what was actually swirling around in his head: Why didn’t you tell me you had a sister that looked like THAT?

Ron looked at him and shrugged. “I don’t know. It never came up.”

“You told me about every other one of your five brothers, but not the sister.”

“Nope.”

“Not the sister that seems to be about our age.”

“Nope.”

“Not the sister that seems to be about our age and plays soccer.“ And is hot.

"Nope.” Ron paused and frowned. “She’s a year below us, anyway.”

“Oh, then that explains it,” Harry said sarcastically.

“It seemed like more of a second-semester-of-friendship revelation.”

“I see.”

Harry held the silence between them for a few moments more before he allowed the next question out. “She plays soccer?”

“One more of the long line of Weasleys that get athletic scholarships to Hogwarts College. Except for Percy— no, he was a disgrace, he got in on an academic grant.”

“The family disappointment, truly.”

Harry wanted to ask more about Ginny, but he held his tongue. His friendship with Ron was the most precious thing his sophomore year of college had yielded him, and he didn’t want to jeopardize it by prying further or making it seem like he had the hots for his sister. Even though he did. He suffocated that small voice at the back of his mind: he hadn’t even spoken properly to Ginny, just stood there like an idiot and let her quip freely about his tattoos— which, mind him, apparently were fodder for locker talk back at Hogwarts.

The buzz of the needle in the backroom as it started up brought Harry out of his thoughts, just in time to see a shit-eating grin appear on Ron’s face.

“I wish I could see her face right now,” he said gleefully, and Harry let himself stop thinking about Ginny to join Ron in picturing what Hermione Granger must look like seated in a tattoo parlor chair.

“It really wasn’t so bad,” admitted Hermione as they exited the tattoo parlor and went down the little steps back onto the sidewalk.

Despite his pretensions of malice, Ron’s nobility (which had never been in question, even despite his teasing) had shone through and yielded a considerably modest tattoo: a small, capital “R” in his own handwriting. Hermione, who had almost cried with relief after Ginny showed her the design, had chosen to get it on her left thigh, on the side and at the very top, right under her hipbone.

“Why did you get it there?” Harry asked as they resumed their brisk walk back to campus.

“It’s not a place you usually show. That means if a sleeve shifts or an interviewer sees, I don’t know, my ankle or something, they won’t notice it.”

“As if a tiny ‘R’ would disqualify anyone from a job, let alone you,” snorted Ron.

“Professionalism is a virtue, Ronald,” Hermione huffed, though her cheeks had gone red. “Besides, since that part of me is always covered, I’ll save myself from having to explain the story behind it to anyone that spots it.”

“Yeah, except the bloke that eventually undresses you and sees you in your panties. Try explaining what that 'R’ means to him,” said Ron. But Harry suspected Hermione wouldn’t have to: from how Ron’s eyes had widened and his gaze had lingered when Hermione had pulled down the side of her jeans ever so slightly to show them the finished product, exposing a sliver of her underwear, Harry could almost wager that Ron would be the bloke in question.

They walked in animated chatter for the rest of the way, the tattoo forgotten until Ron made a quip about Hermione now having crossed the gateway to joining a biker gang and Hermione going positively beet-red in the face with outrage. Then Harry, his hands in his pockets, simply smirked to himself and resigned himself to their bickering for the rest of the walk, knowing he was no longer needed in their exchange. Instead, he let his mind drift to Ginny. She hadn’t really spoken to him again, merely ducking out from the beaded curtain backroom and instructing Hermione on how to take care of her tattoo, saying only a general goodbye to the three of them as they exited the shop. There had been nothing in Ginny’s manner to suggest that she might be thinking of him as strongly, as irremediably, as he was of her, and yet there he was.

The main quad was mostly deserted, except for a few scattered groups of late-night library frequenters or sneaking couples, as the three of them crossed it to get to their dorm. Ron and Hermione didn’t stop arguing as they climbed the four flights up to their floor (the elevator, as usual, was broken), and only broke it off because Hermione reached her room before the boys reached theirs, slipping inside it and shutting the door before Ron had a chance to get the last word in.

“Well, that went well,” Ron shrugged as he and Harry kept walking down the hall to their room.

“You actually got her to get a tattoo,” Harry said with some admiration as they reached their door.

Ron grinned as he swiped the key card. “I may drive her crazy, but if anyone was going to get her to do something like that, it was going to be me.”

Ron pushed the door open and let them into their dorm room. He closed the door and, without taking off his coat, immediately flopped onto his bed— or, well, what could be seen of the bed under mountains of dirty or otherwise discarded clothes. Away from his mother’s chore-mongering for the first time, Ron had let himself go wild and go to the other extreme, but even Harry had to admit that the army of socks draped over the foot of his bed was beginning to smell a little stale.

“So,” Ron said, propping his head up, “no parties tonight?”

“Well, it’s a Wednesday,” Harry said.

“So what? There’s no party spirit around here?”

“Ron, it’s the last Wednesday before final exams. People are studying.”

“I wasn’t aware I was rooming with Hermione,” Ron grumbled. Harry had to admit she might have gotten to him a little. However, Ron’s irritation was short-lived, a grin appearing on his face again. “Wait, but we’re not people. We’re not studying.”

Harry surveyed the room and, despite his desire to throw in the towel for the night and have fun with Ron, felt a pang of dismay at just how much grosser it would be if they caved and did that (last time they had, they’d had a Pringle-eating contest, with devastating results for their sheets, which still had some crumbs). “No, Ron. We’re doing laundry.”

Ron groaned. “Jeez, now I’m rooming with my mother.”

“Okay, fine, you don’t have to do the laundry. I’ll do it for the both of us.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, go hang out with Dean and Seamus or whatever, see if you can get Hermione to do her second wild-card act of the day and make her stop studying to hang out with the guys.”

“Now I’m a man with a mission,” Ron said, perking up in delight at the prospect of teasing Hermione, or even seeing her once more that night.

“Just shove your clothes in the laundry bag before you go, won’t you? I don’t want to touch your nasty briefs more than I have to.”

Ron obliged, tossing all the clothes on and around his bed into his orange laundry bag and pulling the drawstring to close it. “I’ll update you on the Hermione thing,” he said cheerfully, hurrying out of the room and down the hall to the left to the room they’d left Hermione in.

Harry laughed to himself, wondering how long it was going to take Ron to realize why exactly he always seemed so eager to do anything Hermione-related, as he too threw his dirty clothes into a checkered drawstring laundry bag. Then, he hoisted one sack over each of his shoulders and opened the door using his ankle and leg to let himself out, his hands full with the laundry bags. He stifled a smirk as he passed Hermione’s room and heard the familiar bubbling sound of she and Ron rowing. If Harry knew her at all, he knew however much she might argue she’d be out of that room in an hour tops.

He groaned as he looked down the stairs, and rued the day he had been placed in the dorm with the shittiest elevator on campus. Resigning himself, he began to walk slowly down the poorly-lit stairs to the basement, where the laundry room was. However inconvenient this descent was, Harry was at least comforted with the knowledge that the laundry room would not be crowded, which would be the greater inconvenience once the elevator was fixed.

The basement was even dimmer, the white lights flickering and buzzing with electricity as Harry walked to the laundry room almost at the end of the hall. Sure enough, the laundry room was deserted, oddly quiet with none of the familiar hum and rattle of the machines as they worked. Harry knelt in front of a washing machine and began unloading the contents of the laundry bags into it, cramming them in so they’d fit because he sure as hell wasn’t shelling out quarters for two washers. When he’d made it all fit (which had involved the use of force to jam the door shut), he went to the shelf that held the communal detergent and poured it into the soap compartment. With that done, he dug out eight quarters from his pocket and inserted them into the washer’s slot, pressing the “Start Cycle” button when he heard the clink that let him know his quarters had been accepted. The washer rumbled slowly to life, jets of water trickling out as it began to spin in one direction and then the other, and it was a couple minutes before it was spinning at a hearty pace.

Rising from his crouch (he had always liked to watch the washing machine as it booted up to wash in earnest), Harry took the laundry bags and turned to head back upstairs, already thinking of what he might do to pass the time in the hour he had before he had to switch the clothes to the dryer.

He was so caught up in thinking of this that he didn’t see the person entering the laundry room at the same time as he was exiting, which ended in an awkward clash between them.

“I’m so sorry,” Harry blurted.

“No, it’s fine, I’m sorry too— Harry?”

Only then did Harry realize who he had bumped into, and only because she kept standing there did he believe it. “Ginny?”

She still wore her Hole shirt, but had discarded the ripped jeans, combat boots, and round-the-waist flannel he’d seen at the tattoo parlor. Instead, she wore frayed gray sweatpants and flip-flops, her hair pulled up from the long ponytail into a messy bun. She, however, somehow still managed to look almost unbearably beautiful. What’s happening to me?

“What are you doing here?” he asked, the only thing he could think of right that second. Spotting the laundry basket she was cradling, he added: “No laundry in your dorm?”

“No, yeah, there is one, but it’s always too crowded, it being a freshman dorm and all.” Harry nodded: his first year, he too had done entirely more laundry than he had to, and was thankful by the quarters he saved just by realizing he could wear a pair of pants more than once before they were dirty. “So I use the one here. Much quieter. I know Ron’s ID and password—”

“You do?”

“He gave it to me once so I could pick up his books from the library. And my memory’s great.” She gave him a half smile and looked beyond him at the laundry room. “Doing laundry?”

“No, I just like the ambience down here. The shitty lighting and bleach smell are really my style,” said Harry. Ginny laughed, and Harry felt a rush of pride at what was probably the first witty thing he’d ever said to her. “Need a hand?”

“I’d appreciate one, sure,” Ginny said, again smiling at him. Harry moved so she could walk into the laundry room, and watched her pick one of the washing machines that lined the wall. When she’d settled on one, he crouched down next to her and help her lob the clothes into the maw of the machine.

“Tattoo parlor let out early?” he asked as they placed the clothes inside.

“More like you guys came in really late. You were my last customers— I just cleaned up and closed after you left.”

“And you work there?”

“Sure beats a regular work-study, doesn’t it?” Ginny grinned. She tossed in a Tide pod that was left at the bottom of the basket, closed the door to the machine, and rose to find the quarters needed to activate it. “Oh, shoot, I left my wallet in my other pants—”

“I got you,” said Harry, digging for eight more quarters in his pocket. For once, he was glad of his bad habit of carrying an excess of loose change in his jeans, something Hermione already got on to him about (sometimes, like when she’d gifted him a money purse, not too subtly).

“Thanks,” Ginny said, picking the laundry basket up from the ground.

Harry listened for the telling clink and then pressed the button. The washing machine whirred to a start, but for once, Harry didn’t feel compelled to watch it boot up: instead, he turned to Ginny. “So how did you come to work there?”

“At the tat shop?” Ginny asked, hopping to sit on the top of the washer where her clothes were spinning. “My friend Luna’s dad, Xenophilius—”

“Gesundheit.”

“Shut up,” Ginny said, but the hint of a laugh was (to Harry’s satisfaction) visible on her lips again. “Anyway, Xenophilius owns the place. He set up in a college town because he knows college is the first time kids are truly free to make rash, impulse decisions.”

“Like getting a tattoo?”

“Exactly. And besides, all the college students love his New Age bullshit, they think it’s very 70s, so his shop is always full. He got a big boost after he started placing crystals in the shop windows.”

“He’s in with the kids, then?”

“Don’t tell him that, he’ll be mortified. But he’s great, really. A little eccentric, but great. He knows me from when Luna and I took an art class together in 10th grade, and he’s always complimented my art, so he helped me get my tattoo artist license as soon as I turned 18 and hired me.”

“Is Luna the girl with the shaggy blond hair and the weird glasses?”

“That’s her. Though I’m surprised you didn’t know her by her bottlecap necklaces. That’s usually what people comment on.”

“Does she work there too?”

“Yeah, though not as an inker, she’s useless with a needle. She designs a big chunk of the tattoos, though, both original designs and commissions or requests.”

“That’s awesome,” Harry said. He realized that was the first time through the whole conversation that he had stopped. He’d never hesitated on what to say next: conversation with Ginny had flowed easily, naturally, and he hadn’t had to think too hard to keep it going. Still, he was a little disappointed that it had stopped. Ginny, however, seemed to share in this, because rather than say goodbye and take her leave, she opened up a new topic.

“So how long have you and Ron been friends?”

“Er– since the start of this school year, actually.”

“Really? You’d think from how he talks about you, he’d known you forever.” Harry felt a flush of happiness at hearing that Ron talked about him.

“Well, I got him for a roommate this year, and we just clicked. Then it turned out we had a lot of the same classes. And we’re both on the soccer team, so it just got better from there.”

“It seems strange that you never crossed paths your freshman year.”

Harry shrugged. “I mean, freshman year is weird for everyone. I certainly felt like I was just bouncing from one place to another. I still hang out with a lot of the guys from last year, but my friends have changed. It makes sense— the first year, everyone is trying to meet as many people as possible, as if it’s a race, but by sophomore year you know more of what you want and what you’re looking for. In a way, I’m glad I met Ron now that I’m in a more stable place, now that I know my way around the college and have a better grip on things. I have a feeling he’s a friend I’m gonna keep.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear you’re sticking around the Weasleys,” Ginny said, and Harry felt a tingle run up his spine. Was she… flirting with him? “And Hermione?”

“Oh, Hermione’s great, Ron and I would be dead by now if not for her— I don’t know how I got through a full year without her.”

“But she’s very different from you guys, isn’t she?”

“Well— on the surface, sure, but not in the things that matter. The fact that she went through with the tattoo tonight when she could’ve kicked up a fuss and bailed out tells you all you need to know.”

“So what I’m hearing is that Scamander Fellow Hermione Granger is as much of a bonehead as my brother at heart?”

“Stubborn, is the word I’d use. And only when Ron’s involved, actually.”

Ginny smirked. “Idiots. They haven’t even realized it.”

Harry knew exactly what she meant. “You think it too?”

“Oh, I’d bet on it. Ten bucks says they’re together by the end of the year.”

“Hey, did our visit by the parlor today teach you nothing about bets? They can be dangerous.”

“But I’m betting against you, aren’t I?” The way she said you made Harry’s heart skip a beat. “Fine, not ten bucks. But I’ll bet you a load of laundry, how’s that?”

“Deal,” said Harry, taking Ginny’s extended hand to shake it. The touch of her palm, with its long, slender fingers, sent warmth coursing down from his hand and the length of his arm. They let go and dropped hands, and perhaps it was just wishful thinking, but Harry thought he detected a certain reluctance in Ginny as they did.

Harry leaned against the washer, his propped elbow almost brushing up against her thigh. “How about you? How’s your first year going so far?”

Ginny winced. “As well as you’d expect, I suppose. Lots of people still behave like it’s an extension of high school, and I’m very much over that. But as things go, I’m having a blast. Being on the soccer team certainly helps.”

“Congratulations on that scholarship, by the way.”

“Thank you,” Ginny said, her wide smile revealing a row of perfect, square white teeth. “You’re on a scholarship too, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. My aunt and uncle would’ve never paid a single cent for me to go to college, so it was the only way. But I’m sure they were glad to be rid of me anyway.”

“They sound like lovely people,” Ginny said sarcastically.

“I should introduce them to this Xenophilius sometime. My uncle Vernon would have a stroke just walking into that shop.”

“Well, if you ever swing by, you have an insider contact,” Ginny offered, and Harry loved the implication of something, even something as simple as an 'insider contact’, between just the two of them. “I’d be happy to arrange a meeting, especially for such esteemed patrons.”

“I might take you up on that, if I ever planned on seeing them again,” Harry said. The words came out a bit more harshly than he’d expected, and the second silence in their talk set in, brought on by the darker implications of his family situation. Desperate to break it, Harry cleared his throat and geared up to talk again: “So, do you have any tattoos?”

He was relieved to see the smile, that coy, almost lopsided smile, appear on Ginny’s face again. “Actually, no, not a single one.”

“Do you think you’d ever get one?”

Ginny thought for a second. “I might, if something meaningful enough came around. And only if I was 200% sure. But really, I feel like one tattoo would lead to another, and then I’d never stop and run out of room on my skin. So it’s more of a containment mechanism, really.”

Harry smirked. “Hm. Interesting.”

Ginny broke out onto a full grin as she watched him. “What?” she asked, but when Harry’s smirk only deepened, she shoved him playfully, her touch on his shoulders eliciting the same warm sensation as the handshake. “What, Potter, tell me! Why is it interesting?”

“I mean, since you work at a tattoo shop, and you’re wearing a Hole t-shirt, I just thought you might be the type—”

“The Hole tee? Oh, don’t tell me you’re gonna gatekeep it, like you’re the type of guy who’d be like 'name three songs'—”

“No, not at all. As a matter of fact, I don’t know a lot of music by Hole. I really only know who they are because of that one Fall Out Boy song Courtney Love was featured in—”

Ginny winced. “Not Fall Out Boy, please.”

“Why? What’s wrong with Fall Out Boy?”

“Harry—”

“I know they get a lot of shit, but really, their first albums are pretty good—”

“Harry, you’ve gotta stop right here, or you’re going to make me stop finding you so attractive.”

And just like that, there it was, out in the open. Harry felt stun: he felt his mouth open to offer a witty retort, but no words came out. Because the girlish grin had evaporated from Ginny’s face and turned into a different, more mature look, her eyes smoldering slightly and her mouth slightly pouted.

“What about you?” she asked, her words slower, as if she was choosing each one individually. “If the soccer team gossip is true, I know you have five tattoos.”

“Yeah,” Harry said, his voice having dropped as well. “Yeah, there were a few tat shops around my neighborhood where the rules were pretty lax.”

“What are they?” Ginny asked.

“The tattoos? Well, the first ones I ever got were my mom and dad’s birth and death dates, on my wrist,” Harry said, rolling up the sleeve of his shirt to display two small lines of numbers, in plain black ink, on his forearm.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Ginny said softly.

“Don’t be, I was really small when it happened. But I still wanted to pay them homage. Anyway, I’ll not bore you with my family history right now.”

“But tell me sometime?”

Harry was ecstatic at the implication that Ginny wanted to spend even more time with him. “Yeah,” he said, smiling at her. “Yeah, I will.” He moved on to the second tattoo, shifting the other sleeve up a bit to show Ginny a small black paw print in the center of his wrist. “This was my third one. My godfather was the only person my aunt and uncle would let me see while I was growing up, and even then only because he threatened them. And he had this huge, black shaggy dog, I think it was a Newfoundland, that looked almost like a bear, named Padfoot. I loved that dog, and every time I think of the happiest moments growing up, Padfoot’s in a lot of them. So when he died when I was sixteen, I got this to remember him by. It seems like a tribute to my godfather, too, so I like it doubly.”

He didn’t need encouragement from Ginny to keep going. He raised his left leg and propped it up on the washing machine by where Ginny’s legs hung, rolling his sock down a bit to show a green, line-art tuft of grass snaking above his ankle. “I got this when I got the soccer scholarship to come here. I wanted something to commemorate soccer, seeing as it’s not only, y'know, my passion, but also what got me out of that damn house for good. But I thought something like a soccer ball or a net or even the pitch outline would be too cheesy, so I got a bit of grass, y'know, as in the field…”

“Tasteful,” Ginny nodded her approval, and Harry felt newfound appreciation for that tattoo. “That’s three down, Potter.”

“I’m getting there.” Harry brought his leg down from the washer and turned his back to Ginny, taking his hand up to the nape of his neck and using it to shift the hair there upward to reveal the back of his neck where it turned into his back. “Can you see it?”

“The little lightning bolt?”

“Yeah.”

“What’s the story of that?”

“That was my second one. To be honest, I was a little ink-happy after my first one, so a couple of weeks after I got it I went back and got this.”

“But why a lightning bolt?”

“I don’t know,” Harry admitted, turning back around to face her. “I guess it was just cool.”

“Oh, very,” Ginny said, and the edge in her voice let him know she was teasing him. “That leaves us with one, then. The emblematic chest tattoo.” Again, the playfulness disappeared from her face and was replaced by that strange look, the one Harry couldn’t really decipher but really, really liked. “Tell me, then, Harry— is Romilda Vane right?”

It was only because of the suggestiveness in Ginny’s voice and the permanence of that look on her face that Harry did what he did next. His movements slow, he pulled his shirt off over his head, setting it on the washing machine right by where Ginny sat. He heard Ginny draw in a breath and it hitch in her throat as she saw him, her eyes moving over his bare skin to spot the ink blot that had brought this all on. Curled above his right pec was a small, S-shaped dragon, colored in red and gold.

“I win,” Ginny said, her voice still husky, as she extended her left hand to touch the dragon with her fingertips.

“Are you going to tell Romilda?” Harry said, his own right hand settling lightly on Ginny’s thigh.

“No, actually,” Ginny said, her palm now coming down flat on Harry’s chest. Her other hand had also drifted to him, and she had placed it on Harry’s left side, right below his ribcage, as if to hold the side of his torso. “I think I’d rather keep this moment to myself.”

And then she was leaning in and kissing him, touching her lips to his first with tentative softness that turned into a stronger, more determined fire as the kiss deepened. With both of Ginny’s hands on Harry, and one of Harry’s on Ginny’s thigh and the other supporting the weight of the kiss against the solidity of the washer, they leaned into one another. Harry’s mouth sought out Ginny’s eagerly, overcome by the fiery feeling pooling in his stomach and rising up to his throat through his chest, by the fact that everything he’d thought about on their walk back from Lovegood’s was coming true much sooner (and much better) than he’d expected. He felt Ginny’s tongue nudge at his lips and opened his mouth to let her in, engulfing more of her lips with his as he did so. Ginny kissed passionately, her tongue meeting Harry’s even as her teeth dug lightly into Harry’s lower lip, making him kiss her more deeply. With her this close, he was invaded by the flowery smell of her hair, by the soft feel of her skin, by the low humming sound she made as she kissed him. And everything was coming together, making the fire in his chest grow, and it was a good kind of burn, better than whiskey, better than anything—

The loud ding of the washer as it announced it had concluded its cycle startled them, and they pulled back from the kiss looking a little dazed, that one upbeat chime having been all they needed to bring them reluctantly back into the real world. Still Ginny didn’t take her hands off Harry, and Harry felt less than inclined to move his from her leg.

“I should, uh, switch to the dryer,” he said, the only thing that popped into his mind there.

Ginny tightened her hold around his middle and moved her hand from his chest, wrapping it around his upper back to draw him closer. “Oh, let it wait,” she said, and then she was kissing him again, and Harry was finding that the dryer could wait for hell to freeze for all he cared.

The sleepy sound of the chimes above the door didn’t even make Ginny raise her gaze from her stats study guide, which she’d pulled out to make the best of the not-too-busy lull at Lovegood’s. “We’re almost closed,” she announced to whoever had come in.

“You can’t make room for one last customer?” a familiar voice said, and only then did Ginny perk up immediately.

“Harry!” she said brightly, shutting the stats book as it became all-but-forgotten. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to add one more tattoo to the five I’ve already got,” said Harry. “Think you can give me my sixth?”

Ginny didn’t even need to say yes, just opened up the lift-up counter door and disappeared through the beaded curtain. “Flip the door sign to 'closed’ before you come through, will you?”

Harry obliged and flipped the sign before following Ginny to the backroom. He sat patiently on the tattoo chair as Ginny milled about, getting the supplies ready.

“Y'know, you never did tell me the story behind your dragon tattoo,” Ginny commented as she went through the sterilization procedure for the needles. “Seeing as we were, um, otherwise occupied…”

The memory of the kiss flooded through Harry with the same fire that he’d held in his chest ever since, the flame growing to engulf his whole body just hearing Ginny mention it. “Should I tell you now?”

“I’d like to hear it.”

“I got it as a tribute to my old headmaster back home, Albus Dumbledore. Funny old man, and incredibly cryptic, but he’s the one that first gave me the idea of applying for the scholarship and helped me get all my grades and papers in order so I could make it here. We were very close, and he had this saying that he used to tell me whenever I ended up in his office for getting into trouble— 'never tickle a sleeping dragon’, he’d say.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

Harry laughed briefly and shrugged. “Hell if I know. But it was his catchphrase. So after I graduated, I wanted to get something to commemorate him, so I got the dragon from his favorite saying. He came with me and got it too.”

Ginny turned to him and eyed him quizzically. “Your headmaster got the tattoo along with you?”

“I told you he was a funny old man.”

Ginny pulled a pair of black latex gloves over her hands and rolled a wheeled office chair over to Harry, the needle in hand. “So by what I’m hearing, you only ever get tattoos of things that are extremely meaningful to you, right?”

“That’s right,” said Harry.

“So, Mr. Meaning, what’ll it be this time?”

Harry smiled. He grabbed his shirt and pulled it slightly upward, just enough to uncover his lower trunk. He pointed to a spot on the left side of his torso, right under his ribcage— right where Ginny’s hand had been, where her touch had been burned into his skin. “Right here,” he said. “I’d like a little washing machine.”

#chudleycanonficfest2021 #HP fest #hp canon pairings #canon fest platonic #canon fest romantic #submission #hinny #harry x ginny #side romione

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supremeinlilac · 4 years ago

Text

Three’s not a crowd, especially when it’s us (2)

Pairing: Cordelia Goode x Reader x Wilhelmina Venable

Word count: 4415

Warnings: Brief sexual imagery

A/n: total writers block but managed to finish it, longer than I thought it was going to be lmao. anyway don't know if the whole 'surprise' thing is written as well as I would have liked but fuck it :))

Part 1: HERE

You weren’t sure what the effect of your magic would be on Wilhemina; on all of the prior occasions the use of your gift had been an accident, your magic sparking out through your skin at the very briefest of contacts with another person, whether you’d wanted it to or not. Since then, you’d been taught to harness and wield and control your powers, you’d been able to touch people without the spark.

This time however, it had been a choice, a conscious decision to hold her hands within your own and let your magic flow into her. You’d seen the way her eyes had widened, and the way she’d jumped and tried to break contact. You’d persisted, not quite knowing the reason why you finally wanted to share your gift with another person, Ms Venable of all people.

When she’d finally been able to pry her hands away from your grasp, she’d stood and straightened, softness gone from her features as she’d smoothed down her skirt and stalk away, cane echoing harshly as she hit it against the ground. That night you lay awake and unable to sleep; sensitive to the sounds of the house- the creak of a floorboard and the hoot of an owl. You were listening for signs of movement from the master bedroom across the hall.

After your show earlier, Wilhelmina had kept herself to the confines of her shared room with Cordelia; you wondered if she’d told her what had happened or if she, like always, was keeping her worries stoic and to herself. Upon being greeted with silence, you finally allowed yourself to roll over towards the wall and drift into a restless sleep.

At breakfast the following day, the empty glasses had shattered when one of the girls had spilled milk across the table. Cordelia had risen from her seat and looked around at everyone, searching for a guilty face among the widen eyes emerging from under arms which they’d flinched under to escape the flying glass. No one had owned up.

You had to bite your lip to stop yourself from quipping about not crying over spilt milk, but you decided now wasn’t the right time. Especially seen as you seemed to be the only person who saw the deep flush and anxious eyes of Ms Venable across the table, before she managed to harden her face again and tap her cane insistently which sent some of the younger girls scurrying to clear the glass.

When the younger girls had all finished up and left with Zoe to get themselves ready for lessons, and only some of the older girls stayed, milling around with hushed whispers and laughter, you let your gaze fall to the two women, deep in conversation at the foot of the table. Cordelia looked anxious and deep in thought while Wilhemina spoke, her own posture back to one of defensiveness after her brief slip up. You slipped away from the table, glancing back at the pair momentarily feeling a surge of emotion at them simply enjoying each other’s company, faces now relaxed again as they spoke.

***

Having forgotten your spell book for your first lesson of the day, Zoe had sent you to quickly fetch it with a nonchalant wave of her hand. You were just about to go up the staircase to your room when someone tightly grasped at your wrist and pulled you through the nearest door, eliciting a startled yelp from you in surprise.

“What the fuck do you think you’re playing at?” Wilhemina seethed through gritted teeth, “what have you done to me?” Her face was hard and angry, but her eyes were wide and scared and darting back and forth between your own, as if searching them for answers that you weren’t even sure you had yourself. You tried to free yourself from her bruising grip but she held fast, shaking it for good measure when you neglected to answer her.

“I- I don’t- I don’t know” you stammered, words leaving your mouth jumbled and scattered as a reaction to her anger and close proximity. She’d never directed her frustrations at you before, she’d never had the need to as you always kept yourself to yourself and were respectful.

“Do you think this is some kind of joke? Turn me back right now.” She ordered, cane hitting against the wood impatiently. You stared dumbly at her, unsure of what exactly she was expecting you to do. At your blank expression she shook your arm again, making you wince and turn away, tears pricking in your eyes and blurring your vision.

“Are you an imbecile, I said turn me back now.”

Collecting yourself slightly, blinking away the tears and pulling your arm free, you forced yourself to stand tall and appear confident in front of the older woman. You turned back to face her, speaking clearly with as much conviction as you could muster: “I can’t, Ms Venable. I’ve never properly used my powers on anyone before, I don’t know how long they’ll last or if-” your words drifted off, a thought bubbling up which made you stop in fear, “or if they won’t fade at all.”

Your words caused her face to twitch, in anger or fear you weren’t sure, but it made you step back slightly. She looked shocked, as if it was an option she hadn’t considered, stepping towards you dangerously as you retreated.

Wilhemina Venable was a woman used to routine. She was used to being in control of everything in her life; she prided yourself on being the most punctual, organised and structured. When things happened that she hadn’t already worked into a plan; that she was not expecting or not wholly prepared for, she would bite back defensively. This was one of those times.

You thought she was going to strike you, instinctively flinching and curling inwards before the sound of the door opening made you both retract. Looking up, you saw Ms Venables knuckles drawn white against the wood of her cane and her steely glare on you unwavering, even as her girlfriends’ head poked round the door behind her.

“What’s going on in here?” Cordelia’s curious voice rang through the room, closing the door behind her as she entered. You had started to edge backwards into your own space where you didn’t feel so claustrophobic. Cordelia glanced quickly back and forth between the both of you before coming to stand by Wilhelmina’s side as she always did in tense situations, acting as a way to ground her girlfriend and offering a comforting hand on her back as a reminder to breathe.

Ms Venable’s eyes had not once left yours since you’d admitted she might be stuck in this new and powerful state that you’d given her. It was as if she was daring you to admit you were joking. Begging you silently with her eyes. They were hard and cold and unwavering next to your wide, intimidated ones, but you could see the flicker of fear that sparked within them.

Slowly Wilhemina turned her attention to Cordelia, expression and eyes immediately softening as she melted into her hold, closing her eyes and leaning her forehead against the Supremes. This was the most vulnerable and exposed you’d ever seen her, and the most anyone had been allowed to see of their relationship. A simple embrace.

Cordelia moved to balance her face in her hands delicately, gently guiding Wilhemina to look at her. She just allowed the supreme to move her head, tired eyes meeting worried ones and an attempt of a smile flickered against her lips like the ghost of a candles fleeting flame in the breeze.

You felt as if you were intruding on a moment that you shouldn’t be witnessing, awkwardly shuffling on the spot and wringing your hands together. You couldn’t bring yourself to tear your eyes away as much as you knew you should from them, keeping them fixated on how soft the pair of them were in each others arms.

Gentle touches and soothing hums.

As quickly as you saw the walls of Wilhemina’s impenetrable façade crumble into dust before you, she was clearing her throat and pawing roughly at dampened eyes with the back of her gloved fist. She pulled away from Cordelia and gave her hand a quick squeeze before letting that go too.

As Cordelia continued to look between the two of you again, eyes narrowed at you in suspicion after her girlfriend’s uncharacteristic outburst of raw emotion, you felt like it was now an appropriate time to talk, stammering out a broken explanation about what had been happening. You almost revealed the truth but Wilhemina was suddenly cracking her cane against wood and interrupting you loudly.

“Y/n, stop your stuttering and blubbering.” She snapped, widening her eyes and lifting her brows, head shaking as if she was silently asking you what the fuck you are doing, and to pull yourself together.

“Y/n had agreed to help me with paperwork when she has free lesson space a couple of days ago, this morning she left me a note saying ‘soz I don’t wanna do it anymore’, and yes she spelt it s. o. z.” Wilhemina explained, acting annoyed at the way you’d written your imaginary note to try to resign from the imaginary job you’d taken on.

“I was just reminding her that she can’t just drop the responsibilities she’s taken on when she feels like it. And trying to get it into her head that that isn’t how we write messages.” It was your turn to raise your eyebrows in question. Clenching your jaw you tried to remain unbothered by the way Mina flashed you a smirk of victory while Cordelia still looked just as confused as before.

“But you don’t like the students helping you, you specifically said they do more harm than good and that they mess up your system,” the supreme stated matter of factly, hand coming to rest on her hip so her elbow jutted out to the side. She looked like she was contemplating saying something to you, turning in your direction before stopping and going back to watch Wilhemina.

“It’s the principle dear, Y/n has to learn. She’ll meet me in my office this evening after her lessons and she won’t be late. I’m sure.” Addressing Cordelia the whole time, not once looking at you while she spoke blatantly about information that you supposed that you were suppose to ‘already know’.

Cordelia looked unconvinced, although she let it go nonetheless, reminding you of the lesson you were missing and sending you scrambling out of the room. Chancing a glance back into the room before you slipped out of the room, you caught Ms Venable’s eye as she watched you leave.

Your lessons dragged slowly, time slowed and you tried to keep your focus on the tasks you’d been given; the spells you had to practise. Spells. Wilhemina. Spells. Wilhemina. Your mind kept wondering to Ms Venable, what she had planned for this evening, and you couldn’t help but picture yourself bent over her desk with the pink stripes of her cane’s touch against your skin.

Shaking your head, you tried to focus on what Zoe was demonstrating, the image seeping into the front of your eyes and refusing to leave. You excused yourself from the lesson, gathering your things and fleeing the room.

You had to find her.

Throwing your spell book onto your bed you flew out of the room again, door slamming behind you. Descending the stairs, you swung yourself around the corner quickly using the edge of the banister to spin.

Running towards her office, you looked behind you to check for anyone in the hallway and ran straight into a body. Papers scattered, raining down around you and you lost your balance over the persons foot, tumbling awkwardly towards the ground.

“Woah there, slow down.” Cordelia exclaimed, surprised, hands flying out to stop your fall, gripping at your body. Realising it was you, and you her, you both quickly let go of the hard grip you had on various parts of the other, apologies spilling from you as the supreme smoothed down her dress at the waist. She couldn’t meet your eyes with hers, looking from the papers that framed you both on the ground, to her wrist and back to the floor.

“What are you doing out of lessons?” Cordelia’s voice rang out, unnecessarily loud in the empty hallway.

“I was just- I, nothing Ms Goode.” You mumbled, glancing subtly at the door of Ms Venables office, gritting your teeth and pursing your lips. You’d been so close. Cordelia cocked her head at you, seemingly amused at your answer, picking one of her brows up as if to challenge it as a barely disguised lie.

“Well you can help me set up for our lesson then.” She left no room for arguments, waving you to follow and then once more so the papers danced back to her waiting hands, perfectly organised once more. You followed her meekly, praying that she wouldn’t bring up that morning in your conversation.

As if sensing your thoughts, Cordelia opened the greenhouse door with her free hand, speaking as you went through with a smile of thanks. “Ms Venable has gone to complete the shopping this week. I assume that’s where you were off to in such a rush. Her office.”

“But-” you started, going to say that it’s always one of the girls that does the shopping, never Wilhemina as she deemed it a waste of her valuable time.

“She insisted” Cordelia interrupted shortly, pausing before smiling as she stacked the papers in a pile on one of the shelves, “you know how she gets.”

You nodded. You knew how stubborn the older woman could be, how it was nearly impossible to sway her path once she had chosen to walk it. You admired her but had to admit it could be somewhat excessive at times.

You fell into comfortable conversation. Despite the confrontation that morning, and the obvious tension, you appreciated how easy being around the supreme was. She never pushed you, always waiting for you to come to her. Even if it meant she suffered with the pain of knowing something was wrong and she couldn’t help. It was perhaps the thing you loved the most about her.

When the lesson began you did your best to stay on task, humming to yourself at one of the benches to keep your mind clear and on the glass in front of you. You could feel the Supremes eyes lingering on you as she made her rounds around the greenhouse, checking on everyone’s work.

The majority of the lesson went undisturbed, no unplanned surprises or accidents. It was calm. Silent bar from the gentle tinkle of the glass wear as everyone worked, murmur of papers turning every so often to break the peace.

Once again letting your mind wander uncontrollably, you let a low groan as the glass tubing you were using slipped from your grip to shatter against the floor of the greenhouse. Frustrated tears pricked at the corner of your eyes, as you crouched and attempted to scoop the shards into trembling hands, vision blurred and droplets falling to ricochet off the stone. You were too nervous to even notice how Cordelia had swept across the floor to help you, to stop you from cutting yourself trying to gather the glass.

Her hand came to rest on the small of your back, pulling you from your thoughts and prompting a rough hand to palm away the tears lest she saw them. Sitting back on your chair you watched how she effortlessly manipulated the glass with her magic, barely even needing to concentrate on such a menial task.

Staring at the wood of your workspace, you barely registered her floating back to her bench or dismissing the class, only standing when Madison pulled at the crook of your arm to jerk you into motion.

“Y/n, can I have a quick word please.” Cordelia called out to you as everyone shuffled out, Madison elbowing you in the ribs with a wink and mouthing ‘shit you’re in trouble’. She looked way too pleased about the prospect of you being in trouble.

You returned to the table that subbed as a desk for the supreme when she taught in the greenhouse, at the corner of the room, hovering behind it and tapping your fingers anxiously against the wood. Cordelia observed you through slightly worried eyes, knowing that you and Wilhemina were both keeping something from her. You’d been distracted all lesson, blank eyes staring out of the dirty windows and you’d occasionally startle yourself out of your thoughts, attention turning momentarily back to the task.

Cordelia, although happy to act as if that morning hadn’t happened, she was less ready to let your absent-mindedness during her lesson go without at least talking to you about it. She was worried. You, alongside Misty, naturally, were one of her best students, so seeing you so blank and dreamy was unwelcomed and unfamiliar.

It was one thing to be distracted in a potions lesson, where accidents were less likely under inexperienced mistakes and mishaps; but what if your mind wondered when in a lesson teaching transmutation. Cordelia had already seen Zoe impaled on the unforgiving spikes of the fence, she would not see another student like that.

“I’d like to think all my girls know that they can come to me with anything, any worries or issues they may have. You do know that you can talk to me, right?” She sounded wounded, as if she was saddened by the fact that you may not feel like you can, or even want to confide in her. The thought of her being upset because of your actions made you twinge with guilt. Not to mention the fact you were keeping something you probably should have revealed when you’d arrived at the school from her.

“Yes of course, I just didn’t sleep too well last night I guess,” you shrug nonchalantly, trying to seem natural in your response. You felt bad lying to her, but it truly wasn’t your place to run your mouth about something that she should really hear from her own girlfriend.

Cordelia looked unconvinced yet again, and she brought her hand up slowly as if to comfort you, before stopping and returning it to finger at the fabric of her flowing pants. You couldn’t meet her eyes, the familiar thawing feeling at your chest whenever you were close to her returning. You felt like you were being suffocated with the weight of her gaze, the smell of her perfume and the rhythmic sigh of her breaths. You had to get out of the greenhouse, being around her made you want to spill the truth.

Slipping away as quickly as you could without looking like you were running from the lingering questions of the Supreme, you shut yourself in your room with a hand on your chest to still your heightened breathing.

***

That evening you slipped out of the living room when the rest of the girls had huddled together to watch a movie, socked feet padding against the floorboards towards Ms Venable’s office. You’d never actually seen the inside of it, up until now counting yourself lucky because you weren’t summoned there unless

Usually, it was just Madison. Sometimes a teenage witch who got a little bit too cocky or mouthy, as they all do sometimes. They’d always come out with raw eyes and a sniffly nose that they’d wipe against their sleeves self-consciously. Madison would just be flushed and embarrassed that she’d been put in her place by the one person who knew just how to deliver blows with the sharp edge of her tongue better than she did.

Her head snapped up when you entered, she looked ready to bark at whoever it was for entering without knocking. Sighing when she realised it was you, she closed the planner that lay open on the desk and folded her hands atop it, as if in an important meeting.

“Y/n” she stated calmly, clearing having used the day to calm herself ready for this unavoidable conversation. Communication wasn’t exactly one of her strengths. She was quick to snap and judge, less so to think about the consequences of her words, or if she even meant them. She wasn’t one for honest and vulnerable conversations. Especially about things she was unsure about.

You felt like a child in trouble, small and anxious under a teachers disappointed stare. You supposed the feeling was justified. You should feel like that.

Shuffling into the seat that faced the desk, you folded your feet under you before remembering where you were and quickly straightening yourself back up. The silence was suffocating as you waited for her to scold you.

“I’m sorry.” Your head jolted to look at her as if you’d been electrified. She was sorry? You’d never heard Wilhemina admit she was in the wrong, never mind saying she was sorry. Catching your open mouth, you willed it to close, clearing your throat uncomfortably and in obvious confusion.

“I shouldn’t have been angry earlier today. I should have let you explain.” Her explanation for her apology had you tripping over your tongue in your haste to blabber out your own apologies. She looked mildly annoyed at your constant insistency to stutter and stumble over your words in her presence.

“No, no, I’m the one who should be sorry. I should never have used my powers on you without your permission.” She held her hand up, effectively silencing you as your eyes focused on your hands that were curled, nails pressing moons into the skin of your knees. Wilhemina waited until you built up the confidence to meet her eyes again before continuing.

“I was just shocked after the events of breakfast. I assume that was me, breaking the glasses?” She concluded, cocking her head in slight amusement. You weren’t sure if she was waiting for you to confirm her suspicions or not. You nodded anyway, deciding it was better to answer if she wasn’t expecting one than to ignore such a request.

You did appreciate that anyone would still be reeling weeks after the initial shock of suddenly becoming a witch and inheriting magical abilities. It could be trying and scary for anyone, but to be normal your whole life and over the space of a single breath you were changed was a lot, even for Wilhemina, such a stoic and confident woman. The knowledge that it may be a permanent change could have been the straw that broke the camel’s back. You hoped that she would be able to see the benefits of such a gift, be able to flourish and overcome this hurdle, embrace it even. Being a witch had certain advantages that a woman like Wilhemina should surely relish in.

She drew her lips tightly when you confirmed it, nodding, and you took her silence as an invitation to carry on with your explanation. She sat, looking more relaxed now that she had been, the twitch of her jaw had ceased and now she just looked interested in what you had to say.

“I figured my powers gave people certain, abilities, when I’d touch them. But they only used to last a few hours, mainly because it happened by accident. I wasn’t sure what would happen when I consciously wanted to give someone magic, you know? That was why I couldn’t show Ms Goode without you. You’re the only non-magical human in the house. I don’t think it would have worked on anyone else. I’m sorry.”

Wilhemina hummed, hand extending to reach her cane from where it was balanced against the desk, bringing it closer so she could thumb against the top of it. She appeared to be thinking deeply about something, and you couldn’t help but be fixated on how her fingers stroked the smooth wood of the cane in her grip.

Almost as if she knew, a momentary smirk graced her lips as she stilled her fingers. Breaking your trance and making you startle in the chair, she hit the base of the cane twice, echoingly loud in the room. Meeting your gaze, she piqued a brow before sitting back in her seat until her back rested against the leather.

“I do have one condition. Because you’re so sorry.”

“Anything Ms Venable.”

“If this could be a-” she paused momentarily, as though weighing up the options in her head, “a permanent change, then you’ll have to teach me. I can’t very well be a senior teacher here at the academy with no knowledge of how to use and control my own abilities. Whenever, wherever, that I don’t care. But you will teach me, and I will learn.”

Whatever you were expecting her to demand of you in compensation for turning her into a witch, it wasn’t that. A smile spread across your face and you had to fight the urge to jump from your seat and into her arms in thanks. Had Cordelia told her that you wanted to pursue magical teaching?

Whatever had made her choose you to teach her over the multiple other witches who were already gifted as teachers, you weren’t sure. Perhaps it was simply because you knew about her newly acquired skills. Shamelessly however, you were practically giddy with the prospect of spending more time alone with the redhead.

“Yes of course!” you explained, forgetting to keep your voice low as to not arouse suspicion, “I’ll teach you spells and Ms Goode can teach you potions!” you were practically bouncing in the chair, excitement bubbling over making you giddy and giggly. You missed how the mention of Ms Goode made Wilhemina’s smile faulter with a flicker of fear.

“Oh I just know you’re going to love spellcraft! I’ll go get her” you were getting slightly carried away in your blind enthusiasm, pushing yourself out of your chair and rushing towards the door.

The pound of her cane unforgivingly against the floor stilled your movements, whipping round to face her where she’d pushed herself to stand, making her appear more dangerous, a looming suffocating presence in the small room that made you twitch under her stare.

“You are not to tell Ms Goode” she scolded, tone severe and warning, “Not yet.”

PART 3

taglist : @pearplate @billiedeansbottom @pluied-ete @extraordinarilycelestrial @toujours-ensanglante@mssallymckenna @okpaulson @magnificent-paulsonn @shineestark @commanderspeach @grilledcheeseandguavajelly @amethyst-bitch @its-soph-xx @germansarechill ,if you want to be added just send me an ask :))

#sarah paulson #sarah paulson x reader #cordelia goode #cordelia goode x wilhemina venable x reader #Cordelia Goode x reader #Wilhelmina Venable #wilhelmina venable x reader

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souljoon · 4 years ago

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Like a fool (pt.1)

pairing: teacher!jungkook x cafe owner!reader word count: 2k genre: fluff, smut, ex lovers au warnings: sexual content, slight dom!jungkook, sub!reader, unprotected sex (stay safe loves!)

synopsis: Everyone in the neighborhood knows you and Jungkook will inevitably end up in a wedlock despite the complicated status of your on-and-off relationship. While you want to keep a civil relationship with him, Jungkook learned not to care about labels long ago since the first time you two broke up. Whatever you’d say, he intends to keep his place in your heart taken for the rest of your life.

~~~

“Your beau is here,” Jimin prompted behind you.

Without turning in his direction, your attention to the carrot cake remaining glued to the carrot cake you were currently frosting about.

At this point, you wouldn’t even be surprised to see Jungkook on the opposite side of your bed in the morning. He seems to find it amusing to see you evidently pissed whenever he’s around. How couldn’t you? He not only takes over Jimin’s job but he often causes a scene with the customers in the cafe—which, to fuel more of your unspoken frustration, are students from the nearby community college.

You couldn’t admit how the attention he was getting from people of different gender identities still bothers you despite the mutual decision to call the engagement off. You understand your ex-fiance is a very attractive man. And his charisma could probably stir attraction from married women regardless of their age.

Over the course of six years of a complicated relationship with him, you two had already been in two break ups in college, citing his laid back self in college and your endless insecurities that urged you to try to get away from him, from the spell he had on you.

While you decided to pursue your dream to start your own cafe business post-graduation, Jungkook surprisingly landed on a teaching job in Jung-do High School which is also located in the same neighborhood two years ago.

Footsteps are, again, back in the kitchen. “He just wore an apron. So I’m guessing he’s here until the shop closes.” It was Jimin, informing you yet again as if it was part of his job to report Jungkook’s every move to you.

This time, you sweep a brief glance behind. “Don’t let the counter vacant, Chim.” You say, cleaning up the cake board as a finishing touch to your masterpiece.

“He took over the counter, _____. How am I supposed to make him go away when he’s our own human advertisement. He’s attracting more customers!”

With a glare darted to his direction, you suggest, “Then I guess I should replace you with him, instead?”

Jimin visibly sulked, not really wanting to argue with you—his boss. “Fine!”

Six months. That’s how long you’ve been single since. Sure he had you wrapped around his fingers back then. But you wanted to prove to him and to yourself that you can live without him. However, it’s too impossible to keep up with it when he freely deems himself welcome wherever you are, maintaining his act of indifference toward the real score between you.

Intending to place the cake in the display, you finally went out of the kitchen-- ironically, just in time to run into him. Jungkook being the shameless ex-boyfriend that he is, took the cake in your hands.

He was wearing a gym class outfit— a pair of black adidas sweatpants, and a plain, white shirt over a black hoodie. If only you were not trying to stay as far as possible away from him, you’ll probably tease him about his own dress code. He doesn’t look like he just got out of his class as the teacher. He looked like he just went out of bed before he came here.

“Aren’t you supposed to be home?” You ask from behind him.

“I’m bored,” he simply replied.

“What do you mean you’re bored? Haven’t you just got off work?”

He spun around, startling you when you came face to face with him. If you couldn’t properly see his entire face before, you do now much to your annoyance.

He sighs. “I did. Look, I’m just helping Jimin-hyung out here. I won’t bother you, I swear.”

“You don’t have to because you’re not my employee, Kook.”

“Well, I could use some part time if you’re hiring.” Jungkook shrugs.

Here we go, again.

Your eyes narrowed to which roused him to raise his hands up defensively.

“Jagiya—”

“Lovebirds,” Jimin suddenly interrupts.

“What?!” You both snapped back at Jimin’s direction.

“Whoa, tone it down— you two. Restroom is right there in case you need to release the sexual tension. It’s getting intense out here.” He jests, making a shooing motions with his hands.

Jungkook wasted no more time and took it as his cue to grab your wrist, dragging you with him as he navigated the way past the kitchen into the storage room.

A temporary relief washes through you when Jungkook brought you in this enclosed, rather safe space instead of the restroom. However, dread slowly consumes your whole being when you hear the familiar sound of the knob locking.

Jungkook pivoted back, facing you. “Let’s talk here.”

Your eyes lingered down where his hand maintained his grasp around your wrist. “Why? There’s nothing else to talk about.”

“For the umpteenth time, I saw the landlord across the street like he was waiting for someone,”

You look up, quirking up an eyebrow at his sudden shot of a subject relating to Seokjin. “What’s your point?”

“I don’t trust him.” He deduces, childishly.

“What do you want me to do, find another leasing property? This shouldn’t concern you in the first place. You never once heard anything from me about Joohyun.” You mentally cursed, unable to stop yourself from mentioning the name of the woman he was seen in a restaurant a week ago.

“What’s Joohyun got anything to do with this?”

You scoff. “You know what, I don’t need to answer that. We’re not together anymore so it’s none of my business.”

Jungkook seized your attempt to leave, latching onto your arm just in time. As he pulls you back, you were met with the subtle amusement plastered obnoxiously on his face.

“We’re not done here, baby. So... Joohyun, really? My colleague?” A laugh slips out of him, seemingly pleased. You, on the other hand, felt insulted on his take of your serious remark. Your blood started rising up. So the rumors aren’t true?

You jerked away. Well... tried to, because your hand stayed locked around his firm grip. “Let me go, I need to go back to the kitchen.”

You stepped back when he abruptly inched forward. You were puzzled for a second, but when your back touched the surface of the door, you knew you fell from his trap as he steadied himself with his palms pressed flat above your head. You turned your face away, avoiding his heated gaze. But the gesture only gave Jungkook a room to nestle his head on the exposed skin of your neck.

The moment you felt his warm lips touch your skin, you squeezed your eyes shut. “You’ve been pretty good at keeping a safe distance from me, baby. You have no idea how much I fucking miss you, missed keeping you all to myself like this.” He expresses in a thick, sultry tone.

You shake your head, knowing full well what he meant. “We c-cant, Jimin is--”

“--not here.” He finishes, pressing his lower body against yours and teasing your sweet spot with a gentle suck. The bulge on his mid-region was enough to make your panties wet instantaneously and your body heats up too quickly.

“Jungkook,” his name slips out of your mouth.

“Please tell me you’re still in birth control.” He desperately murmurs against your skin on the curve of your neck.

You frantically bobbed your head, lost at the hot trail of kisses he’s leaving on your skin.

With an eager pull of the strings on his nape and back, he rids the apron off of his front followed by a swift pull of his sweatpants with his boxers, just enough to release his hard member.

Your mouth instantaneously watered at the sight of the maddeningly pink head and aroused length, thick and hard just the way you remembered it the last time Jungkook fucked you. It happened in his car three months ago. You were too intoxicated then to control yourself from jumping up into his lap as he drove you back to your apartment. To keep your pride intact, you tried to steer clear from repeating the same mistake again. Not when you’re not officially back together.

Right now, you’re too sexually neglected to care about anything.

“I want you in my mouth,” you beg, not believing you sounded incredibly hasty than you actually have estimated.

He swats your hand off when he sensed your hand extending towards his crotch, “I’d love to fuck your mouth baby, but we don’t have that much time. I need to be inside your pussy,” You felt his palms scooping you up through your butt, sandwiching you between his body and the door. Your legs automatically weaving around his hips to steady yourself.

Then pushes your underwear aside, “This is probably the only reason why I love you wearing skirts. Easy access—fuck baby, so tight.” He barely sank his cock in, yet you could already feel the sting of your walls as they stretch around him.

Your hand flew to the back of head, eager to bury your fingers beneath his curly locks.

Just as you part your mouth to speak to encourage more his entrance, he suddenly propels his hips forward, pushing his dick to the hilt which roused a cry from you.

“Fucking tight! I’m gonna break you so much you won’t ever forget about me. You understand, darling?”

“Yes, yes, please fuck me!” You cried out, reeling from both the sting of your muscles caused by his forceful entrance, and the familiar warmth filling you full.

Without bothering to warm you up, he began a breathtaking pace despite his overwhelming intrusion. You didn’t mind, though. In fact, his thrusts were making your moans irrepressible and your thighs tremble in delight.

Jungkook places his head between the valleys of your covered mounds, not missing his faint grunts, lost in his own pleasure.

“You like that, huh? You like the idea of being fucked outside, baby girl? I’ve had enough this bullshit,” He growls with a series of rough jerk of his hips, forcing a cry of his name out of you.

“That’s right, moan my name. Just wait until I get you all alone tonight, I’ll make sure you won’t ever think of breaking up with me. Do you hear me?” He warns darkly, emphasizing the severity of his threat with a shove of his dick so deep his tip was heavenly kissing your precious spot from your insides.

“Oh god,” you lamented, deliriously.

You could already feel the building up in your abdomen just as fast as he started rocking into you. You’ve known him long enough for you to easily sense it was the same for him too, concealing his moans with his mouth latched onto your prickly skin.

“That’s right. Come for me!” he grunted in between powerful thrusts.

His command did the trick, sending your body forward as you exploded, your walls tighten around him with each snap of his hips against your pelvis. Soon enough, he jerked off his load inside you with a growl rumbling on his chest.

Grimace creases on your expression as he cautiously pulls his cock out, following his load combined with your juices gushing out of your pussy down to the insides of your thighs.

Barely recovered from the earth shattering orgasm you had for the first time in three months, you heard a series of banging coming from the other side of the door.

“You done, lovebirds?” Your eyes clenched shut in realization, quietly plotting the assassination of some guy named Jimin.

“Thanks for ruining the moment,” Jungkook retorts back. “Not a problem. You guys seriously need to get the fuck out, I ran out of beans in the jar and try not fuck each other here next time, yeah?”

Amused with the scene unfolding, Jungkook casually pushes your underwear back to its place, smoothening your skirt down as if nothing inappropriate had occurred here. He kisses the tip of your nose, before turning the knob of the door.

Couldn’t this get any more embarrassing?

~~~

Thank you for reading and apologies for any spelling/ grammatical errors. I havent edited this yet. Part 2 will most likely be posted on Monday or Tuesday :)

#jungkook smut #jungkook fluff #jungkook fanfic #jungkook x reader #jungkook x you #jeon jungkook x reader #jeon jungkook #bts smut #bts fanfic #bts imagines

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sokkascroptop · 4 years ago

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traitor. (sokka x f!reader) pt 23

prequel | part 1 | part 22 | part 24

A/N: yay!! here she is!! Lots of awkward, cringey moments, but they’re 15!! of course they’re cringey!! what will the gaang do with Y/N??? if you haven’t read my prequel of ‘Traitor’ with Zuko, I highly suggest you check it out. There are references of that story in this part!

On the flight to the Western air temple, Y/N couldn’t help stare out the window for most of it. It was more than refreshing to be able to see mountains and trees again. She never realized how much she missed them until she thought she’d never see them again.

“Are you excited to see your friends again?” Suki asked as she snuck up behind Y/N. She wondered if Suki was always so light on her feet.

“Extremely,” Y/N admitted. “As much as I enjoyed our time in prison together…” Y/N laughed at the joke and Suki joined in.

She grabbed Y/N’s hand and joined her at the window, together they watched the trees below them blur into a dark hazy patch as the sun began to set. “I know we made a lot of jokes about how well we did in prison, but I really thought we wouldn’t get out of there. I mean,” Suki sighed. “There’s always a chance we don’t win this war. No one wants to say it but, I know you understand it.”

Y/N nodded in agreement. It was true. Keeping hope alive was good for them all, but once in a while you needed to look at the reality of a situation. Y/N’s friends didn’t always like doing that. (They were all so optimistic. It was refreshing, and tiring all at the same time)

Suki shrugged. “Anyways, enough of that talk. I’m excited to see Team Avatar too. And, I can’t wait to have more room than just my cell to train!”

“Yes!” Y/N said. She squeezed Suki’s hand in excitement. “And I’ll have my sword back! I swear, I’ll probably be training all day; Sokka’s going to get tired of me asking him to spar with me.”

“We should spar, Y/N! I can teach you all of the Kyoshi warriors moves and you can teach me some of those Fire Nation hand-to-hand combat moves I saw you using on that acrobat!” Suki exclaimed.

“That sounds amazing, we–” Y/N was interrupted by Sokka meeting them in the hallway.

“Guys, we’re gonna be landing soon–” He paused, eyes flickering down to their hands and then back up to meet their faces. “If you wanted to come to the doors.”

Y/N smiled. “Of course. We’ll be right there.”

Sokka opened his mouth to say something else but immediately closed it, turning away with a blush high on his cheeks. Only then did Y/N realize that she and Suki had never untangled their hands.

Sokka had mentioned to Y/N when they boarded that he and Zuko hadn’t exactly been honest with the rest of the group when they left. They had made up a lie about going fishing which, honestly, Y/N didn’t think Katara or Toph would have believed anyways. So when they pulled up to the courtyard, Sokka and Zuko went down the ramp first to calm the three of them down. Rightfully so, Toph, Katara, and Aang were probably worried to see such a large Fire Nation airship pulling up to their newly found safe haven.

From the shadows behind the door where she, Suki and Hakoda waited. Y/N could hear Toph’s cheerful voice carry to the airship over the stones of the courtyard. “Well, did you catch any fish?”

“I think you’ll appreciate what we caught more than some fish!” Sokka’s voice was showy and projected. Her and Suki shared a giggle before they walked out the doors side by side.

By the looks on everyone’s faces when they came bounding down the ramp, seeing Y/N was the last thing they could have imagined. She took a moment, where she paused at the bottom of the ramp just taking them all in. Not like they had changed much in the time she was gone. Katara was still Katara, standing with her hands on her hips and her piercing blue eyes widened in surprise. Aang was still Aang, though Y/N could admit he might have been a hair taller. And Toph was still Toph, but the smile on her face grew when she heard Y/N’s voice.

“I missed you guys so much!” Y/N felt like her face was going to break in half, she was smiling so widely. She pulled Aang and Toph into a hug all at once, just as she felt Katara brush past her arm to engulf Hakoda into a bear hug.

Aang, ever the affectionate one of the group, squeezed Y/N so hard that she felt like she would pop. Even Toph who was never big on hugs, let the both of them wrap their arms around her as they laughed together.

“How did you get here?!” Toph finally pulled herself out of the hug, but stayed close enough that her arm touched Y/N’s.

“A Fire Nation airship; surely you heard the other’s say.” Y/N smirked.

Toph pinched the back of Y/N’s arm. “You know what I mean.”

Y/N turned around as she heard Katara speak up. “How did you do this?” she asked Sokka, as she rested her hands on her fathers arms, unable to pull herself away like she was afraid he could disappear if she stopped touching him.

Sokka scratched the back of his neck and gave Zuko a sideways glance. “We might have gone to a Fire Nation prison on a hunch.”

Katara reached out towards Sokka and he flinched as if he expected a thump on his forehead for being so foolish. Instead, Katara pulled him in for a hug with their father. Y/N watched on with a heavy heart. It was the best outcome she could have hoped for when she was taken from Hakoda’s side at the Fire Nation naval base. But it was painful to watch a father love so openly, knowing she would never have that. As if Zuko was thinking the same thing, the two of them turned away simultaneously to look at each other. His gold eyes burned into her own and Y/N looked away again.

She knew that they needed to get along. It was the best course of action if they were going to have to work together, but she wasn’t sure if it was the best thing for her heart.

She had put so much trust into Zuko only to have it dashed away with the very action of turning against her and rejoining his sister and the nation that banished him. She couldn’t help but wonder if he would be willing to do it again if given the chance. Would he betray her again for the sake of his honor? At the same time a little voice in her head told her she had done the same thing. That there was always the chance for her to recant and go crawling back home, looking for remorse. Even Azula thought she could do it.

She quickly shook that image out of her head. She wouldn’t go back, not until it was a place she could be proud of again. And well Azula, she was best not to be thought about at all. No one knew of Y/N’s hasty, last minute plan to bring Azula back with her and fix her, and no one needed to know either. She didn’t need the tuts of disapproval echoing from all sides.

“It seems like we’re going to have a lot to talk about tonight,” Aang commented as he looked over their prison uniforms, his eyes lingered on Zuko’s bruised eye for just a second too long, and Y/N could already hear Aang’s voice of reason telling her that she shouldn’t have done that. He would be right of course, but Y/N wasn’t going to admit that out loud.

“So much,” Y/N agreed.

“I guess I’ll make tea,” Zuko said.

---

Turns out that even with as many stories and explanations as they had to tell, the five of them conked out within minutes of sitting down. Sokka was first, which was unsurprising, he’d done so much running around at Boiling Rock between her, Suki and Zuko that she didn’t know if he’d eaten the entire time he was there, let alone sat down and rested. And that was even before Hakoda had shown up.

Y/N snorted at the way his face was smooshed up against the ground and leaned her head up against one of the walls near the fire. She tried to focus on whatever was coming out of Zuko’s mouth. Her eyes grew heavy until the next thing she knew Suki’s head had fallen onto her shoulder, and Y/N wasn’t far behind. Y/N couldn’t say what happened after that, but there was no chance that Hakoda nor Zuko stayed up to talk long after they realized that half of their boarding party had already called lights out.

Despite the unforgiving–and frankly cold–flagstone floor, it was the best sleep Y/N had gotten in weeks.

---

“Okay. And what do I do after that?” Y/N asked, her hands raised in a defensive stance.

Suki walked around Y/N with her arms crossed against her chest, examining Y/N like she was one of her warriors. As she walked behind her, Suki tapped the inside arches of Y/N’s shoes with her toes. “You need your feet a bit wider. The last thing you need is to tip over while you’re trying to use your opponent’s weight against them.” She came around and stood in front of Y/N. She narrowed her eyes and looked Y/N over. A shiver rolled over Y/N’s shoulders as Suki’s eyes traveled down her body.

Suki could be really intimidating when she wanted to be, with her deep brown eyes and pouty lips, she could send someone a look that could kill. Y/N had felt the brunt end of that side of her more than once. But when she was on your side, she was a really good friend. Y/N had figured that out that day she’d met Suki in the yard of Boiling Rock, and she was reminded of it everytime Suki sent a smile in her direction, like she was now.

“Explain that more, using their weight against them?” Y/N asked.

Suki nodded and wrapped her long fingers around Y/N’s wrists and pulled them down slightly. “As you probably know, the Kyoshi warriors are mostly made up of young girls. We had to learn how to take down people who are bigger and possibly stronger than us. You probably already do it to an extent, having trained with larger men most of your life.”

Suki gave a quick shake to each of Y/N’s wrists, feigning like she was going to let Y/N punch herself in the face. “Buuuut, I also know that most Fire Nation moves are a bit more sharp. You’re always on the offensive. And you–in particular–can be a bit punchy.”

Y/N laughed and twisted her wrists outwards and slipped easily from Suki’s grip. “I am not.”

Suki leaned close and whispered conspiratorially, for Zuko and Aang were just on the other side of the courtyard doing their sunrise katas. “Tell that to Zuko’s face.”

Y/N bit her lip to keep herself from laughing again. “It was one time.”

“I’m sure there were others,” Suki hummed.

“So then what do you want me to do?” Y/N asked.

“Learn to be more defensive.” Suki poked Y/N on the forearm, directly across one of the many bruises that popped up overnight. “You’re covered in bruises from the fight with Ty Lee because you were–and forgive my stupid analogy–fighting fire with fire.”

Y/N rubbed her arm. “I don’t know what that means.”

“You were hitting her with the same force she was hitting you. Her arms and legs probably look just like yours. You know, if you’re any good.” Suki smirked.

Y/N let her head fall back and whined. “Why did I let you teach me first? Can we switch? I wanna be in charge.”

“Too late!” Suki said cheerfully. Suddenly, her demeanor changed and Suki was looking up at Y/N through her lashes. A devious smile spread across her lips. “Don’t you want to be more like me?”

All of the air left Y/N’s lungs. Y/N stared at Suki without even making a motion to hide her blush. “Yes,” she breathed.

---

Y/N landed hard on her back again with a thud and a groan. She couldn’t help the rage that boiled in her gut as she continued to get beat up by Suki. Y/N hated losing but she hated quitting even more. Even though this was purely a training session, more teaching than anything, Y/N refused to stop until she learned at least one thing, and if that meant losing over and over to Suki, Y/N could take it.

Out of pure frustration, more at herself than anything else, Y/N made a fist and hit the ground with the side of her hand, letting out a guttural growl.

Y/N sat up and narrowed her eyes at Suki, who was standing over her with her head cocked to the side. “I’m going to get this if it literally kills me!”

“Okay.” Suki held out her hand to help Y/N to her feet. She was a little surprised that Suki wasn’t telling Y/N they were going to stop and try again later. Anyone else would have told her to take a break or to take a walk, but Suki was showing that she trusted Y/N enough to know her own limits.

Y/N got back in her wide-legged stance. “Agni, I can’t wait to kick your ass tomorrow,” she said angrily.

Suki, who was in the same stance as Y/N, doubled over laughing. Y/N straightened up and blinked wildly, walking back over her words carefully to figure out what was so funny. Seeing Suki laugh made a smile work it’s way across Y/N’s face. She tried to fight it off but failed miserably.

“Stop laughing,” Y/N giggled.

“Yeah, stop laughing! We’re trying to concentrate over here!” Zuko shouted. He and Aang were both frozen, staring at the girls like they’d each grown two extra heads.

“Oh, don’t be such a grouch, Zuko,” Suki waved her hands in his direction. And Y/N slapped her hands over her mouth and snorted, which sent both girls into another fit of giggles.

---

That was evidently the end of their training session for the day; their laughs having given them a better workout than the actual fighting. Both girls laid opposite directions with their heads next to each other, splayed out on their backs staring at the roof of the courtyard. Y/N muscles hurt in ways that they hadn’t in a long time. She missed training, she missed learning. She had spent the past few years practicing with guards, and the last few months teaching Sokka, but she had forgotten how invigorating and exciting learning something new could be, even if it was immeasurably frustrating the first few tries.

Suki turned her head to the side and looked at Y/N’s profile. Y/N took a few beats before she turned her head. It was hard to meet Suki’s eyes anymore and Y/N couldn’t put her finger on why; but this time Y/N steeled herself and did. It was sort of like free falling or making a dive on Appa’s back; for a second it was scary, and made her heart leap into her throat, but soon enough it settled and she got used to the weightlessness. Y/N didn’t think she was supposed to enjoy either part, but she did.

Or maybe Y/N did know why it was hard to look at Suki and just didn’t want to dwell too long on that imagery. That was… complicated. Y/N liked being friends with Suki, that was good enough. It had to be good enough. Even though Y/N couldn’t stop thinking about their dynamic. Where Sokka made her feel appreciated and whole, Suki made her feel alive.

“I was laughing because I don’t think you know what you look like when you’re mad,” Suki murmured.

“Huh?”

Suki rolled her eyes playfully. “You think you look so badass, but you really just look like an angry Momo.”

Y/N shuddered. “Angry Momo is scary.”

“No, he’s always cute.”

Y/N swallowed the lump in her throat and looked back up at the tiles on the roof. Y/N’s whole body flushed. Suki had just called her cute. Y/N stole a glance that felt scandalous and noticed a pinkness to Suki’s cheeks too. Y/N looked away and gave a hard blink, trying to wipe it from her mind.

“Hey, there you are.” Sokka approached the both of them. Y/N stood up hastily and brushed the dirt from her clothes. His hair was still down, framing his face and he was rubbing his bleary eyes like he had just woken up.

“Hey!” Y/N’s voice was high-pitched. Her heart raced like she had been caught in the act of doing something she shouldn’t have been doing. “What’s up?”

She could feel Suki’s eyes on her back, and Y/N so desperately wanted to retreat to the inside of the temple. Being around the both of them at the same time was too much. She wished she had a shell like a turtle duck that she could crawl into and hide in.

“I woke up and you were gone. It freaked me out a little,” Sokka admitted. “I just wanted to find you. And you know, make sure everything is okay.”

“Oh.” Y/N’s eyes softened. “I’m sorry. I’m used to earlier mornings now.” Suddenly, her heart was filled with sympathy for Sokka. She didn’t realize how jarring it might have been to wake up alone, with the people you had rescued nowhere to be found.

“Right.”

Y/N glanced over her shoulder. “Suki and I talked about sparring and we wanted to come out here before breakfast.”

“Breakfast”–Sokka leaned back and stretched–“now that’s got my name all over it. Come on, let’s go see how much noise we can make until Katara wakes up and just does it for us.” He threw an arm around Y/N’s shoulders and pressed a tender kiss to her temple. It was something he’d done dozens of times, something that she’d never paid attention to before. But now she was highly aware that someone was watching.

Y/N turned around abruptly. “Suki, are you coming?”

Suki smiled gratefully from her seat on the ground where she had watched the interaction between Sokka and Y/N. “Sure.”

---

Y/N spent the rest of the day doing everything she could to avoid Zuko and it seemed like he was trying to do the same thing. Neither one of them wanted to apologize to one another, or talk about what had happened between them at Boiling Rock. Which meant they couldn’t look at each other either. Making every exchange between the two of them extremely awkward for the rest of the group around them.

It was so bad that that morning at breakfast Y/N had shooed Zuko away when he offered a tray full of cups of tea towards her, nearly spilling them in Katara’s lap. And later that day, when Zuko dropped the strap that hooked his dao sheath around his back and Y/N picked it up automatically, he snatched it out of her hands so quickly that the leather chafed her palm.

“I thought you and Zuko were friends in the Fire Nation,” Katara muttered over her shoulder to Y/N who was braiding Katara’s hair.

Y/N bit her lip and glanced out to the courtyard where Sokka and Zuko were sparring (which had apparently become a thing while she was away and no, she was not jealous) She knew where this was going. “We were,” Y/N said simply.

“So I thought you would be happier to see him.”

Y/N heard Suki snicker behind her as she weaved her own fingers through Y/N’s hair in their braid train. Y/N frowned. “He betrayed us in Ba Sing Se.”

“Didn’t you leave the Fire Nation with Azula to specifically capture him and his uncle?” Toph said as she sat on the fountain’s edge near them and swung her legs back and forth.

“Toph, if you are not braiding, you do not get to participate in braid train talk,” Y/N nagged.

“I’m blind.”

“Poor excuse. You still have hands.” Y/N leaned sideways to flick the younger girl in the shin, but was pulled away by Suki.

“Anyways, I’m not saying I like him either.” Katara shrugged. “But I didn’t think I’d see it from you.”

Y/N paused her hands. “There are a lot of issues between the two of us.”

“Clearly.”

“Toph.” Y/N grumbled then she sighed. “I don’t know how to fix it.”

Katara turned her head to watch her brother and Zuko spar for a minute before replying. “You’ll figure it out.”

Y/N followed her gaze to the two boys. Yes, Katara. Let me just add that to the list of things I need to figure out.

---

“I know you better than you think.” Suki grabbed a few dry twigs next to her foot and added them to the pile in her arms.

Y/N almost dropped the kindling in her own hands. She quickly recovered and shifted its weight to her other arm. “What are you talking about?” She asked coolly.

The two of them offered to collect firewood for dinner that night, Toph had piped up and said that she and Zuko could help too, but as they reached the woods they split off from each other; which meant that somewhere off in the trees were two people that Y/N really didn’t need hearing whatever was going to come out of Suki’s mouth next.

“I know I haven’t known you as long as the others, but I think that I know you pretty well, and something has been bothering you.”

Y/N only hummed in acknowledgment. It was true, Y/N had been juggling with a few different things. Her strained relationship with Zuko was at the top of the list, because that affected the others the most, but the weird fluttering of her heart when she was around Suki was catching up fast. Y/N tried to swallow but her throat was too dry.

It felt a little chilling for someone to read her so clearly, but surprisingly, Y/N found solace in it as well. She hadn’t had that since–well–Azula. Y/N didn’t feel like lying to Suki or herself anymore. “That obvious, huh?”

The corner of Suki’s mouth lifted in a soft smile. “The others will find out eventually, if that’s what you’re asking.”

That’s what Y/N was afraid of. Was she really showing her emotions so candidly? How embarrassing was it going to be when the rest of them found out that she was dating Sokka while crushing hard on Suki at the same time. Agni, this was humiliating. Y/N was a terrible person.

“When did you find out?” Y/N stared at her toes.

“It was when Zuko and Sokka were talking about the fight on the gondola this morning. Whenever they mentioned Azula, you clenched your hands into fists.” Suki chewed on the inside of her lip. “You only do that when you’re trying to distract yourself from something that’s bothering you.

“We both know that I have no love for that girl,” Suki continued, when Y/N stayed silent. Mostly from shock, the conversation was not going in the direction she had seen coming. “But I know you knew her differently than the rest of us.”

“Oh,” Y/N murmured. She broke eye contact with Suki and tried to recover herself. “Yes, I guess so.”

Somehow this conversation was better and worse at the same time. For another day she was going to be able to hide whatever it was she was feeling, but now she was going to have to talk about something that was so much harder.

“So what’s bothering you?”

Y/N clutched the dry kindling to her chest tightly, letting the bark and branches dig into her stomach through her thin shirt. “I might be hiding something,” Y/N said without thinking.

Suki paused and then nodded slowly, like she was talking to a startled animal. Which Y/N figured was accurate, considering she was about 5 seconds from dropping the kindling and running. “What happened?”

“Azula came to see me at Boiling Rock. Right before we left.”

Suki frowned. “Why would she do that?”

She was kind of just doing exactly what I did. Maybe she knew her friendship with the other girls was slipping. “Well…”

Suki widened her eyes. “That’s not a good way to start, Y/N.”

“I talked to Azula on the Day of the Black Sun,” Y/N said. And once Y/N started, she couldn’t stop. “I was foolish and naive and I thought that I could change her if I offered. So, I–I asked her if she would come with me.”

“What??” Suki cringed at her own shout and quickly quieted her voice. “Y/N, what were you thinking?” Y/N didn’t miss the way Suki’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Y/N blinked away impending tears, thankful for the darkness that had spread through the woods. She didn’t think that it would ever come to this. “I think she’s confused and messed up. I miss her,” Y/N sniffled. “The old her. Not the person she is now.”

“Y/N…”

“I gave her the wrong idea. By telling her that I believed she could do better, now she thinks that I can come back to her too.” Y/N sucked in a gasping breath. “I feel bad because I haven’t told anyone. And now everyone’s going to be mad at me because I’ve been hiding it for so long.”

Y/N suddenly turned on her heel and began marching back to the temple. They had enough kindling and she felt like she was suffocating in the humid air.

Suki rushed to catch up with her. “I’m not mad.”

“You should be,” Y/N quipped.

“I’m processing,” Suki insisted, matching her strides with Y/N’s.

Y/N glanced at Suki and was surprised to find her looking at Y/N with worry. Despite Y/N’s admission, Suki still looked at her without malice. She could have done anything, Suki could have yelled, she could have ran off to tell the others, but she didn’t. She gave Y/N the one thing she wasn’t expecting: an opportunity. An opportunity to talk about it, a space to bear her soul and explain herself. It should have made Y/N feel better, that's what friends were for. Instead, it just made her feel worse, and made feel like what she did was that much worse. Regret rolled through her body like a tsunami and she immediately dug her heels into the dirt and dropped the kindling on their feet.

“I shouldn’t have told you.” Y/N ran her hands through her hair. “I should have just made something else up.”

“Like I said, I'm processing it.” Suki tugged on Y/N’s hands where they were tangled in her hair. “Stop worrying about what I think. What are you thinking?”

Y/N felt like she was exposed to the bone. “I’m so mad at myself for doing it in the first place but I’m mad at myself for being mad at myself! How does that even work?”

“I don’t know.” Suki shook her head.

“Everyone’s going to hate me.”

Suki laid a comforting hand on Y/N’s shoulder. “They might not understand, but they aren’t going to hate you.”

Y/N could only hope so.

---

“Why would you do something so selfish?!” Zuko busted out of the treeline, just before Y/N and Suki had made it back to the courtyard of the temple, Toph trailing behind him. Sparks ignited behind his teeth as he surged forward right to Y/N.

His shout startled her so much she dropped the wood she was carrying. It took a moment for Y/N to realize that he was talking to her. They had been avoiding each other at every turn. “What are you talking about?”

The shouts had brought Aang, Katara and Sokka running out of the temple and to the edge of the woods where Y/N and Zuko were having their face off.

“Tell them. Tell them what you told Suki.” He glowered.

“Tell us what?” Aang asked. He stood to the side of them like he was planning on jumping in at the first sign of trouble.

Y/N shared a look with Suki and then looked back to Zuko, shaking her head minutely. She was not planning on being bullied into confessing secrets that were better left untold.

“She tried to get Azula to come back with her on the Day of the Black Sun,” Zuko tattled like a petulant child, sending a glare in her direction. Before waiting for anyone else’s reaction. He continued his barrage. “How could you be so stupid?”

“Wait, did you really?” Katara asked.

Y/N barely even heard Katara speak, she was deaf to all noise except for the blood rushing in her ears and Zuko’s voice. “Stupid?!”

Y/N was filled with rage. She could accept Katara yelling at her, she could accept a sad, disappointed look from Aang that would make her heart ache. Y/N could get over Sokka and Toph ignoring her for a few days, she wouldn’t expect anything less from them, and it would be well deserved for her moral slip-up. Azula hurt them.

But Zuko’s outburst? Y/N was not going to accept that from him. Not from the boy who was just as bad at her at being good.

“Fine! I did it! And I’m not stupid just because I still care about her. Look at you and I; We changed! Why can’t she have that chance too?! What about Mai and Ty Lee?! You watched Mai save us and I told you I saw Ty Lee save her from Azula. That was for us!” Y/N leaned forward and poked Zuko square in the chest.

Zuko batted her hand away, his own hands scalding hot, just seconds away from flaming. “Azula is loyal to Ozai! She would never leave.”

Y/N scoffed. “We all were.”

“What?”

“We both took orders from him. We were all props used by our fathers in this war started by our great grandparents. That is all the more reason that she should deserve a second chance! We know how it is to be under his influence! You weren’t there that day, she was going to do it! She would have taken my hand!”

“What did she say when you met her at Boiling Rock? I know you talked to her,” Zuko growled.

Y/N blinked, taken aback. How would he know that she had spoken to Azula that day? Though she guessed that conclusion wasn’t that hard to get at.

“She told me she was going to take me back to the Fire Nation; probably back to my dad,” Y/N choked back a sob. “She was going to let me hit my lowest point so I would come crawling back to her, ready to be their puppet again. And yet here I am. I didn’t go with her even though it would be easier to give in and do whatever they wanted. Just because I believe that everyone is worth change, doesn’t mean I think what she’s doing is right.”

Y/N brushed past him easily, avoiding everyone’s eyes. All she wanted to do was curl up in her sleeping bag and pass out, maybe to dream up a solution to her and Zuko’s anger at one another.

“You’re delusional.”

Y/N paused. She could ignore him and keep walking. She could be the bigger person and not continue the argument, silencing him where he stood. But Y/N had never been one to leave things left unsaid once it started. She needed the last word.

She turned around and lifted her chin. She smiled even though she wanted to scream and she bathed in the sticky, deafening silence around her. She wanted everyone to hear what she had to say.

Without another thought, she felt something fierce and terrible leap out of her throat. “You of all people don’t get to say that to me. Not from the boy who went running back to the Fire Nation to try and get his daddy to love him again.” Y/N spit the words at him and he took it like a slap to the face.

Y/N could hear someone yelling at her for what she had said. It might have even been more than one voice, they had all become so attached to Zuko so quickly. But she wasn’t listening to the words anyone was saying; her head was pounding too loudly and she was too focused on the sudden heartbroken look that crossed Zuko’s face. Somewhere inside she felt good; she liked that she wasn’t the only one hurting at that moment in time. She knew exactly what she was doing and not only did she twist the knife while she was there, she plunged it in deeper too.

She watched Zuko turn on his heel and walk deeper into the forest, likely to go where he could take out his anger on a tree out of earshot of the rest of her friends.

Her friend’s faces were masks of horror–wide eyes, jaws agape–and Y/N didn’t even have the decency to care. No, not while she was riding the high of taking Zuko down.

“Spirits, Y/N…” Aang looked at her like she was a completely different person. Okay, so maybe that one hurt a little. Or a lot.

Okay, so maybe Y/N wasn’t as cold-hearted as she wanted to pretend she was. Their shock at her words made her embarrassed. Y/N could feel her face redden. If the whole Azula thing didn’t get her trouble, this surely would. Where would they draw the line in the sand? When would they stop tolerating her and realize that she was really no different whichever side she was on?

“I think I’ve had enough socializing for today.” Y/N didn’t wait for a response, she just turned around again and headed back to the temple. She would grab her sleeping bag and head deep into one of the private rooms in the temple where no one could hear her cry.

Y/N knew it was wrong of her. She knew it. She knew that it would disappoint her friends to hear her be so hateful and she knew it would hurt Zuko but it was like she couldn’t help herself. And she hated the way she loved how it felt. (There was a lot of that going on with her at the moment; hating something she loves so much.)

---

It was no surprise that Y/N had trouble sleeping that night.

She went over and over the fight, replaying every moment. The euphoria of hurting someone was gone and replaced with shame. She was ashamed of her words and actions and it made it worse when she thought about how the other’s took it.

It was cold without a fire, but Y/N was stubborn. There was no way she was going back out to sleep with the rest of them. She’d rather freeze. She gave a violent shiver in her sleeping bag, but she wasn’t sure if it was because she was freezing or because she just thought how Sokka was looking at her as she taunted Zuko.

What would he think of her? Sokka was close to Zuko; he liked him. Sokka was going to hate her for her cruel words. They all would. The last thing she needed to do was divide them all again, just when things were beginning to work out.

Once, Sokka had told her that they couldn’t hate Y/N for things she hadn’t done, but what about things that she had done?

---

She’d chosen a room higher up in the temple, figuring that if someone did come looking for her, they’d stop looking on the ground floor. Y/N slipped out of her sleeping bag and walked to the window. A cloudless, midnight sky stared back at her. It was a strange feeling, to be inside of a building as vast as the Western Air Temple, but have no noise around her. No lanterns outside or in the hallways to light the way for anyone awake late at night. It felt ghostly; otherworldly. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she almost missed a familiar boy with dark, scruffy hair sitting alone in the courtyard, despite the time of night and the cool temperature. Then again, the cold didn’t ever get to firebenders.

Y/N didn’t know what carried her feet down the stairs and towards Zuko. He was sitting on the edge of the courtyard, with his legs dangling over the edge.

“Can’t sleep?” she asked quietly, a gust of wind nearly taking her words right over the cliff.

Zuko whipped around and Y/N took a step back, knowing that his flames would be on the tips of his fingers.

“Y/N,” Zuko frowned. “You’re always so quiet.” There was none of the expected malice in his voice.

Y/N wasn’t sure if that was an invitation, but she sat down next to him anyways, leaving a comfortable amount of space between them. “I can’t sleep either,” Y/N said after a few beats of silence.

“I can’t imagine why. You said what you’ve been wanting to say for days now, you should be sleeping like a baby.” And there was the malice. It cut like a knife through Y/N.

She bit her lip to keep her from saying, you’re right I should, because it would have been a lie. Instead, she said “What I said was wrong, and I’m sorry.”

Zuko was silent. And Y/N couldn’t have that. “You probably remember I don’t know how to shut my mouth when it’s good for me–”

“Apparently you still haven’t learned–”

“Okay.” Y/N pressed her hands together to stop herself from reaching over and throttling Zuko. “But the faster you let me say this the faster I will leave you alone.”

Zuko stared down at the abyss below them, but then nodded slowly.

“I want to apologize because I don’t like fighting with you, I never have.” Y/N took a breath. “I think that I’ve been mad at you for so long it just kind of exploded out of me. It’s just really complicated.”

“How can it be so complicated? I figured we’d both done enough bad to one another that we’d be even.”

Y/N chewed on her lip. “That’s not a great way of putting it but I understand what you mean. But that doesn’t mean we should leave everything unsaid.”

“Then what do you want to say?”

Here came the really silly part. The thing that Y/N never allowed her to think about because of how absurd it sounded. A memory of the days leading up to Zuko leaving to fulfill his banishment flashed before her eyes. Them holding each other, crying, promising things children shouldn’t need to promise one another.

“I told you to come home safe and you never did. You left me alone, with just her.”

Zuko scowled. “That’s why you’re mad at me? I didn’t have much of a choice in that matter, I was banished.”

“I know that.” Y/N rolled her eyes. “I know it’s stupid, but 12 year old girls don’t have the most rational thoughts when it comes to stuff like that. In my mind, you were always headed home, Avatar in tow. But month after month you were still gone, and I started to become mad at the wrong person; not the person who sent you away, who burned you, but at you for leaving me, forgetting about me.”

Zuko’s molten gold eyes glowed in the dark. “I never forgot you.”

Y/N had to look away from him. Guilt racked at her. He might have not forgotten about her, but it felt like she’d forgotten everything about him. “But we grew into completely new people. How–how can I miss you? When you’re sitting right next to me? I’m looking for a Zuko that I don’t think exists anymore. The first time I saw you after those 3 years apart, I didn’t even recognize you.”

Zuko ducked his head, letting his hair cover his scar. “Oh.”

“Not because–” Y/N wanted to reach out and touch him, to reassure him that that was not what she was referring to. “You were so angry when Azula and I showed up. But it didn’t seem like you were mad about anything in particular. It’s like bitterness had seeped into your skin and became you. Like it was the only thing that was keeping you standing up straight. I don’t remember a time you ever looked at me like that–except for now maybe.”

“Well you’re different too,” Zuko countered childishly. “You’re impulsive and rude–the Y/N I grew up with was kind and patient even though she was...aggravating,” He mumbled through the last part like he didn’t really want her to hear it, but wanted to say it anyways.

Y/N felt similar to a bug under a magnifying glass. It didn’t feel like she had changed all that much, but Zuko had known her better than anyone. If anyone could see it, he would. “I think we can both agree that we can’t revert back to who we were before. We’re both much too stubborn for that.”

Zuko scoffed but it wasn’t mean, there was a small smile on his lips. “I’m stubborn?”

Was he? He was teasing her. Okay, Y/N could work with that. She nudged his shoulder playfully. “You always have been.”

Y/N let a moment pass before she spoke again. “We just have to start over. Learn how to be friends again.”

“Then I forgive you.”

“That’s a really good start.”

They both let a silence fill the air between them. It was calming and it made it feel like the night would never end.

“I wish I had the same faith in my sister as you do,” Zuko said suddenly.

Y/N found that to be a hard statement to reply to. Because on one hand, she wanted to risk it all for Azula. She would burn down the world if it meant saving her. But the real question was, did Azula want to be saved?

Ozai had her so tightly bound to him, Y/N was afraid breaking the ties would break Azula. “It’s not that I have faith in her, I just have enough faith in myself to bring her back from the brink of destruction. Ozai is going to use her until she is burnt out and I can’t help but think I can fix it.”

“You always thought you could fix everyone around you. That hasn’t changed.”

“I can fix her.”

“You don’t think she’s too far gone?”

“Not yet.”

Y/N laid back on the ground behind her. From here she could see the stars again. She kicked her heels against the side of the cliff, nervous to ask her next question. “If you’re not tired. Will you talk to me?”

“What do you want to know?”

Y/N closed her eyes, the constellations were burned in her memories. “Everything.”

And they did talk about everything. From how Y/N met Suki and how she got thrown into the crystal caves; to how Y/N got on the good side of Team Avatar and trained Sokka to sword-fight.

(“I saw you two sparring today.”

“He’s not bad.”

“Yeah, because I taught him.”)

Zuko talked about his life in Ba Sing Se with Iroh and about the little tea shop they ran together. He told her about Jin and Jet and explained how he felt after betraying her and Iroh in Ba Sing Se.

Zuko was on his back next to her with his head propped on his arms. “Even on the boat back to the Fire Nation, I knew I had chosen wrong. But by then it was too late, Azula had her claws in me and you and Uncle… well, I knew you would hate me for what I did. I just… I wanted to go home.”

Y/N rolled over on her stomach and looked him in the eyes. “Neither one of us could ever hate you for that. We both know why you did it. It’s not your fault.” Y/N was completely sure if she was given the same opportunity at the time by her dad she would choose the same as Zuko. Pride, honor, it was so precious in their culture, but Y/N didn’t want to be honorable if it meant hurting other people.

---

Y/N woke up to the sun streaming in the window, warming her face. She didn’t know when she and Zuko had parted ways last night, but by the position of the sun it was early afternoon that she was just now waking up.

She stumbled bleary-eyed and hungry down the stairs feeling lighter than she had in days. Zuko was the only one around, sitting in a patch of sunlight by the fountain sharpening his dao’s and looking very tired and scowly. Somewhere down below the temple, Y/N could hear the pounding of large rocks and boulders being thrown about which probably meant Toph and Aang were practicing earthbending.

Y/N snagged an orange from one of their baskets of food and laid on her stomach on his right side, propping herself up on her elbows. She began peeling the orange, dropping little pieces of the rind on the ground next to Zuko’s knee.

“Where is everyone?” Y/N asked, popping the first section of the orange in her mouth and handing Zuko the next.

He talked around the orange. “You’d know if you woke up before lunch.”

“You guys already ate lunch without me?” Y/N asked, shocked.

“Nobody wanted to mess with you.” Zuko dragged his–no wait, that was her whetstone–down one of his blades. Y/N wrinkled her nose and bit into another orange slice. Good to know he was comfortable enough with her to go digging through her bag to get that out.

“But you told them we talked right?”

“Nope.” The corner of his mouth was lifted in a smirk.

“Ugh, Zuko.” Y/N let her head hang down between her arms. “Help me out here, don’t make me talk to my friends.” Y/N didn’t know if it was too early to say, but their banter felt a bit like old times.

“Don’t make me.”

Y/N groaned again, but she really only did it for show. This was her mess to clean up. “But where are they really? Do I have enough time to prepare a long apology for being a bitch or is this going to be freestyle?”

“Sokka and Hakoda are fishing. Teo and the Duke are exploring the temple. Haru, Toph and Aang are earthbending–”another great clash from below shook the temple and Y/N heard Toph whoop excitedly “–and Katara and Suki went to do laundry.”

“Why do the girls always have to do laundry?” Y/N grumbled and rolled over on her back. “Why didn’t you go help them?”

“Because I’m here–”

“–sharpening your swords?” Y/N snickered.

“Yes.”

“Because that’s so important.” Y/N poked Zuko’s kneecap and grinned. “Don’t worry, you’ll grow on them.”

“I don’t care if they like me.”

“You do,” Y/N teased. “You want all of them to like you, just like I did. You can’t help it. They’re all just too nice.”

“Whatever,” Zuko dropped his swords to the side and leaned back on his hands.

“You’re so irritable. Did you and Aang still do katas at sunrise?”

Zuko closed his eyes against the sunlight. “We do katas every morning.”

“You can take a day off, you know.”

“We can’t.” His voice was clipped and Y/N knew if she pushed any harder he’d either stop talking altogether, or start yelling.

Y/N furrowed her eyebrows in concern and spoke anyways. “Don’t burn him out, Zuko. Don’t burn yourself out either.”

“I’m not.”

“Okay, but I just–”

“I’m not!”

Y/N smiled sheepishly. “Okay! Don’t yell at me.”

“Sorry.” Zuko mumbled.

---

The two of them lazed around the temple until the others came back, group by group. Y/N hadn’t felt this uncomfortable around her friends since she had joined with them after leaving Ba Sing Se. She could feel the tension in the air and Y/N kept cracking her knuckles to have something to do with her hands. They all looked at her warily, as if waiting for the other shoe to drop. Even Sokka kept his distance, which broke Y/N’s heart.

“I’m surprised you haven’t killed one another or at least destroyed the temple,” Sokka chuckled a bit awkwardly, trying to ease the tension.

Zuko and Y/N stood shoulder to shoulder in one of the many doorways of the temple. Y/N raised her eyebrows at Zuko and he shrugged, seemingly disinterested. “We’re friends again.”

“Well that must be nice for you,” Katara spat back.

Y/N and Zuko shared another sideways look. Katara never hid her dislike for Zuko, that much was obvious to everyone, but now it seemed like that dislike was shared partially with Y/N. She and Zuko making up and being friends again only added fuel to Katara’s anger.

Y/N twisted her finger around a strand of hair anxiously. “Can we talk?”

“Uh, sure. Guys?” Aang looked around at the others to see if anyone else was going to speak up. There was a chorus of affirmations but Katara just crossed her arms and huffed.

They all sat in a circle in the middle of the courtyard. The air was colder in the evenings, since it was mostly hidden from the sunlight. Y/N shivered at the way the biting wind slithered up the back of her shirt like a cold hand.

The seven of them stared at each other for a few beats, sharing glances among themselves and then quickly looking away. Sokka pulled his knees to his chest and twirled a stick between his fingers and Y/N stared at the graceful way it moved in a circle, she longed for those fingers to be intertwined with her own.

“I’m sorry,” she blurted out.

She bowed her head slightly in submission before scrunching closed her eyes. She’d thought of her words carefully as she waited for them to come back. It didn’t mean it was any less humiliating. “Obviously that’s why I wanted to talk to you. I’m so sorry for how I acted last night and for what I did. It was never my intention to lie to you.”

“But you did. Why didn’t you tell us?” Toph asked. Her voice wasn’t angry, it was disappointed.

“I hid it because I knew you wouldn’t be happy with me and I just wanted to keep the peace between us. I didn’t want anyone to question my motives. I know it’s wrong to think that way, to be so defensive. I trust you guys and you should be able to trust me too. I just didn’t want you to have doubt in me or to question my loyalties.”

“It’s not about sides!” Katara exploded. “We’re your friends, you don’t hide things from us.”

Y/N flinched back. “I know. I’m sorry that you had to hear me sympathize with someone that’s done so many bad things to you.”

“She’s done bad things to you too,” Suki reminded her softly.

Y/N’s eyes fixed on Suki’s brown ones. “Not like you,” Her eyes flitted to Aang’s soft grey ones. “Or you. Zuko was right last night,” Y/N heard him snort softly next to her, “I am selfish. I want pieces of my old life back and while I’m looking in the past I’m ignoring the good that’s in front of me.”

“You aren’t like her.”

Y/N’s eyes found Zuko’s. “Not anymore. But we but we both know there are more similarities than differences between us.”

That sentence seemed to weigh on everyone’s mind heavily. They sat and stewed in their own thoughts, and for the first time ever, Y/N was worried about her own future with her friends. It made her nauseous to consider the idea that she was no longer a trusted friend because of one awful mistake. It was a sobering thought; Azula–how she was now–would always be Y/N’s downfall. Azula had been correct in that aspect, what would Y/N have if she didn’t have her friends? Nothing. She’d be alone, just like Azula was now. It made Y/N’s regret spread that much deeper.

“It’s okay,” Aang’s voice was the first to break the silence. “I can’t blame you for wanting to see the best in someone.”

“I–Thank you.” Y/N blinked back tears. It didn’t matter that the rest of them followed suit and murmured their forgivenesses to Y/N, because while she was soothed by Toph’s arm punch and Sokka’s hug and the way Suki pressed her knee into Y/N’s at dinner that night, Aang’s forgiveness was the most needed. While his death in the crystal cavern had not been her turning point, it had still been her catalyst. It had changed her in ways she could never imagine. They all had. Maybe the reason why she wanted to see the good in Azula, wasn’t her own doing, but something that had been rubbed off by him onto her. Even through the hardship and the oppression, he was still a blinding light in the darkness and was just one of many that Y/N was trying to imitate more and more each day.

---

A/N: hmmmm, let me know what you guys think! The next part is mostly written and will be posted sooner than usual!! it’s very cute if I do say so myself.

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#atla #sokka x reader #sokka x y/n #sokka fics #avatar the last airbender #avatar: the last airbender #avatar #avatar resurgence #avatar fic #zuko #aang #suki #katara #sokka #toph beifong #traitor

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