#it was only after killing him did i realize he was staring at my teammates back the entire time

[renthewerecatboi]

honestly i'm usually pretty impressed when a spy actually convinces me with a disguise

i know it's not that hard since i'm new but still, i'm not THAT easily fooled

[plutotheplum]

XO

akaashi keiji x fem!reader

summary: being the manager of the msby black jackals is stressful, but when a handsome stranger shows up, you think you might’ve stumbled upon a hidden perk.

cw: nsfw (18+) - mdni!!, post-time skip, kissing, oral sex, blowjobs, p in v, smut, fluff

wc: 5.3k

a/n: watched the movie last night and i cried (if you saw this post before, no you didn't) <3

also on ao3!

Six months in, and you think you might be ready to quit your job.

Sure, securing a job as the MSBY Black Jackal’s manager was one of your proudest achievements, but no one had told you that you’d be dealing with men like this. You understood that you were in the presence of some of the finest sporting talent in Japan, but these men were wildly immature.

It’s why you’re here now, glaring at the man who had made fun of his teammate.

“What were you thinking?” you hiss, pointing your pen at the offending man.

Atsumu groans, his head tipping back against the wall of the locker room. “I was only having a little fun.”

“A little fun,” you reply, nodding along, “right, and that’s why Bokuto is off sulking in who knows where!”

“C’mon!” Atsumu protests, leaning forward, staring at you desperately, “I made a comment on the color of his shoes! How was I supposed to know that was gonna set him off?”

You can feel a headache begin to set in and you sigh, pointing towards the door of the locker room.

“Just go warm up, okay? I’ll try and find Bokuto.”

Atsumu nods, and has the grace to look at least a little apologetic as he pats your shoulder and leaves.

You follow him soon after, out of the locker room. Bokuto’s sulking most likely meant he wasn’t going to perform as well. You knew about his bouts of being discouraged, had seen it during the occasional game when something would set him off. People are milling about, and you quicken your pace, turning a corner to finally find Bokuto sitting on a bench.

“Bokuto!” you call out, the relief in your voice clear.

The outside hitter looks up at you, a pout on his face. 

“You ready for the game?” you ask, putting on a wide smile to try and make him feel better.

“Do you think they’re ugly?” 

“W- what?”

“My shoes,” he says, pointing at them, “do you think they’re ugly?”

You have half the mind to tell him that they’re just shoes and that he should grow up, but the look of utter despair on his face has you holding back. A quick glance down at his shoes and from what you can gather, they look relatively… normal. You were definitely going to kill Atsumu later.

“They look fine,” you say, pausing when you see his frown deepen. Your fingers tighten around the clipboard clutched against your chest and you put on a cheery smile, voice pitching up. “I meant they look totally great! And they really suit you!”

Bokuto makes no attempt to move, simply stares down at his shoes and traces one of the stripes absentmindedly. You’re at your wits end, growing antsy as you check your watch and realize there’s only 10 minutes before the game starts.

“I could get you some new-“

“You doing okay?”

A voice breaks in through from behind you and your head turns, brows furrowing when you see an unfamiliar man. The lanyard around his neck has a card attached to it, bold letters spelling out VIP . 

“Akaashi!” Bokuto sits up, his eyes lighting up for a moment, “do you like my shoes?”

You stare at the pair of men, bewildered. The man, Akaashi, pats Bokuto’s shoulder and lowers his voice to whisper some words to the pro-volleyball player. In what you think might be the quickest change of mood from Bokuto yet, the volleyball player stands up and gives a hearty laugh, his chest puffing out. 

You’re even more stunned when he pats your back happily and jogs off in the direction of the court.

“How did you do that?” you blurt out, eyes flitting towards the man who was now standing beside you.

“I used to play with Bokuto in highschool,” Akaashi replies, shoving his hands into the pockets of his trousers. “Fukurodani. I was the team’s setter so I had to get used to Bokuto's little slumps.”

Huh. That did make more sense. You narrow your eyes, examining the man a little more. He’s handsome, sure, his glasses sitting on the slope of his nose as he shifts on the spot. Akaashi stares back down at you expectantly.

“Uh- well, thank you,” you say, holding your hand out and giving him a sheepish smile. “I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to get him onto the court at all today.”

“Don’t mention it,” he says, his hand shaking yours. 

You introduce yourselves and he follows you onto the stands, both of you overlooking the two teams as they line up on the court. Nervousness makes you restless, your teeth biting into your lower lip as you watch the players get into position. You really wanted the Jackals to win.

“Relax,” Akaashi murmurs, his head lowering to speak directly into your ear to help you hear better over the roar of the crowd.

Your eyes meet his and he stares back at you intently, his hand squeezing at your shoulder gently. You think some sort of magic might be laced into his words with the way your body loosens slightly, your tense shoulders dropping.

“Thank you,” you mumble, giving him a faint smile.

Akaashi smiles back and squeezes your shoulder one more time before his hand drops away. You nearly protest against it, wanting to feel the heat of his body near yours again, but you can’t because you’ve only just met the man and you aren’t that desperate.

The game goes perfectly well, thankfully, and you’re up on the tips of your toes cheering for the Jackals as they shake hands with the other team. Your previous nervousness has all  melted away, leaving only a feeling of pure giddiness. Akaashi claps with you, his reaction much more toned down compared to yours.

“You can come down with me,” you say breathlessly, flicking through a few pages on your clipboard to find the schedule for the post game press conference.

Akaashi nods, his eyes drifting over you for a moment. “Yeah, I’ll come. I need to congratulate Bokuto anyways.”

You beam up at him and against better judgment, hand him a copy of the schedule before giving him a wave and disappearing off to meet the team. Akaashi watches as you flutter away, skirt swaying, the piece of paper clutched tightly in his hand. 

- 

“No talk of shoes, okay?” you warn Atsumu as you had him a bottle of cold water. “We can’t have Bokuto breaking down on national television.”

“You worry too much,” Atsumu complains, pressing the bottle of water against his flushed cheek.

“My job is on the line!” you argue, giving the man a glare.

Atsumu only gives you a pout and you thank Meian when he comes to get his teammate, grateful for the captain’s unwavering leadership.

You slip into the conference room before long, making sure to give the Jackals an encouraging smile and a thumbs up before you sidle up to the wall, watching as the various reporters ready their questions.

A few bottles of water sit on a table beside you and you reach for one, twisting at the cap. The stupid plastic burns across your skin harshly, making a glare settle on your face as you narrow your eyes at the bottle of water. You try again but to no avail, the cap latching on stubbornly tight. A soft curse gets muttered under your breath before someone’s hand reaches out, grabbing the bottle of water from you.

You blink in surprise when you realize it’s Akaashi, his hand twisting at the cap effortlessly and breaking the seal. 

“Thank you,” you whisper.

“That’s the third time today,” he whispers back, his eyes glimmering with mirth, “should I keep sticking around for more of your thanks?”

A smile pulls at your lips and you glance up at him to find him smiling back. 

“Don’t be an asshole,” you mutter, elbowing him in the side lightly.

Akaashi hums in response, his warm hand grasping at your elbow to hold you in place. You freeze for a moment, surprise flitting across your face but then you lean into him slightly, avoiding his eyes as you press into his side. If he notices, he doesn’t say anything, just stands there with you, his eyes trained on the little notes you scribble on paper as the players speak.

To your relief, Atsumu manages to steer clear from the topic of shoes, answering the reporters’ questions thoroughly with a bit of humor thrown in, to lighten the atmosphere of the press conference. You find that you can’t really be all that mad at the man, he knew how to get the job done when it came to it.

The press conference comes to a close half an hour later and Akaashi trails after you as you usher the men back into the main foyer.

“Good job everyone,” you announce before flicking through a few pages of your clipboard. “The Chairman has been impressed with your performance this season, so he’s personally sent a congratulatory cake.” You stare pointedly at Atsumu and Bokuto. “Please make sure to not make a mess.”

The men are gone in a rush before you can say anything else and you smile fondly, shaking your head.

“You gonna let me get in on this cake thing?” Akaashi asks, raising his brows.

“You’re welcome to join,” you reply, shooting him a smile as you try to not sound too eager. “You do have VIP status, after all.”

Akaashi smiles back and you think it might be a miracle that your legs haven’t given out under the soft gaze he sends you. 

Thankfully, Atsumu and Bokuto don’t make a mess although you do spot them bribing Hinata to bring them a few more slices, the orange-haired man utterly oblivious to the fact.

“Hey,” Akaashi murmurs, stepping in beside you as you finish off your piece of cake. “You’ve got a little something.” He motions to the corner of your mouth.

“Oh!” you flush with embarrassment, wiping at the corner of your mouth with a napkin. “Gone?”

“Just a little more,” he says, watching as you try and fail to get rid of the chocolate icing that’s smudged over your lips and the corner of your mouth. “Just- here, let me.”

You freeze when he reaches out for you, his thumb swiping over your lip and skin gently, cleaning you up.

“Napkin?” you ask weakly, offering it to him so he can clean his thumb.

“No need.”

Akaashi keeps his eyes on you as he licks the pad of his thumb, your hazy eyes following the motion of his tongue, a rush of heat pooling in your lower stomach.

“Do you-” you begin, clearing your throat when you hear how airy your voice has become, “do you do this often?”

A smile pulls at his lips and he leans in a little closer, his breath fanning across your skin as his mouth opens to murmur something into your ear.

“Hey, hey, hey!”

You jolt, half-lidded eyes snapping open when you find Bokuto slinging his arm around Akaashi’s shoulders. Irritation flashes through Akaashi’s eyes but it seems to fade when Bokuto begins to speak animatedly, detailing the past events Akaashi had missed.

Part of you would’ve liked to speak to Akaashi more, but you can’t find it in yourself to fault Bokuto, deciding to busy yourself with getting another slice of cake. A heavy arm slings itself around your shoulders and you roll your eyes when you realize it’s Atsumu, the wide grin on his face making you feel uneasy.

“Saw you getting real chummy with Bokuto’s friend,” he whispers conspiratorially, trying to swipe at your cake slice. 

“I was being friendly,” you retort, glaring up at Atsumu.

“You look like you wanna fuck him.”

“Your observations are not appreciated,” you grit out, trying to squirm away from under him when he steers you into a corner.

“Good news is, I think he wants to fuck you too,” Atsumu says smugly, crossing his arms over his chest.

“ Why are you doing this?” you groan, cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

“Because you, my lovely manager, deserve happiness!” he says cheerily.

Your eyes narrow, taking in the smile on Atsumu’s face, suspicion flaring. “What did you do?”

“What?” Atsumu’s smile falters. “Nothing. Why do you always assume I did something?”

“Because you usually do something, Atsumu,” you reply exasperatedly, trying to peek out from behind him to catch another glimpse of Akaashi.

Atsumu rolls his eyes, moving to the side so as to block your view of Akaashi.

“Let’s hear it then,” you say, peering up at him. 

He beams at you, his head lowering so he can whisper into your ear. “Just make sure you take charge. Guys like that sort of thing. Yank him by the shirt or something and kiss him. My advice is foolproof .”

Was the advice really foolproof if the fool himself was giving it to you?

You shoot Atsumu a skeptical look, waving him off before he puts any more ridiculous ideas into your mind. 

As the night passes, the amount of players reduces, deciding to make their way back home. Atsumu shoots you a wink in passing and you glare back at him, fighting the urge to swat him.

“Heading home?” 

You blink up to find Akaashi standing beside you, his brows raised.

“Yeah,” you say, a wistful smile coming across your face, “it’s been a long day.”

“I could drive you home?” Akaashi offers, falling into step beside you as you both exit the volleyball stadium.

You had been planning to just catch an uber or something, but when Akaashi stares down at you like that , his gaze soft and lips looking sickeningly inviting, you nod immediately.

A few stolen glances later coupled with you biting back an inappropriate remark at the way his lithe fingers wrap around the steering wheel, you find yourself standing opposite Akaashi in the open doorway of your apartment.

“I guess I’ll see you around?” you say, peering up at Akaashi.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Akaashi murmurs, his hands shoving into his pockets.

Akaashi shows no signs of leaving however. Silence passes over you as you both just stand there, staring at each other. Your gaze dips down to his shirt, trying to stop Atsumu’s obnoxious voice from blaring through your normally rational decision making.

Yank him by the shirt or something and kiss him.

Eyes flitting up again, you decide to take your chances. Your hand curls into Akaashi’s shirt, yanking him towards you, lips crashing onto his. Several seconds pass and Akaashi stands there limply, his lips unmoving and non-reciprocating. 

“I’m so sorry,” you blurt out, feeling utterly mortified as you let go of him. “Atsumu said you wanted to fu- I mean- he said guys liked that sort of thing!”

At the same time, Akaashi begins to speak. “Bokuto said you weren’t interested.”

“ What? ” you sputter, eyes widening. Frustration sets your nerves alight and you fish out your phone, dialing Bokuto’s number, ready to give him an earful. 

“Hey,” Akaashi says, plucking your phone from your hand and setting it down onto a nearby dresser, “think you could do that after I kiss you?”

Your flurry of movements pauses, breath hitching when he steps inside your apartment, the door shutting behind him softly. He smiles down at you, arm wrapping around your waist to pull you closer.

“Oh,” you breathe out, eyes fluttering as he spins you around, pushing you up against the door gently, “y-yeah, I can do that.”

“Yeah?” he whispers, the tip of his nose brushing yours. One of his hands slips up higher, smoothing over the length of your neck to cup your cheek.

You let out an incoherent noise, managing out a jerky nod. Akaashi laughs, tilting your head to the side as he places a soft kiss on your cheek. Your eyes flutter shut, heart racing uncontrollably in your chest as he drags his lips across your skin, planting another kiss to the corner of your mouth.

His glasses dig into your skin but you can hardly find it in yourself to care, pulling him closer desperately when he slots his lips over yours. Akaashi kisses you heatedly and you whine, arms wrapping around his neck to return his kisses eagerly. His tongue gently parts your lips, hands slipping back down to squeeze at your waist and move you flush against him.

A few stumbles later and you’re pushing his chest, watching as he falls back onto the couch. Akaashi grins, his thighs spreading invitingly as he gets comfortable.

“Come sit on my lap, baby.”

You don’t have to be told twice. You scramble up onto his lap, straddling his hips, lips finding his again. Akaashi groans when you run your fingers through his hair, hips rolling across his lap as he spreads his fingers over your skirt, groping at your ass.

“So- so you do wanna fuck me?” you ask breathily, unable to resist yourself from leaning forward and stealing another kiss.

“I thought I made myself obvious,” Akaashi replies, his hands slipping under your skirt to feel the warm, bare skin of your thighs.

A soft hum leaves you, fingers tracing across his cheek before reaching out to take his glasses off, setting them down. You smile down at him hazily and Akaashi smiles back, maneuvering your body so that you’re laying down, head nestled in the cushions.

You bite your lip when he kisses down your neck, sighing softly when he undoes the buttons of your shirt, pulling it apart. Akaashi’s eyes darken when he sees the swell of your breasts in your bra, his hands reaching out to grope at them greedily. You fumble around, unclasping your bra, tossing it behind you.

“So pretty, baby,” he whispers, pressing a kiss to your lips before kissing down your body.

You gasp when his tongue swirls around your nipple, squirming underneath him as his hot mouth envelops it, sucking and licking, even nipping gently making your body twitch. Back arching, you moan, fingers tugging at his soft hair. Akaashi lets out a hum, mouth opening wide to suck your breast into his mouth, groaning when he feels your hips buck underneath him.

“ Fuck ,” Akaashi hisses, his fingers rubbing at your clothed cunt, panties utterly drenched, “you’re dripping. How long have you been like this?”

You flush, looking away. Akaashi clicks his tongue, grabbing your chin to turn your gaze back onto him.

“Tell me,” he coaxes, rucking your skirt up before he tugs your panties up, watching the hard press of the fabric outline your puffy folds.

“Maybe- maybe since you opened that water bottle for me,” you mumble, blinking up at him innocently. 

Akaashi’s grip falters, his brows shooting up in surprise. Your cheeks are hot, eyes dropping to find his cock straining against his trousers, the bulge making you lick your lips.

“That long?” he whispers, leaning in.

“Mhm,” you nod, arms looping around his neck to pull him into a sloppy kiss, tongue and all.

“If I knew it was that easy, I would’ve done it the moment I saw you,” Akaashi smiles, his nose nudging against yours as he continues to rub your pussy through your panties.

“Shut up!” you laugh, pushing at his chest.

He laughs with you, smacking a quick kiss to your cheek before slinking down, pulling your thighs apart. A contented sigh leaves you when he licks up over your ruined panties, mewling softly when he pulls them to the side to get a glimpse of your slick pussy.

“Such a pretty pussy. All of you is so pretty,” he murmurs, pulling your panties off. 

You don’t miss the way he tucks them into his pocket.

Akaashi’s mouth encloses around your clit, sucking with fervor. You let out a strangled moan, fingers fisting his hair roughly, thighs twitching. 

“A- Akaashi,” you whine, hips rolling up to meet his mouth needily, “ hah- oh fuck!- ”

His nose nudges into your clit when he stops suckling on your clit, licking up a wide strip along the length of cunt, a low moan slipping out of him as he watches your cunt clench and flutter around nothing.

“Taste so fucking good,” he rasps, arms curling around your thighs, thumbing apart your folds to press his tongue in deeper, licking over the velvety flesh of your cunt.

You moan again, breath catching in your throat when his thumb finds your clit, rubbing tight circles into the sensitive bud before his tongue presses into your aching pussy, thrusting in and out of you. He makes an obscene sound and you tug at his hair roughly, pushing his face deeper into your cunt, squealing when he shakes his head, tongue swiping all over you.

“Don’t stop,” you whisper, beginning to chant drunkenly, “don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”

Akaashi grunts into your pussy, spreading apart your folds against to spit on your cunt, his tongue swirling around your swollen clit before sucking it into his mouth. He suckles on it hard ; the sensation making your toes curl and eyes squeeze shut tightly. 

“Gonna cum?” he asks, a hoarse laugh leaving him when you push his head back down.

You nod rapidly, hands squeezing at your breasts, pinching and tugging at your own nipples. Akaashi slips his fingers up past your chin and your mouth opens obediently, hips rolling up as you suck on his fingers. 

A whimper escapes you when his teeth graze your clit, his tongue laving over it again as he sucks desperately, driving you further and further to the edge.

“Cum on my tongue, baby,” Akaashi whispers, “wanna watch you cum all pretty and needy.”

You don’t need any more encouragement, back arching as your body draws taut. You cum with a cry of his name, squeaking when he licks over your oversensitive pussy, thighs clamping around his head while your fingers tangle in his soft, black hair. 

Akaashi pulls away with one final suckle to your clit, peppering kisses up your body before slotting his lips over yours again. You whine softly, cupping his cheek to return his kisses feverishly, feeling the press of his clothed cock against your inner thigh.

“Take your clothes off,” you say softly, pecking his lips sweetly.

You squirm out of your skirt and top when he gets off of you, watching with hazy eyes as he pulls his shirt up over your head. The flex of his biceps has you letting out a low whine, fingers slipping between your thighs, unable to help yourself, rubbing your clit unabashedly.

Akaashi doesn’t miss the movement, shooting you a lazy grin, his hand smoothing over his trousers, squeezing at his bulge.

“Enjoying the view?” he murmurs, unbuttoning his trousers, “hm, baby?”

“‘m enjoying it a lot,” you reply airily, entranced by the motion of his hand as he grasps himself through his boxers.

Your breath catches in your throat when he pushes his boxers down, tongue feeling heavy as you watch the bob of his cock, heavy and thick. The hardened length twitches when he wraps his hand around himself, pumping his cock, pre-cum beading at the tip.

“T-taste?” you mewl, slipping off the couch and crawling towards him, “wanna taste, ‘kaashi.”

“Needy baby,” he whispers, running his fingers through your hair, brushing it out of your face.

Your eyes flutter shut when he bends, meeting his lips in a short kiss. Akaashi presses the head of his cock against your lips soon after, a moan slipping out of him when he sees the way his pre-cum spreads across your lips.

You lick your lips, mewling at the taste of his pre-cum, mouth opening wider, tongue lolling out.

“Want it,” you whisper, fingers digging into thighs, “please?”

“‘m gonna give it to you,” Akaashi rasps, grasping the base of his cock to smack the head of it against your tongue a few times. “Go ahead, pretty.”

You hum happily, mouth wrapping around his cock, hand curling around the base of it. Akaashi groans, his head tipping back as you squirm on your knees, fingers finding your slippery clit again.

“Just like that,” he whispers when you begin to bob your head, tongue swirling around the head of his cock, suckling gently.

Akaashi’s thighs twitch, the hand tangled in your hair tightening when you shuffle closer, mouth stretching open to take more of him into your mouth. 

You suck and lick, practically dripping onto the carpet beneath you as you hear the grunts and groans that leave Akaashi. He sounds pretty, the little airy gasps and stutters of his breath giving you the encouragement to try and take him deeper, your nose pressing into the black tufts of coarse hair at the base of his cock, before you pull off with watery eyes.

“I might have a hard time letting go of you after this,” Akaashi says, watching as you blink up at him with starry eyes, stroking his hand over your hair as you mouth lazily across the length of his cock. 

“So don’t,” you whisper, laving your tongue across the head of his cock, tasting his pre-cum.

You land a soft kiss to the tip, tilting your head to kiss at his heavy balls. Akaashi stops you before you can suck them into your mouth, dipping his head down to kiss you instead.

“‘m gonna cum if you do that,” he whispers against your lips.

“That’s sort of the point,” you smile, hand stroking along his length.

He snorts, wrapping his arms around your waist to pull you up onto your feet. His throbbing cock presses against your stomach as you wind your arms around his neck, pulling him down for another kiss. Akaashi gropes at the fat of your ass appreciatively, both of you standing together as you makeout languidly. 

You pull away for air soon after, hands roaming across his firm chest, eyes growing hazier with the way the muscles of his abdomen flex under your touch. A glob of pre-cum beads at the tip of Akaashi’s cock and you grasp his hand, rocking up to kiss his cheek before pulling him after you.

“Wanna ride my cock?” he whispers, teeth nipping at your earlobe gently when you lead him into your bedroom.

“Y- yeah,” you reply airily, crawling up onto his lap when he sits down, his back against the headboard of your bed.

You rock your hips, grinding your cunt against his hot length, mewling softly when the tip of it nudges against your clit a few times. Akaashi catches your chin, pulling you forward for another filthy kiss, his hands smoothing up and down the length of your back.

“Sink down on it, baby.”

A soft whimper escapes you at his low voice, hands gripping his shoulders as you rise up onto your knees. Akaashi wraps his hand around the base of his cock, holding it for you. His head tips back, a guttural groan leaving him when you sink down on his cock, your nails digging into his skin.

“ Oh- ” you whine, “‘kaashi- hah- ”

“Keiji,” he replies, fingers dimpling the fat of your hips, trying to gain some semblance of control with the way your cunt’s clenching around his cock, “call me Keiji, baby.”

You let out a dazed sigh, rolling your hips and whining again, your own head tipping back.

“K- Keiji, you feel so good.”

Akaashi moans appreciatively in response to your words, landing a spank to your ass to urge you to move. You hiccup, cupping his cheeks, mouth dropping open in a silent moan as you roll your hips one more time and begin to rise and fall on his cock.

He keeps his eyes on you, letting out soft pants as you mewl and whimper out his name, hips swaying back to meet his thrusts when he begins to move his hips too.

“Good girl,” Akaashi whispers, head dipping to suck your breast into his mouth, “gripping me so tight, baby.”

“Keiji,” you mewl, dragging out his name in a needy call.

“‘m right here, pretty,” Akaashi murmurs, arms wrapping around your waist more firmly. 

You squeal when he lifts you up and begins to drop you down onto his cock himself, his face pressing into your chest, leaving desperate, heated open-mouthed kisses against your sweaty skin as he makes you take his cock.

“Oh fuck-,” you begin to gasp out, eyes squeezing shut, “ oh fuck! ”

“Take it,” Akaashi hisses, hands drifting down to grip the fat of your ass tighter, “fucking take my cock, baby.”

A surprised squeak leaves you when he lays you down, his cock pushing into you almost immediately after. Your legs wrap around his hips, hand reaching for his as he fucks his cock into you, the sound of his skin slapping against yours echoing lewdly throughout the room.

You scrabble at the bedsheets, trying to find some purchase as Akaashi drives his cock into you harder and faster.

“Gonna make me cum,” he grunts, face pressing into the crook of your neck, his body dropping to be flush against yours, hips rolling to a slow grind.

“‘m gonna cum too,” you say weakly, eyes fluttering as he mouths at your breast lazily. 

Akaashi peers down at you when he pushes himself up, bullying his cock into your cunt, balls pressed snugly against your ass.

“Can I cum inside?” he asks softly, brushing your hair out of your face.

“You’re a terrible influence,” you sigh, giving him a dazed smile as you pull him down for a kiss, “but yes, you can.”

Akaashi grins, mouth slotting over yours again, thumb rubbing at your clit. He groans when he feels you clench around him, his hips stuttering jerkily when you dig your heels into the backs of thighs, forcing him to push his cock in deeper. 

“Brat,” he hisses, head dropping forward as he lets out a low whine, cock jerking inside of you as he cums.

You squirm, back arching as his thumb rubs harder, thighs twitching as you fall apart on his cock. Akaashi pants against your chest, his eyes squeezed shut as he lets out a few more whines, thick cum filling you up.

He rolls off of you so as to not crush you with his weight, running his hand through his hair. You curl up into his side, leaning forward to kiss his jaw.

“‘m gonna go clean up,” you whisper.

Akaashi nods, patting your hip affectionately, his eyes trained on the sway of your hips as you disappear into the bathroom.

You tug on a fresh shirt and a pair of panties, crawling back into bed to find Akaashi’s pulled his boxers back up over his hips, the manga volume you had been reading last night in his hand.

“It’s good,” you inform him, pressing into his side, head resting on his shoulder as you look over the little panels of drawings.

“I’d hope so,” Akaashi says, his hand rubbing at your side absentmindedly.

“Why?” you ask, brows furrowing.

“I happen to be the editor.”

You stare at him blankly, eyes flitting from his towards the manga. “No way.” You snatch the manga from him, flipping through towards the large page. His name is there in the little lettering, plain as day.

Editing: Akaashi Keiji

He smiles at you, nuzzling into your cheek, pressing several kisses here and there.

“Well,” you say, setting the manga down and wrapping your arms around his neck, “now you have to tell me what’s to come.”

“My lips are sealed,” Akaashi replies, kissing the corner of your mouth.

“Keiji!” you whine, pouting up at him.

“Not happening, baby,” he says, shaking his head before leaning forward to kiss the pout off of your mouth.

You let out an irritated huff, pushing his head away when he tries to kiss you again.

“Look at that,” he muses, “you get all sulky like Bokuto.”

“Please don’t insult me.”

[rory-cakes]

You Seriously Didn't Know?

Oikawa Tooru was a volleyball-brained idiot. All his past relationships knew it, and so did all of his teammates. However, they didn't realize how much until the first week of his 3rd year.

L/n Y/n was cool. I mean, the kinda cool that gets her own fan club as soon as she starts school. You could tell she had multiple piercings but only ever wore her studs to school. She had well-manicured nails, but there were calluses on her palms. She wore the uniform so well. She gave off an ora of respect, and everyone soon watched what the new upperclassman would do.

L/n Y/n had gone to an all-girls high school until her final year when she transferred to Aoiba Josai due to her school going under. She had been the girls' volleyball team manager back at her old school. Unfortunately, the girls' volleyball club at her new school had been disbanded after the last 3rd years graduated.

That's how we ended here in the present. Team Captain Oikawa Tooru, the most popular boy in his year, is silent for once. He watches as the coach talks to the pretty new girl, red in the face.

"Oi! Shittykawa! Stop gaping at the pore girl and get to practicing!" Iwaizumi is so close to throwing a ball at the pretty boy's head.

Suddenly, Oikawa turns to him with a massive smile, "Iwa-chan! I think I've found the love of my life!!"

Is he that stupid? Is all Iwaizumi can think as he looks between the girl and his best friend. Welp! He'll learn the hard way.

"Y/n-chan~"

"Yes Oikawa-san?"

Oikawa pouted.

"How come you still won't call me by my first name!?"

Y/n just raised a brow.

"I don't recall giving you permission to call me by my first name, Oikawa-san, but you don't see me pestering you about it?"

Pfft- The other third years tried to hold in their laughter as their captain got shot down for the fourth time that week.

It was Tuesday.

It has been two months since L/n Y/n joined the boys' volleyball club as their manager. In those two months, Oikawa Tooru has tried every trick in the book to woo the pretty transfer student, but nothing seems to work.

He was so close to straight-up confessing, but he didn't wanna make things awkward.

"Oi! Oikawa-san! Coach said you wanted a practice match with karasuno right?"

"Yeah! That's right."

"Well, you got it! It's in a week, and they agreed to your dumbass terms."

"Yes, Tobio-chan, I can't wait to crush your spirit!"

The manager made a weireded out face and smacked the captain over the head.

"You got issues, man."

"Koko!"

"Hello, my love."

The two women smiled as they stared at each other. They hadn't had much time to spend together as they both had club activities.

Y/n leaned in and kiss her lover's forehead as she brought her into a hug.

"I missed you."

"I missed you too."

Kiyoko's grip tightened around Y/n's waist and nuzzled into her neck. Their teams were great and they loved spending time with them was too much.

"We have a practice match against your team."

"I know." Kiyoko's voice was a little muffled as she spoke against her girlfriend's neck, her breath sending a shiver down Y/n's spine.

"I think if your team wins the captain of mine with throw a fit."

Kiyoko giggled and pulled back, looking into her lover's eyes.

"We'll just have to see then won't we?"

Y/n smiled and leaned in,"I guess we will."

chu~

The day of the Karasuno vs. Aoba Josai practice match finally came, and Oikawa was late and missing.

"I swear I'll kill him."

"I won't stop you, but try not to do it in front of the other team. Fewer witnesses that way."

"Manager-san, you scare me sometimes."

"Good!"

Karasuno finally entered the gym. The captain, Sawamura Daichi, spots a familiar face on the other side of the court.

"Hey Kiyoko?"

Kiyoko looks up from her clipboard, "Yes Daichi-san?"

"Isn't that Y/n? I thought she went to an all girls school?"

Sugawara butted in, "No, she transfered right? Cause the school closed down?"

"Koushi is right. She became the manager about two months ago, that's how we were able to secure this practice match."

Sugawara started nudging his manager,"Using your connections huh?"

Kiyoko blushed, "Nothing of the sort. It was just convenient timing."

"Course, Course."

---

On the other side of the gym Y/n's teammates kept wondering why karasuno seemed to know their manager.

Iwaizumi finally asked, "Hey, L/n?"

"Yes, Iwaizumi?"

"Do you know people at karasuno? They keep looking at you."

"Oh? Yeah! My girlfriend is their manager, and I've met the second and third years on their team!"

"Really? Is that why it was so easy to set up a practice match?"

"More or less."

"Okay."

Man, Oikawa will get the wake-up call of his life today if he bothers to show up.

"ALL RIGHT LINE UP!"

Karasuno won by a hair.

They knew that but DAMN it felt good.

Y/n noticed Oikawa missing after the murder of crows left and decided to follow them and look for him, knowing his antics would likely get him in trouble.

"There's not much time left 'til the tournament. I look forward to seeing you there."

"OI!"

Oikawa flinched and looked ahead. There stood his manager and love of his life looking very pissed off.

"WHAT HAVE I SAID ABOUT TORMENTING OTHER TEAMS OFF THE COURT!!!"

Karasuno's third years just smiled at the scene, used to the girl's antics.

"Y/n-chan~ but whyyyy?"

"It's foul play, and you know it!"

"Y/n it's okay, his little speal gave us motivation!"

"You're too nice daichi."

Oikawa looked startled.

"Wait, Y/n-chan you know them?"

"Yeah our manager Kiyoko is her girlfriend."

GIRLFRIEND!?

"Oh! I had no idea! Excuse me, please."

"Wonder why he went pale?"

"Y/n-chan is GAY????"

"You seriously didn't know?"

"NO??"

"Wow, for someone who's bi, your gaydar is shit."

"No wonder she never flirted back with me."

"For your information Oikawa-san, even if I did like men, I would have gone for Iwaizumi, not you."

"I appreciate it."

"Oof! Salt in the wound!"

"SHUT UP!"

A/N: Hope you liked this!! I needed more wlw shit on this app and had this idea for a while.

[applebinnie]

▶︎˗ˏˋ k-k-keep ballin'! >< ´ˎ˗

𖦹 part I 𖦹

ᯤ basketball court regular!woonhak ᯤ ✎wc: 1k+, 12 images attached

→ Living in a small inner-city area, everybody knows everybody. But there's one particular boy that everybody surely knows—the boy who's constantly hogging the court, he basically owns it now. By perchance, you get to see this notorious "court monster" play up-close, after moments of watching him from afar, only to realize that he isn't really the kind of boy that you thought he was.

💭: RAGHHH this was originally written in filo nd I don't think it has the same charm as the filo one TT also, while writing this I found out I'm just Hak's age? I never felt more useless in my life 😭

🐈‍⬛⋆·˚ ༘ *ੈ✩‧₊˚ (づ˶•༝•˶)づ 🏀๋࣭ ‧₊˚✩‧ੈ⋆·˚ ༘ *🐈‍⬛

Your grip on the bike steer tightened, preparing to make a turn. You're passing by the village park. A wide playground next to an open air basketball court. In the court is a familliar figure, dribbling and dunking like his life depended on it.

Kim Woonhak.

It's not an exaggeration to say that he's the coolest boy in the block. Everybody knows him, rival teams in the league fear him, and no one watches him up-close. The neighboring town's challengers avoid him like a plague, they know they don't stand a chance against him. He's unbelievably tall for a boy his age, and he uses his height and swift reflexes to his advantage.

It was a perfect all kill. Every dunk was a clean shot. He stopped and took off his beanie, taking a breather while wiping his sweaty hair and eyeing the court. Seconds later two boys entered the court. Myung Jaehyun and Kim Leehan. They're Woonhak's teammates, equally skilled, but they can't beat Woonhak any day.

That was it, you wouldn't want to get caught watching these three play. You started pedaling as you hear more of the boys enter the court.

You head home and open the village forum. The forum was run by the town officials for the villagers to post in. A link in the forum's bio led to a separate forum for the village youth, mainly consisting of teenagers or people in their early 20s. The forum provided an "anonymous message service", sort of like a freedom wall.

"to: mr. court-monster(?)

everytime I pass by the court I always see this boy in playing basketball. he frequents the court, but I heard he doesn't quite like when he's being watched while practicing. is this true? I was zoning out and unintentionally stared, I'm very sorry. Sir, if you ever read this, I really didn't mean to stare, I'm sorry,"

A post wrote. It was pretty recent, just a few days ago. But yeah, you've heard all about it, how he didn't like to be watched.

What if he saw you? what if he thought you were a weirdo? But he didn't bat an eye at you, like he always does. He often tends to silence the entire world when the ball is in his hand, so you don't think he noticed.

At the very least, it was from afar. As long as he didn't notice you, your conscience is clear.

🐈‍⬛⋆·˚ ༘ *ੈ✩‧₊˚ (づ˶•༝•˶)づ 🏀๋࣭ ‧₊˚✩‧ੈ⋆·˚ ༘ *🐈‍⬛

Well yeah, he didn't notice you, but his friends sure did.

🐻:

Jaehyun and Leehan entered the court with a large grin.

"What the heck was that?" Jaehyun remarked teasingly, overlapping with Leehan's "You have got to be serious man" followed by giggles and an embarassing amount of head-shaking.

"Seriously, I didn't see anything!" Woonhak protests.

"She was just standing right there dude." Jaehyun says as he points to the spot you stopped on.

"What's that?" Leehan moves forward. He walks to the spot and picks up a single airpod.

"He looks at it as Jaehyun and Woonhak walk to him. He shows it to them with a pouty expression.

"How did she not notice that fall from her ear?" Woonhak remarks.

"Like you didn't see a person watching you like a hawk, you're not one to talk." Taesan joked from behind Woonhak.

Woonhak jumps, "Didn't see you there," he says as he slowly inches away from Taesan.

"You have absolutely no survival skills, I'll give you that." Taesan answers snarkily.

"So, what do we.." Leehan slowly says, lifting the single airpod.

"Woonhak, you gotta give it back, I mean, you're not actually planning on keeping it, are you?" Sungho says.

"Hey! What do you take me for?" Woonhak complains, grabbing the single airpod from Leehan's hand.

.✩✩✩.

As soon as Woonhak comes home he logs into his laptop and goes to the online forum.

🐈‍⬛⋆·˚ ༘ *ੈ✩‧₊˚ (づ˶•༝•˶)づ 🏀๋࣭ ‧₊˚✩‧ੈ⋆·˚ ༘ *🐈‍⬛

Scrolling through the form lazily, keeping up with the latest gossip along with threads of people asking questions and anonymous messages. The posts rushed like flood. There were videos too, videos of yesterday's conflict involving two drunk teens from the neighboring town. You decide to watch one of the videos. The quality was low, but how could you not recognize the man?

Jung Sungchan.

He was as notorious as Woonhak, only he was a little older and more known in a bigger vicinity. Sungchan is known to be cold and unlikeable. But one thing is he's really, really good. You've seen it yourself. Because unlike Woonhak, he loves being watched. He loves to bask in the attention even if he doesn't seem like it, and it's something that he will never admit. But it was pretty obvious given the scandalous amount of fights he's been in.

he got into a fight with a guy named yangyang, some eyewitnesses even say that they were attempting to drag some of woonhak's team mates in the mess.

You reach to your pocket for your airpods as you watch the video. The audio wasn't exactly nice. The scream threats might wake up your brother, Yujin, who was sleeping right next to you. He's one of Woonhak's friends, so you figured hearing this might alarm him.

The problem is, where are your airpods? You open the pod, revealing nothing but air. You panic at the sight of the empty pod and reach for your pocket to find it. You did find one, but you couldn't find the other one even if you wriggle and turn the pocket outside in. You accidentally scroll to the very top of the forum in panic, refreshing it. You were then greeted by a post that was made just minutes ago.

You wanted to curse, wrath and hide in embarrassment. This was the last situation you wanted to be in. It was recent, but not recent enough considering how yujin even made it into the comment section. You opened Woonhak's profile and messaged him.

"Seen."

You started to get nervous. You ears turned red as you imagine every possible reaction that Woonhak could make. You can already imagine how awkward the situation would be.

But we're dealing with Woonhak. If he is the Woonhak that people are talking about he'd probably just hand the airpod and get it over with.

And that'll be it. Why did you even get nervous in the first place?

🐈‍⬛⋆·˚ ༘ *ੈ✩‧₊˚ (づ˶•༝•˶)づ 🏀๋࣭ ‧₊˚✩‧ੈ⋆·˚ ༘ *🐈‍⬛

🐻:

🐈‍⬛⋆·˚ ༘ *ੈ✩‧₊˚ (づ˶•༝•˶)づ 🏀๋࣭ ‧₊˚✩‧ੈ⋆·˚ ༘ *🐈‍⬛

💭: hey guys! this was rushed so it's vv bad and the amount of times I accidentally posted this from my drafts is just criminal (x_x) if by chance you saw the earlier version PLEASE it will be just between us (╥﹏╥) Also, I changed my update schedule to Saturday! How does that sound? thank you for reading and wish you love, lovies!

-val 🧸

[graysnetwork]

Please write something for Keegan, when he develops feelings for the and how he confesses them (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)

"you're too beautiful to not admire"

notes - Sorry for being gone for soo long ya'll i been doin me Warning: nothing except for my no proof reading and prolly a lot of spelling errors

Summary: When Keegan develops feelings for you and how he confesses

⊰╌❊╌⊱

It wasn’t long before Keegan had realized he liked you, when he realized he was thinking about you as he laid around in bed after a tough day; when he smiled as he thought of the joke you made to lighten the mood, he thought for a while before accepting the fact that he did indeed have feelings for you.

His acceptance only made him fall for you more, when he remembered the small smiles you gave him from time to time during the day, when he thought of the laughs you let out when he made a terrible joke. It just made you perfect in his eyes.

When was the last time he fell asleep without thinking of you? He couldn’t remember.

Every night his head was filled with you. And maybe you reciprocated these feelings, he hoped so, he really hoped so.

Maybe the way you stuttered a few times when he came up from behind you was a sign you liked him? Maybe the way you smiled to yourself when he had to walk around you and he put his hands on your hips to get through was a sign?

⊰╌❊╌⊱

Keegan thought about you every hour of the day now, and his teammates realized how much more quiet he was now, he looked like he was in his own world with the way he had a smile plastered on his face and stared at the ceiling.

You walked into the barracks and made Keegans head turn as you flopped dow onto your bed next to his, you made no other movement before groaning. It made keegan let out a chuckle.

"good night y/n?" he smirked and watched as you picked up your head from the bed, "No" you glared at him as you knew he was trying to taunt you. "really? couldn't tell, what happened?" he chuckled again and laid his head back again. "I'm just tired, i haven't gotten a single break" you mumbled into your pillow and kicked your boots off.

"really? not one break? m'sorry" he felt bad now since he was trying to annoy you, "it's okay i just wanna sleep, my feet are killing me" you mumbled and finally turned your head to the side instead of burying your face into the pillows. Keegan smiled as he turned your way and looks into your pretty eyes.

"I bet they are" he whispered as he stared at you. you were already in some shorts, a black tee shirt and ready for bed, so you were ready to fall asleep any. minute now. "mhm" you hummed and closed you eyes, he turned off his lamp and went back to admiring your perfect look.

You pulled up the covers and opened your eyes and noticed keegan was just staring at you, no shame too.

"goodnight keegan" you whispered "goodnight y/n" he whispered back, but you could feel his eyes on you, "go to sleep" you mumbled which made keegan chuckle another time. "no, i like this" he smiled at you as he watched you open your eyes again.

"stop staring" you mumbled again "no" he smiled like an idiot again "you're too beautiful to not admire" he said sweetly, "you think i'm beautiful?" you whispered and smiled sheepishly. "you don't?" he grinned, his compliment made your heart flutter.

"Thank you keegs" you whispered as you felt your cheeks get all warm.

This was the perfect moment for him to tell you how he felt, he was trying to figure out if this was the right time.

"Don't thank me y/n, you're the one who's pretty" he replied. You tucked your head into your pillow as you giggled and got flustered like an idiot. Keegan sat up in his bed and chuckled as he watched you got nervous.

It was the right moment.

"y/n.." he whispered again, "hm?" you asked and turned your head, "I like you, and i don't mean like a friend, i love you, and i don't want anyone else but you" he said quietly and sweetly with a smile, like that sentence was exclusive for your ears to hear, Only your ears.

Your eyes widened a bit at his confession but it made you flustered, but you smiled and sat up and stared at him, "I like you too, and not just as a friend" you admitted and smiled at him.

The two of you sat there for a few moments smiling at each other and blushing before Keegan got up, you were about to follow his movements but he was quick to kiss you and push you back down onto the bed as he held your waist gently.

[hischierdevils]

Close As Strangers | Q.H.

note: thank you to my cal anon for suggesting I write something based off of Close As Strangers by 5sos

summary: you realize that quinn doesn’t have to be physically gone for you to miss him

warnings: ANGST

wc: 1.7K

I'm afraid that I might be losing you

And every night that we spend alone

It kills me thinking of you on your own

And I wish I was back home next to you

When Quinn got back to the hotel after the game he was exhausted. He was two days into a ten day road trip and it was already hard to come back to an empty bed. As he changes out of his suit and gets ready for bed, he wonders what you’re doing. 

The two of you weren’t on very good terms when he left. The team had a couple of brutal losses back to back and Quinn had blamed it on himself. He internalized everything, coming home from the rink and ignoring you as he ran through the game in his mind trying to find all of his mistakes. 

The two of you had been together for a year already, so he thought you knew by now not to take it personally when he withdrew from you but you’d taken to sleeping on the couch a few nights before he left. He had stood by the door with his suitcase waiting for his goodbye kiss but you simply waved him off, barely looking in his direction. 

You hadn’t texted him before or after the game. He doesn’t even know if you watched it. You usually always send him a good luck text even though he never replies because he’s usually on the phone with his Dad. The last message in your text thread is you asking if the two of you could have a date night before he left. It had gone unanswered because he was in the gym with Petey. Besides, the two of you lived together. He saw you all the time. 

Now he lays in bed alone, wishing he could hold you in his arms as he falls asleep. He tosses and turns a few times before clutching the extra pillow and pulling it to his chest. You always start off spooning when the two of you fall asleep and then during the night you always somehow end up on top of Quinn. He teases you about it but he doesn’t mind. He loves waking up to you laying on his chest. 

Quinn lays in bed for what feels like hours but sleep never comes. His mind is full of thoughts of you and he starts to convince himself that you won't be there when he returns home. The thought is enough to make him sit up in bed and reach for his phone. It’s 12:30 a.m. his time which means it’s only 9:30 p.m. your time. 

Late night calls and another text

Is this as good as we're gonna get?

Another time zone taking me away from you

Your phone begins to ring with an incoming facetime as you take your makeup off. Quinn’s name comes up so you click accept and prop your phone up on the counter so you can continue your nightly routine. 

“Hey beautiful.” You fight the urge to roll your eyes as you wash your face. Of course he’s all cute and caring when he’s in a completely different timezone. 

“Hey. How was the game?” You ask. 

“We won. Did you watch it?” It’s so dark on his side of the screen that you can barely see his face. 

“No.” You respond as you reach for a towel to pat-dry your face. You did turn the game on for a moment but it hurt too much to see him smiling and laughing with his teammates during warm ups so you turned it back off. “I’m glad you won.”

“What did you do tonight?” You know he’s asking because he wants to know why you didn’t watch the game. How could you knowing the outcome of the game would determine if you got to talk to your boyfriend tonight? 

You take a minute to answer, dabbing moisturizer on your face before putting all of your products away. “Nothing, really.” You finally respond as you shut off the bathroom light and make your way into the bedroom you share with Quinn. “I had dinner and read my book.” The truth is you picked at your dinner before throwing most of it out. You tried watching his game but couldn’t stomach it, so you opened a book and stared at the same page for an hour. 

Quinn shifts on his side of the phone. When did it become so hard for the two of you to talk? “Sounds like a nice night.” 

When you first started dating, you stayed up for hours talking about anything and everything with him. Now you can’t even bring yourself to tell him you miss him. “Yeah, I guess.” 

“I love you.” He says as you get into bed. His pillow still smells like him and you’re suddenly overwhelmed with grief, as if the relationship is already over. 

“I miss you.” You whisper with tears in your eyes. 

On the phone I can tell that you wanna move on

Through the tears I can hear that I shouldn't have gone

Every day gets harder to stay away from you

Quinn sits up quickly when he hears you start to cry and he turns on his bedside lamp so you can see his face. “It’s okay, baby. I’m here.” His heart breaks as he listens to you sob. “I’ll be home soon.”

“Even when you’re here you’re not here, Quinn.” You tell him between gasps. “I don’t think I can do this anymore.” 

“Y/n.” Tears begin to line his own eyes as he looks at the dark screen. He can’t see your face and he’s not sure if he wants to. “You don’t mean that. We’ll get through this.” 

“I don’t even know what we’re supposed to get through!” Your voice turns angry, making him wince. “You barely speak to me anymore Quinn. We don’t act like a couple. We’re just strangers that happen to live in the same house.” 

He realizes how much he’s been taking you for granted and his tears start to fall quickly. All he wants to do is reach through the phone and hold you. “I’m sorry, y/n. I’ve had a lot going on with the-”

“The team, I know.” Your voice is bitter. 

“Hockey’s my job y/n, you knew that going into this.” He bites back. 

“I knew that you’d have to leave for away games.” You’re not sobbing anymore but he can tell you’re still crying. “I didn’t realize how you played affected if I would get a good night kiss or not.” 

“That’s not true.” 

“Can you tell me the last time we kissed, Quintin?” He winces at the use of his full name. You never call him that. It hurts even more when he realizes that he doesn’t know the last time he kissed you. Surely it couldn’t have been longer than a week, right?

“I love you y/n.” He says through his tears. 

He hears you sigh. “I’m going to bed.” 

What does that mean? Are you broken up? “Can I call you tomorrow?” 

“I guess that depends on the game, huh?” You hang up before he can respond, leaving him staring at his own reflection. He told you twice that he loved you and you hadn’t said it back.

Are we wasting time

Talking on a broken line?

Telling you I haven't seen your face in ages

I feel like we're as close as strangers

You called off of work the next day. You’d spent most of the night crying after talking to Quinn and you woke up with a headache. You had no idea where the two of you stood or what you even wanted. You love Quinn, at least you thought you did. The Quinn you see now is just a shell of who he used to be. It almost seems like he decided that since you lived together he didn’t have to try anymore. 

You woke up to a good morning text from him so you responded wishing him luck at his game before you move to sit on the couch. Wearing one of Quinn’s hoodies with tears in your eyes, you search your laptop for affordable apartments in the Vancouver area. The thought of breaking up is killing you but so is the thought of staying. 

You don’t hear anything else from him before the game starts but you find yourself pulling it up on the tv anyway. You set your laptop down on the floor and watch the tv until you spot Quinn in a close-up. You wish you could say he looks miserable. That maybe he’s hurting just as much as you are but there’s nothing about his appearance that signifies that. 

His game though, is another story. He’s playing the worst game you’ve ever seen him play. You should turn it off, knowing there’s no chance you’ll be hearing from him tonight, but it’s like watching a car accident. You don’t want to watch but you can’t look away. 

With five seconds left in the second period, there’s a lot of traffic around the Canucks net and Quinn ends up taking a deflected puck straight to the face. He’s helped off the ice and goes straight down the tunnel. You watch in horror as the rest of the period plays out, waiting for news of him. He doesn’t come back on the ice and the game goes to second intermission. 

“Please be okay.” You whisper to yourself as you snuggle into Quinn’s hoodie. “Please.” 

Five minutes later, your phone is ringing. You answer right away when you see it’s Quinn. “Are you okay?” 

“Do you still love me?” His question throws you off. 

“What? Quinn…” Your mind is reeling. He just took a puck to the face and that’s what he’s worried about?

“Please don’t leave, okay?” His voice breaks up over the line. “I need you to be there when I get home.” There’s noise in the background and then ruffling. “I have to go.” 

“Quinn.” You say his name so he’ll stay on the line. “I need you to be here when you get home.” 

“I will be.” He says and then hangs up. 

[drainslo]

Lovers to Enemies-- Chishiya x Reader (Pt 2)

Read Part 1

Read Part 3

Read Part 4

===============================================

The card. He took the card and left and so I was left with nothing.

To say everything seemed grim would be an understatement.

I walked outside the flaming interior of the Beach to find Arisu commemorating the dead. Noble for someone who was condemned by the very people he now tried to honor.

"Hey," I said walking over to Arisu and Usagi.

"You're alive," Usagi smiled and gave me a side-hug. In her eyes there was an unspoken sense of trauma from what we both had gone through.

"What do you think comes next?" Arisu asked, staring absentmindedly at the roaring flames which consumed the Beach.

The flames licked upward, destroying what had been our former utopia. The air was filled with a light smoke that reminded me of cigarettes every time I inhaled. It wasn't exactly unpleasant, but it felt like an appropriate reminder of the ones who had fallen.

"It could be more games." A familiar voice joined our conversation and we all turned to find An standing behind us, limping with Kuina at her side.

"God, I hope not," Kuina said.

"Are you okay?" Usagi exclaimed and chattered with the others over Kuina's injuries. Apparently she had gotten involved with Last Boss in a Karate fight to protect An. I never knew Kuina had done the sport.

The only thing I had known about Kuina was that she was close with Chishiya. I frequently saw him whispering to her during the Beach. She stayed away from me mostly. I never played games with her either.

"You're not-- with him right?" Arisu said slowly, breaking the flow of the conversation. For a second I paused, racking my thoughts to find who he was talking about until I realized who the "him" was.

"Chishiya? Hell no. I'm so sorry to you both for what he did to you. I wish it could've worked out another way," her voice trailed off as the others began to comfort her. But she never denied having any involvement in the plan.

She always knew, then.

I drifted off to the sound of soft whispers between the survivors of the Beach. Before I fully fell asleep, I could've sworn I saw the ghost of a white hoodie on the outskirts of the makeshift campground that vanished.

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

An's prediction echoed in my ears as the collar clicked around my neck. The robotic voice of a woman who I now had known to be Mira announced my registration. It of course had to be more games.

After almost dying from the King of Spades, I chose the Jack of Hearts as my venue of poison. I always did fairly well in hearts games at the Beach, and after being separated from the others I wouldn't have to betray anyone I knew. It was my specialty after all.

There was no guarantee I could find good teammates at clubs venues, and forget Spades or Diamonds. Those would have me killed faster than Chishiya tried to.

The dimly lit jail was a dismal site for a game; the walls and floors had traces of mold covering them. The players around me eyed each other with suspicion. A few chatted.

The sound of moans coming from a cell nearby made my face flush as I awkwardly craned my head to see the source of where it was coming from.

Big mistake.

A man with broad shoulders was ramming his girlfriend against the wall quite passionately. I didn't look away for a second, and I nearly jumped out of my skin when a silky voice spoke almost directly into my ear.

"Like what you see? My my, I didn't know you were into... things like that. But I guess we never tried anything like it."

Unknowingly, I instinctually backed towards the entrance of a cell that was away from the couple. I turned to find Chishiya who followed my steps until we were both in a cell.

"What--" I trailed off as he closed the door behind him with a faint click. He looked at me hungrily, the way he looked at me after he was the only survivor in a game.

I felt the cold wall touch my back as I pressed against it. Chishiya stood mere inches away from my face, threatening my very existence.

He traced my jawline with one of his hands, and with the other braced himself against the wall. I could hear the sound of his breathing amidst the faint background noise of everything else.

"I knew I'd find you here," Chishiya smiled quietly, almost to himself. "You would choose a hearts game, and the lowest one to maximize your chances of survival." He answered the question I had before I ever asked it.

He was impossibly close, and yet impossibly far away at the same time. I could've sworn he leaned in slightly, until the sound of the game starting chimed.

Without saying another word, he vanished into the main area the others were congregating. It was like he was never there, never with me.

Just as it always had been.

[dancingundermoonlight101]

hiiii I love all your little blurbs that show on my fyp your angst stuff hits so well…could I ask for something following Megs’ “death” after the TFP premiere and Optimus struggling to mourn, due to them being enemies and having to keep a brave face? Again, luv your stuff. Have an awesome day.

Optimus had to smile. Pretend he was as glad as everyone else. Had to ignore the bitterness he felt as his teammates, in their own ways, expressed how glad they were over Megatron's death. Feel unending guilt at the fact that he even feels bitter about it. He cares about his teammates. He knows each and everybody has lost something precious at Megatron's, Decepticon's, or at the war's hand. The war they all believe Megatron had started.

They don't know. They don't see. They don't realize what brought uppon this war, and now what Optimus will have to fight alone towards. Megatron represented hope. Hope for a better future, hope for equal treatment to all that the previous system ignored and abused. Hope.. Even so, Optimus doesn't regret disagreeing with the way Megatron wanted to go about things. He just regrets that he and Megatron couldn't have come to a compromise. Couldn't find common ground.

'Now he's dead.'

"He could be alive." Optimus comments out loud.

"Who?" Ratchet asks. Probably hoping to Primus that Optimus doesn't mean-

"Megatron?" Bumblebee beeps out, making everyone else stop in their tracks

"You don't seriously think he's still alive, do you?" Bulkhead adds

"Well," Arcee begins. "Even though it feels like there is no way he could be alive. You have to admit, he has survived worse." She scowls.

The mood of the base drops. Optimus already feels an argument brewing. He decides to stop it before it begins. "We do not know if he is alive or not. Arce is right, Megatron has survived worse. But even so, we must remain alert. We do not know what Decepticons will do with the loss of their leader. Only time will tell if this loss is temporary.. or permanent."

His team nods their helms with serious expressions. All except Ratchet, who is looking at Optimus with a look that says they will have a word about this later.

Optimus can only internally sigh as he walks off after a few more reassuring words. His team also dispersed after that. Ratchet followed after him.

"Optimus! Surely you can't be hoping he's alive! You of all mechs know of all the evil deeds he has done!" Ratchet begins once Optimus stops walking.

"I know all too well, old friend. I still wish things could have gone differently." Optimus admits this small bit to Ratchet. Hoping he of all bots could understand...

Ratchet only scoffs, crossing his arms. "Well, they didn't. Megatron made his choice, and he chose genocide. He chose to continue this war even after what happened to Cybertron! So many were killed because of his choices, Optimus.. You should stop being a bleeding spark for mechs that don't deserve it. Especially for a monster."

Optimus felt a part of his spark break. The small hope he had about trusting anyone with his thoughts was gone, just like that. It's fine. His field is still pulled tightly against his frame. Ratchet won't be able to feel how deeply those words hurt him. Optimus sighs. Trying to regain his composure. "Once again, you are right. Perhaps it is for the best that things ended up like this." The words felt like lead to his tongue. He had to force them out anyway.

"Damn right I am," Ratchet mutters, nodding. About to say something more. But Optimus tunes him out.

...

The Prime finds himself out at night, staring up at the singular moon. Why is he here? He should be back at base recharging. Rarely does Optimus come out at night. But when he does, he likes to drive to a secluded place. A place only he knows of.

"A place that reminds me of you.."

'Megatron.'

"My sworn brother turned enemy. How did things end up like this?"

'You betrayed him. You became a Prime.'

"I didn't wish to become a Prime!"

'A Prime shouldn't think about not wanting to be one. You are a fake. A failure as one. It is an honor and a privilege to fight for the people of Cybertron.'

"There is no Cybertron left to fight for.."

'And for the people?'

"They will always be worth fighting for."

'Then why are you here?'

"Megatron."

'He's dead.'

"He could be alive."

'It would be better if he wasn't.'

"Perhaps.."

'Why do you want him to be alive?'

"I do not know."

'You don't wish to admit it.'

"I wish things could have gone differently. That me and him could have rebuilt Cybertron side by side."

'Why?'

"He was my sworn brother. The Decepticons follow his lead, and I know with his help, no unfair laws could have ever been put in place."

'He was more than your sworn brother. You wished he was more than-'

"He shouldn't have been. That was a mistake on both our ends. We were both foolish -"

'You still love him. You still wished you both were more than enemies. Now he's dead.'

Optimus remains silent. Covering his optics with a servo. "This is ridiculous. I am a Prime. A protector of all life. If these feelings and thoughts are going to cloud my processor. It would be best if I didn't have them at all."

'Are you going to hide from your feelings? Your thoughts? Your memories? What you truthly long for? How many times will you do this, Optimus?'

Optimus paused when his processor conjured up Megatron's voice the moment he opened the folder he had been searching for. Shocked by the sheer amount of data he was hiding in it. One small folder he always forgot about. Was curious over. And always regretted opening again and again. It was all Megatron. Every memory, every thought, every feeling, it was all too overwealming. Optimus felt overpowering grief—

Optimus Prime did what needed to be done, closed, and hid the small, unassuming folder. "For however long I continue to be a leader."

Then he stood. The moon now hidden by clouds. Rain already beginning to pour.

And with that, Optimus Prime drove back to base. To the place that he knew could never replace home.

[imagine-knb]

Hiiii! Could u do Aomine and kagami , with their girlfriend getting hit by a basketball from one of their teammates? I love u so muchhhhh! Btw it’s my first time asking!

Kagami: Everyone seems to freeze when it happens and the ball bounces once, twice, three times before rolling away from you. Your hand is on your cheek where the basketball hit and you can already feel the lump beginning to form. Your jaw hurts and your eyes begin welling with tears.

It's actually Riko who responds first, asking you a bewildered, "Are you okay?"

The sound of her voice seems to break Kagami out of whatever trance he was in and his booming voice covers her as he says almost at the same time, "Holy crap, your face!" The outburst isn't chivalrous at all and when Kagami notices the rest of his teammates glaring at him, he flushes red before retorting defensively, "What?! I didn't do it!"

"That's not the point, dumbass," more than one of his teammates deadpan.

It takes him a few more seconds before he realizes and, turning a bit redder, he jogs over to you mumbling, "Right, right..." Taking your hand off your face, he replaces it with his own, unaware that the callouses on his fingers don't exactly feel great on your now sore skin. "Are you okay?" he murmurs, trying his best to graze a gentle finger over the forming bruise.

"I'm fine," you reassure, giving him a strained smile. "Looks worse than it feels." Though the way you wince when he presses your cheek just a bit too hard has him thinking otherwise.

Now Kagami's eyes are narrowing and he's turning that glare back over at his teammates. They're all looking away, unwilling to meet the anger in his gaze.

"I'm gunna kill whoever did this," he grumbles.

You snort with amusement, thinking he sounds like a vengeful character from one of his favorite action movies. "Don't be so dramatic."

Aomine: The basketball is only able to get a few feet away before Aomine is scooping it up himself. His eyes are narrowed, glaring directly at the last guy to have a handle on the ball. It's one of his fellow first years — someone he doesn't even remember the name of because they weren't good enough to get on the regular team. His knuckles go white with the iron grip he has on the ball.

"I should throw this at your head too so you can see how that feels." His tone is low, threatening, and seething. He reels back a bit, readying himself to throw the basketball full force, when an arm wraps around his elbow to stop him.

"Daiki, don't!" It's Momoi, her brows furrowed in a disapproving stare as she tries her best to hold him back. Her gaze flickers over to where you're on the sidelines, keeled over and holding onto your head. "You should go check up on ____, let Imayoshi take care of it."

He knows she's right, but a part of him is reveling in the way the other first year is cowering slightly. After a full beat, he snorts before dropping the ball. Disciplinary action was not high on his agenda. Brushing Momoi's arm of his elbow, he rolls his shoulder a bit before stalking off to where you are.

The second he's kneeling in front of you, Aomine's expression seems to soften slightly, though you can still see the anger in his eyes. "You okay?"

"Daiki, you can have more tact than that!"

He turns to glare at his childhood friend — "Shut up, Satsuki!" — before he turns back to you. "Seriously, you good?"

"I will be," you reassure, amused at the mood swings he seems to be having between you and his teammates.

"That's good." Aomine places one of his large hands over your head, ruffling your hair gently before massaging his thumb into the sore spot on your head. It's a small gesture, but it's enough to have you smiling again.

[fixfoxnox]

Ok but like since Compound Roach is a himbo we need a mini drabble of when he goes on a mission with the 141 and has the whole “sneak into a room with 15 bad guys, kills them all off screen, gently opens door to let team in” moment you described once, followed by him going apeshit with a machine gun he finds later in the mission like this boy is FERAL LMAO

This is technically the first drabble that I'm writing with Compound AU Roach I'm so excited I love he

"Doors locked," Ghost spoke lowly, "Someone will have to go in and open it for us."

There was a pause as Price considered his team. There were a number of men inside and, whoever went in, would have to take them out by themselves. No one would be able to reach them. That wasn't the problem, not for his team. No, the problem was figuring out which of the men would be able to get into the room.

"Any entry points?" He asked carefully.

"Above us," Ghost responded, "It's a vent system. Tight fit but it drops down right into the room. That's the only one."

"Right," he gave a deep sigh and turned back toward the Rangers behind them that had joined them on the mission. He was preparing to tell them that they'd have to move back, but he was shocked into silence as he and the rest of his team watched as the rangers helped one of their own strip out of his bulky gear. "What the fuck are you doing?"

The men ignored him. Once the man was fully stripped of his bulky gear, he handed his gun off and pushed past Price. "'Scuse me, sir," his voice was laced in a southern accent and he said nothing else before climbing the railing of the walkway they were on and using it to help boost himself up and into the vent. He disappeared for a moment before calling out, "Alright slide the gun in!"

His teammate that had been holding his weapon awkwardly shuffled past Price before reaching up to slide the weapon into the vent. "Got it, Sanderson?"

"Got it! I'll let y'all in in a second!" Things went quiet and Price just stared dumbfounded after the man. Did he realize that he was going to be in a room completely outnumbered? This was not good.

Several moments after and they could hear gunshots begin in the room. They couldn't see anything, but they winced at the sounds of loud banging, screaming, and gunfire that seemed to echo around them. After several moments, the noises stopped and they were left in an eerie silence.

After another few moments, the door in front of them was pulled open and they were met with the bright grin of the man who'd pushed himself into the vent. His hair looked wild and there was blood splatter across his face and clothing. Looking past him into the room, Price could understand why.

"All righty! There we go, doors open. Let me just get my gear back on and we'll be right as rain!" He pushed past the 141 members to start quickly putting back on his tac vest. "Oh," he turned suddenly, "Watch where you step, I nearly slipped on some of the blood on the ground. Don't want anyone banging themselves up."

Price stared at the man for a moment. What was it his teammate had called him? Sanderson wasn't it? He was going to keep an eye on him.

"Holy shit!" Ghost muttered next to Price. He sounded breathless and shocked, though Price also noticed the hint of admiration that tinged his words. He couldn't find it in himself to respond. After all, it wasn't every day that you watched someone latch on to the back of a juggernaut and stab him in the throat repeatedly.

They could do nothing but stare with shock as the man ripped into the juggernaut's throat, slinging blood around with every quick and precise stab that he delivered. It was only a few moments before the juggernaut was falling, slowly collapsing to the ground and forcing Sanderson to jump away just to keep from getting crushed.

Price watched him tuck his knife back into his belt casually, a bright grin on his face as he looked down at the man he'd just killed. It usually took the 141 far longer to take down a juggernaut.

"Oo!" he gave an excited squeal and ducked down, tugging at the weapon attached to the juggernaut's body until it finally snapped free, sending him stumbling into a wall with a grunt. "Guys look!" He turned to the group excitedly, "Mini-gun!!!"

Price stopped the head of the squad that they were working with, "What's his name." He pointed to Sanderson.

"Gary Sanderson," the squad leader answered with a chuckle. He obviously understood Price's shock. "Though, he prefers Roach."

"Break through that line!" Price called, grunting as he was forced to duck behind cover to avoid being shot. Of course, their team would run into a practical army of men on their way to extraction, "We need to form a path to the extraction point!"

"On it!" Roach called out with a grin. Price couldn't even find it in himself to be shocked anymore when the younger man stood from his cover and quickly opened fire with a grin on his face. The mini-gun he'd taken from the juggernaut's body cut through the enemy soldiers quickly and soon, he was leading a path through to extraction with the 141 and the rest of his squad following behind.

"Provide Roach covering fire!" He called to his team. They were quick to listen, forming up in a defensive position around the younger man and tossing grenades and bullets into the waves of enemies, helping Roach to thin the crowds. It was clear, though, that Roach and the mini-gun he'd found were doing the most damage. It was like, somehow, every bullet that the younger man shot was hitting its mark.

They moved to their extraction much faster than Price had anticipated and, as he found himself sitting on the plane that was taking them back to base with the sound of Roach talking excitedly about how cool the mini-gun he'd used was, he knew that he'd found himself another member of his team. After all, he certainly wanted skill like that on the 141.

[depressedhatakekakashi]

Losing My Cool

Scene Rewrites/Taryn's Birthday Celebration 2024

Prompt: Kakashi scolds Sakura for her plan to kill Sasuke

Words: 1,450

For: ME Cuz it's my birthday and I wanted to treat myself <3 also @mintehz who loves to see Kakashi lose his cool like me XD

In all his years, Kakashi had never experienced such unrelenting rage. He’d never looked at a situation in front of him and felt himself slowly losing control of his composure.

            Emotions were something Kakashi prided himself on having control over. He was a calculated, composed shinobi capable of dealing with any situation that he faced. At least, he was.

            Today that had changed.

            When Sai had first told him and Tenzo of Sakura’s plan’s to go after Sasuke he’d been upset by her disregard of his and, more importantly, Naruto’s efforts to save Sasuke from the judgement placed onto him by the Raikage and so many others.

            That feeling had been manageable, though. All he had to do was chase after Sakura and stop her from doing something stupid. That he could handle.

            What he couldn’t handle was what he found on the way to stop Sakura.

            The three unconscious bodies of Lee, Sai and Kiba laying in the middle of the road with Sakura no where in sight.

            His blood had begun to boil when he’d realized what Sakura had done to her teammates. Her friends.       

            The people who had risked sever punishment by accompanying her out of the village during a five Kage summit just so she could lie about her feelings to Naruto’s face and run off on a half-cocked mission to kill Sasuke.

             He wanted to stay and ensure that the three were safe until they woke up, but he didn’t have time. Stopping Sakura was his top priority.

            If he’d known the lengths, she would go to achieve her mission he never would have left Tenzo and Naruto behind, but as it was all he could do was move the three to the side and apologize for being unable to do more.

            Once all three of them were off the road he continued on his path to locate and stop Sakura, but he was no longer calm about his mission. He was furious. Burning with an anger he wasn’t used to.

            The anger only flared more when he finally saw Sakura.

            Still, he did what he had to and moved himself in front of her just as Sasuke went in for the attack, shoving his hand away as he bared his Kunai toward him. When Sasuke tried to trip him he made an effortless jump over the leg and twisted himself around, kicking out and connecting his foot with Sasuke’s chest.

            With that hit Sasuke went flying back, creating distance between him and Kakashi.

            “You really meant to kill her,” he sighed, the realization of Sasuke’s attack sinking in. He knew Sakura was there on a mission to kill Sasuke, but when he’d arrived, she had her back turned to him.

            Her intention was not clear. Sasuke had simply chosen to attack her while her back was exposed to him.

            “And what are you going to do about that?” Sasuke sneered. “Are you going to admonish me?”

            Thinking about it, Kakashi shook his head. “You, I will deal with later,” he promised before turning away from Sasuke, leaving him staring at his back while he focused on Sakura. “you, though.”

            “Sensai, I-“

            “I don’t want to hear it,” he growled, the anger he’d tried so hard to control finally boiling over. “Were you even thinking when you came up with this plan? Did you use that big brain of yours to pause and contemplate this plan?”

            “I-“

            “No, you weren’t,” he cut her off, uninterested in the excuses she might try to give him. “Not only are you going after Sasuke while Naruto is out here begging the Raikage to spare his life, but you put your friends at risk in order to go through with this stupid plan!”

            Sakura winced. “I didn’t mean to. I just didn’t want to put them in danger.”

            “In danger?” Kakashi sputtered. “So instead of convincing them to go along on this half-brained scheme of yours and having at least a little back-up or doing the smart thing and not going after Sasuke at all, you decided that it would be smart to knock your friends out and leave their unconscious bodies in the middle of the road for anyone to find!?”

            “If I brought them here they would still be in danger!”

            “But at least they would be able to defend themselves!” watching as she recoiled away from him, he growled. “I haven’t been able to teach you a lot, and I failed to keep the team together when it was falling apart, but the one lesson I wanted all of you to learn was team work.”

            “I know that, Sensei.”

            “Then tell me why, if you know, that you would go out of your way to disregard that one lesson and put your teammates in danger!?”

            Silence fell over them as Sakura stood there, her eyes now focused on the ground between her feet and her mouth firmly shut. Keeping any rebuttals or arguments she may have left in her to herself.

            “You’re benched,” he declared, finally turning his back to her with that final, official order.

            “You can’t!” She argued. “The only one who can bench a shinobi is-“

            “The Hokage,” he confirmed. “And as Danzo was officially removed from the position by a vote of no confidence from the other Four Kage, and likely wouldn’t have made it through the Jonin’s vote had he made it back to Konoha, we need a Hokage to lead the village. At this moment, with the confidence of the other four Kage’s, that is me.”

            An unfortunate situation to find himself in, but there were little other options. Danzo getting into the position had already been a grave mistake. If the only way to prevent a similar mistake from being made with someone else was to step up and take the position himself, then that was what he would do.

            “But Sensei,”

            “As the Hokage I will not have Shinobi under my command who willfully put their teammates at risk,” staring forward, he watched as Sasuke examined the situation. So far, he’d said nothing, simply standing back and allowing Kakashi to scold Sakura. How long that patience would last, he wasn’t sure, and if he didn’t deal with the situation at hand things were likely to spiral out of his control. “Now, Sasuke,”

            “Got a lecture for me too, Sensei?” Sarcasm dripped in his old student’s voice when he used the honorific. A respect Kakashi had never expected from Sasuke, or anyone else, and which Sasuke clearly had no intention of ever truly extending to him.

            “No,” he sighed. “I am…disappointed. I never thought you would have fallen so far as to attack someone from behind.”

            “You knew she was here to kill me, did you not?”

            “I did,” his eyes darted back toward Sakura who was now simply standing there continuing to stare at the ground like a scolded child. “But she wasn’t attacking her, and you didn’t know until I showed up, did you?”

            “Does it matter?”

            Sighing, he shifted his weight slightly, so he was better prepared for an attack. Just in case.

            “I don’t want a fight, Sasuke,” he insisted. “I’m here to get Sakura and leave.”

            “I killed your Hokage,” stepping off to the side, Sasuke gestured to a pool of blood behind him. A pool that Kakashi could only assume, based on Sasuke’s words, had once been Danzo.

            “I’m not going to cry over him,” he shrugged. “he was a terrible person, and…” thinking back to what Madara had said earlier, he sighed. “I’m still not sure of how much I was told is true, but I don’t find it very hard to believe that Danzo did manipulate Itachi.”

            Sasuke’s eyes widened. “What?”

            “I want to find out the truth,” he continued. “I need to know what really happened. If what Madara said is true, and what I and Konoha can do about that. But to do that-“

            “Shut up…”

            “I don’t want to fight.”

            Hearing the words once again, Sasuke began to laugh. He threw his head back, eyes staring up at the sky as he laughed louder and harder. “You don’t want to fight me?” he taunted lowering his head and staring at Kakashi with cold, angry eyes. “But I’m itching to kill you, Kakashi.”

            “I see,” sighing, Kakashi stared at the boy in front of him, the student he’d failed to save, and wondered to himself if he could really take on the burden of killing Sasuke. It wasn’t the path he wanted to take, but if he had to fight to protect himself he would.

            Even if it meant killing someone he still wanted so badly to save.

[vexcraft]

wanted to write some life series cub and grian so here we go (also on AO3 here!)

selfish

“You seriously need a haircut,” Grian commented as Cub once again brushed a few stray strands of hair that didn’t want to stay tucked away out of his face. 

“It’s fine,” Cub replied curtly. It wasn’t fine - Grian was right, his overgrown hair was definitely becoming a problem, but Cub was not about to admit that, not to another red name that he definitely didn’t need to be messing near his head with a blade. 

“It’s clearly bothering you.” Grian didn’t sound genuinely concerned. Even faked worry would have sounded nice if Cub didn’t know sooner or later at least one of them would die. “Stop being difficult. We already lost Scar, I don’t need you getting distracted and getting us both killed.” 

There it was again, the clear self-interest Cub wasn’t used to seeing and most people didn’t even bother trying to hide. He supposed it made sense, in the end everyone wanted to save their own skin - that’s how the games were - but there was something about it that made him feel uneasy.

Cub wasn’t a team player by nature, not like some others were. He could work well with people, it wasn’t something he strayed away from at all, but he was used to managing on his own, taking care of himself. The balance of working together and working alone here was odd - people cared about their teammates, but not for the sake of their wellbeing. 

They wanted to keep their allies as useful as they could be, for as long as they proved helpful. After that, it seemed lucky if you didn’t find a knife in your back.

Cub wasn’t opposed to such strategies, not really. It felt fake, but that seemed to be engraved in the nature of the games.

“Well, sorry that I don’t trust you with a blade in your hand behind my back.” Cub didn’t exactly trust Grian in any way, but he much preferred having the other where he could see him. “My bad, I suppose.”

Grian rolled his eyes at the obvious sarcasm. “Stop being ridiculous.”

“Stop pretending you care,” Cub grumbled. “Doesn’t suit you.”

Grian’s dark eyes were void of any emotion as he stared down at Cub from the stone wall he was sitting on. “Scar told me to look after you.”

It had been a few days since Scar had died, going down in his own trap along with a few other players. Some of them had been yellow, only now turning red, but some he had taken completely out, including himself. 

There was something disturbing in how quickly his face had gone from surprise and shock from realizing he was too close to the already ignited TNT with no way out to a manic grin as he accepted his fate.

Cub scoffed. “Since when have you, out of all people, cared about what Scar says?”

Something in the already hostile atmosphere snapped and before Cub could react, Grian had jumped off the wall right onto him. “Get off me!” Cub yelled, trying to shake off the avian that had sunk his claws into his clothes, clinging onto his back with more strength than Cub knew Grian even possessed.

“Stop being so difficult!” Grian shrieked when Cub tried to elbow him into the ribs, his sharp claws digging into the other’s skin through his clothes as he kept his grip firm.

Cub groaned in pain when Grian suddenly grabbed his hair, pulling his head back, talons scratching the back of his neck. There was a sharp noise and then his grip loosened. Locks of wavy black hair fell on the ground.

“What the fuck did you do?!” Cub shouted, finally managing to shove Grian off of him. 

The avian landed rather gracefully despite his wings being bound to his back, shaking hairs off his hands. He had used his talons to cut the hair, Cub realized. “Helped you out, since you wouldn’t cooperate.”

Cub glared at Grian as he tried to feel the injuries where his claws had broken the skin. He brushed some of the stray hairs off his shoulders, feeling Grian’s intense gaze follow his every move.

His head did feel lighter now, hair no longer brushing his shoulders and pressing against his neck uncomfortably. It felt better - not that he would admit that, definitely not to Grian.

“I hope you die next,” he said instead.

[madsworld15]

New Fic Alert: lifeline of a promise in a shot glass (Brian/Justin AU)

PART TWO of MANY

Synopsis: What if Justin never met Brian when he was 17, and because of this, his father convinces him to go to Dartmouth and follow a business path? Years later, Justin is 25 and works alongside Ted, who was his mentor as he studied for his CPA the year before, and lives a life of limited socialization due to crippling grief and anxiety caused by the death of his close friend 3 years prior. What happens when Ted pushes him into interacting with the family?

Part 1 can be found HERE.

The next day, Justin sat in his apartment with a sketchpad he’d carried around since his high school art days but hadn’t touched in years. He stared at the last drawing he ever did. 

Jason’s smiling face, with his dark hair seeming to move in the nonexistent wind. 

His eyes prickled with tears as Lindsay’s words from the night before echoed in his head. We never stop being artists. His fingers itched to draw, to immerse himself in a world of happiness and good things. But the ever-pervading cloud of depression stopped him just short of his pencil making contact with the paper.

Justin was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of his apartment door buzzer. It wasn’t the one from the street, so whoever was at his actual door must’ve been let in by someone else in the building. It could only be two people, considering only two people knew where he lived. So, seeing Ted on his doorstep caused his brain to short-circuit.

“Hey,” Ted smiled and gave a small wave once Justin rebooted.

“How do you know where I live?” Justin finally asked, stepping aside and letting Ted enter.

“I’m friends with Marlene in HR, and she owed me a favor after I helped her with her taxes last year.” Ted’s answer was rushed, “Never mind. Not important.” 

Justin bit his thumb and watched as his friend walked around his small but comfortable living space. When Ted came to the sketchpad Justin had set down on his coffee table in the sitting area, Justin held his breath.

“So, you’re an artist?” Ted held up the drawing, a look of admiration and awe on his face. “You’re really good.”

“I don’t do that anymore.” Justin stepped across the room, took the pad from the older man, and closed it before shoving it into the entertainment center under his TV. 

From the look of it, Ted could tell Justin didn’t want to talk about it, but the man was never one to back down quietly. So when he opened his mouth to respond, Justin steeled himself for a blow he wasn’t quite ready to handle.

“Was he your ex or something?” Ted chuckled at what he thought was a joke.

Justin turned to face his coworker, his only confidante that he had regular contact with, and begged him just to drop it. But, what Justin must’ve conveyed was more sad and depressing because Ted immediately wrapped his arms around him in a hug.

And for the first time in a long time, Justin let another person comfort him as his tears fell. He’d been bottling up his emotions since the anniversary on Wednesday. Here was Ted, a sweet and giving man, just holding him and letting him unburden anything Justin felt comfortable giving.

After a few minutes, Justin found his mouth revealing what his heart begged to be kept quiet, “He was my best friend, and I killed him.”

Ted pulled back and studied Justin’s face for any sign of falsehood or over-exaggeration. Then he walked back from Justin’s personal space to sit down on the couch. 

“I highly doubt that.” Ted finally responded, giving Justin his kindest eyes. “Killing him, I mean.”

Justin moved to sit on the other end of the couch, a space of about 6 inches between them. “But I did. We were hanging out with his teammates. Jason was on the baseball team. We’d been dating for a year but kept it secret because Jason was afraid of losing his place on the team.” 

Justin took a deep breath, realizing that he was about to reveal more about that night than he ever had before outside of therapy.

“We had graduated the night before. The group of us were celebrating. I didn’t play sports, but I was great at just blending in, so the guys accepted me as Jason’s roommate. And everything was great until I got drunk and kissed him in front of everyone. Jason got so upset and ran off. I ran after him, and so did a few of the guys on the team.”

Ted leaned over and put his hand over Justin’s. Justin used his other hand to wipe away a few of the tears.

“Next thing I know, I woke up in the hospital with a traumatic brain injury, a smashed knee cap, and the news that Jason had died from his head wound.” 

Justin pulled his hand away from Ted’s because the human contact was suddenly too much. But Ted scooted across the space and wrapped his arm around Justin’s shoulder regardless. As Justin resisted and tried to pull away, Ted said the same thing over and over again.

“It’s not your fault. You didn’t hit him in the head. They did.” 

Somehow, Ted, who knew nothing about the people Justin once knew, was able to comfort him in a way that his mind had never allowed from Daphne. There in his apartment a few days after the third anniversary, Justin finally heard the words “It’s not your fault” and believed them, at least at that moment.

Once Justin’s emotions had quelled and he felt he could be a functioning human, he stood up and away from Ted’s touch.

“Uh. Thanks. I’m not sure what happened.” Justin paced the sitting area space of his apartment, biting down on his thumb once more.

“Clearly, you needed it. I kind of got the sense that it has been an especially long week for you. Which is why I came over to see if you might want to go to Babylon with me tonight.”

“Why?” Justin’s mouth once again worked of its own accord.

“Because it’s a gay dance club and a great place to forget the world.” Ted shrugged, watching Justin continue to pace from his spot on the couch.

“No, why are you so insistent about hanging out with me? I’m so much younger than you, and I’m depressing as hell.”

“Justin, you’re young. And yet, you spend most of your life either at work or home. That’s acceptable for someone of my age, but you? You should be out. Celebrating who you are. Enjoying life.” Ted stood up from the couch and approached Justin.

“You’re much too young to shut yourself off completely.” Ted placed his hand on Justin’s shoulder and fixed him with a serious stare. “Trust me, Babylon is a great place to forget your troubles.”

“It’s also a dance club, which is wall-to-wall people. That’s something that still makes me nervous. What if I get there and freak out?” Justin chose vulnerability once more, trusting that Ted would meet him where he was.

“Then, let me know, and we can leave together. There is no expectation. I just want you to try.” Ted smiled at him hopefully.

Justin bit his lip again and looked around his apartment. It was a nice, comfortable place to live. His father paid for it with his blood money payments, so Justin was able to live a little bit above his means. The space gave him a place where he could hide out and be safe. But Ted was right. He was only 25 and deserved to go out and enjoy himself.

“Okay. I’ll do it.” Justin smiled back at Ted. “On one condition.”

Ted quirked his eyebrow, “What’s that?”

“You dance with me for at least one song.” Justin shrugged as if the request should have been obvious.

“Of course.” Ted immediately agreed. Then he paused. Justin could tell he wanted to ask something else but hesitated for some reason.

“What is it, Ted?” Justin walked away from the man and toward his kitchen area to grab something to drink.

“Well, it’s too early for the club, but I wondered if you might want to catch dinner at the diner with Emmett, Ben, and Michael.” Ted looked hopeful.

As much as Justin desperately wanted to say no, he figured it would be better for his nerves later on. He couldn’t say no to Ted when he was like that.

“Okay. Fine, but I reserve the right to leave if I feel uncomfortable.” Justin pointed at Ted and grabbed his jacket hanging by the door. 

“I would never hold you anywhere against your will. Though, I must warn you. Michael’s mom, Debbie, is going to adore you, and she might.” Ted laughed as the two friends made their way down the hall toward the elevators.

“Do I want to know?” Justin laughed along with Ted. 

“Debbie can’t be easily explained. You just have to experience her to understand. She might not even be there, considering she’s technically retired.” Ted shrugged as they walked the three blocks toward Liberty Avenue. 

Justin shook his head and imagined having a mom like that. Jennifer Taylor was a great mom in her own right. She cared deeply about both her children, and Justin knew that if she were aware of his sexuality, she would embrace him wholeheartedly. The more people he met within the gay community, the more he felt the need to come out to her. But the idea still terrified him.

“Hey, Ted.” Justin came out of his own head and addressed his friend just as they turned onto Liberty Avenue.

“What’s up?” Ted slowed his pace a bit to get more in line with Justin.

“Do your parents know? About you, I mean.” Justin crossed his right arm across his chest and nervously grabbed his left bicep.

“My mom has known since I was in college. And my dad, well, my dad died when I was young, so, no.” Ted gave Justin a knowing look, “Why?”

“You remember that check from the other day?” Justin took a deep breath. He figured it was now or never. “Well, that was from my dad. He sends me a couple thousand every month to ‘celebrate that I went into business like he desired.’”

Ted stopped and gently grabbed Justin to prompt him to do the same. “Seriously? What did he think you were going to do instead?”

“Art,” Justin replied simply and then quickly pushed forward. “Anyway, I will never come out to him because, well, he doesn’t have the right to know that about me. Sending a check doesn’t make him a father.”

Ted nodded in agreement, and the two continued their trek down the block toward the corner diner. 

“But, my mom. She’s amazing. She’s seen me through everything. And she’s always loved my art. At this point, I feel like I’m lying to her. She doesn’t deserve that.” Justin turned his head to meet Ted’s gaze, “But how do I tell her?”

Ted wrapped his arm around Justin, “I think you’ll know the right words to say when the time comes. She’s your mom, and she loves you.”

They opened the door to the diner and walked inside, their more serious conversation topic forgotten. Ted directed Justin to a table a bit further back from the door where a tall, skinny man with flashy, form-fitting clothes sat with a short, black-haired man in a graphic t-shirt. The taller man excitedly waved the moment he saw Ted, and his face lit up like fireworks when he smiled. 

“TEDDY!” The taller man jumped up and wrapped Ted up in the biggest of hugs, “Oh my gosh! Who is this adorable little twink?” He added upon noticing Justin. 

“This is Justin. Remember, I told you guys he’s the new accountant I mentored last year.” Ted introduced Justin in the most basic way possible. This told Justin so much about his friend. That he knew all these details about Justin, and yet the one thing he kept referring to was their job. It made Justin breathe a sigh of relief.

The shorter man, still sitting at the table next to the taller one, looked up and smiled. 

“I’m Michael. Usually, Ben comes here with me but our son, Hunter, is having a bad day, so he stayed home with him,” the shorter man extended his hand for Justin to shake. He did.

“Oh, is it anything serious?” Ted sat down across from the two friends and scooted all the way to the wall so Justin could sit next to him and have an easy exit should he need it.

“Just feeling a bit under the weather. His count was high yesterday when he went to get his routine tests done.” Michael responded with a shrug. “Ben’s not too worried, so I’ve decided not to be as well.”

“Sure,” the taller friend muttered as he rolled his eyes. “I’m Emmett. I cater and plan parties so if you are ever in the need…” He trailed off with a wink.

Justin forced a smile and nodded in acknowledgment of both men before him. They seemed harmless enough. He could already feel the tight grip of his anxiety slacken a bit. 

“I’m honestly surprised Ted has been able to nab such a hot young thing.” Emmett continued, tapping his finger on the table in front of Justin, forcing the blond to look up.

“We aren’t together.” Justin quickly corrected. Not that Ted wasn’t a nice guy, but Justin had no business or interest in being in a relationship with anyone. That last thought sparked his thoughts about Jason. 

Feeling the prickle of tears at the back of his eyes, Justin quickly excused himself and walked off to the bathroom. He wasn’t about to get emotional in front of people he barely knew. Standing in front of the small bathroom mirror, Justin pinched his cheeks and splashed water on his face. He begged his brain to just be normal for once. It was huge that Ted had invited him to spend the evening with him and his friends. Justin didn’t want to fuck that up. 

After a few minutes, he felt composed enough to return to the table. As he approached, he saw that his seat had been taken by the man from the night before, Brian Kinney. And with him was a young child who was bouncing excitedly between Brian and Ted, crayons in hand, drawing. 

Justin didn’t feel like dealing with whatever Brian felt compelled to throw at him today, so he moved to walk past the table and out the front door onto the street. However, Brian stood up just as he drew up to the table and offered the seat back to him.

“Theodore said that you’d just gone to the bathroom. I hope you don’t mind Gus sharing the bench.” Brian smiled and left it at that. 

Justin looked between Brian and Ted, who shrugged, just as confused by Brian’s behavior. Justin quietly slipped into the spot Brian had just been in. He was immediately accosted by Gus who shoved a crayon in his face.

“Here! You are the blue. I am the green because green is my favorite color,” the young boy moved his piece of paper over so that it sat between him and Justin.

“Gus, don’t be too pushy.” Brian gently warned.

“Daddy, he’s coloring too. See?” Gus moved his body to twist completely around and address his dad, who was now sitting at the table behind Justin and Ted.

“So, Brian, how’d you end up on kid duty this evening?” Emmett chuckled as he brought the straw in his soda to his lips. Justin observed just how much fun Emmett was having with Brian, and at that moment, Justin knew he was going to love Emmett.

Justin couldn’t see him without turning around, but he could feel the heated gaze Brian must be giving Emmett.

“It’s my weekend,” Brian answered shortly. “But, good ole Deb agreed to keep him tonight so that I could go out to Babylon with you guys.” 

Justin couldn’t help the audible groan that escaped his body at that news. Ted immediately laughed while Michael and Emmett just fixed him with a questioning look.

“Brian and Justin met last night at Lindsay’s gallery opening.” Ted provided.

“Ohhhh.” Michael nodded and smiled. “So there actually is someone in Pittsburgh who isn’t caught in Brian’s trap.”

“So, Brian, how does it feel to be human after all?” Emmett tilted his head in a comical questioning way. 

Justin went back to drawing with Gus and ignored the adults above him.

“So, Gus, what are you drawing?” Justin asked the young boy.

“JR!” Gus waved his arms out in excitement and accidentally smacked Justin’s nose. “Sorry!”

“It’s okay.” Justin smiled down at Gus to reassure him. “JR?”

“My sissy. She’s annoying, so I’m drawing her as a monster.” Gus shrugged.

Justin looked around the table in question.

“J.R. is Jenny Rebecca. She’s biologically my daughter, but she’s raised by our friends Mel and Lindsay. Ben and I get to have her one weekend a month.” Michael supplied with a smile. 

Then he leaned forward and whispered to Gus, “Just don’t let her see that you have. She’ll probably be upset.”

Gus looked up at Michael with a facial expression that made it very clear he was Brian’s son, “So.”

Behind Justin came a snort from Brian. Then an exclamation of shock when a clicking noise preceded what Justin assumed was a smack.

“Well, boys! What’ll it be tonight?” A woman with loud clothes and bright red hair approached the table.

“Gamma Deb! I sleep over at your house!” Gus yelled in excitement.

“Sure thing, baby.” The woman leaned across in front of Justin to cup his chin fondly.

Then her attention landed on Justin, “Oh, you’re new. Where did Brian find you?” 

“Actually, Deb,” Ted cut in before Brian could protest, “He works with me at the firm. This is Justin.”

“Well, aren’t you as cute as a button? Not anything I’d expect for Teddy, here. Good for you.” She smiled at Justin and then looked beyond him to Ted.

“We just work together.” Justin reiterated. “Why does everyone here assume I have to be dating someone to be here?”

Ted reached around Gus and squeezed Justin’s shoulder in comfort to calm him down.

“These guys don’t make new friends. They make connections.” Deb responded. “I’m sorry to assume.”

“It’s okay.” Justin sighed and then curled on himself to make himself as small as the booth would allow. 

Every cell in his body was screaming for him to leave. He’d made things uncomfortable, which made him anxious. But the steady weight of Ted’s reassuring hand kept him in his place. After a few breaths, Justin managed to ground himself once more. He was able to give Debbie his order and then go back to drawing with Gus. A conversation happened above him among the four friends, but Justin didn’t care to know what it was. He hadn’t drawn in years, yet here he was with a young kid scribbling silly monsters all over the back of the diner placemats.

~~

Tagging friends so they see: @winderlylandchime @lostcol and @maryp50

[muiltifandomnerd]

Adventures of Chika Hanabusa: The Restoration of Earth

Disclaimer: This book follows the events of Percy Jackson and Heros of Olympus fanfic, This fanfic will not include Trails of Apollo, The Kane Chronicles, and Magnus Chase.

Chapter 9: The Triple Threat

Reyna PoV

Chika did make a risky mistake when she ran after the nymph, and now we are surrounded by three dangerous deities. Hyun stood right next to me, staring down at the gods who would try to kill us.

"Wait Oizys, let me have the daughter of Demeter. I have business with her mother." The skinny elderly woman says in a threatening tone. I guess we can assume that these three only end it for themselves and are not teammates, so we could take advantage of that weakness.

"You can have her Limos; they are going to be defeated by us regardless. After all, we are the descendants of Night and they are just demigods, not even related to the Big Three." The scarlet- haired, Oizys, says while she takes out her blood-soaked stygian-iron sword.

"What do you want with us? We never wronged you deities in any way?" Chika asked and she looked uncertain. She still is naive in the demigod world; I should have prepared her better. Deities exist to threaten our lives, the same with monsters.

“We are going after you demigods because we are helping Eris. Eris promised us to fulfill our duties without dealing with the Olympians and their bastards' interruption. Since you three are in Eris's way, we may have to kill you." Oizys rant and the two deities behind nod their heads in approval.

"The time has come for you to face you DOOOOM" the pale-skinned guy shouted while Oizys and Limos rolled their eyes.

"Since Limos picked the daughter of Demeter, Moros pick your opponent." Oizys looks at Moros, who points his stygian-iron sword at Hyun. Hyun took out her Bow and arrows from her pounce and steadily pointed her bow in Moro's direction.

“Very well Moros, you will take care of Hecate’s or should I say Trivia’s brood.  I will take care of the Praetor of New Rome. That will cause great distress to the legion since I took out their beloved leader." Oizys manically laughs as she finishes her horrid speech.

"Come and try, GODDESS," I shouted and Oizys lunged at me with a blood-soaked sword and I blocked it with my Imperial -gold sword. She was furious attacking me from all directions with her sword and I saw Moros and Limos grab Chika and Hyun and take them within the different areas of the woods and separate from me. All we can do is defeat these gods by ourselves. Good luck Chika and Hyun, we all going to need it.

Hyun PoV

As this emo ken-doll angel grabbed me and took me to the darker areas of the woods, it would be hard for me to shoot my arrows at me. I draw a rune on my arm quickly to let me see in the dark.

"Tell me, Daughter of Trivia, do you know how your story ends?" Moros says mockingly and laughs at me. Oh, I can't wait to shoot his stupid face, he must have shopped at Hot Topic to get that stupid T-shirt that says Doom. I steady my arm and infuse my arrows with magical energy, enough to hurt or even a god.

“Like your arrows can find me in the dark. I am the brother of the Fates themselves, what hope can you beat me?" Moros says as he looks on from the tree branch. I shot him with my magical arrows, but he quickly dodged them, he was too stupid to realize that my arrows are like torpedoes, he can't outrun them. Once they hit him, he would be in terrible agony and I won this match. Moros uses his sword to cut through the magical arrows that are following him. Shit, his sword is strong to cut through magic.

"You children of Hecate are too proud of your magic. You can try all you want but you can never hurt me. You can't hurt DOOM!!!" Moros shouted and he launched himself towards me and grabbed my bow and broke it in half. That bastard broke my favorite bow, and he will pay dearly for that. If I can't physically harm him, then I need to come up with a plan to stall him. I ran away from him, and he chased me down like a wolf to its prey. Suddenly my eyes change to yellow, and I can feel my speed becoming faster. Wait, my mother blessed me with a gift. I suddenly stopped right in front of Moros, and he kept running towards me.

"STOP!! YOU WILL NOT HARMED ME!!!!" I shouted with all my power, and he suddenly stopped and dropped his sword.

"What is this? I see, so you are using charmspeak to prevent from attacking you. Very clever, I guess you have been blessed by Hecate like Medea and Circle. Oh well, but your doom is inevitable, do you want to know how you die?" Moros asked and he sat in a cross-legged position. Then he hums and looks at his watch. This guy is just annoying.

"Ok, How will I die, your majesty?" I asked sarcastically.

“Believe it or not, not by us. The good news is that you get to cure your wolf lover, the bad news is that your friends will know who you are.” Moros explained calmly. It’s like my charm- speaking ability doesn’t bother him, he is so infuriating. 

"Ok, then who am I?" I sarcastically questioned. He made a menacing smirk as he could see through my secret, wait does he know of my past and will he tell Chika and Reyna?

"A traitor. How will your friend, the Preator, feel about you helping the Titan Army gain some key victories over Camp Jupiter and causing the deaths of many comrades to whom you swore loyalty? Will she execute you or will she banish you? Now that is a good question. Either way, you are DOOMED!!" Moro shouted and he laughed at my situation. How dare this emo ken-doll laugh about me? He acts like I killed for the Titan Army when it was far from the truth, All I did was help my mother to gain respect and the camp wronged people like me. My mother was the only one who helped me out in this stinking camp, she promised me to help Ben with his lycanthropy. If he wasn't a god, I would kill him a thousand times. I felt tears coming out of my eyes and my nose running snout. I quickly created a napkin out of thin air and blew my nose against it. Moros looks amused by this situation.

"They will not believe you Moros, they will think that you want my friends and me to fight amongst ourselves," I say the sentences between sobs and Moros looks pleased that he got me to cry.

“Oh no I won’t tell them; your actions will speak for yourself once you fight Eris with your friends. My sister and niece are just there to stall for Eris. I joined Limos and Oizys because I have nothing better to do and I could have killed you easily before you did that blasted charm speak, but it was much funnier to tell you about your demise. You will die and be remembered for the traitor that you are. I'm leaving, hope you will have a tragic life." Moros got up and flew away from me. That bastard, how dare he just laugh about my fate like some sick joke? As he flew away from me, I whispered a spell that fixed my shattered bow and I grabbed the magical arrows. I aimed these arrows with my bow and I shot it once he focused on flying away from me. I let these arrows go when he was not looking at me and it hit him on the back. These arrows go inside his body and hit every liver and kidney they can find. He clutched his stomach in pain, and he crashed into dozens of trees. I hope this stupid god has a terrible stomachache. He will be fine, he's a god after all. I ran to find Reyna and Chika and get out of these woods. I'm blaming Chika for this mess.

Chika PoV

The skinny elderly lady took me to the center of the woods and dropped me into the bushes.

"Now... Now... Daughter of Demeter, you see why I picked you to fight. Your mother has been a thorn in me for a millennium. She only lets me do my duties in Africa and Asia. I am Limos, the daughter of Eris and the Goddess of Hunger, Famine, and Starvation." Limos explained while I got my scythe ready to attack her. She already told us her name moments ago, why she needs to repeat it, it doesn't matter. I know that Limos is one of Demeter's greatest enemies because she is responsible for starvation and my mother must feed the world. I need to defeat her quickly so I can help Reyna and Hyun and apologize for getting fooled by that nymph. I didn't know that goddesses can turn into nymphs. She took out a small dark-colored sickle, the one that farmers used to cut crops. She launched herself at me and I blocked her attack with my scythe. We have been trading blows for a while, but I found an opening I slashed across her chest.

Limos clutched her chest in pain and continued to attack me. I kept blocking her blow and I elbowed her in the face. She holds her face in anguish, and she tries to tackle me to the ground, but I judo throw her to the ground. I guess Reyna's grappling sessions did pay off, I'm grateful that Reyna trained me like a dog.

“Forget this, it is oblivious that you have been defeating me in combat. I am not known for my combat prowess, but I can cause huge famines.” Limos touch the ground and the grass and trees around us just decay or rot away. Suddenly I feel hungry as well, and my stomach is growling. I held my stomach in pain and Limos took advantage of my weakness and stabbed me in the throat. I'm gurgling blood from my mouth, and I hold my hands on my throat. I fell to the ground in agony. Is this it? My first quest and I'm dying. I have lost to a goddess and now I will die from my mistake of following that nymph. There is so much I want to do, so much to explore the world. It can't end like this. I'm losing consciousness and I feel my eyes are about to close.

"How pitiful, I thought Demeter's children were much stronger than that." Limos taunted and she just walked away while I'm going to die from this stab wound in the throat.

“Tell me, Daughter of Demeter, do you seriously want to die like that? Come and let me take control of you so we can shatter this pathetic third-rate goddess.” A voice shouted and suddenly a woman appeared in front of me. A woman with eyes that show the trees of the earth and hair-like tree branches. Suddenly I'm in a garden with so many flowers surrounding me and the woman, like orchids, roses, sunflowers, and many more I can think of. The woman pulled me up and she looks on to me in disappointment.

“I assumed you are aware of my existence and how I am in your body. Tell me, Demigod, do you want to live?" The woman questioned; I could feel her loud voice running through my head. This woman is Gaia, the primordial of the Earth and the one who started the war with the gods with

"Yes, I do want to live, Lady Gaia, but I'm not sure if I trust you. How will I know that you will not try to destroy the world and kill those that I hold dear?" I question Gaia. This flower field and the woman standing in front of me is my metaphysical or conscious world, it must be. We are not in the woods with Limos. I know that I'm not dead or else I would have been speaking to Thanatos.

“I don’t have enough energy for my conquest, but I am strong enough to kill all of these puny godlings. I don’t want your trust; I want your survival. I will need you for my plans, now then, LET ME IN!!!” Gaia shouted and suddenly I felt my body glow green and my stab wound disappear. My eyes glow green, and I roared like a lion.

"It can't be…….I killed you" Limos says in a horrified tone and her eyes show complete fear. I laughed like a maniac, but it was not my laugh, it was hers.

“YOU PATHETIC WORM!!!!!! I AM TIRED OF YOU DECAYING MY TREES AND THE ENVIRONMENT. YOUR MOTHER AND GRANDMOTHER WON'T PROTECT YOU FROM ME. I AM THE EARTH AND I WILL CONSUME YOU.” Gaia shouted through my mouth. All the trees and grass grown back and Gaia moves so quickly in front of Limos. She holds Limos by the throat and crushes it. Limo tried to crawl at my face, but then I felt my teeth biting off Limo's hands and I hands turned Limo's head backward. Limos shrieked in pain at what Gaia was doing to her while processing my body. This is cruel and brutal; Limos doesn't deserve to be mutilated in that way. This is horrifying, is Nature that cruel? Just when I thought it wasn't going to get any worse. Gaia bites off Limo's face like some fruit. She munches on Limo's head and then her arms, legs, and her whole body. Gaia pukes out Limo's bones and uses my hand to clean out the consumed flesh of my teeth.

“DELIOUS, I WANT MORE GODLY FLESH” Gaia shouted with my voice, and she used the powers of the Earth to find Oizys and Reyna fighting to a standstill. Gaia moved in Mach 9 to bite Oizy's throat. Reyna looks on in horror while Gaia is using her mouth to bite through Oizys. Oizys screamed in pain and shrieked. Reyna covered her mouth with horror and disgust. That is not me, it is Gaia who is doing all of this. Gaia ripped off the scarlet-haired goddess's head and proceeded to munch on it. Once she fully consumed her head, she chewed on the rest of Oizy's body. Her arms, chest, legs, and every body part you can think of are all gone.

“MORE!!!MORE!! GODLY FLESH" Gaia screams in ecstasy like she’s high on crack. She travels on Mach 9 towards Moros who is still clutching in pain.

“WELL…. WELL…. YOU MUST BE MOROS, THE GOD OF DOOM. YOUR DOOM IS GOING TO BE UPON YOU, IN MY BELLLY!!!!” Gaia shouted.

“Please have mercy if you consumed my essence. Night and Darkness will haunt you. I am more valuable than Oizys and Limos, if you let me go, I will help you.” Moros begged as he stood in front of my processed body.

Gaia did an evil smile and laughed, "LET THEM TRY, YOU ARE MORE USEFUL FOR NUTRIENTS” Gaia used my mouth to chew off Moro's arms and legs. Gaia rips off Moro's wings with my hand and she feasts on Moro's head as he cries in anguish. Gaia ate Moro as if he's just a prey. Moro becomes silent as he feels his essence slipping away and he silently accepts his doom for being Gaia's meal. Moro becomes nothing but bones and feathers. Gaia burped loudly and my eyes became normal, and the green glow of my body was gone. I puked at the brutality that Gaia inflected on the gods, and I sobbed. How can the Earth be so cruel to its residents? Is it even possible to reason with her? I asked myself. Reyna and Hyun find me, and Hyun holds me close to her chest while Reyna looks on in sympathy.

"That was not me….She used me to just snack on the three deities…They don't deserve to be eaten." I sobbed like crazy, and I felt my body going unconscious, and I fell to the ground. It was too much in one day. This quest has taken a lot from me mentally wise, I'm just so….tired….and cold.

[froms8nsashes]

Gym Class

"Ridley! Psst... Ridley,"

Grian and Taurtis had been trying to get her attention the entire time because Sam was too much of a pussy to try and talk to her himself. So he was a coward as usual.

Ridley just paid no mind to them. Actually, she wanted nothing to do with them after last week. She had been avoiding all three of them, trying to forget what Sam said.

Ridley, wait! I... killed someone

Her eyes widened and she jumped at the sound of a whistle, she was the only one standing in front of the gym teacher. Looking around hesitantly she noticed that Ellen was standing with her.

"We have dodgeball today." The clairvoyant said, smiling slightly. Their eye was bandaged once again.

She noticed Sam was standing on the other side, then realized that Taurtis and Grian were on her team. Mentally kicking herself she caught a ball that one of her teammates threw at her, whipping her head in their direction Taurtis shrunk back. Her gaze was intense, burning into his soul. He shared a weary look with Grian.

"Are you upset because of last week?" Ellen asked.

"How do you even know that?"

"Intuition."

"Well, it's not like I need to care. He's just some geek criminal. A loser. He's practically beneath me, if he went as far as to- " She stopped herself, glancing at Ellen. The ball was squished in her hands, her nails digging into the plastic.

"Oh- did you tell him you liked him and he turned you down?" Ellen's eyes lit up.

"What? No! Besides, I would have been the one to turn him down!"

Ridley threw the ball at someone who had caught her eye, whipping it across the gym full force. She wasn't angry. She couldn't be angry. Sam wasn't her problem. He was just some stupid boy who transferred to her school. She didn't need to care.

Picking up a ball from the ground she couldn't help but notice him standing there awkwardly, watching students throw balls at each other. He was obviously avoiding getting hit and that just seemed to make her even angrier. Stepping up very close to the line dividing the gym she stared at him.

What the hell was she doing? Sam could only stare at her with wide brown eyes, his ears standing on end making him appear taller than he already is. She beckoned him over, motioning with her fingers. His feet were moving on their own accord and he was standing just on the other side of the line in front of her.

"Who the fuck did you kill?!" She asked in hushed tone, the ball looked like it was going to deflate.

"What?" Sam choked on his own spit.

"You heard me."

"Why do you want to know?!"

"How dangerous are you?!"

"It was my ex girlfriend, but it was an accident!"

The rest of class was mostly a blur, but Sam ended up at the infirmary with a bloody, possibly broken nose. Taurtis and Grian were with him, sitting next to him as he tilted his head up, holding a tissue over his nose. His voice was nasally and barely audible.

"Do you think she's pissed at me?"

"Dude, we had to pull her off of you. She was screaming about pressing charges or contacting the authorities." Taurtis' voice was quiet.

"What did you say to her?" Grian asked.

"I told her what happened..."

[bluiex]

hello bluie i have been dealing with the writer's block plague but today i've just decided im not doing that anymore. have some stream-of-consciousness type fic set loosely sometime after scar turned red in limited life in the clocker's base

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Grian sighed a lot these days. He sighed mostly about Scar, and the nonsense he'd gotten up to lately.

Once upon a time, Scar thought it was endearing. Now, he can hear the condescending tone right out with every heave of breath.

To the point that, now, in yet another death game, Scar was sick of it.

Grian sighed. "Scar—" "Are you going to keep doing that?" Scar interrupted, carrying on with feeding the cows. Cleo was going to be home soon, and she really needed the levels from them, so it was his job to make sure there were— "Doing what?" Right. Play stupid. Wasn't that supposed to be Scar's job? Play the harmless idiot who's more of a danger to himself than those around him?

This wasn't third life anymore. Those days of a boiling desert were over. And how sad, that because they only ever had one another in that horrible place, that it drew them close.

Scar imitated Grian's sigh. "That." "Breathing?" Scar could almost hear Grian rolled his eyes. "Scar, honestly, you're being so nitpicky right now. I'm sorry that I can't be more patient for you, I've got too many things going on right now." Grian was never patient. Always too quick to strike, too eager to take the kill. He was just lucky that it paid off more times than not. Double life had taught Scar that.

The insanity of a beautifully-timed stalactite piercing Ren's skull didn't completely overshadow Grian letting them die to his own hubris and a Warden's shriek. Careless.

Scar picked at his fistful of wheat. "Is there something I can help you with, Grian?"

Grian huffed. Scar wanted to shove Grian into the cow pit and pray he got trampled to death. "I was only coming to ask if you're okay, but since you don't seem to be in the mood to talk..." "When are you going to stop that?" Scar snapped, swiveling around to stare Grian in the eyes. The latter flinched back, mostly out of surprise.

Scar wasn't supposed to be scary. He was supposed to be a distraction, the bait you threw out. Someone expendable.

"I, I don't know what you're—" "Do you ever stop? Any of it?" Scar didn't have any patience of his own to spare anymore. "You play to win and so do I, but even I don't treat my teammates the way you do.

"I don't get it, do you hate me? Do you have a problem with me?" Grian blinked, shaking his head in disbelief. "Scar, no, of course I don't hate you, you're just letting the game get to your head. It's not real, none of it is, you know that." "That's not what you said in the cactus ring," Scar hissed. "That, that was different!" Grian said hastily, his face turning pink at being called out. "Listen to me, you're upset about this now, but soon it'll be over, and we'll go back home, and everything will be normal again." Scar tucked the wheat away, his face contorted in barely contained outrage. "It might be 'just a game' to you, but not to me. Not to anyone else here."

He drew his sword. Grian took a cautious step back. "Scar, don't be stupid, calm down." "You don't get to decide that for me anymore," Scar said, and as the words came out of his mouth, his face twisted into realization.

Grian couldn't control him anymore.

Scar stepped closer, the sword tight in his grip. "You don't get to decide my actions, my alliances, my enemies, or my plans. You don't get to chose my friends, or my traps, or the things I get to care about." Grian was so caught off guard that he hadn't noticed the cool, stone wall now flat against his back. He did see the sword pointed squarely at his neck, and the deadly glint in Scar's eyes.

"Scar, we're allies too now, remember?" Grian stuttered, fingers itching to grab the axe at his hip. They were alone, he could argue self-defense. It wouldn't get him more time, though.

"I know. I'm not going to kill you, Grian." Scar tilted Grian's chin upwards with the point of his sword. "That would be too boring of a kill for you. Don't deny it." Grian bit his tongue to keep from arguing. "Then, what's your point here?"

"You said it yourself, this isn't real," Scar said, his voice trembling. "It's only a game. Nothing matters here, really, right?"

Grian only eyed him over with a wary look. Scar's heart was pounding out of his chest. There was more than one way to kill someone, even if it killed him a little bit too.

(Then again, Scar's heart broke a lifetime ago, cookie crumbs still clinging like sand to his clothes.)

"Well, in that case." Scar swallowed. "I'm breaking up with you."

It pained Scar how easy the words were to say, as though he meant to say it a million times over, a million lifetimes ago.

Grian wanted to laugh. He wanted to keel over, arms against his stomach, and laugh the words Scar had just said out of existence. Because this was such a stupid place to break up with someone, and over what? Some hurt feelings?

Scar seemed to notice, because he swiped his sword against Grian's neck to bring him back to reality.

The blood staining his blade reflected the scarlet in Scar's eyes, but they didn't bring the same warmth they once did in the desert. No, they weren't warm at all, like something, or someone, had sapped all the life out, and left a cold husk behind instead.

"I'm breaking up with you," Scar echoed, pulling his sword away and pointing it towards the front door. "Now. Get out."

YES SCAR YES SCAR FUCKING END IT WITH HIM WOOOOO!!!!

Jay thank you this is so fucking good- I'm glad you decided to kick writers block