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themand0lorian · 4 years

Text

Shev’la

Summary: After an accident, you struggle to come to terms with the silence of the Mandalorian.

Pairing: Din Djarin x deaf!Reader (no Y/N)

Rating: E

Words: 4464

Tags: Slow Burn! Fluff! Mild canon typical violence! Doctors! Deafness/HOH!

Notes: reader is gender neutral other than mention of hair long enough to push back! this is based on my limited experience of being HOH (hard of hearing), so things may be wrong/off based on your personal experience! Also obviously made things space-ey for Star Wars so not everything will be accurate. Listen, your girl just wants to see some differently-abled representation in the franchise!

Shev’la means “Silent” in Mando’a! I did my best to indicate when dialogue is verbal vs. sign, but if there’s a better way to indicate that let me know!

Your mind was racing as fast as your feet as you struggled to get away from the Klatooinians; a bounty gone wrong, you had thought, head on a swivel. You kept running, trying to out maneuver them, but you were unfamiliar with the small town you and Mando had landed in just hours beforehand. You wanted to get them away, to a spot where you knew Mando would find you, but when you turned a corner expecting a town square, instead you were met with a dead end. Panicked, you turned, facing right into two of the men who grabbed you roughly. You struggled against their grip as you heard familiar footsteps crunch through the grass, letting out a breath.

“You’re gonna be sorry,” you taunted. One of the men grunted at the other in response, letting you go as Mando came into view to fight the armored warrior. You looked up at him, too, distracted by his helmet shining in the sun as he stood over the man, blaster in hand. The distraction, unfortunately, became your weakness; the Klatooinian holding you twisted you quickly, smacking your head against the wall of the alley, hard. You thought Mando called your name, but your brain went to static, swimming with blood and fear as you collapsed.

In true Mando fashion, he killed both the men on sight, leaving their bodies as he kneeled next to you, shakily calling your name. You weren’t responding. He quickly scooped you up, holding your bleeding head to his shoulder and walked your limp body back to the Razor Crest, whispering to you as you went, trying to get any reaction he could. When he turned to look at you, the blood around your face stirred the emotion in his gut, but what he saw next felt more like a punch to the ribs. Your implants, the ones that you use to hear, had been smashed to bits; hanging limply from your hair, bouncing as he walked.

Mando didn’t know much about your deafness, by your own design. He knew you were deaf, and the implants allowed you to hear. If anything, they allowed you to hear better than he could, a sense he was often thankful for, so he really never paid them much mind. He would occasionally watch you change the batteries or fiddle with them behind your ears, but other than that you had never really mentioned anything about them, and he was a man of few words anyway. If anything, you brought his voice out with your own, filling the ship with your laughter and babblings to the kid, and your sweet and curious tone with him.

Mando laid you on the cot in the ship, repeating your name over and over, but you weren’t stirring. Torn, he hastily jumped up to the cockpit, sending the ship into hyperspace and away from this planet before your attacker’s friends could find you, and quickly returned to your side once the ship was stable. He gently cleaned the wound on your head, much smaller than he originally thought, which he was thankful for; until he realized the implants had taken the brunt of the beating. He disconnected them from you slowly, gently weaving them out of your hair. They were smashed to bits. Likely irreparable, but medical technology wasn’t exactly his expertise. He laid them on the small counter next to the cot, turning his attention back to you as he stroked your cheek with his gloved hand.

You awoke to his touch with a start, like a jolt of electricity ran through you. Panicked at the still silence, you swung your head violently until it landed on Mando.

“Mando,” you breathed out, a new wave of panic settling over you at the sudden realization-you couldn’t hear your own voice. Your eyes widened, and he reached out to your hand, taking it in his. You could see his chest moving, his head tilting like he was asking you something, but all you could hear was your own thoughts. Tears sprung to your eyes as you looked at the nightstand, crushed implants sitting idly. You absently reached up to your own head, brushing where they should be, before looking at him again tearfully.

“Din, I…I don’t know if you’re saying something, but if you are I can’t hear you. Without the implants, I can’t hear at all,” you said, your voice contorting. It sounded foreign to Mando, like someone else’s had inhabited your body as you continued to stumble over words. “If I can’t hear my own voice, it’s hard for me to speak. I…I can read lips…” you started, stopping in your tracks when you remembered the lipless visor staring back at you. “And I know Galactic Sign Language. Do you?”

Mando started to answer, but caught himself, shaking his head instead as he barely separated his fingers. A little. You whimpered. “I…I need to get these fixed,” you whispered, reaching for the broken electronics. He stopped you with his hands before getting up and walking around the hull, turning over a few crates. It felt like you were suspended under water, being unable to hear the noises associated with his actions. You tried your hardest to think of them when he approached again, a datapad you didn’t know existed in his hand. He quickly booted it up and tapped around before turning it to you.

“We had to go. We will get them fixed as soon as we land,” he had typed out. You took the pad from him, typing your own message underneath.

“We need to go to Tatooine, I got them there,” you typed slowly as he read over your shoulder. He turned to you, and typed as you held the pad.

“Tatooine then. Get some rest.”

You nodded, seemingly sealed into your silent fate for some time. You groaned as you turned over in the cot, still unused to not hearing your own voice. Mando stayed seated next to you, typing away on the datapad, but without seeing him there, you could have been alone for all you knew. You weren’t sure what you and Mando were; more than crewmates, less than romantic interests, if not for lack of trying. You would leave a small meal in the cockpit when he would return, weary from a hunt. He would watch your figure as you moved about the ship, tending to the child, stolen glances behind the helmet. You both would share passing touches, a hand on his shoulder, one around your waist as you moved about the cramped ship. He had even shared his real name, butterflies in his stomach as you repeated it back to him. Still, a man of few words, he never really told you how he felt, and you had never asked.

As sleep seemed to overtake you, Mando typed “Galactic Sign Language” into the data pad, determination across his features to learn more of the language. His face fell when he read about it; it relied heavily on facial movements and lip readings for context, in conjunction with hand motions for words. Hand motions he could do, but with the helmet…facial expressions were out of the question. You seemed to know that too, faltering when you mentioned reading lips. He started to sigh, stopping himself when he observed you sleeping form, before thinking They can’t hear you, you idiot. You’re gonna make this harder than it has to be.

When you woke in the morning, Mando was still sitting at your side, datapad falling out of his hand and helmet tilted toward his shoulder. You smiled at his sleeping form, reaching to pull the datapad from his fingers so he could rest more. Your fingers slid across a button, starting a video he had been watching, sound turned on, but you didn’t know, leaving it playing at his side. He startled awake instantly, looking at your confused face.

“Sound on,” he signed timidly. Your eyes widened, snatching the datapad again to pause the video, when you saw the title. Galactic Sign Language Basics. You couldn’t help but let a smile brush your features as you looked back at him.

“What did you learn?” your fingers seemed to dance over the signs, slipping back into old habits easily. He tilted his head at you, and your lips pursed, typing the question in the datapad instead.

“Clearly not much,” he typed back as you read it over his shoulder, a small chuckle escaping your lips. It was getting harder to remember what your own voice, your own laugh sounded like after sleep. You seemed to get lost as you tried to focus on it, until his hands danced over the keyboard once again. “We’re almost to Tatooine. Let’s go up.”

You nodded, following him up to the cockpit. The baby had followed on your heels, keeping himself busy with his metal ball as he climbed in your lap and Mando tapped at the buttons on the Crest. You barely acknowledged the child, opting to look out at the stars instead. Mando turned to you to find Grogu in your lap, cooing up at your face in confusion as you paid him no mind.

“They can’t hear you, kid,” Mando sighed, looking to your face to see that you were still looking out at the stars. Grogu cried out louder, and Mando tilted his helmet at him in warning, waving for your attention.

“Grogu is talking to you,” he gestured, and you smiled as his hands danced over the baby’s name, spelling it out.

“Talking?” you repeated, contorting your face in confusion.

“Not talking…cooing,” he fumbled over the last word, unsure what motion to use. The confusion stayed on your face so he tried again. “Yelling. Small yelling,” he tried, using the few words he knew. You started to chuckle.

“Cooing,” you questioned, showing him the hand signal again.

“Cooing,” he repeated it back to you, struggling to separate his fingers fully under the gloves. You smiled down at the child, signing to him quickly. Mando picked up a few words; sorry, sweet boy, no talking. His heart broke as the child seemed to understand quickly, snuggling into your chest quietly. Mando turned back to the front of the ship, focused on the path ahead, until you tapped on the back of the chair. He turned to face you again.

“I need a sign for your names,” you gestured, boring your eyes into his. He nodded as you pointed to the sleeping infant, bringing both your hands up to your head and splaying them like his large ears. You couldn’t hear it, but you think Mando may have laughed as he nodded, his chest shaking. You smiled, pointing at him. You held both your hands to your face, making each one into an “D,” as you covered it, trying to indicate his helmet. He nodded again, seeming to accept your sign for him.

“What about you?” he signed back. You shrugged.

“You can pick. I don’t use my own name,” you replied. Mando looked at you behind the mask, really studying your face, like it would come to him from your eyes. Finally, after a long pause, he brought his hands up to his face, putting his thumb on his chin and wiping over his face and closing his fist. A laugh left your lips as heat rose to your cheeks. Pretty.

“It can’t be a word that already exists, Din,” you signed, using his new name sign. His shoulders fell as you continued, “Thank you, though.”

He seemed to think longer this time, trying to access the deep recesses of his mind. He took four fingers, drawing them around his helmet in a circle, stopping at his chin in a wave. You smiled.

“What does that one mean?” you signed.

“Old Mando sign,” he replied, using his own name sign in place of Mandalorian. You simply nodded, satisfied at your new form of communication.

////

It wasn’t long before you found yourself in the familiar doctor’s office in Tatooine. Mando had insisted on coming in with you, just in case, but you could sense his nerves matched your own. You handed the broken implants to the medical droid limply, who buzzed away with them as you waited.

When the doctor, an older man with greying hair, returned, you were sitting on the floor with Grogu, playing with assorted medical supplies you had found in the cabinets as he giggled. You laughed too, your face turning when Mando sat up straighter at the doctor’s entrance. You smile immediately fell when he looked at you grimly, starting to sign. Mando watched between you both, signing too quickly for him to keep up, until tears started to spring to your eyes.

“What did you say to them?” he said to the doctor gruffly, standing up to unfold to his full height.

“I…I can’t fix them,” the doctor stated, startled at Mando’s sudden aggression.

“You have to fix them. They can’t hear,” he said as if it wasn’t obvious.

“I know, I can’t though. The Clone Wars, looters took everything. All my technology. They need new ones completely, and I can’t make them anymore,” the doctor rambled. Mando looked to you as you struggled to keep composure, reading the man’s lips as he spoke. You simply signed thank you, quickly grabbing the broken implants and walking out of the office, into the beating suns. Mando followed quietly, swooping up the child as he left. You walked all the way to the Crest without looking back, knowing Mando was on your heels despite not hearing him.

Entering the ship, you slammed the earpieces down on the table, small mechanisms falling to the floor, finally letting your emotions overtake you. Tears started to fall as you stared at them, trying to will them to work with your mind. A tentative hand brushed at your shoulder, causing you to look up at the masked man.

“We will figure it out,” he signed slowly, taking care with each word to get it right.

“I can’t afford new ones,” you signed back, looking at your hands instead of his face. He brought the hand on your shoulder to your chin, pushing it back up so you faced him.

“If you want new ones, we will get new ones. I have one more fob,” he paused, spelling the last word and gesturing to his belt at the blinking tracker. The child was also at his hip, looking between you from the satchel. You looked at the fob, the steady blinking light, then back up to his face. Your brow was furrowed like you were thinking about it, but without warning, you flew into his arms, wrapping yourself around his neck. He tentatively brushed his hands on your hips as you leaned into his chestplate.

“Thank you,” you murmured aloud. You were losing the sound of your consonants as you went longer without speaking, but Mando didn’t mind. He pulled you back from him to sign in front of your face. You’re welcome.

////

Din usually liked silence, before you that was all there was. Like a quiet song; strong, focused silence, the creaks of the ship and air vents blowing behind him. But without your voice, the melody felt empty. Like the most important noise of all was missing from the universe. The only sounds in the ship were the child’s soft snores as he slept, resting in the copilot’s seat next to him so you could get some rest in the hull. You had landed on Naboo almost three days ago now, but Mando hadn’t returned with a bounty yet. In fact, he barely left the ship, watching over noiselessly as you taught the baby signs, adapted for his fewer fingers. More, food, and ball seemed to be the child’s favorites so far. You tried not to get in the way, worried Din was rethinking his offer for the implants now that he saw the work he would need to put in.

At the thought of him, you tossed over in your cot. You couldn’t sleep, the sound of silence screaming in your ears until it was too much. Instead, you gently got up and padded through the hull of the ship, hoping Mando wouldn’t hear you awake. He had insisted you rest before going up to the cockpit, but your own thoughts were swimming, like without the ambient noise they had increased 100-fold. You pushed the key code to the hatch quickly, hoping the sound of it lowering wouldn’t alert him, allowing the breeze to brush over your features. The night air was cool, sweeping the incessant thoughts from your mind as you sat on the hatch, knees to your chest. You wondered what kind of wildlife lived on the planet as your hands started to play in the grass at your feet. You tried to picture the noises, the ones you would associate with a lush landscape; leaves rustling, frogs croaking, but they all seemed fake and far away, lost to time.

Instead, you tried to focus on ones you had memorized, the sound the Child would make as he enjoyed his dinner, his quiet coos as he slept. Din’s soft snores when he fell asleep in the cockpit, his gruff voice through the modulator, the sound of his laugh. It felt like they all were transient, leaving your mind as soon as they came, slipping through your fingers. You couldn’t remember what your name sounded like when it left his lips. How he sounded when he scolded the kid for getting into trouble, how he would sigh dramatically when faced with any conflict. Tears started falling down your cheeks as you closed your eyes tightly, desperate to find the sounds deep in your brain.

You startled when a bare hand grasped your shoulder, jumping out of your skin and turning to see an un-armored Din sit down next to you gently. You looked away, trying to hide your tears, but he grabbed your chin with his fingers and brought it back to him. You looked at the T of his visor, hoping for some kind of miracle where his modulated voice would break the silence you heard, but instead your attention was brought to his moving hands.

“Why are you out here?”

“No sleep,” you signed back.

“Why? Worried?” he replied clunkily, and you nodded. “We will get new ones,” he assured you.

“Not the implants,” you signed back with a deep sigh. “I…can’t remember your voice. What you sound like,” you said sadly, fresh tears falling again. He looked at you, no motion in his fingers, so you continued. “What if I…never hear your voice again? Ship very quiet. Scared,” you articulated quickly, not able to form the sentences you wanted to with the limited motions. You watched his chest rise and fall deeply before you lifted your hands again. “Sorry. Never mind.”

Embarrassment rose to the tips of your ears, blood rising in your face as you turned away to look back at the landscape; you had rarely been so vulnerable. You continued to stare out at the billowing grass as another breeze blew by, closing your eyes to feel it on your face. In the same moment, you were enveloped in Mando’s arms, and he pulled your head close to his chest, holding it there with his hands. You didn’t have the courage to open your eyes as his chest rumbled below you, sending vibrations through your scalp as it moved.

“You cannot hear me. But I…love you. I can’t…tell you. But I hope you feel it,” he said quietly through the modulator, his voice raspy from the lack of use. He pulled your head away from him and held it as you looked back at him before you signed again.

“Were you talking?” you gestured quickly and he nodded. “What did you say?”

“Did you like it?” he asked with his hands, ignoring your question.

“Yes. Like I could hear you again,” you signed back, nodding. “Comforting.” He pulled your head to his chest again, holding his hands in front of your eyes as he left it there.

“I will never stop talking if it brings you comfort,” he said and signed in tandem. You sighed into his chest, holding his hands in yours and kissing his bare knuckles in thanks. The two of you sat under the moonlight as his chest continued to rumble, vibrating your body at what felt like a new frequency.

Mando was nothing if not an honest man. Every time he saw you, he would pull you to his chest, allowing you to feel his words as he said them, then wait for your reaction. Sometimes he would translate, especially if you asked him to, but most of the time he seemed to just be filling the silence with whatever came to mind. He knew it worked better without the armor, so he would leave his chestplate off on the ship, ready to hold you there at a moment’s notice. When the armor was on, he would snake your hand under the cool metal, pressing it flat against him as he spoke. It felt like he sent a shock through your fingertips each time.

He still stumbled over the movements and phrasing for GSL, but you noticed he was improving. One of the many things he had told you, that you didn’t ask for a translation on, was that he had been practicing. He would wait for you to go to sleep, pulling the datapad out and looking up new signs as he formed his hands to an empty ship. He even would turn down the sound on his helmet, trying to live in a world like yours. He would then make sure to use the new words the next day, smiling when your face twisted in confusion at his new vocabulary.

You had your favorites, just like when you could hear his voice through the hull; the way his hands moved when he did your name sign, the shake of his body when he laughed, the staccato vibration when he called for the baby. At some point you started to notice a pattern. Like he was saying the same thing to you, every time he held your head there. You didn’t know what he was saying, but one night, when you had crawled into his bed, overwhelmed by the silence and tears brimming at your lashes, he held you there and said it over and over again, like a prayer until you fall asleep across his chest. He had never been a man of words, but he couldn’t stop. When he ran out of stories he would hum softly, filling your body with the vibrations as you slept gently, desperate to help you find peace.

After a full week, Mando ventured out of the ship and into the city. “I’ll be right back,” he had said, holding your hand over his heart as he spoke, then signing it to you in tandem. You nodded, pulling your hand away and responding through sign.

“Please lock everything when you leave,” you gestured nervously and his chest shook as he laughed.

“You are safe,” he signed back. “I will.” He said one more thing aloud, that same familiar pattern, but didn’t translate as he left.

The sun was barely setting when Mando strolled back up to the ship, no quarry in sight. You had been keeping busy in the hull, organizing some random crates as the child slept in his hammock, when you saw the hatch start to lower. Your face twisted in confusion at his empty handedness as you stood to face him.

“No quarry?” you gestured as a question.

“No. Something better,” he signed, reaching around to the pouch on his belt. You could practically feel his excitement as he pulled out a velvet cloth bag, cinched at the top, and placed it gently in your hands. “Open it.”

You opened it slowly, unsure what would be inside. When you dumped it into your hands, two small, curved pieces of metal fell out, wires attached. They were smaller than your previous ones, sleek silver, but you couldn’t deny what they were-new implants. You looked up at Mando wide-eyed.

“Let me,” he signed, taking them from your hands. He gently brushed your hair behind your ear, plugging the attached wire to the port implanted in your head. He walked around to the other side, repeating the motion. You looked into his mask as he held you there, his hand on the back of your skull, and he shifted one delicately between his fingers.

All at once, everything came rushing back, every groan of the ship, the child’s quiet slumber, the creaky cabinet that wouldn’t stay shut. You looked around, amazed at all the things you had been missing, when a soft, deep voice brought you back to center.

“Can you hear me?” Mando asked tentatively, his head tilting when you failed to respond immediately. Slowly, you nodded, still in shock over the new sounds. “They’re beskar. They’ll never break again,” he breathed, getting closer to you as he spoke.

“I…What? I can’t…take these…” you stumbled over your words, your voice hoarse from disuse and emotion.

“They’re…a gift,” he said softly, and you swore you were hearing the unfiltered voice from below the helmet. You still stood frozen in place, head swirling.

“Why do you sound different than I remember?” you asked sadly, putting your hand on his chestplate, hoping the familiar rumble would ground you.

“They’re connected to my microphone. No modulator,” he said softly, grabbing your wrist and putting it under the armor. You looked up at him, unbelievably surprised at his actions.

“But your creed? Why would you do that?” you asked, your hand still across his chest. You could hear him sigh in apprehension, a new clarity to his sound you had never experienced.

“I love you,” he said, his chest repeating the familiar rumble of the past few days. You tried to pull away in surprise but he held your hand there. “I wanted you to…hear it from me.” You nodded, tears springing to your waterline.

“Din…I…Maker, I love you too,” you sighed softly, overwhelmed by the new information. He had been telling you over and over and you never knew. He let your hand fall away from his chest as he pulled you closer to him in a tight embrace. You both stood there quietly as you tried to calm your mind, grounded in his touch, surrounded by new sounds. But your favorite was the unfiltered voice directed straight into your ears, whispering his love to you as if you would never be in silence again.

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oikawasbliss · 4 years

Note

10 with iwaizumi bae fuck writers block all my homies hate writers block 👺‼️

ikr fuck writers block 😒 they're the worst, the bane of my existence.

— [ 12:37 AM ] camping with the seijoh boys

note: i got carried away this was supposed to be a drabble 😭😭 idek if this is considered fluff 💀 but please enjoy!

word count: 1.1k | tags: best friends to lovers(?), manager!reader fluff & unrequited love

please reblog if enjoyed!!♡

you were in your tent alone attempting to fall asleep but all you're doing is move yourself in uncomfy positions. the repetitive turns, east and west, you had a whole tent for yourself but you couldn't seem to properly rest.

so you sat, thinking of anything else to do while watching your phone clock pass a minute, there wouldn't be anything much to do considering how almost all of the vbc members are asleep and you didn't want them to wake up with their dreams disturbed. also if there were any server connection to where you are then maybe you could've done something to ease your boredom.

you then thought of just strolling through the woods in the middle of the night, seems relaxing, alone in the dark. sounds perfect.

you felt courage as your hand reluctantly slid the zipper open of your tent.

your eyes widen in surprise as you feel warm and spot a dim brightness of fire in the distance. is someone still awake? you thought as you stood up and walked, following that has been taken to your attention.

getting near you saw a figure sitting on a log, seeing the spikes of their hair made you think that it was either the vbc members kindaichi or iwaizumi.

still, you have to be cautious in case it was neither of them, though thankfully as you get close the person was indeed iwaizumi, having almost large arms and a more dangerously spikier hair than the first year, you immediately knew it was him, well he was your best friend after all.

“ hey.. ” you called him quietly, he heard your voice and turned to you in a flash feeling like he'd get caught for staying so late in the campfire and ordering him to go back to his tent.

“ oh hey manager. ” he responded idly, facing his head back to the light of the fire.

“ oh come on, just call me by my name. ” you then carely took a seat beside him, “ why are you up this late? ”

“ should ask you the same, why are you awake? ”

“ hmm… ” you slightly squint your eyes, thinking of a reason as to why you are still standing awake, you should've taken the question back to him but you felt like actually giving a reason for him to answer back. “ i can't sleep? well i was the first one to sleep but i just seem to not… you know? ”

iwaizumi lets out a short chuckle, “ i get it, don't worry. ”

after that the whole air between you two turned quiet, only the clicking of the fire burning the wood beneath it.

you didn't want to sleep and go back to your tent, you just got up and you're not gonna go back now because of the awkward silence.

you broke the silence and started making up a topic that you two will talk about.

and you guys did, talking and transitioning to a new topic as you guys go on. smiles plastered to both of your faces as one another tells their story, you didn't even have to check the time if it's late or not, you sure as heck don't feel sleepy at all, you want to keep talking and talking. well, it's always been fun talking to iwaizumi, you don't want this babbling to end.

after a long series of laughter you two stopped trying to consume more of the hot breeze made by the flame in front of you two.

“ it's been forever since we've talked like this.. ” the man brought up, raising both of his hands to warm them by the warm air.

you felt that this is getting in a deep turn, but it's also a relief that you two are able to be open to each other after days acting like you two have a neutral relationship.

“ well, it's mostly on me, i had a lot of things to work on and i guess i got too busy… ”

“ oh no! don't blame yourself, we were all really busy and didn't have time to hang out, oikawa really missed us three being together. ”

the edges of your lip curled slightly, grinning by the words the other said. “ it's been that long huh? ”

“ —if only that man is still awake maybe we'll have more fun together. ” your smile transitioned to a smirk, wiggling your brows making that bulb of his light up to get the hint, and he did.

“ wanna wake him up? ” he asked, darting his eyes at the tent the brunette's currently sleeping in.

“ it's like you read my mind. ” your smile becomes wider as you place your hands on the log, helping you to stand up.

“ wait— before we do that. can i talk to you for a sec? ” he intervened, you don't know if he's serious or not, regardless you still chose to stay and listen.

the truth is he likes you, a lot. but these feelings for you were only kept to himself, not telling anyone, not even oikawa, though he had this fear of losing connection to you even more considering how poorly you guys are getting along with the packed schedules that were assigned to both of you.

it would sound weird to confess immediately, for this was iwaizumi's original plan, to confess properly but he didn't think this was the good time to do so.

“ ha...hajime? ” you hesitantly tilt your head to see the other's face, lost in thought, what will he say? you thought. this sounds serious, it will totally ruin the vibe when waking up oikawa but… i still want to listen. you kept talking to yourself inside your head until hajime faces up and looks at you.

“ I don’t know if you know this but, I love you. ”

there was silence, you didn't know if he's serious at all, he just said that out of the blue.

if he was... who are you to reject him?

“ wha— huh?— that was so sudden. ” you gasp as if like a bulb above your head lit up. “ was that a confession?! ” you added in a teasing tone, your eyes widened, and your lips smiled subconsciously.

iwaizumi didn't know what he just said too, it just vomited out of his mouth.

he blinked, grinned and looked up to the stars displayed at the beautiful night sky.

“ whatever or however you understood it. ”

your hues quickly faced to the other, his eyes were glistening by the reflection of the stars above, however i understood it? you thought to yourself once more, well your first thoughts on what he said was a confession, confessing his love for you, but you didn't want to assume quickly, but he said that to you, the exact three words, then he probably really meant that.

you furrow your eyes in curiosity, you wanted to force him to say what he actually meant by it, but at the same time, your pride told you that it was indeed a confession.

you slowly lay your head onto his shoulder, a grin plastered on your face as you two continued to watch the stars

“ you know? i love you too. ”

#bye this looks so bad #this wasn't proofread ... if you didn't know #iwaizumi x reader #iwaizumi hajime #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x gn!reader #haikyuu creations #haikyuu #haikyuu fanfiction

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bluewritesao3 · 4 years

Text

Guilt or a shitty job?

Summary: You join the mandalorian on a vaguely described job to the back water planet of Vispoc, that holds far more than originally anticipated leading to a very much needed history lesson and some emotion

Warnings: I think this gets angsty towards the end (I’ve never written angst before so bare with me pls) . talk of consumption of fogs, Talk of canon events like order 66 and the empire. Talk of Jedi stuff.

Taglist: Let me know if you wanna get tagged. Send me and ask or DM

Word Count: 3.5k (this was meant to be a dabble)

Masterlist | Cross Posted on A03

Gif credit: @johnboyuga

Kneeling on the floor of the Crest, you meditated in the quiet of the ship with the less then talkative Mandalorian hidden away in the cockpit and the miniature Grand Master Yoda safely tucked away in his hammock. The quiet offered you the peace you needed to gain a greater control over your thoughts and emotions. “Peace. Serenity, Harmony. We must master ourselves before we can hope to master the force.” You muttered your last masters teaching to yourself with closed eyes basing in the steady silence.

As the ship jolted and rocked beneath your knees, you centred yourself more ignoring the shifting metal biting into your knees. When you’d found the right peace and began to slip into a trance, the heavy thunking of boots echoed through the ship throwing you out of your almost trance-like meditation. “How far out are we?” You asked still knelt on the floor with your back still turned to the shiny Mandalorian.

He passed by almost too quietly, looking less shiny in the artificial lighting of the ship, you heard the quiet noise of the baby’s little sleeping compartment opening. “A hour at least,” He said distorted by his helmet as as he ducked down into that you originally assumed was the Mandalorian’s sleeping space and was now the child’s. “We’ll be landing in a few.”

You sighed and pushed off of the floor, wiping your hands on the course weave of your trousers. Watching the Mandalorian always surprised you that a man covered in impenetrable mental could be so careful with a baby. The Mandalorian carefully fished the child from his little hammock and situated the groggy blue bundle into the crook of his arm. You smiled at the sight, the child had a strong connection to the first and had a tendency to project life events into it, you’d originally assumed that he was doing it intentionally while the Mandalorian was away. The more you asked the child about these events the more he would immediately perk up and begin babbling as if he was glad you asked. “What’s the planet like?” You asked out of simple curiosity because it wasn’t like there were any windows in the hull of the Crest and since taking off you didn’t know any details other than the Mandalorian found work.

“Find out for yourself,” The Mandalorian muttered, you could see he was far more focused on the child than anything you had to say. “Going to need you for this one anyway,” He added retreating back up into the cockpit with the child in hand, you followed quietly without knowing why the Mandalorian was traveling to the planet of Vispoc but you’d agreed to help the Mandalorian with whatever work he had going it was mainly babysitting but you’d fallen in love with the little green gremlins upon first meeting.

Ascending into the cockpit, the pair of you worked like a well oiled machine so that the Mandalorian was able to take off and flue without any interference with the child. Staring out of the window, you stared at the slowly approaching planet. It looked as if a large part of it was made up of water spotted with green land masses and white spieling clouds obscured quite a bit of the water and land masses. “Looks safe enough. Don’t want repeat of Trask.” You muttered stroking one of the child’s large petal shaped ears.

The child cooed quietly as he played with his favourite control level knob, slowly turning it in his little clawed hands. Out of the corner of your eye you could see the swirling clouds wind in tighter on themselves like an incoming hurricane. “Slightly observation. Might wanna avoid using the jetpack when we’re planet side.” You warned side-eyeing the stoic lump of beskar casually tilt his helmet and give the planet a brief second look before pushing a few buttons.

“Says it’s water-rich and windswept. Got no major populations or star ports.” The Mandalorian uttered helmet barely picking up on the words as he looked at one of the screens embedded into the ships control panel. “Gonna be a bumpy landing.” He added and you took it as a sign to buckle your seat belt and clung to the child, his little arms raised in excitement when a few alarms began sounding as the Mandalorian began the bumpy decent onto the planets surface.

The closer the Crest go to the planets surface the more you could feel the planets attainment to the force. At first you thought it was the child of the winds you were sensing but it felt older like an ‘accumulation of energy’ as your late master called it when somewhere or someone had a strong connection to the force. “Do you feel that too?” You asked the child and received a delighted squeal as the Crest was battered by the winds and thrown to the left.

Glancing out of the window at the fast approaching planet, you began bracing for an impact just like the frozen tundra wasteland the new republic had chases you both into. The control panel flashed and alarms beeped in time with your pounding heard as the Mandalorian yanked on the ship’s controls, slapped various buttons and flipped switches with a level of blind accuracy you’d only seen from your fellow Padawan’s during group training or sparing practice.

As the Crest touched down on the rusted abandoned hanger, a withered painted sign proudly pronounced the planet’s name, Vispoc, while another clearly announced that the planet had some affiliation with the republic before the Empire came to power. You breathed a sigh of relief and drew in the clam the sense of peace you’d tried meditating on hours ago. “You good?” The Mandalorian asked sounding a little breathless and gently smoothed down the child's wispy white hairs, who’d seemingly enjoyed himself, maybe it was the sudden flashed of the escape pod that had put you on edge or maybe it was something entirely different. “Looks abandoned.” The Mandalorian observed taking in the dilapidated hander and strips of torn fabric hanging off of stacked cargo boxes.

You nodded shakily and began unbuckling yourself with the wild settled on your shoulder in preparation of you having to single handedly climb down the ladder into the cock-pit. “I’ll feed him then we can go. Okay.” You told to the mandalorian and leaving him to do whatever was needed in the cock-pit before the three of you ventured out into the cold of the planet. As you began your decent into the hull of the ship the child began to gargle a little at the mention of being fed. “Stars you’re a hungry thing aren’t you.” You commented as your feet touched the grated metal in the full.

Settling the child on top of the largest cargo crate as you set about mashing up one of the ration bars and rehydrating it with a little water from a flask. Ration bars and recycled water was not a good combination and you could attest to it seeing as it was the only part of your diet for at least a year after the purge. While you worked the child babbled and made grabby hand towards the small tin rectangle you held in your hands even though he was sending images of a particular frog with blue and black stripes he’d probably seen before you arrived through his connection in the force. “Sorry bud. We don’t have any blue and black striped frogs or any amphibians at all.” You joked and offered him a spoon of mushed up, rehydrated ration bar, he took the first spoonful without an issue but after the second and third you think he’d began to realise that it wasn’t a froggy mush.

He quietly grumbled aloud to himself in his own baby garble and frowned as a new spoon of ration bar mush was presented to him. “Listen, maybe I can convince your Dad you get some froggy pets.” You promised as you tried to sooth him by motioning towards where the Mandalorian was still hauled up doing post flight checks. “Then you can hunt ‘em yourself.” You added hopefully appearing the small grumpy child and offered the spoon again.

As if he’d actually considered it the child made a noise of agreement and began wolfing down every spoon of ration bar mush fed to him. “Y/N, you really shouldn’t promise him such things.” The mandalorian’s modulated voice came out of nowhere in true Mandalorian fashion causing the baby to immediately perk up as if he’d been given a stim-canister. “I have too many pets as it is.” The Mandalorian added as he pulled open the locked metal cupboard where he kept all his weaponry and began to load himself up as the Crest’s ram opened up with a mechanical whirling.

Depositing the child into his little cloth bag, “This looks questionable at best.” You muttered taking in the silvers of landscape revealed to you by the slow opening of the Crest’s ramp. Standing at the mouth of the ship, you slowly scanned the landscape, the hanger the Mandalorian had parked in seemed derelict from years of abandonment and seemed perfect for a smugglers crew to hide some coveted cargo. Noticing the out-cropping of a large temple-like structure was peaking out from behind the large mountain looming in the foreground.

“Here,” The Mandalorian said holding out the hilt of your Lightsaber, the cold sunlight glinted off of the dull weathered durasteel illuminating some of the symbols carved int other space between the emitter and the switch. “Might need it.” He nodded to the Lightsaber he’d once referred to a laser sword.

Reaching for the long metal hilt was a lot harder than you originally anticipated. ‘This weapon is your life.’ Your late asters words echoed in your head. Feeling the Mandalorian’s visor trained on you was almost burning its T-shape into your face. With a shaky hand, you firmly grasped the all to familiar leather wrapped hilt of your lightsaber and just held it trying to become comfortable with its weight again. It’d been the same as the one you’d built when you’d been selected as a Padawan and taken part in the gathering on Ilum. You were sure your hesitation was as clear as Vispoc’s oceans. “If my master could see me now. Hesitant. They’d be so disappointed in me.” You explained shakily, your late master never got ashamed or angry when you put a foot wrong or hesitated but they were always disappointed when something sailed or went wrong. As you hooked it onto your repurposed belt and gun holster, the child snorted as if he was getting impatient with all the waiting around.

Descending the ships ramp, the weight of the baby on your left felt like nothing compared to the history of the weapon hanging on your belt rhythmically bouncing as you walked. With the Mandalorian at your side, the both of you approached the village at a slow speed, only stopping when the winds picked up significantly and blew particularly hard. The dark rock bit into the palms of your hands as you shuffled along the mountain trail, hand on the wall searching for something to steady yourself when the winds blew. Farther up the trail the Mandalorian waited quietly but impatient, you could see where the child’d picked it up from, as if the winds didn’t bother him in the slightest and you was convinced that it was all the beskar that was weighing him down.

With your free hand holding the child’s side bag closer to your body, you had a much clearer view of the temple-like building that was peaking out from behind the mountain. Two large stone pillars flanked a set of double doors. Above the doors harsh winds swirled around one another like a brewing hurricane, in front of it was a raised dais with set stair leading down to what you assumed was the ground. Feeling the force trying to pull you in the direction of the temple, you brought up your shield again forcing the pull to detach itself from your being. “That part of me is too scared to even think about going there. Just yet.” You muttered into the wind and gently patted your Lightsaber as if you was trying to reassure yourself that you’d have to work up the courage to visit a temple again before became part of the living force.

Once on the move again the unlikely pair came to the mouth of a mountain-side village. A small handful of the homes seemed to be build from cylindrical walls and topped with dome roofs, the whole place felt restless with the scrapes of brightly painted fabric banners whipped around in the significantly more gentle wind. Other homes were built in close quarters with one another jutting out slightly from the sides of the mountain, they followed the natural lines of the paths and the mountain faces. “What or who are we looking for, Mandalorian? ‘Cause this place looks abandoned.” You asked glancing around the village and grimaced when you caught sight of the warning on the wall signed with a blood red imperial symbol.

The mandalorian sighed deeply as if he knew the whole trip was a bust. “He said it was in the village. Maybe there’s multiple villages.” He cursed clearly frustrated as you allowed yourself to slump down onto an outcrop of stone that seemed like a good place to sit.

“I doubt whatever you’re looking for is still here, Mandalorian.” You muttered promptly gesturing to the bright white grimy sighs screwed to the side of one of the cylindrical homes. It clearly stated that the village now belonged to the empire and all the occupants were in evacuate immediately or be arrested. “No doubt all the villages are under Imperial hold regardless of size.” You added gently offering the baby some of the jerky you kept in one of the bouches tied to your bed.

“Come one we’ll try the next on.” Was all the Mandalorian said before speedily continuing down the trail.

Watching the Mandalorian’s gate, You could see the that everything was beginning to weigh on him because it was much long ago that he’d found out he was raised by religious zealots and you’d honestly contemplated leaving there and then given the Jedi’s history with that particular groups of Mandalorian’s. Even if you’d spent almost 3 decades in hiding the teachings of your late master wouldn’t relent, emotions only clouded one’s judgement.

Hours down the line, you and the Mandalorian had traded off the task of carrying the child. The mandalorian now had the child’s side bag slung safely across his body with the child filling the safe space between both you and him.

The pair had visited multiple villages across the planet, even come across a largely developed town that yielded little to no information about whatever if was the Mandalorian was looking for. You suspected that whatever he’d been tasked the retrieve was inside of the temple-like building you’d seen when visiting the first village. The force connection was only growing stronger and carried whispers with them, they gently scabbed the very edges of the shield you had built after feeling it at its strongest for the first time. The child clearly wasn’t as effected as you were, maybe it was because he hadn’t had as much training, you weren’t sure but it worried you given that the child was 50 and just about had a grasp on lifting things.

Sitting in the cantina listening to the quiet chatter and howling winds, you carefully fed the baby spoonful after spoonful of bone broth. Subtly trying to watch the Mandalorian out of you peripheral you watched him fidget and continuously open and close his fist almost like he was waiting for someone, antsy was the word your brain suppled you with. “What exactly is it we’re looking for?” You asked gently wiping away any spilt broth from the child’s face. Waiting patiently, you took a sip of the water from the cup in front of you and watched the Mandalorian silt his helmet as if he was contemplating telling you what exactly they were doing on this windy hellhole. “You said you’d might need me. That implies that it’s something Jedi related.” You surmised slowly piecing together the small fragments of information you’d collected on the journey from one village to the next.

“It’s Jedi. I just don’t know where to look.” The Mandalorian huffed laying his hand flat on the table. “I’m open to suggestion,” He added allowing his shoulders to drop a little like he was relieved to share the job with you. “The Jedi are a mystery at most. Why doesn’t anyone know anything?” He asked sounding completely lost and a small part of you was itching to teach someone about the ways of the Jedi but the much larger part of you that was acting purely on instinct screamed that revealing such information would only get more killed.

Swallowing the lump in your throat, you slowly began drawing circles on the table avoiding the black t-visor staring straight at you unrelenting. “Because we’ve been wiped from history,” You began to explain hearing the child whine a little but you pushed on. “Our temples had fallen into disrepair or burned to the ground. The Empire sentenced us to death and denied a trial.” You explained farther remembering all the time you’d spent running and begging for your life, all those you’d cut through just to survive to see the next sun rise.

Without seeing the Mandalorian’s face, you couldn’t tell what expression he held, sometimes you were envious of the emotionlessness the armour offered him but he sat silently and listened as you rambled. Casting a quick glance around the cantina because anyone worth their information knew that cantina walls had ears. Always. “As the Republic fell the Empire rose and wiped us away with it. Anyone that’s still left knows better than the out themselves.” Memories of the great purge flashed across your memory, the stand-off between your late master and the commander and the clones chasing you across the length of the republican cruiser. It’d be enough to put any 12 year old into hiding and to never some out again. “Our relics became decoration and prices to be won. Our Lightsaber’s were another’s trophy.” You babbled nervously as you ignored the small green hand of the child clinging to your sleeve or the forced wave of calm being pushed onto you by the child.

The Mandalorian tilted his head noting that he was listening and absorbing all the information you were providing him with, the way he stared at you when you finished simply said ‘but why?’ and in all honesty you couldn’t give him an answer. “The thing I’m being paid to find. Theres a possibility that it’s Jedi.” He explained and you’d never felt such a strong urge to fling someone across the cantina and through your blooming anger, you nodded in understanding that the Mandalorian needed to make money some how and if it wasn’t chasing bail jumpers or debts half ways across the galaxy it had to be something Jedi related. Maybe this was the biggest fuck you to the Jedi from the Mandalorian’s. “If I’d known I wouldn’t have taken the job.” He added guilt dripping from the words even if they were mechanical.

“Is that why you gave me my saber back,” You began planting elbows on the table quietly seething with something akin to anger. “Out of guilt for taking the job?” You questioned staring directly into the black abyss of the Mandalorian’s t-visor. “Be clear with me Mandalorian. Was it guilt.” You demanded anger flaring a little, knowing full well that the Mandalorian had been adamant on him keeping your Lightsaber locked up out of harms way or at least till he trusted you to carry it and keep it out of the kids reach.

“We should go.” was all the Mandalorian said as he rose from his seat, took the child and excited the cantina to go back out into the drab wind-swept landscape leaving you sitting alone at the table looking for the peace you’d been able to find before landing.

Gingerly resting a hand on the hilt off your Lightsaber and glanced around wondering if anyone had noticed it on your person. “Memories of an old friend.” You whispered dropping the shield and walking out of the cantina, the Mandalorian stood of to the side holding hands with the smaller version Grand Master Yoda. The pull of the force called to you in a way that you’d never experienced since the gathering on Ilum and being on the surface of coruscant. “If we’re going to a temple. Stay close and ignore the whispers.” You warned and set of in the direction of the temple wishing the spirits there were at least laid the rest and not running rampant through the temple.

#Din Djarin x reader #din djarin x jedi!reader #jedi!reader #the mandalorian x reader #the mandalorian #Din Djarin #Blue writes instead of doing uni work #blue writes

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toomanystoriessolittletime · 4 years

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What do the Lonely do at Christmas?

Summary: Christmas is supposed to be the time of the year you spend with your loved ones. But what if you still have to meet them?

Pairing: John Wick x Helen

Wordcount: 660

Warnings: just some fluff

Once upon a time there were some thirsty gals, that only met because of their mutual love for the one and only Keanu Reeves. This one goes out to one of the original golden Girls, @meetmeinthematinee <3 This is my Secret Santa gift to you. I hope you enjoy it

Tagging the original thirst squad

@ladyreapermc / @fanficsrusz / @ficsnroses / @omg-imagine / @fics-not-tragedies / @penwieldingdreamer / @eevee-of-rivia

When he got out of the taxi that dropped him off at home, it was like John took his first breath in three months. Three long and exhausting months in which he brought so much death…

He desperately wanted to get out of it. The high table. He wanted a normal life. Whatever normal meant. Maybe live outside of the city, have a dog. A woman who loved him unconditionally.

Grabbing his bag he made his way across the street into the apartment building where he was living.

New York city was a sight to behold, but there was something magical about seeing it in the snow. It was like the city slowed down. John did never make a big deal out of Christmas. But he did appreciate the bottle of scotch Winston had gifted him for the holidays.

After placing a take out order and a long shower John found himself sitting on his balcony, a cigarette in one of his hands, a book in his other hand. It might be freezing, but he wanted to enjoy the quiet outside. So there he sat, a wool blanket around his shoulders a tea on the table next to him. Distant music could be heard from the apartment next door. When he left it was still being renovated. He made a mental note to say Hello the next day.

Enjoying the last rays of sunshine as he sat outside on his little balcony and read he didn’t notice someone on the balcony next to him.

“Здравствуйте.” A female voice interrupted his reading. John looked up, looking in the direction of the foreign voice and saw a woman looking at him from the apartment next door.

“I’m sorry. This is about all the Russian I know.” She chuckled. John looked down on his book the Russian version of some book he found on his travels.

John smiled a little. “It sounded perfect to me.” He got up from where he was sitting, laying the book down.

“Thank you very much. My yoga teacher taught me that.” She answered. “I was wondering who this mysterious John Wick was, whose mail seems to make it in mine all the time.” John was next to her now, only separated by the small provisional wall between their balconies. The whole side of this building was supposed to be renovated last summer, but still wasn’t finished.

“Oh. Sorry. This building is a Disaster. Mail getting lost, water pressure being non existent…” John sighed.

“Is this why you travel for work?” She asked. John raised his eyebrow.

“I mean… you’ve been gone for the entire time I lived here… oh I’m babbling.” She shook her head, hiding her face behind her hands.

John couldn’t help but smile as he looked at her blushing face, her dark hair in a messy bun on her head.

“It’s okay. And yes it’s one of the reasons I’m traveling so much. The other one is a very sad and lonely story I’m not gonna tell cause you’re my neighbor and we’ve only known each other for like 5 minutes.” John winked. She looked at him through her fingers, her face still hidden behind her hands.

“Maybe we can trade sad and lonely story’s one day. Though spending Christmas by ourselves seems to be one very sad highlight” She sighed. John heard the doorbell ring from inside his apartment.

“Ah that must be the food I ordered.” He said almost sad not wanting to leave this conversation. Or her.

“Then bon Appetit John. Maybe we can pick up this conversation some other time.”

“I look forward to it…” he looked at her, still not knowing her name.

“Helen.” She smiled back.

“Merry Christmas Helen” He nodded one last time at her before he turned to leave.

“Merry Christmas John.” John heard her say back. He smiled at her before he got inside to pay for his food. He kept asking himself how bad of a impression it would make to invite her over for a drink when he heard a knock on his door.

When he opened it, it was Helen standing in front of it, a bottle of whiskey in her hands.

“Would it be too intrusive to ask you, if you want to have a drink with me?” She asked. John chuckled.

“Not at all.” He stepped to the side, to let her in, before he closed the door behind her.

This was the first night John dreamed about his life without the high table. Without the killing. From a life he always imagined. From Christmas like he always imagined. In a warm home. Baking cookies, watching silly movies. With a woman who finally had a name: Helen.

#secret santa #fanfic #fanfiction #john wick #John Wick x helen wick #Keanu reeves #John Wick fanfic

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tarlosbuddie · 4 years

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Summary: It's been years since Eddie, Buck, and Christopher moved to Austin. Leaving Los Angeles and the 118 was hard, but it was the right decision for their family. They are happy at the 126. Tonight, the Diaz are hosting the 126 monthly dinner. It's a family tradition now. It brings back some memories and flashbacks.

Or the one where Buddie and Tarlos are friends and have lots of kids.

This is also part of my collaboration with the amazing @harvestleaves

Word Count: 3470

Chapter : 1/2

Tags: Established relationship, Kid fic, domestic fluff, crossover, future fic

Relationship: Buddie and Tarlos

Read it on AO3

The 126 fire station

The shift is coming to an end and no one is complaining about it. It’s been a long day. They haven’t lost anyone but they barely had any time to catch their breath in between calls and one look at his team is enough for Owen to know they are all taking a nap as soon as the truck parks at the station. He is right, as usual. His son is the only one who’s not heading to the bunk room. He had a big smile on his face all day long.

“What makes you so happy son?” Owen finally asks, wanting to know the reason his exhausted son is looking at his phone, smiling, instead of catching up some well-deserved rest.

“Carlos keeps sending me those pictures” TK replies with a huge grin on his face. “It’s his day off, and his mom insisted on taking the kids shopping.”

“Rookie mistake” Owen says. He tried once and his ‘quick shopping trip’ lasted for hours.

“They’ve been in the same store for three hours and Isabella has pretty much tried every piece of clothing she could find” the Strand boy adds while showing his dad all the photos Carlos had sent. The first three are very cute and show Bella wearing the beautiful clothes her grandmother picked out for her. Carlos’ mom is behind her with a bright and hopeful smile on her face. TK keeps scrolling to show his dad the rest of the outfits, dozens and dozens of pictures. From the reflection in the mirror, both men can see Mrs. Reyes’ hopes to leave the store slowly disappearing from her face. The last one is the one that melts TK’s heart the most. It’s a picture of his favorite little monster wearing a yellow hoodie and Carlos added the caption ‘She said she wanted to look like her daddy’.

“If they keep going like that, they will still be at the store tonight.”

“Not a chance” TK assures. “Her big brother won’t miss a dinner at the Diaz's for anything in the world.”

“My little man is not the only one excited about tonight. I can’t wait to see the Buckaroos” says Owen, he looks around them, the firehouse is quiet. His team is sleeping, Michelle is on a call. Something is obviously missing.

“Yeah, it’s weird here without big Buck” TK admits. Buck and him quickly became friends and not seeing him at work every day is weird, but he knows the blonde will be back at work in no time. He knows the whole team looks forward to seeing the youngest Diaz at the station again. Eddie of all people wants him by side, but he will not admit it in front of the others. His husband has a good reason to stay away from his job a little longer.

“We still have one hour left before the end of shift” the captain says. “You should try to rest a bit. I’m sure Buttercup is already warming up your bed.”

One hour of sleep won’t be enough to get properly rested from the long day they had, so TK decides to help his father filling the reports from all the calls they had. He sits on the couch on the corner of the captain’s office and Buttercup comes to sit next to him. They are halfway done with the paperwork when the shift is officially over. The members of the crew come quickly to let their captain know they are heading home.

“Go, son, I’ll finish this alone,” Owen says. “I’ll see y’all tonight, guys”.

“See you” Eddie replies as he’s practically running, eager to come home to his family.

“Are you sure dad?” TK never liked paperwork, but he knows they can get it done faster together.

“Sure. I’m sure Bella is going to want to wear one of her new outfits tonight and she might need some help choosing from everything her grandmother bought her”, the kid’s grandfather says. He knows it’s probably true because no one ever spends more money than him spoiling his three grandkids.

“Okay then, see you soon.”

The Strand-Reyes’ house

TK drives back to his place. He doesn’t have a lot of time before they have to leave for the Diaz’s but he will make the most of the time he has with his family. He walks into the living room and kisses his husband before telling him and Matias about his day. The oldest is still too young to understand everything about his dads jobs but he knows they are both heroes who save people. Owen would love to see him being a third-generation firefighter but he will never influence his grandkids. Luis is playing on Carlos’ lap, stretching his arms towards TK for him to hug him. Owen was wrong about something, Isabella only got two new pieces of clothes. A dress, bought by Carlos’ mother, and the hoodie Carlos bought her. TK knows that she decided to wear this one because she’s holding his in her tiny hands.

“Oh, you want me to wear mine too, huh?” he asks his 3-year-old daughter. TK grabs his hoodie and carefully puts Luis on the couch next to his dad. “I’m gonna take a quick shower and we’ll be ready to go.”

Carlos does not reply. He watched over his baby boy while helping Matias finish the drawing he made as a gift for tonight’s hosts. Owen once told his grandkids to never show to someone’s house empty-handed, and even though the Captain was thinking about the nice bottle of wine he always brings when he’s invited somewhere, he’s glad to see that the boy learned that gesture from him. Matias makes sure to draw something lovely every time, and now the whole team has an original Matias Strand-Reyes drawing on their fridge.

The Diaz’s house

Buck just hang up the phone with Carla. They still facetime from time to time. It’s not the same as having her around, but the Diaz family will always have a soft spot for her. She helped them in so many ways, they won’t ever know how to repay her for everything.

Eddie and the rest of the 126 will be here soon. So Buck sets his phone on the kitchen counter, enjoying the view of his entire family on the screen before opening the recipe he was given last week. He still thinks about Carla and a conversation they had a few years ago.

Buck had come home after a quiet shift. His apartment barely felt like home. He used to love it so much but ended up finding it empty and cold. He was so happy during his shift, smiling while working under the burning LA sun. Somehow, his joy disappeared when he crossed the threshold. He was missing something. He didn’t want to stay at his place, so he texted Maddie but she had plans with Chimney. He texted Carla and she just replied with ‘just get your ass here Buckaroo’. Her husband was working late and she cooked extra food so she didn’t mind having Buck for dinner at her place.

As soon as he arrived, she asked him why he wasn’t with Eddie. The second Eddie’s name left her mouth, she couldn’t place another word. Buck started by explaining the firefighter was having a family dinner with his parents and his Abuela. It was one of those rare times his parents were in town and Buck didn’t want to bother them by coming along, even though Eddie invited him. After explaining that, he never stopped talking. He told Carla about the amazing idea Eddie had at work to save a girl, and then he kept on talking about his best friend. Carla could barely speak. She didn’t mind, she loved that boy. He had a kind heart and she knew it the second he knocked on Abby’s door to help her find her mom. It was getting late and they both knew it because Buck commented on the fact that Eddie and Chris’ dinner was probably done since Eddie had sent him a picture of Chris falling asleep in front of the movie. Helena and Ramon didn’t seem to be there and Buck assumed they went back to sleep at their hotel. Carla looked at him with a huge smile.

“What?” Buck genuinely asked her, not realizing what she was smiling about.

“You’ve been talking about Eddie for two hours Buckaroo.”

“No. I’m-I’m not” he babbled. “I’m just making conversation.”

“It’s okay. I know you love him.”

“Of course I love him. I love all my team” he said, trying to control his voice that started to crack.

“That’s not what I mean. You are in love with him, Buck.”

“I-I’m not. We are best friends. He’s my best friend.” he repeated, more to convince himself to convince her.

He hugged her goodbye, and spent the next hours in his empty apartment, looking around. He saw Eddie’s key on his key ring, the dishes from the dinner they had together the night before were still in the sink, and the shopping list on his fridge had Eddie’s handwriting on it because he knew Buck always forgot important stuff while shopping, so his best friend adds them on the list to be sure he gets everything he needs. Eddie and his son’s presence is everywhere, from Chris’ drawing next to the shopping list on the fridge, to his bedside table where the framed pictures from the first time they went to see Santa together next to the one of him and Maddie. But none of them were in the room, and that was the reason why his place felt the cold. For the first time in a while, he did not spend his free time with the Diaz boys.

Carla was right. He needed Eddie like he needed air. He loved Eddie. This realization scared him. He could not love him. His friend would freak out and leave him if he knew Buck loved him. But Buck was the one freaking out and he couldn’t stop himself from picturing every possible scenario in his head. He was about to grab his jacket to go out when he realized he didn’t even take it off after coming back from Carla’s. He took his key and jumped in his jeep.

Buck can barely hear Eddie coming behind him. The blonde is slightly bending on the kitchen counter, cutting vegetables. It’s one of the rare moments where he looks smaller than Eddie. Taking advantage of Buck’s position, the older man rests his head in between Buck’s neck and his shoulder, lacing both his hands around his husband’s waist and watches him preparing their dinner. Eddie’s muscles are tense from work, and the nap in the bunk room didn’t do any good to his body, but feeling the man he loves in his arms is exactly what he needs to feel better. Buck smells like home; the scent of the dinner he’s cooking, the perfume of the kids shampoo from when he gave a bath to Andrea before and the gentle musk of the aftershave they both use.

It’s their time to host the 126 monthly dinner and Buck wants it to be perfect because he knows these nights are as important for their kids as it is for them. Andrea is always enjoying being around the rest of the kids, and she loves when they are hosting it because she gets to play house and entertain her crowd. Both men know she will be in the kitchen with them in no time, she always is. Eddie notices his husband looks distracted.

“What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?” he said, while both his hands are still around him. His fingers are slowly touching Buck to bring him back from the thoughts he seems to be lost in.

His head is still playing back the memories of the day that changed his life forever.

In front of the Diaz’s door, Buck froze. He turned his back to the door and started walking back to his car. It was late, it was stupid. He should go home. But he moved towards the door again. It was dark and cold outside, and Buck was pacing, not knowing what to do. His heart wanted to go towards Eddie while his head told him to go back home and forget everything Carla told him. But his feet didn’t know who to listen to. He knocked gently on the door before he had time to think about what his mouth was supposed to say.

Eddie looked at him, and smiled before letting him in. He was not really surprised to see Buck at his door. There was always beer in the fridge and his favorite snacks somewhere in case his friend showed up.

“I don’t want to lose you,” Buck whispered. Eddie was close enough to hear it, but he didn’t understand it. Where was this coming from? None of them were injured during their shift, Eddie had no intention of moving out, things were fine and Buck was not making any sense.

“You won’t lose me Buck. I’m fine, and I’m not going anywhere”.

“But I might lose you,” Buck said, a little louder but he looked more scarred that Eddie had ever seen him. “You might never want to see me again.”

“That won’t happen. Not to us.” Eddie promised him, he meant it. He was never gonna let anything come in between them. “Talk to me, man.”

“I can’t. I can’t do this” Buck was turning his back on him, putting his hand on the door handle to run home and forget this. Eddie placed his hand on Buck’s to stop him from opening the door.

“I can’t risk losing what we have” the blonde said, his back still turned away from his friend.

“Okay, now you are scaring me” Eddie confessed, while he gently forced Buck to turn his face to him. He was not letting him go. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”

“It’s not my head that’s the problem.”

“What’s your problem?” as soon as the words left his mouth, they echoed with their argument during his first day, but his tone is gentle. Just like this day, Eddie’s eyes won’t leave Buck.

“You’re my problem” Buck replied, and Eddie’s mind is definitely went back to the gym where they had that heated talk. This time Buck’s voice is not angry. He’s almost whispering and his gaze left Eddie’s eyes to look at the hand, nicely rested on his shoulder, his thumb gently pressed on Buck’s neck, slowly coming up to be on his face, and that’s exactly the problem. His heart is racing against his chest and he feels like if the other man comes any closer his heart will beat so hard he will jump out of his chest and crumble on the floor.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“There is nothing wrong with you, Eddie. You’re perfect, you’re too perfect. I l-” he tried to stop himself but it was too late. The words were half unspoken and he had to finish what he started. Carla’s voice was playing on repeat in his head and Eddie was still looking at him. He didn’t know for how long he was silent. The sound of his heart sounded even louder suddenly as Eddie’s left hand mirrored his right one on the other side of Buck’s cheeks. Using his gentle hold on his face to force Buck to look at him, Eddie broke the unbearable silence.

“There’s nothing you can say that could make me love you less” Eddie said. Buck’s lips were finally moving to say something before he fully registered what the other just said.

“Wh-What?” Buck rambled.

“You heard me Buck” Eddie said softly. But if it meant the face in between his hands can finally stop shaking, he was willing to say it as many times as he needed to. “I’m in love with you, you fool. And I’m seriously hoping that that’s what you were trying to say or I will be the fool”.

Buck nodded, still shaking. He didn’t know what else to do, but Eddie was cupping his head his tender hands, and the shaking stopped when Eddie’s lips met his.

They definitely had to thank Carla for that and she was pretty proud to include this in her toast at their wedding reception years later.

Smiling, Buck fully comes back to reality. Eddie’s body against his is anchoring him to the present. Sometimes it’s still feels like a dream, all of it seems too good to be true. But it is real, as real as Eddie’s breath against the back of his neck.

“I just- I just love you Eddie.” the man declares like it’s the first time. Eddie does not need to hear him say it to know how much his husband loves him. But he will never get tired of hearing those three words.

“And I love you too” he replies while placing a kiss down Buck’s neck. No matter how many times he says these words, he will always feel like the man in front of him is constantly surprised to hear that he is loved. He could repeat them for the rest of their lives if it means to be greeted by the most genuine smile in return. “But this house is soon going to be full of hungry kids” he reminded him before they both lost themselves in the moment “and we don’t want to hear TK bragging about Carlos’ cooking skills.”

“You wanna turn this diner into a cooking competition, Diaz?” Buck teases.

“You know you’ve been a Diaz too for the past five years, right?” Eddie asks and there’s suddenly a wide grin on Buck’s face.

“I know, I just love the sound of that.” Buck sighs when he feels Eddie’s hands leaving his body, but his pout turns into another big smile when he feels his fingers taking the knife out of his hand to help him with the cooking.

Eddie cuts the vegetables left on the kitchen counter when Buck happily starts the rest of the recipe. Andrea appears in between them but has no interest in helping with the dinner. She’s only interested when her dad is making desserts, so she can give a hand and fill her stomach at the same time. By the time Eddie arrived, the cake is already on the oven, so Andrea just hangs with her dads while they do the rest of the boring work. She’s five but she’s already teasing her older dad on his lack of cooking skill.

“Dada” she said while clinging to Buck’s leg, “Don’t let daddy cook. I’m hungry.”

Buck can’t hold his laugh in, and Eddie would be lying if he said he didn’t find it cute. He took her by the hand and guided her towards the cupboard.

“What if you helped me set the table while Dada makes us something we can actually enjoy?” Eddie asked her with a big smile.

Andrea is not complaining, setting the table is something she really enjoys, it’s something usually the grownups do in their house and she feels like a big girl when she is doing it. Eddie gives her the plastic plates for the kids’ table, and she happily walks towards the table where she’s about to have a great time with her friends. She puts the green plate next to hers because she knows it’s Matias’ favorite color. Bella is going to be in front of her, next to Tucker Ryder. And for the rest of the kids, the smaller ones, they will be on their parents’ lap, at the grownup table. Aside from Bella, the other kids never complained about sitting at another table, they all love to have their secret conversations without their parents being here.

“Can I help?” Chris asks. His voice is joyful. He loves those dinners too. Especially since, unlike his sister, he gets to be at the adult table. The 14-years-old has known the 126 for a long time, they are his family.

Before Eddie can think of something he could ask his son to do, the door rang.

“Well, you can welcome our guests, buddy,” he says before jogging to the kitchen to see if the dinner is ready.

“Buck, don’t let dad near the food” Chris jokes before opening the door.

In a few minutes the first guests will arrive and the pressure from the day will vanish, and be replaced with love, laughter and happiness. No matter how tired everyone is after a shift like this one, knowing they are together in this will always make things better.

#buddie #tarlos #my first 911 fic #my first fic in english tbh #this one if more buddie than tarlos #but it has some tarlos in part 2 #and I want to make even more tarlos later #evan buckley #eddie diaz #tk strand #christopher diaz #carlos reyes #owen strand #EmilieLoves911 #my stuff

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vannahfanfics · 4 years

Text

Waste the Night Away

Category: Mild Romantic Fluff

Fandom: My Hero Academia

Characters: Hanta Sero, Ochako Uraraka

Additional Tags: Mermaid AU

Hello, everybody! This is another piece for @bnhabookclub‘s MerMay event, this time for the prompt “Well, this isn’t how I expected to spend my Saturday night”!

This is also a present for my lovely beta-reader and number-one supporter @deliathedork. I love you dearest! You certainly make all my hard work worth it! <3 Enjoy!

“Needless to say, I keep her in check! She was a bad-bad, nevertheless-! Callin’ it quits, da dunna dun duh…” Hanta sang along to the music pumping in his headphones as he jaunted along the concrete sidewalk. He punctuated the words with very exaggerated motions, earning him quite a few concerned glances from passersby; not that he noticed, because he had his eyes closed as he skipped a few steps flapping his arms like a chicken. “Then you’re left in the dust-! Unless I stuck by yaaaaaaa! You’re a sunflowwwwwwer! I think your love would be too much!” he yowled and spun around a light pole on the corner before hopping off and scooting a few more steps down the sloping sidewalk.

It was about seven o’clock in the evening, and Hanta was on his way home from a riotous day of videogames at Denki’s house. Hanta had proudly obliterated Denki, Katsuki, Eijirou, and surprise guest Fumikage at Super Smash Bros. Needless to say, he was still riding the victory high- so much so that he had elected to walk home rather than take the bus. The night was pleasantly chilly, just enough to stave off the heat from all his wild dancing, and a few of the stars were visible between the wispy gray clouds trawling over the inky expanse of the night sky. The evening was still young, so as he jitterbugged his way through town, he distantly wondered what he was going to do for the rest of it.

“I can hear you tellin’ me to turn around! Fightin’ for my trust, and you won’t back down! Da dunna dun duh, da dunna dun da…” he clumsily sang as he hopped over the curb to jaywalk across an empty street. He trotted down another incline, which led to his shortcut- a waterway that traveled the length of a series of highway overpasses. The watercourse siphoned excess water away from the city reservoir; it had rained a considerable amount lately, so the freshwater was lapping up at the edges of the levee. The splashing and gurgling of the water served as an accompaniment to his performance while he strolled along, occasionally stopping to kick his legs or punch the air energetically. “You’re the sunflowwwwwer! You’re the sunflower!” he howled again, skipping to the edge of the levee and shaking his hips, before the song ended. He then wrenched his headphones off his ears to rest them around his neck and released a self-satisfied sigh, placing his hands on his hips and staring out at the canal.

Hanta always took a moment to appreciate the view when he came this way, if the water level was high enough. It was extraordinarily breathtaking when the stars were out. Light sparkled across the gently sloshing waves like millions of diamonds. Just above the concrete slopes of the other side of the levee, through a rusted chain-link fence, spread the expanse of the city; gold lights floated like orbs in the distance, emanating from streetlights and houses and businesses. If he squinted, he could make out the reds and green of traffic stops as well, or the flickering neon flashes of animated billboards. He could not hear the deafening noise pollution of civilization, though, aside from the humming of car engines bouncing down from the highway half a mile from where he stood. No, the sounds of nature reigned- the babbling of the water, the chirping of the crickets in the bunches of weeds springing up from the cracked sidewalk, the baying of stray hounds and the hooting of the barn owl that nested in the crooked old tree beyond the fence. He closed his eyes as he drank it all in. The bubbling. The chirping. The howling. The hooting. The little muffled whimpers for help-

Wait a second.

Hanta’s eyes snapped open, and he strained his ears to make sure he had indeed heard what he thought he had. Sure enough, floating down the waterway from his right were small, stifled squeaks and sobs. Someone needs help! He took off down the sidewalk, whipping out his phone to turn on the flashlight. A bright circle of white illuminated the stone construct before him, and he swung his phone side to side wildly to check every square inch of space.

“Hello? Who’s out here? Do you need help?” he called, cupping a hand to his mouth to increase the volume. The noises ceased for a moment, and he worried that he might have frightened them off. “Don’t be scared! I just wanna help you!” He remained still aside from his slightly ragged breaths, eyes searching the dark and ears straining the fresh night air for any sound, any at all.

“… Please help me.” The plea was meek, but close, close enough for him to tell it was a girl. A million deplorable scenarios flew through his mind at once, but he forbade himself to settle on any of them; instead, he focused on picking his way down the slick slope to where he thought the voice originated from. Suddenly, the disc of light from his phone’s flashlight puddled over a caramel-haired, brown-eyed girl with her body half in the water.

“What the shit?!” Hanta panted under his breath. He cried out as the sole of his sneaker slipped over the wet rock, and he sank into a split. He let out a shrill whine as his thigh and groin muscles strained way past the point they were naturally meant to. His feet scrabbled against the slimy, rocky levee wall until he managed to regain his footing again. Hugging the levee surface, he allowed gravity to slide him the rest of the way down the slope until the toes of his sneakers barely breached the rippling surface of the water. “Don’t worry, miss, I gotcha,” he reassured the frightened girl as she shied away from his sudden presence. He held his phone up so that the light illuminated her fully but also fell on him so she could see his kind smile. “We’re gonna get you back up just… just… fine…”

His words trailed off when he happened to look down at her lower half, which rested in the water. It was just instinctual. He hadn’t been sure what he had been expecting, given the situation; he could have discovered any number of sickening or unsavory things. What he discovered was not sickening or unsavory, but downright befuddling. Rather than human legs, the lower half of the girl’s body was in the form of a bubblegum pink, scaly fishtail, with thin, curving fins like a flying fish. Hanta stared incredulously at the appendage for a few seconds before he realized why the girl- mermaid, rather- had been crying out for help. Wrapped around her tail were industrial-sized plastic rings. The hard edges were digging into the flesh, slicing right through the hard scales to cause blood and effluent to ooze out. The mermaid stared fearfully at him the entire time.

“Right! Uh, knife, I need a knife,” he mumbled and began patting his pockets in search of his Swiss Army knife. One never knew when one needed a particular tool, so Hanta had always made a point to keep one on his person. He never dreamed he would be using it to cut some plastic off a mermaid, though.

“Ah-ha!” he grinned triumphantly when he finally tugged it out of his back pocket. He flashed a reassuring smile at the mermaid. “Don’t worry, Miss Mermaid. I’mma have you free in a jiffy.”

“Erm… Thank you,” she flushed shyly and dropped her gaze. Hanta then realized he would need two hands to cut her free, so he grinned bashfully at her.

“Er, would you mind, uh, holding this for me?” he asked with a shake of his smartphone. She stared curiously at the device and gave an unsure nod, reaching up with her small hands to take it. “Just keep that light pointed on your tail- Jesus Christ, she has a tail- uh, keep it pointed there so I can see.” Obediently, she turned the phone so that the flashlight kept her tail illuminated. Hanta bit down on his bottom lip as he hunched over the appendage to begin cutting the plastic loose.

Some areas were more accessible than others; in several places, the plastic was lodged half an inch down in the meat of her tail. He felt pangs of guilt every time the poor thing yelped with pain when he would dig his fingertip into the gaping wound to pry it out. She began to squirm around and sob pitifully, so he decided to try and distract her from the discomfort. “My name’s Hanta. Sero Hanta,” he informed her with a quick smile. “What about you? Do you have a name like humans?”

“In your language, it would be Ochako. Uraraka Ochako.”

“Cute name, cute name.” He winced when she whimpered again, for he was digging into a rather deep laceration to force out some clinging particles of the stretchy plastic. “How did you even do this?” he muttered disparagingly. He glanced at her face to see her eyes tearing up and a self-pitying pout making her lips quiver.

“I just swam into it like a big dummy… I freaked out trying to get it off, and next thing I knew, I was up in this channel. I got it all tangled with my fins, so it was getting hard to swim…” She used to her free hand to wipe at the tears glittering on her brown lashes. “I thought I was gonna be stuck here forever…”

“Hey, hey, don’t worry about it! Good thing I happened upon you, huh?” he interjected as she began to cry piteously. He probably shouldn’t have delved too much into the backstory. A bright idea struck him like a thunderbolt, and he wrenched off his headphones to stick them over her ears. “Here! Listen to this, and it won’t hurt as much,” he instructed her and tapped on his phone screen to restart the music. Her eyes went wider than the full moon above as the music began blasting in her ears. The tears ceased leaking down, and slowly, she began bobbing her head a little. Hanta beamed widely, pleased his clever plan worked, and resumed cutting at the plastic. He gave the mermaid an amused side-eye as she began humming along to the tune.

Once he had tossed the last bit of the plastic up onto the top of the levee, Ochako gave her tail an experimental flap. She flushed pink and slapped her hand to her mouth as she involuntarily splashed water all down his front and into his face. “Don’t worry, don’t worry, it’s just water,” he laughed mirthfully when she began to squeak apologies. “It’ll dry,” he purred and wrung out his shirt. The water gushed down onto the stone levee with spattering splashes. “Anyway, do you think you can swim now?”

“Yes, I do,” she agreed and lowered the headphones from her ears to glance gratefully down at her tail. Thin lacerations painted red cross-crossing lines in the bright pink flesh, but her fins now fluttered freely. He gawked in awe at the realization she could manipulate each one of them voluntarily. She noticed him staring and giggled. “Would you like to touch it?”

“Is that weird?”

“No. Go ahead,” she chuckled. Hanta immediately splayed his palms out over the fishy tail, dark eyes going wide. It wasn’t nearly as slimy as he thought it would be. The scales were a little soft and pliant, feeling like thin discs rolling under his skin. The membranes of her fins were so delicate-looking that he was scared to touch them, but when he did, pinching them between the pads of his forefinger and thumb, they felt like the sheerest lace.

“It’s beautiful,” he murmured on reflex. He looked up to see Ochako blushing and bashfully holding a hand to her reddening cheek. Realizing just how embarrassing that was, he hastily retracted his hands and straightened up. “Anywa- Ack!” He had put too much force in the movement and essentially flung himself. He slipped down the rest of the levee to land with a splash in the water. The bank was only about two feet deep, so he could sit there on his rump in the water and grin shyly at the concerned mermaid. “Well, guess now we really don’t have to worry about you splashing me, huh?”

“No,” she agreed with a girlish giggle that made Hanta feel all dreamy-like. Sighing contentedly, he crawled back up onto the levee and reclined against the slope on his back, putting his hands behind his head and bending one knee. “Well, this isn’t how I expected to spend my Saturday night,” he chuckled.

“Me neither,” she laughed and stretched out on her belly beside him. She raised her tail, and as it caught the moonlight, the scales shimmered like thousands of pink opals. Water cascaded down from it like liquid crystal to plop in the water below. Hanta caught himself staring again and returned his attention to her face, finding her smiling warmly.

“I’m sorry. I’ve just never seen a girl- mermaid- as pretty as you.”

“I’m the only mermaid you’ve ever seen.”

“That automatically makes you the prettiest, though!” Ochako laughed loudly at his explanation. He found himself savoring her laugh. It rang out like bright bells, full of cheer and goodness. He rolled onto his side, resting a cheek in his hand. He ignored the way the rough stone scraped his elbow, because he just wanted to keep looking at her. He knew he would probably never see her again, so he sought to get his fill. Ochako tilted her head to the side coyly.

“Hanta?”

“Yeah?”

“Tell me about the human world.”

So he did. He told her everything his spastic little brain could think of- cars, trains, movie theaters, bubble tea, traffic stops, coffee, videogames, the little old lady next door with the Chihuahua he swore was the spawn of Satan. The amount of information that tumbled from his mouth was disgustingly overwhelming and mind-numbingly mundane. Still, Ochako hung onto every word with the most rapturous expression on her round face. Hanta found himself getting pointlessly excited about it all and was soon sitting straight up, gesturing wildly with his hands. Occasionally, Ochako would pipe up about a counterpart they possessed in the underwater realm, and they would gush about it for a few minutes. They didn’t notice the moon swiftly traveling across the sky, nor the golden lights of the city flickering out one by one. For that brief period, it seemed like time did not exist at all; that waterway was theirs and theirs alone. That little stretch of levee was a dimension beyond all responsibility and borders. They were perfectly content to waste the night away until the dawn came creeping in, flooding the world with its warm light.

The bubble burst when Hanta’s phone began to ring. He grimaced when he noticed it was his mother, and hurriedly picked up, because he’d never hear the end of it if he rejected her call.

“Yeah. Yeah, Mom, I got caught up at Denki’s. I’m all right. I’ll be home soon. Bye.” Ochako was staring at the phone like it was its own life form when he hung up. She then frowned sadly.

“Does this mean you have to go?”

“Unfortunately so,” he sighed heavily and rubbed the back of his neck, then smiled sheepishly at her. “This might sound corny and all, but I’ll never forget you.”

“Why do you say that like you’ll never see me again?” she asked, looking hurt. He blinked stupidly at her and then flushed.

“Well… I mean… Isn’t it dangerous for you to swim up in the canal? You know, getting kidnapped by humans and sold off to a circus and all that?”

“Yeah, but I don’t care.” He reeled in her utter disregard for her safety. She gave him a roguish smile that was ridiculously cute on her round face. “I’ll come back tomorrow!” Hanta made a mental check of his plans to ensure that an excursion to the channel was indeed feasible before nodding excitedly.

“Yeah! But be careful,” he grimaced. She giggled coquettishly and fluttered her eyelashes at him.

“It’s sweet that you’re worried about me.”

“Well, I am a gentleman,” he huffed, puffing out his chest and closing his eyes with a self-possessed smirk. Ochako took advantage of his lapse in security, and the next thing he knew, she had her lips pressed up against his cheek. All his mental processes screeched to a jarring halt, and he just gawked open-mouthed at her with a brainless “Uhhhhhh…” rumbling in his throat. Ochako giggled at his bashful response and shot him another flirty smile.

“See you around. And thanks again!” Before he could think of anything intelligent to say, she dove off the levee into the water. He tried to scramble to his feet. He only succeeded in tumbling back into the water again, this time with his phone in his pocket. His headphones just barely avoided suffering water damage, and he wrenched his phone out of his pocket to hold it aloft, praying that it was true that it was waterproof. He just barely caught a glimpse of Ochako’s bright pink tail swaying underneath the surface of the glittering black water before it faded into the shadows.

“See ya,” he called softly. Though it was impossible, he still fancied that she heard him.

Groaning, he climbed back up the slope of the levee to the flat sidewalk. He shook himself out like a shaggy dog and wrung as much as the water as he could from his clothes, then placed the headphones snugly over his ears. His phone was thankfully working just fine. He started his music back up and began swaying to the beat a little, then took off in a jog down the path leading home.

“Even if we gotta risk it all right now, oh-! I know you're scared of the unknown! You don't wanna be alone! Da da dun dunna dun dun dun… You’re my sunflowwwwer…”

When his mother inquired what the big smile on his face was for, he merely replied that his Saturday night hadn’t been a wasted one.

DISCLAIMER: The rights to “Sunflower” belong to Post Malone.

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

Tag List: @mhafandomman @simplybakugou @sadistiks

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aeris-blue · 5 years

Note

Cute/fluffy Undertale suggestions? How about baby bones first Gyftmas? Seeing the decorations and lights, having a taste of the foods, experiencing tearing open a gift for the first time? If you'd like to ^^

I’m a day later than I anticipated but that’s only because I tried to do way too much with this. I hope you enjoy anyways :)

The fluorescent glow of homes and shops were cut one by one until the darkness of their imprisonment was all that remained. Children around them murmured grievances in anticipation for what came next but the little ones clinging to Gaster’s chest didn’t seem too content in the darkness. He pressed a kiss to the top of each boys’ skull to assure him he was still there.

A single breath more and the lights of the tree cast a warm glow of multicolored lights across the snow and the faces of the gathered monsters. Underneath the tree was a heap of beautifully wrapped packages coated in glitter that scattered the light in fractals and changed their colors to that of the nefarious crafting supply. The tree itself was always present in the town decorated for half the year in the same shining orbs that were present on it now but they felt different.

They were strangers in this town, just visiting for the holiday, but cast in the glow of that simple pine tree it was as if they were every bit a part of the town. His eyelights were rounded as he scanned the circle of monsters to see fond smiles all around. Snowdin was nothing like the Capital… For a town so covered in snow and ice in that moment he could feel nothing but warmth.

The children’s eyes bounced back and forth between the underside of the tree and their parents in anticipation for the signal. A tiny rabbit, barely bigger than the boxes, crawled out to break the reverie and tapped atop a present like a drum. Gaster had expected all of the others to pounce and tear feverishly at the wrappings as he had seen the Capital children do. Instead, the children read the tags atop the boxes carefully before they passed them along to their owners.

All of the adults chimed in directing the young ones to the proper recipient. Some were still too young to read but they studied the tags carefully before they looked for assistance that was never too far away.

When his two shiny black packages were returned to him he felt a bit sheepish for the extreme divergence of the theme but when they were at the store Papyrus had grabbed a hold of the tube and refused to let go. Gaster sat the twins down in the snow, their snow gear swallowed their forms but it kept them warm. Sans didn’t seem to mind in the least content to sit there with his arms held slightly out from his sides but Papyrus was already invested in the shiny paper as he uselessly ran his bright red mittens over the top of the box.

“Not yet little ones,” Gaster smiled as he crouched beside them.

“Daba!” Papyrus cheered as he smacked the box.

Gaster chuckled, the boy obviously recognized the package. He wondered now if that’s why they were all wrapped in the cheery red and greens it probably helped perpetuate the idea that Asgore– er, Santa had given them the gifts. A small slime monster carried a decent sized red box on it’s back straight up to them, “Are theesh Shans and Papyruth?”

‘Yes,’ he signed but the young slime didn’t respond.

“Sure is,” Grillby smirked coming over from the dog he’d been talking to, “Thank you Jo.”

“No prahblem,” they slid the box off of themself before they scrunched their way back under the tree.

‘Grillby you didn’t–’

Grillby held a finger in front of his mouth and winked, “It’s from Santa.” He crouched down in the snow beside him and Gaster hoped Grillby had thought far enough ahead to put have layers on.

‘Well thank you Santa,’ Gaster bumped his shoulder against Grillby’s.

Behind them a booming Ho Ho Ho filled the air and all of the children froze wide eyed at Asgore’s looming figure. He was dressed from head to toe in a thick red material with every end decorated in a white fluff. His eyes were cheery and bright as they glowed with the same warm light as the tree, “How are we doing tonight,” he pressed a paw to Gaster’s shoulder.

‘Very well sir,’ he caught his mistake but it was a bit late to correct, ‘Santa.’

“Please just call me Santa,” he laughed from his stomach again.

“Athgore!” Papyrus declared as he shot to his feet quick to make grabbing motions to be held.

“It’s Santa young Papyrus,” Asgore crouched down to one knee and scooped up his self proclaimed nephew to set him atop it. “I’ve been told you have been a very good bean this year!”

“Beans!” Papyrus clicked his teeth in a happy chatter.

Alright, so their original names hadn’t quite faded out of use as Gaster had originally thought. It wasn’t that bad though: he had a good little bean and a best spud. There wasn’t anything too odd about that, right?

“Well good little beans get a special gift,” he handed the skeleton a sugar cookie decorated to look like Santa, “just for you little one.”

Papyrus’s rarely used eyelights sparkled into his sockets as he studied the glitter sprinkles that coated the red frosting. “Cookie,” Sans called out in jealousy. Asgore put Papyrus back into the snow beside his brother before he scooped Sans into his arms.

Within moments the cookies icing was pressed against Papyrus’s face as he tried to maneuver it in his mittens. He pressed his teeth over it again and again not really bothering to eat it seemingly much more interested in the sugar frosting on top. If Gaster would have known there were more cookies involved in the festivities he would have taken the mittens off first. Something told

“I’ve heard you have been very kind to your brother and father,” Asgore laughed as he retrieved another Christmas cookie this one was a golden yellow bell with a holly beside it. Sans clutched it between both his hands with a pleased smile in his eyelights. “There you go little one,” he put Sans on the ground.

“Is their Dad having a good time as well?” He pat Gaster’s back before he stood back up.

‘It is certainly different than it is in the Capital,’ Gaster shrugged as a pair of hand bullets used a cloth to scrub icing from Papyrus’s teeth.

Asgore laughed, “That it is! I would love to hear more of your Gyftmas experiences but for now I have more cookies to give!”

Gaster took the cloth from his hand bullets before they dispersed and turned to Sans who just stared very intently at the cookie in his grip. “You’re supposed to eat it,” Gaster encouraged but the boy just kept staring at it with the most absurdly determined expression. With a sigh he returned the cloth to his inventory, Sans did things at his own pace.

“You’re gonna go cross eyed kid,” Grillby teased like a proper uncle. Sans ignored his warning as he clung to the cookie like a prized possession until it disappeared into thin air. With all the force he could muster he applauded himself while the two adults stared down at him dumbfounded.

‘Did Sans just… put that in his inventory?’

“Yeah. I think you’re right?”

Papyrus applauded his brother who was babbling away in delight. “Excuse us,” a child’s voice broke the adults disbelief, “are you Doctor Gaster?” A small bear cub looked just about guilty as it carried a multitude of boxes in their arms.

“Yes he is,” Grillby supplied.

“This is for you,” they pushed a long flat box out to Gaster, “and these are for Sans and Papyrus.” He set two more boxes in front of each boy. Gaster bowed his head in thanks but he wasn’t for sure where to direct it. Grillby knew better than to go so over the top but he didn’t know anyone else.

Perhaps their contents would indicate who to thank? Once the last of the boxes had been distributed the kids eagerly began to tear at their wrappings. Sans flinched at the sudden sounds but Papyrus began to smack the box with his gloves trying to imitate the older kids. Gaster freed the pair of their gloves and Papyrus proceeded to scrunch the paper in his fist. The actual tearing part didn’t seem quite in his skillset yet so Gaster found himself opening most of the boxes.

Grillby had gifted the pair a plush a piece but allowed them to pick which one they wanted. Papyrus went with the ‘Osaur’ a brontosaurus that he currently had a death grip around the neck while Sans affectionately named the pig plush ‘Pugo’. They were far too distracted to open the hand carved blocks from one of the mystery boxes or the collection of small animal toys from the other. Gaster’s own gifts to them sat to the side, he figured they could save the finger painting sets for another day.

All of this was nice and all but he still had no idea where they came from. The other parents were all occupied with their own little ones and no one was glancing his way. ‘Grillby who–’

“Don’t forget your gift,” Grillby passed the long flat box to him.

He eyed his friend curiously before he picked at the package. When he lifted the lid he couldn’t help but stare in disbelief. It wasn’t what he thought it was. There was no way it was that.

The pale gray fabric was scratchy to the touch, a stark contrast to the smooth material he normally sought out, it flared out dramatically as he lifted it from the box. No, it wasn’t what he thought it was. The edges were too clean, the fabric too thick, but it was a gray capelet with a hood. His magic burned against his sockets, ‘This… isn’t exactly fashionable anymore.’

Grillby gestured for the Inn Keeper to come over, “You still have the clasp right?”

‘Of course,’ he pulled the cape close to his chest, ‘you worked so hard to get it back after it was stolen… I wouldn’t ever get rid of it.’ His soul was pulsing with more enthusiasm than he was accustomed. This was so stupid.

A long time ago there was a tiny skeleton in a gray cape. He didn’t own anything else there was nothing else in the world that couldn’t understand his pleas for help but he had the cape. It was his pillow after a long day, his blanket when he needed comfort in a world content to forget him, and his only proof that he had a past somewhere. The day it was stolen from him had marked a turning point for the worst of his prolonged life.

Grillby spent who knew how long tearing through Home trying to find it for him. It was just a stupid piece of fabric, by that point it was so old it was hardly more than a towel. He’d lost a lot that day: hand made tools, projects, blue prints, and books but Grillby set after that stupid cape. The day he finally gave up Grillby handed him the clasp that Gaster had so proudly carved his initials into the plate. Grillby had looked so defeated passing the tiny metal clasp to him… Had he ever really thanked him for it?

“Miss Hops had found the material in the dump,” Grillby interrupted his thoughts, “so we took it to Bonnie to hem, but first Clyde cut out the pattern for us. It was a bit of a group effort.”

‘Why?’ He signed simply. Why in the Underground would they go so far out of their way for a stranger? Gaster didn’t even know who these monsters were and they… did this.

Miss Hops laughed cheerfully as she rested an arm over Grillby’s shoulder, “It’s a thank you dear.” He must have looked very confused because she chuckled again, “For the Core which gives us electricity, for all the little repairs you’ve done around here that we couldn’t figure out, and for taking good care of our favorite bartender.” Her smile was pure and genuine as her ears flopped over, “We’ve been trying to come up with something to thank you with for years now.”

“But–” He was too intimidating, they couldn’t talk to him, they were afraid of him, “We aren’t too clever around here.” Gaster blinked as tears welled up in his sockets, “So we kept thinking about all of the gizmos and gadgets we knew nothing about but it never felt right.” She smiled over to Sans and Papyrus, “Then we heard about these two little cuties.”

Papyrus gasped in excitement taking a great deal of pleasure in trying to make himself as adorable as possible. Always the little showman. Sans offered Pugo to her and she happily took it only to have it kiss away at Sans’s cheekbone. He fell into a laughing fit as he tried to scrunch the plush against his cheek and shoulder.

“We might not know much about the whole science thing but we know a thing or two about kids,” she looked back up to him. “It’s hard being a single parent, let alone a single parent of two.” It was a shy, and a little clumsy, but she rested her paw on his knee, “When we heard you were bringing them down here, well, we thought we’d be able to finally tell you thank you!”

He found it increasingly hard to maintain eye contact with her, his eyes plummeted down to his hands that were wringing the capelet in the box, he sighed and pressed it aside. So many eyes were on him expecting a reaction for their hospitality and kindness… but it wasn’t in him. He was a cold unfeeling scientist, the water on his cheekbones was from the snow getting picked up by the subtle wind, the tight clicking in his shoulders was from the cold, he didn’t– he couldn’t–

A sugary sweetness pressed against his teeth and pulled his attention to Sans who held a yellow cookie against his teeth. Papyrus crawled into his lap holding the Osaur close as he leaned tiredly against him. His boys. His precious sons he squeezed them tight, he hadn’t ever been that cold unfeeling scientist he drew himself as. These two knew right away who he was… and they loved him for that.

All of these monsters were eager to share their tradition, their community, love, warmth, kindness, resources, and town with them. He owed them something. With nothing but panic in his sockets he looked over to Grillby who nodded in recognition. With the aid of his minimal blue magic talent he stood up, ‘I can’t even begin to thank you all for this.’ He sealed his sockets tight as Grillby’s soft voice translated his hand bullets across the gathered crowd.

‘I knew why Grillby had decided to move to Snowdin way back when but I never understood why he wanted to stay in such a small isolated little town.’ A few of the citizens chuckled at his unintended pun, probably because Grillby put emphasis on it. ‘I see it now,’ he shrugged since his arms were occupied with two tired children, ‘and…’ There was a warmth in his chest, a level of acceptance he was unaccustomed to settled there but for once he wasn’t going to build a wall against it. ‘Thank you. If you need anything please let me know.’ It was the only way he could think of repaying them.

It seemed the citizens couldn’t stand another moment of seeing Gaster so small in front of them. They flooded around the skeleton family excited to speak to the Royal Scientist and coo over the children.

Papyrus’s lethargic mood slipped away as children tried to play gently with him and his Osaur. Sans was content to be passed from one warm soul to the next only occasionally opening his eyes to see if his father was still there. Gaster himself was surprised to chat with strangers telling stories of his sons’ mischiefs and triumphs. Grillby and Asgore had an odd air of pride to them as they watched it all unfold in front of them.

The boys were too young to remember the kindness of that first Gyftmas but Gaster would never forget.

#gaster #sans #papyrus #dadster #skelefam #grillby #asgore #santa #Snowdin #Gyftmas #cute prompts #i wrote over six thousand words when I realized I needed to trim this down #haha #I had way more thoughts than I thought on Gyftmas #it was hard to keep the focus on the boys when they are too little to do much #I enjoyed writing them a lot though

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messagefromtheveins · 6 years

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Drunken Babbles (Are Sober Thoughts)

A/N: As you (or at least most of you) were wishing for, a small and fluffy blurb about drunk Shawn.

Words: 1103

Pairing: Shawn/reader

The front door crashed against the wall, followed by an "oopsie," and a quiet giggle before it was shoved closed with a bit too much force. You sighed and shook your head with a smile, closing your book and placing it on the bedside table. It was obvious that he had a bit too much to drink before he even entered the bedroom. You could tell from the way he kept bumping into things in the hallway followed by a quiet giggle before he finally appeared, hands braced on both sides of the doorway to the bedroom. "Oh, you're still awake," he noticed with an excited grin and stumbled over his own feet as he approached the bed where you were curled up beneath the covers, leaning against the headboard.

You didn't bother to tell him that you definitely wouldn't be asleep anymore after all the noise he had made. "Had a great night?" you asked with a smile and watched as he clumsily toed his shoes off before he- rather unexpectedly- let himself fall on the bed, most of his weight landing on you. "Ooof, Shawn," you complained and tried to shove him off, but he was like dead weight on top of you.

He giggled and turned on his back, his spine arched in a weird way over your thighs while he stretched his arms above his head. "It was so much fun," he gushed and wiggled his toes, his lazy eye dropping a bit more than usually. "They let me behind the bar and mix drinks," he told you and looked at you with exhilarated eyes. "So much fun," he repeated in a murmur and dropped his head back to the mattress with a happy sigh. "Would have been so much better with you, though," he added in a mumble.

You gave him a soft smile and combed a hand through his hair, his eyelids fluttering with a pleased smile resting on his lips. "I'll come along next time," you promised. You had told him that you were feeling a little under the weather, even though the main reason why you hadn't tagged along was because you didn't want to interrupt guys night. You knew he had missed his friends and you wanted him to have a night without his girlfriend by his side.

Your body jerked in surprise as he suddenly sat up in a fast movement, his eyes still wide but now filled with worry. "Are you feeling better?" he asked and reached out to you, his hand placing on your forehead to check if you might have a fever.

You felt bad for lying to him, but you knew that he would've argued for so long until you had ended up giving in and joining him and his friends. "Very," you smiled.

He grinned in relief and flopped back down again, a giggle falling from his lips as you patted his stomach. "Imagine if you and I opened a bar," he exclaimed, though seconds later his eyebrows furrowed, "no, wait. That would be a bad idea."

"Why's that?" you grinned, quite entertained with the silly way he was acting.

"Because you would be the hot female bartender and every guy would be all over you. I wouldn't like that," he grumbled, just the thought of it visibly displeasing him. "We're not opening a bar," he decided and shook his head. "You know what we should do though?" he asked, looking at you with wild and excited eyes. "We should get married," he continued without even waiting for your response.

For a second you stopped breathing and you had to remind yourself twice that he was drunk before you managed to speak up. "Alright, big guy. I'm gonna get you some water while you go brush your teeth, okay?"

But he didn't move, instead looked at you with his best Bambi-eyes. "You don't want to marry me?" he whispered, a pout appearing on his lips that would be more than adorable if it wasn't for the genuinely devastated look in his eyes.

"Shawn," you sighed and reached out to caress the side of his face, a small smile spreading over his lips, "you are drunk. We'll talk about this in the morning, okay?"

–—–—–—–—–—–

Most of the morning passed in peaceful silence while you basically tip toed around the condo, trying not to be too loud so you wouldn't end up waking him. You weren't even sure if he was actually still sleeping or if he just didn't want to get out of bed yet, but you left him be. You really didn't want to be the cause for a grumpy Shawn because you might accidentally wake him.

So you settled in the living room with your laptop, opting to get some work done while you patiently waited for him to get up so you could start cleaning the condo like you had originally planned.

It was nearing two in the afternoon when he finally stumbled into the living room. "Oh, look who has risen from the dead," you grinned and placed your laptop beside you on the couch as he stepped further into the room, "how's your head?"

"Not even that bad," he mumbled and held back a yawn that made you grin. Stopping in his steps, he lightly tilted his head and silently looked at you for several seconds before a small and affectionate smile spread over his lips. He couldn't deny that he was nervous- his heart was racing in his chest. But it was the good kind of nervous. The ring in his pocket didn't feel like it was weighing him down.

Crossing the distance between you, he gave you a soft smile, but you could see that something was on his mind. Your eyebrows furrowed in worry and confusion, but before you could attempt to speak up he dropped to his knees in front of you, his gaze never leaving yours. You swallowed heavily and your eyes widened as he reached into the pocket of his sweatpants and pulled a little velvety box out. "Shawn-" you breathed.

You could see that his hand trembled a bit as he easily flipped the lid open with his thumb. The ring was perfectly placed inside of it, exactly the kind of ring you had always dreamed of getting. You could vividly picture him adjusting the ring over and over so it would be on perfect display for you to see. "You said we would talk about this in the morning," he reminded you with a gentle smile as you stared at him with wide and surprised eyes.

S.Mendes+Team Taglist: @justanotherfangurl272

#shawn mendes #shawn mendes blurb #shawn mendes fluff #shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes fanfiction #shawn mendes fic #shawn mendes writing #shawn mendes x reader #shawn peter raul mendes #writing

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soul-eater-novel · 5 years

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«-first // archive // Ramsus-kun Scanslations

★ Chapters 0-1 complete translation ★ Chapters 2-3 complete translation ★ Chapters 4-5 complete translation ★ Chapters 6-7 complete translation ★ Chapters 8-9 complete translation

For your reading pleasure and enjoyment, below the cut are the full rough English translations of chapters 10 and 11 of the official 1998 Suikoden I Soul Eater novel (volume 2 of 3). Individual page translations can be found in the chapter 10 and chapter 11 tags.

Chapter 10: Journey to the Great Forest

Gently undulating morning mist covered the surface of Toran Lake. Tir was up and out of bed before the sun even rose. He opened his window, captivated by the sight below. A sea of clouds spread as far as the eye could see, as if he were looking down into heaven from his bedroom in the old castle. The morning breeze blew in and he took a deep breath of the fresh air, stretching his body to drive away his drowsiness.

Before long, the sun rose above the mountain range in the east, dying the mist a brilliant gold. He leaned out of the window and looked to the northeast, where the imperial capital lay, then turned his gaze to the sky of the distant north, where his father Teo was currently stationed. He gave a weary sigh.

“Oh, good morning, Young Master,” called a gentle voice from across the room. “You’re up early today.”

He turned to find Gremio standing there, wearing an apron.

Ever since Tir had basically become the leader of the Liberation Army most everyone had started addressing him using some title of respect. While that was fine, as far back as he could remember, only Cleo and Pahn, whom he ate and slept with, had ever called him “Lord Tir”, and the truth was that being called that by others now made him feel like he wasn’t himself.

But Gremio called him the same thing he always had. Tir was embarrassed, of course, to be called “Young Master” in front of everyone, but he found it soothing when it was just the two of them. Gremio smiled kindly, just as he always did, and murmured, “I have already prepared breakfast so, if you like, shall we go to the dining room?”

“Sure, okay.” Tir pulled himself away from the window and quickly got dressed. “What’s for breakfast today, Gremio?” he just inquired without really thinking, but Gremio began babbling gleefully. “I’m glad you asked! Actually, we got some amazing fish in this morning, thanks to Yam Koo. And then I tried making the bouillabaisse recipe Antonio taught me, and it came out, well…“ Gremio beamed. His smile was so wide in his slender face, his eyes closed completely. “It’s not a taste you can describe with words. Won’t you be the first to give it a try, while all the rest of our greedy friends are still just waking up, Young Master? I know you’ve got a lot on your mind, but one bite of this bouillabaisse and all your troubles will simply float away.”

“Gremio…” He looked at him again, harder this time. It made him happy that Gremio had guessed that he was worried about the future of their battle against the Empire and was trying to cheer him up. He took a breath, and replied, “All right! First things first. Let’s go eat!”

He followed Gremio out of his room, walking the passages that led through the castle. The Liberation Army castle was a massive, hollowed-out stone edifice that jutted out of Toran Lake. Originally a Scarlet Moon Empire base, it had fallen into disuse when the Imperial Navy built and then moved into the floating fortress Shasarazade in the northeast.

The rocky interior was divided into six floors. The fourth floor held the rooms for the central members of the Liberation Army: tactician Mathiu and Pahn, as well as Cleo and the others, and the hall where they held war councils. The second and third floors were home to Leknaat’s apprentice, Luc, the professional gambler, Gaspar, and others, each with their own personal quarters.

The first floor held the storehouse under Rock’s watchful eye, and Chandler’s shop, plus Marie’s restaurant and the break-room-turned-sickbay. The dock was located on the first underground floor, looking out over Lake Toran, and the second underground floor was home to puppet-master Juppo and the other oddballs who liked living there, as well as the prison. Passages linked the castle together and led to the surrounding cliffs, which held still more rooms. As leader, Tir’s room was located in the west side of the main tower. The passage they were taking now led to the fourth floor.

Pahn’s snores thundered loudly from the room on the other side of the stone wall. Exiting the corridor, they arrived in the inner citadel. They opened the door across the spacious room and proceeded to go down one floor using the “elevator” device that Sergei the inventor had created. When the two of them reached the dining hall...

“Agh!" Gremio shouted and raced into the dining hall. "What are you doing, Viktor?!"

Tir peeked inside and saw Viktor sitting alone at the table in the middle of the dining hall filled with the fragrance of soup, gulping down bouillabaisse stew out of a huge cylindrical pot.

“When did you get up?! And you moved the pot to the table?!” Gremio raged, scandalized, but Viktor was unfazed. “Ooh, so you made this soup, Gremio? It’s so good I want it all for myself!”

“I’m happy to hear you say that, but...” Gremio replied, dejected. “I just wanted the young master to be the first one to get to try it.”

Perhaps finding it awkward to look Gremio in the eye just then, Viktor hastily turned to Tir and said, “Let’s eat together, Tir. Come over here and try it! This soup is ‘soup’-er delicious! Gremio really poured his chef’s heart and soul into it. With this guy’s cooking on our side, we’re gonna kick those Imperial soldier’s asses!”

Gremio began serving the soup, so Tir sat at the table, too. He took a bite and the mild flavor of the bouillabaisse flooded his mouth. The soup practically melted on his tongue, overflowing with the delicious flavor of stewed white fish meat and vegetables.

"Gremio, this soup is wonderful!"

Gremio’s face shone like the sun coming out from behind clouds. "Oh, I’m so glad! Hearing you say that makes getting up early and putting everything I’ve got into cooking this worth it! I’ll bring the bread, too. Please, eat as much as your heart desires.”

He excitedly brought a basket of bread from further back in the dining hall. The bouillabaisse became that morning’s main course, so Tir and Viktor took the bread and offered seats to their friends who were beginning to gather, moving to a table in the corner of the dining hall.

Tir sat in the dining hall that was beginning to bustle, engrossed in eating his bouillabaisse and bread. The melancholy that had gripped his heart this morning had vanished already. But Viktor, who had finished eating and was leaning against the wall with an expression of deep satisfaction, rumbled, "By the way, Tir, you heard ‘bout what the Empire’s been up to lately?”

Tir stopped grappling with his fish bone.

“No, I haven’t heard anything from Mathiu.”

“That right?” Viktor scowled, folding his arms. “Word among our scattered comrades-in-arms regrouping here at this castle has it that the Empire is up to something suspicious in the Great Forest.”

“The Great Forest...”

The Great Forest was an area on the southeast edge of the Empire’s territory surrounded by mountains and deep forest. In the Great Forest lives the elf tribe, a long-lived people who prefer a life of elegance, the Kobold tribe, brave half-human and half-beast warriors who resemble dogs, the dwarf tribe, burly in stature and with a knack for inventing, as well as a few humans. These four tribes had been in conflict for a very long time, but no large-scale wars had broken out since each side had agreed upon a mutual nonaggression treaty known as the “Great Alliance”.

Kwanda Rosman, one of the Five Imperial Generals, had been appointed lord of Castle Pannu Yakuta in the Great Forest and ruler of the people about five years ago. Viktor said that peace in the Great Forest could have been kept, but Kwanda had apparently suddenly broken the Great Alliance three months ago and began oppressing the other tribes.

“Mmh, but...” Tir looked down, spreading the white fish meat he had gotten the bone out of on a piece of bread.

He knew Kwanda Rosman. All of the Five Imperial Generals were friends, and Kwanda had often visited his father, Teo. He had clear memories of Kwanda chatting with them, laughing heartily and drinking with his father. A stern-looking military man, once he had caught Tir gazing in wonder at the scars he could see under his armor. “This is from an arrow wound I got protecting His Majesty. I’m proud of it”, he had kindly explained.

Tir couldn’t believe, in his heart of hearts, that Kwanda would start a battle in the Great Forest. “But the Great Forest has their Great Alliance, so the Empire won’t be able to make any big moves." He said in Kwanda's defense. "Your rumors don’t mean that the Empire is going to move its forces to suppress all the tribes.”

“That’s true. And ‘til now, I would've agreed with you. But this’s what my gut tells me...” Viktor leaned over the table towards Tir and lowered his voice. “The Great Forest is gonna go up in flames soon, and you’d best talk to our tactician about what we’re gonna do when that happens.”

“I understand. Thank you, Viktor.”

Tir stuffed the bread into his mouth, rose out of his chair and was about to leave the dining hall when Gremio, standing in the doorway to the kitchen with a basket of bread in his arms, called, “Oh, are you done already, Young Master?”

Gremio’s ever-present smile made Tir want to confide in him.

“Yeah... do you have a minute, Gremio?”

Gremio’s expression grew worried. “Yes, of course. Always.”

“Why don’t we go outside for a bit of fresh air?”

“Certainly. Shall we go down to the harbor, then?”

Gremio set the bread and his apron down on a nearby table and followed Tir out of the dining hall. Tir walked without saying a word, listening to Gremio’s footsteps behind him, through the corridor and down the stairway. The deep unease he had felt this morning returned to his heart.

---

The morning mist had already cleared and the sun was glittering on the surface of the lake by the time they reached the harbor. The harbor was constructed in the bay, big enough for fifty small boats to weigh anchor. Wooden docks stretched out towards the lake on either side of the stone wharf. Fishermen Tai Ho and Yam Koo bobbed beyond the docks in their boat. Even gazing at the glittering waves with the refreshing breeze coming off the lake failed to lift Tir’s spirits.

There was just too great a difference in power between the Liberation Army and the Imperial Army. To roughly compare their numbers, Kwanda Rosman was at the head of 9,000 troops at Castle Pannu Yakuta in the Great Forest. The unit belonging to Milich Oppenheimer to the southwest of Lake Toran numbered 9,000. His father Teo’s unit in the north was 14,000 strong. In addition, Kasim Hazil’s unit was located in the Senan area to the north of Lake Toran, the Floating Fortress of Shazarazade held Sonya Shulen’s unit, and the emperor had an army twenty thousand strong on constant standby under his direct control in Gregminster, the imperial capital. The Liberation Army had been gathering their forces at this castle for over a year, but they hadn’t even amassed half the power that the Imperial Army had at its disposal. If Viktor was right, though, they were going to have to fight in the Great Forest on their own, which could spark all-out war with the Empire.

“Gremio…” Tir began, then faltered, unsure how to continue. “Do you really think we can oppose the Imperial Army as we are now?”

“Well, I’m not sure about that, but…” Gazing at the opposite bank, Gremio answered, “Our forces may be small now, but the Liberation Army will continue to grow. Flik is bringing soldiers with him from Lenankamp and there are many others in every town who are dissatisfied with the Empire. I’m not saying we’ll be a match for the entire Imperial Army, but we can certainly win a battle or two with everyone’s power combined.”

“You think so?”

Gremio was right, of course: it’s not like they had to face the Imperial Army’s forces all at once. It would take time, but if they could weaken and destroy the different units one by one, then maybe a day when victory was in sight would eventually dawn.

“Yes, you may be right.”

“Indeed. And, Young Master,“ Gremio continued, happily gazing down at Tir, "it’s okay to struggle. It’s okay to worry. Doing so is proof that you are moving forward and not running away from the difficult things in life. If it pleases you, please feel free to speak with me any time.”

“Thank you, Gremio.”

His heart felt much lighter now.

Splish…

Although it was a quiet splash, they could hear it even on the other side of the dock.

Splish…

“What is that?” Tir asked the second time they heard it.

Something white moved at the end of the dock. As they stared at it, the white shape materialized into a hand at the edge of the dock.

“Are you seeing what I’m seeing, Gremio?!”

“Let’s go check it out!”

He ran, sending the stones scattered about the wharf flying. Gremio followed close behind. When they peered into the water at the end of the dock, they both uttered wordless cries. The limp body of a man clad in green clothes bobbed lifelessly in the lake. Presumably having used up the last of his strength to grab onto the dock, he wasn’t moving anymore, and if they didn’t do something about it, seemed well on his way to sinking to the cold bottom of the lake.

“Grab his arms and pull, Young Master!” Shouted Gremio, and leapt into the lake. While Tir pulled on the man’s soaked arms, Gremio lifted up the body. When they finally got him pulled up onto the dock, Tir stared in shock. The body stretched out on the dock looked human, but wasn’t. His body was slender, his skin so pale it was translucent. Long ears poked out from his bright orange hair, which had gotten wet and was plastered to his face. He wore shoulder epaulets made to look like the leaves of a tree and carried wooden arrows made on his back.

“An elf?” Gremio asked, climbing out of the lake, water pouring off him. “What in the world is he doing here? Did he swim all this way?”

“Let’s get him some help first and ask questions later.”

They carried the elf to the infirmary on the first floor. Gremio called Cleo while Tir was looking the body over, and they left his treatment in her hands. While they rushed about following Cleo’s instructions, Mathiu, Pahn and Viktor, having heard the news, came running into the room. He had been out cold for a long time, but as Cleo’s treatment took effect, he eventually opened his pale eyes. The elf groaned in pain as everyone watched over him in silence.

“Wh-where am I?”

“This is the Liberation Army’s castle. And you are…?”

Hearing Mathiu’s answer, the elf suddenly sat up. “Please, you’ve got to help me! The Imperial Army General Kwanda Rosman is going to wipe out all the elves!”

Tir was astonished. The Imperial Army has begun their attack on the Great Forest?!

He calmed down the elf, who was named Kirkus and was a young man by the standards of the elf clan, and he told them his story in more detail. It had all started with small skirmishes, but a few weeks ago Kwanda Rosman had begun oppressing each tribe in earnest.

The dwarves had moved their troops and were presently safe deep in the mountains, but as the elves’ village lay close to Castle Pannu Yakuta and the Kobolds lived near the Lost Woods they seemed to be facing imminent ruin at the hands of a large force of imperial troops. Everyone grew quiet as they listened to Kirkis’ tale. They knew too well that the Liberation Army didn’t have enough strength in its current state to fight the Imperial Army. After looking around at everyone’s expressions, Mathiu quietly asked Tir, “What would you have us do, my lord?”

“Well…” His mind was reeling, but there was only one answer he could give. “I believe humans and elves suffer the empire’s misgovernment just the same. We have all gathered here to fight this injustice, and cannot afford to ignore their treatment of any tribe.”

Kirkis looked up from the bed. “Th-thank you so much!”

Pahn, however, voiced his doubts. “But, Kirkis, you elves hate us humans, don’tcha? When I went to Kouan, I heard all about how the elf tribe act like they despise humans from the folks living in the Great Forest Village.”

“W-well…” Kirkus looked down, ashamed. “You’re right. I know what I ask is selfish, but you’re our only hope. Please, help us…”

A single tear dripped onto his fist, clenching the blanket tight, displaying none of the haughty pride of the elf tribe that Pahn had so disparaged.

“That’s enough, Pahn.” Tir said sternly. “We cannot abandon them, no matter what reason you may give.”

“I concur”, agreed Mathiu. “The Liberation Army’s one strength is that we carry the hope of the people on our shoulders. We must not betray them.”

Now Cleo spoke out. “I completely agree, but the Liberation Army is still weak. Pannu Yakuta houses a military force of significant size, and we can’t take ‘Iron Wall’ Kwanda Rosman lightly, either. To fight now would just mean pointless loss of our soldiers’ lives. Let’s come up with a better plan.”

“We can’t just rush in headlong and put a stop to Kwanda. We need more time to gather our soldiers. We’ll send a messenger to the great forest while we marshall our resouces. If we can persuade the three tribes to join forces, we may have a chance of turning the tide.”

“I’ll do it!” Kirkis shouted. “Our elders refuse to ask other tribes for help no matter how dangerous the situation grows, but I’ll try to persuade the elders and the other tribes!”

“Thank you, Lord Kirkis”, said Mathiu, turning to Tir. "Lord Tir, it may be difficult to convey our sincerity to them, even with Lord Kirkis’ help. It is dangerous, but as an expression of good faith, I would like you to act as the messenger in the capacity of our leader.”

At those words, Kirkis raised his head and looked straight at Tir in the silence that followed. The zeal he saw burning in Kirkis’s eyes strengthened his resolve.

“Okay, Mathiu. I will go to the Great Forest as well. Sound good to you, Kirkis?”

“Y-yes! Thank you so much!”

The matter was settled. That night all the soldiers gathered in the castle to begin preparations for war. Weapons, provisions for the soldiers—they had a lot to get ready.

Tir and the others quickly prepared to disembark at the harbor, the castle bustling, when Mathiu unexpectedly show up to see them off.

“Lord Tir, I would like to have a word with you…”

“What’s up? Something on your mind?” Tir set down his load and stepped up to meet him halfway.

Mathiu’s expression was meek in the light of the watch fire. He spoke quietly amidst the tumult of the harbor. “I was originally Kasim Hazil’s strategist, so I am quite familiar with Kwanda Rosman. He does have a short temper, but he was never a man prone to senseless slaughter. I just can’t imagine why he would do this.”

Memories of Kwanda Rosman suddenly flashed through Tir’s mind as well.

“Yeah, I was actually thinking the same thing…”

“Ah, so you feel the same way, Lord Tir? I see… Well, for the moment let us pour all our efforts into persuading the three tribes. Our victory hinges on it. As soon as our preparations here are complete, we will join you.”

Tir watched Mathiu return to the castle until he faded from sight, then once again picked up his load. So Tir and Kirkis, accompanied by Gremio, Cleo, and Viktor, boarded the boat and sped toward the Great Forest.

Chapter 11: The Divide Between Tribes

After crossing the lake and traveling into the Goran region, they pushed their horses for three days straight until they arrived at a small, sleepy village located to the southeast of the Great Forest. The forest to the east, deep and widespread, eventually turned into was known as the Great Forest region.

“This is the Lost Forest” explained Kirkis. “The six sages who entered into the Great Alliance erected a barrier so that only those who know the way can pass through.”

He then guided them to the secret path to the elf village. They followed the trail deep into the forest until they were completely surrounded by trees, not a single landmark in sight. They couldn’t ascertain the position of the sun because it was blocked by the foliage, so they had no way of even knowing what direction they were going.

If Kirkis weren’t here to show us the way, we’d be lost in no time.

They spent perhaps half the day in this fashion until the forest opened up and a little village lay before them.

“Whew! We finally outta that maze?” Viktor whipped his horse and galloped towards the village. Tir followed after.

The village lay on a plain in the forest and was comprised of about fifty small huts, too small for humans to live in comfortably. The huts may have been targeted by imperial soldiers in multiple attacks, as some had been burnt to cinders and others had been forcefully torn down. Even though there were clear signs that the kobolds had inhabited the village recently, like neat repairs made to some of the damaged huts, there wasn’t a single kobold in sight. Tir, sensing that something was wrong, drew his horse to a halt on the gravel path. "What is this place?" he asked, looking the village over.

Kirkis answered in a low voice, perhaps also sensing the oddness of the situation. "It's the kobold's village, but..."

Gremio unslung the axe he carried on his shoulder. "Where are all the villagers? What happened here?"

"It can't be..." Cleo muttered, climbed down from her horse. "Are we too late?" She began to examine the closest hut. Everyone else trotted through the village on their horses, but didn't find a single villager. Viktor sighed in regret. "This the work of the Empire?"

Cleo came out of the hut she had been investigating, waving a loaf of bread in her hand. "I found this bread left on the table, but that's all."

"It's still fresh.” Gremio said, puzzled. “That means the kobolds were in this village this morning, at the very least, right?"

"They were here when I passed this way a few days ago." Kirkis added, similarly bewildered.

"Where in the world have all the kobolds gone?" Tir had no sooner spoken than Viktor drew his sword from its sheath. "Here comes a fellow who looks like he knows the answer!"

Everyone looked around, alert, and something glinted in the bushes.

"An ambush?!"

Atop his horse, Tir grasped his staff. Gremio took his axe out of its leather bag, Cleo jumped on her horse and she and Kirkis both drew their weapons. "But how did they know we were coming?"

About twenty imperial foot soldiers, their armor clinking, strode out of the bushes with swords drawn. The party of five and their horses grouped together as the soldiers drew near—Tir in the middle, Gremio on the right, and Viktor on the left. Kirkis and Cleo waited in the back.

"What do we do, Young Master? Fight them? Or break through their ranks?" whispered Gremio, keeping an eye on the imperial soldiers all the while.

I doubt we’d come out unscathed if we fought them with our small group. We have the advantage of being on horseback, so we could potentially break through the enemy's ranks and escape.

“All right, let's break through.” Tir turned to Kirkis. “Which way to the elf village?”

“It's to the southeast of here. When we break through their ranks, go for the soldiers on the right.”

“Got it.”

Tir turned his horse to the right, joining Gremio’s. Viktor stayed where he was, facing the oncoming soldiers on the left. The imperial soldiers advanced steadily, occupying the entire road lined with huts. The closest soldiers would be upon them in less than fifty seconds.

Then the door of a small hut near them suddenly flew open with a bang and someone leapt out.

“The name’s Blackear Kuromimi, and I’ll never forgive the horrible things you awful humans have done to us! I’ll show you the might of a warrior of the kobold clan!

Kuromimi, Tir was shocked to see, had the body of a dog, but stood on two legs, brandishing a small sword in one hand. His tawny body was clad in a green military uniform and his ears were covered in black fur, no doubt the source of his name.

The Imperial soldiers’ ranks erupted into chaos at the unexpected arrival of another foe. Kuromimi cut a path deep into the group of scattering soldiers all on his own. The soldiers slashed at him as he ran under their legs, nimbly dodging their swords. When he was surrounded by the soldiers, Kuromimi leapt up, curled his body into a ball and rolled, knocking away all the soldiers’ swords.

“Th-this damn dog!”

But no matter his might, Kuromimi’s attack on the soldiers was at its limit.

Tir and his group launched their attack at just the right moment. Gremio joined Kuromimi in taking on the soldiers on the right. Towards the center, Tir covered Cleo and to the left Viktor covered Kirkis. The battle was soon over—the six of them and had beat back the imperial soldiers.

“Not so hot now, are you, ya lousy rotten soldiers!” Viktor waved his sword and cursed at the imperial soldiers retreating into the thicket. Gremio and Cleo, then Kirkis too, sheathed their weapons and caught their breath.

Tir lowered his staff as well and sighed in relief. I’m glad we beat the imperial soldiers, of course, but I’m also glad we can confirm at least one member of the Kobold clan is alive and well.

Tir called out to the kobold, but Kuromimi glared daggers at Tir and snarled, “What?! I won't listen to anything from the mouths of a bunch of humans!”

He pointed his sword at them, but Tir had no intention of raising his staff. Looking into Kuromimi's eyes, smoldering with rage, filled his heart with anguish. Even if it was the work of the Imperial Army, humans had still driven the kobolds into this corner. Tir broke eye contact with Kuromimi and hung his head in shame.

The sound of footsteps on gravel broke the silence. Kirkis moved forward to stand beside Tir, who had just gotten down off his horse. "Kuromimi..."

Alarmed, Kuromimi backed up, this time pointing his sword towards Kirkis. "You're an elf, aren't you? I don't trust you or the humans. I will protect my comrades with my own strength."

"Kuromimi, please listen to me. These humans are not with the Imperial Army forces who attacked you. They're part of the Liberation Army, and we're here to help you."

“Liberation Army?”

Something seemed to occur to Kuromimi then and he approached Tir, sniffing him, getting his scent. "Hmph..." The kobold gazed at Tir. “You won't trick me! Humans and elves are all liars. You, though... you do seem kinda different. You don't smell like Kwanda.”

“You know General Kwanda?” Asked Tir, looking Kuromimi in the eye.

"'Course I know him! He's a real demon. I crossed swords with him only once, but he stunk like a monster."

"A monster?"

The five of them exchanged glances. It wasn't possible that Kwanda, one of the five imperial generals, could be a monster. Nevertheless, Kuromimi's words bothered Tir.

This must have something to do with what Mathiu spoke of before we left the castle. Kwanda wouldn't go about killing people without reason... but we won’t get to the bottom of this mystery by standing around and mulling it over here. There’s something else I have to do right now.

"Kuromimi," Tir began, and handed his staff to Kirkis.

"We are fighting the Empire. That was some fine sword work you displayed just now. Would you consider lending us your strength in our fight against the Imperial Army?"

His brown eyes flashed in anger again and Kuromimi glowered at Tir. "You want me to help humans and elves?"

Perhaps sensing this was a sensitive matter, Gremio hurriedly changed the subject. "By the way, Kuromimi, we noticed your village seems quite empty. Was everyone evacuated elsewhere?"

Kuromimi swelled with pride and his tail stood straight up. "Yeah, you got that right. I knew their troops had left since I was in charge of monitoring the enemy's castle, so I got everybody out of here and laid in wait to ambush the humans. And it totally worked! Everybody's gonna be so happy!"

That explained why the fresh loaf of bread had been left in the hut, as well as why the imperial soldiers had seemingly appeared out of the blue; they were scouting out the village when Tir and his team bumped into them.

"I see..." Viktor grinned like a cat. " Very clever. And where're yer pals now, Kuromimi?"

"This is a secret and all, but they're in the safest forest to the nor—"

Flustered, Kuromimi snapped his mouth shut. His eyes welled with tears and, with one final glare at the party, he bolted, heading north of the village. Just when they thought they had seen all sign of Kuromimi vanish into the brush, they heard his tearful shout: "You horrible humans! You won't trick me anymore! I knew I couldn't trust you!"

Seemingly amused at just how easily Kuromimi had fallen for his smooth talk, Viktor held back his mirth and shouted in return, "Yer secret's safe with us! You can trust us to not tell those Imperial Army bastards."

"Really? You promise you won't tell?"

"Yes, of course!" shouted Tir, but they heard no further reply from Kuromimi. Tir felt awful. Viktor clapped him on the shoulder and said, "Whatever, it's all good. The important thing is that we'll keep our promise."

"Yeah, I guess so..."

Tir gazed into the forest where Kuromimi had vanished. Behind him, Kirkis spoke. "Lord Tir..."

"Yeah, I know." He turned around and took his staff back from Kirkis. "If soldiers are here in the Kobold village, then the Elf village is in danger, too. We must hurry."

Tir's heart, however, lay heavy in his chest. He couldn't stop thinking about the rage he had seen in Kuromimi's eyes. That anger had seared itself into his mind. Kuromimi really doesn't want to have anything to do with humans... I get the feeling that convincing the three clans to work together is going to be even harder than I thought.

---

They pushed their horses without pause for an entire day after they left the Kobold village. Kirkis, who had taken the lead, drew his steed to a halt when a thick forest came into view across the plains, bathed in the afterglow of the sunset.

"There it is. Our village lies in the middle of that forest."

They all turned to look in the direction he was pointing and saw one noticeably larger tree towering above the rest of the forest. That mighty tree, it is said, is itself the Elf village; the elves walk its branches, and build their homes nestled among them.

Whipping their horses onward, Tir and the others galloped across the plain. As they traveled further, a giant stone building materialized as well, looming to the distant north of the sprawling forest. The spires poked out above the trees as if watching them even now.

Tir looked over at Kirkis while still urging his horse forward. "What is that structure over there?"

"That's Pannu Yakuta", answered Kirkis. "Kwanda Rosman's stronghold."

"So that's it, huh?"

Tir gauged the distance between the elf village and Pannu Yakuta. Looks like it would take about half a day to walk. Feels weird to have our enemies within our sights like this.

They sped up their pace and eventually arrived at the giant tree. Kirkis saw something, shouted in alarm and leapt off his horse.

"These are elven arrows! They weren't here when I left the village—imperial soldiers have come through here. I knew this would happen!"

They peered at the arrows Kirkis picked up, then looked all around them. Arrows were scattered among the roots of the large tree, jutting up from the earth, and poking out of the forest trees. Kirkis took this all in with an uneasy expression.

"I wouldn't worry too much, Kirkis." said Cleo, climbing down from her horse. "There are no bodies or even blood in the grass. It's clear a battle was fought here, but the elves may have driven off the imperial soldiers with their arrows, right?"

"That's true..."

Kirkis gazed up at the massive tree, and Tir followed suit, looking up at the elf village. The trunk was so large it would take twenty adults with their arms outstretched to encircle it in its entirety. The tree's height was obscured by its leaves, but Tir would guess it stood even taller than the castle back in Gregminster. It was truly a sight to behold, its magnificent branches—each one perhaps the length of five adult's strides side by side—stretching out in all four directions.

Just as Kirkis had said, boards connected the branches, and they could see thatched houses of green grass here and there. The houses were untouched; it appeared the elves had safely avoided the imperial soldiers. Perhaps relieved at the sight of the village, Kirkis took a breath, then whistled. In response, a rope ladder was lowered down to them.

Tir and the others bundled their weapons and baggage together, secured them to their horses, and tied the horses to a nearby tree. They followed Kirkis up the rope ladder. When they reached the center or so of the massive tree, there were a number of boards laid out to make a wide, floor-like space. Five buildings surrounded the central trunk and Kirkis pointed toward the largest one. "That's the chief elder's home."

Tir turned to look and saw two armed elf sentries stood watch outside the chief elder's house, glaring at their group.

They approached the sentries. Looking at the five of them, one sentry called out, "What in the world are you thinking, bringing these filthy humans to our village, Kirkis?"

Glaring at the sentry, Kirkis shot back, "These humans are high-ranking members of the Liberation Army. Please don't confuse them with the Imperial Army. They have something they wish to discuss with the chief elder. Please convey this to him."

The sentry gave Kirkis a look, then lifted up the partition cloth at the entryway and ducked inside. A short time later, he stuck his head back out.

"All right, Kirkis. Seems like the chief elder will listen to what they have to say."

"Well then, Lord Tir. Shall we?" asked Kirkis quietly. The sentries drew aside, and Kirkis slipped through the doorway. Leaving Gremio, Cleo and Viktor waiting outside, Tir followed him, feeling just a bit nervous.

A strict voice demanded, "Is that you, Kirkis?" the instant they stepped into the room. Tir stood by Kirkis' side, looking at the center of the room where the chief elder sat in a chair, glaring directly at them, surrounded by armed elves.

Elves are a long-lived race, and the chief elder's brilliant white hair cascaded down his back and his body was clad in vermilion robes. His eyes were half-hidden by his long brows, but they gleamed as if he were all-seeing. As the elder looked at Tir, Tir saw his eyes flash in anger, just as the kobold Kuromimi's had.

Guess the chief elder isn't going to exactly be jumping on the Liberation Army bandwagon, either.

Nevertheless, Tir summoned all his courage, and knelt before the chief elder, intending to extend every courtesy at his disposal. "Thank you for meeting with us today, Honorable Chief Elder of the Elf Clan. I am Tir McDohl, the leader of the Liberation Army."

But the chief elder just snorted at Tir and turned his gaze back towards Kirkis. "You are a fool, Kirkis. What were you thinking, leaving the village without my permission?"

"W-well, sir..." Kirkis answered deferentially. "There are those among the humans who are fighting the empire just as we are. Lord Tir is one of them. I left the village to seek his aid, to protect the village⁠—"

"Silence!" roared the chief elder, interrupting Kirkis mid-sentence. "'Protect the village'? Rubbish. We don't need the help of humans to protect our own village."

"But Honorable Chief Elder, our war with the Empire has already gone on for so long, and our ranks are dwindling. It seems our forces alone are not up to the task of defending our village. That's why I—"

"Hmph. You are still young." The chief elder shook his head in silent bemusement. "Just give it a moment's thought and you will see how foolish you are. The Imperial Army is made up of humans, and the Liberation Army fighting them is also composed of humans, is it not?"

"Well, yes..."

"Then you understand. Humans are weak-willed creatures warring among themselves! What in the world makes you think they will be any more dependable or useful when it comes time to fight for us?"

The chief elder's words sparked a deep shame in Tir's heart. He's absolutely right. Of course we can't coexist peacefully with the other races when us humans can't even get along with other humans without going to war.

Tir and Kirkis both fell silent. Gazing at them, the chief elder continued, "We may have lost ground to Kwanda's forces, but they are only human, after all. It seems they have tired of playing war, as they have grown meek of late. The soldiers still come, but never in great force."

"But Honorable Chief Elder—" Kirkis rallied, but the chief elder turned a deaf ear to his pleas. "That is enough, Kirkis. You left the village without permission, and then you had the nerve to drag this human scum back in with you. Cool your head in the village prison. It will do you good."

"Please, wait! We still need to tell you—"

The chief signaled with his eyes and the soldiers on his right and left drew their swords. Tir and Kirkis both shouted at the elder chief, but to no avail—the soldiers pushed them right out of the house. Quick as thought, more soldiers appeared and surrounded Gremio and the others. Since they couldn't exactly fight back, they had no choice but to be led to the prison, hollowed out in the trunk of the great tree.

---

The guards jabbed at them, shooing them down the stairway into the prison. Tir sighed. Not only did we fail to enlist the elves' aid, we've been thrown into prison, and now we don't even get to ask them about visiting the Dwarf tribe?

"Of course it's only natural they would hate us humans, I suppose..." Said Gremio sadly, walking in front of Tir.

Behind him, Kirkis piped up. "We're not all like that. I don't hate you guys, anyway."

Kirkis' words gave Tir hope, but before he could form any reply of his own, they reached the prison cell.

The light of the setting sun filtered in through a small window in the ceiling. One soldier unlocked the cell with a click.

"Hm?" A woman's voice echoed from within the cell. "And who are these people?"

Peering in, Tir saw the speaker on the other side of the wooden cell bars. She wore a metal breastplate atop red attire. Her chestnut hair tumbling to her waist, she crouched motionless in a corner of the cell.

"What, don't you know each other? Aren't all you humans buddies?" The guard sneered, laughing.

"Hey, when are you letting me out of here?"

"Oh, my, are the furnishings not to your liking? That's funny⁠—I thought human scum just love cramped and dirty places!"

"Say that again, you...!"

The woman lost her temper, but the soldier pretended not to notice. Grinning, he turned toward Tir's group and pointed into the cell with his sword.

"Hmph! Buncha blockheads!"

The woman's deep sigh seemed to fill the cell that Tir and the others stepped into. Once they were all inside, the soldier locked it once more, and went back up the stairs.

A deathly silence filled the cell. Tir and the others sat in a circle, glancing at each other without speaking, not sure who would speak first. They felt helpless, of course, at having been locked up in the cell, but they were also unsure about what kind of person they were now sharing the cell with.

She must be a soldier, if that breastplate is anything to go by. She could be a soldier gone rouge, or an Imperial Army soldier captured in battle and now held prisoner.

"Hey, you got a minute?" Viktor asked, shifting from his position diagonally across from Tir. "Guessin' yer a soldier from those clothes of yours. How'd you wind up here?"

The female soldier glanced at Viktor, scowling. Viktor held her gaze, unblinking. Sparks flew in the silence, but the soldier eventually gave in, and spoke in a quiet, measured tone.

"Suppose I've got a captive audience... what's there to lose?" She drew her knees up, hugging them. Looking down, she pulled her hair back from her face and began to speak, her expression grave. "I was born and raised in a small village near the Great Forest. As fate would have it, I took the opportunity to join General Kwanda's army during the War of Succession, but..."

Viktor leaned in eagerly. "But?"

"Well, General Kwanda started acting odd about a year ago. You know how he’s been putting down the elves' rebellions time and time again over the past three months?"

"Yeah?" Viktor nodded, showing he was listening.

"He has no intention of ceasing his oppression of the elves—on the contrary, he's begun construction of a fearsome weapon that will completely eradicate them."

"What?!" shouted Kirkis.

"It's known as the Burning Mirror. They say it can somehow gather heat from the atmosphere and unleash it, burning down the forest in an instant. It would wipe out the Elf Village, not to mention my own..."

"How could the Empire do something so awful?" Cleo whispered.

"That's why I betrayed the Empire; to stop the Burning Mirror from ever being completed. I came here to offer my help to the Elf Village."

"You betrayed... the Empire?"

She looked at Tir as if her decision were the most natural and obvious choice in all the world. "I sure did. Nothing is more important to me than my home. Do I need any other reason?"

Her words deeply impressed Tir. She smiled in a rather lonely fashion and continued.

"I thought I would throw in my lot with the elves and together we could destroy the Burning Mirror. Obviously, as you can see, those hardheaded fools didn't think much of my idea."

She shrugged, as if to make light of the situation, but everyone's heads were too filled with thoughts of the horrible Burning Mirror to reply.

Viktor turned and put his mouth close to Tir's ear. "This ain't good, Tir. We can't stick around here. We gotta do something, or we're gonna get burnt to a crisp along with the elf village." 　

"Yeah, we'd better get out of here quick."

Tir and Viktor stood and started testing the bars of the cell. They were sturdy, though, and it didn't seem like they would be able to break them. Plus, everyone's weapons were still tied to the backs of their horses.

While they tried out one thing and then another, time passed. Before they knew it, moonlight was streaming in through the window in the ceiling. They had tried everything they could think of, to no avail. Tir stopped to rest.

That's when they heard a small sound.

Everyone turned their head at the noise and saw the stairs were lit by a dim light. They all held their breath and watched as the light moved down the stairs, accompanied by quiet footsteps.

"Kirkis..." called a clear voice. A beautiful elf with long lavender hair appeared before them.

"Sylvina..."

The elf Kirkis called Sylvina wore a deep green dress that swayed as she dashed nimbly to the cell door. "Oh, Kirkis... Grandpa told me not to see you, but I just have to speak with you, no matter what."

Kirkis stood, turning to the rest of them. "Friends, meet Sylvina. She's the chief elder's granddaughter and my, well... my fiancé."

Glancing back at the shocked expressions on their faces, Kirkis stood across from Sylvina, who was on the other side of the wooden cell bars. "Of course, Sylvina. What did you want to speak about?"

"Well..." Sylvina hesitated, then seemed to make up her mind. "I know that you want to save the village, but.... but why would you join forces with humans? I just can't understand it."

"Sylvina, listen..." Kirkis put his hand through the cell bars and gently squeezed her hand. "Right now, we despise humans and dwarves, so they hate us and our kind in return. But what if that's not the way it has to be? We are all born into this world, and each of our lives are precious things." Kirkis took a breath. The flame on the candle Sylvina held wavered, casting flickering light. "Isn't it sad, the way we treat each other? Is it really okay to hate somebody else just because they're a different race? Are we really okay with that? Humans aren't all bad⁠—some of them are even pretty great. That's what I wanted to tell the chief elder. I want this war ended as soon as possible, so we can build a world where everyone can live in harmony with one another."

Sylvina's lips parted. "Kirkis... I'm sorry. I just can't sympathize. Humans are deceitful, and dwarves are frightening."

"I see..." mumbled Kirkis. Sylvina let go of Kirkis' hand and reached into her long lavender locks.

"But... even if I can't understand, I do believe in you."

She held out her hand. Atop her pale palm sat the key to the cell, sparkling in the candlelight.

"I will do my best to believe in what you believe. So, please believe in me, too."

"Thank you, Sylvina. I'll do everything I can to protect our village and everyone in it."

He took her hand and accepted the key. He unlocked the padlock on the cell door, and they took the stairs up and out into the Elf Village.

Sylvina had gone out first and now called back to them, "It's safe, the coast is clear." They climbed down the rope ladder, which was near at hand, and arrived back at the roots of the great tree. The horses were still tied to their tree, and none too happy about it, and their belongings were still upon their backs.

"And just where are you lot rushing off to?" Asked the soldier, who had also slipped out of the prison with them. She looked at Tir as he sat on his horse.

Kirkis, also climbing on his horse, answered. “I’m thinking it’s likely the dwarves made the Burning Mirror. Since we don’t know how it then fell into Kwanda’s hands, I believe going to hear the full story might prove useful.”

"The dwarves, huh?" She muttered, appraising the five of them. "Seeing as how we all want to protect this forest, mind if I join you guys? I won't slow you down."

"Whaddya say, Tir?"

The soldier's eyes widened. "Tir... I've heard that name before. So you guys belong to the Liberation Army."

"That's right. I'm Tir McDohl. And what is your name?"

She laughed. “They called me Valeria the Raging Flame during my stint in the Imperial Army.”

“I sympathize with your desire to protect your hometown, Valeria. Will you lend us your strength and fight alongside us?”

“Nothing would give me greater pleasure than joining even the lowest ranks of your army.”

As her formal, military-style speech drew to a close, Valeria whistled. Something rustled in the depths of the forest, and from out of the shadows of the foliage came a swift steed.

“I left her in the forest on the off chance that we might be separated.”

They watched her mount her beloved horse, gently patting the horse’s neck. Kirkis turned to Sylvina. “Will you come with us, Sylvina?”

But Sylvina gave a small shake of her head. “No, I’ll stay here. I’ll wait for you here, in our village. So you’d better come back to me, Kirkis.”

“I will, I promise. I won’t do anything to make you sad ever again, Sylvina.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

Seeing off the lonely-seeming Sylvina, the six of them galloped off towards the mountains where the dwarf tribe live in the northeast.

The sound of their horses’ hooves reverberated beneath the night sky. A world where everyone can live together in peace. I want to protect this forest, thought Tir. I won’t let Valeria and Kirkis’ dreams go to waste.

#Suikoden #Soul Eater #Chapter 10 #chapter 11 #English #Translations #Hooray!!!#This is really satisfying to post after so long

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dis-easedfairy · 6 years

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Impulsive Decision Pt.8

Male Path | Female Path

Warnings!: Swearing/Strong Language

Genre: Poly!au, angst, fluff, eventual smut, yandere!au

Pairings: BTS x Reader / Kim Taehyung x Reader / Kim Seokjin x Reader / Jung Hoseok x Reader / OC x Reader / Park Jimin x Reader / Min Yoongi x Reader

Word Count: 12,371 - 2 parts in one

Summary: M/n is the owner of a very wealthy and successful company, Barnanby Inc. M/n attends a BTS show, since they happen to be a fan. They make a very impulsive decision to show a loophole in BTS’s security and end up kidnapping BTS and 2 girls. In a fit of panic M/n stashes BTS and the girls in a very luxurious bunker for the time being, but M/n’s world slowly starts to crumble the longer the boys are out of the public’s eye,

A/N: I deleted the original post so I can repost it to see if Tumblr is still being messed up with the tags and showing up in searches

Gif by seokkieverse!! (I was going to link you to the gif maker but Tumblr is being a penis)

"She's going to kill me, she's going to kill me, she's going to kill me..." I kept repeating, my words muffled by the bite of bagel I took as I quickly pulled on a clean shirt.

"Don't eat so fast, sweetheart! You'll make yourself sick!" Jin called out from the kitchen.

"I'm not sweet! I'm mean and spiteful! Fear me!" I called out, pulling apart the large bed looking for my lost phone.

I heard Hobi laugh at my words.

"He's really nervous isn't he?" I heard Jimin ask.

"My sister will kill me if I'm not there to pick up Jeonghun in the next 20 minutes!" I panicked, running back to the kitchen to take a bite of bagel and run to back to the room to grab a jacket.

"He's coming here, right!?" Tae asked excitedly.

I froze dead in my tracks.

Was I really going to bring my nephew here!? I usually did and just waited until Jillian was almost out of work to take Jeonghun to the park to wait for her, but I don't think I could do that this time. WHERE THE FUCK CAN I TAKE MY NEPHEW!?!?!?

I sat on the floor, in deep thought.

"Congratulations Taehyung, you just broke him." Jin sighed in disappointment.

"He had a mental break, maybe we sho-" I cut Hobi off.

"I CAN'T BRING HIM HERE! WHERE THE FUCK DO I TAKE HIM!?“

“Okay, nevermind,” Hobi said calmly.

“If I take him to my apartment my sister will know something is up! If I bring him here my nephew has a big mouth and will just babble about how mUCH HE LIKED SEEING HIS NEW FRIENDS!" I was losing my shit.

Jimin walked into the room and sat in front of me, he began to rub up and down the sides of my arms, "It'll be okay! You can bring him here and we'll try to make him promise not to tell." Jimin insisted.

The other three boys walked in, "You can take him to the park, maybe a walk around the city." Hobi suggested.

"But I want to see his nephew! I bet he's as adorable as M/n-ie!" Tae whined.

"If you two go for ice cream, I want some." Jin stated, arms folded.

"We have ice cream in the freezer!" Jimin argued.

"...About that..." Tae rubbed the back of his neck.

"You couldn't have possibly eaten two gallons of ice cream..." Hobi laughed a bit in disbelief.

"There are still 3 pints in this second freezer." I grunted as I stood up and started to finish getting ready.

"Yes! What flavors?" Jin asked, walking up to the second fridge.

"Strawberry Cheesecake, Cookie Dough, and Cookies and Cream." I sighed, pulling on my shoes.

"So are you bringing your nephew here?" Tae asked, hopeful.

I frowned, "I'm not sure, Tae. I don't think I can risk it. You four may be okay with being here, but there are four... possibly five --now that Seongmi probably hates me-- that aren't okay with being here. "

"He's right, they might not be so kind to his nephew either," Jin added, digging around a drawer for a spoon, making an adorably happy sound when he found one.

"I honestly want to see him too," Jimin added, making Tae nod.

"What's his name again?" Hobi asked, sitting down on the bed, watching me in amusement as I kept searching for my phone.

"Jeonghun. I swear, Park if you have my phone I gonna..." I trailed off from my growled threat, getting on my knees and looking under the bed.

"You'll what?" Jimin challenged.

I looked up, smirk on my face, "Wouldn't you like to know, Chim?" I teased, successfully making Jimin blush.

"You're making me wanna know." Jin teased, mouth full of ice cream, not really fazed.

"Pervert." Jimin scoffed.

"You're the one who blushed." Hobi laughed.

"FOUND IT!" Tae yelled from the living room, I didn't even see him leave the room.

I jumped up and ran to the living room to see Tae unlocking my phone, "Tae! That's per-"

"I'll give it to you if you promise to bring Jeonghun over."

"...Are you serious...?" I asked, shocked that he wanted to meet my nephew that bad.

"Yes!" I took a deep breath as Jimin, Jin and Hobi come into the room.

"How about this. I take him to the store, I have to buy more ice cream and a few things on the list, I'll bring him to dinner... but only if it's only you guys..." Taehyung beamed, handing me the phone in silent agreement.

"YAY!" I heard Hobi shout from behind me, making me jump.

I walked inside the school and was greeted at the front desk.

"Back for your nephew, Mr. L/n?" Miss. Su asked, a smile on her face.

"Yeah, I'll get him from his classroom!" I called as I jogged down the hall.

Once I got to the classroom I yanked the door open. Jeonghun was sitting at a small table, drawing something on his tablet and his teacher was sitting across from him, grading papers.

"Late again, Mr. L/n?" He asked, eyes peering up behind his glasses.

"Uhh, yeah," I rubbed the back of my neck, "Sorry Mr.Hui." I chuckled nervously.

"It's endearing that you call me Mr.Hui and not Hui Gyeong like most parents." Mr.Hui chuckled, shuffling through his papers.

"And I find it endearing that you call me Mr. L/n and not M/n." I smiled.

"You're a CEO."

"You're a teacher. I find that more respectable. Sorry to keep you waiting, I'm not going to make an excuse for my tardiness. Hi, bud." I waved to Jeonghun and stepped into the classroom, shutting the door behind me.

I sat beside Jeonghun, he was drawing a flower. Mr.Hui smiled and tapped his stack of papers against the table.

"Any behavior reports this time?" I asked making Mr.Hui chuckle.

"Just the usual talking." He dismissed.

"He gets that from my mom." I ran my hand through Jeonghun's hair, fixing the stray hairs that stood out.

Mr.Hui cleared his throat earning my attention, "W-What about you... M/n? Anything new happened? I've heard you've been a busy man." I smiled.

"Yeah! We're close to a new partnership!"

"Does that mean Jillian will be busier?"

"No. I will be taking care of everything. Video games will be made in a different building and then we expand to food and beverages after a few months or so." I babbled, looking at Jeonggie's drawing.

"Anyone new?" I looked up, one eyebrow cocked up in confusion.

"Not really, why?"

He gestured to his neck. The sudden realization made my hand fly to my neck and my face burn with embarrassment.

"Uh, I was at a club a few nights ago a girl was drunk and I was trying to get her a taxi..." I lied.

Mr.Hui shook his head, "Stay away from clubs, I've heard there have been a few druggings recently, just be careful, okay?" I swallowed thickly, nodding.

"So you'll meet a lot of new friends today, but your mom can't know about ANY of them, okay Jeonggie?" I stated as I pushed the shopping cart, grabbing the ingredients Jin, Hobi and Suga wrote on the list.

"Uncle M/n, are we going back to your basement again?" I froze at his words, dropping the bell peppers in the cart with a facepalm.

I took a deep breath, ignoring the stares I was getting, "...Context, Jeonghun. Context means everything."

"Can I get cotton candy?"

"No. Your mom will not yell at me this visit." I sighed, grabbing dried mushrooms.

"But you have chips!"

"They're not for you! Plus I'm an adult and can drink beer and eat chips for dinner if I want!" I argued.

"That's not healthy!"

"ThAT's nOt heAlthY!" I mocked, earning laughter from behind me.

I turned to see Police Officer #2 from a few days ago. Well, fuck me.

"Oh! Uh, hello officer." I chuckled.

"Hello, Mr. L/n, I didn't know you had a son." He smiled, grabbing a bag of dried anchovies.

"He's not my son, this is my nephew." I apprised politely.

"Oh, okay. I was talking to your... director? Best friend? I was talking to Mr... I mean Jason. " I smiled

"He told you he hates Mr.Katashi, didn't he?" I giggled.

"Yes, he told me he used to be the end of a lot of jokes but I don't quite understand why?"

"It's uh, Japanese for 'Rigid' sometimes it could be used to describe something... hard or firm...." I trailed off, the officer's eyes suddenly widened, his face turning a little red.

He began to laugh, "Mr.Hard??? I feel so bad for him!"

"So what were you two talking about Officer...?" He smiled

"I'm off duty, Eunsuk. " He extended his hand out and I shook it.

"I'm not working so M/n is fine."

"Jason and I were talking about the leads on the Kpop group kidnapping. So far we can't find anything, do you know the username of the person you sold your ticket to?"

"I don't believe so, sorry. I should've kept track but I just didn't think about it."

"That's fine, I'm sure something will turn up. It was nice talking to you, M/n, I have to finish shopping."

"Of course, have a nice day, Eunsuk." I smiled and began to push my cart, I got into a crowded area and pulled out my phone.

"Oooh, I want ice cream!"

"Jeonghun I will put you in the bin of oranges and leave you there." I threatened, calling Jason.

"Yes?"

"You knew he was coming didn't you, Mr. Rigid!?" Jeonghun pointed to something to the side and I picked him up out the basket and set him down.

He quickly ran over to a lobster tank and I saw no harm so didn't really worry.

"Fuck you! And who is coming where!? CONTEXT M/N!" I felt my face slightly heat up.

"You damn pervert! I was talking about Eunsuk at the store!" I pushed the basket closer to Jeonghun to observe the lobsters as well.

"Oh... No, I didn't know he was going to the store or that you'd be there, don't you have Jeonghun today? I should come over, I bet he misses me." I looked over at Jeonghun who was shaking his head.

"Uhhhhhh, maybe not. I'll talk to you later."

"WAIT! I have to tell you something!"

"It can wait, Jason, I have to go." I hung up and looked at Jeonghun, "Remember, you will meet people today that you can't tell your mom about."

I sent Hobi a text, telling him I was close to the bunker, I gripped the steering wheel in a slight panic that something would go horribly wrong and that I was making the wrong decision.

Worst case scenario, the others would see my nephew and tell him I'm a crazed kidnapper, my sister finds out, she flips, ends up telling the rest of my family, my brother then does 'the right thing' and calls the cops and I go to prison.

Best case scenario, Jeonghun stays for a bit, I meet his mom outside the bunker with him, they leave, he keeps it a secret and all is well for the time being.

I let out a deep breath as I pulled into the small opening between trees that lead to the bunker. I turned off the engine of the car and Jeonghun began to gather his things and shove them into his somehow over-stuffed-looking backpack. My plan originally was to just drop off the ingredients with Hobi, leave again and come back for dinner so we could all sit down and talk but as I was opening my door, Jeonghun flung his open and ran to the entrance door. I let out a deep sigh, closed my nephew's door and followed him.

"Remember, secret friends." I reminded my nephew who nodded eagerly.

I pushed the symbols into the dial pad and opened the door, but was pushed to the side by my impatient nephew. I heard a distinct sound of what sounded like a combination of 'awws' and small squeals. I rounded the corner and saw Jeonghun already in Taehyung's arms. Jin, Jimin, and Hobi were around Tae and admiring and cooing at my nephew while Suga was standing off to the side, a slight smile on his face.

"Well then, he ran in a little early. Guys, this is Jeonhun, Jeonhun this is Jin, Hobi, Jimin, Tae is holding you and..."

"Yoongi is over there." Jin finished for me.

"I, uh, got the stuff off the list. I was just going to drop it off and come back for dinner but he got excited." I explained apologetically.

"That's okay! I'm just glad the others didn't get suspicious when Hyung told us you were coming and we all raced here." Jimin smiled, fixing my nephew's hair that Tae had ruffled.

"He has your nose!" Tae beamed.

I only smiled and shook my head. I handed Jin the bag and made my way over to Suga.

"Sorry if meeting my nephew was really sudden." I apologized.

Suga shook his head, a small smile on his face, "He does have your nose." I smiled.

"Family nose graces those who are worthy." I leaned on the wall next to him.

Suga only shook his head as his smile only got bigger. Jin put the groceries in the kitchen and rushed back, closing the door behind him. The others moved to the bed with Jeonghun. They talked to him and Jeonghun proudly took out his tablet to show off his drawing, boasting about his good grades.

"I understand it now." Suga spoke suddenly.

"Understand what?" I asked, caught off guard.

Suga turned his face to look into my eyes, "You're not a bad person. You're not smart, but you're not horrible." He turned back to look at the others.

"...Thank you?" I was unsure if that was a compliment or insult.

After a few more moments of silence, I spoke up, "Are the others worried that I brainwashed you too, Suga?" I asked.

Suga scrunched his nose, "You can call me Hyung."

"Yah! Call him Yoongi!" Jin suddenly called out making Suga only give him a look of distaste.

I only giggled a bit, "Okay, I won't call you 'Suga', Hyung." I saw the smile that Yoongi tried to hide.

"You're making him call you 'Hyung'? Wowww, Hyung, how cold-hearted." Hobi teased.

I shrugged, "It's respectful. I should call you all 'Hyung' to be honest." Everyone's head snapped to look over at me but Jin and Jeonghun.

"Whaa? How old are you exactly??" Jimin questioned.

I thought for a bit, "I was born in... soooo....20 in western and 21 in Korean age?"

Jimin began to cough, Tae just had wide eyes, Hobi's jaw dropped and Yoongi just looked at me for a really long time.

We all jumped when Jin clapped his hands together, a smile on his face, "Let's let Jeonghun and M/n-ah go have fun while we make dinner."

I chased after my nephew as he ran for the large concrete stairs with two big slides attached to them. My longer legs helped me quickly catch up and I scooped him up in my arms. I quickly held him up with one arm then used the free hand to tickle him as punishment.

"Didn't I tell you to stay away from the stairs, uh!?" I teased.

He just laughed, not answering.

"Did I not tell you stay away from them!? Answer me, Jeonghun!"

"Yes!"

"Will you go to them again!?"

"Yes!"

"What!? What was that!?" I tickled him harder.

I was trying to keep my nephew away from the large set of stairs due to the last trip here we had. He ended up hurting himself and not only did I get in trouble with this mother but I felt bad afterward because he was crying. So I tried my best to keep him far from the death stairs, however, my nephew seemed to inherit the thirst for danger and risky actions that seemed to run in my family's genes and it was easier said than done. I spent the whole time chasing him because he had a fixation on the dangerous stairs.

"Will you stay away from the stairs?!"

"No!" I showed no mercy.

Ticking wasn't the most orthodox way of punishing my nephew, but at least he would remember. My sister gave me permission to spank and scold him, but honestly, I couldn't do it. I was too soft, not only that but our parents never punished my siblings and I that way so I plan to do the same. I won't oppose my sister though, she's the parent and it's her son. It's her business. But when he's with me, I let him have fun, but I never let him get out of hand.

"Will you stay away from the stairs!?"

"Yes!!" I smirked, putting him down to let him catch his breath.

My nephew decided it was best to sit on the ground and I didn't tell him otherwise as I took off my longsleeved plaid shirt to cool off with just my plain white t-shirt. I tied the plaid shirt around my waist and took out my phone. My nephew let out an exaggerated groan and fell to the side so he was flat on the ground. I only chuckled, rolling my eyes, knowing he was just being dramatic like my older sister. I pulled out the walkie-talkie app and tapped Jin's icon.

"Hey, Jin-Hyung?"

I heard muffled giggles, "You can just call me Jin, M/n."

"Oh, uh, well Jin, I think my nephew is tired so we'll be there soon."

"That's good! Dinner is almost done, make sure to be safe on your trip back."

"Okay, bye!" I shoved my phone back into my pocket and looked at the fallen prince on the floor.

I sighed as I looked at my nephew on the ground.

"Okay, time to get up! Your mother will kill me once she sees how dirty your clothes are," I began to peel my nephew off the ground.

"Geeze, M/n you even work children to the bone." I rolled my eyes in irritation at the voice.

"Jason, didn't I tell you not to come?" I sighed in irritation as I put my nephew over my shoulder and fished in my pocket for my phone again.

"You look like a father." Now that voice was different.

I turned and was met with a crime, "What the fuck is he doing here!?"

"Hello to you too, M/n." Daisuke chuckled.

"I never said 'Hello'." I stated bitterly.

"Listen, whatever happened between you two four years ago can just be put behind us." Jason announced as he put his hands up, and he was right to do that, because I've never wanted to punch Jason more in my life than in that moment.

"Jason. Shut the fuck up. He's a total fuck salad and I don't want him breathing my air."

"WHOA! There are kids around!" Jason scolded me.

I rolled my eyes.

"I know you hate me, but we just want one favor!" Daisuke said quickly.

I scoffed, "I've done plenty of favors for both of you, Jason and I still get awkward around each other, why makes you think I'll do anything for you?"

"It's just a night out!" Jason jumped in, getting irritated.

"A night out? We aren't 15 anymore, Jason. I have a company to look after."

Also the people I have in my bunker...

"I know! He has responsibilities too now! No troublemaking, just a few drinks, snacks, a walk around the city, maybe some video games and we'll all part ways! Just like last time." Jason explained.

I scoffed, "Last time we didn't all part ways, Jason."

Jason looked confused. Daisuke looked down at his feet, a small smirk on his face.

"What? You guys left me out of our last night together??" Daisuke chuckled, looking off into the distance.

"Jason, it wasn't fun." I grumbled, adjusting my nephew who seemed like he was falling asleep.

"I thought it was fun." Daisuke protested.

"Of course you did." I rolled my eyes once more.

"It doesn't matter! Just a night out! I'm not saying today or next Tuesday, just make some time for it is all I'm saying." Jason stopped us from going further.

I sighed, knowing I wasn't going to get out of this.

"Fine. If either of you tries something stupid I'm leaving though." I grumbled and began to walk away.

"Where are you going, M/n?" Daisuke asked, his voice slightly teasing.

"Nowhere you need know." I kept walking as I took out my phone to text my sister that Jeonghun was having dinner with me.

The fact that Daisuke was in the same city as me, angered me. Maybe I was being immature but I honestly didn't want him anywhere close to me. I pulled up to the bunker and looked in my rear view mirror at my nephew who was passed out. I sighed, getting out the car and opening the back door as quietly as possible. I grabbed his backpack and slipped one of my arms through one of the straps so it was over my shoulder. I carefully picked my nephew up, I didn't even bother to close the doors, I didn't want to risk waking him up. I opened the vault door and closed it as quietly as I could. I went to the dial door and prayed this one would close silently as well. When it didn't I cringed and stood in place, waiting to see if my nephew reacted. When he didn't I sighed in relief and rounded the corner.

I smiled when I saw Hobi on the large bed. He was on his phone, earbuds in and lost in the game he was playing. He was laying against the pillows, legs stretched out and crossed, completely relaxed. I quietly and gently got on the opposite side of the bed and lied my nephew down against the pillows. Jeonghun stirred and made a small noise which somehow caught Hoseok's attention. Hobi got up and left the room. I ran my fingers through Jeonghun's hair, hoping to soothe him so he wouldn't wake up

"Shh, it's only me, Bud." I assured him softly.

Hobi came back with a throw blanket, he started to unfold it as he got on the bed. Hobi delicately draped the blanket over my nephew and smiled. I was happy to know I wasn't bothering him. I moved to take off my nephew's shoes and Hobi quickly moved to take off the other shoe.

"Had fun at the park?" He chortled.

"Yeah, he ran around a lot so he might be out for a bit." I sat back.

I began to notice how quiet it was in the bunker. Normally someone would be arguing but it was too quiet.

"Where are the boys? It's pretty quiet." Hobi smiled at my words.

"Jin and Tae are in the arcade, they aren't challenging each other so they haven't fought. Yoongi and Namjoon are in their rooms. Jimin washing some blankets and Jungkook is helping him. I think the girls are in the library. " I nodded in understanding.

"Let's let him sleep." Hobi added, climbing off the bed.

I followed his lead, getting off the bed and walking with him to the living room/kitchen/dining room. There was a blanket spread out on the dining room table, seeming like Jimin or Jungkook put it there to dry. There were two covered pots on the stove, both letting off steam and bubbling away. Hobi led me to the living room and plopped down on the couch, holding his arms out. I gave him a look of confusion. I went to sit beside him put his hands immediately grabbed my hips and pulled me so I was on his lap.

His arms wrapped around me and his chin rested on my shoulder, he let out a deep breath and leaned back more into the couch, pulling me back with him. A warm and safe feeling washed over me as I relaxed into his hold.

"If you wanted to cuddle, you could've just told me." I chuckled.

"Would you stay with me if the other boys wanted you too?" He asked softly.

I frowned, "What brought that up?" I asked, my hand resting on top of his.

It was silent.

"Hobi, you're not less important. If the others came in right now and wanted to take me with them to another room, I wouldn't go. You had me first. Plus, I don't spend as much time with you or Jin." I explained, feeling him nuzzle his face in my neck.

I pulled away just a bit to look at his face, "You know you're important, right, Hyung?" I asked softly.

His eyes lit up, a small smile gracing his features as he nodded. I smiled, "Good."

The sliding door opened along with the small sound of “Uncle?” I only smiled, letting out a small sigh.

“Let’s get him to sleep.” Hobi said against my neck, giving it a quick kiss and letting go.

I stood up and looked to the door, “I’m right here, what’s wrong?” I asked softly at his small figure at the door as he rubbed his eyes, his lips pouting even more.

I chuckled and walked over to my nephew, scooping him up. Jeonghun’s face immediately went into my neck, now shy to see Hoseok. Hobi jumped up and quickly went into the entrance room and came back with the throw blanket. When he came back, he put one hand on my back and lead us back into the living room. I stood by the couch as Hobi grabbed a few pillows from the couch and set them on the floor against the couch. He put the blanket down on the floor with the pillows and gestured for me to put Jeonghun down. I smiled, mouthing him a quick ‘Thank you’ as I lied down on the blanket with my nephew.

Jeonghun slipped off me, deciding to lay on the floor, tucked into my side.

“Better?” I asked him softly.

He nodded, his eyes struggling to keep open. Hobi turned on the tv and put a Disney movie into the DVD player. Hobi sat on the couch as the movie began to play, he lowered the volume so it was more like background noise. About ten minutes into the movie Jeonghun was fast asleep, turning to the side away from me and more into the pillow beside him as he hugged it to his chest.

“Thank you, Hobi. I guess he just kinda needs me near him.”

“No problem, he must be really tired. ”

As if my presence was sensed Jimin walked into the room. He went straight to the blankets, checking if they were dry or not.

“You know I have a dryer, right?” I asked softly.

Jimin’s head shot up, his eyes lit up and he smiled, “Jeonggukie’s drying other clothes in it, so we decided to use the dryer for clothes and we’d hung out the blankets. ”

“…Or I could buy another dryer.” Jimin rolled his eyes at my comment, walking over to us.

As soon as Jimin saw Jeonghun clutching a pillow, he made a small noise of adoration and got on his knees beside him.

“He’s so cute!” He smiled, moving some of Jeonghun’s hair out his face.

He stood up, jogged over to the table, grabbed a blanket and came back, laying the blanket over him.

“There you go, little guy.” Jimin whispered.

“Thank you, Jimin.” I smiled fondly as Jimin seemed to adore my nephew.

“He’s so cute.” Jimin said under his breath, not taking his eyes off him.

I wanted to enjoy the moment. Jimin cooing over my nephew, Hobi looking at them both fondly, spread out in his usual comfortable position. The sound of the movie playing with the faint sound of bubbling from the pot on the stove, and very distant arcade sounds, made the moment seem calm and home-like.

Yet for the boys, for the girls, this wasn’t home.

Something in my gut was telling me this would all crumble.

“Hey, I’m going to go work on a few things. Tell me if he wakes up, okay?” I said softly as I stood.

Jimin and Hobi both looked at each other, exchanging looks before turning to me.

“Don’t work too hard. ” Hobi warned.

“Yeah, don’t. We’ll get you if Jeonghun wakes up or when dinner is done.” Jimin assured me.

I gave them both a small smile and turned to leave into the hallway. I needed to sort things out and it would be hard with them both there. So I went to the secluded Dance Studio and only turned on the pink and white lights. I sat on the floor, letting out a deep breath and finally thought of some of my problems.

Problem #1. I kidnapped nine people. Seven were very famous idols and two were innocent, very afraid girls. Odds are, I’m going to prison. This problem was easy to solve. I couldn’t do anything. I told them they could leave and I knew. once they did it was only a matter of time before I was locked up. I wasn’t going to fight it because I deserved it.

However, I needed to meet up with Seth to make sure everything went to my family or Jason. I loved Jason like a brother, but I knew better than to leave him to run a company.

My older brother… he was responsible but was way too uptight about the business. He wouldn’t take risks, he would do the same things over and over and would never change. Which would end up killing the business if not done right. Our company needed to evolve with the times and I felt like my brother wouldn’t do that.

My little sister was only 16. She was mature for her age, but legally she had no footing. I wanted her to enjoy her teen years. Something I had mostly missed out on. I felt that if I left her with the weight of expectation she’d only end up like me, overworked and regretful. I wanted her to be who she wanted to be without the family telling her who she should be. If she wanted to be a model, I’d find a way to make it happen. If she wanted to just travel the world, I’d let her. I didn’t care if my family didn’t like that. My little sister wasn’t going to work in the family business if she didn’t want to. I felt like me making her the heir to the company would ruin her choice.

My mother isn’t so great with business. She’s too spontaneous and likes to live in the moment. She was a very let-the-chips-fall-as-they-may kind of person. That’s not a bad thing, but not a good thing for the company. There was a reason my father had her in her creative lane and handled everything else.

That left my older sister. She was a lot like my older brother, only she was less stubborn. She had a clear head and would think things through. She might get stuck in the same loop as my brother, but she would only need some talking to, to change and evolve. She wasn’t a big risk taker. The company was a giant chess board to her, and she played it smart and well. My brother likes to think he’s the smartest, but my older sister would talk someone into handing them their car keys, underwear and pride in a matter of moments. She was also pretty scary if you challenged her. I think my little sister and I are safe from her wrath most of the time. I think it was only because my sister still sees me as her little baby brother who once filled the washing machine with water before starting it because I didn’t know water would go in automatically. Instructions unclear. Water everywhere.

Okay. Company to my older sister. Most of my money will go to a savings account for my little sister, while the other bit of my money will go to my older sister. My brother and older sister will share my stocks. My mother will be in charge of the animators. My little sister just needs to enjoy herself. And Jason… Jason will get… the food in my fridge! He will be in charge of making sure my bunker doesn’t fall into ruin or get discovered by my family or they will never leave.

Problem #2. My father’s birthday. It was a few days away. My family will expect me to be there all day. We’ve had a company party every year to celebrate my father. I was always so active in planning, and hosting these parties, so, me even disappearing for a few moments, will raise a lot of rumors.

Maybe I would stock up the bunker and leave it to Jason. The party started at around 6pm and went on until midnight or later. Then my family would clean up, lock ourselves in our family home, drink, eat and talk about my dad until we all finally passed out. We’d eat brunch or dinner as a family, depending on when we woke up, then spend the day like we did then. My older siblings playing video games. Me studying. My little sister helping my mom bake or make dinner. All waiting for 6pm when my father would get home. Only, that day, at 6pm, we’d all leave and return back to our lives.

I didn’t even want to think about Problem #3. It didn’t deserve my time or energy.

“I knew I’d find you here.” I heard from my right.

I opened my eyes and looked over to see Yoongi holding two bags of chips in one hand and four beers with his arm.

“How? I’m starting to think it is you who is the dangerous one in this bunker.” I smirked.

He rolled his eyes, using his foot to close the door. He sat beside me, handing me a bag of chips and carefully setting the beers down.

“What crisis are you having now?” He asked, opening up his chips as I picked up a beer.

I smiled, “Do you just assume I’m only alone because I’m having a crisis?”

“Am I wrong?” He tested, opening my chips and handing them to me.

I wanted to challenge him but he was mostly right. I sighed in defeat.

“No. You’re not wrong.” I popped a chip in my mouth, chewing with slight irritation that I was so readable.

“So let it out.” He seemed to command, opening a beer and leaning back.

I let out another sigh before beginning.

“I just need to set up everything in case I do go to prison. I also need to find a way to leave you all alone for two or three days because my family throws a huge party every year and they expect me to be there for all of it. Then I have… an old… associate who came into town.”

“I’m guessing you fucked this ‘associate’.” I smirked at Yoongi’s words.

Yoongi gave me a judgmental side-ways glace, seeming to take my smirk for a cocky attitude.

“I mean yeah, but not in the way you think.” I quickly recovered.

“You love them?”

“More like I hate them with a burning passion.” I grumbled, taking a long drink of my beer.

“Passion is still passion.” Yoongi shrugged.

It was silent for a few moments.

“… I did love them at one point. I’ve known them for just as long as I’ve known Jason. They were spontaneous, opinionated, and strong. They were exactly how my father described my mother. When my father died, I had a short ‘wild’ streak. Jason knew I was like that because my father just died, I was left to take care of my little sister while my mother was in shambles and my siblings were in South Korea. So Jason would limit me. He knew I had a company to take over and didn’t want me to ruin myself before I got there. My other friend, however, would leave Jason out when he would invite me to parties and late night trouble. He and I… were intimate… but he told me to never really tell anyone. Including Jason. I realized a little too late that they were a selfish, stubborn asshole who didn’t deserve my time and ended it. I never told Jason. I knew he’d hate them a bit too, not only that but I never wanted to bring it up, I wanted to forget that side of myself. Them coming here just reminds me that not only are they a horrible person, but I was too.”

“The past is the past, just tell them you don’t want to see them.”

I scoffed, “Daisuke is a fucking snake. I’m not sure why he’s here, but he made Jason make me promise to have a night out with them. He’s trying to do something, I’m just not sure what yet.”

“What about Seongmi.” I almost choked on my beer.

“What?” I asked, turning to him.

“Well, from what I heard she’s mad about you not having a crush on her too.” He smirked.

“I honestly haven’t thought too much about it. I figured it was just a crush and she’d understand and get over me.”

“Hoseok, Seokjin, Taehyung and Jimin have been on the receiving end of her attitude.”

“She’s had an attitude?” I asked, scooting a little closer to Yoongi.

“Yes. She got into a fight with Jimin after you left. She thinks Jimin swayed your decision.” I frowned.

“He didn’t though. I’m not even sure if I like girls, so I didn’t want to lead her on if it might not work out.” Yoongi shrugged.

“She doesn’t see it that way.”

I let out a deep sigh, “Now I have a Problem #4.”

I ruffled my hair as I entered the dining room. Jin was in the kitchen, stirring a pot. Jimin was at the table drawing, his back to me. Hoseok was still on the living room couch, playing the game he was playing when I came back. I heard a door close in the hall behind me, signaling that Yoongi had gone to his room. I walked over to Jimin, I put my hands on either side of him and leaned down to kiss his cheek.

Jimin jumped a bit and turned his head to look up. Once he saw it was me he let out an embarrassed giggle.

"You're doing great, Jimin. It looks beautiful." I smiled, looking over the drawing.

It was of a cliff, but you could see a beach below, the ocean and waves beautifully copied, a boat treading the waters and a bonfire seeming to be lit on the beach.

"Thank you." He smiled, his voice small.

I only smiled and walked over to Jin. I went behind him, wrapping my arms around his waist and resting my chin on his shoulder.

"Whatcha making?" I asked softly.

"Dumpling soup! I didn't have enough beef for the stock so I used chicken." Jin stated cheerfully, being a proud chef.

"Good, I love dumplings. Why didn't you tell me to get you some beef while I was out, Hyung?" I asked lifting my head to look at his face that was now slowly turning pink.

Jin seemed to let out a breathless chuckle, "Beef is too expensive! We have plenty of things in the fridge!" I shook my head in disapproval.

"I have enough money to buy you a whole cow, Hyung! Anything you need, remember?" I complained.

"Need not want, M/n." Jin smiled.

"That's stupid. Fine! Anything you want, Hyung!" I smiled.

"...Are you drunk?" Jin question, turning a bit to cup my face and look into my eyes.

"No." I frowned.

"I smell beer." I rolled my eyes.

"I had two with Yoongi Hyung."

"Stop calling him 'Hyung'!" I smirked.

"Are you jealous, Jinnie?" I saw his eyes widen slightly.

"Of course not! I have nothing to be jealous of!"

"He's jealous." Hobi interjected from the couch, not taking his eyes off his phone.

"YAH! I'M WORLDWIDE HANDSOME!" Jimin and I giggled at Jin's outburst.

I hugged Jin closer, "Yes you are, Prince Jin." I gave him a small peck on the side of his neck.

"Hyung, you're red!" Jimin laughed, covering his mouth with one hand, turning red himself.

My hands drifted from his middle up his chest, "Are you flustered, Hyung?" I asked next to his ear.

"That's enough of that." Hobi sighed.

"And you call Taehyung and I the possessive ones." Jimin poked.

"I'm not possessive! Jin is about to explode!" Hobi defended, finally looking up from his phone.

I really wanted to hold onto Jin. I actually wanted a kiss from him but I knew the boys wouldn’t really want me to kiss their hyung in front of them. I wasn’t even sure what brought that feeling on or if Jin even wanted to kiss me again. I decided to save my pride and Hoseok’s sanity.

"Okay, okay, I'll leave Jin-Hyung alone." I sighed letting go of a now slightly pouty Jin and taking a seat next to Jimin.

I watched Jimin a few moments before grabbing my sketchpad that was left on the table and began to draw something OTHER than Barnaby. My childhood living room. A TV setup, console players on the floor with controllers and scattered notebooks and snacks. I remember when I would take a break from studying just to look up and search for cheat codes for my family on the floor.

I smiled fondly at the memory now being replicated on paper.

"M/n, can we talk?" I heard.

I looked up to see Seongmi. She had her arms wrapped around herself and seemed to be nervous, shifting her eyes to look around at the other boys.

I opened my mouth to answer, but Jimin cut me off, "That depends." I gave Jimin a look.

"Be nice. Sure. We can go talk in my office." I began to stand.

"Wait!" Jimin grabbed my wrist, "In your office? Alone?" I frowned at Jimin's panic.

"Yeah. I'm sure whatever she wants to speak about is private. Don't worry, I won't do anything out of character." I assured him, lightly taking his hand off my wrist.

I calmly gestured for Seongmi to lead the way, once she was a few steps ahead of me I turned to Jimin, a reassuring smile on my face, "Don't worry, Jimin. I'm not touch-starved." I chuckled and began to catch up with Seomgmi.

My nerves tingled in both fear and curiosity as we walked into my office. I closed the door behind me and plopped down on my office couch.

"What did you want to talk about?" I asked, getting a throw pillow and putting it on my lap.

She stood in front of me, her hands in front of her stomach as she idly played with her fingers.

“I wanted to say I was sorry. I overreacted” My eyes widened, looking at her for any signs of this being a joke.

“…What lead you to this?” I tested.

“Do you not forgive me?” She asked, slightly panicked.

I quickly held up my hands as if they would stop her panic, “No, no, no! It’s not that! I just… I’m curious as to what made you change your mind.”

She let out a deep breath of relief.

“Oh thank God. I thought about it more. You were right. You aren’t sure and I’d only get hurt if you aren’t attracted to women. ” I smiled and quickly stood up.

“Thank you for understanding, Seongmi. Hug?” I asked opening up my arms.

She beamed, quickly nodding and pressing herself close to me. I wrapped my arms around her, my cheek resting at the top of her head.

“Can you just promise me that you won’t take their words as facts before making decisions?” She asked, her voice muffled against my chest.

I pulled back in confusion. I stared into her eyes that seemed sad, “What do you mean by that?” I questioned.

“I caught Jimin thinking out loud.” She shrugged.

Before I could press it further there was a knock on the door. Seongmi and I exchanged glances, both seeming to think the timing was rather too coincidental.

“Yes?” I called.

“N/n? Jin said dinner was ready… Also, something happened.” Hobi’s voice came from the other side of the door.

“What happened?”

“Jungkook-ah accidentally dropped the game console on the arcade. He was a little shy to tell you.” I could hear his eye roll.

“Uh, it’s okay! I’ll take it to the shop to get fixed, just put it in the entrance room and I’ll take it with me when I go out again. We’ll be out in just a moment.” I assured him.

There was silence for a few moments. Seongmi looked nervous but I gave her arm a light squeeze to ease her stress.

“…Okay. Don’t take too long! I think Jeonghun might wake up.”

“Okay, Hobi-Hyung!” I called cheerfully.

I could hear Hobi take a few hesitant steps away from the door until walking away.

“Maybe we should go get dinner…” Seongmi trailed off.

I sighed, letting her go, “Yeah maybe.”

We both awkwardly walked to the door and out of the room. She gave me a quick wave and went ahead of me, making her way across the dining room into the hall with the rooms. I smiled at her cute wave and made my way into the dining room.

I looked over, Jimin was on the chair to the right of the couch, Jin was judging me in the kitchen, Tae was on the floor looking up at my nephew playing with Yoongi on the couch and Hobi was sitting on the opposite side of Jeonghun, smiling at the interaction.

Yoongi was spinning a basketball on his finger doing it effortlessly, my nephew’s mouth agape as he stared in wonder. Yoongi stopped the ball and handed it to my nephew who excitedly began to attempt to recreate the trick, but failing pretty quickly.

Wait a minute.

“Hey! Hold up! Where did you get that sports ball!?” I asked suddenly.

Everyone turned to me and Jeonghun sunk into the couch.

“Jeonghun, did you bring one from home or…?” I saw my nephew’s eyes widen slightly in panic.

“You stole a basketball!?!?!?? Your mother will kill me!” I exclaimed.

“I wanted it!” He argued.

“You have several at home! We can buy them for you! Lord knows your mother makes more than decent pay!”

“She keeps saying no!”

“I’m guessing it’s for a reason! You will return that ball and apologize to the school first thing tomorrow!!”

“It’s only a ball.” Yoongi shrugged.

“Hyung, he has a ton of them. If I let him take it, he’ll only think it’s okay to steal things he ‘wants’ even if it’s against his mother and the law.” I frowned, my voice softer.

Yoongi looked like he was thinking for a moment before finally nodding, “Return the ball tomorrow and don’t do it again. If I’m here next time, bring your own ball and I’ll teach you how to spin it.” Yoongi told Jeonghun with a stern yet soft voice.

“Yes, Hyung.” Jeonghun grumbled with a pout.

“Good, now, let’s eat!” Tae announced bouncing up to his feet.

“I call the seat next to M/n!” Jimin quickly called out, getting up as well.

The dinner went by fairly well. Jungkook, RM, Seongmi, and Linza ate in the dining room while the rest of us ate in the Dance Studio. After dinner Jeonghun and Taehyung wanted to be in the arcade so Jin followed, Hobi and Yoongi went into the entrance room to talk and write, while Jimin and I were on dishes duty.

My mind trailed off as I worked with Jimin. I get what Seongmi meant. The boys, especially Jimin, were convinced that Seongmi was manipulating me. I mean, I wouldn’t blame her. She was kidnapped so of course she’d play nice so she didn’t get hurt. The thought made me sad though. I was hoping we could be friends. Actual friends and not just because she thought I was crazy, but because she saw me as someone worthy of being a friend to.

I sighed deeply, knowing I was looking too much into it.

“What’s wrong?” Jimin asked, placing a dish on the drying rack.

“Nothing, just… It’s going to get busy soon.” I lied, rinsing off a dish and handing it to Jimin.

Jimin looked down at the dish in his hand and frowned.

“Is it something she said?” Jimin questioned in almost a whisper.

“What? Why would she say anything? She just apologized to me for overreacting this morning.” I frowned at him.

“That’s it?” He pressed.

I looked over at him, “Chim are you okay?” I examined.

“Yes? I know she’ll say something. She and I fought because she thought I talked you into making the decision you made this morning. I know she doesn’t like me. I don’t want you to dislike me because she twisted my words in some way. ” Jimin admitted, putting a dish away.

Well, this was slowly getting more and more complicated.

“I just think that she feels uneasy. She’s a little paranoid. Plus even if she did try to twist your words, I would talk to you about it, not immediately hate you.” I explained.

Jimin looked up from his hands, a smile on his face and hope filling his eyes.

“So even if she said something, you wouldn’t fully believe it?” I shook my head.

“The same goes for all of you as well. If you said she’s evil and shouldn’t be trusted, I would look into it myself, not just take your word for it.” I saw Jimin’s eyes darken.

“Why not? Do you not trust me?” His voice was slightly angry.

I shook my head, “It’s not that. I just like seeing things for myself. If I would’ve gone off of rumors and what people told me to do, I would be working at a bank and not a company doing what I love.” I shrugged.

“That’s different!” Jimin protested.

I sighed, “It’s really not. You make it seem like she took advantage of me.” I continued to wash dishes.

“She did!”

“She didn’t. I wanted a kiss and she gave me one, granted she seemed more heated about it than me, but I didn’t push her away.” I explained.

“Do you like her!?”

“Wha-? No, Jimin, you’re missing the point.” I rolled my eyes.

“The point is; She’s dangerous!” I looked over at him, starting to get annoyed.

“No. The point is: You’re all paranoid and I’m not taking anyone’s words as fact until I have proof.”

“You should just trust us!” His voice was getting louder.

I turned off the water and dried my hands. I turned to him, giving him my full attention.

I made sure to check my annoyed tone as I began to describe where I was coming from, “Jimin, take a breath. I’m not saying I don’t trust you or the boys. I just like to look at every side of the story before I make a decision. I will be cautious about that person, but I won’t outright ignore them.” My voice was much softer, calmer, my emotions in check like I needed them to be.

Jimin came closer, taking one of my hands into both of his.

“But something isn’t right here, I’m not being paranoid. Even Namjoon and Jungkook feel it too. I don’t want to force you to stay away from her… just… Promise to be safe?” His tone soft too but unsure as he played with my fingers.

“Are you implying I’m not?” I asked, faking offense.

Jimin giggled, “You do know you kidnaped idols, right?”

“Low blow, Chim.” I put my hands on both sides of his face.

“I’ll be safe. No more accusing each other. I know it sucks been trapped here but can you just tolerate until I fix everything?” Jimin smiled and cutely nodded.

“Thanks, Chim.” We looked into each other’s eyes, having a small moment.

Which was ruined when Jimin and I heard shuffling behind the entrance door. Jimin and I looked at the door then each other in slight confusion. Jimin put his fingers to his lips and slowly and quietly moved to the door. His hand gripped around the handle and a mischievous smile spread across his face.

Jimin yanked the door open, “ENJOYING THE PODCAST!?” He shouted as Hobi yelled in fear as he fell to the floor with Yoongi now on top of him.

Jimin and I shook our heads at them on the floor, trying to scramble to their feet but only tripping each other up more. Jimin stood beside me and I instinctively wrapped my arm around his waist and pulled him closer as Yoongi and Hoseok began to argue on who was making the other fall.

Jimin turned his body more towards me, leaning his head against my shoulder and collarbone, his arms wrapping around me.

After a few moments of the other two boys arguing and Jimin and I close together, Jimin lifted his head up, seeming to look at me for a few seconds. I brushed it off, smirking the two older males arguing like children. Jimin quickly moved forward making me feel his plush lips under my jaw. He pulled back just as quick to see my reaction. My face slowly began to heat up as I realized what he did.

Jimin giggled, burying his face in my shoulder and holding me tighter. I frowned, pretending to be sad, “That’s not right and you know it.”

Jimin’s head shot up to look at me, panic flooding his features. I even heard Yoongi and Hoseok go quiet.

“You can’t just catch me off guard like that.” I smirked, grabbing his face with my free hand and instantly connecting our lips before he could react.

Jimin let out a muffled noise of shock but soon hummed, relaxing into the kiss, one of his hands gripping the back of my shirt while his other hand moved to my chest. The kiss wasn’t long or overly passionate. It lasted for about 5 seconds. I pulled away from Jimin, happily fixing his hair. Jimin’s eyes were wide, his face flushed, lips parted and in a slight pout.

“Yah, stop staring. It’s creepy.” Hobi’s voice came through, in a teasing but bitter way.

I looked over a Hobi and frowned.

“What’s wrong? …Do you want a kiss to…?” My voice was small and I looked down.

“No!” Jimin and Yoongi said quickly.

“He was asking me!” I smiled as they began to bicker.

“Enough! Enough! We can hear you down the hall!” I heard Jin yell as he walked through the hall.

Jin’s shouting went unrecognized by the three men bickering so I took the chance to slip out into the hall. Jin was messing with the cord of the broken console as he tried to walk. I smiled at the adorable interaction and stopped a few steps in front of him. Jin kept walking, quietly cussing out the cord of the console under his breath. When he finally bumped into me he let out a loud “OOOH!” and jumped back.

I giggled, “Sorry, Hyung. You just looked too cute to say anything.”

Jin looked offended, “I’m older than you! I’m not cute! What’s gotten into you anyway!?”

“So I take it you don’t want a hug now that the boys aren’t looking?” I experimented.

Jin looked at me for a second or two before his eyes flicked over to the entryway of the hall, to the console he was holding then back to me. He thought to himself then set the console down off to the side and opened his arms. I smiled in success and wrapped my arms around him.

We stood in silence, enjoying the warm, soft feeling that was draped over us.

I sighed, “It’s almost time for me to take Jeonghun home. I hope he wasn’t any trouble.”

Jin shook his head, “He was fine. He’s been great, M/n. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“You might see a little less of me and more of Jason as the upcoming parties come up.” I sighed heavily.

“Parties? What parties??” Jin asked, pulling back to look at my face.

“Well, it’s fundraiser season. Plus there is a family party soon and I need to be at the office more with the gaming partnership. I’m just going to be busy.” I dropped my eyes to the floor and shrugged.

I could feel Jin looking at me for what seemed like minutes. Jin sighed, “So you’re going to overwork yourself?”

“No! I promise to sleep and eat! You all just might not see much of me.”

“Can you at least be home for dinner?” His voice was soft but there was a small amount of sadness to it that reached his eyes.

“I’ll try, but there will be at least 3 days of me not being here at all…” That seemed to affect him.

“Why!? I’m sure the company and your family would understand!” He quickly said.

I had a feeling he didn’t really think that through. It also surprised me how fast the boys got comfortable with me. As soon as I noticed that, everything started hitting me fast.

First off, did BTS even like men?? Seongmi and Linza have seen them be affectionate or touchy with me, so even if they did like me, the girls would tell.

I’m not saying it was bad for them to like men, I was just curious about why me of all people. They got comfortable with me very fast. I’ve kissed Taehyung, Seokjin, Hoseok, AND Jimin in that order within a span of 4 days and it’s scary.

The boys have said Yoongi was they shyer type, but why was he approaching me everytime I was alone or when we would gather if he was supposed to be shy?

That made what Seongmi did a little creepy. She barely knows me. They all barely know me.

It was like ice entered my veins. Something wasn’t right here…

“…Seokjin, I doubt my family would understand why I need to go to a bunker that doesn’t exist to them to eat dinner with people I kidnapped.” My voice came out harsher than I intended it to.

I didn’t even wait for Jin’s reaction before I corrected myself, “Sorry! That sounded less harsh in my head. I think I’m just tired or something. I shouldn't have taken it out on you. ”

Seokjin grimaced at my sudden change in attitude. He looked a little worried as his hand came up to my upper arm, caressing it. He hand rubbed up and down the side of my arm for some kind of comfort, but all it was doing was making it all worse.

“When you drop your nephew off, come back as early as you can. You seem really tired.” Seokjin instructed, his tone slightly commanding.

I only nodded, not planning on following through with his instructions. The air held a dense emotion that I couldn’t pinpoint. Judging by Seokjin’s demand that I come home quickly, he felt it too.

“I should probably take him now, I’m seriously tired. Jimin seemed in a cuddly mood earlier. I’m afraid he might cuddle me and I’ll fall asleep.” I lied.

“I’ll tell Taehyung to finish up their game and have them meet you up front?” Seokjin suggested.

“That would be great. Thanks, Jin.” I smiled.

I used the small time of silence to turn and leave the hall, I made my way into the dining room, finally letting out the breath I didn’t know I was holding. The area was empty. I could hear the muffled talking of Yoongi, Hoseok, and Jimin in the other hall.

Maybe I was overthinking it all. The realization was sudden and seemed stupid, but was I really wrong?

I wasn’t interesting. I was decent looking but not gorgeous. For fuck's sake, I kidnapped them all! They should be cautious of me! Not sad that I won’t spend dinners with them.

I walked over to the entrance room and quickly started to gather my nephew’s things. I considered taking a bag of clothes with me, but went against it. Seokjin would see the bag and freak out. I sighed and opened the dial door. I quickly made my way up the stairs and out the dial door I pulled up my sister’s number.

M/n: Jilly Bean? Can you get off early? I hope it’s not any trouble.

I almost immediately got a response.

Jillian: You still call me Jilly Bean? You don’t even like Jelly Beans. I was on my way out

Jillian: Please don’t have anyone else call me Jilly Bean

Jillian: It’s Jillian or Jiann

M/n: To me, it’s Jilly Bean.

Jillian: anyway want to meet at a restaurant? There are some things we need to talk about

M/n: whatever it was it wasnt me i swear

Jillian: it’s not anything bad N/n, it’s just a few things I need to know

M/n: you are lowkey scaring me what the fuck

Jillian: Don’t cuss dumb ass. Just get your ass to the restaurant.

M/n: … Scary Jilly Bean

M/n: Jeonggie and I already had dinner

Jillian: they offer really good dessert

M/n: Okay, we’ll see you there just text me the place

I was nervous as to what my sister wanted to know but not as nervous as I was in this bunker. I raced back down quickly and I put on my shoes. I heard the muffled noise of Seokjin and Taehyung’s voice, talking to Jeonghun. My attention was caught when I heard Jimin’s voice, then Hoseok’s. Did they all decide to tell him bye?

I quickly tied my shoes and threw his backpack on, meeting them in the doorway. Yoongi was holding my nephew while the others were crowding around them. They looked up at me once I got close enough.

“I just talked to his mom, she has to talk to me so hopefully it’s not anything business related.” I actually hoped it was business related so I could have an excuse for not coming back.

“Hopefully it isn’t, then you can come back and rest. The calm before the storm.” Yoongi asserted, sounding oddly hurt.

I tried not to look confused at his sudden emotion and put my phone in my back pocket. I held my hands out and Yoongi reluctantly handed my nephew to me.

“Bye, Jeonghun.” The boys all said at once, sounding sad.

“Bye, special friends.” Jeonghun gave them all a cute wave.

Taehyung clutched his chest. Jimin looked so sad I was almost about to hand my nephew to him. Seokjin was more focused on me, studying my face. Hoseok gave my nephew a sad smile and wave back. Yoongi’s eyes were on the floor.

“See you guys later, radio Jason if you need anything. I can’t risk it with my sister.” I explained, walking to the kitchen counter to grab my keys.

“Are you okay?” Taehyung asked.

“Just tired. Maybe I can get some rest when I get back.” I brushed it off, heading to the entrance room.

“Stay safe!” Seokjin called out as I punched in the dial code.

“I’ll try to be! ” I called back, walking through the door and shutting it behind me.

I briskly made my way up the stairs to the vault door and once I was officially out the bunker I pulled out my phone and pressed Jason’s contact. I unlocked my car and but my nephew in the back seat with his backpack.

“Hello?” He answered.

“We need to talk,” I responded, buckling in my nephew, who seemed a little afraid of my solemn tone.

“It’s nothing serious,” I said softly to my nephew, giving him a smile.

Once my nephew smiled back I stepped back and closed the door.

“It’s serious.” I stated to Jason before I opened my door so my nephew wouldn’t hear.

I could hear Jason sigh over the phone, “What are you overreacting to now?” I rolled my eyes at his comment as I got in my car.

“Can I visit you later?” I asked, buckling myself in and checking my mirror.

“Uh, sure?”

“Good! Thanks! Bye Jason!” I hung up, tossed my phone and started up my car.

“We’re on our way to see your mom!” I smiled at my nephew.

Walking into the mall was a lot more terrifying than I had hoped. My sister had been talking to a toy store about stocking our plushies and saw a restaurant here. I guided my nephew to the highest floor and looked around for my older sister. She stuck out from the busy shoppers. Her deep reddish brown hair, black expensive looking dress, black heels with red bottoms to match. Gold bracelet, necklace, earrings, and a rare designer bag thrown on the table to tie it all together.

My older siblings believed in flaunting their riches but making their kids mostly humble. As for my younger sister and I, yes we sometimes liked the luxury life, but we didn’t want to be treated any different. My sister was in high school, she learned quickly that flaunting her money meant people used you rather than actually being your friend. I just wanted to blend into the crowd. My older siblings had our father’s cocky attitude and mother’s outgoing nature. The younger siblings had our father’s cocky attitude but his silent but deadly strategy on life, which caused a lot more head-butting in the house then you would think.

“I swear if your bracelet blinds me one more time, I will take it off and throw it into the ocean. You won’t see it for 84 years, Jill, I’m serious. ” I threatened as we got into earshot.

She looked up from the table, a large smile on her face. She quickly stood up, leaving her bag and heels at the table to run and pick up her son.

“How was your day my precious baby?” She asked, smile bright on her face.

“He was a talker as usual but he stole a ball. I think he should give it back tomorrow.” I informed her, walking to the table and sitting down.

“A ball? Really? Of all the things you could’ve stolen? You have a good amount at home Jeon! ” My sister sat down across from me.

My nephew begins telling his mother about his day as I scan the restaurant. It’s mostly empty and the staff brings us a few things without us even ordering or looking at a menu. Just as my nephew stops talking my sister notices my anxious body language.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, my sister speaks up.

“Are they at the bunker?” My eyes snap up to look into her eyes.

Her tone more serious and yet so sympathetic.

“Please clearify.” I managed from the tightening fear in my chest.

“The nine people who you’re trying to keep from the world. In the bunker you built when you got the company.” My mouth went dry.

My sister sighed, she grabbed the bottle of alcohol and poured me a small glass.

“I’m not going to tell anyone. I just want to know why and what your plan is. My little brother isn’t some psychopath who kidnaps and murders people.” She explained, only making me slightly less afraid.

How could I expect my sister not to know? She was one of the smartest people in the world despite what some believe. Of course, she would’ve noticed her little brother, the CEO, the workaholic, coming to the building less and less and my checking account was probably open to her without me knowing. I was exposed to my sister, it only made me panic on what my brother would find. I could risk pissing her off by lying my ass off or tell her the truth and pray she wouldn’t destroy me.

“Yes,” My voice was hoarse so I cleared my throat, trying again, “They’re in the bunker. None of them are harmed. Jason knows. My plan was to give you almost everything. You and Jaeseok have my stocks. Jieun gets most of my money for college, that counts living expenses, utility, and food. You take my place because Jaeseok doesn’t evolve and Jieun is too young, I don’t want her to have the same weight on her shoulders as I did through my teens.” I explained quickly and didn’t dare look into my sister’s eyes.

My sister let out a deep breath, “Why?”

“It was impulsive and stupid. I have no idea why I did it.”

“I blame our mother and brother for this.” My sister growled making me finally look up.

My nephew was in his own eat, minding his own business as he ate the food that arrived. My sister poured herself another drink.

“They kept pushing you to be the owner of the company. They didn’t even ask! You were a kid! I understand it was our father’s wish but he made that will with the thought of you as an adult! Our brother was overbearing and hellbent on getting you into the position because he wanted you to fail. Our mother refused to let you be a teen. To let you live your life as you pleased. To heal. She just dumped everything on you! You raised our sister for fuck’s sake! Being impulsive and reckless is what you should be, M/n. You’re young, you don’t have kids and shouldn’t be running a company. That’s why I’m not mad at you, I’m not saying it’s okay, but you are supposed to make mistakes, figure yourself out. ” My sister took a deep breath, she averted her gaze from me to look around the restaurant, “I’m keeping your secret. I’m going to help you.”

Tears formed in my eyes, “At what price?” I asked in almost a whisper.

She looked over at me, pity filling her eyes, “Your plan goes through as if you did go to prison. You don’t have to give up your money, but you will be in charge of the game side of the company, not the whole company. You sign the rest of it to me, not Jae. He deserves nothing for all the things he’s tried to put his younger brother through. I’m going to let you decide on when to take action. In the meantime, I’ll set everything up for when you do come forward, to the law, not the public. I know several lawyers who are overqualified for things like this, the worst case scenario is you get put into the system and you stay for a day because we’ll immediately bail you out. ”

I shook my head, “I made my bed.”

“I don’t care.” My sister looked at me, her eyes intense.

“It’s our father’s name too. If the public hears, if everyone knows, people will spin this like the rumors were right. That our father didn’t care about us, that our mother is crazy, that our little sister is dangerous! If you go down, everyone will too! I don’t care if you want to rot in a cell and be selfish! Your fate is up to me. ”

I sat outside Jason’s apartment, knees pulled up and head in my hands.

I was so undeniably fucked.

I’ve never felt so relieved yet so terrified in my life. My sister looked at me both like her little brother and an enemy.

I was confident that my sister would cover my tracks, but the cost of it all weighed on me the most. I never fully thought on how losing the company would feel like.

Failure.

My father left me the company because he believed that I could run it, but I couldn’t. My restless nights and wasted days that went into that company would be ripped away in exchange for the freedom from a crime I stupidly committed.

I didn’t want the life I secretly knew my sister thought I wanted. The party life. A life without responsibility. Without worry or care. I wanted to work hard, to stress and work myself to the bone to get that perfect payout. Proving everyone wrong. That I could run the company. That my father’s name would live one despite the people who wanted him gone and silenced. To see the look on those same people’s faces when they saw me, the spitting image of my father, taking over and going forward into the future he wanted. I wanted them to see my father’s last name everywhere they went. To be tormented with the fact that they never won, they never achieved what they wanted.

It was selfish. It was almost childish and wrong, but it kept me going for years. I wasn’t a pushover. I wasn’t going to let my sister take everything away like I was a child with a toy. It was mine. MY hard work that got the company more investors. MY restless nights that got us the new partnerships. MY stress that got us deals with local shops and shoppers. I carried the company on my back and wasn’t going to give it up that easy.

I could hear the ding of the elevator and the rustling of plastic bags.

“M/n?” I heard Jason’s voice and his hurried steps.

“What are you doing out here!? You have my code! What’s wrong!?” He rapidly asked, standing in front of me.

I looked up, smirk on my face, “I have a lot to fill you in on, my ally.”

( Previous Chapter ) - ( Next Chapter )

A/N:

Also I was thinking of adding a tag list to this but I’m not sure. If you want I will!

#bts x male reader #bts poly au #bts ot7 x reader #bts fanfic #bts fanfiction #bts yandere au #bts angst #kim taehyung x readerr #kim seokjin x reader #jung hoseok x reader #park jimin x reader #min Yoongi x reader #bts x reader

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omgrachwrites · 6 years

Text

Somewhere Across the Ocean (Tom Holland)

Pairing: Tom Holland x Original Character

Summary: Cassidy Porter has always had a hard time being herself, especially in front of her friends. She can truly be herself when she starts online talking with a sweet boy, Tom. But when he unknowingly walks into her real life it’s his heart that might be getting broken. Author!Tom, college au

Warnings: fluff, swearing

Words: 2145

A/N: Hey guys, I hope you enjoy this part even though it’s just to start things off! Please let me know what you think and let me know if you would like to be tagged, I love you all! xxx

next part | masterlist

Part One

Friday 8th June 2018

As soon as Cass walked through the impressive mahogany hallway in her dad’s house, the delicious scent of red onion and peppers washed over her. The smell of it reminded Cass of one of her earliest recalled memories. It had been when she lived with her grandmother and her father in the country in the baby blue house with the huge white washed front porch.

The smell of the vegetables reminded her of blood red sunsets and the smell of honeysuckle as she sat in her grandmother’s arms as she sang softly to Cass while her dad grilled beef burgers on the barbeque. It put a smile on her face, her dad was taking the time to cook again and that meant that he was in a pretty good mood.

“Hey! It smells amazing in here,” Cass grinned as she skipped into the kitchen and pulled herself up to sit on top of the white marble counter. Her dad Nick looked up from where he was chopping up some onions, a metal spoon in his mouth so his eyes wouldn’t water. Cass winced as Nick took the spoon from his mouth, the metal scraping against his top teeth.

“Thank you sweetie how was your day?” he asked, wrapping his strong arms around her, his nose nestled in her dark hair that smelled of coffee. Cass shrugged with a smile as she snagged a little bit of pepper, crunching it between her teeth with relish.

“It was okay I guess. Same old, same old,” she rolled her hazel eyes with a giggle, nothing exciting really ever happened to her while she worked since she was just a normal barista in a normal café within a bookstore, “some kid decided that he didn’t want his hot chocolate anymore so he spat it all over me, fun times.”

“You know, I can give you an allowance for college accommodation, you don’t have to do it all on your own by the way,” he smiled and Cass shrugged, she had always been pretty independent.

“It’s okay, you know I want to do it on my own,” she replied and Nick nodded.

She smiled before frowning in confusion as she absent mindedly glanced out the windows of the patio doors and onto the veranda. The table had been made up with unlit candles, the fancy ones that were set in crystal holders. There were three chairs seated around the polished wooden table instead of just two, they only ever ate out on the veranda on special occasions such as birthdays. Her eyebrows knitted together and she looked back at Nick who was looking anywhere but at her and he was nervously running his fingers through his shaggy blonde hair – Cass had been pleading with him for a while now to cut it.

“Dad?” she started slowly as she pushed herself off of the counter, Nick busied himself with preparing a side salad, “what’s going on?”

After a couple of moments he rubbed a hand over his face, “Megan is coming over for dinner, both she and I want you to meet her.”

“Oh,” Cass deflated slightly, her heart dropping to the pit of her stomach where it settled like a rock, “is that why you were disappointed when I told you that I want to live on campus?”

Cass wanted nothing more than for her dad to be happy, her mom had died when Cass was just a kid and she suspected that her dad hadn’t really gotten over it. However, Cass was very much aware of the types of women that were attracted to Nick; they were shallow, young gold diggers. Nick was the best-selling author of a couple of cookery books and he owned a couple of restaurants, he had kept his fortune pretty well.

“That’s part of the reason but the bigger part is the fact that you’re my baby girl and I’m not quite ready to let you go yet,” he beamed, his eyes getting slightly misty as he pressed a sloppy kiss to her cheek. Cass giggled, shoving him away playfully feigning a look of disgust, “I could really use your support tonight.”

He looked so hopeful that Cass couldn’t possibly refuse him, “yeah of course dad, let me get changed out of these clothes,” she smiled and he nodded.

“Okay, don’t spend too long on your computer speaking to that boy, I know what you’re like,” he winked. A laugh and a smirk was his response as Cass padded up the stairs.

A couple of months ago she was commenting on a forum thread about Harry Potter – it sounded geeky but she just loved the books and the movies, not that she’d ever admit it to anyone. She had started speaking to some guy called Tom from England. They clicked almost instantly so they started to converse through the private messaging function on the site. She knew her dad would worry about her talking to a stranger so she had told Nick that Tom was her friend in real life.

He was incredibly sweet but Cass had to admit to herself that he could be some sort of weirdo, she didn’t know how old she was or even what he looked like, she only knew his name. However, that didn’t stop her from grinning when she opened her messages to see that she had an unread message from Tom.

From: Tom Holland

‘So mad! I did that Hogwarts house quiz on Facebook and it told me that I’m a Hufflepuff; I’m definitely not a Hufflepuff right? I’m a cool Slytherin! Anyway, how was your day darling? Xx’

Cass giggled at his message and decided to toy with him just a little.

To: Tom Holland

‘I definitely think that you could be a Hufflepuff, you’re adorable Tom! Have some Hufflepuff pride man! I had a pretty boring day, but my dad’s girlfriend is coming over so meeting her for the first time will be a lot of fun. Not. How was your day? Xx’

She sent her message off and started to get ready for the night ahead, deciding on a nice white top and jeans. She sprayed her dark hair with a sweet smelling hairspray so that it would smell less like coffee - there wasn’t enough time for a shower. Cass checked her messages and saw that Tom hadn’t replied yet so she closed the lid of her laptop and she made her way down the stairs to help her dad.

He was pretty frantic when she entered the kitchen, “oh god! Megan is gonna be here in like ten minutes and I’m not even ready yet! Can you open this bottle of wine?” he babbled, thrusting a bottle of rose wine into her hands, Cass opened her mouth to try and calm him but she was blocked out by his frantic tirade, “can you set the table too?!” he pleaded, his eyes were the size of dinner plates.

Cass fought back a giggle; she knew that laughing really wouldn’t help him in this situation, “dad calm down. Please, I’ll sort everything, just go and get ready you really need to,” she gestured at his outfit that consisted of a white shirt, sweatpants and bare feet, thankfully one of Nick’s talents was that he could easily get changed in five minutes, Cass had no idea why he was panicking so much.

Nick smiled at her gratefully and pressed a kiss to her forehead before he all but ran upstairs. Cass popped the cork from the wine bottle and placed it back in the fridge so it could chill as much as possible before she set the veranda table with their finest cutlery. She couldn’t blame her dad for wanting to have dinner outside; the evening sun was so warm. The ringing of the doorbell a few moments later startled her and she internally cursed her dad for taking longer than five minutes to get ready.

“Fuck,” she muttered darkly, bracing herself as she as she pulled the door open.

Her eyes went wide for just a moment; the woman on the other side of the door was not at all what she expected. The woman, Megan had wavy brown hair that fell just past her collar bones, her makeup was very minimal, no inch of plastic surgery and she was only a couple of years younger than Nick. She was wearing a dark blue dress that flowed just past her knee, she was beautiful. Beautifully ordinary. Cass gathered herself and forced out a smile as she introduced herself.

“Hi, you must be Megan, I’m Cassidy but you can call me Cass,” Cass smiled, holding out her hand for Megan to take.

Megan beamed at Cass, her green eyes sparkling as instead she pulled Cass into a tight hug. Cass hesitated before wrapping her arms around Megan, returning the hug, “It’s so nice to meet you Cass, please call me Meg. You look really beautiful by the way.”

Dinner was actually pretty nice, it was nice to feel the warmth of the sun beating down on them and it was so nice for Cass to see the way Meg looked at Nick – like he put all the stars in the sky just for her. Cass actually liked her so far.

“Mm, this chicken is delicious, I can’t wait to have your famous brownies for dessert,” Meg grinned at Cass before she leaned over the table to kiss Nick. Cass smiled before playfully glaring at her dad for giving her secret recipe away, “so Cass your dad tells me that you’re doing Art at NYU and you’re pretty good, that’s exciting,” Meg smiled kindly before sipping from her glass, leaving a faint pink stain.

Cass’s smile faltered slightly while she played with her food, she wasn’t used to people – other than her dad – supporting what she wanted to do.

“Yeah, I guess so; my friends from high school that are attending the college want me to join the cheer team.”

Friends was a strong word to describe those girls, sure they were nice to her face but she was guessing that they were very bitchy about her behind her back. They were nothing more than trust fund brats that couldn’t buy their way into an Ivy League school.

“Oh yeah, you want to?” her dad asked with a smile before sighing when Cass bit her lip and dropped her eyes to her plate, pulling her sunglasses over her eyes.

“You know that you don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to do right?” Meg gave her a sympathetic smile, reaching across the table to take Cass’s hand, squeezing it comfortingly, “friends can be tough.”

Cass smiled at her, slowly slipping her hand from Meg’s grasp, she wasn’t really that comfortable with the whole stepmom thing already. Instead she changed the subject after sipping some of her raspberry lemonade, “so, what do you do for a living Meg?”

“Oh, I work in an elementary school for children with additional needs,” she paused, taking a swallow of wine, “it’s very challenging but very rewarding,” she smiled while Nick beamed at her with pride.

Cass grinned, that was such a selfless job to have, “I bet it is,” she replied, her respect for Meg rising considerably.

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

The following evening, many miles away from New York Tom was only just replying to the message that his online friend had sent him. She really was something but he didn’t even know her name, he only knew that she lived somewhere in America. He chuckled, running his fingers through his curls as he started to type out his reply.

To: C.Rose

‘Please don’t call me adorable, it’s embarrassing, I’m really scary! Definitely more fitting for Slytherin! I’m just going to a party and I’m packing because I’m moving away for school in less than a week xx’

“Are you speaking to your girlfriend that actually might be a 50 year old man?” Harrison, Tom’s best friend snickered, leaning against the doorframe. Tom gave him a death glare as he logged out of the site.

“You’re a dick.”

“C’mon mate! There will be loads of girls at this party dying to shag you,” Haz smirked, clapping Tom on the shoulder.

“Like who?” he asked even though he really wasn’t that interested.

“Well, there’s Sammy, Abby, Claire, Faith, Emma, the list really is endless!” Haz sounded proud as he checked all the girls off the list. Tom scoffed, pulling on his jacket, even though it was summer it was still a cold night.

“What’s the point? We’re leaving for New York in less than a week.”

“Have a one night stand, love them and leave them! Wham bam, thank you ma’am,” Haz chuckled as they left the flat.

“Hey, Haz?”

“Yeah?”

“You really are an absolute arsehole.”

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

@void-imaginations @marvelellie

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ezm-imagines · 6 years

Text

A Business Deal: Part Six - Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: Mafia Boss!Bucky

Word Count: ~1.5k

Chapter: 6/10

Masterlist :: Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four- Part Five - Part Six - Part Seven - Part Eight - Part Nine - Part Ten: Epilogue

A/N: Posted a little early! enjoy!

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He toyed with the binder clip a few moments more before he clenched his hand around it and stood up.

What had he said?!

Honestly, he wasn’t surprised that something he’d said had made you run out- he was expecting it sooner or later, but he was surprised that it happened then.

She doesn’t want to marry a guy with so much blood on his hands, part of his brain hissed.

He rubbed his neck and sat back down, putting his head in his hands.

He always knew it was a mistake to reveal shit like this to people. It’s why he kept it bottled up.

But he’d just... he’d figured it’d be different. You’d be different.

If you were gonna be married, you had a right to know his past, especially something so recent and prevalent to the relationship. Right?

God, he always fucked up. How could he even fuck up when he didn’t know what he did?

He ran over his story over and over to see if there was a flaw in it anywhere, but continually came up empty.

He carded a hand through his hair. He’d just have to ask you straight up, then.

He looked down at his watch and made some time calculations before returning to his paperwork at double his previous speed.

***

You stared down at the bottle of Coke in your hands as the radio babbled mindlessly in the background of your parked car.

“He’s just fucking wrong,” you muttered to yourself, taking another drink.

You knocked your head back against the seat, bored and exhausted with all the thoughts that had been nonstop swirling through your head since yesterday. You were honestly just tired of it.

You wished you could just cancel the entire relationship. You weren’t willing to put Barnes back in danger by not marrying him, but you were toying with ideas of how to avoid him. You could still live in separate houses? Or maybe just divide up your house?

It wasn’t that you hated him- you didn’t- you just... Didn’t want to see him or spend much time with him if all he saw in you was a Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free Card. You didn’t want that.

You had been previously hoping that by the time the wedding would roll around, you’d maybe even actually want to get married to him.

But I guess he never saw it that way.

You exhaled and opened your car door, stepping out into the covered garage and gathering your things.

You’d been delaying going into the office for long enough. It was time to be a big girl and stop avoiding it.

You started heading in.

After all, since when did you ever avoid a problem? You didn’t even avoid facing potential death when you were kidnapped.

How come emotions were so much harder for you?

You pushed open the large bullet-proof glass door and entered the lobby.

You smiled to the secretary as you walked up to her desk.

She turned around to collect your mail and your eyes flickered to the small, stemless red rose on the top of her counter. You wondered who had given it to her, and realized you actually knew very little about her life.

You made a mental note to have some type of Employee Appreciation Week where you could take some of your favorite employees out to lunch and get to know them.

You smiled to yourself, thinking about how Peter would be bouncing off the walls if you invited him to a lunch.

You bent over and smelled the rose petals, sighing slightly with content as the beautiful scent reached your nose.

“Hey, Sharon, who gave you this-” you stood back up to ask her but found a stack of mail directly in your face instead. A stack of mail with a small red rose on top. You smiled and took it from her, “Are you the one doing this? That’s so sweet of you!”

She put her hands up, “Not me.”

You looked back down at the rose on top of your envelopes and your package, picking it up and spinning it in your hands.

Huh. Weird.

Well, it was probably Peter or someone, going around and giving everyone a flower for some type of appreciation day or something. You couldn’t keep track of all the appreciation days.

You chuckled to yourself and headed up the elevator, where you found one singular rose on the ground.

You frowned and reached down to pick it up.

Yup, your suspicions were correct. Someone was handing these out to everyone. How thoughtful.

But how annoying that someone had been so careless as to just drop theirs on the ground of the elevator?! Come on! Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to give these the everyone!

You looked down at the two roses in your hands and waited until the elevator dinged for your floor.

You readjusted your bag and stepped out, your mouth dropping instantly.

Hundreds of red rose petals lined the entire floor of the long hallway toward your office.

And technically all of the offices on this level were your own private ones-

so all of these were for you.

You slowly made your way through the petals, shocked, and tentatively pushed open your office door that had already been cracked slightly open.

A pathway of rose petals led directly to...

“Barnes?” Your eyes widened.

He held out a simple red rose bouquet to you, and you took it from his hands gently, “What is all this?”

He smiled and tucked some hair behind his ear, “I’m not really a grand gesture kind of guy,” he explained, “But I got to the store to get you some flowers, and I figured that dozens of men have gotten you a normal bouquet of a roses in the past and didn’t mean anything real behind it. But I wanted mine to mean something real. I want us to have a strong marriage, Y/N, no matter what form that takes place in. So, when something is bothering you, I want to be the first to know.” His blue eyes stared right through yours, “So, what happened yesterday?”

You looked away, still overwhelmed and shocked, but now unable to say that you felt that he didn’t care about you. After something like this, it was clear he did.

“It’s gonna sound so stupid now,” you mumbled.

“Yeah, but you always sound stupid, I just ignore it,” he replied straight-faced, before his face gave way into a grin.

You rolled your eyes.

He raised his eyebrows and twirled his hand around to motion for you to go on.

You exhaled, “I just. I don’t know, I felt like you’re kind of using me to just be safe. That you didn’t really care who I was, it was just that I had a rich and powerful family that could save your life. And I know that was kind of part of the deal, but I don’t know. I thought we’d been becoming friends and then I was worried you only wanted me for my protection.”

He sighed, his eyes dragging away and then back to you, “I’m sorry, I’d worded that poorly; you’re right. But I promise that’s not it. I could’ve gone to a dozen different girls that would fit this bill. In fact, the original plan was to become friends with you, and then marry into the Romanoff family- I’ve always thought Natasha was drop dead gorgeous so I was hopeful for that. But then I met you, and... God, you were infuriating and frustrating and smug and cocky and tediously confident,” he took a deep breath, “But I had this feeling that we’d be a great team if we stuck together. And I think we are.“

You smiled softly, “Yeah. We are.”

He smiled back, allowing silence to blanket you both.

The silence made you realize how close you were to each other. And how it was hard to keep your focus on anywhere besides his lips...

“Is there something you’re wanting to do, sweetheart?” he said lowly, his breath tickling your face while a small grin tugged at his lips.

You hesitated for a moment before swaying forward slightly- your lips getting painfully close- then pulling away and pushing past him. You strut towards your desk, “Mm, yeah, you’re right, I really need to send Nat an email, thanks for reminding me.”

Barnes laughed and ran a hand through his hair.

“And that hallway is a beautiful gesture and all,” you told him as you logged into your computer, willing yourself to fight off your blushing with sheer will power, “But you better figure out how you plan on cleaning all those petals up, Casanova.”

“Eh, I got a guy,” he cracked an easygoing smile, and headed toward you to start his own work.

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Tagged: @gr8ness-sebstan @itzmegaaaaaaan @swtmckngbrd @kit-kat-katie99 @untoldshortsofthefandoms @chicthrill @crazybutconfidentaf @jessevans @kiwikriis @sebastixnstxn @failcdmothcr @holygaygal @bubbash125@k-n-e @ria132love @cutie1365 @whogaveuspermission @slytherinrising @glazedgucci

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writerrain · 6 years

Text

Glasgow Guy

You can find this Flintwood fic on AO3

Summary:

He played the fiddle in a Scottish band But he fell in love with an English man Kissed him on the neck and then I took him by the hand Said, "baby, I just want to dance"

Word count: 3257

Tags: musicians au, bad flirting, implied hook up, insecurities.

Special thanks to my beta @flint-wood

Glasgow Guy

Marcus' original plan was to go home, and damn wouldn't he have missed a lot if he had gone indeed.

As soon as he got out of the pub he lit a cigarette to keep himself company on the way home. He liked to go to the pub Adrian worked at because they had live music more evenings than not, and when they had nothing scheduled, good old Snape let him play and maybe offered him a couple of beers as payment. It wasn't much, but if you live for music like Marcus did, it was everything, especially if, like him, you don’t have a steady job.

Adrian was kind enough to let him crash on his couch for now, but he had to find a stupid job sooner, rather than later. After all, Adrian was just a student who worked at a pub, he couldn't manage to take care of the both of them with the scarce pay Snape gave him – often late.

Marcus inhaled the smoke, letting it burn all it could find, and then exhaled it. Maybe he would check at the mall again the next day, and if he couldn't find anything he would play around the food corner. Ron, a young bodyguard there, let him play because apparently he had recorded him and his girlfriend had liked his songs.

Of course she did. He was fucking amazing.

Well. If he had been he wouldn't be broke.

Whatever.

He really wanted to play that night. His fingers twitched, waiting for the moment they would touch the guitar strings and dance across it, his voice intertwining with the notes effortlessly, thanks to the love he felt for the music he was playing and the hard hours of practice, not to mention the long composition periods he needed to come up with the right words for the right music.

“Hey mate do you care to share?”

Marcus turned, caught off guard. He was still outside the Slytherin Snake, guitar in his left hand, and he found in front of him a guy. Well, a cute guy. At least, that was what he thought. Tall, messy hair, bright hazel eyes that gleamed in the poorly lit street in front of the pub. Very cute.

Share what?

“Share what? My wisdom?” Marcus replied sarcastically. Really, he was nervous because all he wanted to do was play. And that night at the Snake he couldn't, because stupid Snape had invited some weird Scottish band to play. That was why Marcus was heading home, and also the source of his bad mood.

The guy grinned. “I'll have to pass on that, you don't look like a very wisdom-y guy.” he commented, winking. Marcus rolled his eyes.

“I meant the cigarette. Can I share?”

Was... Was that guy flirting with him?

“You know... I always get a little nervous before playing and sharing a good smoke with a handsome bloke like you is going to calm me down.”

Yep the guy was definitely flirting with him, but that was not what Marcus' brain decided to focus on.

“Wait, you play?”

As if the thick Scottish accent, so rare to find around a place like Belfast, hadn't been a clue enough, the guy was carrying a bag containing what Marcus imagined could be a violin. No wait, it was a Scottish band, it could have been a fiddle.

Flirty Guy smiled bright, like Christmas had come early. “You here to listen?”

Marcus wanted to say no, he really wanted to go home, but something in the way the guy was looking at him was making his blood run hot and cold at the same time, and that hadn't happened... in a while. In a very long while. Dammit, when was the last time... ?

“Actually, I was going home.” he replied, handing to the guy his cigarette and smiling. A little flirting never killed anybody.

The other guy took the cigarette and smiled too. “And here I thought I could charm you with my good looks and my sexy accent... too bad, Guitar Hunk.”

Marcus couldn't help laughing at that, and the guy pretended to be offended. “Is your laugh an insult to my good looks?”

“Nah, it's just that your Scottish babbling isn't really that appealing to me, Flirty Fiddle.”

It was the other's turn to laugh, and Marcus smiled at that. He even had a cute laugh. Marcus knew that this was either going to end with him going home alone and heartbroken or him waking up in this guy's hotel room, and Marcus knew which option he preferred.

“So, you gonna stay or what?” the guy asked, and Marcus noticed that the guy wanted to look confident and cocky, but Marcus was good enough to sense some nervousness in his voice. That made him smile even wider.

“Well, if you ask me nicely.”

“Oh really?”

“Well, the truth is I still haven't checked out your ass, and if I don't like it... I'm sorry but that's a deal breaker for me, so I would go home right away.”

The guy laughed again, but this time the gleam in his eyes held a promise Marcus wanted him to keep.

“I bet you will follow me inside, then.” the guy winked, walking towards the door, swaying his hips a little too much. Marcus mentally thanked whoever invented skinny jeans and followed the fiddler in the Snake, where he felt, before seeing, Adrian's inquiring look. He just shrugged and went to sit in one of the empty boots, carefully noting that Flirty Fiddle was aware of where he was.

Marcus took in the long legs wrapped in the black, skinny jeans and the red flannel shirt as the guy was talking with two other big guys that looked too much like him to not be his brothers.

His staring was interrupted by the arrival of his stupid friend.

“Oh, so you're back now?” Adrian smiled, smug, and Marcus had to remind himself that he slept on Adrian's couch, so it would have been better not to punch him. And he was offering Marcus a beer, so he really shouldn't have gotten mad at the poor guy.

“I'm not paying for this.” Marcus said, picking up the bottle to drink from it.

Adrian shrugged. “I'll put it on the Scottish guy's tab, Snape won't even notice.” he replied, his smile not leaving his lips. He looked like the Cheshire Cat, and Marcus hated that knowing look. Ok, they had been friends for more than ten years, but that didn't give Adrian the right to read Marcus so well.

“Good to know you won't be sleeping on my couch tonight.” Adrian said while Marcus took a sip of the drink. Sly bastard. Marcus almost choked.

“For fuck's sake, Adrian, mind your business.”

Adrian smiled even more. “My best friend's well-being is my business, Marc.”

Marcus rolled his eyes. He hated that nickname. He wanted to reply something sarcastic to Adrian, but Snape called his friend. The younger boy moved from his seat, and Marcus returned to look at the Scottish beauty.

Flirty Fiddle was looking back at him with a dark look, but maybe that was only the lighting. The Snake wasn't exactly the best lit place, with its green atmosphere. It almost felt like they were underwater in a submarine, rather than in a pub.

Marcus kept drinking and looking at the fiddler, and sooner rather than later, the three brothers started to play on the small stage at the corner of the room.

Marcus appreciated the music. It wasn't exactly his favourite genre, and he only understood half of the lyrics, since the big guy was singing both in Scott and in English, but it wasn't the worst thing he had ever heard play at the Snake.

And the fiddler was good. He looked completely lost in what he was doing, in a way that Marcus could only describe as sexy. The guy had his eyes closed, his long neck exposed for everyone to see. And his hands... the sight was making Marcus restless, and not because he wanted to play his guitar.

The band played for an hour and a half. Almost two hours of torture for Marcus. Adrian had the bright idea to leave him alone to contemplate the fiddler. His friend really knew him well (not that Marcus was in any way aware of what was happening in the pub, apart from what the handsome Scotsman was doing).

Then the music ended, the singer thanked the audience and “Ollie and Steve” - so the handsome guy was either an Ollie or a Steve, uh – and with that, Snape put on the radio again. And Marcus waited.

In the dim light of the pub, Marcus saw a pair of hazel eyes look at him with so much fire his stomach started dancing the hula. He liked how the night was going.

The fiddler put his instrument quickly in the bag, and then after talking briefly with his brothers he went to sit in the boot next to Marcus.

“So,” the boy started, looking at everything but Marcus, “did you like it?”. It looked like he was containing his pride, because he had a small, silly grin on his face that told how pleased he was with himself and his performance.

“Meh,” Marcus said, “it's not really my kind of music. I guess you're alright.”

For once, Marcus decided to play hard to get, and keep their previous flirty banter on. He knew he really shouldn't – he wasn't exactly a beauty, he should have gone to the point quickly since it almost never happened to him, to meet a cute guy who somehow wanted to fuck him – but he enjoyed too much fucking around with the Scot.

The guy turned to face Marcus. “You think you can do better than me, Guitar Hunk?”

Marcus chuckled again at the nickname. “Wouldn't you want to know.” he smiled, flirty.

The Scot smiled at that, and Marcus somehow realized he said exactly what the other guy wanted to hear.

“Why don't you bring me to your place and play something for me?” he said, and then he bit his lower lip in what Marcus could only interpret as nervousness. A hot guy was nervous to ask him out. How did that even happen?

“I would if I could, but I kind of live on my friend's couch.” Marcus replied, pointing at Adrian behind the counter.

“Oh, so you live with him?” the boy asked, making Marcus smile even more.

“You jealous?”

“That depends on how much you play for him.” the guy said, in a way that made Marcus understand that he wasn't exactly talking about guitars.

“Oh, Adrian doesn't like my music.” Oh, the guy's smile was almost as beautiful as his ass.

“Well, if you don't wanna play with my brothers too, I suggest we find another solution. Soon .”

Marcus couldn't stop grinning. Hot Dude was really interested. He couldn't believe his luck.

“There's a motel five minutes from here.”

“Good.” the guy got up quickly, his hot gaze never leaving Marcus. This was going to be fun.

Marcus followed the guy out of the pub, not before being taken by his free hand and twirled around a couple of times by the laughing Scotsman.

“The hell?”

“Sorry. I just wanted to dance a bit.”

The only sound in the smelly motel room was the guy's deep breath. He was definitely asleep, Marcus thought, soundly enough not to be woken up by him.

He still needed to play.

No matter how much some good sex could make him calm down, when he was in the mood he was restless until he played something. He decided that the motel room was a good place like any other, and he got out of the bed, looking for his boxers.

Once he got his underwear on, he took up his guitar from where he had left it when they got in in a rush. He was trying to make as little noise as possible, which was incredibly stupid because he was about to fucking play and sing, but somehow he didn't want to break the silence with mere noises. He wanted to break it with his music.

He sat on the floor, as far from the bed as he could. The feeling of his fingers on the cords gave him a shiver. Well, that could have been the cold floor too, but Marcus was sure that he was shivering for the excitement.

He had always been a brawny, scary guy, even as a kid. He didn't have many friends, because most of the people avoided him because of his looks. Not to mention that he was kind of an ass anyway. His personality sucked as much as his looks, he thought, if not even more.

But everything changed when he had a guitar in his hands. He almost transfigured, or at least he felt like he did. When he was putting together a song he didn't feel stupid like everyone said he was. When he was singing, he didn't feel as ugly as the mirror told him he was.

He felt like he was part of the music. He felt like he wasn't in his body anymore, like he was following the music up in the sky. He felt safe, stronger than his muscles made him. He felt good.

Marcus closed his eyes, and he let his fingers do their work.

“ Once I knew a girl as fair as a breeze, She told me 'Love is a mastermind, but Love is also stupid, Love is also blind, give Him less credit, He is not very kind.'

The girl was strong as a mountain rock, But she had her heart broken so many times She thought her Heart was worth two dimes And she often cried for all His crimes.

I don't know where she is, I don't know where she went, I hope she's found some solace, Hope she got rid of all her malcontent. ”

“Since you are singing something so sad, I guess I wasn't as good as I thought.” a voice croaked, scaring Marcus so much he jumped up.

The Scot was sitting on the bed, looking sleepy and incredibly beautiful. How could someone look that good in a dark, smelly, cheap motel room, Marcus had no idea.

“Sorry, I didn't want to wake you up.”

“Yeah," the Scot snorted, not believing him, "and I didn't want to depress you.”

Marcus smirked, his fingers playing a cheerful melody.

“ Tonight I met a big flirt at the pub. He speaks English weird and he hit on me like a truck. With a body like that he should work in a night club, and he plays the fiddle as well as he fucks. ”

As Marcus sang, the guy started to laugh. “I guess I'll take that as a compliment then.”

Marcus grinned. He couldn't really tell, because the room was rather dark, but it looked like the guy was blushing. Cute.

Marcus stopped playing, and put his guitar down, deciding that maybe it was better to go back to the bed.

“Damn, I knew you were good, but that was actually great.” the Scot said. “The sad song, I mean. Even if I do appreciate you complimenting me.”

Marcus smiled, but then the words hit him. “Wait, what do you mean you knew I was good?”

The Scot shrugged. “I may or may not have watched a couple of your videos on YouTube. I didn't expect to see you at the pub, though.”

That didn't exactly make sense to Marcus. “I don't have a YouTube channel.”

“No you don't. But there's this chick, Granger, she has an entire channel dedicated to street artists around the country. You're one of my favourite.” the guy winked. Dammit, it was time to ask his name. Or maybe it was too late and it would be awkward.

Apparently, Marcus, taken aback, didn't speak for too long, so the Scot decided to fill the silence.

“You should come to Glasgow, you know. No offence, but Belfast is kind of a shithole, if you move you can have more opportunities than here.”

Marcus snorted. “Didn't you hear me when I said I sleep on my friend's couch? I am broke, at least here I have someone who puts a roof on my head.”

“Well, I have a couch too, you know.” the guy almost looked shy, nervous, more than he had ever looked that night. Flirty Fiddler was gone, leaving Fidgetty Fiddler behind.

“Do you realize that I don't even know your name? Why on Earth should I move in with you?” Marcus wanted to laugh. The proposal was just... too crazy for him. He had never been reckless, not when it came to important decisions. He was more calculating than brave.

And maybe he lost a couple of opportunities because of this. Sue him.

“I am Oliver. I am sorry but I guess it doesn't rhyme with much, so if you wanna write a song about me try to avoid mentioning it.”

Marcus laughed at that. “Knowing your name doesn't really make me wanna come live with you, idiot. What if you are a creep? For all I know, you stalked me.”

Oliver looked sheepish. “I didn't stalk you. And really, I didn't know you lived in Belfast. And I didn't even recognize you when you came out of the pub, I started talking to you only because I thought you had a nice butt.”

Ok, maybe Oliver was funny and cute. That didn't really make the situation any less creepy, or weird.

“Listen, I live with my brother Steve, but I'm pretty sure he's gonna leave me to go to live with his girlfriend soon, I need to find a roommate anyway.” Oliver sighed. “I know this is weird, and we just met, and I don't think that many people do this with the guys they pick up from the pub, but I really like you. As a musician. I could help you make a YouTube channel, and I know every place you can play at Glasgow. In exchange, you could write a nice song for me and my brothers, it's not like we are poets or anything.”

It was tempting, Marcus couldn't deny it.

“I'm kind of wounded that you said you only like me as a musician.” Marcus joked, to take time. He needed to think about Oliver's proposal. Or better, he needed to talk himself out of accepting it.

“I thought I expressed well enough how much I like you in bed before. I think the people on the third flood heard me too.” Oliver replied, and even though his voice was playful Marcus was sure he was blushing.

“I'll think about it, okay?” Marcus finally said. What did he had to lose, anyway? It wasn't like he would anger his parents. They were in London and they didn't talk to him already, it wasn't like moving to another city would change his relationship with them. He didn't have a job to leave, or a lover. The only person who would have missed him was Adrian, who would be happy for him though.

“I am Marcus, by the way.”

As he looked at Oliver's growing smile, Marcus felt like he didn't really have a choice but to follow the stupid Scot back to his city.

He didn't want to refuse an adventure, at least not that time.

#flintwood #flintwood fic #marcus flint #oliver wood #fanfiction #harry potter

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