#it won’t solve anything nor will it make everything all right

[teecupangel]

A Desmond who feel for older than he is due to the knowledge that his ancestors memories gave him. Time travels back to any period and just decides to become a fisherman. He accidently becomes know as that old man with wisdom that fishes all the time even tho he isn't actual that old. Some people assume he just has very good features that make him seem younger than he is. Just a thought I had at 12 am again :0

I don’t know if you mean that I get to choose where he timetravels to or if you mean that he can freely time travel but think of the hilary of:

Desmond: the time-hopping fisherman

Everyone who sees him just thinks he’s some chill old(ish) man who likes to fish in the weirdest places.

Have a small fic for your 12 am musing XD

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

Altaïr always sees him in Acre docks fishing and he doesn’t even know if people are allowed to fish there. The guards ignore him even though he heard whispers from the people near the docks that they all believe he’s… well… not all there in the head. Altaïr never approached him at all but, when he needed to hide after assassinating Sibrand, the fisherman simply smiled at him and patted the space next to him which, coincidentally, had an unused fishing rod. The guards didn’t even bother to look in their direction, too used to ignoring the fisherman. They didn’t say anything to one another and Altaïr simply said ‘my thanks’ before leaving once the coast was clear. But then he saw him in Cyprus, fishing as usual and that caught Altaïr’s interest. Because he kept on fishing even when Altaïr used the Apple to command everyone to return to their homes.

There was a fisherman who always fished on Tiber Island. Ezio had observed him for a few days just to be sure he wasn’t a Borgia spy or anything of the kind but all the fisherman did was fish for the entire day and then go to a small home on Tiber Island once the sky became too dark to continue to fish. Ezio wasn’t even sure if he caught any fish but he was just a harmless fisherman so Ezio didn’t bother him. Then a few of his recruits suddenly started getting better at observing and they all say that they got ‘tips’ from the lonely fisherman of Tiber Island. That caught Ezio's interest but he was too busy trying to dismantle the Borgia's influence in Rome to do anything about it by then. When Ezio finally talked to him after returning from Spain, finally ending his feud with the Borgia with Cesare’s ‘accident’, the fisherman turned to smile at him and patted the space next to him. Ezio sat and took the extra fishing rod that the fisherman gave him as he asked for the fisherman’s name. The fisherman was quiet for a moment before he finally answered, “Nowadays, I have so many names I don’t remember all of them anymore. But I guess… to you? I will always be Desmond.”

Ratonhnhaké:ton assumed he was part of the homestead. Just one of the many people trying to build a new life here on the homestead. Ratonhnhaké:ton introduced himself because it was the polite thing to do and because he was curious about all the people who made their life here in Achilles’ homestead. He was not one of the many people Ratonhnhaké:ton invited. He had been here even before Ratonhnhaké:ton and had even given Ratonhnhaké:ton fish to eat while he had been hunting during the time he stayed in Achilles’ stables. Now, it became a habit to fish with the lone fisherman at least once every time he was on the homestead. Fishing became a way for Ratonhnhaké:ton to simply breathe and rest for a bit. To remember the beauty of the world. So when Achilles told him that the homestead never had a fisherman, Ratonhnhaké:ton had wondered if he had been talking to a spirit this entire time. Yet, the fisherman was flesh and bones when he held his wrist. His skin was warm and he looked at Ratonhnhaké:ton with curious light brown eyes that seemed to glow in the sunlight. Ratonhnhaké:ton finally asked what he was doing here in the homestead and the fisherman simply replied with a smile, “Just fishing.”

Edward Kenway had seen the weirdest shite but this… this was strange. “What are you doing here, old man?!” “Fishing!” Yes, Edward could see that. That wasn’t the point. The point was… “You’re fishing in an abandoned ship covered in fog!” The laughter he heard was light and absent of any panic. That day, Edward Kenway wondered if they had accidentally boarded a ghost ship and they were now cursed as they found no gold in the ship but the fisherman stayed in Jackdaw and continued to fish even when Jackdaw gets boarded. Everyone just agrees that he was some kind of sea curse and that trying to throw him overboard would bring them bad luck.

Shay saw him every time he was in the homestead. A lone fisherman that always seemed to be fishing no matter the time or the weather. Liam ignored him so Shay ignored him as well. Until he returned from Lisbon, shaking and angry. The red haze in his mind had been so thick he barely heard someone call to him. Yet, he stopped and turned to where the voice had come from. It was the fisherman. He patted the space next to him and Shay wasn’t sure what made him walk toward him. The softness of his voice? The kindness in his smile? The understanding in his eyes? Shay didn’t know at all. His hands trembled as he took the extra fishing rod the fisherman handed to him. And Shay just… fished. In the warm silence between them, he could feel everything he tried to hold in finally let go. Tears fell from his eyes as his shoulders begin to tremble. He felt the fisherman’s hand rub his back as, for the first time since his father died, Shay cried once more.

Every time Arno leave the Parisian Brotherhood’s headquarters from the sewers, he would see him. A fisherman just… fishing away in the Seine river. Arno wasn’t sure if he was even part of the Brotherhood. None of the other Assassins that Arno worked with ever talked to him and he never saw the fisherman enter the sewer or even Caf�� Théâtre. Arno just ignored him. Until Élise left him, too focused on avenging her father to even take the time to listen to Arno. And the Brotherhood… well… Arno had been debating if he should even report to the Brotherhood anymore. He just felt… so lost. Maybe that had been the reason why he finally approached the fisherman and asked him what he was fishing for. The fisherman simply patted the space next to him and handed Arno an extra fishing rod when the young Assassin sat. Instead of drinking the day away, Arno fished with a man he didn’t even know the name of, listening to the fisherman as he talked about a man he used to know who was faced with an impossible choice.

It was Jacob who approached him. The fisherman of Thames, they call him. All the gangs ignored him. Just another one of the poor men of London. But Jacob had been curious. He wanted the Rooks to be more than just any gang. He wanted them to be like the Ezio Auditore’s Brotherhood that his father used to tell him and Evie when they were children. But less restricted by the tenets. A… friendly neighborhood gang just like how his father described them when they were still young and didn’t know better. No matter what the books and journals Evie read say about the real Italian Brotherhood, Jacob didn’t care about that. His Rooks was based on what they heard when they were kids, not the brutal reality they live in. So, Jacob tried to talk to the fisherman to see what his deal was. If he was trying to fish to survive, he’d offer him a place with the Rooks. Maybe even get him something to eat that didn’t smell like Thames for once. Jacob and the fisherman sat for hours, fishing together. When Jacob returned to the train, Evie saw the expression on his face and asked what had happened with concern in her tone. Both Evie and Henry only grew more confused when Jacob replied with wide eyes, “I think I just talked to God, Evie.”

It was shameful for Bayek to admit it but it took a while before he noticed him. At first, it had been because he had been too focused on avenging Khemu. Then it was because he was busy trying to help Aya. But now… Well, he was still busy but it was hard not to notice the fisherman humming the same tune that has been stuck in his head ever since he left Siwa. He didn’t even realize that he had heard it from the fisherman until now. So when he asked what the fisherman was doing and all he got was that the fisherman was fishing, Bayek couldn’t help the exasperation in his voice as he said, “You’re fishing… in an oasis… in the middle of the desert.” The fisherman simply shrugged and replied that he wanted to try it out. Bayek couldn’t help but wonder if he was actually talking to a hallucination and there was really no fisherman and no oasis at all.

“I’m sorry, I know this is a very important conversation and all of that but who is that?” “That… is the fisherman.” “The fisherman?” “Yes.” “That’s all you’re going to give me?” “Yes.” “And you’re not going to explain why he’s fishing straight into that strange water-like gate that you just told me leads to Atlantis?” “……… Yes.” “… I need a drink.” “So do I.”

Eivor frowned as she entered an empty bureau, no Hytham at sight at all. She walked out of his small bureau and looked around. It was easy enough to find Hytham with his Hidden One robes. What she did not expect was finding him by the docks, fishing with a person she had never seen before. Perhaps someone who came to Ravensthorpe while she was away? She walked towards them and Hytham immediately turned to smile at her, asking her to sit and fish with them. She had wanted to say no, to tell him that she was looking for him to give him more medallions. Instead, she sat on Hytham’s other side and took the fishing rod that Hytham gave her. They spent the entire afternoon fishing and, by the end of it, Eivor wondered if perhaps one of the old gods have come to fish in Ravensthorpe.

(If it looks strange that this is not in chronological order but instead ordered by release, that’s because Desmond is time-hopping in that exact order)

[findroleplay]

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[arisewanekosuki]

Dreamer in Teyvat -Night 1- (3/?)

You approach Teleport Waypoint. You hold your breath and slowly reach to the structure. You put your hand on it, you expected its surface to be cold but it was warm. Looking at it you notice that- Nothing have changed. You put your other hand on it and nothing. You didn't hear any sound, it didn't light up in any way, nothing. It doesn't work because you don’t have a map? Or it just won’t work for you? Or maybe it did work but without unlocking another one you won't know for now. If you find another Teleport Waypoint, it won’t hurt to check it. You approach the end of the cliff. You are amazed by the view. You can see Sangonomiya Shrine, also you're able to see Statue of Seven on other end of the island. This is incredible, you can feel the wind, you can hear the sound of waterfalls and some birds. You can even touch those bubbles that fly around, it’s fun to poke them.

On your right there is teleport, but this one won’t help you too much, the other one that this teleport is connected to, is not far away on your left side. Behind the teleport there is this place where this terrible puzzle was, but it seems the puzzle is already solved. You pass teleport to get closer to the small ruins. There you can see many books, bag, shield and backpack. There is no weapon sadly. Checking bag and backpack you only find like 100 mora. You’re probably won’t be able to buy too much with that. You wonder, if it’s really okay to take those things but you don’t see any campfire, nor anything to suggest that someone is coming here at all. Well, at least you got something to put things in, that you'll gather in your travels! There is no reason to go back to the beach or try the new shield against slimes, so with excitement step, you go back to the path that will lead you to the Bourou Village.

There is bridge, it looks sturdy enough to let you cross it. At the end of the bridge you see one of Sangonomiya Samurai. You put foot on the bridge, to make sure it won't break when you try cross it. You can see the Samurai watching your every move. Holding onto line you slowly cross the bridge. When you finally approach the Samurai, he loudly say -“ Halt! All passers-by must allow themselves to be inspected! Where are you from? Where are you going? Answer me honestly!” You wonder, how many times he had said this. You can tell the truth, that you’re not from here, telling everything how you have been chosen by some God…Gods to travel across Teyvat. You can also just say that you’re a traveler and you wanted to see the beauty of Watatsumi Island. You can lie about being friend of Traveler and Paimon. You can also don’t say anything and just ignore him.

I just realized I can't edit the posts with polls oops… well I should have guessed I won't be able to do that orz If you want to see the previous ones or next one just check Masterlist!

[lesbianlanarcher]

just think about it, okay ––– 

sterling wakes up from his coma, three years of his life gone, he'll never get that back, so he tries not to dwell on it. nor does he wish to dissect his dreams because thinking back to those lives he made up is dangerously close to introspection which he is adamantly against. so, he shifts focus, tries to acclimate himself to whatever his life is now. being alone sucks, sleeping with random women sucks less but that doesn't last, drinking makes him feel worse but he's not ever giving that up for anything. doing everything he used to before is pointless and, plainly, nauseating. he needs people, he’s realised... he needs to feel grounded, needs to hear laughter, needs to be in the centre of a crowded room, needs to feel real again or just feel something again. but he doesn't have many people he can call on to help him out. a stripper isn't gonna solve his problems, bartenders have heard it all before, no one wants to level with him; new york does not care. who's left? his friends, distant colleagues, these people he was forced into a working relationship with all those years ago, the people who have known him the longest, whatever he fuck they are too ��� they aren't there either.

who does sterling have to help him out when he needs it most? who does his mind go to purely out of instinct? who does he crave when he knows he shouldn’t? who can make him feel both shittier and lift his spirits at the same time? who is unlike anyone else? who will he always want?

~

“Lana.”

He shouldn’t be doing this.

“I bet you’re busy with that... that... creature.”

But he wants to.

“That bald fuck.”

And he always gets his way.

“Stupid prick.”

He takes a swig of... something. Some random bottle that was hidden right at the back of the drybar because he’s already drowned himself in everything else. 

“Or you’re still ignoring my calls.”

It’s been hard adjusting to a life without Woodhouse. Well, it’s been hard adjusting in general. But Woodhouse not being there anymore is the perfectly slick cherry atop the shitheap that is his turd cake of a life. So, it feels apt. 

“Which is a shitty thing to do. You know, I just got out of a three-year coma? A coma? You know what one of those are?”

Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he knows he deserves everything he gets. He’s stacked up a lot of bad karma, it was bound to catch up to him at some point. He just didn’t expect it to feel so... crushing. And he definitely didn’t think his punishment would be this lonesome either.

“Yeah, you know. You just don’t care.”

He thought everyone would be falling through his apartment door to spend time with him, ask him how it felt to be in a coma, show some form of interest in his return. 

“And, I mean, why should you?”

It never came. 

“It’s not like, hah, it’s not like we have a child together or anything.”

And from her? Nothing. Not a word. He spewed his guts, heart, lungs, intestines, everything... confessed to her at that gala and... nothing.

“Oh, wait, my mistake. We don’t.”

He tried - fuck - he tried to tell her everything he could. Everything he should have told her the very second he knew she was the only thing in his life that held any sort of value. Everything he was capable of saying without choking on the words, without gagging and wanting to throw up, he said it. 

“Because she doesn’t even know me. AJ doesn’t know her father.”

But it wasn’t enough.

“Because you replaced me.”

It might not ever be enough.

“Everyone replaced me. Me.”

His words won’t ever be good enough for her. 

“Like I never fucking existed in the first place.”

Words are all he has now, as empty as they may seem. Saying it wasn’t easy. Confronting that part of himself, the part that craves and needs and wants her is akin to torture. And Sterling knows torture well. What he doesn’t know is how he can prove that any more; how he can prove himself to her. He’s wronged her in the past, sure, but that doesn’t take away from the fact he loves her. Can’t she see that? That he fucking adores her. That he would do anything for her, that he would die in less than a heartbeat for her, he would give everything up for her to kiss him again.

“Maybe that’s what you all wanted, though? Maybe me being in a coma was the best thing that ever happened to everyone? Maybe...”

And she’s never said it back to him, not once. Perhaps in her actions, like he’s told her again and again just what she means to him, but she has never told him directly. Never said the words. No one has. Not in a manner that means anything substantial, anyway. 

“Maybe you should have just pulled the plug.”

Perhaps no one is capable of showing him that affection he so sorely needs. Katya could have... He thought she might have been the only one to rival Lana, the only other woman who could keep him distracted and occupied, but even that was tainted and turned against him. Like most things. Ruined.

“What was the point of keeping me alive?”

So, he figures he’s not meant for it. To be loved. Not meant to be shown that side of life that comes so, so fucking easy for everyone else.

“If I was gonna come back to this? What was the point, Lana?”

He has wealth in an over-abundance, any woman - or man - he wants he could probably get, and endless supply of liquor. He has it all. Doesn’t he?

“You don’t have to give me any real answers,” He laughs, abruptly and slightly manically, “You probably won’t even listen to this,” then, takes another swig of whatever bottle is dangling limply from his hand, “Good, don’t. Save us both the embarrassment. Right? Just ignore it. Like everything else. Ignore me.”

He doesn’t bother to disconnect the voice message, just tightens his hand around the phone until he can feel the muscles in his arm scream out in pain. Fucking nerve damage. Incensed even more, he hurls the device across the room where it smashes against the wall and falls to the floor, partially shattered. 

Another apt metaphor, he thinks, the bottle back to his lips, feverishly sucking from it like he’ll get what he needs when he reaches the bottom and drains it. 

The truth is, he never will.

But that doesn’t stop him from trying.

[beatrice-otter]

Fic: Revenge of the Zillo Beast

Title: Revenge of the Zillo Beast Fandom: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy Characters: Mace Windu & Anakin Skywalker Written For: ExtraPenguin in FicInABox 2022 Length: Gen Rating: 4140 words Summary: Mace and Anakin have killed the Zillo Beast every way they can think of in different time loops. Maybe killing the Beast won't solve the problem? At AO3. On Dreamwidth. On Pillowfort.

Mace stared down at the Zillo Beast's corpse, wishing for the thousandth time that the time loop started earlier. They'd never been able to capture the beast alive, and how quickly or slowly they killed it did not matter. Nor did it matter which direction they tried to lead the beast off. If the loop started earlier, they would have had a chance to alter the strategic decisions regarding the Beast, which might actually have made a difference.

Anakin Skywalker walked up beside him, looked at the beast, and shook his head. "Lunch?"

"We've already tried all our favorite restaurants," Mace said. "Do we want to repeat one, or ask the directory for a random restaurant in this district?"

Anakin shrugged. "Your choice. But next time, we're going to Dex's."

Mace nodded. Diner food wasn't his favorite, but he didn't dislike it; and while they had long ago exhausted the Besalisk's information on their problem, he was a hospitable being, and friend of Anakin's. "Let's be adventurous," Mace said. "It's not like either of us have much time to sample good restaurants ordinarily."

***

They ended up in a little hole-in-the-wall dumpling shop down at the very bottom of the 'respectable, but poor' levels, barely one level up from the undercity. Mace didn't think the health certificate for the kitchen was valid, but the food was excellent.

"You know, this is better Naboo-style kluski than Chancellor Palpatine's chef makes," Anakin said, chowing down enthusiastically.

"I believe it," Mace said, savoring his Haruuni fritter. "I'll have to remember this place, once the loop stops."

"If it ever does," Anakin said darkly.

That was depressingly likely. "Speaking of which, do you have any suggestions for the next loop? I think we've done everything possible we can do to or about the Zillo Beast."

Anakin shrugged. "The only thing I can think of is that whatever the loop is about, it's not the Beast. The Beast is a distraction."

"You're probably right," Mace said. "The question is, how do we figure out what the actual cause of the time loop is? We've already had Jocasta Nu and the Senate archivists working on that question for several different loops, and none of them came up with anything—not even any leads we might use for further research on subsequent loops." Indeed, several loops—ten, Mace thought, though they were beginning to blend together—had been devoted to killing the Beast as quickly as possible to leave more time to research with the archivists before everything reset.

Anakin hmmed agreement through a mouthful of food, and they ate in a companionable silence. The first dozen loops, they had had a lot more friction, Anakin's need for action driving him even when (as now) there was nothing left to be done but wait for the next loop. The younger Jedi hadn't exactly learned patience, but he had learned to pace himself, to relax at the end of the loop so that they might both be better ready for the intensity of the loop's beginning. "We've tried logic and research, and they haven't worked," Anakin said. "Maybe we need to look to the Force?"

"Spend a loop meditating, you mean?" Mace said. "Ignore the beast?"

"But the Chancellor would die!" Anakin protested.

"Not permanently," Mace pointed out. He leaned back, trying to find a comfortable position on the worn and patched vinyl bench cushion.

"Yeah, but it still feels … wrong," Anakin said. "How would you feel if I suggested letting one of your friends die in a loop?"

"I wouldn't like it," Mace said. "But it's temporary, and at this point I'm ready to try anything that isn't obviously Dark."

Anakin sighed. "Me, too."

They lapsed back into silence.

"I think we've pretty conclusively proved that there's not much point asking for help from people outside the loop," Mace said.

"If anybody does have knowledge we need, they can't get it to us before the loop resets," Anakin said.

Besides asking the archivists at both the Temple and the Senate, they'd also spent a couple of loops calling for anyone else stuck in the loop with them. First, Mace had used Temple channels to ask all Jedi to report any strange phenomena, and then Anakin had used his war hero status to get on the Holonet and ask all Republic citizens who might have information to contact them. There had been a lot of crank calls, but nothing of any actual use.

"So what do we do if the thing causing the loops isn't on Coruscant at all?" Anakin asked.

Mace shrugged. "Hope that we can figure it out, and that there's a Jedi within eight hours' travel time of it. I suppose it's possible that this is the result of some Sith magic that Dooku was trying, but … I doubt it. If that were the case, why would you and I be the ones who remember the loop? I can't imagine a Sith would want two Jedi to be in the loop with a chance of figuring things out and fixing them."

"Unless it's a plot to make us absolutely crazy by the time they end the loop," Anakin said grimly.

"In which case, it's even more important for us to take care of ourselves so that no matter when the loop ends, we're fit to act," Mace said. "But still, if that were the goal, why only two Jedi? Why not the whole Council?"

"Maybe it's just easier to get the two of us," Anakin said. "I'm the Chosen One and you see shatterpoints—we're both a bit unique in our connection to the Force."

"Lots of Jedi are a bit unique in their connection to the Force," Mace pointed out, "but I take your point."

"So, meditation," Anakin said. "It's not really my thing. Why don't we try you meditating on the loop, and me killing the Zillo Beast and saving the Chancellor?"

"I have a feeling that you're right, and that we're both in the loop because of something that we share," Mace said. "In which case, a joint meditation would be more useful."

"I don't like it," Anakin said. He scraped the spoon along the side of the bowl to get the last of the sauce and licked it. "But I can't say you're wrong. If we want to be able to meditate, we'll need to be somewhere people won't think to look for us when the Beast gets loose."

"We've had archivists look for unusual things before," Mace said thoughtfully, "but never while one or both of us was there to meditate on what they found. Perhaps we should meditate in a quiet room in the archives and have your droid sort through the newsfeeds looking for anything worth our attention."

"Sounds like a plan," Anakin said. He checked his chrono. "We've got another couple of hours before the loop resets. Do you want to meditate now, or wait?"

Mace shrugged. "All the shatterpoints disappear after the Beast dies, I don't think there's much point meditating now."

"Fair enough," Anakin said. "You got to choose dinner, so I should get to choose our evening's entertainment. There's swoop racing ten levels down from here, and two miles to the east."

Mace considered this as he dug out credits to cover their meal. Illegal swoop racing wasn't how he'd prefer to spend the evening, but it was a change. Really, he missed Depa and his other friends, and would give a great deal to be able to spend the evening relaxing with them, but he and Anakin had both learned early on that it was eerie to spend time with those who did not remember all they had been through and would forget again when the loop reset. "Fastest way to get that far down is to jump."

Anakin grinned. "I like the way you think."

…

…

When the loop reset, it took very little time to sneak through the Temple to the Archives, and Anakin and his droid met him in a back room. The hardest part was evading Master Nu; the Temple was empty enough, these days, that Mace barely had to try to avoid the notice of other Jedi along the way.

"What did you bring?" Anakin asked, gesturing to his bag.

"Pillows," Mace said, pulling out two overstuffed cushions from his couch. "I don't meditate well sitting in chairs, and I'd prefer not to spend the next several hours sitting on the bare floor."

"Good thinking," Anakin said, though he was young enough it probably didn't matter much to him one way or the other. He turned to his astromech and explained what they wanted it to do while Mace arranged a meditation space on the floor. He'd also brought candles and a variety of meditation aids, and some water bottles.

Once the droid was plugged into the terminal, Anakin joined Mace on the cushions and together they started a joint meditation. As with all meditation these days, the Force was not welcoming; there were shadows all around them filled with danger, and Mace didn't blame Anakin for not liking meditation; things had been growing steadily murkier and harder for years, and by the time the younger man had joined the Jedi a decade and a half ago, it had already been a far cry from the tranquil, welcoming embrace it had been in Mace's youth.

Mace tended to lose track of time during meditation, so he had no idea how long they had been at it when the Force burst out around them, shatterpoints detonating by the thousands. Mace came back to himself, lying on the floor, with an astromech bending over him and beeping in dismay. He blinked up at the ceiling, trying to gather his wits.

To the side of him Anakin was sitting hunched over, head in his hands, muttering softly in a language that sounded vaguely similar to Huttese.

"Force be with us, what was that?" Mace asked.

"I don't know," Anakin said. "But it was big, whatever it was."

"It's something new, that hasn't happened in any previous loop," Mace said, wincing at himself for stating the obvious.

"Have you noticed the Force?" Anakin asked. "It feels … weird. Good, but weird."

Mace reached out, and smiled. "It feels like it did when I was a child in the creche, before the darkness started closing in so tightly."

"Oh," Anakin said. He looked over, and noticed that Mace was on the floor. "Are you okay?"

"I am … better than I've been in a long time," Mace said, laughing at how bright and clear the Force was.

"O … kay," Anakin said dubiously, staring at him.

"But we must find out what happened," Mace said. "It is possible that whatever it was did not end the loop, in which case we must learn what it was so that we may repeat it when the loop ends."

"Chancellor Palpatine!" Anakin gasped. "If it did break the loop, and the beast kills him!"

Mace dug out his commlink and turned it on. There were, as he expected, many missed calls.

Anakin was quicker off the mark. "Master Obi-Wan, what is it?"

"Anakin, where the hell have you been? The Zillo Beast got loose and has been rampaging across Coruscant!" Obi-Wan said.

"Sorry, no time to explain, where are you?" Anakin said.

"The Senate plaza, but I'm afraid you're too late."

"What happened?" Mace said into Anakin's commlink.

"Master Windu? I'm not … actually quite sure," Obi-Wan said. "The Zillo Beast went directly for Chancellor Palpatine, and we could neither stop it nor lure it away nor get the Chancellor to safety. It—it ate him, and as it bit down, there was … something like an explosion."

Anakin sagged, and almost dropped the commlink. Mace gently took it from him, placing a hand on his shoulder for comfort.

"Everyone on the plaza was knocked down. The beast is … the beast is in several parts. And something has happened to the Force."

"We've noticed that," Mace said. "We'll be there as soon as we can. See if you can find the Chancellor's body."

"There's … the explosion seems to have been centered around the Zillo Beast's head," Obi-Wan said. "There may not be much left."

Anakin made a tortured sound, and Mace squeezed his shoulder. "Do what you can."

When Obi-Wan had signed off, Mace squeezed Anakin's shoulder again. "I'm sorry, Anakin."

"He—the loop might not be broken," Anakin said wetly. "It might be temporary. He might be back at the beginning of the next loop."

"Perhaps," Mace said. With each passing moment he was more sure that the loop had been broken, but he would not take Anakin's hope away from him until he had to. And he might be mistaken. Little though Mace had liked the Chancellor, the man had been a good friend and mentor to Anakin, and Mace honored that. "You don't have to come with me to see, if you don't want to. You could stay here, and rest."

"No," Anakin said. He looked up, and there were tears on his face. "I want to come. I want to see."

…

…

Anakin insisted on flying, which Mace was dubious about, but he had pulled himself together enough to function by the time they reached the hangar bay, and once they were in the air, he felt calmer in the Force.

"Nothing ever exploded before," Anakin said. "We've killed the Zillo Beast a hundred different ways, almost, and it always just died like any animal would. What caused the explosion?"

"Maybe the Chancellor had something on him that exploded," Mace said.

"He was a politician," Anakin said. "And not one like Padmé or Bail Organa—he never went into the field, and he always had guards. He wasn't trained in combat. He didn't wear weapons."

"If he were armed, and I doubt he was, it would have been a holdout blaster," Mace agreed. "Blasters don't explode like that unless you purposely bugger the cartridge. And even then, it wouldn't have been a big enough explosion to leave the Zillo in pieces."

"Did it eat something else, along the way?" Anakin wondered. "Something that it never did before?"

"Never in all the times we've fought it?" Mace said. "Possible, but unlikely. Besides, there's the fact that the explosion was in the Force itself, and left the Force around Coruscant clearer and brighter than it has been in longer than you've been alive. Could the Chancellor somehow have acquired a Sith artifact of some sort?"

"He would have told me, turned it over to the Jedi," Anakin said. "He knows—knew—how dangerous the Sith were."

"Not if he didn't know what it was," Mace said. "Or if his memory had been tampered with. He was a strong-willed man, but the Sith have ways of overriding that."

Anakin was quiet for a bit. "Dooku has always said that the Senate is under the sway of his Sith master," he said as they approached the Senate plaza. "Obi-Wan and I thought he was lying, but … if the Sith Master is on Coruscant, and if he had access to the Chancellor, that would explain a lot."

That was a frightening thought, but there was no time to discuss it further, for they were touching down.

…

…

"Anakin, I'm so sorry," Obi-Wan said as they climbed out of the speeder. They'd set down on the opposite side of the plaza from where the remains were, to avoid disturbing them. He embraced his former padawan.

Mace gave them a moment, studying the remains of the Beast from across the plaza. The explosion pattern did not match any of the common bombs or explosives he had become familiar with over the course of the war.

When Obi-Wan stepped up beside him, Mace pointed to the remains. "Does that remind you of the pattern left when a young Initiate has a tantrum and throws everything away from them with the Force?"

"Now that you mention it, yes," Obi-Wan said. "Could he have been an untrained Force-sensitive, reacting instinctively to fatal danger?" They began walking across the plaza toward it.

"But the Chancellor wasn't Force-sensitive," Anakin said. "I don't see how an artifact—even a Sith artifact—could have done that. Unless there was a Sith present? Did a Sith throw him into the maw of the beast, somehow?"

"I sensed no active Force-user besides myself," Obi-Wan said. "As far as we can tell, no explosives were used. But you may be right about the presence of a Sith or Sith artifact. Come see for yourself."

By the time they were within ten feet of the Beast, all three were grimacing. "I see what you mean," Anakin said. "That's foul. How could the Dark Side saturate this place so suddenly?"

"It's like all the darkness that has shrouded the galaxy's core for decades was concentrated into this one place," Mace said. He had a very bad feeling about the Chancellor. "We need to search his office, residence, and every other significant location we can find."

"To see if we can find evidence of the Sith Lord?" Anakin asked.

"Yes," Mace said.

…

…

Obi-Wan and Senator Amidala had remained at the plaza to deal with the Senate. Vice Chancellor Amedda would be sworn in as Interim Chancellor until the Senate could vote on a new Chancellor … and given the unexpectedness of the situation, the war, and everything else, it would be a contentious election.

But politics were not Mace's concern, right now. He and Anakin and the Coruscant Guard went to the Chancellor's office to search it.

"We've all been here many times before," Mace said as they strode through the corridors of the Senate building. "But don't let that make you complacent. The Sith are masters at remaining hidden. Anakin, you and I should evaluate every object with the Force; troopers, if you have any insights, please share them immediately."

"Yes, Sir," Commander Fox said briskly.

"There may not be anything here," Mace continued. "Any artifacts may be in his residence, or hidden elsewhere. Or, of course, my suspicions may be entirely wrong. But I intend to be very thorough, to be sure that we have found everything there is to be found."

"Right," Anakin said. "We don't want the Sith to slip through our fingers."

But, as it turned out, it was obvious they were not mistaken. When the doors of the office opened, Anakin turned green and clapped a hand to his mouth. Mace winced. The troopers didn't seem to react, but then, they were not Force-sensitive and their helmets covered their faces.

"How did we miss this?" Anakin said.

"I don't think it's actually that much worse than the rest of Coruscant was, before that explosion," Mace said. The intensity of it was already passing off, and it felt … almost normal and unremarkable. Familiar. It was the immediate contrast between it and the new clarity of the Force that had made it so noticeable.

"What did it do to him, to have this around him all the time?" Anakin wondered. "It can't have been good."

"If this Force-atmosphere you're talking about used to cover the whole planet, the Jedi would have been affected, too," Fox pointed out. "And everyone else on the planet."

"True," Anakin said. "And we weren't affected by it."

"Weren't we?" Mace said dryly. He shook his head. That could be pondered later. The door was flanked with large decorative vases in the heavy, dramatic, dark style Palpatine had always favored. He turned to one, placed a hand on it, and closed his eyes, reaching out with the Force.

…

…

cold dark

…

pinpricks

pain

…

no? he was

not

he was he was. He was. He was! He was Mace Windu, Jedi Master—

Mace wrenched himself out of the thing's grasp, and found himself on the floor.

"Are you alright?"

Anakin was crouched beside him. Fox and his men had their blasters out, covering all angles; Fox and two others had them pointed directly at the vases.

It took Mace a few minutes to pull himself together enough to realize why the Force was telling him that was a bad idea.

"Lower your weapons," Mace said, forcing words out through a brain that didn't want to cooperate. "Sith artifacts are often boobytrapped. Shooting at it might make it more dangerous." He lay back and closed his eyes, wishing the lights would stop strobing.

"I'm calling for the healers," Anakin said.

Mace nodded. He could feel Anakin lay a hand on him, the pressure grounding him in his body. He started clenching and releasing his muscles so that he could feel his body and connect with it. If they'd been on a time-sensitive mission, he could have forced himself onto his feet and gone on, trusting the Force to sustain him. But the Sith was dead and the Force was humming contentedly and laying here waiting for the healers sounded … very good.

"Turn down the lights," Anakin said, "I think they're hurting him."

"Thanks," Mace said, as the light level lowered. Even with his eyes closed, it made a difference.

Anakin called the Temple for help.

"Nu," Mace said when he was done talking with the healers.

"You want me to call Madame Nu?" Anakin said. "Is it something she can research?"

"Maybe," Mace said. "I think it's a Spirit Urn."

"A Sith Spirit Urn?" Anakin said, voice rising. "Like out of the crecheling tales?"

"Think so," Mace said. "Could be wrong. But I'd like to know if there are any long-term effects I should be worrying about." He felt much better even after this short a time, but it was better to be safe than sorry and he would rather get the all-clear from the healers before doing anything else.

Anakin made a second comm call.

"What's a Sith Spirit Urn?" Fox asked, when he was done.

"A Sith device that sucks out peoples' souls," Anakin said. "Then tortures them for … as long as the Sith who owns it wants to torture them. In case torturing someone to death isn't enough, I guess. It starts out by trapping you in cold and despair so you feel like nothing and don't have the will to resist as it slowly detaches your spirit from your body and anchors it to the urn, leaving your body as a vegetative husk."

"Are you sure we shouldn't just blast it into pieces?" Fox said.

"It can't hurt anyone as long as they don't probe it with the Force or touch it with their bare skin," Mace said. He cracked his eyes open, and found the light was not distressing, so he opened them all the way. He was steadily feeling better, but he was going to have to spend weeks rebuilding his shields.

"Or as long as the Sith Master doesn't show up and start feeding people to it," Anakin said. "Aren't they supposed to be able to do that from, like, half a planet away?"

"I think he's dead," Mace said.

Anakin paused, and looked down. "You think Palpatine was the Sith Master," he said accusingly. It was a better reaction than Mace had hoped for. "But he loved archaeology and old artifacts! It could just be something someone dug up and that he thought looked nice!"

"Dug up where, Malachor?" Mace asked. "Korriban? That's not the kind of thing the Sith would have left just laying around. You'd have to excavate a Sith stronghold to find it, there would be ancient weapons and booby traps and hazards far beyond the normal archaeological issues. Even if, somehow, you managed to do it and not understand what you were dealing with … the urn itself is fatal to anyone who isn't a Sith who touches it with their bare skin. Do you think that out of everybody from the archaeologists to the antiquities dealers to the people handling the shipping to all the people in and out of this office every day, not one of them ever happened to brush up against it? Not even once?"

"But he was always so good to me," Anakin said, helplessly.

They would have to spend long sessions with Anakin, going over everything Palpatine had said and done in their private meetings, but Mace couldn't deal with that now. "The loop can't have been something he did."

"No," Anakin said.

"Thank the Force," Mace said. "We would never have caught him, never suspected him. Not really."

"I just can't believe—" Anakin said. He was quiet for a while. "That's not true. I don't want to believe. But … you're right. There's no other explanation for the Sith Spirit Urns. Or for the way the Force cleared when he died."

"We're saved, now," Mace said. "Thank the Force."

"And thank the Zillo Beast," Anakin said.

"That too," Mace said.

[jjungkooksthighs]

Perhaps I saw something questionable that could aid to your solving of this mysterious case. But I won’t do shit if you don’t do something for me. Yoongi leers.

She doesn't hear the male. Her hands wrap around her alpha's back, hugging him tighter than she ever has. A-alpha.. her voice breaks with the force of the sob that makes it's way through. I.. please.. believe me. I.. I don't know how that mark got there.. I really, really don't!

I really don't.. Desperation grips her voice in her need to hear him say something. Anything. She doesn't feel him reciprocate the hug, nor does she hear him acknowledge her words. She accepts it, silently. She.. she doesn't deserve his warmth right now. Not when she left him there, cold in the cruel void her absence must have entailed. She couldn't imagine how she would have felt if he ever did that. No.. he wouldn't do that. He isn't a bad mate. She is. And.. she has to make up for it.

Her body is wracked by furious tremors as she clutches onto him so tight that red, bloody lines are left in her wake as she tries to cling to him.

He doesn’t even grimace at the pain her nails leave down his back, her arms delving under his so she can grip his shoulders and pull her front into him.

She’s about ready to let the scream that has been nursed inside her out if he doesn’t do something; or rather, anything.

He hasn’t pulled her off him, so she should take the small victory where she can, but it still isn’t enough. She needs him. She needs what he has always given her:

Everything.

She tries to tell him so, but words just aren’t coming to her now. Her emotions are running rampant and they are stealing her tongue’s will to move.

While he doesn’t speak, his golden irises are on nothing but her as she attempts to explain herself to him. He waits until her voice has broken off into pieces and is too brittle to continue, and then he says:

There is a reason for all things, Lily. Just like- he glances down at their joined, bloodied digits- just like you had a reason for rejecting our bond. Rejecting me.

Sadness morphs the words until they sound so unfamiliar and so unlike him that even she doesn’t recognize what she’s hearing.

He’s never sounded so downcast before.

[lizseyi]

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[itsstrawberrymochi]

Hi, I love your content so I wanted to request something! Could you do headcanons with the hashira’s x gender neutral reader(- muchiro ofc) where they find out that the reader self-harms? If this makes you uncomfortable at all please delete it!

Kny pillars reacting to their s/o who self-harms

Awww thank you anonymous that means a lot to me hope you enjoy this also thx for reading my request rules when you said minus Muichiro ^^

Characters: all pillars expect Muichiro

Warnings: Mentions of self-harm and suicide

Note: if you or anyone you know is doing this activity please seek help with people you trust , it may seem that self harm is the best distraction but it’s really not, it’s only a temporary relief and you don’t deserve to always go through that pain ❤️

Giyuu

🌊- Now it took him a while to notice this

🌊- Don’t get him wrong, Giyuu loves you and all but he just assumed the injuries were from a demon after all that’s what you told him you had to no reason to lie right?

🌊- When he found out the truth he got extremely sad, he also got mad at himself for taking so long to notice

🌊- When he finds out he wouldn’t dare shout at you or make a scene out of it, instead he’ll calmly approach you and ask what’s the matter

🌊-If you don’t tell him right away he won’t pressure you to do so instead he’ll wait until you’re ready to talk

🌊- He’ll just sit next to you calmly in silence for hours and hours until you’re finally ready tell him

🌊- When you tell him the reason he would start to try and find a solution for the problem so you can feel better

🌊- He would also pull you in a soft hug and just let you cry on him while listening to you tell him what’s wrong

🌊- Giyuu would alway try his absolute best to make you feel better and he’s very serious about the cutting/harming and does everything in his power to try and make you stop

🌊- He’s extremely afraid that one day you’ll go beyond self-harming and he doesn’t want to lose you

Rengoku

🔥- A literal angel that was sent from heaven

🔥- Rengoku would immediately notice that you self-harm, he is extremely observant when it comes to you so he’d be quick to realize

🔥- Like Giyuu he wouldn’t pressure you to tell him what’s the matter but he’ll wait until you’re ready to say

🔥- Rengoku would make sure you know that it’s not you vs the problem but rather you and him vs the problem

🔥- He’ll make sure you know he’s there for you and whatever problem there is you don’t have to go through it alone

🔥-He also isn’t the type to give you words such as “ it’s ok this problem will pass” or “you’ll get over ”, but rather say “ Don’t worry my little flame we will find a solution to the problem no matter what”

🔥- If you’re feeling helpless or upset and feel like self-harming again he’ll drop everything he’s doing to talk to you and try and calm you down

🔥- Rengoku would allow you to talk to him whenever. He would never tell you to go away or say he’s too busy. He’d also let you talk to him for hours it doesn’t matter to him just as long as you feel better

🔥- There are often occasions where you would be laying on his lap and he’ll gently rub your back as you cry and rant to him

Shinobu

🦋- She’ll notice right away, she’s a medic so she can tell the difference between real injuries and self- inflicted ones

🦋- She would become heartbroken to know you were so sad you felt the only way to feel better was pain

🦋- She would make all the butterfly girls leave and go to another room so she can talk to you in private when she found out

🦋- Even though some scars are already healed she would kiss every single one of them

🦋- She does it because she wants to ‘kiss it better’

🦋- She would place bandages and medicine all over the new cuts so they can heal properly

🦋- She is very patient with you, she understands that you won’t stop your self-harm just like that so she’ll take her time talking to you and helping you get over it

🦋- She would alway check up on you and whenever she does she always has some tea or your favorite food ready to talk and listen to you

🦋- She always encourages you to tell her you’re true feelings and never makes you feel emotional or dramatic for it

🦋- If she knows she’s going on a really long mission and won’t see you for while she’ll ask Kanao or one of the butterfly girls to check up on you but if you don’t want them to know about it she would keep it private and she’ll just constantly send you letters instead

Mitsuri

💖- When she found out she talked to you as soon as she could

💖- She found out during a pillar meeting when your sleeve accidentally lifted up showing all the unnatural scars

💖- She had waited after the pillar meeting, when you two were in private to talk about it. She knew you clearly didn’t want anyone to know so she was sure no one was around

💖- When she asked you about it she couldn’t help but break down crying, Mitsuri would blame her self for your self-harming and feel like she did something wrong to you but you’ll explain to her that it wasn’t her fault but she’ll still cry because you were hurting all this time and she didn’t know.

💖- Her number one method of helping you heal is showing you lots and lots of love and care and showing you she is there for you

💖- So that basically means more sweets, more tea parties, hugs and kisses,more l love you, her complementing you all the time etc

💖- She had also bought you a bunny, so if she ever went on long missions you’ll always have “ someone” to talk to.

Sanemi

☁️- At first he would be kind of angry. Angry at himself for not noticing and angry at you for not telling him

☁️- Genya was the one who had told him , Genya being your worried younger brother in law couldn’t stand by and watch you do this to yourself

☁️- Sanemi’s first thought was to yell at you for doing it but then he thought you’d probably be afraid to talk to him about it if he did

☁️- He’ll burst in your room and yell “Y/N I KNOW YOU INTENTIONALLY HURT YOUR SELF”

☁️- You expecting him to yell about it prepared for more but when he reached you he just shoved your face into his chest and pulled you in for a soft hug

☁️- He’ll then say he was sorry you had to go through all this pain alone and sorry that he wasn’t there for you

☁️- He’ll allow you to cry on his shoulder for as long as you’d like

☁️- He wouldn’t care that you’re messing up his slayer uniform nor how long you’re crying for

☁️- While you’re crying he’ll reassure he is now and will forever be there for you and he’ll also reassure you and you can tell him anything

☁️- This wasn’t the only time he allowed you to cry on his shoulder,after the one time you cried he wouldn’t easily dismiss the matter but instead constantly bring it up to make sure you’re getting better

Obanai

🐍- He’s a very observation person especially when it comes to you so he’ll notice your self-harming rather quickly

🐍- He was very patient with you, so the first time he asked and you didn’t tell him he waited until you were ready, like Giyuu he didn’t force you to talk about it.

🐍- When you two did talk about it he never judged you or made you feel bad for doing it, he never called your self harming ‘ attention seeking’ or called you dramatic for doing it

🐍- instead he’ll empathize with you and try to understand why you’re doing it

🐍-Obanai is definitely not one to show physical affection, he rather shows he loves you through words of affirmation BUT If you ever need him to hold you or hug you he’d be more than glad to do it

🐍- He’ll alway hold on onto you and assure you he’ll try and help you solve the problem

🐍- You’ll also have Kaburamaru to be your support snake he’ll alway wraps hisself around you or rub his head on your check to try and make you feel better

🐍- Obanai always try his best to make you feel better and he will near you every second of the day he’s right next to you to because he wants to be a constant reminder that you’re not alone

Uzui

🔊- It was own of the wives that told him about it

🔊- Uzui would immediately blame himself he would think you were probably upset that he was giving one of his wives e attention than you

🔊- He’ll then immediately go to you and apologies for it but then you’ll explain to him that’s not the reason. He’ll then feel relieved but immediately worry knowing there’s something making his love sad

🔊- He is the type to not assume what would make you feel better but would ask you how he could help. He’d ask if you want to talk about it with him, if you wanna talk to someone else maybe one of the wives, if you wanna be left alone, if you want a support animal ( yes willing to get you a cat/dog/lizard etc to make you feel better 😌)

🔊- He would kindly ask for you to give him the weapons you use for self-harm, he refuses to do it by force because that’ll make matters worst, if you don’t give it to him the time he’ll constantly ask for always in a soft and calm voice

🔊- If you’re a slayer he’ll even go as far and take away your sword he’d only give it back if he’s sure someone else is going on a mission with you and they can watch you or if he’s going

🔊- He would also get all of his wives to separately talk to you and try to make you feel better

🔊- Uzui allows you to cry on his shoulder if you ever need it and he’ll gently pat your head or rub your back

Gyomei

🪨-He would cry as soon as he found out

🪨-Like Shinobu he would be extremely heartbroken and his heat would weep for you

🪨- He absolutely hates the fact that you hurt yourself and would always cry thinking about it or if he hears you did it again

🪨- If the reason you are cutting yourself is because you don’t feel like you are good enough he would remind you of all your good qualities and there are lot

🪨- He’ll also wrap his arms around you and cuddle you as you cry because he knows how much you love it

🪨- Gyomei, if you allow it likes to gently rub all your self-injury scars because he believes you deserve comfort for going through all that pain

🪨-He wound often call them battle scars he does it because he believes that you did in fact went through a battle with many problems and you won

🪨- He is very gentle and patient when it comes to your self-harming , when he speaks to you about it and gives you advice it’s always in a soft and calming voice and whenever you rant or cry about how you feel he’ll patiently wait there for hours and let you speak, he’ll only speak when he knows that you are done, he wouldn’t dare interrupt you

This was my first time writing Uzui and Gyomei hope I did good, also this was my longest ever request so I wouldn’t be surprised if it has grammar errors sorry for that 😭

[curiositymemes]

1776 SENTENCE STARTERS : PART ONE.

taken from the 1972 film adaptation of the 1969 broadway musical. feel free to change wording and pronouns and provide context as necessary. do not add to this list.    

“there you are.”

“didn’t you hear me call you?”

“what do you keep coming up here for?”

“i can just imagine.”

“oh, good god.”

“what in the hell are you waiting for?!”

“sit down, ___.”

“consider yourselves fortunate that you have ____ to abuse, for no sane man/woman/person would tolerate it!”

“will someone shut that man/woman/person up?” / “never!”

“a cataclysmic earthquake, i’d accept with some despair.”

“good god, sir/madam/per, was that fair?”

“nothing’s ever solved.” 

“___, ___, is that you carrying on, ___?”

“oh ___, ___, i have such a desire to knock heads together.” 

“i’m no further along than i was when i first came here.” 

“i know, my dearest, i know.”

“but that’s because you make everything so complicated.”

“and hurry home to me.”

“what else is new?”

“now, have you done as i asked?” / “no, ___, i have not.” / “well, why have you not?!”

“i’m afraid we have a more urgent problem.” 

“don’t smirk at me, you egotist, pay heed to what i say.”

“i am, as i ever was, yours.”

“where in hell are you?!”

“___, i see you hiding behind that tree, it won’t do you any good!”

“i have been looking everywhere for you, where in god’s name have you been?!”

“it stinks.” / “as ever, the soul of tact.”

“where were you last night when i needed you?” 

“i have more to do than stand here listening to you quote yourself.” 

“reconciliation, my ass.”

“and if ____ can’t put up with you, nobody can.” 

“you’re getting at something.” / “how can you tell?”

“oh, ____, that’s brilliant. wasn’t that brilliant, ____?” 

“i’ll leave tonight. why, hell, i’ll leave right now, if ya like!”

“what makes you so sure you can do it?”

“forward, ho!”

“that was the most revolting display i have ever witnessed.”

“you and your infernal obsession for deviousness.”

“if you’ll be wanting anything at all…” 

“there won’t be too long to wait.”

“i’m surprised you didn’t know that.”

“___ here is just a lad/lass/kid.”

“you’re too late, ___. once i get them, they’re got.” 

“oh, ___, forgive me, but how can anyone see you if you insist on standing in ___’s shadow?”

“what are you staring at? haven’t you ever seen a great man/woman/person before?” 

“do you have the honor to be dr/mr/mrs/mx ___?” 

“oh, ___, i only wish ___ felt like my big toe all over.” 

“that strutting popinjay was so damn sure of his/her/themself.”

“sweet jesus!”

“you’ve abused the privilege.”

“my god, it’s hot.”

“we are not in touch at the present time.”

“may we hear about the weather?” 

“sadly, i see no way of stopping them at the present time.”

“where’s the fire, can anybody tell?”

“___, i’m back! i’m back, ___!”  / “___, lad/lass/kid, welcome back.”

“is it done?”

“you would, you lousy wart.”

“___ abstains courteously.”

“the people are against it, and i’m for it.” 

“i’m comin’, i’m comin’! hold your damn horses.” / “we’re waiting on you, ___.” / “well, it won’t kill you.” 

“so it’s up to me, huh?”

“well, i’ll tell you.”

“in all my years, i’ve never seen, heard, nor smelled an issue that was so dangerous it couldn’t be talked about.”

“hell yes! i’m for debating anything.” 

“well, now, you’ve got your way at last, ___.”

“i confess i’m almost relieved.” 

“yes, that’s what he/she/they want. nothing less will satisfy him/her/them.” 

“how is a man/woman/person to sleep?”

“how is a man/woman/person to stay awake?”

“why can’t you acknowledge what already exists?!”

“sit down, you scurvy dog, or i’ll knock you down!”

“i only got two hands!”

“you refuse to understand us.”

“for once in your life, ___, take a chance.”

“i say the time is now. it may never come again.”

“we will more than compensate in spirit.”

“you…. you fribble!” 

“are you calling me a coward?” 

“stop it, stop it!” 

“the enemy’s out there.”

“but he/she/they should go home.”

“a man/woman/person should die in his/her/their own bed.”

“i’m here, ___.” 

“___, do something. think.” / “i’m thinking, but nothing’s coming.”

“excuse me. is this ___?”

“yes, i can see that it must be.”

“we’ve been looking for you everywhere, you see.”

“oh, how splendid. that means we’re not too late!” 

“i regret that i must be the bearer of unhappy tidings.”

“why the long face?” 

“tell me. why did they arrest the little bastard?”

“well, haven’t i made that clear?” / “no.” / “well, i suppose i haven’t.”

“what are you doing?!”

“you’ve sunk us!”

“i can see no other way.”

“oh, for heaven’s sake, let me get through it once.”

“ditto, ditto, et cetera, et cetera.” 

“what in hell goes on in ____?!” 

“they speak very fast and very loud and nobody listens to anybody else with the result that nothing ever gets done.”

“any objections?” / “i have objections. i have lots of objections!” 

“i don’t know, he/she/they had a funny look on his/her/their face.” / “he/she/they always does.”

“i’m obnoxious and disliked, you know that.”

“hell no!” 

“i don’t know a participle from a predicate.” 

“he’s/she’s/they’re obnoxious and disliked, did you know that?” / “i hadn’t heard.”

“leave me alone!” 

“magnificent.”

“life is more than sexual combustibility!” 

“who will make me, ___?” / “i.” / “you?” / “yes.” / “how?” / “by physical force, if necessary.” 

“you’re obnoxious and disliked, that cannot be denied.” 

“oh, ____, you are driving me to homicide!”

“we may see murder yet!”

[minaramen]

Gaku Yaotome - 16 Idol Album - Part 2: The uniform picking-up day from my memories

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

*Yaotome house*

Gaku: Finally, the day has come! I’m going to get my primary school uniform! I’ve been waiting for today for a lifetime!

Gaku: Eheh…!

Gaku *thinking*: Once I enter primary school, I’ll be closer to becoming a man! The backpack will be proof of that!

Gaku *thinking*: Mum told me that dad will take me once he’s back from work. I need to wait a little longer…

*Door opens*

Gaku: Ah, dad! Welcome back!

Sosuke: No running inside the house

Gaku: Sorry….you’re early, today

Sosuke: They basically spouted a bunch of nonsense just to force me to take the afternoon off

Sosuke: You’re supposed to go get the uniform and the backpack, right?

Gaku: ….! Yes! Are we going right now??

Gaku: I’m ready!!

Sosuke: Have you finished preparing your lessons?

Gaku: What?

Sosuke: I thought I told you to complete the textbook for the first semester by the time you enter school 

Sosuke: I bet you didn’t, right?

Gaku: I was planning to do today’s part when we got back from…

Sosuke: Enough of your excuses

Sosuke: You won’t get any uniform nor backpack until that textbook is finished

Sosuke: There’s no point in looking like a well dressed school boy if you have no substance 

Gaku *thinking*: I wasn’t making excuses, though…I do 10 pages everyday

Gaku *thinking*: He never looks at me when I study so hard, and he's treating me so harshly today too…that’s unfair…

Sosuke: What? If you want to say something, just say it

Gaku:....I’ll do it today….

Sosuke: Go take your textbook right now, then, and finish your work. I’m waiting

Gaku: Are you going to watch me study, dad?

Sosuke: Yes

Gaku *thinking*: Yeah!! I can finally show dad how good I am at studying!

Gaku *thinking*: I’m bad at math, but there are plenty of other things I can do! Dad will definitely praise me, he will say something like “you’re amazing, Gaku!”

Sosuke: Let’s start with math

Gaku: Eh…!

Sosuke: What?

Gaku: N-nothing…

Gaku *thinking*: Dammit…! Let’s hope there are no building block exercises…!

Sosuke: Today’s exercise is…. building blocks. You've struggled with it before

Gaku *thinking*: Must be a nightmare…!

Sosuke: Why are you making that face? You still don’t understand it? I've already explained how it works

Gaku: I-I understand it! This exercise is super easy!

Sosuke: You can solve it by yourself, then. C’mon, try

Gaku *thinking*: Okay, the blocks I can see are 1, 2, 3…uhm, 8?

Gaku *thinking*: The hidden blocks are, in the back, 1,2,3… there are 5….if I add 8…

Gaku: Answer is 13! Right?

Sosuke: Why are you looking at me? If you know the answer, write it in the appropriate column

Gaku: …I’m writing it right now…

Sosuke: You’ve only answered one question. How can you be satisfied with only getting one right?

Gaku: I-I’m not satisfied. It was a piece of cake, actually! I was just thinking about that

Gaku *thinking*: ….As expected, dad is so mean…

Gaku *thinking*: He wanted me to study and I got the correct answer, and still he didn’t praise me at all…

Gaku *thinking*: And to think that when mum told me he would finally be home, I even hoped he'd play with me… I'm so stupid

 Gaku *thinking*: I wanted him to play dodgeball with me, just like any other dad…

Sosuke: Hey, don’t make such an odd face

Gaku: Odd…?

Sosuke: Sticking out your lip like that, you’re clearly sulking. If there’s something that makes you unsatisfied, just say it

Gaku:...I’m not unsatisfied, but...

Gaku:.....

Gaku:....dad, have you ever played catchball?

Sosuke: Catchball?

Sosuke: You want to play that stupid game where you’re supposed to throw a ball at each other? I don’t see anything fun about it. It’s just a waste of time

Gaku: Everybody told me it’s fun! They said they play it everyday!

Sosuke: Just because other people say it’s fun, it doesn't mean it would be the same for you

Gaku: But…all the other kids at kindergarten say it’s fun…

Sosuke: If you buy everything people say, soon you’ll be taken away by the current. Have your own opinion on things 

Gaku: Buy…?

Sosuke: If everybody were to eat rocks and sand with a delighted expression, would rocks and sand look delicious to you?

Gaku: What, no! Absolutely not!

Sosuke: Don’t show interest in something just because everybody say it’s fun, then

Gaku: I was just thinking it sounded fun, that’s it! It can’t be helped!

 Gaku *thinking*: I just wanted to play it with you, dad…c’mon…

Gaku: I don’t want to be the only loser among the kids at school, when they have a catchball match…

Sosuke:..mpf, I see. You should practice, then

Gaku:....yeah..!!

Sosuke: Once you enter middle school, you’re supposed to have softball in your Physical Education curriculum

Sosuke: I’ll call a coach for you

Gaku: Eeh..? Coach?

Gaku *thinking*: So, I won’t practice with dad…?

Sosuke: One of my acquaintances is a former baseball player. I think he’s the right person

Sosuke: I’ll contact him today, so you can start next week

Gaku:......

Sosuke: Since it’s an acquaintance of mine, I want you to be extremely polite. Do you understand what I mean

Sosuke: I don’t know who he's connected with, so you must not break any rule of courtesy

Gaku: I’ll greet him properly! I will, but…

Gaku: I don’t need such a professional guy… I can just practice with you, dad…

Sosuke: That’s impossible. I have no time for that

Gaku:...well, maybe you talk like this because you don’t even know how to throw a ball

Sosuke:....what was that?

Gaku: I said that you probably suck at catchball

Sosuke: Don’t be stupid! You forget who you’re talking to!

Gaku: Those who don’t practice are most likely to be bad players

Gaku: They can’t reach their companions with the ball, so they do what is called “one bounce”

Gaku: And everybody says that being a “one bounce” player is lame

Sosuke: Mpf…rubbish…

Gaku: Are you a “one bounce” player, dad?

Sosuke: Why would I?!  Enough of that, focus on your studies

Gaku: ….you’re dodging the question…

Sosuke: Do you think I would do something like that?!

Gaku: Well, I’ve never seen you throw a ball

Sosuke:...it can’t be helped. I’ll show you later

Gaku: Ah….!

Sosuke: Once we’re be back from picking up your uniform we’ll play catchball, so I can give you the proof you need

Gaku: Really?! That’s amazing…!

Gaku: We’ll play catchball together, dad?! For real??

Sosuke: Only if you properly finish your exercises. If you don’t focus, we won’t be done on time

Gaku: Yes, yes! I’ll do it immediately!  I can finish exercises this easy in the blink of an eye!

Gaku: Thank you, dad…!

Gaku: Eheh…I was already looking forward to the uniform, but now there’s another thing I can’t wait for…!

Sosuke: Can you just tell me why you’re so happy?

Gaku: Mh? What?

Sosuke: …it doesn’t matter

Sosuke: I want you to be done in 15 minutes. If you’re late,we won’t go

Gaku:….! Got it!

Gaku: C’mon, then! To the next exercise!

End of part 2

TL notes: I don’t usually give my impressions on the stories I translate but this one made me feel sick, and part 3 is even worse so get ready. Sosuke is a person I just can’t empatize with. Don’t get me wrong - I find him a very well-written character, but definitely the worst father ever. The only one who’s worse than him is Tamaki’s dad, who is literally a violent alcoholic so... nothing to be proud of. I know Sosuke wanted Gaku to grow up strong and ready to face  the difficulties of life, but I think there’s no excuse for such an attitude towards a child - your own son! A kid should never beg for his parents’ love. 

I feel so bad for Gaku.

[todoscript]

SEQUEL TO  “don’t forget it”

SYNOPSIS: One week after accidentally blowing you off on your date, Bakugou Katsuki seeks your forgiveness.

pairing: bakugou katsuki x fem!reader

genre: fluff, very little angst

word count: 5.4k+

warnings: none really accept maybe a character sustaining an injury

author’s note: hellooooo this is a very very very late part 2 of my don’t forget it drabble that many people asked for! i hope this lived up to your expectations and was worth the wait!

Since the events that led you to leave Bakugou’s room in a fit of bitterness after attempting to penetrate that thick head of his, he hadn’t been able to speak to you for a week.

It goes without saying he did his best to chase you down the hallway from his room and toward the elevator the moment he realized his faults. But at the stink eye you shot him through the minimizing slit of the elevator doors sliding into place, he knew he had no right to reconcile with you after pulling a stunt like that. Nor did he think you’d want to spare him any more words to begin with. It was clear you were done arguing with him.

“C’mon man, it’s probably best to let her cool down before you try to make up with her,” was the advice Kirishima offered when Bakugou returned to his room, disgruntled as he heavily fell back into his seat next to the desk. He did the bare minimum to acknowledge his friend’s words with a grunt before resuming tutoring the redhead, his method of teaching suddenly harsher than how it began thanks to his soured mood. He lapsed the day away by pounding Kirishima with problems upon problems against that hard noggin of his, both literally and figuratively.

At the very least, Kirishima earned himself a passing grade on their exam as a result of his hard work and their rigorous tutoring sessions. But what followed Bakugou’s and your relationship was still undetermined.

Days later and you were relentless in giving him the cold shoulder.

Bakugou was met with nothing but empty glances and blatant disinterest whenever he crossed your path. It felt like the wall you slotted between him grew another layer at each encounter, your defenses so impenetrable, it could give Kirishima’s quirk a run for its money. He couldn’t so much as utter a word in your direction without you effectively dodging every possible interaction in favor of joining another conversation nearby.

At first, Bakugou shrugged it off, calling your “childish attitude” unwarranted for something he thought was incredibly trivial. In his eyes, it was just an ordinary date at some run-of-the-mill restaurant he just happened to suggest to you because he took a liking to their spicy food. Not like it was some fancy dinner reservation serving caviar on dry toast beside a pretty, city night skyline. To him, it was nothing special.

However, as the week continued to roll by, it became clear to him how much he hurt you due to his selfishness. In a hangout with the Bakusquad, he learned that you apparently told Mina, along with the rest of the girls, everything during one of your girls’ nights. Which included the events prior to your heated argument in Bakugou’s dorm. And Mina, being just as peeved as you were at how Bakugou stood you up that day, had to let the blond know of the damage he’d done.

.

.

“I swear, Bakugou Katsuki, I know you can be an asshole sometimes—”

“Make that all the time,” Sero quietly adds in the middle of Mina’s rant while he lounges backward on Kaminari’s bed. If it wasn’t for his current dilemma, Bakugou would have elbowed him in the back of the head.

“—but this is crossing the line!” she finishes. Her arms are thrown exaggeratedly over her chest. The amber surrounded by the black scleras of her eyes points a beady look at the ash-blond crisscrossed on the floor between Kirishima and Kaminari.

“Poor girl sat there for hours waiting for you, only to find out she got blown off because you couldn’t even properly check your reminders!” She paces back and forth in the room, feet excessively stepping across the floor as she’s engulfed by the emotions she feels for her friend. “What’s worse? She comes back and finds out you’ve been doing your own thing with Kirishima the whole time!”

“Hey! It’s not like we were playing around! We were actually having a very serious study grind, thank you very much,” the redhead immediately clarifies. Though his explanation doesn’t alleviate Bakugou’s case in the slightest, who pounds his palms against the surface of the table they’ve gathered around.

“Look. I fucking get it, Ashido. I screwed up, okay?! Now what the fuck do you want me to do about it?!” he exclaims, anger overpowering his voice, but it does little to deter Mina.

“Fix it, obviously!” she quips back with equal fierceness, leaning in eye level with Bakugou.

“And how do you propose I do that, Raccoon Eyes? Hah?” Repositioning his elbow to rest on the table, he leans his cheek against his hand. “Y/n won’t even let me within five fucking feet in front of her and you still expect me ‘fix this’?”

Despite the situation weighing heavily on his shoulders, no immediate answer is bestowed upon him. That is, except the obnoxiously loud crinkle of a chip bag popping open next to Bakugou that cleaves into the scene like a record scratch. As if unable to read the mood in his own room, Kaminari fishes a chip to throw in his mouth, stirring the awkward silence into tension.

“Wow, Bakugou. I know you’re bad with girls and all, but you really messed up this time,” he remarks. His voice is slightly muffled as he munches his chips, continuing to wrinkle the bag for more. It incites a vein to swell on Bakugou’s forehead. He amasses all the willpower within him not to blast the bag of chips to ash, and the boy alongside it.

“If you dunce faces are just gonna sit here and throw salt in my wound then I’m outta here.”

“No, wait!” Kirishima catches Bakugou’s wrist before he fully lifts himself off the floor. “Come on, Bakugou, I’m sure we can think of something! We just need to put our heads together! Right, guys?” he assures. Finding it hard to deny his friend’s hardened conviction, Bakugou gives Kirishima the benefit of the doubt, albeit with slumped shoulders and a tentative raise of his brow as he slowly sits back down.

“Right! Everyone, let’s get some brainstorming done!” Mina yells encouragingly.

The atmosphere of Kaminari’s room is consumed by moderately thoughtful silence for the next ensuing minutes. A few hums pass, followed by an exchange of contemplative looks as four of the five rack their heads together to uncover a solution. The one in need of help only hunches in his seat, waiting with mild disinterest.

“Oh hey, don’t we have hero training with All Might tomorrow?” Sero is the first to comment, scooting to the edge of the blond’s bed.

“Yeah. So?”

“He said we were going to work on group exercises this time around. You know, teamwork and stuff,” he explains further.

At that, Mina snaps her fingers, the work of a brilliant idea flickering in her head. “Sero, that’s it! Tomorrow, during training, we’ll just form a group together with Y/n! After all, she’ll have to talk to Bakugou if you two are on the same team!” She claps her hands in front of her, her enthusiasm rippling through her body and shown energetically with each raise of her voice. “Then, while the rest of us ‘split up’ to cover more ground, that will be your chance to make everything better with Y/n! It’s genius!”

“You missed one fucking crucial detail, Pinky,” Bakugou gruffs. “That will only work if Y/n doesn’t join another group. The moment she sees I’m on yours, she’s not even going to hesitate making a u-turn.”

“Worry not~ I’ll just text all the girls except Y/n about the plan later and ask them to help sort everyone out!” She solves the problem with relative ease—quick as a click of her phone lighting up and finger sliding open to her messages.

“Uh, another thing though.” Kirishima raises his hand to spare his concern. “All Might says we’ll be splitting into groups of five at most, but there’s already five of us here.”

There’s a brief moment of deadpanning until Mina speaks casually. “Oh, that’s right. Kaminari. Take one for the team and make sure to join another group, ‘kay?” She settles without batting a lash.

Kaminari almost chokes on a mouthful of chips. “H-Huh?! What?! Why me?!!” he sputters.

“Because you’ve been eating chips this entire time and haven’t contributed to anything.”

“Hey, I offered the room, didn’t I?!” He tries justifying but is inevitably rejected by Mina’s wagging finger.

“Ah-ah, no complaints! Besides, it’s only one day of training. If we want this dilemma between Bakugou and Y/n fixed then we all have to play our part, got it?” Mina finalizes with a firm point of her finger nearly grazing the tip of the blond’s nose as he leans back to avoid it, eyebrows scrunched in discontent at the role he’s been reduced to.

“Alllllright!” Kirishima springs from his seat with outstretched arms and tightened fists. “Operation: Get Y/n to Forgive Explosion Boy is underway!”

“Dude, that’s a terrible name!” Sero laughs but rises from the bed to join the redhead’s cheer alongside Mina, the group already in high spirits.

Despite rolling his eyes at their swell of confidence, Bakugou does not object to the state of things. As crazy as it sounds, one could almost decipher the cusp of a grin pulling the seams of his lips as a possible sign he’s actually all for this extravagant little plan. Quite a first for Bakugou, but then again, there’s not much else he can do in this situation except rely on his pack of chumps.

Meanwhile, Kaminari grumbles something beneath the salty grit between his teeth.

“Alright, can you all get out of my room now?”

.

.

The scowl etched on your face carries a strong air of disdain that dampens the mood around your teammates considerably. Well, no one should be surprised. With Bakugou standing across from you, staring into the void of your expression, it’s to be expected that you wouldn’t be happy with this outcome.

No, “unhappy” doesn’t quite do your circumstance justice. You are beyond livid.

You feel your eyebrow twitch as you try quivering your lips to form a tinge of a smile. Unfortunately, all that quickly falls apart when you suddenly recall the disaster of last week, triggered by an accidental glance at Bakugou’s mug.

Trying to simmer down, you release a mental sigh amidst the turmoil boiling inside you.

Okay, maybe you’re over-exaggerating. Maybe you’re still just a bit too bitter for your own good and letting your emotions get to you. But in a class of twenty or some students, how did you end up in a group with the one person you were actively trying to avoid?

The moment All Might gave everyone the go-ahead to form their teams for today’s training exercise, you swiftly made a beeline toward two particular star students. Midoriya and Todoroki.

It was simple really. Your experiences throughout the school year told you Bakugou planned on staying away from his rivals when it came to teamwork, regardless of whether you’re there or not. He’s a competitive ass whose goal is to beat anyone he deems a threat in his climb to be the number one hero. It’s only logical you partner with people he adamantly dislikes to evade him.

Yet it seems fate has other plans for you today. By the time you found yourself pacing over to the two students you had in mind, they’d already gone and picked their own group members, forming teams before you could even ask.

Your nose wrinkles like you’ve taken a whiff of something rancid. Or, to be more specific, something fishy. Hooking an arm around Mina’s elbow, you drag the pink-haired girl off to a corner somewhere while tilting your head back at the three other boys.

“Ex. Cuse. Us.” Your words sound as stiff as cardboard. It comes out in practically a hiss when your eyes cross Bakugou. Once you’re positive you’re out of earshot, you whip your head at Mina.

���Mina, what the hell? When you dragged me over here to form a group with you you didn’t tell me he’d be there,” you groan. Childish and petty as you may sound, you just couldn’t fathom the idea of confronting the boy so soon.

Mina holds her hands out, ready to rationalize the whole ordeal. “C’mon Y/n, this is actually an advantage for us! With us four plus you on our team, we’re sure to knock the rest of the other guys out during training today! I mean we showed pretty good teamwork together at the sports festival, didn’t we?”

Steadying your gaze, you hold a finger below your chin as you slowly buy into the explanation. The reasoning is there. It’s hard to argue against a case like that, fully aware that being on the same team as explosion boy will easily snag good results for you and your party. ‘Cause as much of an arrogant jerk as he is, you have to admit Bakugou Katsuki knows his way around hero action like the back of his grenade gauntlets.

“Besides it’s not like you could avoid him for the entire school year. I mean, you two are in the same class. It was only a matter of time before you had to—”

“I know, Mina,” you interject, not wanting the rest of her sentence about the inevitable fall to your ear. “I just… Agh, you know what I mean!” You ruffle your hands through your hair in confliction, unsure how to piece your thoughts together.

Tilting your head over Mina’s shoulder, you sneak a glimpse at Bakugou, watching him as he’s cast to the side with the others. He’s fending himself from Kirishima and Sero’s combined jokes, that usual look on his face sending glares at the two and yelling something you could almost pick up on if you honed your ears a bit more. Surprisingly, when his eyes meet yours for a split second, he stands there looking nonchalant again. Both of you immediately avert your gazes.

Mina pats your shoulder, bringing you back to the conversation at hand. “I know, I know, but after this, I’m sure you can go back to ignoring his ass. After all, it’s just one training exercise, right?” she says. As her words deliver some relief to your ill-timed situation, you give in with a sigh.

Unbeknownst to you, turning your back to Mina and striding toward the rest of your teammates again, you miss the small glint in her yellow eyes, along with the subtle gestures she aims at the three boys, waving her pointed thumbs over your head secretively.

“So I take it you’re on the team with us, Y/n?” Sero asks when the two of you return. You nod in reply and the boy flashes his pearly whites in a wide grin that Kirishima mirrors. He nudges Bakugou at his sides which you subtly catch in the far corner of your eye.

You raise a brow suspiciously at their fidgeting, wondering why having you on their team warrants such enthusiasm, but you’re thankful for their energy at least. Someone has to lift the atmosphere for this not to be a complete drag and Bakugou surely isn’t going to be the mood maker of the group.

The blond scoffs. “Yeah, well, if you dumbasses are going to form a team with me, you’ll follow under my leadership, got it?”

The three readily agree. Though you roll your eyes, you don’t challenge his position, considering no one else is that much up to the task as he is. You’ll simply have to deal with the fact that you’re forced to tread through the day under his leadership. So with no objections, the five of you walk back to the class, gathering around the entrance of today’s battlefield.

Jumping into the activity, All Might goes about explaining today’s lesson to the four sets of teams—consisting of a group exercise to heighten teamwork. The name of the game? Capture the flag.

In short, each team will be split off into different sections of the labyrinth where their assigned flag is stationed. The objective is to not only protect your flag from being stolen but also try and steal an opposing team’s flag from their base and escort it safely to your home field. Nice and simple.

Not long after All Might’s explanation, the gate to the training grounds opens and you all scatter off into your teams, navigating through the twists of the maze to locate your flags. Once your group situated themselves onto your home base, you assemble in a huddle to devise a strategy before the game starts.

“So what’s the plan?” Kirishima asks, eyes darting around his teammates until they rest on Bakugou—the team leader. The ash-blond crosses his arms, a confident sneer plastered on his face as he’s already thought of his plan of action the moment All Might announced the mission.

“Easy. I’m going straight to the front-lines to swipe one of those dumbasses’ flags. You lot are gonna stay here and guard ours until I come back.” He delivers the strategy in a matter-of-fact tone that you quickly don’t take a liking to. Your fist curls in irritation.

“What kind of a plan is that?” you question audaciously, your voice louder than you intended. “So you’re just going to do all the work while we sit around and wait for you?”

Bakugou grits his teeth, leaning further into the huddle to direct his senseless logic. “Look, it’s the fastest and most surefire way to snag our victory without sacrificing anyone,” he says. Playing over his words again, he finds it surprising he even chooses to offer his reasoning. Because if it were anyone other than you he was arguing with, he’s certain he’d leave it at that.

Knowing the current tension between you was a result of his misjudgment, it feels only right for Bakugou to make an effort in communication. He ignores the antsy expressions belonging to the others who signal from behind you to follow along with their original plan.

You don’t seem to catch the hint, nor do you buy into his ridiculous strategy. “Oh, so you’re that confident you won’t get taken out by the other team then?” you quip. As a result, Bakugou’s brows tighten at your noncompliance.

“I know how to take care of myself. You of all people should realize by now that no other nerd in this whole damn class can outmatch me.”

“And what about an ambush? How do you know they simply won’t anticipate your strategy and see you coming?” You fire another counterargument and the boy purses his lips, beginning to find this quarrel spiraling into a headache rather than a step in the direction of reconciliation.

While Sero and Kirishima stand there, shifting their heads back and forth throughout the fiery exchange, Mina speedily reacts. The gears of that cunning mind of hers click into place again.

“You know what, Y/n’s right. Why don’t you two go together then?” she proposes boldly. Her suggestion catches you by complete surprise. You veer in her direction with an incredulous look blown in your eyes.

Before you can open your mouth to protest, the two boys standing beside her immediately back her up.

“Hm, Mina has a point. The chances of you falling into a trap wouldn’t be much if you two work together,” Sero remarks.

Kirishima follows, “Yeah, you guys can watch each other’s backs while going to collect the flag! It’s safer to go in a pair than by yourselves I’d say.”

The three seem adamant about the idea, sharing equally content expressions, and with all that said, you find it hard to dig yourself out of this situation. In a way, you practically volunteered yourself after questioning Bakugou’s plan and doubting his abilities. The group only feels it’s right you come along as his support since you clearly must be worried about his well-being.

Pushing your objections down your throat, you reluctantly agree to tag along with the blond. What you find exceptionally shocking is how Bakugou doesn’t oppose these new conditions. Given his hard-headed temperament, you thought he would’ve scoffed and turned his back at being paired without notice, but no such things were happening here.

...Odd.

“Tch, whatever. Let’s get going then,” is all he gives, starting in the direction into the urban area of the training course.

You trail behind him. “Coming, Boom-Boy…” you mutter the last bit but don’t suppress the urge to let your words be known. Bakugou turns his head and gives you a look akin to an uptight six-year-old you just offended at your local playground. You shrug in response, a corner of your lip pinched upward. He doesn’t pick a fight over the nickname, but his eyebrows remain fiercely slanted, and coupled with his heavy steps and the excessive swinging of his gauntlet-clad arms, it tells you of his emotional constipation plain as day.

.

.

The journey toward the other teams’ flags is cloaked in strained silence and the physical gap between you two does not encourage any of you to speak up. At this point, both of your levels of annoyance for each other have mellowed out. Now it just feels... awkward—strange. You don’t see his expression, nor does he see yours. It feels like you’re being left in the dark, having only the back of Bakugou’s head to stare at the entirety of the way, and though you supposedly have his back, Bakugou feels precarious in this state as he trudges along at the front, not daring to turn his head to cross your eyes.

The ambiance is reminiscent of the ancient Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice. Where Bakugou walks through the depths of the underworld, seeking you out in hopes you’d join his side once again. If he turns around now and spills his thoughts to you too soon, he fears that your forgiveness would be whisked away, thoroughly beyond his reach, and replaced with your promises of retribution.

That was the eloquent version of the situation anyway. To put it bluntly, Bakugou was just impatient as hell to say something to you. The silence suffocates him to the point where the words are nearly about to be squeezed out of his throat, but he bites his lip to snuff out the urges.

The more he keeps them in, the more fidgety he becomes, hands itchy and mouth trembling with grit between his teeth. The idea of not letting his voice be heard was something Bakugou detested. Mainly because it was already such a challenge to even keep his mouth shut, given his fiery attitude and lack of patience.

Man, what the hell am I hesitating for? he asks himself, that outspoken side of him spurring him on.

Ah, screw the uncertainty, he thinks. If he doesn’t say anything now, then he won’t get to say anything ever.

Bakugou stops in his tracks, turning his head. Here goes nothing,

“Hey, Y/n, I–”

“Katsuki–”

Words collide into each other, jumbled and incoherent, which take you two by surprise as you meet each other’s furrowed gazes. It’s quiet as you both piece your way through this, eyes trained like you haven’t seen each other in months when the reality is that a week of bitterness has somehow made you act like strangers. The bewildered look crossing his features is foreign to you; you’ve never quite seen Bakugou as taken aback as he is now.

“You first,” you grant before Bakugou could mix up your words again. Even being given permission, the blond still isn’t sure what to say, his thoughts lost on him the moment his voice clashed with yours. He takes a deep breath, calming his senses and steadying his mind for what he wants to convey.

“Look, Y/n, I don’t know how to put this as nicely as I can,” he begins, tone consistent yet wary, assessing your expression, “but I know I fucked up and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left you there all by yourself. I shouldn’t… have blown you off like that and forgotten about you.” He delivers this bluntly—honestly—as open as a boy of his nature can muster with arms spread out, willingly exposing him to his faults and your reprisals.

Looking at you, he finds your eyes are cast to the floor, assuming to be reflecting on his words carefully. After some deliberation, you come across the vermillion in his eyes.

“Frankly, I haven’t entirely forgiven you just yet. But I will say that despite how I’ve been acting, I’m not as mad at you as you think,” is what you give, and Bakugou would be lying to himself if he didn’t achieve relief at your statement. He mentally releases a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding throughout the exchange. However, you aren’t done yet.

“I just want you to understand what moments like those mean to me. It’s during that time where I can share my feelings and learn more about you—understand who you are,” you say. Bakugou latches onto every word. “And it goes both ways, you know. It’s hard to want to stay in a relationship with someone who doesn’t make an effort to make time for you.” It’s obvious you aim that comment at him as Bakugou’s eyes soften slightly hearing it. His calloused, glove-clad hands wrap into his palms. Man, he really was a jerk.

“Still… I know you’re making an effort to be sincere and that you’re genuinely sorry for what happened, especially considering how the others seem to have set this whole conversation up, right?” Bakugou winces over the Bakusquad’s ploy coming to light and makes a note not to follow along next time unless those dummies can scrape up a more elaborate plan.

Despite that, he presses on, “So, what does this mean?” A smile settles on the curve of your lips, sensing his impatience as his voice hastens you along.

“Well…” you begin, speech drawn out in anticipation as you step toward him to where Bakugou follows your movements. That is until he catches a few shadowy figures shifting around atop the small building behind you. Before you can open your mouth to continue, his instincts flare to life.

“Hey, look out!” he exclaims, already acting on his warnings by lunging forward to push you out of the way. Your breaths draw back into your lungs, your body thrust abruptly into the opposite direction. Landing on your butt, you wince at both the shock and the pain, but your whines desist when you witness Bakugou taking a force to the head as a result of coming to your aid.

“Katsuki!” you yell, immediately getting off the ground to rush to his side, but he can’t find it in himself to respond. Afflicted with a substantial blow to the crown of his head, his whole being throbs and his vision spins.

Fuck, is Y/n, okay? is the first thing on his mind, ignoring the liquid trickling down his forehead. His question is answered upon turning his head to meet your anxious expression—your eyes wide and lips quivering as they move to say words he can’t exactly make out beneath the pounding sensations consuming his mind. As he feels a set of arms wrap around him, he tries discerning his surroundings to form a reply, but can only capture bits and pieces.

“—tsuki! ...old… n!”

“...god—! I’m so dead!”

A sputter of words tangling together is the last he hears before his vision fades to black.

.

.

The next time Bakugou awakes, his eyes slowly sever open to come face-to-face with a blurry white ceiling. The lights assault his vision as his senses take time to adjust, unraveling the environment to realize he’s laying on a bed—a hospital bed to be precise.

He attempts lifting himself but is met with retaliation in the form of his pulsating head which he immediately flinches at. His hand goes to rub his scalp to soothe the ache and he finds bandages wrapped tightly around him. “What the hell happened?” The last he remembers is traversing the urban area with you for the capture the flag mission before finally confronting the subject that had been plaguing your minds for a week now. After that, he caught sight of some object descending toward you and before he had even realized it, his feet had moved on their own. Next thing he knows, he’s waking up in the nurse’s office with a headache from hell.

Wait, what about you? Were you okay? Surely, he had to have pushed you out of the way in time, right?

His head moves quicker than it should’ve, revealing the other hospital bed in the room to be unoccupied, vacant. He sighs and his relief is further bolstered by the door to the nurse’s room opening to unveil you unharmed with only your heavy look of concern troubling him.

“Katsuki, oh thank god, you’re okay!” you say, quickly pacing over to his side with a glass of water in hand. You leave it at his bedside, sitting before him. Gauging your appearance up and down, Bakugou tries making out even the smallest details.

“You aren’t hurt?”

You’re appalled he would ask this despite clearly being the one patched up in a hospital bed right now, and likely sporting some serious head trauma.

“Of course I am, you’re the one that lunged forward to protect me,” you tell him. Bakugou looks down at his lap, figuring that was what happened, but hearing it from you comforted him more than he thought. However, his comfort is wretched from him by the intense pressure persisting in his skull. Seeing him in pain, you urge him to lay down and rest.

“How the hell did I end up here anyway?”

You fidget with your fingers, hesitating on answering. At that, the blond lifts a brow, suspicious.

“Mineta… accidentally dropped a rock on your head.”

“...You gotta be joking, right?”

Bakugou leers hard, finding the reason he was out of commission to be a damn pebble hitting his head a detriment to his pride. And because of Mineta of all fucking people. Still, if he hadn’t acted as quickly as he did, you would’ve been the one to meet his fate instead, and he weighed this outcome to better than the former.

Then you explain how the teachers had temporarily intervened to bring his unconscious body to the nurse’s, where the old lady went about tending to his injury. Said she did her job and all he needed was to rest and let her quirk take fuller effect within that time.

“So did we win the game?” He switches the topic to today’s mission of capture the flag that was cut short on his end.

You shake your head, but at least grant him the benefit of knowing Mineta’s team ended up placing last. At that, his eyelids shut and he crosses his arms behind his bandaged head. “Yeah, well, it wasn’t my intention to win anyway.”

You give him a look. “...Liar.”

Bakugou cracks an eye open at you. “Hah? What do you mean I’m a fucking liar?”

“I know you, Katsuki. I dated you, after all. And the Katsuki that I dated is an arrogant, competitive jerk who thinks of being the best above all else.” Bakugou scrunches his nose, wondering what you’re implying through your... overly frank descriptions. “Still… he’s sweet and caring at times… and reliable when he needs to be,” you continue, tone softening that draws Bakugou in, “And the kind of guy I want to give a second chance to.”

Absorbing your words, Bakugou blinks. “S-Seriously?” He doesn’t mean to stutter, but the offer catches him off-guard. He replays what you just said. That’s what he heard, right? A second chance?

You giggle at how uncharacteristically astonished he sounds. “Yes, seriously.”

“Does that mean you forgive me for what happened last week?”

You hum between pursed lips in playful contemplation. “Well, maybe you can redeem yourself by going on another date with me then?”

Hearing your proposal, a wide grin arcs his lips, edging into a smirk.

“That’s it? Well, I can definitely fucking do that,” he states, confidence rejuvenating his body at the new, hopeful chance before him.

“Oh, just one more thing though,” you suddenly add.

“What?”

“We are not going to that Chinese Restaurant again.”

[miekasa]

fluff alphabet: levi ackerman

↯ pairing: levi ackerman x (fem) reader

↯ genres and warnings: modern au, fluff…. obviously, no real warnings i don’t think, oh spoilers for his ova? 

↯ word count: 3k lol don’t ask me how

↯ notes: i was going to take requests for this for valentine’s day, but i figured i’d just do them all in one post lolol. i feel like i haven’t posted for levi in a while, so here we go

Activities — What do they like to do with their s/o? How do they spend their free time with them?

If you ask Levi to do something, there’s a good chance he’ll try it at least once for you. Unless it’s something he’s said he explicitly dislikes or doesn’t want to partake in, he’d gladly try it out with you.

He strikes me as the kind of person to like trying new restaurants. Not necessarily the trendy or popular or exclusive ones; but local places with good recommendations or reviews.

Down for late night drives, but you have to be the one driving. He’ll drive if you become too tired, but he prefers to sit in the passenger seat and just let you take him wherever. He doesn’t mind, and it’s a sign he trusts you.

I also think museum dates would be some thing he enjoys. Not history museums—I feel like the concept of stolen artifacts on display would piss him off more than anything lol—but art museums. That’s not to say he’s extremely into art, but I think something about a museum environment is somewhat calming to him. He doesn’t mind.

One more activity I would say suits him is watching movies or shows together. Levi’s the kind of guy that catches you watching a series and expresses how it looks stupid or boring at first, but still hovers around and backseat watches it anyway. After a while, he just gives up and starts actively watching it with you and becomes invested. He just won’t admit it.

Beauty — What do they admire about their s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?

In the least cheesy way possible, everything. Levi sees people, and his s/o in particular, as a whole person, rather than the sum of their parts. He understands that everything about you—physical, emotional, or otherwise—contributes to the person he loves. There’s something to appreciate about all of it at different times.

He’d probably admire and/or find little habits you have beautiful in some way or another. Probably things you might not even notice about yourself unless he pointed them out to you.

Personality wise, he’d admire it if his s/o were blunt and/or the kind of person to stick up for themselves or their friends. A little bit assertive; not going out of your way to make other people feel small or be rude, but simply refusing to shrink to make room for others.

Physically, again, I don’t think he has a preference for most anything, but if I had to pick, I’d say he’s a thigh/ass guy.

Comfort — How would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack, etc.?

Levi is observant, so he would be able to tell when you’re struggling perhaps before you’re ready to realize it yourself, and long before you’re about to burst.

However, he would ask you how he can help. For as observant as he is, he’s also not a mind reader, and if there’s something specific he can get you, he would want to know, even if it’s seemingly small or superficial.

He would be pretty proactive about it, too. The second he figures out how he can help, he’s on it. You need a new desk to work from home? He’ll have it built by that weekend. You’re feeling overwhelmed and behind on your tasks? He’s already doing the ones he can do without your help.

He does his best to try and help you relax if the issue is a stressor, and if he could, he would eradicate the root of the stress from your life completely. Unfortunately, in the real world, that’s not always possible, but it’s nice to know that he’s willing. 

The other obvious answer is tea, but allow me to expand it more generally to food. Going along with the theme of acts of service being his love language, Levi would try to provide the basic necessities for you in order to allow to focus on solving your problems and/or feeling better. If not worrying about dinner is one thing that can help you, Levi’s happy to cook for you.

Dreams — How do they picture their future with their s/o?

Simple, but fulfilled. Levi just wants to be happy—to have someone to care for, and to have someone who will care for him.

Truthfully, I don’t think he’d mind children later down the road, and I think he would be a good parent. It might not be something he talks about outright at first, but as time progresses, and perhaps the timing becomes right, it’d be something he would want to consider.

Equal — Are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?

It’s equal. Levi doesn’t want to have more power, nor does he want to be passive. However, there are things he doesn’t mind handing over to you, and conversely, responsibilities he doesn’t mind taking on himself.

Compromise would be a big part in the relationship—not for the sake of compromising on your dreams or ambitions, but rather, to reach a middle ground if there’s any kind of argument.

I think it’s a give and take with him. And I don’t think he would want it to be any other way. He doesn’t strike me as someone who’s on either polar end.

Fight — Would they be easy to forgive their s/o? How are they fighting?

When you do fight, it’s a lot of pointed frustration. He doesn’t raise his voice, but he can get snippy, and a little closed off—speaking in clipped sentences, using underhanded phrases, focusing on past points. What drives him crazy is the aftermath of the fight, and if you give him the silent treatment, he’s bound to crack much sooner than later.

He’s quite easy to forgive. Canonically, he doesn’t like to fight with his friends or the people he cares about, and he would rather reach a solution as quickly as possible.

We saw that with Isabel and Farlan, despite the way he was firm on his decision for them to stay behind, they were able to break his resolve pretty quickly. He cares a lot about the people in his life, and I don’t think he’d like to go long with a riff between him and you. Especially if he thinks he might regret not talking to you about it sooner.

He’s one to keep a promise, but not to hold a grudge. That is to say, he understands that forgiveness goes both ways, and to work in a healthy relationship, both parties have to forgive themselves and each other at some point.

Gratitude — How grateful are they in general? Are they aware of what their s/o is doing for them?

Yes and no. It might take a minute for Levi to understand the depth of your actions—especially the ones that appear more mundane or are not as explicitly romantic.

Once he does, he is very aware of them, and as such, if very grateful. He didn’t every really think he’d be able to create and be apart of the kind of loving relationship the two of you have. He really cherishes it.

Honesty — Do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? Or do they share everything?

He has secrets by way of omission. He doesn’t lie to keep things hidden from you, but sometimes he doesn’t tell everything about himself, especially towards the start of your relationship.

It’s not always with malicious or even self-protective intent. He just doesn’t share because he doesn’t think it’s important, or that you might care. If you pry long enough or insist that you want to know just to know and because you care, then he’s happy to share.

As previously mentioned, it might take him a while to realize just how much you care about him, and his past and interests by extension. 

Inspiration — Did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helped them overcome personal problems?

As your relationship progresses Levi comes to learn that you genuinely find him attractive not just physically, but emotionally and psychologically. That you actually want to know him and that he’s worth knowing.

So, his biggest change is in the way he approaches his thoughts about himself and his self worth. But he also begins to pick up on your habits, your interests, and tries to understand your general approach to life, too.

He would probably change you in some ways, too. Most notably in the way you organize and clean your space, probably. He’s not sorry about it.

Jealousy — Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

No, he doesn’t. To him, jealously would imply that someone has something he wants. Firstly, you’re not an object to him, and secondly, he has you. There’s nothing more to it.

He’s not childish, nor is he out of check with his emotions, so he wouldn’t lash out on you, especially if it’s not your fault. In his small momentary slips, you wouldn’t even have noticed he was jealous at all.

He wouldn’t like it if someone was repeatedly making advances on you, especially if you’ve explicitly told them off/they were making you uncomfortable. In situations like that, he would simply try to get the both of you out of there/away from the person as quickly as possible.

There’s also an element of trust to this with Levi. He wouldn’t expect you to try and make him jealous out of spite; and he would trust that you wouldn’t play on the advances of other people if you notice them.

Kiss — Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

He is a good kisser. Mainly because he’s very perceptive to what you want and how to give it you.

The first kiss was sweet. Knowing Levi, there was probably quite the build up to it, so even if it was sweet and innocent, there was a layer of tension and a crash of emotions coming forward in the moment. It was memorable, to say the least.

Love Confession — How would they confess to their s/o?

I have imagined this time and time again… and I think it really depends on the foundation of your relationship/friendship with him before.

In the most generic scenario, it would probably be a little backwards—you would have, intentionally or not, gone on some dates before he realized what his feelings really were, and then take it from there.

If you were friends for a while before hand, it can probably go the implicit dating route—that is you’re both exclusively emotionally invested in each other, and basically involved in most relationship aspects without having realized it or put a label on it. You kind of naturally morph into a relationship, and it probably takes a verbal confession or kiss or two to solidify it.

It can also go the sexual tension route, and one day one of you finally snaps and makes a move. The verbal confession would come in the aftermath, but your actions will have solidified and expressed your feelings long before that.

Marriage — Do they want to get married? How do they propose? What would the marriage be like?

Again, yes and no. Without taking into account the legal aspects, the actual concept of marriage is that juxtaposition of sweet and powerful that Levi likes; the idea of devoting yourself to someone and receiving a special kind of love for the rest of your life.

And while all of that is beautiful to him, there are the unfortunate cultural norms or marriage, especially in a modern au. The legality of it all, especially the financial defaults, would be a headache. Not to mention all the fluff and grandeur and gender expectations about it. He thinks all of that fucking sucks.

Above all, he doesn’t get why people expect him to pay for what’s basically an expensive document that tells the federal government he lives with you and loves you. He could do that without them in his business.

If you want to get married, then the proposal is sweet. Intimate, and probably a call back to something in your relationship, or a significant date/event for the both of you. He wouldn’t dare do it in public or even involve anybody else, other than maybe asking a friend or two.

Marriage with Levi is much like being in a long-term relationship with him. The way he acts in marriage isn’t exponentially different than the way he had been acting as your boyfriend. It’s all still very quiet, very sweet, very domestic.

Nicknames — What do they call their s/o?

He calls you by your name, unless you ask him to call you by something else. He might call you by an actual nickname, that is a shortened version of your name, if that’s the name you usually go by.

He’s not big on pet names and they slip out from time to time, but not in place of your actual name on an every day basis. If anything, he calls your name with a very unique tone to his voice. He rarely calls for anybody else with the same tone and/or emotion.

On Cloud Nine — What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

It’s not… not obvious to his friends, but he doesn’t look like he’s been shot by cupids arrow or anything. If you know Levi, you might pick up on the fact that he seems a bit happier, less stressed, has taken up new hobbies/habits, etc. But there’s not he’s not shitting rainbows and sunshine all of a sudden.

Love is very personal and intimate for him. He would do his best to express to you that he loves you and loves the love he receives from you, but he doesn’t feel that everyone else needs to know.

So, it’s somehow simultaneously noticeable and unnoticeable when you’re together in the presence of other people.

PDA — Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o in front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss when others are watching?

Levi isn’t big on PDA. He’s not hiding your relationship, but he doesn’t care to boast it to every person he meets, either. If somebody asks him, he’ll happily say that he’s in a relationship, but he doesn’t bring it forward himself.

He’s not hiding it or shy, but he doesn’t feel the need to be all over you in public. He doesn’t anything to prove to anybody. Besides, nobody wants to see that shit. He knows he wouldn’t.

There are some displays of affection, though. Hand holding isn’t abnormal, though likely not in a casual space with your friends or family. He’ll brush is hand along your arm when he’s walking past you, might ruffle your hair if the occasion calls for it, squeeze your thigh under the table.

Quirk — Some random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship.

He’s canonically good at math. This comes in handy when you’re at restaurants and trying to calculate a tip quickly. Somehow, he knows how to figure out 18% of your bill in 3 seconds flat.

It also comes in handy when you’re trying to organize things. Along with math comes a pretty good understanding of spatial reasoning. Somehow Levi is always able to put away your left overs using the smallest and least amount of tupperware possible. It’s kind of ridiculous, he might be a wizard.

Romance — How romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliché or rather creative?

In the traditional sense, he might not appear romantic, but he’s the kind of person to say or do or gift little things that would take a much deeper romantic understanding of his partner than some grand, generic act like buying a thousand roses.

His romance is tailored to you and your relationship, not general expectations of what it means to be “romantic.”

Support — Are they helping their s/o achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

Levi is very devoted to you, so if you ask for his help, or he can help without stepping on your toes, he will. He wants you to not only succeed, but feel fulfilled through your achievements, and he’s happy to help you get there.

He believes in you wholeheartedly. If it’s something you really want, Levi wouldn’t dare doubt that you could achieve it.

Thrill — Do they need to try out new things to spice up your relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

He doesn’t feel the need to try out new things based on expectations, but if you want to try something, or if he wants to try something, you can have a conversation about it, and eventually try it out.

There’s a sort of established routine in a domestic sense; a sharing of a mutual space and the behaviors associated with that. But there’s not, like, established date nights or “week-a-versaries.”

In that sense, he can be pretty spontaneous; bringing up new places to go or activities to try when the idea strikes him. But I suppose it’s never something… too adventurous? Not dangerous, at least lololol, he’s not going to randomly suggest you go skydiving as a bonding exercise. 

Understanding — How good do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?

Very well. Levi kind of makes you his business—in the most non-intrusive way possible. He’s perceptive and picks up on things about you with relative ease, and genuine interest.

He can predict how you might respond in a situation with pretty good accuracy, can guess what you might pick off the menu at a new restaurant, if given a choice has a good sense of which option you’ll choose. Very much a “I knew you would say that/do that, I don’t know why I even asked,” kind of person once he gets to know you. 

He can be pretty empathetic, and I think he would be in a relationship.

Value — How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?

Your relationship is pretty damn important to Levi, and he devotes a significant amount of time and attention to it. Not in the place of giving time for himself, his friends, family or interests; but he is very much devoted to you.

However, he’s not the type to give up solid opportunities (ex: financial, for his family/mom, career-wise) for the sake of a relationship, especially if he’s not in the position to do so; and he wouldn’t want you to give up exceptional opportunities that align with your goals for him either.

Everything is relative in that sense, I suppose. He cares for you, deeply, and knows that you do, too. That, contrary to popular belief, is what enables you both to be strong enough to bend and not break.

Wild Card — A random fluff head canon.

I’ll give you a few :)

If you want him to, Levi will do your hair for you, and he’s pretty fucking good at it, too; hair type or texture be damned, he’ll take his time with it, and do it well for you.

When he’s alone, Levi hums himself to sleep. Usually singing/humming his mother’s favorite songs and/or songs he remembers hearing as a child.

He always gives you the lighter bags when you take your groceries upstairs/into your house. He doesn’t tell you, but he knows you don’t like to ‘make’ him do all the work.

He always makes dinner if he gets home before you.

He’s a pretty good artist, and has even drawn you once. He’s never told you or shown you, but he keeps the picture folded up in his wallet. Or behind his phone case.

XOXO — Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

Affectionate in private, yes. He doesn’t mind it if you’re all over him, and truthfully, has his moments where he’s shamelessly all over you, too. Especially in the morning, he’s a cuddle bug.

Kisses are always good, he would never oppose them. He’s quite easy to persuade with kisses, actually. And most physical touches; he doesn’t get them often, so he kind of melts when he does. 

Cuddles, too. Again, all of this is private and in the comfort of your own home. His favorite way to cuddle is to either have you completely on top of him, or to lay his head in your lap. Because he loves the feeling of you playing with his hair.

Yearning — How will they cope when they’re missing their partner?

Levi will take part in things you like or things you’ve claimed in your shared space.

For example, he might find himself eating your favorite foods more often, sitting on the spot on the couch your sit in most often, rolling over to your side of the bed in his sleep.

He also likes to look back on pictures of the two of you. He doesn’t particularly like to be photographed, but he likes having these physical memories of your relationship, so he’ll indulge you when you want to take a picture together. And they come in real handy during times like this.

Zeal — Are they willing to go to great lengths for the relationship? If so, what kind of?

Levi will definitely put up a fight for you, so long as it’s mutual. He wouldn’t pour his effort into someone or a relationship in which he feels like he’s not receiving the same.

I’m not sure what great lengths there would be to go to in a modern au, but he definitely believes that relationships are hard work, and as such, is prepared to put in the work when things get hard. He’s not a quitter, and he knows that love is foundation and requires time and energy.

He cares about you too much to let you go without reason.

[westiec]

June 9: Ace Rights Wangxian!

A/N: I've thought about this conversation between them since I finished the novel. While I would broadly classify WWX here as "sex-favorable asexual" and LWJ here as "grey-ace/demisexual (Wei Ying specific)," each person's experience is unique and neither of these are mine. I beg your forgiveness if anything I've had them say rings false. This fic is largely a discussion is about their sex life, but nothing more physical than kissing is shown in this story.

Read on ao3

🖤🤍💜

Wei Ying likes everything Lan Wangji does. Lan Wangji knows this to be true, because Wei Ying tells him, in exactly those words, every time Lan Wangji draws his husband close and asks what he would like.

But.

Perhaps there should be no "but"—Wei Ying is vocal, even loud, in his enthusiasm for all the ways Lan Wangji touches him, all the ways he takes him apart and feasts on the sight and sounds and sensation of his body.

But when Lan Wangji asks his fantasies, hoping to fulfill Wei Ying’s desires as fully as Wei Ying has fulfilled his, they are games, stories, often moments from their own past or clichés from romantic tales or erotic literature, and if playacting is the shape of Wei Ying’s desire, then Lan Wangji will do his best, but.

The jingshi glows warm tonight, and the day has been a good one, and when Lan Wangji draws Wei Ying into his lap and asks, "What would you like from me?" and Wei Ying replies, as he always does, "I like everything Lan Zhan does," Lan Wangji pauses.

"Wei Ying," he asks, "is there nothing in particular you desire from this husband?"

"Lan Zhan?" Wei Ying is confused. Lan Wangji considers the shape of what he has been wondering and arranges the words.

"You know there are many rules about restraining desire and excessive indulgence in physical pleasure," he begins.

Wei Ying grins. "Ooh, is this a new game? Have we broken rules, Lan Zhan?"

"Hush," Lan Wangji says, softening it with a kiss. "Listen." Wei Ying settles into Lan Wangji's arms, his thoughtful face on.

"In my youth, I did not understand these rules, why the other disciples joked about them. To me, they seemed simple, easily followed.

"Then, Wei Ying."

Wei Ying’s cheeks flush, and Lan Wangji has to restrain himself from taking that beautifully reddened skin between his teeth.

"I felt urges so intense they frightened me, reactions in my body I had no context for." He feels the corner of his mouth twitch. "I thought the problem could be solved if only you would learn to observe the rules."

Wei Ying laughs. "And yet I remain a problem, eh Lan Zhan?" he says, eyes twinkling with mischief.

"Never," Lan Wangji disagrees. "It was only ever that I had not yet learned how to hold wanting you inside my skin."

"Lan Zhan, you can't say things like that," Wei Ying protests. "It makes it sound like you wanted to ravish me all the time."

"I did want to ravish you all the time," Lan Wangji replies easily. "I do still. I'd never felt anything like that before, nor for anyone else, since. When I look at you, when I think about you, sometimes when I'm doing something else entirely, the wanting is there, dozens of different ways I desire to have you. Just now, I wanted to bite your cheek." Wei Ying shudders against him, breathing coming faster as Lan Wangji speaks. "What I wonder," he asks gently, "is whether that is how it feels for you."

Wei Ying's brows draw together. "Lan Zhan, you know I love you. You must know I love what we do together, all the ways you love me."

Lan Wangji kisses the wrinkle away. "I do know. I only ask to see if there is something you want that I haven't offered, or..." this is the delicate part "...or anything you don't don't want that you accept only because I want it from you."

"That doesn't make any sense," Wei Ying argues. "Everything I like, I like it because you want it from—oh..."

He pauses, and Lan Wangji can see the ideas rearranging behind his eyes. He is so grateful for the ways Wei Ying understands him and for the second chance he has been gifted, to be able to understand Wei Ying in return.

"Oh, so... for you, the wanting is separate from the—" he waves his hands, blushing again "—the loving me of it all?"

Lan Wangji tilts his head side to side. "Not separate," he says, "but distinct. Like a hunger that remains, whether a meal is spread out before me or I'm practicing inedia, only for Wei Ying."

"Lan-er-gege!" Wei Ying squeezes him tight and buries his face in Lan Wangji's chest. "The things you say..."

Lan Wangji holds him. Sits with the ever-present simmer under his skin and waits.

"I like that you want me," Wei Ying admits, in his smallest, most honest voice. "I don't know that I feel that hunger the way you describe, but it feels good that I'm what you want, just as I am."

He wipes his face against Lan Wangji's chest, and Lan Wangji's heart clenches at the wetness that clings to his eyelashes when he looks up. "Is that okay?" Wei Ying asks. "I'm sorry if I'm not—"

Lan Wangji cuts him off with a kiss, and Wei Ying melts into it, like always.

"No sorry between us," he insists. "Just as you are, as you said. If you wanted nothing more from me than someone to buy you Emperor's Smile, that is what I would give you, and gladly."

"Well I certainly won't turn that down," Wei Ying chuckles, "but I've grown rather spoiled by the rest of it too. I think we'll keep things as they are, Lan Zhan, everyday and all."

"If it's ever too much, if I'm ever—" he needs Wei Ying to understand, needs him to know that he's not beholden to what he said once or what he says now.

"I'll tell you," Wei Ying promises. "I don't think you could be too much for me, Lan Zhan, if I'm honest, but I'll tell you."

Lan Wangji nods and lets his body show the gratitude he feels for the promise, for Wei Ying’s understanding, for everything about the man in his arms. Wei Ying meets him, warm and welcoming as ever, opening to receive all the love and desire Lan Wangji has to give. Their lips and bodies move in tandem, a dance they've both learned all the steps to, until Wei Ying suddenly stops and pulls back.

"Wait!" he says, looking stunned, "Wait, so you mean to tell me all that poetry about desire and yearning and aching for the touch of your beloved is literal? People are really walking around out there feeling a physical need to, to kiss on somebody? Isn't that distracting??"

Lan Wangji can't help but smile. "Highly."

"And some people feel like that for more than one person? Maybe even for anybody attractive they see?"

"I believe it differs in focus and intensity," Lan Wangji says, "but as I understand it, yes."

"Holy shit," says Wei Ying, looking a little gobsmacked by the very idea. "All this time, I assumed that was metaphor."

Lan Wangji loves him so, so much.

"Well. WELL!" Wei Ying says, as he pins him with a serious look. "Anytime you're feeling too distracted by all that yearning, you just come and find me, husband. It won't do to have Hanguang-jun incapacitated by his amorous desires."

Lan Wangji chuckles. "If my husband insists."

"He does! This Wei Ying will accept as many kisses and everydays as his poor, horny husband requires." His grin is wide and beautiful and so fond, and, as ever, Lan Wangji wants to kiss it right off his face.

So he does.

🖤🤍💜

#PrideMonthSnippets Masterpost here!

[cerastes]

Arknights Chapter 8 from the lens of W

W, after spending a few days covertly planting bombs all over Talulah’s control room in Chernobog: “Ok~ay! I’m ready to kill the ever-loving hell out of the boss! It’s gonna be so cool and efficient! Not a thing in this world that sufficient boom-booms can’t solve!”

Talulah, the next day, during their scuffle: *accurately determines the location of the bombs and fries their detonating mechanism with her flames* “Well.”

W: “Well!”

*45 minutes of Talulah punching W’s face in later*

Talulah: “Alright, this has been extremely annoying, so I’ll grant you the honor of dying to my blade.”

W: “May I suggest a counterpoint?” *explodes herself out of the room and off the tower*

Talulah:

Talulah: “Hm.”

W, using her Cockroach Constitution to survive that: “Well, everything hurts, but at least I am not dead. On the flipside, things couldn’t possibly get worse, only way this could get any crapier is, hypothetically, someone I can’t stand and who I would want to embed my fist into the face of opening that door right now and making small talk with me.”

Kal’tsit, opening the door: “Huh. What are you doing here.”

W: “Oh for the love of--”

Doctor: “I heard a voice that hates me in here, who-- Oh, hey, W.”

W: “Okay, Kelshi, timeout, what the HELL, why are you buddy buddy with Bastard Supreme now?”

Kal’tsit, mentally drinking a cigarette to cope with the situation: “It’s a long story.”

W: “Well better put on your troubadour panties and start telling it.”

Kal’tsit: “Amnesiac.”

W, whose eyes have achieved 70 revolutions per second: “You don’t actually believe that, do you? Hey, Doc, what do you think of human life?”

Doctor: “Well, it’s valuable...? Is this a trick question? Especially as Rhodes Island’s tactician, I have a duty and a responsibility to treasure it and keep all of our Operators alive, and that’s not getting into my duties as a proper doctor.”

W:

W: “Kelshi?! What the fuck!?”

Kal’tsit, drinking crack cocaine in her mind: “Yeah.”

W: “Anyways, I’m not here to stop you or anything, that won’t be necessary at all since the gig is up on my end.”

Kal’tsit: “The... Gig?”

W, who just now remembered that Scout, the one and only person who knew about W’s double agent activities in benefit of Babel, now Rhodes Island, is dead, and thus, no one alive in the Rhodes Island end of the board has any means to know about it nor any reason to believe W: “Oh. Right. Well! I guess I’ll just nail you in the face, after all.”

Kal’tsit, growing a turbo murder beast from her spine: “Consider the following.”

Turbo Murder Beast: *chucks W like a gmod ragdoll out of the window, towards the tower*

W: “Fair enough. But hey, at least this puts me close to the tower again, and now I know Amiya and perhaps the Lungmen Pig are going to throw down with Big T, maybe I can snipe her with a bomb while they do that.”

Rosmontis: “Halt there. I know you.”

W: “Shut the fuck up, Rosmontis, I’m trying to advance the plot.”

Rosmontis: “:(”

Shieldguard: “That was kinda mean...”

W: “Ok, I’m finally up here, let’s see if I can bomb Talulah while the bunny and the pig distract her!”

Ch’en, with Talulah in a Full Nelson: “GIVE HER SOME PEPPER, AMIYA!”

Amiya, punching Talulah in the gut with non-stop haymakers: “This one’s for Scout! And this one’s for Ace! And this one’s for Theresa! And this one’s for Doctor! And this one’s for... Am I forgetting someone? Well, whatever, this one’s for Scout again!”

Kal’tsit: *sneezes*

W: 

W: “Well, guess not. Oh, right, we’re supposed to stop this massive warcrimes roomba from colliding with the other massive warcrimes roomba, so I’ll just go and pull the handbrake now, pass the key.”

Amiya: “Literally why the hell would I trust you.”

W, ripping her sweater open to reveal an “I <3 Theresa” t-shirt underneath it: 

Amiya: “Fair enough, here you go.”

W: “Hey. This doesn’t work.”

Talulah, but actually Talulah now: “Try this one, and say Woogie! Woogie! Woogie! to the console.”

W, pulling back the handcrank while giving Chernobog a Rocket Power handshake: “Well, that’s done with.”

Amiya: “W, I don’t like you >:(”

W: “Good! I knew you had a good head on your shoulders. I wouldn’t wish me on my worst enemy. Well, bye, now.” *jumps off again while Ch’en puts Talulah but actually Talulah now in an atomic wedgie* *lands in a duffle bag* “Oh no.”

[sanzu-sanzu-sanzu]

songs about toxic people 10

Sanzu Haruchiyo X Reader

Summary: In which you are Bonten’s No. 2 and Sanzu is No. 3. Almost ten years of being stuck working together means you’re both bound to pick up on each other’s idiosyncrasies, yeah?

MASTERLIST

chapter 10: Fatal attraction

Sanzu can feel it and it’s making his fingers itch, the same itch that’s almost making him want to reach for his gun though he won’t because like you’ve said, not everything can be solved by brute violence: something is definitely up in the air and no it’s not the floral disinfectant spray that seeped out of Rindou’s office. Whatever it is, it’s not something that he—nor you—knows about, like some open secret that nobody in the room has let the two of you in on.

Nor the corrupt union leader present, seems like it; said union leader—a man he’s never seen before—occupying the chair next to you at the far end of the conference table who now seems to have budged just a teensy tiny bit closer into your personal space ever since you’ve both taken your seats. Sanzu notices that your hair is up in a loose bun secured by an intricate oriental pin that he deduces Koko must’ve gotten you from his recent trip to Macao—spoils of war, Koko amusedly calls them—the only piece of shiny jewelry you’d wear not in a party but instead in an everyday setting because it’s from someone close, and it’s perhaps just him but there’s something in the way that the man has discreetly been raking over your appearance or following your mouth and the slow gestures you do with your wrists with his gaze in the past hour that’s making Sanzu want to pluck his eyeballs out. The man’s, his own, probably both.

A stray portion of your hair comes untucked and Sanzu’s eyes follow as it falls down your cheek with the tips stopping just short of kissing the crevice of your collarbones, and Sanzu insists he never gets distracted but it does keep his murderous daydreaming at bay for a moment. Still, it’s a second too long a diversion that he misses the stress ball thrown his way; said stress ball bouncing squarely off his cheek, effectively bringing him back to Earth and making him turn his head so fast at the culprit. If it were anyone else he’d have really drawn his gun out of his holster by now to threaten the person within an inch of their sanity, but it is only Rindou with that bored, unamused look on his face. If Sanzu were anybody else he’d have missed the minute upward twitch of the man’s mouth, though the impatience on Rindou’s eyebrows weighed too heavily for any form of cheer to exist.

It’s been such a slow morning.

“I said, so what are you doing today then?”

Sanzu clicks his tongue, his face contorted to a cold, irritated frown. On any other occasion, he’d have pitched the squishy smiley ball right at Rindou’s face with his entire arm’s strength, except you’re having an important meeting at the moment with this union racketeer—and he’s been in the room long enough to gauge that it is indeed business and that the man is not here merely to stare heavily at your face and your figure, and not for the first time today he wonders whether the man is actually picking anything up—and he’s not too keen on the prospect of being scolded by you for his bad behavior. So instead, he throws the ball back decently with a flick of his wrist straight into Rindou’s open palms.

He opens his mouth to say something like it’s obvious, but then his head suddenly comes up blank.

“I don’t know,” goes Sanzu’s honest response, his forehead creasing in a frown. He hasn’t had a proper day-off in so long and usually whenever he has it’s on-schedule, but now that he’s finished with his assignment two days earlier he’s suddenly left with virtually nothing to do. Not that day-offs are unheard of and it’s not like they can’t just stop whatever they’re doing whenever they like—hell, what’s the point of being law-breakers if they end up being slaves to work, of all things, anyway?—unless of course if it’s a matter of life and death, but in no way is he nor anybody else that is his business in danger of getting their head blown off in any foreseeable future, and neither can he come up with an actual, fun and eventful downtime activity at the moment other than sit around in one of Bonten’s headquarters doing…nothing.

It’s not like he can go clubbing at 10 in the morning, nor is he up to spending the day in some cafe to just literally chill; it’s also too late by now to relieve Kakucho from his duty alongside Mikey up in Hokkaido—a task which normally would’ve been his but which they jumbled around temporarily to accommodate Sanzu’s aforementioned already-finished tasks—because, well, they’re already in Hokkaido. He can just relax, he knows, and of course he knows how, though if it really comes down to it, he might actually have to resort to asking Takeomi—

Another bonk on his forehead rudely cuts off his internal litany, and this time he looks up to see a smirking Rindou, albeit with his eyebrows knit in comical wonder. The ball has (impressively) bounced back into his hands and he refrains from throwing it right back for one second to look straight at Sanzu, eyes genuinely confused.

“I don’t get why you’re so overthinking this just say you’re taking the day off. So, what’ll you be doing?” as if he hasn’t just brought them back to square one.

Sanzu has had enough of this demanding tone, he’s decided, catching the yellow smiley ball thrown back at him with no effort. “I just told you, I don’t know!” he whispers harshly, flinging the tiny ball across like a weapon like it’s capable of inflicting actual damage beyond a soft plop! against Rindou’s hands.

“Well, fuck you.”

“No, fuck you—“

“God,” Koko huffs out in annoyance, abruptly interrupting the two bickering men because unlike them, he has things he actually has to concentrate on at hand. “Shush, will you,” he implores, eyes scrunched shut impatiently, his fingers hovering above his laptop keys.

“Yeah, shhh,” and Ran lazily supplies from Sanzu’s side, as if he himself is also working on something just as important—though judging by the open laptop on the table and the mountain of documents in front of him the man probably should be—and not just clicking his pen like a metronome. His head is thrown back on the plush seat, his usually well-slicked back bangs teasing his brows, both of his feet up on the table like he’s in his own living room. “God. Will you.” he adds quietly, like he’s meant to parrot all of Koko’s words but forgot in which order.

Sanzu, Rindou, and Koko all turn their heads to throw him their combined questioning look. On break, he silently muses, as if he hasn’t already been on a break the moment he sat down to ‘work’ over an hour ago.

None of this current scenario right in front of you is anything new, in fact you would’ve probably even spared the familiar tableau a chuckle or two if you weren’t so busy with the client at hand. Lazy days in Bonten are rare and far in between, much rarer still when any of you happen to share these off days at the same time, and then suddenly, everyone is exchanging and demonstrating various ways on how to not kill each other out of boredom. It’s been such a slow day that Rindou ended up finally taking on that deep cleaning he’s promised he’d do for his office ten years ago (an exaggeration), hence the subtle sterile smell that wafted from his room; and Ran has decided to start working on his backlogs after months and months of neglect. How long ‘till he actually does begin working on those for real is up to anyone’s guess, but still the point stands: if their picking up such taxing tasks they’ve stubbornly put up not doing for so long isn’t enough of a testament to how uneventful the day has been, then probably nothing else is.

The place you’re all in currently is one of then Kantou Manji’s hideouts back in the earlier days, Manjiro’s 30th floor penthouse in one unassuming building at the edge of the city. He’d jokingly called it the Shrine back in the day—and you didn’t miss the subtle nod to nostalgia with it—because in many ways it was and still is one of the safest places for you and the rest of Bonten’s executives. It’s surrounded by Bonten guards from all sides at all times of the day, in a neighborhood—a city—that knew better than to mess with indomitable power. Of course, Manjiro had moved out and into another one around the same time the current Bonten was just emerging, and there’s been several hideouts in many different places since, but the name had stuck through the years and to this day, it’s the one place that everyone somehow ends up in after the usual missions or when things simply need to take a backseat; a sort of reset stop for when days go either too fast or too slow.

It’s in the sitting-room-turned-conference room, of course, where you all somehow naturally congregate in even when there are no meetings because it’s the most spacious, most accessible space devoid of clutter. It’s where people lounge around when they get tired of their individual offices; it’s where anyone can just pop in and out of the blue (Sanzu and Rindou) to disturb the peace of the ones hard at work (Koko and—questionably—Ran).

Rindou rolls his eyes at the boring company and simply swivels his chair around, deciding to just bounce the ball against the wall like it’s any more fun. Sanzu’s about to roll his own chair towards Rindou and demand to get the ball thrown back at him again instead, but then he hears the man’s sudden guffaw from your end of the table, making him pause.

“So you’re telling me,” the man begins saying, and as if only now remembering his place, quickly adds—“with all due respect,”—clearing his throat—“that for eight years you have had a tight hold on this entire labor union that’s slipped through the fingers of so many others prior, and you’ll keep your hold for eight more?”

“The entire city, Ishida-san,” you reply in a calm, neutral voice, like you’ve been made to recite this time and time again you’ve memorized your lines, except nobody has in fact ever dared questioned Bonten’s capabilities before as far as your memory serves; you simply know what you’re talking about. “The whole union and its band of workers; the entire police force that keeps that power in check; and the mayor and his council who’s but a puppet operating to keep that balance and peace.” You finish off with a small smile.

The man carefully nods, eyes still glued to your face but this time it’s as if he’s seeing you in a whole new light. Sanzu notices Ran slightly tilting his head to the side, his eyes narrowing ever so faintly, like he can’t decide whether the man had no idea coming in who he was about to talk to, or has only just now started paying attention. All four observers seem to mutually agree that they do not like this man.

“Yes, yes, all good,” Ishida-san is still nodding. “However, what happens if a new mayor wins in the upcoming election? I hear the opposition is not so far behind in the polls so as to not give them a run for their money?”

“We’ve got a man on ground who’d certainly have the necessary contingency measures for it, of course,” goes your patient response. “And if bad comes to worse, we have many others who can always come up with something on the fly,” which, to be fair, is not an exaggeration, even if that something means eradicating the hypothetical unmanageable power and replacing the entire city police force if it has to come down to it. “Our people are flexible enough to adjust to whatever circumstance.”

And it’s from the way the sides of the man’s lips curl up in a suggestive leer that you decide that whatever’s going to come out of his mouth from here on is bound to test your patience. “Right, riiight,” he’s saying in a low voice, his gaze now back to your lips. “I like them flexible, of course. We all love a comfortable position, do we?” The whole thing reeks of tension and understated vulgarity in spite of your deceptively calm demeanor that even Kokonoi has paused his typing as if waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop. Suddenly, the day is no longer looking so stagnant, Sanzu thinks; he tilts his head sideways with a peculiar smile on his face, in his head already imploring you to throw the man your best punch, like an onlooker egging on a brawl in the middle of a grade school cafeteria.

Except, of course, a mere suggestive remark won’t be enough to get anyone under your skin to the point of physical violence, he knows this; instead, you pat the table once as you promptly rise to your feet. “Well, shall we get to the contract renewal, then, as well as the itinerary for the next few days, Ishida-san?” you say.

Ishida clears his throat, still smiling. “Of course, miss, of course…”

The man’s eyes stay glued to your retreating figure, from your head and down to your hips, and Sanzu wonders if maybe he’s the one who’s going to end up having to bring forth violence today after all, one way or another. It’s only once you’ve fully exited the room does Ishida instantly turn around to the other four executives across the table, again with that dirty smile on his face that none of them wants to have anything to do with. All four heads simultaneously turn to different directions as if caught eavesdropping, which Ishida doesn’t seem to notice nor care any less about, however; in fact, he looks like he wanted an audience.

“Listen,” the man begins, his voice low and heavy, “I don’t understand how any of you men are able to work properly with her around here.” He says the last bit while slowly shaking his head, one thumb pointing over his shoulder. “I mean…” More head-shaking.

Rindou slowly rotates his head back to look at the man squarely; Ran’s pen-clicking stops; Kokonoi doesn’t pause his working—like he’s hearing nothing new—but only exhales impatiently through his nose, the only sign that he’s heard. Sanzu’s eyes do no more than flicker to the man’s neck, like somehow all the answers to fighting off the day’s boredom lies in there, ready for him to purge out. Not quite the kind of event he was looking forward to seeing today after all, but well, what else does he have to look forward to today, anyway?

“You know, back in the day, the only nice view you’d ever get are the secretaries or the—the new wife of so and so,” Ishida’s eyes glaze in the way older men’s eyes get whenever they’re talking to the boys about the good ol’ days, “and even then you can’t really talk to any of those girls, but now you got a—one of those, you know, a pretty girl running the show and oh, boy if I worked any closer I would not be able to keep my hands off such a…” he pauses, narrows his eyes, as if carefully considering his next choice of words, “…a nice piece of ass.”

A pointless consideration, obviously.

Realistically speaking, the man would have already gotten a finger or two of his sliced off by now for saying such things about a Bonten executive—and in front of her fellow executives, no less. Whoever this man is, he was either clearly not briefed properly regarding his present company—if so, then R.I.P. to him—or he’s intentionally riling them up, which is obviously worse, if the former isn’t already bad enough. But perhaps the reason why the four of them have allowed for his continued existence for so long is that (a) they are simply all so starved for diversion on this very day that maybe, just maybe, this might just yield to something even remotely entertaining, because (b) they always have enjoyed it whenever you yourself shut a man up with your fist—Hell hath no mightier fury, indeed—though much to your obvious dismay.

Still though, none of them is actually thrilled at the prospect of hearing this man spew dirty about you.

“You better not let her hear any of that shit if you plan on getting out of this building with your limbs intact,” Kokonoi’s silky voice cuts through the brief silence like a knife. He doesn’t look up from his screen while he says this, except for when he suddenly casts a quick, knowing glance at Sanzu like he’s silently communicating something with his eyes. This momentarily throws Sanzu off, though it lasts for only a second and he only raises an eyebrow in reflex response.

The man chuckles good-humoredly like he’s out here sharing a drink with his old pals. “You boys are admirable, protecting your kind. I’m just saying, a woman in the workplace is bound to be distracting, am I right?” Still with that insufferable smile on his face. “I don’t know how any of you do it.”

“She’d sock you in the face if she comes in here hearing that, we’re just sayin’,” Rindou butts in in a bored tone as he continues dribbling the ball on the wall. But the man is unmoved.

“Oh? You know, young women, especially ones in their—“ he pauses to make lewd, squishy motions with his hands, “—prime? They like it when you pay attention. You know, say something nice about their hair, their makeup, their hips? Easy. They don’t get mad at this shit, no, they like being noticed.”

Rindou catches the ball with both hands and pauses to look at him dead in the eye. “She’s done it a million times and to more important people.” And again with that weird, passing glance towards Sanzu, a pointed look as if to say, Can you believe this guy?

Sanzu is too distracted to catch whatever the man ends up saying next—although it’s also probably for the better—but not so much as to miss Ran’s sudden intrusive presence right by his side. He almost jumps in surprise to see his face now too close for comfort just as Ran leans in closer to whisper into Sanzu’s ear: “I’d drive a bullet to his head if I were you.” Sanzu, who has turned his head to meet Ran’s eyes directly, only looks at him a little more than dumbfounded.

“Then why don’t you?” he asks in a voice just as low and not without a hint of irritation. Ran only blinks back in confusion, his eyebrows slowly meeting, like it’s the most absurd thing he’s heard all day.

“Why don’t you?” he whispers back, almost sounding incredulous.

Before Sanzu can comprehend just what the hell Ran is getting at, you enter through the door without looking up from the document you’re reading, the light clicking of your heels filling the room. Sanzu vaguely figures in the midst of his getting up that he can beat you to your seat considering your speed and now his speed plus in spite of the door-to-table distance measuring half as that of his-chair-to-your-chair…though he has no time to complete all that mental Math of course because before his mind can even catch up, his legs are already carrying him across the room, his long strides covering much more than your short ones can. It’s maybe a testament to your singular focus on the matter in your hands that you’re unable to notice the sudden flurry of movements right in front of you, and you would’ve bumped into his chest if you haven’t looked up courtesy of the papers you’re holding being rudely lifted out of your hands in a flash. “Wha—“ you barely get your words out as you look up at Sanzu’s face now right above you, him standing between you and the union leader, unmoving, his eyes doing a quick scan of the document like he’s been given last minute instructions before he’s about to head out.

“Yada, yada, blah blah blah…contract renewal today, appraisal of contractors, I’ve done this before, I’ve done this, too, pressure the non-union firms—you seriously have to talk to all these people?—official review of recent court rulings re: labor law—okay, that one, when’s it due?”

“I...well, in three days—Sanzu, what the hell are you doing?“

“In two days, done,” he says with an air of finality, flipping the folder close and tucking it under his arm. “I’ll take it from here.”

You sigh, in confusion and exasperation. “No, it’s not us who’s supposed to do that one, Sanzu, there’s a lawyer for it.”

He merely rolls his eyes, like he didn’t just miss an important line from his quick reading. “Well then, I’ll make them do it in two days, no problem.”

“What are you doing?” You repeat, finally finding your ground. Sanzu opens his mouth to answer, but then instead folds his arms and leans in closer as if he’s about to tell you a secret. “I’m very bored,” is all he says.

In the face of his absurd, almost childish behavior, you only look at him for one second longer before your shoulders finally deflate. In spite of it all, you smile, slightly shaking your head. “Okay, then how was—“ you stop, suddenly remembering the non-executive presence in the room, “—you know? And how come you’re back so early?”

“Well, thanks to my expertise but also some things outside of my control, I managed to get it done sooner,” Sanzu answers, his grin still too smug for his own good. “We can talk about it later, nothing too eventful.” This does make you pause, however, because you’re not sure when later is since your day is packed even without the racketeering operation already on top of it. Your brows furrow in brief contemplation.

“Sure later. I’ll make sure to book that one in, will you still be here around…” you tap your lower lip with your fingers subconsciously, thinking quickly, “I don’t know, at night? Around 7? I have something else ‘till 6.”

He thinks about this for a short second before he shrugs. “Dinner then. We can discuss over dinner.”

You nod slowly in response, as if silently pencilling this into memory. “Alright…okay, we’ll get dinner.” The two of you just stand looking at each other for one, long moment more before finally, you put both palms up, admitting defeat.

“Okay, fine, fine. He’s all yours.”

Sanzu turns to the dumbfounded Ishida, his face now shifting to something akin to grim amusement. “Now up with you. Follow me.”

“But you—“ the man starts protesting, while Sanzu tilts his head in mock pity, his smile promising zero friendship.

“We don’t want you having trouble concentrating now, do we, old man?”

“But I wasn’t complaining—“ which Sanzu cuts off as he suddenly approaches the man and stopping just inches from his face, completely towering over him—his voice now lowering dangerously.

“Well, then do something before I start to.”

You narrow your eyes at his sudden change in demeanor and before whatever this is escalates into something bad, you inch yourself between both parties.

“Sanzu is perfectly capable of handling this on his own, so I’m…” you assure Ishida, trying to think of a better way to say it nicely without it coming off as awkward, “…officially passing this on to him. I promise—and I’ll make him promise—that he’ll take good care of you, Ishida-san,” you say, accompanied by a pointed look at Sanzu that asks for nothing but his best behavior. He smiles back like a good boy.

By now, he only patiently waits and looks on as you briefly give some parting words to Ishida (who is now looking worse for wear). He sees the untucked hair still unassumingly splayed against your cheek, and again there’s that sudden itch in his hand he’s been feeling all morning, except this time urging him not to draw his gun out but to tuck your hair back behind your ear. You finally turn to him, your forehead creasing softly; there’s the slightest tilt to your head, confused. “Is something wrong?”

It takes Sanzu another moment but he blinks, briefly looking away once he realizes he’s been staring; he sticks both hands inside his pockets before he does anything funny with them, clearing his throat. “It’s a nice hairpin, you have,” he lets out, his voice coming out unnaturally and just a tad bit sternly, which confuses you all the same but before you can figure out the expressions playing on his face he’s walked off, his movement pushing the softest wind on your face, leaving only that subtle whiff of his perfume in his wake—an invisible proof that he was there just inches from you not a mere minute ago—before that, too, fully vanishes.

It takes a few seconds for you to process the quick succession of events, until slowly, you turn your head to your other companions in the room, only to be met by suppressed smirks and obvious efforts at not meeting your eyes.

“Alright, you three,” you sigh, folding your arms. “Speak up. Is this some weird bet you have going on?”

“No,” all three of them say in unison. You narrow your eyes at them in scrutiny but it’s on Koko, arguably the least of a troublemaker compared to the other two, on whom you let your gaze linger the longest. He finally pauses from his work long enough to meet your eyes semi-seriously, sighing.

“No, there’s nothing,” he reassures you with a tight-lipped smile. Beside him Ran offers you his own, innocent yet strangely amused, his head still thrown back into the seat.

“It is a nice hairpin, and it’s pretty on your hair,” he says, still looking very much far from eager to actually begin his work.

“Thanks, it’s from Koko.” You smile one final time before finally taking your leave, choosing to save time and energy by giving them the benefit of your doubt.

*

Once you yourself have completely gone out of the room, Rindou is the first one to speak up. “Well, that was totally unnecessary of him,” he yawns. “That man would’ve gotten his own eyeballs gouged out by her if he did so much as breathe down her arm.”

Ran has continued clicking his pen and doesn’t look up. “Oh, let him have his peace of mind. Besides, look at him scoring that dinner.”

“Down horrendous,” Koko quietly interjects, making both brothers turn to see him having paused from his work, his jaw resting against the palm of his hand, partially obscuring his grin. Both Rindou and Ran only smirk back in response, mentally shaking their heads.

chapter 11 > 

[zuluc]

anonymous requested: Ahhhh I’ve never asked for something like this and if it’s an odd request please feel free to ignore it but can you write Zhongli, Kaeya, diluc, and Childe (separately?) taking care of their s/o who is very sick and in a lot of pain because of their period? (I really don’t feel good and the cramps are making me cry and shake and I could use the comfort right now😭)

pairings: childe, diluc, kaeya, zhongli x gn!reader

style & genre: bulleted; fluff

notes: anon 😪😪 maybe tmi but my cramps woke me up this morning while i was enjoying a nice sleep so i’m pretty sad and grumpy today and writing this made me feel a little better

Childe

The first thing he does is make sure that you’re eating well. Usually the constant feeling of something akin to punches collecting in your gut makes you more irritable and in need of food in your system. While you may deny him saying that you don’t have the appetite for it, he’ll sit you down, maybe in his lap with you slumping against him as he tries to feed you. Once you taste it, you can’t deny that his cooking is amazing

He still has his job to do but will always leave you with enough food in the house to eat even if you might just sleep the day off, especially if it is even worse that month. When he comes back home and you’re moping on the sofa in pain he wastes no time in picking you up and plopping you onto the bed for cuddles, after he cleans up of course

He will never deny you them for as long as he shall live and extra clinginess from you is a nice bonus for him

Will try to take your mind off the pain by talking to you about his day and what he had been doing all the while massaging your scalp if you were to get a migraine. He talks quieter during these times and he is very careful about what exactly he talks about

Speaking of, at one point your hormones were out of control and you just started bawling when he told you about “accidentally” beat up one of the fatui agents and was about to laugh until he saw actual tears running down your face

“They feel pain, Childe!”

“Y/n, you fight them almost every other day and now you’re concerned about their pain?”

Overall, if you had to be stuck with someone it would be him because of cuddles, attention, and an endless supply of food (that he himself cooks ofc)

Diluc

At first he was confused why you would always cling to him at certain times of the month until you explained the circumstances. He was a bit flustered at hearing what about what happens to your body as well as feeling concerned when you described the pain that may or may not come with it

The reason for your added clinginess is because this man is essentially a walking heating pad. Being next to him and sleeping next to him just feel amazing for your fatigued self. He sometimes doesn’t need to be touching you because the warmth from his body radiates off of him, amplified by his use of his pyro

One morning, you can’t pull yourself out of bed because the familiar pain has settled yet again for the month. You hadn’t felt this bad in a while and the fact that it hurt quite a bit made a reasonable stand for you to stay in bed. You do feel something near you and with relief you see that it’s Diluc who had actually come home early the night before. He already has a hand outstretched towards you which you assume you had been previously wrapped in if it weren’t for your constant movement to find a comfortable position

This is how he wakes up to his hand pressed against your lower stomach and he doesn’t question it when he sees your content features, so he decides to use his pyro to warm his hands to just the right temperature

Diluc most likely has all the pain killers ready and right after you let him go, he makes his way to your kitchen to make you breakfast while you stay in bed, all of course with a good morning kiss before he goes

He gets tense if you start to cry for a reason unknown to him, and in reality you as well, but will not hesitate to pull you into his arms. Though you cry even more at how warm he feels because it’s just that nice. Basically, he holds you the entire day.

“Let’s go lay in bed.”

“Let me just stay here for a little longer...”

You ended up falling asleep on him but he didn’t mind it at all

Kaeya

He has your cycle memorized or at least he’s aware of when you’re going to be on it because of your slight changes in mood and appetite beforehand. Like the person he is, he does tease you a bit if you want cuddles from him but the genuine look on your face isn’t something he can necessarily say no to, so he “reluctantly” lets you have your way but you can feel how tight his embrace is

He does go out of his way to bring you whatever you need if you can’t leave the house and never leaves you alone in the house without. Craving sweets? He’s on it. Needing a pyro heating pack? Already stocked inside one of your drawers. Need him? He’s trying his best to finish his work as soon as possible to return to you

When you’re not feeling the absolute best during that time of the month, he will ask for a day off to spend it with you. He knows that he doesn’t have firsthand experience of your pain but understands that cramps are not fun to have and can be quite painful some days more than others. In these cases, he gives massages down your lower back, very skillfully might I add with the dexterity of his movements. The massages are heavenly like your back never feels the same afterwards (massaging your lower back helps quite a bit with cramps!)

Kisses! You already get a lot on the daily but he thinks they help take your mind off the pain. He passes by you a lot when moving around the house and never forgets to place a small one on your temple, cheek, or lips. Pull him down for more and he’s indulging you in full blown cuddles

“You’re clingier than usual, darling”

“I can and will push you off, Sir Kaeya”

“Oh? Is that how it is?”

He knows you won’t but it’s so much fun to see you pout over him pulling away

Zhongli

He thinks that tea can solve everything but once he tries to get you a cup, you’re clinging onto him for dear life as the cramps overtake your body. He’s surprised but immediately hoists you into his arms to lay you on the cushions or back to your bed. He isn’t aware of what’s happening and actually thinks your dying so he rushes to get the tea 😀and maybe 

You have to reassure him that, no, you’re not, you’re very much alive and that you just want cuddles he was already halfway out the door to call for Baizhu. He may look at you questioningly but won’t ask anything so you’d have to explain what’s happening. Might look even more confused before he realizes that the main reason he doesn’t understand is because he’s not female nor is he really human. Makes sense

Still insists that tea will help so expect one to be made and ready whenever beside you when you feel particularly bad. The tea can be for relaxation, sleep, or simple energizing just in case you need to be out for the day or need to finish up work

When you get emotional, he’s immediately pulling you to him while rubbing a hand down your back or your lower stomach should you request it, listening to whatever it is that had made you so and inserting his own commentary with his very deep and nice voice from time to time to let you know that he’s listening

You know he’s the type to say whatever he’s reading out loud whilst having you on his lap. The moments when your cramps are too unbearable make this gesture even better because your face is tucked into his neck with the warmth of his hands pressed to your back, his voice like honey speaking to you. You could listen to him go on and on about whatever to get your mind off of your pain

“And so--my dear, what’s the matter?”

“So you gave me glaze lilies for that reason?”

The adoration in your eyes mirrors onto his and he smiles before pressing a kiss to your forehead